"He 'lowed that that kind o' talk riled him, an' I said I was glad it did, an' we jawed along for a spell, like old soldiers can when they get goin', till all of a sudden he says:—
"'A man that gets a pension don't have to drink to keep him goin'.'
"'Well, Ojam,' says I, 'if that's a fact, an' I don't say it ain't, you can stop drinkin' right now, if you want to.'
"'What do you mean?' says he.
"'Just what I say,' says I. 'My pension's yours, from this on, so long's you don't drink.'
"'I ain't goin' to be bought over to be a Yank,' says he.
"'I don't want you to be a Yank,' says I. 'You're an American, an' that's the best thing that any old vet can be. I want to buy you over to be a clear-headed man. I've got nothin' to make by it, but it'll be the makin' o' you.'
"Well, he went off mad, an' he told his wife an' young ones, an' in a day or two he came back, an' says he:—
"'Caleb, I ain't a plum fool; but if you're dead sot on bein' one, why, I'll take that pension o' yourn, the way you said.'