Albert was more astonished than ever. There was no smell of alcohol, and Keeler had declared that he had not been drinking; but—
“You're going to ENLIST?” repeated Albert. “YOU? Why, Labe, what—”
Laban laughed nervously. “Not to kill the Kaiser,” he replied. “No, no, not that—not exactly. I'd like to, only I wouldn't be much help that way. But—but Al, I—I want to do somethin'. I—I'd like to try to show—I'd like to be an American, a decent American, and the best way to begin, seems to me, is to try and be a man, a decent man. Eh? You understand, I—I—Oh, Lord, what a mess I am makin' of this! I—I—Al,” turning and desperately waving his hands, “I'm goin' to try to swear off. Will you help me?”
Albert's answer was enthusiastic. “You bet I will!” he exclaimed. Keeler smiled pathetically.
“It's goin' to be some job, I cal'late,” he said. “Some job, yes, yes. But I'm goin' to try it, Al. I read in the papers 'tother day that America needed every man. Then you enlisted, Al,—or you're goin' to enlist. It set me to thinkin' I'd try to enlist, too. For the duration of the war, eh? Yes, yes.”
“Good for you, Labe! Bully!”
Laban held up a protesting hand. “Don't hurrah yet, Al,” he said. “This ain't the first time I've tried it. I've swore off a dozen times in the last fifteen years. I've promised Rachel and broke the promise over and over again. Broke my promise to her, the best woman in the world. Shows what I am, what sort I am, don't it, Al? Yes, it does,—yes, yes. And she's stuck by me, too, Lord knows why. Last time I broke it I said I'd never promise her again. Bad enough to be a common drunk without bein' a liar—yes, yes. But this is a little different. Seems to me—seems so.”
He began his pacing up and down again.
“Seems different, somehow,” he went on. “Seems like a new chance. I want to do somethin' for Uncle Sam. I—I'd like to try and enlist for the duration of the war—swear off for that long, anyhow. Then, maybe, I'd be able to keep on for life, you know—duration of Labe Keeler, eh? Yes, yes, yes. But I could begin for just the war, couldn't I? Maybe, 'twould fool me into thinkin' that was easier.”
“Of course, Labe. It's a good idea.”