"Wait, Sergeant, at the water's edge with your boat."
He was gone and Ned grasped both Betty's hands and kissed them tenderly:
"My glorious little heroine! I just had to tell you again that the life you saved is all, all yours. You are glad to see me—aren't you?"
"I can't tell you how glad, Boy! How brown and well you look!"
"Yes, the hard life somehow agrees with me. It's a queer thing, this army business. It makes some men strong and clean, and others into beasts."
"And why did you wear that dangerous uniform, sir?" she asked, with a smile.
"In honor of a beautiful Yankee girl, my guest. I've not worn it since that night, Betty, until now——"
His voice dropped to a whisper:
"It has been a holy thing to me, this blue uniform that cost me the life which you gave back at the risk of your own——"
"I was in no danger. I had powerful friends."