Ralph blushed, and answered: "I am the wounded soldier, sir." And then he stammered to correct his answer.
The officer laughed, as he responded: "You are right; I should have called you a man, because you have done a man's work. You boys are made of the right kind of stuff. But weren't you afraid when the bullets began to come whistling around you?"
"Yes, at first," he said a little hesitatingly, "I was afraid before Antonio told us to shoot."
"So you were afraid before either you or the Germans had a chance to shoot; is that it?"
"Well, yes; you see they seemed to come up pretty close before he gave us a chance to fire; but when we once commenced to shoot we didn't stop to think whether we were in danger or not."
"That is the right spirit, my boy. That is the way the true soldier feels."
At seven o'clock breakfast was ready and the entire camp was awake. Alfred came from the hillside, where he had his bed, and was directed to the caisson, where he greeted Ralph with many expressions of delight.
"Oh, we had a big time during the night; it was fine. We trailed along, but got awfully tired. But it was exciting," said Alfred.
"Sorry I couldn't be with you; but that is just my luck; had to be hit the first pop," answered Ralph, with a rueful look.