“My dear young lady, I’m a blundering idiot. I beg your pardon most humbly. I thought it was that Raquel, and I––”
“Oh, Raquel?” and she backed to the opposite wall, regarding him with doubt and question in her eyes.
“Exactly. Allow me to explain. Raquel, in company with some other imps of all shades, have developed an abnormal interest in the unpacking of various boxes today, and especially a galvanic battery in here, which––”
“Battery? In there?” and Evilena raised on her tip-toes to survey the room over his shoulder. “I know some boys of Battery B, but I never saw them without uniforms.”
“Uniform, is it? Well, now, you see, I’ve only been a matter of hours in the country, and small chance to look up a tailor. Are––are they a necessity to the preservation of life here?”
He spoke with a doubtful pretense of timidity, and looked at her quizzically. She smiled, but made a little grimace, a curve of the lips and nod of the head conveying decision.
“You will learn it is the only dress for a man that makes life worth living, for him, around here,” she replied. “Every man who is not superannuated or attached to the state government in some way has to wear a uniform unless he wants his loyalty questioned.”
The un-uniformed man smiled at her delightful patriotic frankness.
“Faith, now, I’ve no objection to the questions if you are appointed questioner. But let me get you a chair. Even when on picket duty and challenging each new comer, you are allowed a more restful attitude than your present one, I hope. You startled me into forgetting––”
“I startled you? Well!”