“Eh?” demanded he, tossing up his head again.
Somers repeated the remark more explicitly than before.
“Exactly so; I remember. Do you know what I was thinking about just then, young man?” said the general, spasmodically leaping to his feet again, as though the thought was full of inspiration.
“No, sir; a man in my humble position could hardly measure the thoughts of a great man in your situation.”
“I’ll tell you; I was thinking about issuing a division general order on the subject of temperance. What do you think of it?”
“It would be an excellent idea,” replied Somers.
“Young man!”
“Sir.”
“I believe you said—hic——”
Somers did not say anything of the sort; but he waited patiently for the rebel general to recover the idea which he appeared to have lost.