After that we didn't say anything for about five minutes.
Then I said, "One thing sure; you ought to get the gold cross."
He didn't say anything, only broke a stick off a bush and began marking on the grass with it.
"What do I want with the cross?" he said.
"It's a big honor," I told him.
"Sure," he said.
"You deserve it for what you did," I told him; "you ought to want it—you ought to want to have it—on account of your patrol."
"Nice fellows, eh?" he said.
"Well then, why don't you take more interest in it for their sake?"
"Ever notice how blue the Hudson is above Poughkeepsie?" he said.