[CHAPTER IV]
LEONARD GETS PROMOTION
Eldred Chichester Staples appeared to be no more surprised than Leonard. He closed the door, with the deftness born of long practice, with his left foot, sailed his cap to his bed and nodded, thrusting hands into the pockets of his knickers.
“The whole seventeen,” he answered dejectedly. “Couldn’t you tell it by a glance at my emaciated frame?”
Leonard shook his head. “You look to me just hungry,” he said.
“Slim” Staples chuckled and reposed himself in a chair, thrusting his long legs forward and clasping lean, brown hands across his equator. “Your name must be Grant,” he remarked. “Where from, stranger?”
“Loring Point, Delaware.”
“We’re neighbors then. My home’s in New Hampshire. Concord’s the town.”
“Isn’t that where the embattled farmers stood and—and fired—er—”
“The shot that was heard around the world? No, General, you’ve got the dope all wrong. That was another Concord. There aren’t any farmers in my town. Come to think of it, wasn’t it Lexington, Massachusetts, where the farmers took pot-shots at the Britishers? Well, never mind. I understand that the affair was settled quite amicably some time since. Glad to be here, General?”
“I think so. Thanks for the promotion, though. I’m usually just ‘Len.’”