The colonel made no comment, and the boys walked on in silence.
"I was wrong," acknowledged Rand after a little hesitation. "I have no objection to Gerald."
"When we are going into battle, my boy," said the colonel, stopping on the way for a moment, "we don't stop to consider to what class the man who is fighting alongside of us belongs, and this is a battle you are going into, one to make the most you can out of your lives, and if you can help some one else at the same time so much the greater is your reward."
"I see," replied Rand, "and I won't forget it."
"He was in our class, at school," went on Jack.
"He quotes poetry," added Pepper.
"Who does?" asked the colonel.
"Gerald."
"That's bad," said the colonel gravely, "but perhaps you could cure him of it."
"He says he is descended from Tom Moore," continued Pepper.