"Cuba. Philippines."
"You were in the Spanish War? Really! I didn't know you were so old."
"I wasn't so old then. I'm very ancient now."
She mused aloud: "They say a husband should be ten years older than his wife."
The implication enraptured him. It showed that she was at least toying with the thought. "Then there's no hope for me. I'm far too old for you."
"But I'm very ancient," she said. "I ought to have been married years ago."
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting so long. There's no need for further delay."
"Are you proposing again? The man's a regular phonograph with only one old broken record! So you've been in battles and battles. Were you afraid?"
"Afterward. I suppose it's because I'm slow and stupid: but I don't usually get scared till the trouble's over. Then I'm sick as a dog and as frightened as a girl."
"That's something like me. Only I get terribly scared of little things that don't count. A mouse or a spider or anything crawly—ugh! is that a caterpillar?"