Tommy spoke with aroused dignity.
"You must not call my father names," he said.
"I'm not. I think he's a splendid brave man, and I always call him that, because his face is so brown and his moustache and hair so very white."
Tommy blushed. Then he said very slowly, and with some hesitation, for to no one before had he confided so much:
"I think he is the bravest—the bravest officer in the whole army."
Then his eyes fell, and he looked confusedly at his toes.
The stream was rippling softly over the shallows, full of its young dream.
Then—
"I'm Madge Chantrey," said a shy voice.