presence. But before he could make known his errand the mill-owner, apparently anticipating it, began:

"I have been expecting you, Captain. I think I know your errand. Perhaps you will now agree with me that the proper way would have been for you yourself to have accepted my gift on the start. It is very easy for one or two malcontents to make serious trouble when a matter like this is left to a popular vote."

"I may have made a mistake, Mr. Barriscale," replied the captain, "but I feel that it would have been just as serious a mistake for me to have decided the matter on the start. I feel that it will be an extremely serious and delicate task for any one to decide the matter in the present temper of the men of my company; and I have come to ask you to relieve me from this embarrassing situation."

"How can I relieve you, Captain?"

"By withdrawing your offer, or permitting it to be held in abeyance until the storm blows over."

Mr. Barriscale did not at once reply. Whether he was considering a course of action, or whether he had already made up his mind, could not be readily discovered. He knew of the incident at the company meeting. His son had told him of it in great detail. He knew also of the opposition that existed, both inside and outside the company, to the acceptance of the gift. He himself felt that, under

the circumstances, it might be wise not to force the issue. To force it might easily result in his further humiliation. To permit the matter to be held up, as a favor to the company commander, could but redound to his credit. His course of action was therefore plain.

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Captain Murray," he said at last, and he spoke with great impressiveness; "it is far from me to add to the problems which must constantly perplex you, and I do not see how, in justice to you, I can do otherwise than accede to your request. The matter may be held in abeyance for an indefinite period."

The captain gave a sigh of relief, and held out his hand in gratitude.

"But," added Mr. Barriscale, clinging to his visitor's hand, "I must be permitted to express my surprise and dismay, that there should be in your company young men so ignorant, so prejudiced, so saturated with anti-government fallacies, as to oppose a gift like this from me because I chance to have some wealth and to be at the head of a prosperous corporation."

The captain answered lightly:

"Oh, I don't think we should take these young radicals seriously, Mr. Barriscale. They make liberalism an outlet for intellectual exuberance. They'll all get over it in time. Besides, we have only a few of them in the company anyway. Not enough to do us any harm."

"That may be true, Captain; but you should not have one. Such men are a menace to society, and distinctly dangerous in a military organization. If we cannot depend on our organized militia in times of emergency, then indeed we will be at the mercy of the mob. As one having the best interests of the Guard at heart, permit me to urge that you rid your company of such disturbing elements. Weed out every man of radical tendencies without delay. I shall be more than happy to assist you in such a task."

Captain Murray thanked the mill-owner for his consideration and his interest and withdrew. But the relief he had felt in having the issue relating to the prize indefinitely postponed was now turned into a feeling of anxiety concerning some of his best men. He knew that Mr. Barriscale's offer of assistance was no more nor less than a veiled threat; and while Halpert McCormack's name had not been mentioned in the interview, there was no doubt that that young soldier would be made to suffer for his temerity at the company meeting, so far as it lay in the power of the millionaire manufacturer and his son to bring such suffering about.

IT

CHAPTER VII

T had been nearly two years since Halpert McCormack and Ben Barriscale enlisted for service in the National Guard. They had one more year to serve, yet neither of them had a thought of leaving the service when the period of their enlistment expired. They had not only not tired of the militiaman's life with its duties and its tasks, they had found pleasure and profit in it. For each of them, in a different way, it had had its compensations and its satisfactions.

And each of them had merited and received promotion. First they had been advanced to the grade of corporal. And when, by reason of contemporaneous enlistment, the terms of the first and second sergeant expired simultaneously, and it became known that they would not reënlist, it was generally conceded that the two places would go to McCormack and Barriscale. But which one of them he would make his first sergeant wa still a problem in the mind of Captain Murray. Both young men were excellent soldiers. Both of them had mastered every detail of company drill, and there were few movements, exercises or duties for the enlisted man

to perform with which both men were not entirely familiar.

But the office of first sergeant is a most important one. A well-known military authority has written:

"It has been said the captain is the proprietor of the company, and the first sergeant is the foreman. Under supervision of the captain he has immediate charge of all routine matters pertaining to the company."

Captain Murray knew that whichever one of the two men he selected he would have an intelligent and efficient first sergeant. His hesitation was due to the fact that he wished to avoid any appearance of favoritism. Finally, remembering and following the still unfulfilled purpose and plan of Benjamin Barriscale, Sr., he decided to award the office as a prize to the man who should most successfully pass an examination in military tactics. In order to be entirely fair the test was thrown open to every enlisted man; and in order still further to secure absolute justice in the matter, Captain Cowperthwaite from Company M was called in to conduct the examination.

But, as every one knew would be the case, Corporals McCormack and Barriscale were the only ones who took the test. It was unusually thorough and severe, and was a combination of written,