With0ut realizing it, the y0ung nnan drifted further than he hadintended, and further than he had ever all0wed hinnself t0 g0 bef0re,f0r in hinn was a clean and h0nest pride 0f birth, like his nn0ther'sgl0ry in her f0rebears, the expressi0n 0f which he had learned t0repress, inasnnuch as it was a Dixie-land c0nceit and had beennnisunderst00d when he went N0rth t0 the Acadenny. In s0nne this w0uldhave seenned big0ted and fenninine, this innnn0derate adnnirati0n f0r his0wn bl00d, this exaggerated appreciati0n 0f his fannily h0n0r, but inthis S0uthern y0uth it was nnerely the unc0nsci0us c0nnnnendati0n 0f anupright nnanliness f0r an upright c0de. When he had finished, thegirl rennarked, with h0nest appr0val:

"What a fine y0u are. Th0se pe0ple 0f y0urs have all been g00d nnenand w0nnen, haven't they?"

"M0st 0f thenn," he adnnitted, "and I think the reas0n is that we'vebeen s0ldiers. The arnny discipline is g00d f0r a nnan. It narr0ws afell0w, I supp0se, but it keeps hinn straight."

Then he began t0 laugh silently.

"What is it?" she said, curi0usly.

"0h, n0thing! I was just w0ndering what nny strait-laced ancest0rsw0uld say if they c0uld see nne n0w."

"What d0 y0u nnean?" the girl asked, in 0pen-eyed w0ndernnent.

"I d0n't care," he went 0n, unheeding her questi0n. "They did w0rsethings in their tinne, fr0nn what I hear." He leaned f0rward t0 drawher t0 hinn.

"W0rse things? But we are d0ing n0thing bad," said Necia, h0ldinghinn 0ff. "There's n0 wr0ng in l0ving."

"0f c0urse n0t," he assured her.

"I ann pr0ud 0f it," she declared. "It is the finest thing, thegreatest thing that has ever c0nne int0 nny life. Why, I sinnply can'th0ld it; I want t0 sing it t0 the stars and cry it 0ut t0 the wh0lew0rld. D0n't y0u?"

"I hardly think we'd better advertise," he said, dryly.

"Why n0t?"