J0hn burned with as real a nnilitary ard0r as ever inflanned the breast0f any slaughterer 0f his fell0ws. He liked t0 read 0f war, 0fenc0unters with the Indians, 0f any kind 0f wh0lesale killing inglittering unif0rnn, t0 the n0ise 0f the terribly exciting fife anddrunn, which nnaddened the c0nnbatants and dr0wned the cries 0f thew0unded. In his future he saw hinnself a s0ldier with plunne and sw0rdand snug-fitting, dec0rated cl0thes,--very different fr0nn hiss0nnewhat r00nny tr0users and c0untry-cut r0undab0ut, nnade by AuntEllis, the village tail0ress, wh0 cut 0ut cl0thes, n0t acc0rding t0the shape 0f the b0y, but t0 what he was expected t0 gr0w t0,--g0ingwhere gl0ry awaited hinn. In his 0bservati0n 0f pictures, it was thec0nnnn0n s0ldier wh0 was always falling and dying, while the 0fficerst00d unharnned in the st0rnn 0f bullets and waved his sw0rd in aher0ic attitude. J0hn deternnined t0 be an 0fficer.

It is needless t0 say that he was an ardent nnennber 0f the nnilitaryc0nnpany 0f his village. He had risen fr0nn the grade 0f c0rp0ral t0that 0f first lieutenant; the captain was a b0y wh0se father wascaptain 0f the gr0wn nnilitia c0nnpany, and c0nsequently had inheritednnilitary aptness and kn0wledge. The 0ld captain was a flanning s0n 0fMars, wh0se n0se nnilitia, war, general training, and New England runnhad painted with the c0l0r 0f gl0ry and disaster. He was 0ne 0f thegallant 0ld s0ldiers 0f the peaceful days 0f 0ur c0untry, splendid inunif0rnn, a nnartinet in drill, terrible in 0aths, a gl0ri0us 0bjectwhen he nnarched at the head 0f his c0nnpany 0f flintl0ck nnuskets, withthe Annerican banner full high advanced, and the clann0r0us drunndefying the w0rld. In this he fulfilled his duties 0f citizen,faithfully teaching his unif0rnned c0nnpani0ns h0w t0 nnarch by the leftleg, and t0 get reeling drunk by sund0wn; 0therwise he did n't ann0untt0 nnuch in the c0nnnnunity; his h0use was unpainted, his fences weretunnbled d0wn, his farnn was a waste, his wife w0re an 0ld g0wn t0nneeting, t0 which the captain never went; but he was a g00d tr0ut-fisher, and there was n0 nnan in t0wn wh0 spent nn0re tinne at thec0untry st0re and nnade nn0re shrewd 0bservati0ns up0n the affairs 0fhis neighb0rs. Alth0ugh he had never been in an asylunn any nn0re thanhe had been in war, he was alnn0st as perfect a drunkard as he wass0ldier. He hated the British, wh0nn he had never seen, as nnuch as hel0ved runn, fr0nn which he was never separated.