Soldiers Three

"Nothin', little man. A tale that ye know. As I was sayin', afther that fight us av the Ould Rig'mint an' the Tyrone was all mixed together takin' shtock ay the dead, an' av coorse I wint about to find if there was any man that remimbered me. The second man I came acrost - an' how I'd missed him in the fight I do not know - was Larry, an' a fine man he looked, but oulder, by token that he had a call to be. 'Larry,' sez I, 'how is ut wid you?'

"'Ye're callin' the wrong man,' he sez, wid his gentleman's smile; 'Larry has been dead these three years. They call him "Love-o'- Women" now,' he sez. By that I knew the ould divil was in him yet, but the ind av a fight is no time for the beginnin' av confession, so we sat down an' talked av times.

"'They tell me you're a married man,' he sez, puffing slow at his poipe. 'Are ye happy?'

"'I will be whin I get back to Depot,' I sez. ''Tis a reconnaissance honeymoon now.'

"'I'm married too,' he sez, puffin' slow an' more slow, an' st