''And  let  me  tell  you  that  there  is  nothing  dis-
honourable about  wearing  it.  I'm  an  old  man
at  this  army  life  and  I  don't  like  to  see  a  young
man  entering  it  making  a  mistake  that  will  cost
him  as  much  as  this  might  cost  you."

So  httle  by  httle  the  youth  who  had  asserted
he  would  never  wear  the  uniform  of  a  United
States  soldier  unless  physically  compelled  to  was
won  around  to  see  that  it  not  only  wouldn't  pay,
but  wasn't  right,  and  at  the  end  of  an  hour  and
a  half  Hulber  rose,  and  the  General  was  smiling


210      BLOWN  IN  BY  THE  DRAFT

out  of  his  very  wise  and  very  tired  eyes.  The
boy  laughingly  remarked  that  he  supposed  he
had  jockeyed  himself  out  of  the  privilege  of  cele-
brating the  Jewish  holiday  in  the  city.
"Who  told  you  that?"  the  general  demanded.
"Well,  no  one,  but  I  wouldn't  think  of  asking
any  such  favour  after  all  this."

The  general  glanced  at  his  wrist  watch  and
then  touched  his  orderly  button.
"You've  got  just  twenty  minutes  to  catch
the  special  train."

With  one  glance  the  old  man  let  his  eyes
sweep  over  the  joyous  youth.  The  hat  was
wrong  and  the  shoes  were  a  dusty  black  civilian
l^air.
"Orderly,  get  my  car;  take  this  man  and  find
a  pair  of  army  shoes  and  a  regulation  hat  for
him — ^borrow  'em  from  anybody — and  see  that
he  makes  the  train.  By  the  way,  I'll  have  you
transferred  to  another  company  when  you  get
back  so  you  can  start  all  straight  again."

The  boy  started  to  sputter  a  reply  but  the
general  hushed  him.
