She had made some jellies, so she said, for the soldier of the valley.
They were her offering to the valley's idol. She thought the idol
would consume them, for bachelor cooking was never intended for
bachelor invalids. Tim had mentioned this casually. I suspected that
he believed that the visit to me was simply a pretence and that she
knew he was to be working in the field by the house. But I took no
chances. In the seclusion of my room I brushed every speck off the
uniform and made sure that every inch of it fitted snugly and without
an unnecessary wrinkle. Then when my hair had been parted and smoothed
down, I crowned myself with my campaign hat at the dashingest possible
tilt. Thus arrayed I fixed myself on the porch, to be smoking my pipe
in a careless, indifferent way when she came. An egotist, you say--a
vain man. No--just a man. For who when She comes would not look his
best? We prate a lot about the fair sex and its sweet vanities. Yet
it takes us less time to do our hair simply because it is shorter.
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