"
Tom felt his heart sink. Then he wasn't to be allowed to go! This was
simply a nice way of telling him that he couldn't!
"But, Captain," he said explosively, "I'd rather do this than anything else
on earth. I am young--I'll admit that--but that'll make me all the more
valuable. If it comes to carrying messages, I can run for miles without
stopping. Why, I can move faster and fight harder just because I am young!
Please give me the chance!"
The Captain looked at him narrowly. "You really want to go, don't you?"
"Yes!" Tom almost shouted.
"All right," said the Captain, rising from his chair. "You _are_ going."
Tom wanted to thank him, but he was speechless. "You will hold yourself in
readiness for orders." The Captain had become the quiet, stern military man
again. "You will let it be known that you are here to visit your cousin,
and when you leave camp you will say that you are returning home."
"Yes, sir."
"In the meantime, provide yourself with some rough clothes at Shelbyville,
and some heavy shoes. I will provide you with a revolver. That will be all
now."
"Yes, sir."
Tom hurried back to his cousin's tent in a daze.
The next afternoon at the general store in Shelbyville he bought a rough
suit, and a heavy pair of shoes.
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