“Now, missy, suppose you was a sprightin’ kind of a boy ’bout nineteen or twenty, and mebby some gal thought you was good-lookin’ enough to talk to after church on a Sunday; and suppose you had rustled like a little nigger when you was a kid, helpin’ your ma wash dishes in a hotel and chop wood and sweep out and pack heavy valises for tourists and fill the lamps and run to the store for groceries and milk a cow every night and mornin’.

“And say you growed up without breakin’ your laig and went to punchin’ cattle and earnin’ your own money, and then mebby you got a job in the Ranger Service, ridin’ the high trails and livin’ free and independent; and suppose a mighty pretty gal was to come along and kind of let you take a shine to her, and you was doin’ your plumb durndest to put by a little money, aimin’ to trot in double harness some day; and then suppose your daddy was to offer you a half-interest in a growin’ cattle business, where you could be your own boss and put by a couple of thousand a year.  And you only nineteen or twenty.

“Suppose you had been doin’ all that when along comes word from ’way off somewhere that folks was killin’ each other and it was up to you to stop ‘em.  Wouldn’t you do some hard thinkin’ afore you jumped into your fightin’ clothes?”

“But this war means more than that.”

“It sure does.  But some of us ain’t got the idee yet.  ’Course all you got to do to some folks is to say ‘Fight’ and they come a-runnin’.  And some of that kind make mighty good soldier boys.  But the fella I’m leavin’ alone is the one what cinches up slow afore he climbs into the saddle.  When he goes into a fight it’s like his day’s work, and he don’t waste no talk or elbow action when he’s workin’.”

“I wish I were a man!”

“Well, some of us is right glad you ain’t.  A good woman can do just as much for this country right now as any man.  And I don’t mean by dressin’ up in fancy clothes and givin’ dances and shellin’ out mebby four per cent of the gate receipts to buy a ambulance with her name on it.

“And I don’t mean by payin’ ten dollars for a outfit of gold-plated knittin’-needles to make two-bit socks for the boys.  What I mean is that a good woman does her best work to home; mebby just by sayin’ the right word, or mebby by keepin’ still or by smilin’ cheerful when her heart is breakin’ account of her man goin’ to war.

“You can say all you like about patriotism, but patriotism ain’t just marchin’ off to fight for your country.  It’s usin’ your neighbors and your country right every day in the week, includin’ Sunday.  Some folks think patriotism is buildin’ a big bonfire once a year and lettin’ her blaze up.  But the real thing is keepin’ your own little fire a-goin’ steady, right here where you live.  And it’s thinkin’ of that little fire to home that makes the best soldier.