"
"What is a hero, Colonel Jinks?" And his father explained to him what a
hero was, giving several examples from history and fiction. The word
took the boy's fancy at once. From that day forward the officer was
colonel no longer, he was a "hero," or rather, "the hero." Sam now
began to save his pennies for other soldiers, and to beg for more and
more as successive birthdays and Christmases came round. He played at
soldiers himself, too, coaxing the less warlike children of the
neighborhood to join him. But his enthusiasm always left them behind,
and they tired much sooner than he did of the sport. He persuaded his
mother to make him a uniform something like that of the lead soldiers,
and the stores of Homeville were ransacked for drums, swords, and belts
and toy-guns. He would stand on guard for hours at the barnyard gate,
saluting in the most solemn manner whoever passed, even if it was only
a sparrow. The only interest in animals which survived his change of
heart was that which he now took in horses as chargers. He would ride
the farm-horses bare-back to the trough, holding the halter in one hand
and a tin sword in the other with the air of a field-marshal. When
strangers tapped him on the cheek and asked him--as is the wont of
strangers--"What are you going to be, my boy, when you grow up?" he
answered no longer, as he used to do, "A driver, sir," but now
invariably, "A hero.
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