Teddy's Button by Amy Le Feuvre

'I didn't know soldiers drank too much,' he said. 'I thought they
never did anything wrong.’
The corporal smiled. 'It isn't many that is of your opinion,' he said.
'Most folks put us down as a bad lot.'
That evening remained in his memory for long after: the sweetscented
garden, and the long low kitchen, with the happy family party
gathered round the table; the clumsy efforts of the reticent farmer to
make his guest feel at home; the short, pithy remarks made by Mrs.
Platt, and the gentle, soft-voiced young mother, with the golden-haired
boy, continually asking quaint questions about a soldier's life—all this
came back to him with a keen sense of pleasure in after years. He was
only a young fellow after all, and was touched and gratified by the
kindness shown to him, for it made him think of his own mother in her
village home; and when he took his leave he could hardly express his
thanks.
Teddy had been allowed to sit up beyond his usual bedtime, and as
he put his little hand into the big brown one of the young soldier he
said, 'Do you mind telling me your name, corporal?’
'Walter Saxby,' was the ready response.
'And what's the name of the poor old soldier who signed the
pledge on New Year's Day?'
'Tim Stokes; he's called Bouncer by most of us.’
'I shall remember,' said Teddy; then turning to his mother and
grandmother after Corporal Saxby had disappeared, he said solemnly, 'I
may bring Bouncer to tea, mayn't I, if I find him? Corporal told me he
hadn't properly enlisted as Jesus' soldier, but he wants to. Do you think
Mr. Upton could get him to enlist while he's here? Or could you,
granny? P'raps he'd do it for you.'
'I don't know what that boy will come to,' said Mrs. Platt later on,
when Teddy was safe in bed; 'seems to me he has more the making of a
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