Teddy's Button by Amy Le Feuvre

outside, waiting for the approach of their regiment from the town to
fall in and march on with them. Teddy and Nancy were, of course, there;
the little girl, in spite of her alleged disdain of soldiers, was delighted to
be in their vicinity. Teddy could not get near his friend Bouncer, but he
received a friendly nod from him in the distance, and as for Bouncer's
face, it was like sunshine itself, a marked contrast to the day before. As
the band was heard approaching, cheers were given to the men now
leaving, and a tall corporal who had much enjoyed his tea the night
before stooped to ask of Nancy, who was standing close to him, 'What's
the name of that curly-headed youngster who got us the tea?'
Nancy looked up at him mischievously: 'The button-boy! That's
what I call him, and I shan't never call him anything else!'
Then the corporal's voice rang out clear and loud,—
'Three cheers for the little button-boy !' which was taken up
enthusiastically by the soldiers, and Teddy hardly knew whether he was
on his head or heels from excitement and delight. But he had to pay a
penalty for his prominent position. From that day the title of the
'button-boy' stuck to him, and it became his nickname in the village by
all who knew him.
On came the regiment, with the colors flying and the band playing
in the most orthodox style, and Teddy was bitterly disappointed when
the warning bell of school prevented him from marching along the road
with them.
The schoolmaster was very lenient with the boys that morning, or
else they would have been in dire disgrace, for lessons were imperfectly
learned and said, and never had he found it so difficult to keep their
attention.
But if Teddy was inattentive and careless at school, he was doubly
troublesome at home, and for the next few days his mother's fears were
realized. The excitement of all that had taken place seemed to have
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