done as you say; and I have been wondering all through the past
night whether you would willingly and joyfully go to battle?"

"I? God forefend; I will not go joyfully--I will not go at all! This
morning I intend going to our pastor to receive from him a
certificate, showing that I cannot join the army, as I have a
decrepit old father to support, who would die without me."

"Charles Henry, your father is not decrepit, nor very old, nor would
he starve if you were not here, for he can support himself."

"But he may, at any moment, become unable to help himself, and then
he would need me; I would have no rest day or night when far away,
but would be thinking if my poor old father, lying sick and helpless
in his hut, with no one near to give him a piece of bread or a cup
of water."

"Let not this trouble you, Charles Henry," said Anna, solemnly. "I
swear to you that I will love him and care for him as a daughter. He
shall want for nothing; and when he can work no longer, I am strong
and healthy enough to work for both of us. Go with a peaceful mind,
I will be here in your place."

"No, no!" cried Charles Henry, turning pale; "I will not join the
army. I cannot, I will not be separated from you, Anna. You have
sworn to be my wife, and I will beseech the pastor to join us to-
day; then they cannot take me away from here, for I will have a
father and a wife to take care of."

"Not for me, Charles Henry, for I will not marry yet. Have we saved