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It was all over, “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” but as the five lads, the  half-dozen now no longer, sat on the Carters’  piazza in the gathering twilight, sorrowfully  talking over the events of the last three days,  they felt that no one of them had made a  braver fight to win the victor’s crown. And as the stars came out one by one, and smiled down  on the boys as they sat there, smiled as they  had so often done before, only more sadly to-night, they felt that Sam, too, was looking down  upon them from above, and each one resolved,  in his boyish heart, to live from day to day, so  that at last he should be worthy to meet Sam  once more in the happy future world.