Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/100

 to that old time still so fresh in the minds of those who acted in the great drama, and to reassure himself he repeated the date of the present year, "18—" "What a difference between then and now!"

"A difference indeed, sir," said a voice at his elbow.

He turned, and saw a gentleman who had just paid his respects to the commander of the ship. He was a gentleman; no one could doubt that for a moment, though his threadbare coat and dingy hat were of the fashion of many seasons ago. He was a tall man, with a keen face, iron-gray hair, and bright blue eyes; his bearing was brisk, and had that indefinable trace of the military which the old soldier never loses. His straight, spare figure, his square shoulders, his restless, eager face, showed that his fighting days did not end with Appomattox. He, like General Ruysdale, was a natural fighter, and life to him would never cease to be a battle, until the sound of the final roll-call. He was nearer to forty than to fifty years, but the deep lines in his face made him look an older man than he was in reality.

The Admiral introduced the two men: "General Ruysdale, Colonel Lagrange."

"A change indeed, sir," Colonel Lagrange continued, "as I just now heard you observe. Why, sir, the last time I saw this old ship, it was from