He was soon promoted, and might
have risen rapidly, but was content to remain as captain of his
company; for his men loved him, and he was prouder of his influence
over them than of any decoration he could win.
His was the sort of courage that keeps a man faithful to death, and
though he made no brilliant charge, uttered few protestations of
loyalty, and was never heard to "damn the rebs," his comrades felt
that his brave example had often kept them steady till a forlorn
hope turned into a victory, knew that all the wealth of the world
could not bribe him from his duty, and learned of him to treat with
respect an enemy as brave and less fortunate than themselves. A
noble nature soon takes its proper rank and exerts its purifying
influence, and Private Sterling won confidence, affection, and
respect, long before promotion came; for, though he had tended his
flowers like a woman and loved his books like a student, he now
proved that he could also do his duty and keep his honor stainless
as a soldier and a gentleman.
He and Christie met as often as the one could get a brief furlough,
or the other be spared from hospital duty; but when these meetings
did come, they were wonderfully beautiful and rich, for into them
was distilled a concentration of the love, happiness, and communion
which many men and women only know through years of wedded life.
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