A soldier
in uniform waited upon us at dinner, and that seemed so funny.
I
wanted to watch him all the time, which distracted me, I suppose, for
once I called General Phillips "Mister!" It so happened, too, that
just that instant there was not a sound in the room, so everyone heard
the blunder. General Phillips straightened back in his chair, and his
little son gave a smothered giggle - for which he should have been sent
to bed at once. But that was not all! That soldier, who had been so
dignified and stiff, put his hand over his mouth and fairly rushed
from the room so he could laugh outright. And how I longed to run some
place, too - but not to laugh, oh, no!
These soldiers are not nearly as nice as one would suppose them to be,
when one sees them dressed up in their blue uniforms with bright brass
buttons. And they can make mistakes, too, for yesterday, when I asked
that same man a question, he answered, "Yes, sorr!" Then I smiled, of
course, but he did not seem to have enough sense to see why. When I
told Faye about it, he looked vexed and said I must never laugh at an
enlisted man - that it was not dignified in the wife of an officer to
do so. And then I told him that an officer should teach an enlisted
man not to snicker at his wife, and not to call her "Sorr," which was
disrespectful.
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