"That man, as I said before, lies upon his deathbed! Remember,
nothing against him! But that order for a discharge! now that you
are in the way of promotion and the war is over, will you take
advantage of it?"
"Decidedly, yes! for though I am said to have acquitted myself
passably well at Chapultepec--"
"Gloriously, Traverse! You won your colors gloriously!"
"Yet for all that my true mission is not to break men's bones, but
to set them when broken. Not to take men's lives, but to save them
when endangered! So to-morrow morning, please Providence, I shall
present this order to General Butler and apply for my discharge."
"And you will set out immediately for home?"
The face of Traverse suddenly changed.
"I should like to do so! Oh, how I should like to see my dear mother
and Clara, if only for a day! but I must not indulge the longing of
my heart. I must not go home until I can do so with honor!"
"And can you not do so now? You, who triumphed over all your
personal enemies and who won your colors at Chapultepec?"
"No, for all this was in my legitimate profession! Nor will I
present myself at home until, by the blessing of the Lord, I have
done what I set out to do, and established myself in a good
practice. And so, by the help of heaven, I hope within one week to
be on my way to New Orleans to try my fortune in that city.
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