He did not assume any superior frame of mind, merely because he had fought in many battles and these men had fought in none.

He retained the natural modesty of youth, and knowing that one who looked on might sometimes be a better judge of what was happening than the one who took part, he weighed carefully what they said.
He was in a comfortable chair by the wall, and while he sat there a heavy man of middle age, whom he remembered well, approached and stood before him, regarding him with a keen and measuring eye.
"Good morning, Mr.Watson," said Dick politely.
"Ah, it is you, Lieutenant Mason!" said the contractor.

"I thought so, but I was not sure, as you are thinner than you were when I last saw you.

I'll just take this seat beside you." A man in the next chair had moved and the contractor dropped into it.
Then he crossed his legs, and smoothed the upper knee with a strong, fat hand.
"You've had quite a trip since I last saw you, Mr.Mason," he said.
"We didn't go so terribly far." "It's not length that makes a trip.

It's what you see and what happens." "I saw a lot, and a hundred times more than what I saw happened." The contractor took two fine cigars from his vest pocket and handed one to Dick.
"No, thank you," said the boy, "I've never learned to smoke." "I suppose that's because you come from Kentucky, where they raise so much tobacco.