CHAPTER XXVII.
THE CONFEDERATE DESERTER.
While Tom was in the hospital, he received a letter from his sister, informing him that his brother John had actually entered the navy, and with his mother's consent.

The news from home was so favorable, that the soldier boy was pleased to hear that Jack had realized his darling wish, and that he was now in his element.
Intelligence from home, accompanied with letters, papers, books, comforts, and luxuries of various kinds, reached him every two or three weeks; and when the news went back that Tom had been made a sergeant for gallant conduct, there was a great sensation in Pinchbrook.

The letters which reached him after the receipt of this gratifying announcement contained all the gossip of the place in regard to the important event.

Of course, Tom was delighted by these letters, and was more than ever determined to be diligent and faithful in the discharge of his duties, and never to disgrace the name he bore.

He was confident his friends would never have occasion to blush for his conduct--including the original of the photograph, the author of the letter and of the socks.
Tom recovered from the effects of his wound, as we have before intimated, and took his place in the regimental line as a sergeant.