To Have & To Hold by Mary Johnson Chapter 1 Page 7

“I was wishing for Dale’s times and Dale’s laws.”

He laughed, and touched my knee with his hand, white and smooth as a woman’s, and with a green jewel upon the forefinger.

“Thou Mars incarnate!” he cried. “Thou first, last, and in the meantime soldier! Why, what wilt thou do when thou gettest to heaven? Make it too hot to hold thee? Or take out letters of marque against the Enemy?”

“I am not there yet,” I said dryly. “In the meantime I would like a commission against — your relatives.”

He laughed, then sighed, and, sinking his chin into his hand and softly tapping his foot against the ground, fell into a reverie.