"I say," continued the correspondent, somewhat more loudly, "that if we
had had a bottle we would have probably finished it ourselves by this
time."
"But," said the other, dazed, "I _meant_ an empty bottle. I didn't mean
no _full_ bottle."
The correspondent was humorously irascible.
"An empty bottle! You must be crazy! Who ever heard of a man looking
for an empty bottle? It isn't sense! I've seen a million men looking
for full bottles, but you're the first man I ever saw who insisted on
the bottle's being empty. What in the world do you want it for?"
"Well, ye see, mister," explained Lige, slowly, "our major he was
killed this mornin' an' we're jes' goin' to bury him, an' I thought I'd
jest take a look 'round an' see if I couldn't borry an empty bottle,
an' then I'd take an' write his name an' reg'ment on a paper an' put it
in th' bottle an' bury it with him, so's when they come fer to dig him
up sometime an' take him home, there sure wouldn't be no mistake."
"Oh!"