On the function of a Sentry in a Camp;

As they camped in preparation for the morrow, Sam and Ursula returned in conversation to True Texans, and their variously Genuine or Authentic counterparts. Ursula spoke first. "Sam, why are Authentic Texans ALWAYS wearing a Stetson?" she asked, testing him. Perceiving this to be the case, Sam thanked his lucky stars that to essay one guess would be sufficient, and proceeded to a discussion of "Call and Response." "In literature, the device of using one refrain over and over for the audience, while teaching a little at a time, is called 'Call and Response,'" he began, warming to his subject, "...then the military adopted it, and put it to good use." Ursula was accustomed to his pedantic monologue, but refused to abandon all attempts at dialogue anyway. "Give me a 'for instance,'" she demanded. "I'll start with teaching, and then work my way back around to the military usage," he answered in a monotone. "For instance; there's a famous poem in a compilation somewhere, that alternates the refrains 'aye, well, Lassie,' AND 'On the bonnie banks of Fordie,' every other line throughout the whole poem." To test the educational validity of this concept, Ursula interrupted with "...and what did that teach YOU? What do _you_ remember from that Poem?" Sam was nettled, but ground out, "Well the anthology wasn't THAT great, for starters, but specific to that poem, I learned that the Scottish can't spell 'L-A-D-I-E-S!' SPELLING is _Important_!" "Is that supposed to be some kind of GLEANING?" she needled him. "I didn't DO that kind of thing back then," he responded defensively. "It's just that the lesson I was learning was not the lesson they were teaching that day!"

"Go on then," she spoke again, capitulating. He continued at his own pace. "Another example is from that French History of Israel in the Aggie library we have BOTH admitted to reading by now." She allowed her silence to be consent, and he continued. "I think it was from the patriotic King David who was so prolifically poetic. On no less than his 136th recorded effort, he used this method to try and make his blank-verse interesting." "You didn't find it interesting by itself?" was Ursula's query. "Profound yes, interesting, well... you have to acquire a taste for that kind of thing." Ursula could agree with him there, and having established that this method was a valid educational use for a poetic license, she drew his attention back to the discussion at hand...

"How on Earth does the MILITARY derive a usage of 'Call and Response?'" "Well, that was probably an R&D contribution to military history of the Authentic Texan" Sam explained with satisfaction. Determined not to cause him need for a bigger hat for himself, she assailed his pride by noting, "You admit, then, that Authentic Texans have been around since BEFORE secession?" Sam's silence in return denoted something other than consent, but she generously conceded to take whatever it DID represent on barter for the same. "So their usage of it piloted research?" Sam decided to overlook such thorns as there were on THIS Texan olive branch, and went on. "Way back in the day, it was not always clear who was an Authentic Texan and who was not, so they had to come up a with a system of authentication. Traditionally, a Texan challenged the relevant individual with the question, 'Why won't an authentic Texan be caught dead in a Woolsey?'" This allowed for definitive identification because if he was Authentic Texan of long standing, he would know the official response of, '...because you've got to catch one to kill him, and they take off their hats to die.'" By his language Sam had allowed the possibility that an Authentic Texan of the day might not have been in Texas long enough to know the official response, and Ursula was willing to hear his explanation. "What if he was an Authentic Texan and didn't know the proper response?" she inquired. "Well under those conditions a person is allowed to give any answer they can think of, just to buy time and not excluding humor, and Texas humor is so distinctive counterfeits are hardly worth the trouble," Sam explained.

"How does the Military use it, if they allow non-Texans in the Military?" Ursula followed on. "Well they sanitize and commercialize it one step, by employing the age old process of Code. The question officially becomes a 'Challenge,' and the official 'Response' doesn't even have to be REMOTELY related to the question. They're so disorganized about it they have to pass out new ones in every camp on a regular basis." "I can see why Authentic Texans only admit their true identity if called upon under THOSE conditions," Ursula concluded. "I'll drink to that," she added, passing him a fresh, new, lemon-lime-green-Fosters. He regarded the sprites of the sweet liqueur effervescing from the can. "Almost as good as Iced Tea," he toasted her, raising it to meet her own. "In living memory of Melbourne," she toasted back. "May He and his sheila make it back to Darwin safe and sound." Their solitude was temporarily melancholy, but they were both in this thing together, and derived a comfort from each other hard to subjugate to language. It was way past 7:30 and Orion stood silently sentinel.