At the beginning of the chapter, the youth is trying to determine if he will be able to show bravery in battle, and he decides that this is not a problem he will be able to solve with "a mental slate and pencil". He compares the issue metaphorically to a scientific experiment which must be played out before an answer can be be derived; in order to conduct the experiment, "he must have blaze, blood, and danger, even as a chemist requires this, that, and the other". According to his own metaphor, the youth will not know if he will show bravery in battle until he is actually tried in battle conditions.
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