Sarge distracted us from these anxieties by explaining the history of the government buildings and the equestrian statuary on Pennsylvania Avenue. He told us that a rearing horse in a statue meant the hero had died in battle, and that a single leg raised indicated that the rider was wounded in war. He told us about Lincoln’s funeral, upon which Jack’s was modeled, and how, dating back to the funeral of Genghis Khan, the riderless horse had symbolized a fallen hero who would ride no more.
