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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7494-8.txt b/7494-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d3e336e --- /dev/null +++ b/7494-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5942 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Outdoor Girls in Army Service, by Laura Lee Hope + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Outdoor Girls in Army Service + Doing Their Bit for the Soldier Boys + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Posting Date: September 26, 2012 [EBook #7494] +Release Date: February, 2005 +First Posted: May 11, 2003 +Last Updated: November 3, 2004 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Greg Weeks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE + +OR + +DOING THEIR BIT FOR THE SOLDIER BOYS + + +BY + +LAURA LEE HOPE + + +AUTHOR OF "THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE," "THE MOVING PICTURE +GIRLS," "THE BOBBSEY TWINS," "BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE," ETC. + + +1918 + + + + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE + +CONTENTS + + I "I'VE VOLUNTEERED!" + II GRIM SHADOWS OF WAR + III NEWS FROM THE FRONT + IV THE POWDER MILL + V A SHOT IN THE DARK + VI MOONLIGHT AND MYSTERY + VII ROBBED + VIII THE BIG GAME + IX GAY CONSPIRATORS + X MAGIC LANTERNS + XI A SLACKER? + XII HONOR FLAGS + XIII "SMILE, GIRLS, SMILE" + XIV THE SPY AGAIN + XV MORE SURPRISES + XVI THE HOSTESS HOUSE + XVII HELPING UNCLE SAM +XVIII THE EVENING GUN + XIX FLAMES + XX THE RESCUE + XXI ALLEN A HERO + XXII MAKING GOOD +XXIII JUST FRIENDS + XXIV CAPTIVE AND CAPTORS + XXV THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED + + + + +CHAPTER I + +"I'VE VOLUNTEERED!" + + +"Well, who is going to read the paper?" + +Amy Blackford stopped knitting for a moment, the half-finished +sweater suspended inquiringly in the air, while she asked her +question and gazed about impatiently at her busy group of friends. + +"It's your turn, anyhow, Mollie," she added, fingers flying and head +bent as she resumed her work. "You haven't read to us for five days." + +"Oh, don't bother me," snapped the one addressed as Mollie. She was +black-haired and black-eyed, was Mollie Billette, with a little touch +of French blood in her veins that accounted for her restless vivacity +and sometimes peppery temper. "You've made me drop a stitch, Amy +Blackford, and if anybody else speaks to me for the next five +minutes, I'll eat 'em." + +"Well, as long as you don't eat any more of my chocolates, I don't +care," remarked Grace Ford, lazily helping herself to one of the +threatened candies. "I had a full box this morning, and now look at +them." + +"Haven't time to look at anything," returned Mollie crossly, fishing +in vain for the lost stitch. "If the poor soldiers depended upon the +sweaters you made, Grace, I'd feel sorry for them, I would indeed!" + +"Oh, dear, girls, now what's the matter?" + +Framed in the doorway of the cottage stood Betty Nelson, their adored +"Little Captain," fresh and sweet as the morning itself, smiling +around at them inquiringly. + +"What is the matter?" she repeated as they moved up to make room for +her on the veranda steps. "I'm more afraid than ever to leave you +alone these days when every dropped stitch means a quarrel. Give it +to me, Mollie, I'll pick it up for you." + +With a sigh, Mollie relinquished the tiresome sweater and Betty went +to work at it with a skill born of long practice. + +"There you are," she announced triumphantly, after an interval during +which the girls had watched with eager eyes and bated breath. "That +was a mean one. Thought it was going to make me rip out the whole +row--but I showed it! Now, please, don't anybody drop any more. I +must finish that pair of socks to-day." + +"Oh, dear," sighed Amy resignedly. "Then our last hope is gone." + +"Goodness, that sounds doleful," chuckled Betty, stretching her arms +above her head and reveling in the brilliant sunshine. "What +particular thing seems to be the matter now, Amy? Has Will been +misbehaving?" + +Amy flushed vividly and bent closer over her work. + +"How could he be when he's been in town for over a week?" she +retorted with unusual spirit. "It's just that nobody will read the +paper, and I'm just dying to hear the news. I want to keep up with +the times." + +"Well, if that's all," said the Little Captain, sitting up with +alacrity, "I'm always willing to oblige. Mollie, you're sitting on +it!" + +"Knit one, purl two," chanted Mollie. "Wait till I get this needle +off and I'll give it to you. I can't stop now!" + +"All right, then I'm going to get my knitting." + +Betty made as though to rise but Amy held her down and turned +despairingly to Mollie. + +"Mollie," she pleaded, "be reasonable. You know very well that if +Betty ever gets started with her knitting then nobody'll read the +news." + +"Knit one, purl two, knit one, purl two," sang Mollie imperturbably. +"There, now, isn't that beautiful?" + +She sprang from the seat and whirled around upon them, holding up the +almost-finished sweater for their inspection. + +"Isn't it beautiful?" she repeated enthusiastically. + +"Of course," said Grace, dryly, while Betty deftly grabbed the paper. +"It's the most beautiful and most curious thing I ever laid eyes on. +It isn't as though," she added, with biting sarcasm, "I had seen +hundreds just like it within the last month or two--" + +"Oh, you can't make me mad," said Mollie, settling down with energy +to the final finishing. "You're just jealous, that's all, and the +more you turn up your nose, the more you show your real feelings." + +"Oh, is that so?" retorted Grace, reaching out for the candy box for +the twentieth time that morning. "Well, as my kind of nose has never, +under any circumstances whatsoever, been known to turn up--" + +"Oh, do stop chattering," Mollie interrupted heartlessly. "Who cares +what kind of noses we've got? Go ahead, Betty, you'd better get +started before Grace gets to quarreling on the subject of eyelashes +or something." + +"I never quarreled with my eyelashes," said Grace haughtily. "I leave +that to other people." + +"My, isn't she conceited!" chuckled Betty. "Now I'm going to read," +she added, letting her eyes rest upon the glaring headlines of the +first page. "If you want to listen, all right; and if you want to +talk about sweaters and eyelashes--" + +"Oh, Betty, do go on," sighed Amy. "We've been waiting so long." + +"All right," said Betty obligingly; then, as the full sense of what +she read was borne in upon her, her face clouded and she bit her lip +and shook her head. + +"Girls," she began, and something in her tone made them drop their +knitting for a moment and gather anxiously about her. "Those, +those--Germans--" + +"Huns, you mean," interrupted Mollie fiercely, as she read over the +Little Captain's shoulder. + +"Have sunk another of our ships," said Betty, her lips set in a +straight line. "And--and they think the loss will be heavy. Oh, +girls, I can't read it--it's too horrible!" + +She flung down the paper, but Mollie snatched it almost before it +reached the step. Then with eyebrows drawn together, and twin spots +of red flaming in either cheek, she read the account of the disaster +from beginning to end. + +"There," she said at last, flinging down the paper and glaring about +her as though the girls themselves were at fault. "Now you see what +we're knitting sweaters for, and--and--everything! Oh, if I could +just put on a uniform, and take up a gun and--and--go after +those--those awful Huns!" + +"Goodness, if you looked like that," commented Grace, "you wouldn't +have to fire a shot. They'd all drop dead just from fright." + +"So much the better," said Mollie, beginning to knit again +ferociously. "It would be a shame to waste good ammunition on them." + +"I wonder," said Betty thoughtfully, her eyes on the far-off horizon, +"what the boys are going to do. They've seemed so mysterious lately, +and the minute you begin to question them about enlisting, they +change the subject." + +"Yes, and it's made me desperate," cried Mollie, the tempestuous, +flinging down the unfortunate sweater once more. "I know what I'd do +if I were a man, and Betty and all the rest of us girls! But either +they didn't know or they wouldn't tell. Do you suppose--" + +"They've decided to wait for the draft?" finished Grace, settling her +cushions more comfortably. "That's a funny thing to say, Mollie--about +our boys." + +"I know," said Mollie, knitting more furiously than ever. "But just +the same, I can't understand why they have been so terribly secretive +about it." + +"I guess we needn't worry about that," said Betty, although there was +a little worried line between her brows that belied her words. "Allen +wouldn't--" here she stammered, stopped and flushed, while the girls +turned laughing eyes upon her. + +"Of course," she added hastily, "I mean that none of the boys would +hesitate, when it's a question of serving his country." + +"That's all right, but you said Allen," teased Mollie, unconvinced. +"And oh, Betty, how you blushed!" + +"Nonsense!" returned Betty, blushing more than ever. "It's just +sunburn, that's all. Now do you want me to read the rest of the news, +or don't you? Because I have to finish those socks--" + +"Yes, yes, go on," cried Amy. "We won't say another word, Betty." +Which was funny, coming from quiet Amy, who usually spoke one word to +the other girls' ten. + +So Betty read the news from one end of the paper to the other, until +even those insatiable young people were content, then ran into the +cottage to get her knitting. + +"Now," she said, returning and seating herself with businesslike +alertness on the very edge of the step, "you'll see some real speed." + +"Oh, Betty, have you come to the heel?" cried Mollie, running over to +the Little Captain, and regarding the flying needles with a sort of +awe. "Please show me how. They say the Red Cross needs socks for the +boys more than they need anything else. And I know I'll never learn +to do them." + +"Oh, it's easy," returned Betty, obligingly slowing down for their +benefit, while they gathered about her, eager and bright-eyed, for +the lesson. + +They formed a pretty picture, this group of outdoor girls, with the +morning sunlight falling upon graceful figures and bent heads, ardent +little patriots, every one of them, whole-heartedly eager to give +their all for the service of their country. + +They were still engrossed in watching Betty's nimble fingers, when +the shrill and familiar whistle of the little ferryboat caught their +attention. + +"Oh, I didn't know it was time," Amy was beginning, when Mollie +interrupted her. + +"It's stopping here," she cried. "And somebody's getting off." + +"It's the boys!" cried Betty, springing to her feet, the bright color +again flooding her face. "They never told us they'd be back to-day. +There's Allen. Oh, tell me, what is it he is shouting?" + +The little ferryboat had steamed away, and four figures were racing +toward them. + +"Betty," yelled the foremost of these. "I've volunteered--I've +volunteered!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +GRIM SHADOWS OF WAR + + +"What is that he is yelling?" questioned Mollie. + +"He said something about volunteering," returned Betty. + +"Volunteering!" came from Mollie, Grace and Amy simultaneously, and +in the excitement of the moment, their knitting was completely +forgotten. + +And now while the girls are waiting for the boys to come up, let me +take just a moment to tell my new readers something concerning these +girls and the other volumes in this series of books. + +The leader of the quartette was Betty Nelson, often called the +"Little Captain." Betty was a bright, active girl, who always loved +to do things. + +Grace Ford was tall and slender, and a charming conception of young +womanhood. She had a brother, Will, who at times was rather hasty, +and occasionally this would get him into trouble, much to the +annoyance of his sister. Grace herself had one failing, if such it +could be called. She was exceedingly fond of chocolates, and was +never without some of this confection in her possession. + +Some years before there had been a mystery concerning Amy Blackford. +She had then been known by the name of Stonington, but the mystery +had been unraveled by the finding of her long lost brother, Henry +Blackford. Amy was of a quiet disposition, and more timid than any of +the others. + +The quartette was completed by Mollie Billette, often called "Billy." +Mollie was the daughter of a well-to-do widow of French ancestry, and +the girl was a bit French herself in her general make-up. + +In our first volume, entitled "The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale," the +particulars were given of the organization of a camping and tramp +club by the girls, and of how they went on a tour, which brought +them many adventures. + +After this first tour the Outdoor Girls went to Rainbow Lake, and +then took another tour, this time in a motor car. After that, they +had some glorious days on skates and iceboats while at a winter camp, +and then journeyed to Florida, where they took a trip into the wilds +of the interior, and participated in many unusual happenings. + +Returning from the land of orange groves, the girls next took a trip +to Ocean View. Here they had a glorious time bathing, and otherwise +enjoying themselves, and also solved the mystery surrounding a box +that was found in the sand. + +During those strenuous days the girls had made many friends, +including Allen Washburn, who was now a young lawyer of Deepdale. +Allen had become a particular friend of Betty's, and this friendship +seemed to be thoroughly reciprocal. + +Will Ford's particular high-school chum had been Frank Haley, and as +a consequence, Frank had been drawn into the circle, along with Roy +Anderson, another young man of the town. + +These young fellows often went off camping, and usually in the +vicinity of where the girls had planned to spend their outing days. + +Deepdale was a picturesque city of about fifteen thousand people, +located on the Argono river, which, some miles below, emptied into +Rainbow Lake. Back of Deepdale was a rich farming country, which +tended to make the town a prosperous one. + +Returning from Ocean View, the girls started on a new outing, as +related in the volume before this, entitled "The Outdoor Girls on +Pine Island." The girls occupied a bungalow, which had been turned +over for their use by an aunt of Mollie Billette. The boys were in a +camp near by. + +Quite by accident both girls and boys had stumbled upon a gypsy cave, +cleverly hidden in the underbrush, and had afterward succeeded in +rounding up the entire gypsy band, incidentally regaining some +property which had been stolen from the girls. + +Now, at the time our story opens, the Outdoor Girls were again at +Pine Island, in the cottage lent them by "Aunt Elvira"; but times had +changed, and they were no longer solely upon pleasure bent. The +grumbling, menacing unrest of war seemed in the very air they +breathed, and from dawn to evening they thought of very little else. + +Now at the ringing shout, "I've volunteered," they were on their +feet, fairly trembling with excitement and eagerness. + +"Allen, Allen!" cried Betty, the color flaming into her face. "Oh, +I'm so glad! I'm so glad!" + +"Gee, he's not the only one," cried a big, strapping lad, Frank +Haley, by name, throwing himself upon the steps, and looking up at +the girls triumphantly. "Just because he can run faster than we can, +he gets all the credit." + +"You, too, Frank?" cried Betty, turning upon him with shining eyes. + +"And here comes Roy," put in Mollie. "Did he--" + +"You just bet he did," Roy Anderson, red and perspiring, answered for +himself. "Did you ever hear of an Irishman staying out of a fight? +I'm aching already to get my hands on Fritz." + +"What's the matter with Will?" asked Grace a little anxiously, for +the young fellow coming slowly toward them with downcast eyes and +bent head was her brother. "He looks as if he'd lost his last +friend." + +Seven pairs of eyes were immediately focused upon the apparently +despondent figure, while the boys shifted uneasily and looked vaguely +troubled. + +"Hello, folks," Will saluted them, as he sank down upon the lower +step, and looked out toward the water. "Why the sudden hush?" + +For a moment no one spoke. They were all strangely embarrassed by +this unusual attitude of Will's. He had always been so frank and +outspoken. And now-- + +"Oh, for Pete's sake, say something!" he burst forth at last, looking +up at the silent group defiantly. "You were making enough noise +before, but the minute I come along, you just stop short and stare. I +didn't know I was so fascinating." + +"You're not," said Mollie promptly. + +With an impatient grunt, Will stuffed his hands into his pockets and +stalked off into the woods. + +"Well," said Grace, with a long sigh, "I never saw Will act that way +before. Now what's the matter?" + +"Indigestion, probably," said Allen, trying to pass it off. "He acts +just the way I feel when I have it. Which reminds me that I'm getting +mighty all-fired hungry." + +"Well, you don't get anything to eat," said Betty decidedly, "until +you tell us all about everything, since the day you left here so +mysteriously to the present time." + +"Seems we've got to sing for our supper--or rather, breakfast," said +Frank with a grin. "Go ahead, Allen, but be brief. I want some of +Betty's biscuits." + +"Goodness, do you suppose Betty's going to start in and cook +biscuits, now?" cried Mollie. "Why, we just got through our own +breakfast." + +"Well, we didn't," said Roy, nibbling a piece of grass for want of +something better. "And you ought to take it as a proof of our +devotion, that we didn't stop for any. We were too anxious to get +here to tell you our news." + +"And blow a little," scoffed Mollie, the irrepressible. + +"Oh, for goodness' sake stop talking," entreated Betty, with her +hands to her ears. "If the boys want biscuits they shall have them--if +I have to stay up all night to cook some for them. They can have +anything in the house, as far as I'm concerned." + +"Hear, hear!" cried the boys in chorus, looking up admiringly at her +flushed face. + +"If volunteering has that effect," Roy added, "I'm going back and do +it all over again." + +"You said it," agreed Frank. "Gee, but I'm hungry!" + +"Did you say we could have anything we wanted?" Allen was demanding +of the Little Captain in an undertone. "No exceptions?" + +"None," said Betty, dimpling. + +"Then," said Allen deliberately, his eyes fixed steadily upon her +sparkling face. "If you please--I'll take--you!" + +"Oh," gasped Betty, her eyes falling before the young lawyer's ardent +gaze, while the rich color flooded her face. "I said anything--not +anybody. Allen, please don't be foolish. They're all looking at us." + +"Well, you can't blame 'em," Allen retorted whimsically. "They're not +used to seeing two such good-looking people together," he added in +bland explanation. + +"My, don't we hate ourselves!" said Betty, dimpling again. "But go +ahead and tell us your adventures," she added, glad to change a +subject which was becoming too personal. "No story--no supper, you +know." + +"We don't want supper--we want breakfast," interrupted Frank, with a +grin. "What have you been saying to her, Allen--to get her dates +mixed like that?" + +"Allen Washburn, are you going to tell that story or are you not?" +queried Mollie, in a menacingly quiet tone of voice. "If you're not--" + +"Yes, ma'am," said Allen meekly. "Where shall I begin, please?" + +"At the beginning," said Grace sarcastically, and reached for her +candy box, grimacing to find it empty. + +"Thank you," said Allen courteously. "Well, as you know, we four +husky braves meandered from the island one bright morning in the +early part of the week to seek our fortune, as it were, in the city +of promise." + +"Yes, that's all it does do," Roy put in pessimistically. "Promise!" + +"As I was saying," Allen continued, settling himself in a more +comfortable position on the steps, and ignoring the interruption. "We +sauntered off, and straightway looked up a recruiting station." + +"Oh!" gasped Amy, hands clasped and eyes shining. "That must have +been exciting." + +"Well, I don't know," said Allen, scratching his head reflectively, +"that that part was so exciting, but wait till you hear what happened +afterward. After we found where the recruiting office was, we went to +the hotel we were stopping at, and punished a mighty big breakfast. +You see, we figured out that we were going to put our necks into the +noose, as it were, and we wanted something good and big to stand up +on." + +"Wouldn't your feet do?" asked Betty innocently. + +"Heavens, no!" replied Allen, answering the query in solemn earnest, +while the girls giggled, and the boys grinned appreciatively. "We +were so nervous by that time we weren't sure we had any feet." + +"All you had to do was to look," murmured Mollie maliciously. "You +couldn't miss 'em." + +Allen looked hurt, got up and sat on his feet. + +"If you don't see them, perhaps you'll forget about them," he offered +by way of explanation. "You don't know how sensitive I am on the +subject of feet." + +"I couldn't blame you," Mollie was beginning, when Betty broke in +with a little despairing cry for help. + +"If we don't stop them," she said, looking appealingly about her, "we +won't get any farther than breakfast. Allen, what did you do next?" + +"Next?" queried Allen, stretching his long legs and squinting up at +the sun. "Let me see. Oh yes! Having put down a breakfast that must +have added four pounds to our weight, we sauntered forth once more to +meet our doom. By that time we were so nervous, we almost mistook a +café on the corner for the recruiting station--" + +"Hey, speak for yourself, won't you?" queried Roy, adding, as he +turned to the girls with a grin, "We had to show Allen a performing +monkey on the street, and get his mind off, before we succeeded in +engineering him to the right place." + +"Gee, some fellows have a gift," said Allen, regarding Roy +admiringly. "If I could tell 'em like that, old man, I'd be Supreme +Court Justice before the month was up. + +"Well, as I was saying," he continued, "after much hesitation and +side-stepping, we at last succeeded in reaching our destination. +After that, it took ten minutes to get up nerve to go in. + +"When we had at last tremblingly ascended the stairs, we found +ourselves in a large room, with all the windows open and half a dozen +wise-looking men, whom we took to be doctors, presiding. There were +three or four other fellows in the room, come like ourselves, to be +examined. Then we were shoved behind a huge screen with half a dozen +other huskies--they looked like prize fighters to me--and told to +take our clothes off. Then--we were examined." + +"Well?" they queried, leaning forward eagerly. + +"Well," said Allen, waving his hand in a deprecating gesture, "of +course, being the perfect specimens of manhood we are, the committee +jumped at us." + +"If they'd jumped on you they'd have shown more taste," remarked +Mollie unflatteringly. + +"But, Allen," put in Grace, who had listened to the recital, with a +troubled frown on her forehead, "was Will with you?" + +Allen's glance fell and he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. + +"No," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +NEWS FROM THE FRONT + + +There was another awkward pause, which nobody seemed able to break. + +"But Will went to town with you," Amy remarked at last. + +"Yes, he went with us," Allen agreed reluctantly. "But after we +reached the hotel, and were making our plans for enlisting, he +refused to go with us, saying he had business of his own to attend +to. What that business was none of us know, for we were getting ready +to catch the train for here when he rejoined us. However," he added +loyally, "I'd bet my bottom dollar that Will has good reasons for +everything he does, and when he gets ready he'll tell us about them. +In the meantime, how about some biscuits, Betty?" + +"Yes, how about them?" added Roy, rousing to sudden life. "We've done +our duty--now we want the reward." + +"Goodness, you haven't done anything," said Grace loftily, as the +Little Captain vanished within the house, followed by black-eyed +Mollie. "You just sit around and let all the others do the work and +then take the credit to yourself." + +"That's all right if you can get away with it," grinned Allen. +"Besides," he added, with a humorous glance at Grace's languid +figure, "you don't look the soul of energy yourself this morning, +Miss Ford." + +"Looks are often deceitful," retorted Grace, languidly turning the +heel of her sock. "If you had to knit all day long, every day in the +week, you'd find out what work is." + +"Well, you don't _have_ to do it," returned Roy placidly. + +"Yes," said gentle Amy, roused to sudden indignation. "That's all the +credit we get. Goodness knows, we're glad enough to do the work, but +we do like it to be appreciated." + +Roy turned half way round, and regarded Amy's flying fingers and bent +head soberly for a moment. + +"I'm sorry," he said then, so gravely that she looked up in surprise, +and even Grace stopped knitting. "I didn't mean that we fellows don't +appreciate what you girls are doing for us. We do--and there'll come +a time when we'll appreciate it still more. When we're in the +trenches up to our knees in mud and water, when the wind finds the +chinks in our clothing, and freezes us to the bone, when--" + +"Oh, please don't!" cried Amy, clapping her hands to her ears. "I +can't even bear to think of those things." + +"Yet those are some of the things we've got to think about," said +Roy, still with that unusual gravity. "It's because you girls have +thought of those things, that you're giving your time and energy to +preparing for them, and warding them off. Please don't ever again +think that we're ungrateful." + +"We won't," said Amy softly, fighting back a sudden mistiness which +had come before her eyes. "We'll just go on knitting ten times harder +than before." + +"I think we're missing something," came Betty's voice from the +doorway, where she stood with her arm intertwined in Mollie's. "The +biscuits are in the oven now, and we're going to talk to you while +they're baking." + +"Will it take long?" asked Roy, sniffing hungrily. + +"I like that," said Betty, with a little grimace, as she flung +herself upon the top step, pulling Mollie down beside her. "When Roy +has to choose between biscuits and us--" + +"We're not in it," finished Mollie with a merry laugh. + +Roy looked pained. + +"I never said that, did I?" he inquired. "I haven't had the painful +necessity of making a choice yet." + +"What were you talking about so earnestly when we came out?" queried +Betty. "Roy looked solemn, Grace looked surprised, Amy looked +exalted, and Allen was thoughtful, while Frank looked as though--well, +as though he were seeing visions." + +"All I have to do is turn my head to see visions," Frank returned +gallantly, suiting the action to the word. "Gee, I never saw a crowd +of prettier girls." + +"Hey, you're going to get an extra biscuit for that," put in Roy, +raising himself on his elbow and looking alarmed. "Just because +you're a better flatterer than I am--" + +"Oh, hush, hush," protested Betty, showing all her dimples--Allen was +watching, so we have his authority for it. "You boys can never get to +the point, unless we happen to be talking of something to eat. Allen, +what were they talking about?" + +Allen roused himself from the happy reverie into which Betty's +dimples had thrown him, and responded good-naturedly. Allen was +invariably good-natured. + +"We were talking about some of the things we may be up against, when +we find ourselves in the trenches, face to face with the enemy," he +said. "Also we were saying that these sweaters, and mufflers and +socks you are knitting, will come in mighty handy over there." + +A shadow crossed Betty's bright face, and she leaned forward to pick +up the discarded paper she had thrown upon the porch. + +"'The enemy attacked in force our lines south of Cambrai,'" she read, +with puckered brow. "'The enemy succeeded in gaining a foothold in +our first line trenches, but were later driven back. The fighting on +both sides was sanguinary, and heavy losses were sustained!'" + +She flung the paper from her, and regarded her friends with flaming +eyes, and both little fists clenched close at her sides. + +"It doesn't seem as though it _could_ be real!" she cried. "Men +killing each other off by the hundreds and all for--what? Oh, it's +cruel, cruel!" + +"Of course it's cruel," said Allen grimly. "But so were the Huns +cruel, centuries ago. The German people have simply never advanced +beyond that state. They're still in the first stages of +civilization." + +"Yes, and the worst part of this kind of warfare," said Frank, his +eyes fixed thoughtfully upon the horizon, "is that each man in the +army is simply a unit in a great machine. In the old days, when they +had cavalry charges and hand-to-hand fighting there was some romance, +some adventure, some chance for personal bravery." + +"Well, of course there is still some chance for daring," remarked +Allen, "especially in the aviation branch of the service." + +"In the army too," added Roy. "Soldiers are being decorated every day +for some special act of bravery." + +"I know all that," replied Frank. "But there's nothing particularly +spectacular about it." + +"And yet," said Betty thoughtfully, "I should think that kind of +fighting would take more courage than the other. To stand day after +day in those horrible trenches waiting for orders. And then when they +do finally make a charge, nothing much seems to be gained by it." + +"Yes, the waiting must be the hardest part," agreed Allen. "We met an +Englishman in town," he added, smiling at the recollection, "and he +was a mighty interesting chap." + +"You said it," agreed Frank heartily. "He's been through some of the +heaviest fighting, and to hear him tell some of his experiences is +better than a dozen lectures. I wish we could have brought him along +so you girls could have heard him." + +"I don't," Roy interjected. "He was too good-looking." + +"All the more reason why you should have brought him," yawned Grace. +"It would be a treat to have around something good to look at." + +"Whew," whistled Frank. "That was a bad one, Gracie. We know we're +not Adonises--" + +"I'm glad you know something," Grace was beginning, when once more +Betty interrupted her. + +"Oh dear!" she said, "if you don't hurry, the biscuits will be done, +and we won't have heard anything about the nice Englishman. And I'm +very much interested." + +"Oh, you are, are you?" said Allen, sitting up. "I begin to think we +made a mistake in mentioning that Englishman. I think we must have +dreamed him, fellows." + +"Oh, he was real enough," put in Frank. "But I shouldn't wonder if he +dreamt some of those adventures. They sounded too good to be true." + +"Perhaps you've heard that old saying," Grace remarked, with her +usual languor, "that truth is stranger than fiction?" + +"Oh, hurry," begged Betty. "The biscuits are almost done; I can smell +them." + +"So can I," said Roy, with another longing sniff. "Don't let 'em +burn, will you, Betty?" + +"I will, if somebody doesn't satisfy my curiosity, right away," +threatened the Little Captain, her lips set threateningly. "Now, will +you be good?" + +"Gee, Allen, did you hear that?" Roy's expression was pathetic. +"Hurry it up, will you?" + +"Well," began Allen with aggravating deliberation, "he was a tall, +lean, rangy fellow with sandy hair and twinkling eyes. Seems he had +been wounded several times, and the last shot had cost him his right +arm." + +"Oh," cried Mollie, her eyes like two saucers. "How did that happen?" + +"Bomb exploding close to him shot it all to pieces," explained Allen +cryptically. "Of course it had to be amputated, permanently disabling +him. That's why he was sent across to America--to stimulate +recruiting." + +"As if we needed any stimulating," said Mollie indignantly. "You +don't have to stand behind our boys with a gun to make them go." + +"Of course not," agreed Allen. "Just the same, it's almost impossible +for us over here, with the broad Atlantic separating us from the +scene of conflict, actually to realize what we're up against. That's +why it's good to have a fellow like this Englishman, who has really +been right in the thick of it, relate his own experiences. While he +was talking you could almost hear the thunder of cannon and the +bursting of shells. I tell you, we fellows felt like shouldering our +guns, and marching over right away." + +"Oh, it's wonderful to be a man these days," sighed Mollie. "You can +get right in the thick of it, while all we can do is stay home and +root for you." + +"Well, that's a lot," said Frank soberly. "Just to feel that you +girls are backing us up, and that there's somebody who cares whether +we give a good account of ourselves or not, makes all the difference +in the world." + +"But that's not all we can do," cried Betty, her eyes shining with +the light of resolution. "There's real work enough to keep us busy +all day long. Girls, I've got a plan!" + +"What?" they cried, leaning forward eagerly. + +"I'm going to join the Red Cross!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE POWDER MILL + + +"Who's game for a paddle?" + +"I am!" + +"And I!" + +"Oh, it's the most wonderful night in the world for canoeing!" + +"And there's going to be a moon, too!" + +"Nobody seems to be eager or anything like that," remarked Frank, +strolling out on the veranda, and regarding the enthusiastic group +with a smile on his lips. "Why didn't you suggest something they +might agree to, Allen?" + +Allen, who had indeed made the suggestion, rose lazily to his feet, +and stretched out a hand to Betty. + +"I never make any suggestions that aren't good," he replied. "Come +along, Betty. It's a crime to waste a minute of this wonderful +night." + +"May we, Mrs. Irving?" queried Betty, smiling up at their chaperon, +who was the same who had shared their adventures, during that other +eventful summer on Pine Island. "You know you love canoeing as much +as the rest of us." + +"Of course we'll all go," Mrs. Irving assented readily. "Only we've +had a long day, and mustn't stay out too late." + +"I speak for Mrs. Irving in my canoe!" called out Betty. + +"No, mine!" "Ours!" were other cries. + +Merrily the girls ran into the house to pick up the wraps which were +always necessary on the water at night, and in another minute they +had rejoined the boys. + +"Are you glad I enlisted, Betty?" queried Allen, laying a hand on +Betty's arm, and holding her back. + +"Glad?" answered Betty, looking up at him with eyes that shone in the +starlight. "Yes, I'm glad that you knew the only right thing to do, +and I'm glad that you did it so promptly. But, Allen--" + +"Yes?" he queried, finding her little hand and holding it tight. + +"I--I'm like George Washington, I guess," she evaded, looking up at +him with a crooked little smile. + +"I don't want you to tell a lie," he countered very softly. "I want +the truth, little Betty. What were you going to say?" + +Betty's eyes drooped, and they walked along in silence for a minute. + +"Well?" he queried at last, studying her averted profile. "You're not +afraid to tell me, Betty?" + +"N-no," she answered, still with her head turned away. "I was only +going to say, that while I'm glad--oh, very glad in one way, I--I'm +not so very glad in another." + +"What other?" he asked, leaning over her. "Betty, Betty, tell me, +dear." + +Betty hesitated for another moment, then threw up her head defiantly. + +"Well," she said, "if you must know--I don't want you to go. I--I'll +be--lonesome--" + +"Betty," he cried imploringly, his heart beating like a trip-hammer, +"Betty--wait--" + +But she had slipped from him, and had run ahead to join the others, +so that he had no other course but to follow her. His head was in the +clouds--his feet scarcely seemed to touch the ground. + +"Well, it's about time you realized you were with us," Mollie +remarked as Betty, breathless with the run and the beating of her +heart, joined them. "We began to think you had eloped for fair this +time." + +Betty laughed happily. + +"I'm sure I don't know where we'd elope to," she remarked, stepping +one dainty foot exactly in the center of the unstable craft. "We'd +either have to swim or wait for the ferry, and I don't exactly know +which would be the more uncomfortable." + +"I'd prefer the swim," said Roy, arranging the pillows carefully +behind Mollie's straight little back. To quote the latter: She would +much rather do things for herself--boys were so clumsy--but they +always looked so funny and downhearted when she told them about it, +that, just in the interest of ordinary kindness, she had to humor +them! + +"Well," said Allen, as he dipped his paddle into the still water, +guiding the light craft from the shore, "where shall we go?" + +"'Where do we go from here, boys, where do we go from here?'" sang +Roy. + +"'Anywhere from Harlem to a Jersey City pier,'" finished Frank, +wickedly splashing some drops of water on Grace's immaculate white +dress. + +"That's sensible, isn't it?" retorted the latter, favoring the +offender with a look of cold disdain. "Since we don't happen to be +any more than sixty miles from Harlem or Jersey City, I'm sure Allen +appreciated your suggestion." + +"Oof!" said Frank. "I can't open my mouth without putting my foot in +it." + +"That's no compliment to your mouth," returned Grace. "Frank, if you +don't stop splashing me with that horrid water, I'm going to get out +and walk." + +"That would be jumping from the frying pan into the fire," returned +Frank with a grin, while Mollie, who was in the next canoe, chuckled +audibly. + +"Goodness," said Betty, as Allen shortened his stroke to bring the +canoes abreast. "It's almost impossible to think of there being a war +on a night like this. Everything is so calm and peaceful." + +"Yes, we haven't even been touched by it yet," said Allen, his mood +sobering. "The Englishman to-day was telling us that nobody in +England began to realize they were at war, until the boys began to +come back wounded and disabled." + +"Oh, I can't bear to think of it," cried Amy, who, in the canoe with +Will, still silent and aloof, had scarcely spoken a word till now. +"It seems as if there ought to be some other way of settling disputes +these days." + +"That's what every nation thinks, except Germany and her allies," +returned Frank. "As it is, we've got to fight her as we'd fight a mad +dog--wipe the whole German nation off the map, or at least, bring it +to its knees." + +"That reminds me of something one of the recruiting officers told me +the other day," put in Allen, with a whimsical smile. "He said he had +talked to hundreds of American enlisted men, and the great majority +of them were eager to learn German." + +"I don't admire their taste," put in Mollie, with spirit. "I hate the +very sound of it." + +"Well, the soldier's idea is," explained Allen, "that if he learns +the language he'll be able to flirt with the _frauleins_ when he gets +to Berlin." + +"Again I don't admire their taste," remarked Mollie spitefully. +"Almost all the German girls I've ever seen are too stout to suit +me." + +"Goodness, I had a German ancestor away back somewhere," remarked Amy +anxiously. "Maybe that's why I'm beginning to gain flesh so fast. +You've got me worried." + +The boys laughed, but the girls answered reassuringly. + +"It isn't your remote German ancestor that's giving you flesh, Amy," +said Grace condescendingly. "It's eating three hearty meals a day, +and the sitting still knitting from morning to night. We girls are +used to being on the go all the time." + +"What's that you said?" asked Frank, bringing his eyes down from the +stars to the lazy figure in the white dress. "I've never seen you +when you weren't taking life easy." + +"What!" said Grace, sitting up straight, the picture of indignation. +"How about our walking tour--didn't I walk just as far, and as much +as the other girls then? And how about swimming?" + +"Take it back! take it back!" cried Frank. "If going down on my knees +will help any--" + +"Don't be a goose," responded Grace shortly, settling herself once +more in a comfortable position. "Just a little bit of going down on +your knees, and we'll be in the water. Have a chocolate?" + +"No, thanks," said Frank absently. His eye had caught a sudden flare +of light, that had flickered for a moment and then disappeared. + +"Hey, Allen," he yelled. "Did you see that light--over there, to the +right?" + +"Yes," said Allen, looking puzzled. "And I don't remember ever seeing +signs of life over in that direction." + +"Isn't that about where the old powder mill stands?" asked Betty, and +Allen turned to her quickly. + +"Betty," he said, his eyes shining, "you've got it. The government +has bought that property, and started the old mill to working. By +George, this promises to be interesting." + +"There it is again!" cried Frank, while Grace strained her eyes +eagerly toward the point. "What do you say to paddling over there and +having a look?" + +"It's up to the girls," replied Allen, watching Betty's face eagerly. +"What they say goes." + +"And they say 'go,'" smiled Betty whimsically. "Do you suppose we'd +go back without solving the mystery? Lead on, Macduff--we follow." + +So Allen and Frank paddled hard toward the bend in the lake, the +other two canoes, which had fallen somewhat behind, quickening the +stroke to catch up with them, sensing that something unusual was +afoot. + +As the canoes in the lead rounded the bend, those in them saw that +indeed the old mill had been renovated, but that the flame they had +seen had come, not from the old mill, but from a small bonfire +started farther in the woods. + +And that was not all. What made them catch their breath and signal +for silence, was the figure of a man bent close to the flickering +fire, intent upon deciphering the writing on a long piece of paper, +that looked suspiciously like an official document. + +So silent had been their approach that the man had not even changed +his position. Luckily the canoes were screened by heavy, overhanging +branches of trees, so that the occupants could observe without being +observed. + +Silently the other two canoes joined them, and noiselessly, scarcely +daring to breathe, the young folks watched. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A SHOT IN THE DARK + + +In the minds of each of the young people in the canoes, one word kept +repeating itself over and over again: "Spy, spy, spy!" + +Since the war had begun, the country had been overrun with them, that +they knew; but out here on this remote island... Yet there was +something about the very posture of the man, his hunched-up figure, +the nervous twitching of the fingers that held the document, that +branded him. + +As they watched, he started to fold up the paper, glancing stealthily +about meanwhile; then, as though satisfied that no one was watching, +he picked up the heavy bag that lay beside him, evidently preparing +for flight. + +Betty, a little tense figure in the bottom of the boat, uttered a +gasp of dismay, as Allen began carefully to lower himself into the +shallow water. + +The man on shore heard the slight sound and turned swiftly, staring +suspiciously into the thick shadows of the foliage. Then did the boys +and girls literally hold their breath. + +After a few seconds, which seemed an eternity to the taut nerves of +the watchers, the man turned with a guttural growl, and started +cautiously to make off into the denser woodland beyond. + +In a second, Allen was out of the boat, and lending a hand to the +gallant Little Captain, who would not be outdone in any adventure, no +matter how perilous. + +The other boys and girls followed, silent as ghosts, their training +in woodcraft standing them in good stead. For an instant, they stood +in a tense, excited group on shore, Mrs. Irving in their midst. + +"I'll tell you what we'll do," Allen was saying, and they had to lean +close to catch the words, which were barely above a whisper. "There +must be a guard around this mill somewhere. We'll get him, and head +that fellow off." + +"I'll take you to a guard," said Will suddenly. "We'll find him at +the other end of the mill." + +Without another word, he turned and led the way, careful of the +betraying snap of twigs, along the shore, toward the mill. Even in +that moment of tense excitement, the girls and boys looked at his +suddenly stiffened back in surprise. It was the first time since he +had come ashore that morning, that his comrades had been able to +discover anything of the old Will. + +However, they had little time for the solving of riddles. There was +work to be done, work, which in these stirring times, might perhaps +help to make history. + +As they neared the mill, Will motioned to them to stay where they +were, and ran ahead to intercept a guard. A moment later he returned +with the latter, and the whole party made its way hurriedly and +stealthily in a roundabout direction, which would almost certainly +intercept the spy--if spy he were. + +"Oh, Betty," whispered Grace, close to the Little Captain's ear. +"I've always been horribly afraid of spies. Do you suppose he's got a +gun?" + +"I never heard of a spy that didn't," returned Betty grimly. "But +don't worry--we have one, too." + +"Better not talk," warned Roy, close at their side. "A whisper may +mean a bullet." + +Grace almost screamed, but Betty's firm little hand across her mouth +smothered it into something between a sob and a squeak. + +"Hush," whispered Betty fiercely. "You'll spoil everything." + +At that moment, the sharp crack of a twig somewhere to the left of +them in the woods, made them stop suddenly and stand motionless, +listening. + +Then with a shout, Will rushed forward, followed by the other boys +and the home guard man. + +"Hands up!" shouted the latter, leveling his pistol at something that +moved among the bushes. "Stand where you are." + +Like a flash of lightning the man wriggled out from his cover, and +made a dash for liberty. With a yell, the guard ran forward, firing +as he went, with the boys close at his heels. + +"Oh, oh, they'll get shot!" wailed Amy, her hands before her face. "I +don't see why we couldn't have left the old thing alone, anyway." + +"That's a nice thing to say!" cried Mollie, trembling with +excitement. "Is that your idea of patriotism, to let a spy get away +right under our very noses?" + +"It's a good deal better than having the boys shot right under our +very noses," retorted Amy with spirit. + +"We'll be lucky if we don't get shot ourselves," said Grace, almost +in hysterics. "Oh, there goes another one. I wonder who got shot that +time." + +"Let's go and see," said Betty, pale, but determined, "It isn't like +us to stand in the background, when there may be something to do." + +"But, Betty," wailed Amy, "we may get shot." + +"Well, then, we shall," cried Betty, turning upon her fiercely. "That +may have been the spy that was shot, or it may be one of our boys. +Are we going to stay here, or are we going to find out?" + +"I--I'm sorry, Betty," quavered poor Amy. "Of course, we'll go." + +Without another word the Little Captain turned and, with Mollie at +her side, made off in the direction the boys had taken. Amy and +Grace, arms entwined about each other, followed a little lingeringly +in the rear of their bolder companions. + +They had not gone far, when they heard the welcome sound of masculine +voices in excited altercation, and the heavy tramp of feet coming +toward them. + +"Oh," sighed Betty, her lip quivering, now that the need of courage +had passed, "they never sounded so good to me before." + +"Thank heaven you're safe," cried Allen, while relief banished the +fear in his eyes. "I don't know what we could have been thinking of, +to leave you all alone--" + +"But did you get him?" cried Mollie impatiently. + +"No, worse luck," responded Will disgustedly, while the guard mopped +his perspiring forehead. "That spy was a slippery customer. We did +get something out of it, though." + +"What?" they cried eagerly. + +"This," said Will, holding up something that gleamed white in the +moonlight. "It's a letter, and it ought to tell us a number of things +we want to know about Mr. Adolph Hensler." + +"Oh, is that his name?" cried Betty eagerly. "That tells us a good +deal without even opening the letter." + +"It's German enough," agreed Will. "But, gee! I'm sorry we didn't +catch the fellow. The government needs him." + +"But we're so glad you didn't get shot," Amy ventured mildly. "We +heard that last one back there in the woods, and we thought--" + +"We'd gotten ours?" grinned Roy. "Well, we hadn't--not yet." + +"It was too near for comfort, just the same," Frank added. "I could +almost hear the wind from it as it whizzed past me." + +Here Betty, who had been watching Allen closely, uttered a sharp +exclamation, and all turned to her. + +"Allen," she cried, for he had swayed a little and rested his hand +against a tree as though to steady himself, "why didn't you tell us? +Oh, Allen! It's blood!" + +"Nothing at all," said Allen, laughing a little unsteadily, as Mrs. +Irving and the girls and boys gathered about him anxiously. "A little +thing will bleed like a shambles sometimes. It's nothing--Betty--" + +But Betty, with a little catch in her breath, was tearing aside the +soft shirt, which was clotted with blood at the shoulder. + +"Oh, Allen, Allen!" she was murmuring over and over in a way that +sent the blood pounding madly to Allen Washburn's head, and made the +wound a blessing. "Why didn't you tell me? Oh, your poor shoulder! +Some one get some water, quick," she ordered imperiously, turning to +the anxious group. "I don't think it's serious, but we must stop this +bleeding. Please hurry." + +And hurry they did, bringing water from a near-by spring in cups they +expertly improvised from leaves as they had done so many times just +for the fun of it. + +Then the boys produced some spotless white handkerchiefs, which +served as a makeshift bandage, till they could reach the cottage. The +bullet, as Betty had said, had not much more than grazed the +shoulder, yet the wound had bled profusely, and Allen was beginning +to feel a little sick and dizzy, from the loss of blood. + +When at last all had been done, that it was possible to do, Allen was +helped down to the canoe, and they paddled home, a very much sobered +group of young people. + +"Never mind," said Allen, in an attempt to lift the general +depression, as they neared the cottage. "We found the letter anyway, +which may be of considerable help to the government. And what's one +shoulder more or less in the cause?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MOONLIGHT AND MYSTERY + + +The moon made a rippling path of silver upon the water, a soft wind +whispered drowsily through the trees, and far off in the depths of +the woodland, an owl hooted plaintively. Ordinarily, the romantic +paddle back to the island would have been filled with delight for the +Outdoor Girls and their four boy friends, but tonight the profuse +beauty all about them passed unnoticed. + +Betty, sitting beside Allen in the bottom of the canoe, while Frank +and Grace paddled, was very pale and silent. However, the others +talked enough to make up for her silence. + +"What do you suppose is in the letter?" said Mollie, for perhaps the +hundredth time. + +"How do you suppose we know?" responded Will, exasperated. "We can't +very well read it until we get home; and then perhaps there won't be +anything important in it. Gee, if we'd only gotten that fellow!" + +"Well, it's of no use to cry over spilled milk," said Frank +philosophically. "We were mighty lucky to get the letter. Allen's the +only one that ought to kick--he got the rough end of the deal." + +"Yes," said Betty fiercely; "and we ought to get that man for +shooting him. The coward!" + +Allen laughed softly, and put a hand over Betty's little clenched +one. + +"I don't suppose he meant to shoot me, especially," he said. "It was +my fault for getting in the way of the bullet." + +"Yes, that's a mighty bad habit to get into," remarked Roy dryly, +"especially in these times, when we're more than likely to get a +chance to exercise it." + +"Ooh!" squealed Amy, giving a sudden splash with her paddle, that +sent a geyser of spray all about her, causing several loud protests. +"I wish you'd stop talking about such things. I'd like to stop +shivering for about five minutes." + +The girls giggled hysterically and felt more natural. + +"Goodness," sighed Grace, after five minutes of silence, during which +each had been busy with his or her own thoughts. "This paddle never +seemed so long to me before." + +"Thanks," said Frank. "May I ask whether you are referring to the +company?" + +"I wasn't even thinking of the company," retorted Grace ungraciously. + +"Gee, we must be impressive," murmured Roy. "She doesn't even know +we're around." + +"Stop paddling, Frank," suggested Mollie maliciously, "and see how +soon she'd know you weren't around." + +Obediently Frank drew his paddle from the water, and Grace, who had +only been making a pretense of doing her share, looked around +indignantly. + +"Well, you can't expect me to do it all," she said, and with a sigh +of utter resignation, Frank resumed his work. + +"Say, fellows," he said, "isn't that just like a girl?" + +"What's that?" cried Amy suddenly, making them jump nervously. + +"What?" queried Grace in a voice scarcely above a whisper, while the +rest looked for an explanation from Amy to the shadowy woodland and +back again. + +"It--it was a noise," explained Amy, incoherently, "like a man +moving, and I was sure--I--saw a--couple of eyes watching us--" + +"For heaven's sake!" cried Allen, raising himself suddenly in the +canoe, "put on more steam, you fellows! We've got to get the girls +out of this. What do you say, Mrs. Irving?" turning to their +chaperon, who had been a silent spectator until the moment. + +"By all means," she said decisively. "We can face these mysteries +better by daylight, and we've had enough excitement for one night." + +So they all paddled hard while the girls' eyes remained fixed in +half-fearful, half-hopeful expectation upon the shadowy shore. For +these girls were outdoor girls, and adventure was the breath of life +to them. + +However, nothing else happened to disturb the calm of a perfect +summer night, and a few minutes later they landed at the pier, and +hastily fastened the canoes. + +"Now for a light and the contents of that letter," cried Will, his +eyes gleaming with anticipation. "We'll soon find out whether Mr. +Adolph Hensler was a regular, honest-to-goodness spy, or just an +impostor. How about it, Allen?" he went on, as the latter stumbled +over a stone, and Will hooked an arm through his. "Feeling pretty +much all in, are you?" + +"A little unsteady on my pins, as our friend Captain Kidd would say," +Allen replied, though his lips were set with the effort to walk +steadily. "It's funny what a little scratch will do to a fellow." + +"It wasn't such a little scratch, old man," said Will soberly. "If it +had hit you more directly, you'd have been in for a pretty long +siege. As it is, I'm afraid you'll have to lie low for a week or so. +Here we are. Now, just a couple of steps, old fellow--" + +Allen was, in truth, weaker than he thought, for each step seemed +mountains high, and Frank had to grasp his other arm, before they +finally made the floor of the porch, and succeeded in getting him +across the threshold. + +"Never mind," whispered Mollie, slipping a comforting arm about +Betty's shoulders as they followed slowly. "He isn't hurt seriously, +dear, and by to-morrow he'll be feeling all right again." + +"I know," said Betty, a little catch in her breath. "It isn't so bad +now, but I was just thinking what it would be like, if he were +wounded on the battlefield, with no one to look after him--and--and--" + +"Oh, Betty, we just mustn't think of things like that!" said Mollie, +her voice quivering. "No matter how we feel, we've just got to keep +on smiling for the boys' sake." + +"I know," said Betty, straightening up with a pathetic little attempt +at a smile. "We'll all have to say like the little boy that fell down +and hurt himself, 'I'm not cryin'; I'm laughin'.' Yes, we're coming." +This last was interpolated by way of encouragement to Frank, who had +been sent back to look for them. + +They found Allen propped up in a huge armchair before a fire, which +had been hastily laid in the grate, looking rather pale and wan, but +tremendously interested in the proceedings, nevertheless. + +"Betty," he said pleadingly, stretching out a hand to her. + +Without a word she went over to him, taking it in both her own. + +"I don't want you to go out of my sight," he whispered, while the +others thoughtfully looked the other way. "My shoulder doesn't ache +when you're around," he added whimsically, knowing how clearly Betty +saw through him; "but when you go away, the ache in it is--fiendish!" + +"I won't go away," Betty promised, touching the bandaged shoulder +gently. + +"Never?" he queried eagerly, twisting around so he could see her +face. "Is that a promise, Betty?" + +"While your shoulder hurts," she added quickly, while the color, +which did not come from the fire, flooded her face. "I--I hate to be +cross with you when you're not feeling well," she added, trying to be +severe, "but if you don't stop--looking at me--Allen... See, +they're waiting to read the letter!" + +[Illustration: WILL LEANED FORWARD, REGARDING THE PAPER CLOSELY.] + +"Does that mean I have to stop looking at you?" queried Allen, with a +smile. "Oh, well, I'll not complain, if you'll only keep on holding +my hand, Betty. I'd have a chronic bullet wound all the rest of my +life--" + +"Well, when the invalid and hero of the occasion is ready," Will +broke in, his patience at an end, "we should be pleased to read a +document, which probably will seem dull and uninteresting to him +beside what he has to say--" + +"Oh, Will, please don't talk so much," cried Grace. "If you don't +hurry I'll be so sleepy it wouldn't bother me if Adolph Hensler +turned out to be the Kaiser himself." + +"Yes, speed up, old man," Roy added. "Expectation may be better than +realization, but I don't believe it." + +"Well," said Will, opening the letter which had not been sealed, with +exasperating deliberation, "we shall see--what we shall see." + +He leaned forward, regarding the paper closely in the yellow +lamplight, while the others crowded eagerly about him. + +"Well--what-do-you-know-about-that!" he said slowly, pushing the +paper from him disgustedly. "All in code--and a code that will need +an expert to figure it out. Gee, that's a mean trick, that is!" + +Frank picked up the paper and pored over it for a moment, while the +rest watched him anxiously. + +"Yes, that's a stiff one," he said at last. "I guess there's no use +in our wasting time over it." + +"It proves one thing anyway," put in Allen, from his corner. "The +paper is important, and our friend to-night is undoubtedly what we +thought he was." + +"Much good that does us," said Will, morosely folding the paper and +stuffing it carefully into his pocket. "Of course, it's better than +nothing, and we'll get it into official hands just as soon as we can; +but we certainly ought to have caught that rascal." + +"Say!" exclaimed Roy suddenly, his eyes gleaming with the light of +adventure, "maybe it isn't too late yet. Unless Adolph, the spy, had +a boat or swam to the nearest island, which is more than a mile away, +he's still on this island somewhere. We've got our good old trusties +over in the big tent, and there's a bare chance we might be able to +round him up." + +"No, you don't!" said Grace decidedly, while all the girls looked +startled. "You're going to use your guns to keep that man away from +here. Do you suppose we're going to lie awake all night listening for +shots?" + +"Oh, all right," said Roy, "I'm properly squelched." + +"Let's go to bed," yawned Grace, "I'm dying by inches. And, oh, +Mollie, dear, don't forget to bring the candy box!" + +Half an hour later the lights in the little cottage were out and the +boys, all except Allen, who had been made as comfortable as possible +in the house, were taking turns at standing guard outside. + +Despite the quiet beauty and peace of the night, the girls found it +almost impossible to sleep. They tossed and dozed, and waked and +dozed again until, toward daylight, they fell into a restless, uneasy +sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ROBBED + + +Crack! Crack! + +The girls started to a sitting posture and regarded each other +fearfully. + +"What is it?" cried Mollie, her eyes big and round in the semi-dark. +"Betty, what are you doing?" + +"That was a shot," responded Betty, her voice quivering with +excitement. "I've been listening for it all night. Who's coming--" + +"Oh, dear!" wailed Amy. "I knew some one would get killed! It's worse +than some awful nightmare." + +But Betty was already running from the room, with Mollie close at her +heels. Reluctantly, Grace and Amy slipped on their robes and slippers +and followed. + +Betty almost ran into Mrs. Irving on the landing, and gasped an +apology. + +"Oh, dear, what do you suppose it is?" she panted, as they went on +down the stairs together. "If another of the boys is hurt--" + +But at that moment the boys themselves came bursting in upon them, +rumpled, sheepish and out of temper, to confront the excited girls in +the lower hall. + +"What do you know about that?" cried Roy disgustedly. "If I'm not the +biggest fool that ever lived, I'll eat my hat." + +"Far be it from me to stop you," growled Will. "He must have passed +near enough to touch you, and you let him get away." + +"Well, you needn't rub it in," retorted Roy, turning upon him +savagely, while the girls looked from one to the other +uncomprehendingly. "You ought to know I'm sore enough without having +you find fault." + +"Cut it out, fellows," Frank put in peaceably. "It wasn't anybody's +fault; just hard luck, that's all." + +"But what?" Mollie interrupted impatiently. "What happened?" + +"Well, you see it was like this," began Will, still in a bad temper. +"We fellows decided that our friend, Adolph Hensler, might have some +mistaken longings for the code letter he dropped, and might follow us +and try to steal it back. So we thought we'd set a trap for him by +keeping watch, turn and turn about, in such a position that he +couldn't possibly see us." + +"Yes, and that's about all," Roy, speaking bitterly, took the story +away from Will, "except that it was yours truly's turn at sentry +duty, and he went to sleep, leaving Adolph a clear field." + +"And did he really come back?" asked Betty, glancing apprehensively +over her shoulder as though she was afraid the rascal might be close +at hand. + +"Yes, he really did," said Roy, still bitterly. "And if I hadn't +happened to see him coming out of the window--" + +"Out of the window!" echoed Grace, who, with Amy, had decided that +the lower hall with company was more to be desired than a room +upstairs alone. "Oh, Roy, from this house?" + +"Since this is the only one for three miles around, I suppose it +was," said Roy, with biting sarcasm. + +"But he may have been in our room," cried Amy, beginning to shiver +again. + +"Very likely," said Will grimly, while Mrs. Irving looked decidedly +worried. "The one good thing about the whole affair is, that he +didn't get the letter." + +"Oh, bother the letter," cried Mollie, cross because she could not +stop trembling. "I--I wish it were daylight. I never wanted to see +the sun so much." + +"Well, it is, almost," said Frank, waving his hand toward the east +where a dim grey veil was replacing the blackness of night. "Adolph +must have been hanging around for some time, before he got the chance +he wanted." + +"Before I went to sleep," put in Roy moodily. + +"But didn't you follow him?" queried Betty, eagerly. + +"Of course," said Will, "until he disappeared in the woods; and you +might just as well hunt for a needle in a haystack, as look for him +there. Besides, we wanted to see if you girls were all right." + +"Well, we're not," said Grace dispiritedly. "We didn't have half +enough sleep, and now we've been scared to death for the second time +in one night." + +"Well," said Mrs. Irving, coming out of a brown study, and speaking +decidedly. "There's nothing to be gained by standing here. Probably +none of us will be able to sleep any more to-night, but we can at +least get dressed. Come, girls, we don't want to add sickness to our +problems." + +"This time we're all going to watch," Will called after them, as they +started up the stairs. "If Adolph comes back again, he won't get away +so easily." + +Slowly the girls reentered their room, and were relieved to find that +the long night with all its weird suggestions and imaginings, was +really over. Beds and dressers were distinctly visible in the faint +grey light that filtered into the room. Soon the sun would be up. + +"Oh, I'm so tired," sighed Mollie, sinking down on the edge of her +bed and gazing about her disconsolately. "I feel as if I ought to be +tremendously excited, but I'm too sleepy to care much about +anything." + +"Wait till the sun comes up," said Betty, recovering a little of her +old cheeriness. "That makes everything look different. I wonder," she +added, as if the thought had not been in her mind all the time, "how +Allen is. The noise didn't even seem to disturb him. I think I'll ask +Mrs. Irving if I can go--and--see----" + +"Why, of course you can," said Mrs. Irving, who happened to be +passing the door at that particular minute, and looking in at her +smilingly. "I was just going to visit the patient myself; so if you +hurry and get dressed, we can go together." + +It is safe to say that Betty was fully dressed, to the last little +pattings and fluffings of her blue morning dress, before ten minutes +was up, and, with Mrs. Irving, was walking with rapidly beating heart +down the hall toward Allen's room. + +The door had been left open in case he needed anything during the +night, and now his voice greeted them before they reached it. + +"Hello," it called imperatively. "I want to know something." + +"All right," said Mrs. Irving sunnily, pushing the door open and +advancing toward the patient, while Betty lingered a little in the +background. "You're not the only one. How are you feeling this +morning?" + +"All right--fine," he amended, as his eager eye caught sight of +Betty. "Never was feeling better in my life. Decidedly grateful for +being allowed to live at all--when there are so many beautiful things +to look at," this with so direct and ardent a gaze upon Betty, that +she turned and looked out of the window, unwilling to let him see +what her face must reveal. + +Mrs. Irving laughed a little and began to adjust his pillows +carefully. + +"We are going to have a doctor for you today," she announced, and +Allen sat up in bed with a jerk. + +"What for?" he demanded. "I don't need any doctor. I'm feeling all +right now, and ten to one, he'd make me sick. They always do. Please +don't bring one of them in here." + +"Don't make a fuss and get excited, please," Mrs. Irving cautioned +him gently, while her eyes dwelt with humorous sympathy upon Betty's +back. "I'm going down to prepare some breakfast, and perhaps Betty +can persuade you about the doctor." + +Before either of them realized it, she was gone, leaving them alone. +Still Betty forgot to turn round. + +For several minutes, Allen lay and regarded her contentedly. Then he +gave a mountainous sigh, and finally: + +"What have I done?" he queried pathetically. "It's one of the +prettiest backs I ever saw, but that's no reason why I should have to +look at it all the time. Besides, you seem to forget that I have a +sore shoulder." + +Betty turned to him swiftly, half laughing and half grave. + +"I never know when to believe you," she said, coming toward him +slowly and moving a chair up to the edge of the bed. "You see, that's +the worst of having a bad reputation." + +"I haven't," he denied stoutly, feeling for her hand, which, however, +persisted in evading his. "I've never said anything to you, Betty +Nelson, that wasn't true. If you'll give me your hand, my shoulder +will stop aching." + +Betty laughed whimsically. + +"And you said you never had told me anything that wasn't true," she +reminded him. + +"I repeat it," he answered doggedly, succeeding at last in finding +her hand, and holding it tight. "Just being near you makes me so +happy, I haven't time to think of pain." + +"D--did you hear all the noise just a little while ago?" stammered +Betty hastily. "You must have wondered what it was all about." + +"I did," he replied, still with his eyes on her face. "I started to +get out of bed and see for myself, only I found I was kind of wabbly, +and thought better of it. What--" + +"Oh, Betty!" Mollie flung wide the door and burst in upon them. +"Excuse me, but I had to tell you. What do you suppose has happened +now?" + +She sank down on the edge of the bed, and looked at them +despairingly. + +"Well, what?" asked Betty impatiently. "Has anybody else been shot +or--" + +"Goodness, it's worse than that!" cried Mollie hysterically. "You +know, we've never bothered to lock up our good things, because there +never seemed any danger at all of robbery on Pine Island--" + +"Yes, yes," cried Betty, fairly wild with impatience. "I know all +that. Tell me, what happened?" + +"Well," said Mollie, refusing to be hurried, "we thought of our +jewelry, looked for it--and it was----" + +"Gone!" cried Betty, reading the answer in Mollie's face. "Oh, +Mollie, my pin and my bracelet----" + +"Yes, and my gold watch, and Grace's pearl lavallière, and goodness +knows how many other things," Mollie finished, in the calmness of +despair. + +"And of course, it was that spy that did it!" cried Betty. "Now, +we've got to catch him!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE BIG GAME + + +Betty opened her eyes slowly, and blinked at the sunlight that +flooded the room. She had a vague sort of idea that something unusual +was going to happen, but was too lazy and comfortable to realize just +what that something was. + +Then suddenly it came to her, and she sat up in bed with a start. +They were going home! That was the big event; and somehow, she did +not feel as sorry as she usually did at the end of a vacation. In +fact, she was almost eager to leave this island, with its powder +mills and spies that shot boys you liked, and robbed you in the +bargain--quite eager to drop play, and do her bit for the country she +loved. + +"Betty, what are you doing awake so early?" queried Grace petulantly. +"If you can't sleep you might lie still, and let me." + +"Have some candy, Gracie," Betty invited, pulling the empty candy box +from the table beside the bed, and handing it to her friend. "It may +help your disposition." + +"Goodness, what it is to have a reputation!" said Grace plaintively. +"People think they can insult and slight me, and then make it all up +by handing me a bon-bon!" + +"Not guilty," laughed Betty merrily. "If you'll look a little closer, +you'll see there is not a bit of candy in that box! No, don't glare +at me like that, Gracie, dear. The only way you could frighten me, +would be by getting up early. Then I'd know there was something +wrong." + +"So would I," said Grace, stifling a yawn. "I'm altogether too +good-natured to frighten anybody--even myself." + +"Well, you can stay there all day if you want to," said Betty, +inserting two determined little feet into two pretty bedroom +slippers, and running across to the open window, "but I wouldn't if I +were you. It's too wonderful a day in the first place, and in the +second, I can imagine pleasanter things than staying alone on this +island over night." + +"Oh, that's so!" cried Grace, sitting up and staring at Betty. "I +forgot we were going home to-day. Oh, dear, now I will have to get +up." + +"How awful," mocked Mollie, who had been watching them for some time +from the bed in the alcove. "It's an outrage, having to get up in the +morning. I think we should have been made so we could sleep all the +time." + +"Just my idea," Grace was beginning, unmoved, when Mrs. Irving's +voice sounded at the door. + +"Seven o'clock," she announced cheerily. "And you know we decided to +get an early start." + +For the next hour all was hurry and excitement while four girlish +tongues clattered unceasingly. + +"Have you fully decided to join the Red Cross, Betty?" queried Amy. + +"Why, of course. Haven't you?" asked the Little Captain, slipping on +the skirt to her pretty traveling suit and fastening it deftly. "I'm +going to make dozens and dozens of scarfs, sweaters and socks. The +boys are giving up everything for us, and I'm sure the least we can +do is, keep them warm." + +"Oh, I can't wait to begin," cried Mollie. "I'm so excited all the +time about the war and everything, I can't sit still--" + +"You've got to, if you're going to knit," grumbled Grace. "And you +can't eat candy, either, Mollie Billette." + +"Oh, look who's talking," crowed Mollie. "If that's true, and the +poor soldiers had to depend upon you to keep them warm, I'd feel +sorry for them, that's all." + +"Oh, I don't know," defended Betty, putting an arm about Grace, and +starting for the door. "Grace believes in quality more than quantity. +She may not knit as much as the rest of us, but she does it twice as +well." + +Grace laughed and hugged her friend as they ran down the stairs +together. + +"That's worth my lavallière, Betty," she said. "If Adolph Hensler +hadn't gotten it first, I'd will it to you!" + +They flew around to prepare breakfast, and the smell of sizzling +bacon and baking biscuits sent their spirits soaring to the skies. +The boys, who had finished their own breakfast, and scoured up the +pans, heard the sounds of merriment, and came to inquire the cause. + +Betty saw them first and laughingly bade them enter. + +"We'd ask you to breakfast," she said, "only this is the last +biscuit, and I wouldn't give it up to my best friend. Why don't you +come in?" she continued, as they lingered on the threshold. "I never +knew you to be bashful before." + +"We're not bashful," denied Allen, as they distributed themselves +about the room in various and characteristic attitudes, grinning +happily at the girls. "We were so hypnotized by the charming picture +you made for us we couldn't move, that's all." + +"I told you there weren't any more biscuits," said Betty decidedly. + +"Goodness, I'm glad somebody else has a bad reputation besides me," +said Grace languidly. "At least you don't have anything to live up +to." + +"How is the shoulder this morning?" Mrs. Irving inquired of Allen. +"You haven't taken the bandage off, have you?" + +"Not yet," replied Allen, who, although it was scarcely a week since +the accident, had almost completely recovered from his wound. "The +doctor said he'd be around early this morning, and if it looked all +right, would take it off." + +"Gee, but I feel funny this morning," announced Roy, apropos of +nothing in particular. + +"You look it," murmured Mollie, pouring herself another cup of +coffee. + +"What do you mean--funny?" queried Frank with interest, while Roy +favored Mollie with a hurt look. + +"Oh, I don't know how to explain it," said Roy, blushing, as all eyes +were turned upon him. "Just sort of excited and--er--queer." + +"Yes, we heard you the first time," said Mollie patiently, while Roy +looked about for help. + +"I know what you mean," said Allen, coming to his rescue. "You're +thinking that we're likely to be called almost any time now, and it +gives you stage fright to think about it. It's a great big task we've +taken hold of, and we can't quite grasp it yet, that's all." + +"Th-that's the way I feel," said Betty, her eyes shining and her +cheeks flushed, stammering in her eagerness. "I feel somehow as if we +were acting in a great big play, where there are all actors and no +audience, and everybody's sort of flustered and excited and not sure +just where they belong but terribly anxious to get into it +somewhere." + +"Well, we're all in it," cried Frank, his eyes fired with enthusiasm. +"Thank heaven, there's not one among us we can call a slacker. We've +all enlisted without waiting to be hauled into it by the scruff of +the neck--we--we----," his eyes happened to fall upon Will as he sat +regarding him steadily from a chair near the window, and as though at +a signal, his enthusiasm died and he stammered incoherently. + +"Well, we know what _we're_ going to do," said Betty, hurriedly +changing the subject. "As soon as we reach town we're going to hunt +up the nearest Red Cross headquarters and join." + +"Bully!" cried Roy admiringly. "I heard a fellow saying the other day +that it was wonderful the way the American women have come up to the +scratch--pardon the slang, ladies, but that's what he said. He said +the Red Cross was turning out bushels of woolen wear, and that at +this rate there wouldn't be a man in the United States army or navy, +that wouldn't be kept warm and comfortable during the big fight. I +tell you it makes you feel good, to think that mothers and sisters +and sweet girl friends are backing you up like that. It takes away +old Fritz's last shadow of a chance." + +"Oh, it's wonderful to hear you talk like that," said Mollie, eyes +bright and cheeks glowing. "Ever since war was declared I've been +dying to put on a uniform and get into the thick of it myself. But if +we can't, it's the next best thing to be able to encourage our boys, +and make them as comfortable and happy as we can. Oh, I think they're +wonderful--and I love them all, every one of them!" + +"Hold on, hold on!" cried Roy, while the other boys looked delighted. +"It's all right for you to love me, but why take the whole army into +it? It would be much more exclusive the other way." + +"I love them all," said Mollie stubbornly. "And I'll keep on loving +them till this awful war is over. Then I'll consent to be exclusive." + +"Is that a promise?" cried Roy, while the others laughed delightedly. + +"But I didn't mean what you mean," protested Mollie, flushing +vividly. "Oh, dear, why does everybody have to be so foolish?" + +"I call upon the others to witness," said Roy, jumping to his feet +and bringing his fist down upon the table, with a force that made +them jump. "Mollie has consented to be exclusive when the war's over, +and you all know what that means." + +"Better get it in writing," Allen suggested. "That's the only safe +way." + +"And that isn't," said Mollie, recovering. + +"Well, we'll see what we shall see," said Roy, sitting down again, +rebuffed but undaunted. + +"Gee, it'll be up to Roy to end the war in a hurry now," grinned +Frank. "If we don't look out, he'll be starting some peace trip, and +getting his name in all the papers." + +"Nothing doing," said Roy decidedly. "When I deal with old Fritz, it +will be with a gun!" + +"So say we all of us," cried Allen, his eyes kindling, "I tell you, +it won't take us long, when we really begin to get our troops over +there. I'm crazy to get into it." + +"So am I," cried Betty, getting up energetically and beginning to +clear away the dishes. "And the first thing to do is to get back to +town where we can really start something. Goodness, I wish these +dishes were washed." + +"If all your wishes were granted so quickly," smiled Mrs. Irving, as +the other girls went at the task with equal vigor, "you wouldn't have +anything to worry about." + +Two hours later the campers were standing on the deck of the +ridiculous little ferryboat, that still plied between Pine Island and +the mainland, looking with mingled emotions toward the spot where +they had spent so many pleasant hours. + +"Do you remember," Amy said thoughtfully, as the girls stood in a +group in the bow of the boat, "how sorry we were to leave the island +that other summer? And now--" + +"We're almost glad," finished Grace. + +"We're glad because we're going to do our share in the biggest thing +that ever happened to this world," said Betty tensely. "We're glad +because we've got the greatest country in the world, and are going to +do our best to keep it the greatest country in the world. We're glad, +most of all, because--we're Americans!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GAY CONSPIRATORS + + +"It's all right," Mollie was saying, "to give our time and labor and +everything like that, but the Red Cross needs money. If we could only +find some way to raise it!" + +The four girls were seated on the porch of Betty's house in Deepdale, +busy as always, with their knitting. Mollie and Betty were swaying +gently in the big porch swing, while Grace and Amy were curled up +comfortably in roomy wicker armchairs. + +The weather was perfect--a typical fall day, with the brilliant +sunshine peeping in under the edge of the awning, creeping up almost +to the feet of the girls, while vagrant breezes, spicy and pungent +with the smell of burning leaves, fanned their faces, and stirred +them to a new restlessness, a new desire for action. + +"Well, why not?" asked Betty, putting down her knitting, and looking +from one to the other. "I don't see why it should be impossible for +us to raise money." + +"Betty, have you a plan?" asked Amy, gazing hopefully toward the +Little Captain. "I've thought of all sorts of things, from taking a +course in stenography to taking in washing, but nothing seems to be +just right, somehow." + +"Goodness, I should think not," said Grace, while Betty and Mollie +giggled happily. "I can't imagine you in the role of chief +washerwoman to Deepdale, Amy; and as for stenography--think how much +you would have to spend before you began to earn any money." + +"My idea's very much simpler than either of those," said Betty +demurely. "I thought--though of course it may not be possible, at +all--that we might give a lawn fête and charge fifty cents admission, +a person. We know pretty nearly everybody in Deepdale, and if only a +third of them came we'd raise quite a big sum." + +"Betty, that's splendid," cried Mollie, clapping her hands excitedly, +forgetful of the needles she still held. "We can have fortune-telling +booths and tableaux, and perhaps a sketch of some kind. Oh, won't it +be fun?" + +"It ought to be," said Grace conservatively, starting to wind another +skein of wool. "But if we have all those things I think we ought to +charge a dollar." + +"Goodness, I don't think they'd get their money's worth," smiled +Betty whimsically. "A dollar's rather a lot of money to pay for a +lawn party." + +"Well, they ought to be willing to give something, just for the sake +of patriotism," said Amy quietly--for there was no better patriot in +all of Deepdale than Amy. + +"Yes, but don't you see, we want to give them their money's worth," +Mollie argued excitedly. "Because then we'll feel we've really earned +whatever we raise." + +"Well, we will earn it," said Betty earnestly. "We have, as Doctor Morely +says, 'a good deal of local talent' that we ought to be able to win over +to our side, and if we really go into the thing to make it a success, +it will be one. And a successful lawn party is no end of fun." + +"Goodness, you've got me so excited, I can't wait to begin," cried +Mollie, waving her needles about in a way to endanger seriously +Betty's eyesight. "I want to start something." + +"If you don't stop poking me with those needles, you will start +something," threatened Betty, moving to the opposite corner of the +swing, and as far from danger as possible. "You wouldn't need a +bayonet in the trenches, Mollie dear. The whole German army would +drop dead, if they saw you moving down upon them with a knitting +needle. Stop it, I tell you, or I shall be forced to take them away +from you." + +"Oh, look who's going to take them away," mocked Mollie, continuing +her wild dabs and dashes. "There isn't a man, much less a woman, on +this earth could take these knitting needles away from me, against my +will." + +"Looks as if I'd have to start a little war of my own," remarked +Betty ruefully, carefully putting away her own knitting and preparing +for action. "I never yet let a challenge like that pass me by--Oh, +Allen, you startled me!" + +"Sorry," said Allen, making his usual, though undignified, entrance +over the railing of the porch, and seating himself with a sigh of +content in one of the big chairs. "Say, what was all the row about?" +he added, looking with interest at Mollie's still threatening +needles, and Betty's general air of preparation for attack. "About a +mile away I heard the noise, and thought I'd drop in to see who was +getting killed." + +"A mile away," sniffed Mollie, abandoning the attack, while Betty +once more opened her knitting bag. "If girls are good fibbers I +wonder what they'd call men." + +"Li--I mean prevaricators," said Allen cheerfully, and the girls +gasped in dismay. "Well, you asked me, didn't you?" he argued, +laughing at their shocked faces. "I only tried to be obliging." + +"Then we like you better when you're not," said Betty primly. + +"But what was the row?" he persisted. "I'm sure I interrupted +something, and if I'm still intruding, I'll go away so you can finish +it." + +"Oh, we were just starting a new kind of war," Mollie explained. "We +call it the war of the knitting needles." + +"That's just what I told the fellows," said Allen, shaking his head +sorrowfully, "only they wouldn't believe me." + +"Now what are you talking about?" asked Grace, without looking up +from her knitting. "I know you want somebody to ask it, so I'll be--as +you would say in vulgar slang--the goat." + +"That's right! Blame it all, even the slang, on us," said Allen +plaintively. "That's the way the girls----" + +"Goodness, you can't tell us anything about ourselves we don't know," +said Mollie impatiently. "We want to know what you told the boys." + +"Oh, about the needles," said Allen, stretching out his long legs, +and locking his fingers behind his head. "I just happened to remark +that while we were killing each other off with bayonets in the +trenches, the women and girls would be knitting themselves to death +at home, so there would probably be an equal number of both sexes +when the war was over." + +"Oh, dear, there you go, joking about it again," sighed Amy. "And you +made me lose a stitch too. Oh, dear, that's the first one in the +whole sweater." + +"Hand it over," said Betty patiently. "I may be able to catch it for +you, so you won't have to rip out too much. Oh, Allen, what do you +suppose we are going to do?" + +"What?" queried Allen, gazing admiringly from the busy deft fingers +to the pretty bent head. + +"We're going to give a lawn party," she answered. "It's going to be +as elaborate an affair as possible, and we're going to charge a +dollar admission." + +"Whew," said Allen, sitting up and regarding each one of the flushed +conspirators in turn. "What's this--a get-rich-quick-scheme?" + +"I should say not!" said Mollie hotly. "Isn't that just exactly like +a man? _Everything_ we do isn't selfish." + +"Well, what _is_ the idea?" asked poor Allen patiently. "If you'd +just tell a fellow----" + +"It's for the Red Cross," Betty explained, "I'm afraid that stitch is +too far down to get back, Amy dear. You'll have to rip out a little. +You see we want to raise a lot of money," she went on, raising her +pretty head and speaking quickly. "When we decided to join the Red +Cross, as you know we have, we didn't mean to go into it half way. It +didn't seem to us enough, just to give our time and labor--we wanted +to raise actual cash. And this seemed the best way to do it." + +"I think it's a mighty fine idea," said Allen heartily. "And as I +don't think there's a more patriotic town on the map than little old +Deepdale, I should think you ought to be able to raise quite a +considerable pile. I'll help all I can." + +"Oh, Allen, will you?" cried Betty excitedly. "Oh, if you boys will +only help, we'll be _sure_ to make it a success. I can't wait to +begin." + +"Well, why do we have to wait?" asked Mollie practically. "Why can't +we start in planning and rehearsing to-night?" + +"There's no reason in the world why we can't," cried Betty, putting +away her knitting definitely, and beginning to pace up and down the +porch as she always did when thinking things out. "Allen, do you +think you can round up the boys, and do you think they'll all be +willing to help us?" + +"Of course," said Allen, without taking his eyes from her. "I'll +bring them around to-night if you say so." + +"Good! Then there's Gladys Alden who plays the violin beautifully, +and Jean Ratcliffe who can recite like a professional and--oh, dear, +there's no end to the talent. And we'll----" she paused dramatically +and surveyed them with dancing eyes. "We'll--give a play!" + +"But a play takes time," Allen objected; "and if you're counting us +fellows in on it, you'll have to make it soon. We may be called any +time now." + +"Oh, but don't you remember that play we were going to give one +time?" Mollie broke in eagerly. "And then somebody's relative was +taken sick, and broke the whole thing up? That was a good little +sketch, and I don't think it would take us very long to brush it up +again." + +"Mollie, you're a genius," cried Betty, stopping before Mollie and +hugging her rapturously. "Why, of course it won't take us any time at +all to get that in shape, and it's sure to take well." + +"Do you know what would make a hit?" suggested Allen, catching the +general spirit of enthusiasm. "If this is going to be an outdoor +affair, we ought to have a big tent with a stage at one end, for this +concert and sketch business. We could make it mighty picturesque, +with Japanese lanterns, and we fellows might be able to rig up some +batteries and electric lights for footlights." + +"That would be wonderful," cried Grace, shaken out of her usual calm. +"That would be the big attraction. Then we could have little booths +for fortune-telling, and such things, scattered about the place." + +"And ice cream and cake counters," cried Amy, her eyes wide and dark +with excitement. "We girls could make the cakes, so it wouldn't cost +so much." + +"Allen," interrupted Betty, gazing eagerly down the street. "There +goes Roy now. Won't you go after him, and tell him to be sure to be +here to-night? Frank and Will, too--don't let them say no!" + +"All right," said Allen obligingly, untwining his long legs, and +taking the steps two at a time. "I go to do your bidding, Princess." + +"And, Allen," Betty ran down the steps to call after him, "whatever +you do--come early!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MAGIC LANTERNS + + +Two weeks of constant hustle, excitement and preparation passed by +until at last came--the big night! + +It was seven o'clock and Betty had started to dress. Mechanically, +with fingers that shook a little from excitement, she went through +the early stages of the process, until it was time to slip into the +pretty filmy lace dress she was to wear for the first part of the +evening. + +Then her eyes met the reflected ones in the mirror, and she stopped +short, wondering "if this were really I." She was very sure that that +very pretty girl in the mirror, with the flushed cheeks and brilliant +eyes, could never be the Betty Nelson she had grown up with--it could +not be! And yet she thrilled with a strange new happiness. It was so +good to be pretty. + +Then she drew a deep breath, and turned away with a little rippling +laugh at herself. + +"Betty Nelson," she scolded, slipping the pretty dress over her head, +and keeping her eyes severely away from the mirror, "you'll be +getting conceited next; and if there's anything I hate, it's a +conceited person." + +At a quarter of eight there came a ring at the door bell, and Betty's +heart missed a beat. It proved to be only Allen, however--but, +strange as it may seem, that fact did not seem to improve the +behavior of her heart in the least. + +As for Allen, he simply stood and stared, as a transformed Betty ran +down the stairs toward him. + +"Oh, Allen, I'm _so_ glad it was only you," she said, holding out her +hands to him--which he seemed by no means reluctant to take. "I was +so hoping you'd get here before the rest. There are one or two things +I want to talk over with you." + +"Betty," he whispered, his voice sounding strange, even to himself, +"you're so pretty, I can't think of anything else, or look at +anything else, while you're around. I always did have trouble that +way, but to-night----" + +"I--I'm--just the same to-night as I always am," she stammered, not +daring to look at him. "Allen, dear--I----" + +"What did you call me?" he shouted, turning her about so she had to +look at him. "Betty, Betty, say it again. I, oh, I--" + +"I--I didn't mean it," gasped Betty, joyfully afraid, wanting to run +away, yet wanting desperately not to. "I don't know what made me----" + +"Don't you?" he cried, that same wild thrill in his voice. "Then I'll +tell you, Betty. You said it because----" + +"Good evening, Allen." It was Mrs. Nelson's voice as she came +unsuspectingly upon them from the dining-room. "I didn't even know +you were here. Betty and I were hoping you would get here early. The +footlights don't work just as they should----" and Allen's golden +hour was gone, for the moment, at least. + +He gazed pleadingly toward Betty, but she had put an arm about her +mother--Allen noticed with joy that it trembled a little--and was +leading the way toward the rear of the house, and out upon the lawn, +where the big tent had been erected. + +It took Allen, who, besides being a very able and rising young +lawyer, was also something of an electrician, about two minutes to +find the flaw in the wiring and remedy it. Soon after that the first +guests began to arrive. + +The rest of the evening was one brilliant panorama, that the girls +never forgot. Until nine o'clock, the time set for the concert and +sketch in the big tent, the guests, about two hundred in number, +wandered happily about the lawn, watching "Denton's trained animals," +which consisted of a little French poodle, an aristocratic yellow +cat, and a gifted parrot, with an immense and varied vocabulary, +perform. + +The animals were the undisputed property of this young Denton, who +had grown up in Deepdale, and who, being a lover of animals, had +untiringly trained his pets, until their fame had spread all over the +town. He had a booth all to himself, and was having more fun than the +spectators--and that was saying a good deal, judging from the merry +laughter and jests issuing from the tent. + +There were several other attractions, the favorite, after "Denton's +trained animals," being the fortune-telling booth. This was presided +over by Jessie Johnson--one of the jolliest and wittiest of the +Deepdale girls. She was made up to resemble an old crone, and her +fortune-telling kept her victims in gales of laughter. + +"Isn't it great?" cried Mollie, hugging Betty rapturously, as they +met behind the scenes in the big tent about nine o'clock. "I knew it +would be a success, but this is better even than I expected." + +"Mollie," returned Betty, and there was a strange new thrill in her +voice, that made her friend look at her quickly, "I'm happy, happy, +happy! I thought I knew what it was to be happy before, but I never +did. I just feel like shouting aloud and hugging everybody I see. Oh, +I never dreamed we'd make such a success of it!" + +"It isn't over yet, though," said Mollie, beginning to feel a little +panicky. "We've got to speak _our_ little piece yet, and I never did +feel quite sure of that last line." + +"Oh, goodness, don't begin to worry now," cried Betty. "Our last +rehearsal was perfect, and we've never fallen down in anything we've +tried to do yet." + +"Well, there has to be a beginning to everything, hasn't there?" +argued Mollie pessimistically. "I'm perfectly sure I'm going to +forget that last line. I feel it coming on." + +"Well, then you deserve to lose it," said Betty, knowing very well +how best to handle Mollie. "You'll do just whatever you think you're +going to do, and if you think you're going to fail, you'll fail!" + +"I'm not going to fail any more than you are, Betty Nelson," cried +Mollie, her eyes blazing. "I've never seen anything yet I couldn't do +as well as you." + +"Goodness, what's this?" cried gentle Amy, aghast, coming upon the +two suddenly. "You're not quarreling, are you?" + +"What did it sound like--talk about the weather?" asked Mollie +sarcastically. "You just wait and _see_ what I'll do, Betty Nelson!" +and she marched out with her nose in the air. + +"Oh, dear," sighed Amy; "and I thought everything was going so +beautifully." + +"It is," chuckled Betty, and hustled the bewildered Amy out another +door of the tent. + +Then came Allen, dressed as a herald of olden times, and blew in +golden notes, a message to the people scattered about the lawn, that +the real attraction of the evening was about to begin. + +The girls had worried a little for fear the big tent would not be +able to accommodate all the guests, so great had been their response +to the call of patriotism, but it was found to their intense relief +that, although a few had to stand at the back, all could be admitted. + +The first part of the program consisted of music, recitations and +some very cleverly arranged tableaux. Everything was remarkably good, +as the hearty applause testified, and behind the scenes everywhere, +was jubilation. + +"Now if we only do as well," said Grace, as the improvised curtain +dropped, signaling the intermission, "we'll not have anything to +worry about." + +"We will," said Betty confidently. "Jean, you did wonderfully," she +added, to the girl who had been the elocutionist of the evening. "I +thought it was wonderful at the last rehearsal, but you outdid +yourself to-night. And you, too, Larry. Oh, it's such a success!" + +They fairly danced with impatience during the intermission, and were +ready with their costumes and stage settings before the ten minutes +was up. + +"Oh, I'm so frightened, I can hardly stand up," chattered Amy as she +and Betty stood together, waiting for the endless last minute to drag +past. "Betty, if this is stage fright, it's a lot worse than I +thought. I can't think of a line I have to say." + +"Well, you'd better not keep that up _too_ long," returned Betty +grimly. "It might be serious. There, that's Allen's cue." + +Local talent had even produced an orchestra for the sketch, and +although once in a while, the cornetist forgot to toot, or the first +violin became excited and left the rest of his flock behind to follow +him as best it might, still the music was pretty good and added +considerably to the general effect. + +And the play was the crowning glory of the evening! The stage fright +which had threatened to overwhelm the actors, magically disappeared +when they found themselves put upon their mettle, and they frolicked +through the play, with an ease and naive enjoyment that delighted +their audience and brought storms of applause. + +The play was called, "A Day in Court." It was a professional +production which had been almost completely rewritten by Allen and +Betty. The judge was a woman, and the various characters brought +before her, were all more or less funny. One character had originally +been a German servant girl, suing her mistress for wages, but this +character, on account of the war, was changed to Irish, and was +impersonated by Amy with marked success. + +Betty was the woman judge, and the way she laid down the law was most +marvelous, and brought forth many peals of laughter. + +Will, in a most ridiculous costume, performed the offices of court +clerk. + +Mollie impersonated a French flower girl, who had failed to receive +pay for bouquets sold to a local dude, a part played by Roy Anderson, +and it developed during the court scene, that the dude was engaged to +two girls at once, impersonated by Grace and another girl. + +There was an irate uncle of one of the girls, none other than Frank +Haley, and Allen as the brother of the other girl, who also demanded +satisfaction, and the mix-up in the courtroom was most realistic. + +"About the funniest thing I ever saw in my life," was Mr. Nelson's +comment. + +"They are certainly doing remarkably well," answered Mrs. Billette, +who chanced to sit near by. + +"If those youngsters keep on doing as well as that, they'll all want +to go on the professional stage," remarked Mr. Ford. + +All during the ice cream and cake part of the entertainment the young +performers were fêted and congratulated, till they began, as Roy +expressed it, "to feel themselves some punkins." + +It was late before the last guest had departed, still laughingly +bandying jests back and forth, and the Little Captain and the group +of her particular chums and followers were left alone. Then-- + +"I wish it were beginning all over again," said Amy, leaning her head +against a pillar of the porch and gazing dreamily up at the stars. "I +never had such a good time in my life." + +"It seems to me I'm always saying that," sighed Betty, sinking into +the hammock, and laughing up at Allen, as he stood before her. "It's +wonderful when life is just a succession of good times." + +"Betty," he answered, sitting down beside her, and finding her hand +under cover of the darkness, "that's my one ambition--to make life +for you just a 'succession of good times.'" + +"But I guess that never happens to anybody," she said, trying to +speak lightly. "And I don't know that just having good times is a +very big ambition. No--I--didn't mean that, Allen," she added +quickly, seeing she had hurt him. "You've always been altogether too +good to me. I--I guess I don't deserve it." + +"There's nothing half good enough for you," said Allen fervently. +"Betty," he added, after a slight pause, "I--I may have to go away +pretty soon, and before I go I want you to know----" + +"Say, Allen, are you going home like a respectable citizen, or shall +we have to use force?" It was Roy who accosted him, and Allen +muttered something under his breath. + +"I'm going home when I get good and ready," he was beginning, when +Betty herself jumped to her feet and held out a hand to him. + +"It _is_ getting late," she said, "and we're all going to meet to-morrow, +anyway, so we won't even say good-bye. _Au revoir,_ everybody. It's +been such a night!" + +As she stood on the porch waving her hand to them, Allen hesitated a +moment, started forward, then ran back again. + +"There will come a night," he whispered, close in her ear, "when you +won't get rid of me so easily." + +And Betty, left alone, smiled a new smile at the stars. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A SLACKER? + + +Two weeks went by after the great night, two weeks of ceaseless +activity. The fame of Betty's lawn party had spread all over +Deepdale, and countless smaller affairs on the same order had been +given. As imitation is always the sincerest flattery, the girls were +delighted. + +"For we have the fun of knowing we started it," Mollie had said. + +"Yes," said Betty. "We've made people understand that the Red Cross +needs money, but, girls, there's another branch of the war work that +isn't receiving much attention." + +"What's that?" queried Grace, interested. It was just like Betty to +have things entirely thought out before she said anything about them. +"I never saw anybody with so many plans as you, Betty. You make my +head swim." + +"Well, there's the Y.W.C.A.," Betty explained. "It's doing wonderful +work, but it will need a great deal more money than it has now, to +keep it up in these war times." + +"Goodness," said Amy. "I wish we'd thought about it sooner. The boys +are sure they're going to be called every day, and if we took time to +get up anything like the entertainment we had before, we couldn't +have them in it." + +"Oh, we couldn't give an affair like that without the boys," said +Mollie decidedly, a fact which she would never have admitted in the +hearing of the young men themselves. "And I'd hate to give anything +tame, after the big success we had with the other one." + +"That's just it," Betty pursued, holding a sock up to the light and +regarding it critically. "I met Mrs. Barton Ross to-day----" + +"Oh, isn't she lovely?" Amy interrupted enthusiastically. "By the +time you've talked with her five minutes you're willing to promise +her anything in the world." + +"Goodness, I wish I had a gift like that," said Grace. "I could talk +all day and nobody'd do _anything_ for me." + +"That's gratitude, isn't it?" said Mollie, in an aggrieved tone. +"Here I walk two whole blocks out of my way, to buy you a box of +candy when you didn't even ask me to----" + +"Did you say you bought that box of candy for me?" asked Grace +bitterly, eying the alluring box, where it lay in Mollie's lap. +"Every time I want one I have to look extra sweet and go down on my +knees." + +"More ingratitude," sighed Mollie. "Didn't I hear the doctor say you +must stop eating so much ice cream and candy, if you wanted to keep +your marvelous complexion?" + +"No, you didn't," retorted Grace, "for the simple reason, that I +haven't been to the doctor's for over two years." + +"That's right, I guess it _was_ your mother," Mollie admitted, +wickedly helping herself to a delicious morsel. + +"Goodness, my family's been prophesying that thing ever since I can +remember," Grace retorted, putting aside her knitting, and drawing +nearer to the candy box. "If I had listened to them I'd have worried +myself into all sorts of things by this time." + +"Instead you'd rather _eat_ yourself into them," sighed Mollie +primly, handing over the box with an air of resignation. "Betty, what +was it you were saying?" + +Betty chuckled. + +"First of all, Grace is walking off with your wool," she said. "Look +out, Grace, you'll break it." + +"It was about Mrs. Barton Ross, wasn't it?" asked Amy patiently. + +"Oh, yes! Well, she suggested that we give the same performance over +again. Everybody liked it, and any number of people had spoken to her +about it, saying they'd like to see it over again. Of course we'd +have to leave out the booths and things; they would take too much +time to get ready, but we might give the sketch." + +"Goodness, that's a regular compliment," gurgled Mollie, knitting +furiously. "Instead of--as Roy would say--'getting the hook,' they +ask us to do it all over again. I wouldn't have thought any audience +would stand for it." + +"Well," continued Betty, "I told Mrs. Ross I'd talk it over with you +folks, and if we did it at all, it would be for the benefit of the +Y.W.C.A. Of course, we don't know how the boys will feel about it." + +But the boys were perfectly willing to give the play again, declaring +that "if Deepdale could stand for it, they surely could." + +Deepdale did stand for it to the amount of a sum that made Mrs. +Barton Ross open her eyes wide in delighted astonishment. The affair +was a huge success. + +"I don't know how to thank you," she had said to Betty and Grace, who +had been appointed by the others to take the money to her. "You girls +have waked Deepdale up with a vengeance. We were always intensely +patriotic, but we hardly knew how to go about showing it, until you +came and pointed the way." + +Mrs. Barton Ross was the manager of the local Y.W.C.A., and every one +in Deepdale both loved and respected her personally and as an +influence for good. + +"I believe," said Betty, as the two girls left her and started for +home, "I'd like to join the Y.W.C.A. also if only to be near Mrs. +Barton Ross. When I've talked with her for a little while, I always +feel as if I'd been to church, or something like that." + +And that was the way it came about. Not being satisfied with Red +Cross work alone, the Outdoor Girls joined the Y.W.C.A., and from +that time on their days were filled to overflowing. + +"It's all very well to knit in the day time," Roy complained one +stormy evening, when the four couples of young folks had congregated +in Mollie's cheerful living-room; "but I don't see why you have to +keep it up all evening too. It gets me dizzy just to watch the +needles." + +"Well, why don't you get busy and learn to knit yourselves?" asked +Mollie with a twinkle. "Percy Falconer was telling me that in one +place several men had gotten together, and formed a knitting club. Of +course, they're too old to join the army or the navy, so they thought +they'd do their bit that way." + +"Yes, and they've even made up a knitting song," chuckled Betty. "And +while they knit, they sing." + +"The little dears," said Frank disgustedly. "Well, thank heaven, I'm +not too old to fight." + +"I imagine that's just the sort of club dear Percy would like to +join," remarked Allen, smiling. "It's easier to imagine him in a +corner by the fireside knitting socks for soldiers, than in any other +role." + +Percy Falconer was the dude of Deepdale, whom the other vigorous and +hearty young folks pitied more than they despised. + +"I wonder if he'll enlist," said Roy interestedly. "It's kind of hard +to picture old Percy washing his own dishes." + +"Enlist!" snorted Frank. "Of course he won't. He'll wait till he's +drafted, and then pray every night that he'll be sick or something, +so he won't have to go. I know his kind." + +"Oh, there'll probably be a lot that will try to dodge the draft by +dropping hammers on their toes, and cutting off their fingers and all +such clever and noble little things as that," said Allen. + +"Oh, Allen, do you think so?" asked Amy, gazing at him with horrified +eyes over her knitting. + +"Why, of course," Roy backed him up. "It won't happen so much among +our boys. The slum districts will get most of it. Some of those +suckers would do almost anything to get out of fighting." + +"Goodness," said Betty, with a little shiver. "I should think it +would take lots more courage to hurt yourself than to take a chance +on getting shot in the trenches. I don't see how anybody can do it." + +"Oh, they're doing worse things than that," said Allen with a +chuckle. "Hundreds of the scared ones are getting married in the hope +that they can get out of it that way." + +"Jumping from the frying pan into the fire," grinned Roy. + +"Or from one war to another," added Frank, while the girls made faces +at them. + +"But isn't Congress going to pass some sort of law," asked Betty +earnestly--Allen reflected how very pretty she was when in +earnest--"that will make that kind of man serve first? It seems to me +I read something about it in the paper." + +"Goodness, I don't even get time to read the paper any more," sighed +Amy. "I feel wicked if I stop knitting for five minutes." + +"We'll allow you that much," said Allen graciously. "Why, yes, there +is a law like that pending, Betty, and I imagine there will be quite +a few happy homes broken up." + +"Did you hear about Herb Wilson?" asked Roy suddenly. + +Herbert Wilson was another of the Deepdale boys. + +"No," was the answer. "What's he been doing now?" + +"Why, he was spending the week-end at a house party when his folks +telegraphed him that his orders had come, and he was to report for +duty the next morning. Well, the poor old chap didn't even have time +to get home and say goodbye--had to rush off the next morning and was +sent down South. His mother came over to see mine, and, the way she +went on about it, you'd have thought Herb was going to be shot at +sunrise!" + +"Herb ought to answer like the old negro my uncle had on his +plantation," remarked Allen with a smile. "'Marse,' he said, 'dar +ain't no chaince o' my bein' shot at sunrise--no, sah. I don' never +git up dat early.'" + +They laughed, and Grace remarked casually: + +"I admire that negro. He has my own idea exactly." + +"You know, as far as I'm concerned I rather envy Herb," said Frank, +while the girls stared at him in surprise. "Not for being called away +without having time to say good-bye to his folks, of course, but for +receiving his orders. Waiting and expecting them every day is mighty +hard on your nerves, I can tell you." + +"Gee, it's time we were moving, Grace," said Will, jumping up. He had +been silent for the greater part of the evening. "It's getting late +and you've done enough knitting for one day." + +This was the signal for a general breaking up, and as the young folks +rose to say good-bye they stole furtive glances at Will. + +What was the matter with him? they wondered. Will, who had always +been the life of a party before, and so intensely patriotic and +thoroughly American! Yet he was the only one among them who was not +shouldering his share of the nation's responsibility. + +As Allen lingered after he and Betty had reached her home she spoke +her wonderment and worry. + +"Allen," she said, a little troubled line between her brows, "do you +know what's the matter with Will? Is he, can he be--a slacker?" + +"I don't know," said Allen, shoving his hands deep into his pockets +as he always did when anything was, as he expressed it, "too deep for +him." "I can't make him out at all, Betty. We'll just have to hope +for the best." + +"That's all we can do," she answered, and gave a long-drawn sigh. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +HONOR FLAGS + + +"Yes, yes, this is Betty.--Oh, Allen!--When?--To-morrow morning! Oh, +isn't that terribly short notice?--Oh, I can't, I can't believe +it!--Roy and Frank, too?--No, I didn't hear about it--Listen, +Allen.--No, I'm _not_ crying.--What's that?--Well, I'm trying not +to!--Please listen to me.--Bring the boys around here to-night, +will you? I'll get the girls and we'll have a p-party.--No, I'm +_not_ crying.--G-good-bye!" + +With a little jerk Betty hung up the receiver, and sat staring out of +the window with the tears streaming down her cheeks. She brushed them +away impatiently and felt feverishly for her pocket handkerchief. + +"Oh, I h-hate the old Kaiser, and I hate the old war, and I h-hate +everything!" she wailed, rolling the handkerchief up into a miserable +little ball. "Wh-what will we do when the b-boys are gone and we +haven't anything to do, but just think of the time they'll be sent +over to France to get k-killed? Oh, Betty, don't act so f-foolish," +she scolded, putting away the handkerchief with an air of decision. +"You know you wouldn't have had them do anything else anyway---- + +"Oh, there's that old telephone again. + +"Yes, hello, Mollie.--Isn't it terrible?--Oh, do come around--and +stay for supper.--I--can't bear to be left alone.--Good-bye." + +"Well, what are we going to do?" + +The four girls had gathered once more on Betty's porch and were +regarding each other mournfully. + +"Do?" echoed Grace. "Why, we can't do anything, of course, but let +them go." + +"But it won't seem at all like Deepdale!" mourned Amy. + +"Well, the only thing I can see that we can do," sighed Mollie, "is +to become Red Cross nurses and go across with them." + +"That probably wouldn't do any good, either," objected Betty, "as far +as being with the boys is concerned, because we'd probably be sent to +another part of the field entirely, and probably wouldn't see them +from the beginning of the war to the end of it. No, I guess we'll +just have to keep on knitting for them." + +"They're going to write to us, anyway," said Mollie. "And we must +write to them a good deal, too. They say the boys are just crazy for +letters when they're away from home." + +"Yes, and sometimes girls and women correspond with boys they never +saw and never expect to see," added Amy, "just because they haven't +any relatives, and it makes it less lonesome for them." + +"I imagine we'll have all we want to do just to keep up our +correspondence with the boys we know," said Betty, knitting steadily. +"I think it's wonderful the way practically all of Deepdale has +volunteered. It makes you proud to live here." + +"Yes, and they all seem to be leaving about the same time, too," said +Mollie. "Service flags are springing up all over town." + +"It's terrible," said Amy, with another sigh. "I can't walk along the +street and see those flags in the houses of people we've grown up +with, without having a funny lump rise in my throat, and I have to +hurry past to keep myself from acting foolishly." + +"I guess none of us really knew we were at war until all the boys we +know began to be called away," said Grace seriously. "And I know you +girls must all think it's strange--" she paused for a moment as if +uncertain just how to proceed, and the girls looked at her in +surprise. + +"I--I'm so worried about Will," Grace continued, not raising her eyes +from her knitting. "He hasn't been himself for a month--you girls +must have noticed that--and he won't give me any satisfaction at all +when I ask him what's the matter. We--he and I--used to be such good +friends----" her voice broke and the girls' hearts ached for her, +"and now he acts just like a stranger--only asks to be left alone. +And he's so moody and queer and silent----" Her voice trailed off and +for a long time no one spoke. + +The girls were troubled, and they longed to give her sympathy. It was +hard to know just what to say, for Will had puzzled them all sorely. + +"I wouldn't worry too much, Gracie, dear," said Betty, at last, going +over and sitting down beside her friend. "Will has some problem that +he's trying to work out all by himself. We know that he's true blue +all the way through, and when he's ready to confide in us, he'll do +it. Until then, we've just got to trust him, that's all, and help him +all we can by our good faith." + +Grace's head had dropped on Betty's shoulder and she was crying +softly. + +"B-Betty, you're such a comfort," she murmured as Betty gently +stroked her hair. "That was j-just what I w-wanted you to say. I've +been so m-miserable." + +That was more than the girls could stand, for they remembered how +gallantly Grace had striven to hide her trouble during all these +weeks, and they gathered around her, whispering little words of +endearment and comfort, till she started to laugh and cry together, +calling herself an "old goose" and clinging to them desperately. + +It was some time before they grew calm and could speak coherently. +Then Amy sighed and said: + +"Oh, dear, it's a quarter past six and I promised to be home by six +sharp. Now what shall I do?" + +"Telephone your brother that you're staying here," said the Little +Captain decidedly. "The boys are coming to-night, you know, and you +can all help me with the spread. No, you needn't waste time +arguing--you're going to stay." + +And when Betty spoke in that tone, no one dared dispute with her. + +It was half past eight before the boys came, and the girls were +getting so nervous and impatient they could hardly sit still. + +"Do you suppose they could have forgotten?" Amy was beginning, when +the sound of masculine voices in excited conversation floated to them +on the breeze, and she stopped short to listen. + +"They're coming," cried Mollie. "There's no mistaking Frank's raucous +tones, or Roy's either, for that matter. What do you suppose they're +so excited about?" + +A few moments later the boys themselves ran up the steps, greeted the +girls cheerily, and ranged themselves in various attitudes upon the +railing of the porch. + +"Say, did you hear the latest news?" asked Roy eagerly, before the +greetings were half over. "Another American ship has been sunk by +those beastly Huns, and quite a number of passengers are reported +missing. Gee, I wish instead of going to a training camp we were +going right across. It seems a crime to be wasting time on this side +when we might be getting at them." + +"Another ship!" cried Betty, while the boys eagerly poured forth the +details. "Oh, if I were only a man," she added, clenching her hands +as the recital finished, "I'd fight until there wasn't one German +left on the face of the earth." + +"You just leave that to us," said Frank, his eyes gleaming. "We may +not be able to exterminate the whole German nation, but we'll drag +the old Kaiser to his knees and make him kiss the Stars and Stripes +before we get through. Gee, but I'm aching to get right into the +thick of it all!" + +"What's this?" asked Betty, as Allen handed her several sheets of +paper, rolled together and fastened with a rubber band. + +"Music," explained Allen, who had not taken his eyes from her face +since he had come upon the porch. "A reporter I know handed them to +me. They're all the popular war songs, and I thought perhaps we might +run them over tonight." + +They went into the living-room, where Betty's treasured grand piano +was. Betty played and the others sang until they came to "Keep the +Home Fires Burning," when Allen interfered. + +"If nobody minds," he said seriously, "I'd like to hear Betty sing +that--alone." + +And Betty, who knew the song and had always liked it, started to +sing. But she did not get far. Something swelled and swelled in her +throat and every time she came to the lines: + + "Though our lads are far away + They think of home--" + +tears blinded her eyes, her voice quivered, and she had to stop. + +Three times she tried it, then with a little sob, dropped her head on +her arm and sat still. The girls ran to her, while the boys turned +away to hide their own emotion. + +"Never mind, Betty dear," whispered Mollie, wiping a tear from the +end of her nose and patting Betty's hand tenderly. "We--we all feel +the same way about it." + +Betty raised her head and smiled a little April smile upon them. + +"I'll always keep the home fires b-burning," she said unsteadily, +"but I c-can't sing about it." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +"SMILE, GIRLS, SMILE" + + +"Wake up, Gracie." Betty's voice was low and excited as she shook her +friend into semi-wakefulness. "The boys have to catch the early +train, you know, and we mustn't keep them waiting." + +"Yes, I know," said Grace, waking to full consciousness without a +protest--for the first time since Betty had known her. "What time is +it, Betty?" + +"Six-thirty," answered Betty, beginning to dress hurriedly. "That's +fifteen minutes later than we should be. Oh, if we should miss seeing +them off!" + +"Betty, I don't feel like myself at all," said Grace, after a silence +during which they had both been plunged in thought. She flourished a +shoe in the air and regarded Betty as though it were her fault. "I feel +all quivery and shaky and trembly inside, and I don't think I could +smile if you paid me for it." + +"Goodness, I know I couldn't!" said Betty, and then added as she +pinned on the bunch of carnations Allen had brought her the night +before: "We've just got to smile, though, whether we feel like it or +not. We don't want the boys to remember us in tears." + +"I should say not!" responded Grace emphatically. "When I cry I'm a +perfect fright. That's why I never do it." + +Betty chuckled despite the dull ache at her heart. + +"I wasn't quite thinking of that," she said. "But it surely will be +better if we're able to smile a little bit. Come on--let's practice." + +They stood together before the mirror, doing their best to smile +naturally, and their very failure to do it made them laugh at +themselves. + +"If we're not a couple of geese," said Betty, as arms intertwined, +they descended the stairs. "That's about the first time we ever had +to _try_ to smile. Now for a bite of breakfast." + +But, try though they did, they could not eat, and finally had to give +it up entirely. + +"We were all to meet at Mollie's, weren't we?" asked Grace, as they +made their way down the sun-flooded street. "Oh, Betty, I'm afraid to +meet anybody, I'm so sure I'm going to make a goose of myself. Will +you hold my hand all the time?" + +"Of course," said Betty, laughing unsteadily. "It's always hard to +say good-bye to anybody you--you--like," she added, "but when they're +going away to war and you may never see them again----" + +"Please don't," begged Grace, squeezing her hand convulsively. "If +you talk like that I just can't stand it, that's all. It wouldn't +take very much----" + +"All right, I won't do it again," cried Betty with forced gaiety. +"Isn't that Mollie waving to us? Of course it is. Come on, Grace, +I'll run you a race." + +But Grace was in no mind to run a race, and Betty reached the meeting +place alone, with Grace trailing in the rear. + +"Have any of the boys reached here yet?" asked Betty as she ran up +the steps. "I was afraid we'd be late." + +"No, they haven't come," said Mollie, looking anxiously down the +street; "and I'm so afraid they'll be late and miss the train, I +don't know what to do. Do you suppose they could have forgotten?" + +"Mollie Billette," cried Betty, looking at her wonderingly, "what on +earth----" + +"Oh, I know I'm impossibly silly," cried Mollie, dropping into a +chair and rocking nervously; "but I just don't know what I'm saying +this morning. I feel as if somebody was dead." + +"Not yet--but soon," boomed a deep voice behind them that made them +jump a foot. + +"Roy Anderson!" cried Mollie, her French temper flaring forth. +"That's a nice thing to do--come up behind us and scare us all to +death. And it's not nice to joke about such a serious thing, either." + +"Gee, it won't do any good to cry about it," retorted Roy +philosophically, looking around upon the three pretty girls with an +appreciative eye. "I call it a great lark, and if only you girls were +coming along my happiness would be complete." + +"Where are the other boys?" broke in Betty. "I thought you were all +coming together." + +"I called for both of them," Roy answered, grinning, "but it seems +they'd overslept themselves, and they said they'd be along later." + +"Well, if it's very _much_ later," said Grace grimly, "they might as +well go back to bed again. That train isn't going to wait." + +"Oh, they'll be here all right," Roy assured her confidently. +"They're not going to be left behind when there's any adventure like +this afoot." + +"Here they come now," cried Betty, running to the edge of the porch +and waving frantically. "Amy's with them, too. Must have picked her +up on the way." + +"We'll save time if we go on down to meet them," Roy suggested, +taking Grace by the arm. "Come along, girls, we really haven't any +time to waste." + +Betty and Mollie needed no such invitation. They were down the steps +and flying along the street before Grace had risen from her chair. + +"Oh, we were so afraid you'd be late," gasped Betty, as Allen caught +her on the wing, as it were, and drew her to his side. "And if you +weren't there on time, you might be tried for desertion, mightn't +you?" she added, looking so adorable in her concern that Allen failed +to reassure her right away. + +"Well, I don't know that we have to be there just on the minute," he +answered, smiling down at her. "But I may be really tried for +desertion some day. I can't stay away from you very long, Betty." + +She flushed and turned her eyes away. + +"I wouldn't get you into any trouble for the world," she said +demurely. + +"Will you write every day?" pleaded Allen, leaning close, and for the +moment these two were absolutely alone. "Letters are the next best +thing to having you with me, Betty. And if you stop writing, I give +you fair warning I'll come straight home on the next train, furlough +or no furlough, to see what the matter is; and if I get shot at +sunrise, so much the better. Betty, will you promise me?" He said it +pleadingly. + +"I--I'll try to write every day," she answered, still not daring to +look at him; "but you mustn't mind if some days it's only a little +line. I'm going to be terribly busy." + +"I expect to be busy, too," said Allen, drawing himself up a little; +"but I'd manage to find time to write to you every day if I had to +let other things go." + +"Allen," she laid a hand on his arm and he covered it eagerly with +his own, "I _will_ write to you every day and it will be a good long +one, too." + +"Not from a sense of duty?" he asked, still a little unbelieving, +though his heart was throbbing painfully. "You won't write just +because you'll think I'll be expecting it, Betty?" + +"No," she said, her voice very low, so low that he had to bend close +to catch the words. "I'll write to you, Allen--because I--can't help +myself." + +"Betty," he cried, "look at me." + +"Th-there's the engine whistle," she said unsteadily. + +"Engine whistle be hanged!" cried Allen explosively. "Betty, I want +you to look at me." + +Then, as she still turned from him, he deliberately put a hand +beneath her chin and turned her face to meet his. + +"Betty, little Betty," he cried tenderly, seeing that her eyes were +wet with tears, "do you care as much as that? Little girl----" + +"D-don't be nice to me," she sobbed, feeling for her handkerchief. "I +don't want to c-cry. I want to send you away with a s-smile----" + +"Betty," he cried, crushing her to him for a minute, as the train +thundered into the station, "I love you, I love you--do you hear +that? Goodbye, little girl--little girl----" + +The boys tore themselves away, not daring to look back until they +reached the train. And the girls stood in a pathetically brave little +group, waving to them and smiling through their tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE SPY AGAIN + + +They watched until the train was only a dot in the far distance, then +turned disconsolately away. + +"Well, they're gone," said Amy, when they had walked three whole +blocks in silence. + +"Goodness, why don't you tell us something we don't know?" snapped +Mollie. "Please forgive me, Amy," she added the next moment, as Amy's +eyes filled with tears. "I know I'm a beast, but I can't seem to +help it this morning." + +"Only this morning?" asked Grace maliciously, and Mollie made a face +at her--which went far toward making them feel more normal. + +"Didn't the boys say Camp Liberty was only a couple of hundred miles +from here?" asked Betty thoughtfully. Camp Liberty was the cantonment +in which the boys were to receive their initial military training. + +"Yes," said Mollie, glancing at her friend sharply. "Now what plan +have you got up your sleeve, Betty Nelson? I never in my life saw a +girl so full of plans." + +"Goodness, this isn't a plan," said Betty, though her eyes brightened +eagerly. "It's just a wild idea, that's all. You've all heard of the +Hostess Houses they're establishing at the different camps?" + +"Yes," they answered, impatient for what was to come. + +"Well, Mrs. Barton Ross said that there was a Y.M.C.A. hut at Camp +Liberty," Betty's face flushed with the daring of this new plan, "but +that there was no Hostess House there, yet." + +"Well?" they queried, not quite catching her meaning. + +"Of course it's probably absurd," said the Little Captain half +apologetically, "but I thought--I thought--" + +"Oh, Betty, for goodness sake, what did you think?" cried Mollie, +unable longer to bear the suspense. + +"That--that we might work in it," finished Betty, rather expecting to +be laughed at. + +"Betty!" gasped Grace, standing stock-still in the middle of the +sidewalk and gazing at Betty open-mouthed. "Do you suppose there's a +chance that we could?" + +"Betty Nelson, you're a wonder!" cried Mollie, throwing her arm about +the Little Captain in a bear's hug. "I'd never have thought of that +in a thousand years." + +"Well, I don't know but what it was mighty foolish to think of it," +said Betty ruefully. "It would be mighty hard to get our hopes all +raised for nothing." + +"Let's go around and see Mrs. Ross this morning," Amy suggested, +adding with sublime confidence: "She'll fix it so we can go." + +"I only wish I felt as sure," said Betty, still thinking how foolish +she had been not to speak to Mrs. Ross about it herself before she +had proposed it to the girls. Now she had got them all excited--and +it was such a wild idea. + +"Oh, Betty, don't be a wet blanket," said Mollie impatiently. "I'd +rather have my hopes raised just to be disappointed than never to +have any hopes at all." + +"It would be lots of fun," Grace went on, her eyes shining at the +mere thought. "We've heard so much about these Hostess Houses that +I've just been crazy to see one. But to live right there at the camp----" + +"We could help to see that the friends and mothers and sweethearts of +the boys were made comfortable," cried Mollie enthusiastically. "And +if there were too many to be entertained at the Hostess House we +could get families outside to entertain them. Oh, it would be no end +of fun." + +"Oh, I wish I hadn't said anything," wailed the poor Little Captain. +"Now if we are disappointed, as we almost certainly shall be, it will +be all my fault." + +"I don't know why it would be your fault," said Grace, slipping a +loyal arm about her friend. "You've chased the gloom away for one +morning at least, and if nothing comes of this idea, we'll at least +have had the delights of anticipation." + +"There's Mrs. Ross now," cried Mollie suddenly, as a figure emerged +from one of the cross streets and started on ahead of them. "Let's +run after her and learn our fate right away." + +And they did run, with the result that a moment later Mrs. Barton +Ross was surrounded by four very much excited, gesticulating and +pretty girls, all talking at once and all clamoring for her +attention. + +She watched them a moment, admiring their flushed cheeks and bright +eyes, then laughingly held up her hand. + +"One at a time," she begged. "I can play a different air with each +hand on the piano, but I'm not gifted enough to understand four +people all talking at once. Now, if you'll just say it all over +again." + +"Betty, you tell her," begged Amy, and so, eagerly, Betty put her +request. + +"I know it's probably very foolish," she finished, anxiously watching +Mrs. Ross' kindly, interested face. "But we thought, just perhaps, it +might be possible." + +"There's no 'just perhaps' about it," said Mrs. Ross decidedly, and +the girls wondered if they could believe the evidence of their ears. +"In fact," she continued, "I was going to speak to you girls about +that very thing this morning. You have been so successful in rousing +the general spirit here, that I thought you would be just the ones to +make a Hostess House at Camp Liberty a success. Why, yes, I think it +can very easily be arranged." + +Then the girls forgot dignity and decorum and everything else and +just celebrated. In the exuberance of their joy they hugged Mrs. Ross +until she gasped for breath, then they danced off down the street on +feet that scarcely touched the ground. + +"Oh, it's too good to be true," cried Mollie, when at last their +excitement had quieted down a little; then, gleefully, "Won't the +boys be surprised?" + +"Let's not tell them," Grace suggested. "It would be fun not to let +them know a thing about it till we actually got there. I want to see +their faces." + +"Who's that?" cried Mollie, grasping Betty's arm as a man sauntered +out from a cross street, glanced at them, then quickly dodged back +behind a house. "It looked like----" + +"It was!" finished Betty, running swiftly in the direction the man +had taken. + +"The spy!" gasped Amy, who with Grace, as usual, brought up the +rear. "Oh, Betty, be careful! You don't want to get shot!" + +Mollie and Betty, panting, just reached the end of the street in time +to see the man disappearing down another and knew that pursuit was +useless. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Mollie, ready to cry with vexation. "If we were +only half a dozen men apiece, and could have gotten our hands on +him!" + +"Yes, I wouldn't very much mind getting my pearl lavallière back," +said Grace, as she and Amy joined them. + +"And my gold watch," mourned Mollie. + +"Look, girls, he dropped something," cried Betty, who had gone on a +few steps in advance of them. "And it's--why, I do believe it's----" + +"My opal ring!" cried Mollie, staring at it unbelievingly. "Oh, I +can't believe it. Give it to me, Betty; it has my initials on the +inside. Yes, that's my ring." + +The ring passed from one to the other, and the girls regarded it +thoughtfully. + +"Which proves beyond the shadow of a doubt," said Betty at last, +"that Adolph Hensler was the thief." + +"Oh, if we could only have stopped him!" mourned Amy, for perhaps the +eleventh time. "It's terrible to be so close and then lose sight of +him again." + +"If it weren't for getting back our stolen things," said Grace with a +little shiver, "I'd be only too glad not to lay eyes on his beauteous +countenance again. Goodness, I know I'll dream of him to-night." + +They walked on after that for some time in silence, each one busy +with her own absorbing thoughts. Then suddenly Betty spoke. + +"Do you know, girls," she said, "I may be foolish--probably I am, but +I have a strong conviction that some time we're going to meet that +spy again--and the third time he isn't going to get away from us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MORE SURPRISES + + +The next few weeks were filled with such excitement, that the girls +even forgot to miss the boys. In the letters they received from the +latter--and they were many--they never failed to find comments upon +this strange fact. The boys seemed to feel a little aggrieved that +the girls did not weep a few more tears in the absence of their +devoted swains. + +"Of course I want you to be happy, Betty," Allen had written once +upon this theme, "but I'd like to feel that you missed me, a little +anyway. It makes a fellow feel as though it wouldn't make any +difference if he disappeared off the face of the earth. If you missed +me one-tenth as much as I miss you--" etc., etc., until Betty's laugh +bubbled over and she patted the letter consolingly. + +"Never mind, Allen, dear," she said, putting the letter away +carefully in the rapidly increasing pile, tied with the blue ribbon. +"If you only knew what I know, you wouldn't have time to miss me so +much either. But I am glad," she added, all to herself, flushed of +face and shy-eyed, "oh, so very glad, Allen, to have you miss me!" + +So the days went on, drawing rapidly nearer to the date of their +departure, while the excitement and good spirits of the girls rose +proportionately. + +About a week before the great day, they gave another of the affairs +which had grown so rapidly in popularity. This time it was to raise +funds for the Hostess House, and the girls gave heart and soul and +all their time to make it a success. + +They were to have some very elaborate tableaux with dancing +afterward, and all Deepdale was on tiptoe with anticipation long +before the night arrived. And how they all enjoyed it! + +It spoke well for the patriotism of the young men of Deepdale that +there were very few within the age of enlistment, who had not already +gone to the various training camps, scattered all over the country. +So there were very few at the dance, giving, as Betty's father +jokingly said, a chance for the "young old men" to show their +accomplishments. + +And the "young old men," did so well that there had never, in all the +history of Deepdale, been a merrier party. Being an age when +everybody danced, up to the grandfathers of ninety, the girls had no +lack of partners, and were oftentimes amazed at the skill and +dexterity and lightness shown by men who were old enough to be their +fathers twice over. + +Of course some of them were stiff and a little "creaky in the +joints," but this only added to the general hilarity, and at one +o'clock the fun was still fast and furious. + +"Oh, I never had such a good time," cried Mollie, sinking down beside +Betty on one of the roughly improvised benches, weak from laughing. +"I was just dancing with old Doctor Riley, and he kept me in +stitches. Half the time he had almost to carry me around, I was +laughing so." + +Betty nodded and dimpled bewitchingly as Mr. Bailey, father of ten +children, gallantly asked for the next dance. + +"You're taking a chance, Miss Betty," he said, the corners of his +eyes crinkling into a million wrinkles as he laughed down at her. "I +used to be considered a fairly good dancer in the old days, but I +haven't danced in the last ten years. I watched the young folks so +much, though, I thought I'd take a chance if you were willing. If I +step on your toes too much we can go over and get some ice cream and +cake." + +"You're doing wonderfully," said Betty heartily, amazed to find how +much she was really enjoying the dance. "I'm going to write to the +boys, and say we don't need them any more," she added whimsically. +"I'll tell them we're just beginning to appreciate their fathers!" + +When it was over, their proceeds amounted to over a hundred dollars; +and that was not counting an uproarious good time, that none of the +young or middle-aged folk of Deepdale would ever stop talking about. + +Then at last came the dawning of the great day--the day the girls had +looked forward to for weeks. They woke with a strange, thrilly +sensation running up and down their spines, and hearts that refused +to beat normally. + +In four separate houses, four separate girls dressed with trembling +fingers and eyes on the clock; and four separate girls kept saying +over and over again: "What will they say? What will they say?" + +They met at Mollie's as usual--a tense-faced, excited little +group--with parents and relatives who were going to the train to see +them off. + +"Have we plenty of time?" asked Amy, who for two days and nights had +lived in the fear of losing that train. "I guess maybe we'd better +hurry." + +"Oh, there is oceans of time," Mrs. Ross assured them, who seemed, +for some unaccountable reason, bent on delaying them. "The train +isn't due for ten minutes yet, and then it's more than likely to be +late. Besides, there are a few last words I'd like to say to you +girls that can be said better here than on the station platform." + +Then she started to give them some minute instructions, to which they +tried hard to listen respectfully, although the mere effort to sit +still was torture, and Mollie afterward said she "wanted to scream." + +However, the harangue lasted at the most, two minutes--although it +seemed to the girls two ages--and they were at last on their way to +the station. It was not till they turned the corner that brought the +familiar platform in view, that they received their first surprise. + +The station was fairly thronged with people! + +"Wh-what is it?" stammered Betty, rubbing her eyes to make sure she +was not dreaming. + +"Is everybody in Deepdale going away?" added Mollie, her eyes big +with wonder. + +"I've never seen so many people at the station at one time," added +Grace, bewildered. + +"Do you know what it is, Mrs. Ross?" asked Amy. + +But Mrs. Ross made no answer--she did not have to. The crowd at the +station caught sight of the four girls, and a great shout went up. + +"Hurray," cried a masculine voice. "Hurray for the Outdoor Girls. +Give 'em three cheers and a tiger." + +The girls stood still, amazed, bewildered, until suddenly, out of a +maze of tangled thoughts, light dawned. + +"They're cheering _us_, Mollie," whispered Betty, squeezing Mollie's +hand until it hurt--at least it would have if Mollie had noticed it. +"All these people have turned out early just to see us off." + +"I--I'm afraid I'm going to cry," said Mollie unsteadily. + +When the shouts had died down, Doctor Riley made a speech full of +true Irish wit and humor, and pathos, too, telling the girls how +deeply Deepdale had appreciated the active and patriotic work they +had done for their country in the time of its bitterest need and how +very sorry they all were to see them go. + +He went on to tell something of what the country was doing and had +done, cracking a few jokes based on camp life, that almost sent the +girls into hysterics--so finely balanced were they between laughter +and tears. Then he ended with another eulogy of the Outdoor Girls and +the hope that health and good fortune would follow them wherever they +went. + +He stepped down from the box on which he had been making his address +just as the sharp toot of the whistle gave warning of the train's +approach. Some one handed him four little corsage bouquets of +carnations, which he handed in turn to each one of the tremulous +girls, with an appropriate little speech to each. + +With a grinding of brakes the train came to a standstill, and the +crowd gave way to let them pass. Clutching the little bouquets tight +and hoping desperately that they would not cry, the girls started for +the train. + +At the bottom of the steps Betty turned and faced them. + +"You dear people," she began, but choked and had to try again. +"I--we--want to thank you----" Then, as two tears forced their way +through and rolled unchecked down her face, she turned and ran up the +car steps. + +"All we can say," she added, smiling unsteadily down at them as the +train began to move, "is, just that we--we--love you all!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE HOSTESS HOUSE + + +Once settled comfortably in the seats, the girls smiled across at +each other unsteadily. + +"We didn't deserve it," said Amy, brushing away a tiresome tear that +would insist upon trickling down her face. + +"None of us did, except Betty," said Grace, recovering enough to open +the chocolate box she had thoughtfully purchased at a drug store. +"She was the one who really thought up all the things, and all we did +was follow where she led." + +"That's foolish, and you know it is," said Betty, beginning to get +indignant. "I'd like to know how much of it I could have done without +you girls! And of course the boys helped wonderfully, too." + +"Goodness, what's the use of arguing?" Mollie broke in. "The fact +remains that we've been cheered by a crowd of our friends, made +speeches to, and presented with bouquets, and I don't care whose +fault it was it all happened. I'm too happy." + +"Happy," echoed Amy, gazing dreamily out of the window at the flying +landscape. "I never was so happy in my life before--except for one +thing." Her face clouded a little and she bit her lip. + +"What one thing?" asked Mollie with interest. Grace and Betty turned +to gaze at her inquiringly. + +"Oh, n--nothing," stammered Amy, very much confused to find all eyes +upon her. "I was just--thinking aloud, I guess." + +"Well, do it some more," suggested Grace, passing her the candy. +"Something tells me it might be interesting." + +"Goodness, it is interesting," laughed Betty, changing the subject to +save Amy further embarrassment. "Have any of you girls ever heard +Grace talk in her sleep?" + +"Now, Betty," Grace turned upon her reproachfully. "You're never +going to--" + +"Yes, she is," cried Mollie gleefully. "What does she say, Betty? It +ought to be good." + +"I never say anything that isn't good," put in Grace primly, adding, +as she saw the light of mischief in Betty's eye. "If you tell tales +out of school, Betty Nelson, I'll never forgive you." + +"It's awfully funny," began Betty, bubbling over, while Mollie leaned +forward gleefully. "She talks in such a wee small voice, and +sometimes she'll even answer questions--if you speak very coaxingly." + +"I know, but what does she _say_?" asked Mollie impatiently. +"Goodness, I've missed a lot." + +"Well, I remember one conversation we had," began Betty reflectively. + +"Betty," Grace broke in imploringly, "I had a mistaken notion that +you were a friend of mine." + +"I am, dear," answered Betty soothingly. "I won't give away any +secrets--not many, anyway----" + +"Betty," cried Grace desperately, "I'll stop you if I have to use +force." + +"We'll protect you, Betty," Mollie promised. "Go ahead, tell us about +that conversation." + +"It was very interesting," complied Betty, with exasperating +deliberation, and eyes brimming over with fun. "It seems to me we +were discussing some of the boys we knew----" + +"Betty," cried poor Grace again, her face flaming, "if you say one +word more, I'll never speak to you again." + +"Well, in that case," said Betty, settling back and looking +disappointed, "I suppose I'll have to let you out." + +"That's a nice way to treat us, I should say," cried Mollie +disgustedly. "Just get our curiosity aroused and then sit on it. No, +you needn't try to make it up by offering me candy, Betty. I'm just +peeved." + +"Goodness, I seem to make enemies whatever I do," said Betty +plaintively. "I tell you what I'll do," she added, seized by +inspiration. + +"Take care," warned Grace, her mouth full of chocolate. + +"We'll wait till some night when Grace has eaten a specially large +amount of chocolates and ice cream----" + +"We won't have to wait long," murmured Mollie. + +"And then I'll invite you all to a seance," finished Betty, sitting +back and looking tremendously satisfied with herself. "Then you can +question Grace for yourselves." + +"But does she actually answer you?" asked Amy, still incredulous. +"I've heard of people talking in their sleep, but I never heard of +anybody's answering questions intelligently." + +"Goodness, she doesn't!" said Betty wickedly. "How can you expect +people to do in their sleep what they can't do when they're awake?" + +"Betty Nelson!" cried Grace--and if looks could kill, Betty's moments +would have been numbered--"that's the worst yet. Now I _am_ +offended." + +"Oh, dear," said Betty, while the others giggled merrily. "I always +seem to be getting myself in wrong. Will you pass me some candy, +Grace?" + +"No," said the latter firmly. "I only give candies to them what +deserves 'em. Mollie, come back with those--come back with them--I +tell you--" + +But Mollie had whisked them off Grace's lap before she could +interfere and had handed them around with great ceremony. + +And so the journey continued amid a great deal of fun and merriment +until the train was nearing Camp Liberty. Then the prospect of seeing +the boys and surprising them made the girls so nervous they could +hardly sit still. + +"I did such a foolish thing," said Betty, as they, put on their wraps +in a flurry of haste. "I wrote to Allen yesterday and I'll see him +before he gets the letter. It would have been better to have brought +it along." + +A few minutes later the train drew into the station, and a quartette +of very pretty girls stepped to the platform. So pretty were they, in +fact, that more than one passerby turned around to look a second +time. + +The girls gave their trunk checks to a negro who came bustling up, +stepped into a cab and, almost before they knew it, were being +whirled along the streets at a reckless pace toward the Hostess +House. + +"Oh," gasped Amy, holding on tight to the seat. "I have worse stage +fright now than I did on the night we gave the sketch. Everything's +so new and strange." + +"Well, what did you expect a strange city to be like?" asked Mollie +practically. + +In what seemed to them scarcely a second of time they had stopped +before a very pretty, homelike house, and a polite chauffeur was +holding the door of the cab open for them. + +Still feeling as if it were all happening in a dream, they crossed +the sidewalk and ran up the steps of the house. Before they had time +to ring the bell a stout, middle-aged, motherly-looking woman opened +the door and smiled down at them approvingly. + +"Well, well," she said, holding the door wide for them, "walk right +in, young ladies, and make yourselves at home." + +"We expected you almost an hour sooner," she added, as the girls +followed her into a big, cheerful front room. "I was rather afraid +there might have been an accident on the road--there have been +several lately." + +"No, we were simply delayed," replied Betty with her prettiest +smile--winning the woman's affections then and there. "Part of the way +we could have walked faster than the train moved, I think." + +"I'm Mrs. Watson," their hostess introduced herself a few minutes +later, as she led the way upstairs. "Mrs. Barton Ross has no doubt +told you I am representing the Y.W.C.A. here in Denton. I hope," she +added, as the girls took off their coats and hats and "did things" to +their hair, "that we are going to be friends." + +"We shall be," chorused the girls, smiling at her happily, "if we +have anything to say about it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +HELPING UNCLE SAM + + +After dinner, the girls were taken over their new domain, and were +enthusiastic about it. There were three big parlors where the boys +could entertain their friends and relatives, also bedrooms enough to +accommodate some score of people over night. + +"Of course, as you see, we're not nearly in shape yet," Mrs. Watson +apologized, as they came back to the big front room. "There are still +pictures to be hung, some draperies and odds and ends to be bought +that will change the looks of the place entirely. It is with those +things you girls can help me immensely, if you will." + +"That's what we came for," replied Betty quickly, while the other +girls looked eager. "And besides, I think it will be a lark. Somehow, +nothing seems half hard or strenuous enough to do for the boys that +are giving up so much for us." + +"That's the spirit we like to see," said Mrs. Watson, looking at the +girl's flushed face and shining eyes approvingly. "And it's the +spirit," she added slowly, "that we see among nine-tenths of our +girls and women these days. It's wonderful what we are +accomplishing." + +"It's nothing to what our boys are going to accomplish when they get +into the fight," broke in Mollie, her eyes big and dark. "My one +regret is that I can't put on a uniform, and fight side by side with +them." + +"But we can fight side by side with them," said Mrs. Watson, leaning +forward very seriously. "Don't you suppose the thought of us and the +certainty that we are backing them up with all our might, will be +with the boys every minute while they're in the trenches, helping +them to fight the Hun as they never would be able to alone?" + +"Yes," said Mollie, impressed but still unconvinced. "But I should +think it would help them ever so much more if we were really there in +person. Women have proved themselves just as good fighters as men, +you know." + +"That might be all right," said Amy quietly. "But then who would stay +at home to knit sweaters for them, and who would do the nursing work? +We couldn't do that, and be in the trenches at the same time." + +"That's the way I look at it," said Mrs. Watson, turning to the quiet +girl and regarding her thoughtfully. "It seems to me we are doing far +more good here at home where we've had experience, than we could +possibly do in the actual fighting. But it's getting pretty late," +she interrupted herself, "and you girls must be tired after your long +journey. Suppose we get to bed right away, so that in the morning we +can start bright and early to get things in shape." + +They assented unanimously, for, although their desire for information +was as unsatisfied as ever, their eyelids were heavy with sleep, and +the thought of bed lured them irresistibly. + +"Oh, I can't wait for the morning to come," sighed Betty, as she +slipped in between the cool sheets. "It seems wicked to waste time in +sleep." + +"In the morning we'll work," said Mollie, her voice eager with +anticipation; "and in the afternoon--" + +"We'll go over and surprise the boys," finished Grace. "I can almost +see their faces when we burst in upon them." + +"There'll be no bursting," said Betty primly. "We've got to behave +like perfectly proper young ladies." + +"Oh, impossible," murmured Mollie; and five minutes later, they were +all asleep. + +Morning, and the sun shining brightly in the window, challenging them +to action. + +"Awake?" queried Mollie, leaning over and poking Betty +experimentally. + +"If I'm not I soon will be," said Betty, sitting up and regarding +Mollie indignantly. "Goodness, that's a nice thing to do to a person. +Couldn't you see I was asleep?" + +"I was just asking you," said Mollie twinkling. "You looked so sweet +and peaceful----" + +"That you needs must spoil it all," said Betty plaintively. "My, but +I'd hate to have that kind of a disposition."' + +"Won't you let me be your little alarm clock?" begged Mollie, leaning +forward to administer another poke, which Betty skillfully dodged. + +"No, I won't," she answered, adding, as she squinted out at the sun: +"We don't need one in this room. We're facing directly east." + +Mollie chuckled. + +"Mrs. Watson made a mistake," she said, "when she put Grace and Amy +in the other room. She should have put them in this one, so the sun +could take our place and wake them up every morning. Betty, it's a +glorious day." + +"Don't you suppose I know it?" asked Betty, shaking herself +impatiently, as the tang of the air and the brilliant sunshine got +into her blood, making her eager for action. "And it's only six +o'clock," she added, appealing to her little wrist watch. "We'll +never be able to get Grace and Amy up this early." + +"Won't you, though?" chuckled a voice from the doorway, and they +looked up quickly to find Grace standing there, with Amy laughing at +them over her shoulder. And what was still more wonderful and +startling--they were dressed! + +Betty and Mollie stared unbelievingly for a moment, mouths and eyes +wide open, then jumped out of bed and made a rush for the +conspirators. + +"I don't see how you did it," gasped Mollie a few minutes later, when +they stopped for lack of breath. "There wasn't a sound----" + +"Yes, there were, lots of them," said Grace, stopping before a mirror +to tuck in a stray lock that had come loose in the general confusion. +"Only you and Betty were talking so hard and fast, you didn't hear +us. Goodness, but I'm hungry." + +As this was the case with them all, and as the savory odor of bacon +and eggs was wafted up to them at the moment from below stairs, they +wasted scant time in making their way to it. + +And after breakfast what a busy morning they spent! Never in all +their active lives could they remember anything to equal it. Downtown +first of all to shop under Mrs. Watson's guidance, in stores that +were so different from those in Deepdale, that they were in great +danger of becoming hopelessly confused. + +However, they eventually "got their bearings," as the boys would have +said, and came home at last laden with parcels, and very much +satisfied with themselves. + +After luncheon, which was extremely well-cooked and tasted, oh, so +good! Mrs. Watson proposed the one thing they wanted most to do. + +"Suppose," she suggested, as they rose from the table, "that we call +this a day and spend the afternoon in getting acquainted with the +cantonment. It's extremely interesting, especially for those who have +never been through one before. What do you say?" + +What they said was enough to convince her she could not have struck +upon a happier plan. Half an hour later, all talking at once and +tremendously excited, they set out upon their tour of inspection. + +Betty drew Grace a little apart from the others and they held a +whispered consultation. + +"What shall we do?" asked the former nervously. "Shall we send the +orderly to hunt up the boys and bring them to us, or shall we just +wait until we meet them by chance?" + +"We might be here a week without doing that," said Grace, looking +about at the scores of olive drab figures. "And in the meantime, +they'd think it was very strange we didn't write to them." + +"I suppose you're right," said Betty reluctantly, "but the other way +would be so much more fun." + +At this moment Mrs. Watson and the two other girls beckoned to them +to hurry, and they had no chance for further conversation. + +Then, just as Betty was about to broach the subject of the boys to +Mrs. Watson, the unexpected happened. + +A khaki-clad figure, cutting across their path at a dead run, almost +collided with them, paused to gasp an apology, stopped still and +stared. It was Allen! + +"Betty!" he cried, with eyes for only one of them. "Wh--what are you +doing here?" + +"Just what you're doing," said Betty with spirit, though she was +blushing furiously. "Helping Uncle Sam!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE EVENING GUN + + +"But wh-what?" stammered Allen, while Mrs. Watson looked on in +amazement. "Wh-why didn't you let a fellow know?" + +"We wanted to surprise you," said Betty gleefully, noting with pride +how splendid he looked in his uniform. "You don't seem at all glad to +see us. Mrs. Watson," remembering her manners in the nick of time, +"this is a friend of ours from Deepdale--Allen Washburn. He didn't +know we were coming." + +"So I see," smiled Mrs. Watson, shaking hands warmly with Allen. "I'm +very glad to know you, Mr. Washburn, and I hope we shall see you +often at the Hostess House." + +"It's very good of you," said Allen, still very much in the dark, and +totally unable to keep his eyes from Betty's face. "Did you say the +Hostess House?" + +"Yes. That's what we came down for," said Mollie, who had been quiet +just about as long as she could. "To help run it, you know--and +everything." + +"Especially 'everything,'" drawled Grace. + +"Say, that's great!" cried Allen, beginning to see light. "You mean +you're going to stay here--maybe for weeks--and see that everybody +has a good time--us included? Gee, what luck!" + +"I'm glad you think so," said Betty demurely, while Allen wished +desperately to have her alone. "What were you in such a hurry about, +when you nearly ran into us?" she asked, with interest. + +"I was going to look up Frank and Roy, to tell them we'd been granted +our five-day furlough. We were going to make a bee line home to +Deepdale. Now," he added, eyes still on Betty's averted face, "we won't +have to!" + +Mrs. Watson smiled sympathetically, and, being an ardent matchmaker, +looked forward to having even more of an interesting season than she +had expected. + +"And it's the greatest luck ever," Allen continued enthusiastically, +as they walked slowly across the parade ground, "that we happened to +get our furlough just now. What are you girls doing this afternoon?" + +"Seeing the sights," said Mollie. "We're taking a half-holiday." + +"Gee!" cried Allen, fairly capering in his delight. "This is +altogether too good to be true. Wait till I tell the fellows." + +"Oh, but we want to surprise them," said Grace, stopping short and +looking abused. "When we've come all this distance to do it, it isn't +fair for you to have all the fun." + +"All right, you stay here then," said Allen, conducting them around +the corner of one of the low wooden buildings, which the girls +afterward learned was the mess hall. "I'll look up the fellows, and +lead the poor unsuspecting----" + +"Goodness, you'd think we were going to murder them," broke in Mollie +impatiently. "I wish you'd do something and not talk so much." + +"Anything to oblige--see you later." Allen saluted smartly and went +off briskly in search of the other boys. + +Betty's eyes almost unconsciously followed the fine, stalwart figure +till it disappeared around the corner of one of the buildings, and +Mollie, who had been watching her closely, suddenly put an arm about +her in a little impulsive hug. + +"He _is_ splendid, dear," she whispered, and once more Betty flushed +to the roots of her pretty hair. + +They had only a few minutes to wait before Allen came striding back +to them, with two other khaki-clad figures. The girls shrank farther +back into the shadows of the building. Not until they were almost +upon them did the boys catch sight of them. Then Roy and Frank just +stood still and gaped, as Allen had done. + +"Great jumping jerushaphat!" cried Roy, at last finding his tongue. +"If it isn't the very people we wanted most to see in this world. +Welcome, little strangers! Oh, gee, but you're welcome!" + +Then Frank added some equally incoherent phrases, and for a few +moments confusion reigned, while they shook hands over and over +again, all talked at once to nobody in particular, and generally +enjoyed themselves. + +"And the best part of it is," said Roy enthusiastically, "that we can +be free to show you girls about the place. And I tell you, it's +something to see!" + +Before the girls had been half shown about the place, they more than +agreed with him. It was wonderfully inspiring, to see those hundreds +of boys, with their splendidly trained young bodies and their +determined young faces, knowing they were devoting their lives freely +and cheerfully to the greatest cause in all history. + +The girls peeped into the long, low buildings that were the sleeping +quarters of the men, with their cots all in a row and clothes hung +neatly along the wall. They saw the guardhouse, where unruly soldiers +were confined and forced to a state of reasonableness. + +They regarded it with awe, and Amy even backed away from it a little. + +"I don't like barred windows," she said. "It always makes me shiver." + +"Humph," said Mollie, the irrepressible. "You'd better get used to +them, Amy, dear. Some day we'll be feeding the boys peanuts through +the bars." + +"Gee, isn't she complimentary?" said Roy, as they walked on. "You +don't know what models of deportment we've been since we came here." + +"Yes," put in Grace sweetly, "they say military training does work +miracles!" + +"It's too bad you missed guard mount this morning," said Allen, while +the rest laughed at Roy's discomfiture. + +"That's when they change the guard, isn't it?" asked Betty. + +"Yes, and they're very formal about it," Allen continued. "It's +really very impressive, and the band is a joy forever. You must get +up bright and early in the morning." + +"As if we didn't always," said Betty indignantly. + +"Oh, listen to the music," cried Amy, her head on one side like a +bird. "Isn't it great? I simply can't keep my feet still." + +"It's over at the other end of the parade," said Frank, taking +Grace's arm and leading her in the direction of the stirring strains. +"Every nice afternoon they have a concert from three to four. It's +mighty fine, too." + +"Oh, I'm so glad I came," cried Betty, to whom music was like the +wine of life. + +"So am I," said Allen, drawing her away from the party and speaking +softly. "I've seen your face so often in my dreams, Betty, that when +you suddenly appeared before me I thought for a minute it was just +another of them--more real and vivid, but still a dream. And you are +a dream, Betty, the most wonderful dream in all the world!" + +"Hush, Allen," she begged, though her heart was beating suffocatingly +and she hardly dared to look at him. "Everybody is staring at us." + +"At you, you mean." Allen looked about fiercely at his comrades, who +indeed seemed very much attracted by his pretty companion. "I see +where I'll have to lick the whole camp." + +Betty's laugh rippled out merrily, and Allen looked more belligerent +than ever. + +"Don't think I could do it, I suppose," he was beginning, when they +came suddenly upon the other members of the party, who were waiting +for them. + +"Betty, isn't it wonderful?" cried Mollie, lips parted, eyes shining +as she slipped an arm through Betty's. "Now I want more than ever to +be a soldier." + +They enjoyed every minute of that hour's concert, and then felt +abused because they could not have more. After that they visited the +Y.M.C.A. hut, saw the officers' quarters from the outside, and +otherwise amused themselves till the boys declared there was nothing +more to be seen. + +Then, just as the sun was sinking, the clear notes of the bugle broke +in upon the evening stillness, and the girls glanced inquiringly at +their escorts. + +"That's retreat," Allen explained. "If you stand here, you can watch +it at close quarters. Here come all the fellows. They have to stand +at parade rest, left knee bent, weight on the right foot, guns held +in front of them, till the old gun goes off." + +"Gun?" Amy repeated questioningly, while the girls watched the +ceremony with beating hearts. + +"Yes. At reveille the morning gun goes off; and at retreat, the +evening," Allen explained. "When you hear the gun to-night, just +click your heels and stand at attention like all the rest of us." + +Boom! The girls jumped but retained presence of mind enough to stand +at attention as Allen had cautioned them. The boys were standing +stiff and straight as ramrods, hands at salute, their young faces +grave and tense. + +The band played the "Star-Spangled Banner," and never had it thrilled +the girls as it thrilled them now. It brought tears to their eyes, +yet they wanted to shout with pride and patriotism. Their star-spangled +banner, oh, long might it wave, o'er the land of the free +and the home of the brave! + +"Allen, Allen!" cried Betty when it was all over and they had turned +away, "I'm proud, so proud, just to be--an American!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FLAMES + + +For the girls during the happy, work-filled, pleasure-filled days +that followed, only one cloud darkened the horizon. That was the +continued strange behavior of Will Ford. + +About a week after their arrival, Grace had received a letter from +him, saying that he was coming on for an indefinite stay. Betty found +her friend with the letter clenched tight in one hand, while the +other crushed a handkerchief into a hard little ball. + +"Why, Grace, what is the matter?" Betty sat down beside her and +slipped a sympathetic arm about her shoulders. "Tell me, have you had +bad news?" + +"No, I suppose you couldn't exactly call it that," said Grace +wearily, folding up the letter and replacing it carefully in its +envelope. "As a rule I'd think it was mighty good news. Will is +coming to Camp Liberty." + +"Oh, has he enlisted, after all?" cried Betty impulsively, and the +next minute could have bitten her tongue out for her thoughtlessness. + +The tears had risen to Grace's eyes and she had turned away. + +"No," she said, very softly. "He hasn't enlisted." + +Betty's brow puckered in bewilderment. + +"Did he say why he was coming on?" she asked, not knowing just what +to say. + +"He said he was coming on business," Grace replied listlessly, then +added, with a sudden fierce outburst of emotion: "I wish he'd stay in +Deepdale. I wish, if he can't be honorable and live up to his ideals +like the other boys, he wouldn't come where they are. If he is my +brother, I'm ashamed----" + +"Hush, Grace, hush," cried Betty soothingly, putting a firm hand over +her friend's mouth. "You're all excited and worked up now or you +wouldn't say such things. Didn't I tell you before that Will has his +reasons? Are you going to let a friend have more faith in him than +his own sister?" + +"Betty Nelson," Grace began angrily, then broke down and began to sob +weakly. "I can't help it," she said, as Betty tried to comfort her. +"I've always loved Will so, and been so proud of him. He's been such +a good brother, too! I simply can't understand it!" + +"Never mind," went on Betty soothingly, trying desperately to think +of something really comforting to say. "Maybe after Will gets here +he'll explain things. Till then, as my mother says, we'll just be +'canty wi' thinkin' aboot it.'" + +But when the conversation was reported to the other girls, it +troubled them a good deal, and they longed to solve the mystery. And +when Will came he refused to be of any help whatever, keeping almost +entirely to himself, and answering questions put to him vaguely, if +at all. His actions became more and more mysterious, and it was +absolutely impossible to make him out. + +"Just leave him alone," was Allen's advice, and the girls were +reluctantly obliged to follow it. + +"But I wish I knew!" sighed Betty. + +"Yes," was all Allen answered. + +Then something happened that for a time drove the mystery from their +minds. It was after a particularly long and hard day, when the girls +had been entertaining at the Hostess House all morning and part of +the afternoon. + +Then about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, they had gone +downtown to do some very necessary shopping, and had been unable to +get back to dinner till seven o'clock; and that evening the boys had +arranged to take them to the theater. + +By the time it was all over, and the boys had left them at the +Hostess House, they were very, very tired and very, very happy. + +"I never felt so sleepy in my life," said Grace, sitting down on the +edge of the bed and stretching her arms above her head. "And yet +we've had such a good time. If somebody doesn't give me another +chocolate I won't be able to stay awake long enough to get undressed. +Thanks, Amy, you always were a friend of mine." + +"Well, I never laughed so much in my life," declared Mollie, pulling +off her slipper and wiggling her toes contentedly. "I think it's +perfectly wonderful to go out with the boys in uniform. They look so +splendid and we feel so very important." + +"Goodness, don't you think they feel important, too?" yawned Grace. +"I know that Teddy Challenger does." + +Teddy Challenger was a new-made friend of the boys, whom Allen had +brought along for Amy, Will having refused to make one of the party +on the plea of having important business to attend to. + +"Oh, I don't know," said Betty, thoughtfully running the comb through +her hair. "He seems like a mighty nice fellow to me and the boys all +like him." + +"Well, Allen won't, if Teddy doesn't mind his P's and Q's," said +Mollie, with a wickedly significant glance at Betty, which caused +that young person to flush prettily. + +"I don't even know what you mean," she announced demurely, and they +all laughed at her. + +"I wish you people would stop talking," Grace broke in plaintively. +"I've simply got to get some sleep!" + +And they slept the hearty sleep of tired girlhood till about four +o'clock in the morning. Then Amy, in the room next to Betty and +Mollie, rubbed her eyes, coughed a little, then sat up with a cry of +alarm. + +Smoke was curling thickly in around the crack in the door and the air +was hot and suffocating. Somewhere the sound of crackling, snapping +wood, the lurid flare of flames---- + +"Fire! fire!" she gasped, struggling to her feet and feeling blindly +for her clothes. "Grace, Grace, wake up! Grace----" her voice rose to +a scream as she saw that Grace was sleeping on. + +"Oh, please, please wake up," she moaned, seizing Grace by the +shoulders and shaking her wildly. "You must, you must! Grace, the +house is on fire!" + +Slowly the heavy eyelids opened, then Grace struggled to a sitting +posture, supported by Amy's quivering arm, and gazed wildly about +her. Then she sprang to her feet, swaying dizzily, and with Amy's arm +still about her, they felt blindly for the door. + +They found the knob at last and, after a nightmare moment when the +flames roared louder, and the smoke clutched viciously at their +throats, flung the door open and staggered into the hall. + +A blast of heat and smoke sent them reeling back into the room. Amy +closed the door with a little moan. + +"The other stairs!" gasped Grace, fairly dragging her friend forward. +"Maybe--it hasn't reached--them--yet----" + +"There's--Mollie and--Betty," cried Amy, clutching at her throat and +coughing spasmodically. In the frantic terror of the moment they had +forgotten everything but their own great danger. + +"We must--get--them--out!" gasped Grace, rushing into their chums' +room and frantically shaking Betty, while Amy vainly tried to waken +Mollie. The girls still slept on in the semblance of ordinary, +healthy slumber. + +"What can we do?" cried Amy hysterically. "We can't leave them here, +and we can't----" + +"Come on! We've got to--get some--help!" Grace fumbled for the knob +and finally succeeded in getting the door opened. + +As they had hoped, the stairway at the rear of the house was still +intact, although the smoke was so dense they had to feel every inch +of the way. + +Oh, the nightmare of it! Long years afterward the girls would live it +over again in their dreams, and wake up drenched in perspiration, +quivering and shaking with terror. + +When they finally reached the outer air they were smoke begrimed, +wild-eyed and the tears were rolling down their faces unnoticed and +unchecked. + +The fire, which had started inside, and had gained a good foothold +before any trace of it could be seen from the outside, had been +discovered by one of the guards, who had immediately sent in an +alarm. Already the shriek of the fire engine could be heard, soldiers +were being hurried out from the barracks to help in the rescue work, +and all was noise and confusion. + +A group of women who had escaped from the house before the girls, and +who stood huddled together in a terrified group, rushed forward at +sight of them, and gathered about them eagerly. + +But Grace was not to be detained. She pushed ruthlessly past the +women, and ran to intercept a group of firemen who were rushing down +upon them. + +"Two girls," she gasped, catching one of them by the arm and holding +on desperately. "At the head of the stairs--unconscious--get them----" + +And then Grace, who had done her gallant best, tumbled down in a +little heap, having fainted. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE RESCUE + + +Allen, rushing up with his company, gave one quick glance at the +group of women and girls before the burning house, then strode grimly +over to Amy's side. + +"Where's Betty?" he demanded roughly, his voice sounding strange, +even to himself. + +"Allen, Allen, they've gone to rescue her," cried Amy, shaking like a +leaf. "She's still in the house---" + +With a hoarse cry Allen turned, and ran like a madman toward the +burning building. A fireman, stumbling gaspingly from the house, +almost knocked him down. + +"Isn't any use!" he cried. "That stair's on fire, too. We've got to +reach 'em from the outside." + +"Get out of the way!" cried Allen, shoving him roughly to one side. + +The fireman called after him, but there was no stopping the terror +that forced him on. Terror for Betty--up there alone--Betty--Betty. +He clapped a hand before his eyes and stumbled blindly on. + +Flames lapped at him hungrily as he forced his mad way through them, +smoke choked him, blinded him, and yet he must go on. Betty--Betty... +A section of the stairs gave way before him and he had to jump to +keep from going with it. + +Was this the head of the stairs? He felt for it with his hand and +pulled it back with an involuntary cry of pain. He was horribly +burned, his hands, his face, his hair--his clothing had started. He +beat at them as he ran. He must live until he had rescued Betty--and +then---- + +A door. Fumblingly he opened it--then forced it shut from the other +side. Blindly he felt for the bed. Yes, she was here. Thank God he +had found her! But there was another figure--someone else to save. + +Then he felt a sharp pain. He looked down and found that the flames +were rapidly creeping up--creeping up... There was a rug on the +floor--with feverish haste he wrapped himself in it--smothering the +flames. He must live until---- + +He staggered to his feet, lifted one of the unconscious figures in +his arms and staggered with it to the door. A hades of flame leaped +at him. It was too late. They were trapped! + +He groaned aloud and great tears rolled down his face. Betty--Betty! +Carefully he laid his burden down and staggered to the open window. + +The firemen were raising a ladder to another window. He beckoned to +them, he shouted to them in a hoarse voice that seemed to him to make +no noise at all. + +But they saw him and shifted the ladder to his window. Was there a +chance, after all? The flames were eating away the door, were leaping +into the room. Down below the firemen had stretched a net. + +Sobbing now, his breath coming in great gasps, Allen rushed back to +the bed, picked up one of the figures, and staggered with it back to +the window. They saw him standing there; and a great cheer went up +from the spectators. + +Gathering all that wonderful reserve strength that comes to every one +in time of greatest need, he swung his burden far out from the +window--then dropped it. + +Allen paused for a moment, steadying hand on the windowsill, then +gathered himself for the last great effort. The bed was invisible +now, the room an inferno--he had to fight every step of the way back +to the bed. Then he found what he sought, and fought the slow fight +back to the window. + +But his strength was going--going--his arms were iron weights--the +room was going black. With a great effort he fought off the +faintness. Then he saw a great, helmeted head peering in at him from +the window. + +"Give her to me, son," said a hearty voice; then, it seemed to Allen +miraculously, he was relieved of his burden. Swaying, dizzy, he clung +to the windowsill to keep himself erect. + +"Now I guess I can die," he heard himself saying, through an eternity +of space. + +"You just hold tight, son," said the hearty voice, as its owner +carefully lowered himself and the poor little unconscious figure down +the ladder. "I'll be back for you in jig time." + +But it was an eternity while Allen waited, every nerve tense in the +fight for consciousness, red hot irons searing his flesh, that +roaring hades of flames creeping closer, closer---- + +"Your turn, son!" + +Dimly he saw the helmeted head through a haze of smoke and tried to +speak--but no sound came from between his cracked, parched lips. He +swayed. A brawny arm gripped him like a vise. + +"Can you climb out," asked the voice, "or will I have to carry you?" + +[Illustration: "ALLEN!" SHE CRIED, DRAWING A CHAIR TO THE BED-SIDE.] + +Allen's head jerked up proudly, and he forced still a little more +from that splendid reserve of strength. Afterward he could never +remember how he clambered over that windowsill, and got his feet upon +the ladder. + +That he did it and managed the descent with the aid of the firemen, +he afterward learned from his friends. All he could remember, was the +great shout which came to him like a little murmur that went up from +the crowd at sight of him. + +He was a hero, a great hero, but at the time the fact interested him +not at all. He wanted to sleep--to sleep--if they would only let him +sleep! + +Four days later, he awoke and looked around him lazily. A delightful +drowsiness surrounded him; he was too comfortable even to inquire +where he was. + +Then a sweet voice reached his ears and he turned his head sharply. + +"No, thank you," it said. "I think I'll take these to him myself, if +you don't mind. This door? Thank you." + +Fascinated, Allen watched the door as it slowly opened, +admitting--Betty! Betty, sweeter and more beautiful than he had ever +seen her. Her eyes widened at sight of him, and she ran forward +impulsively. + +"Allen!" she cried, drawing a chair to the bedside and taking his +outstretched hand. "Oh, I'm so glad! I was afraid you were just going +to sleep on forever. How do you feel?" + +"Not at all," he responded whimsically, his eyes devouring her face. +"I haven't been awake long enough to feel anything--except your hand +in mine," he added softly. + +She thoughtfully regarded the hand he still held, yet did not try to +draw it away. Instead she smiled a little--a smile that set Allen's +heart to throbbing painfully, and said, so softly he could hardly +hear her: + +"Aren't you just a little bit curious to know what I think of you--and +everybody else, for that matter--after what you did the other day?" + +"Yes, what do you think of me?" he asked breathlessly. "I've wanted +ever since I can remember, to know that." + +"I think," said Betty, flushing, yet meeting his eager eyes steadily, +"you're the dearest and most wonderful person I ever knew." + +"Betty," he cried hoarsely and would have leaped from the bed had she +not forcibly restrained him. "Oh, Betty, Betty," he murmured over and +over again. "Did you mean that--did you?" + +"I--I'm not the only one," said Betty, startled at what she had done. +"Everybody is talking about you and praising you to the skies, and +there was even a piece about you in the paper. I--I'm afraid when you +are able to get out and hear how everybody is raving about you, +you'll be spoiled entirely." + +"Betty," he commanded, in so very different a tone from any he had +ever used before that she started and looked at him shyly, "what are +you running on about such nonsense for? If I did anything, it was for +you and because I loved you, Betty. There wasn't any heroism. I don't +deserve any fuss about it and I don't want any thanks. I don't +deserve any. You weren't hurt, Betty?" + +"No," she answered softly, not daring to look at him. This was such a +different Allen and so wonderfully attractive. "Mollie and I were +both a little sick from the smoke and shock, but it didn't take us +long to recover. You were the one who was so terribly burned that for +one horrible long day, the doctors didn't know whether you'd pull +through or not. Oh, Allen, that awful day!" + +"Were you worried?" queried Allen gently. + +"I--I never want to live through another one like it," she said with +a little shiver, then suddenly rose to go. "The doctor said you +mustn't be excited," she explained as he looked up at her reproachfully. +"And I," she looked away again, "I just wanted to--thank you, +Allen--but if you won't let me----" + +"Betty," he broke in, an eager light of daring in his eyes, "I know +it's sort of taking advantage--but--there's just one way you can--thank +me. Won't you--please----" + +Slowly his meaning dawned upon Betty, and the color flamed into her +face. Then, light as thistledown, her lips brushed his cheek and she +was gone, closing the door softly behind her. + +With wildly beating heart Allen pressed a hand to his cheek and gazed +longingly after her. + +"Betty," he whispered. "Oh, my Betty!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +ALLEN A HERO + + +"Gee, Allen, but you're a lucky boy!" + +It was Sunday afternoon, and the young folks had hired two +automobiles for a trip out into the country. It was more than two +weeks since the fire, and all but Allen had completely recovered from +it. He, however, still felt a little "wabbly," so the boys and girls +had conferred together, deciding that an automobile trip was just +what he needed to complete his recovery. + +Now at Roy's rather vague remark about his luck, he turned to him +inquiringly. + +"In just what way?" he asked. "I rather thought I was running out of +it lately." + +"Gee," said Roy, waxing excited, "do you call it hard luck to get a +chance at being a hero, twice in three months, and have all the girls +falling down and worshiping you, and all the old ladies patting you +on the back----" + +"I imagine that wouldn't have been particularly soothing," +interrupted Grace, reaching, as always, for the ever-present candy +box, "especially with poor Allen's back in the condition it was." + +"Yes," said Allen with a grimace, "if anybody'd started to patting me +at that time, I'd have returned pat for pat--only mine wouldn't have +been gentle. Two cents for your thoughts, Betty. You haven't said a +word all the way." + +"Goodness, has the price of thoughts gone up with everything else?" +queried Mollie, snatching a candy from under Grace's very nose. +"Nobody ever offered me more than a penny for mine." + +"Probably they weren't worth it," said Roy, to be promptly subdued by +a look from Mollie's black eyes. "As I was saying," he continued, +hastily changing the subject. "I'd consider myself in luck if I'd +rescued two beautiful damsels----" + +"They'd be the lucky ones," interrupted Mollie, with a smile. + +"From a burning building," he continued, undaunted. "It certainly was +dramatic, Allen, old chap--we have to hand it to you." + +"I felt anything but dramatic at the time," said Allen ruefully. "The +funny part of it is that I've always had a secret longing to do +something of the sort--just to get the sensation. That," he paused +dramatically, "cured me!" + +"I should think it would cure most anybody," said Mollie with a +grimace. "Neither Betty or I are particularly light weights. I don't +see how you managed it, Allen--in the heat and the smoke and +everything." + +"Managed it," scoffed Roy. "Why, it isn't every fellow has the chance +to hold two beauteous maidens in his arms----" + +"Still I might have picked out a more appropriate place," said Allen +whimsically. + +"Tell me something, Frank," said Grace, taking another piece of candy +and looking her prettiest at him. + +"Anything," he answered promptly. + +"Under the same conditions, would you have rushed into a burning +house--to save me?" + +"Would I?" he replied with a fervor that made Grace jump and the rest +laugh. "You just give me a chance; that's all. I'll show you!" + +"Goodness!" exclaimed Betty, twinkling. "I'll be afraid to sleep with +Grace any more. She's apt to set the place on fire just to see what +happens." + +"Good-bye, I'm going away from here," said Mollie, making a pretense +of clambering out of the machine. "One fire is just about enough for +me. Let me go, Roy Anderson--don't you dare to hold me." + +"Couldn't do anything pleasanter," said Roy cheerfully, at which +Grace held up her hands in pretended horror. + +"Heavens, everybody's getting sentimental," she cried. "If we don't +stop it, we'll just ruin everything, that's all. Look out for that +dog, Frank!" + +"That's another thing we almost ruined," grinned Frank, as the wheel +just grazed the hind leg of the cur. "Dogs are the curse of tourists, +anyway. If I had my way, they'd all be shot." + +Amy screamed and clapped her hand to her ears. + +"Frank, how can you say such things?" she cried, adding plaintively, +"I never saw such people, anyway. You can't talk for five minutes +without saying something about people being shot." + +"But we were speaking of animals," said Frank politely. + +"Same thing," murmured Mollie. + +"Speak for yourself, please," he retorted amiably, swerving the car +at a perilous angle about a turn in the road. "Say, this is pretty +country along here, isn't it?" + +They all agreed that it was, and for a few minutes sat in silent +enjoyment of it. + +While the Hostess House was in process of repair some friendly +families living in the vicinity had opened their doors wide to the +girls and the other visitors at the Hostess House. The fire had done +a great deal of damage, but the house had been amply insured, and the +work of rebuilding was proceeding as fast as possible. Meanwhile, the +girls were going on with their work as usual, though eagerly looking +forward to the time when they should be installed in their proper +quarters again. + +The fire had temporarily put the subject of Will and his mysterious +doings out of their minds, but during the last few days their wonder +and curiosity had returned. + +To-day he had consented to accompany them, and during the early part +of the ride had seemed in hilarious spirits. Now, for the last +fifteen minutes or so, he had appeared gloomy and preoccupied, but as +they neared the spot where they had decided to eat their lunch, his +spirits seemed to revive somewhat, and he became talkative again. + +"Say, I'm hungry," he announced, more like the old Will than he had +been for weeks. "What are you girls going to give us, anyway?" + +"Chicken," announced Betty, "and honey and biscuits, and peach cake +and jelly, and hot coffee from the thermos bottle, some ham +sandwiches and deviled eggs----" + +"Stop her," pleaded Roy piteously. "Stop her, some one, before I +forget myself and decamp with the hamper----" + +"You'd be forgetting us too, if you tried it," said Frank grimly. "Do +you suppose with three ravenous wolves at your back you'd have a +chance of getting away with any of that kind of stuff?" + +"Gee, it's awful the appetite camp life gives you," said Roy +mournfully. "I wrote home the other day and told the folks that if I +ate like a wolf before, I eat like a flock of 'em, now." + +"Whoever heard of a flock of wolves?" asked Mollie scornfully. "You +must have been thinking of geese." + +"No," retorted Roy soberly. "I wasn't speaking of you." + +"Strike one for our side," chuckled Allen, while the others laughed +at Mollie's look of surprise. "That was a good one, Roy--right from +the shoulder." + +"Now I _know_ I'm going home," said Mollie forlornly. "Everybody's +agin me." + +"I'm not," said Betty, putting an arm about her. "The more they try +to down you, the more I love you." + +"If that's the way you feel," put in Allen whimsically, "won't +everybody please jump on me at once?" + +"Yes, I always had a weakness for the under dog," Betty was beginning +wickedly when Mollie drew sharply away from her, and the others began +to laugh. + +"Betty Nelson," said Mollie reproachfully, "I never expected it of +you. Under dog, indeed----" + +"Oh, I didn't mean you!" said Betty hurriedly, thereby increasing the +general mirth. + +"Oh, well, what does it matter, anyway?" said Frank philosophically, +as he swung the car around a curve, and brought it to a standstill. +"I won't mind being an under dog or anything else as long as I get my +share of the eats. Don't you think this is rather a pretty spot to +have lunch?" + +"I know a better spot to _put_ it, though," said Roy jocularly, as +they sprang out upon the soft grass by the roadside. "And if I have +my way it won't be long getting there." + +Instinctively, Betty held out a hand to Allen, as he descended more +slowly than the rest--she was very anxious about his "wabbliness." + +Allen took the little hand eagerly, but it is doubtful if he gained +much physical support from it. + +"How are you feeling?" asked Betty as they followed the others up the +grassy slope to a sort of ledge--just the kind of place for a picnic +lunch. She did not look at him. Somehow, it was almost impossible to +look at Allen, these days. + +"Happy," he answered, in reply to her question. "Just being near you, +Betty, makes me the happiest fellow on earth!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +MAKING GOOD + + +It was raining torrents outside, and the girls were seated in one of +the big parlors of the Hostess House. As usual, they were knitting, +and their tongues kept time to the rapid click, click, of their +needles. + +They were exceptionally thoughtful and, as Amy expressed it, "their +mood matched the weather." The war was not going as well as every one +had hoped. The dark cloud was growing darker and darker every day, +and each morning paper seemed to bring more disquieting news than the +one before. + +"And it won't be long now," Mollie was saying, "before our boys are +sent across. It's almost time for the second draft, and the camps +will have to be emptied of the first troops. And when they're gone----" +she bowed her head to hide the unbidden tears that were glistening +in her eyes. + +"Yes, it will be terrible," said Betty, trying hard to keep the +telltale tremulousness from her voice--trying desperately to sound +brave and resigned. "But we must remember that thousands of women and +girls all over the United States are going through the same thing. +And for the boys' sake, we must be cheerful." + +"The boys themselves are cheerful--heaven bless them," cried Grace, +in a rare burst of enthusiasm. "I never saw anything like their +spirit!" + +"Isn't it wonderful?" Mollie agreed, her eyes shining through her +tears. "It makes you want to shout with pride in them, and cry at the +same time." + +"Yes," said Amy quietly, "and I don't think anybody who hasn't been +close to military life, as we have been, can realize how great the +American army will be. It's meeting the boys day after day, seeing +them get more enthusiastic as the time comes near for them to face +those terrible guns----" + +"I feel as if I wanted to go down on my knees to every boy in +uniform," cried Betty, gripping the arms of her chair till the +knuckles showed white. "No matter how hard we try we can't make up to +them for what they're giving up--and giving up so cheerfully. And +they're so dear and appreciative and thankful for every little thing +that we have done for them, it makes me want to cry. + +"And have you noticed," she continued, while the girls stopped their +work to watch her, "what happens if you ask them about their home +folks? Their faces light up, and right away they begin to talk about +'mother.' + +"'You know,' one of them said to me just a little while ago, 'when I +first came to camp, I didn't exactly feel homesick, as I'd expected +to; I just felt queer and uneasy and restless. For a couple of nights +I couldn't sleep, just kept tossing and turning till reveille routed +me out again. Then suddenly, one night, I found out what the matter +was. I wasn't homesick; I was just missing my mother.' + +"I smiled at him, trying my best not to cry, and said: 'Home is +mother, isn't it?' + +"Then the boy just turned away, and I knew it was because his eyes +were misty and he was ashamed to let me see it, and when he looked at +me again he was smiling a little wistfully. + +"A few days after that he came up to me. 'You won't laugh, if I tell +you something?' he asked. 'On my word of honor,' I answered him. +'Well,' he said, looking so dear and sheepish, I had all I could do +to keep from hugging him, 'as soon as I found out what you said about +home being mother, I just put the picture I had of her under my +pillow, and honest, I've slept like a baby ever since.'" + +The girls were all crying and Mollie impatiently shook a tear from +the tip of her nose. "Betty, you never told us that before. If his +mother could only know about it." + +"She probably does," said Betty, wiping her eyes and taking up her +knitting again. "Somehow, most mothers know those things by +instinct." + +"And to think boys like that," cried Mollie, knitting fast to keep +time with her feelings, "to think boys like that have to go over to +the other side, and be mowed down by the thousands. Oh, I can't +believe it!" + +"I guess we've all sort of closed our eyes to it, till now," said +Grace, so unlike her usual self that she had completely forgotten to +eat candy for fifteen minutes. "But we can't go on like that forever. +When it comes right down to us and we lose somebody we care for--" +her voice broke and the girls went on knitting faster than ever, +fearing a general breakdown. + +"We've just got to work so hard we can't think," said Mollie with +decision, adding, a little hysterically: "It never used to be hard +before." + +"What, to keep from thinking?" asked Amy, while the other girls +smiled a little and felt better. + +"Who's that coming up the walk, Betty?" Grace asked, a moment later. +"The glimpse I got looked like a uniform." + +"It's Allen," Betty answered, waving to the splendid specimen of +manhood who was coming up the porch two steps at a time. "He looks as +if he had some good news for us. You let him in, will you, Amy? +You're nearest the door." + +So Amy, opening the door, admitted a six-foot cyclone, who swept her +before him into the parlor, where she sank into a chair to get her +breath. + +"Well, what in the world?" asked Mollie, round eyes on his face, as +he mopped his face and lowered himself into a seat. + +"Talk about good luck," he began, beaming round upon them. "I guess +the fellows were right when they said I was falling into it lately." + +"Good news, Allen?" asked Betty, leaning forward eagerly. "I knew +you had something wonderful to tell us the moment I saw you." + +"Well, in the first place," said Allen, modestly putting himself +last, "Frank has been promoted to the rank of corporal." + +"Oh, isn't that wonderful!" they cried together, and thereafter arose +a very babel of questions as to where, when and how the promotion had +occurred, which Allen answered one after another with equal +enthusiasm. + +"Frank's taken hold and worked with all his heart," he finished, "and +he simply got what's coming to him, that's all." + +"But, Allen," Betty broke in, struck by a sudden thought, "you said +something about _your_ having run into good luck. Was it something +that happened to you personally, or was it just the good luck of +being the friend of a corporal?" + +"Since I've been a corporal myself from the start," said Allen with +dignity, "I don't see why----" + +"Yes, yes, go on," said Mollie impatiently. + +"Well," said Allen, throwing the news like a bomb into their midst, +"I've been promoted to a sergeant." + +"What?" the girls cried, hardly knowing whether to believe him or +not. "Are you really in earnest?" + +"You're not very complimentary," he grumbled, though his eyes +twinkled. "You don't suppose I'd come here and tell you a thing like +that if it weren't so, do you?" + +Then arose a second babel, louder and more prolonged than the first, +and it was a long time before they quieted down enough to talk +coherently. + +"You see," Allen explained, "there's a chance for promotion now that +there never was before. New men are coming in by the hundreds, and +those men have to have officers. There's really no end to the chances +if you just stick to the big game and do your level best. You're sure +to win something good in the end." + +"And hasn't Roy been promoted?" asked Grace. "Hasn't he been 'on the +job,' as you say?" + +"You bet your life he has," Allen defended loyally. "It's just our +luck that we happened to get it; that's all. His turn will come next, +you take it from me." + +For a few minutes no one spoke, and only the ticking of the clock, +and the regular click, click of the knitting needles broke the deep +stillness. Then Allen bethought him of something. + +"Saw Will, too, on the way up," he said, and at the name the girls +all put down their knitting and looked at him inquiringly. "He seemed +to be immensely excited about something. Fact is, I don't think he +would even have seen me if I hadn't gotten in his way and flagged +him. Mark my words--that boy's got something big up his sleeve. I bet +he's going to surprise us all some day." + +"Did he--did he--tell you anything?" asked Grace. "Anything to make +you think that?" + +"No," he answered, adding with a sincerity that brought a light of +unutterable gladness to Grace's eyes: "But I've met lots of fellows +in my business, and have learned to size them up pretty well. And if +there was ever a brainy, plucky, true-blue fellow in this world, his +name is Will Ford!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +JUST FRIENDS + + +"Here comes the sun," cried Betty, "the sun, the sun, the beautiful +sun." + +"Well, I should say it was just about time," said Grace, carefully +arranging her hat before the mirror. "If it hadn't cleared up pretty +soon, I'd have stopped hoping. Are the other girls nearly ready?" + +"Oh, we've been ready and waiting for hours," came Mollie's voice, +slightly bored, from the other room. "And we took our time, too, +because we knew how long you are getting dressed----" + +"Oh, is that so?" Grace was beginning, when Betty interrupted +peaceably. + +"Well, we're all ready now. In the words of the army--'let's go.'" + +"Oh, it is lovely out!" cried Mollie, drawing in deep breaths of the +invigorating air, as they stood on the steps looking down the street. +"I feel like walking miles and miles and miles." + +As the four girls walked down to the main gate of the cantonment, +they nodded and smiled continually to the khaki-clad, +respectfully-saluting boys they passed; for the fame of the girls +at the Hostess House had spread all over the barracks, and the boys +always looked forward to catching a smile or two or a merry word as +they passed. + +Many there were who had been sentimentally inclined, but the Deepdale +boys had well nigh monopolized the girls from their home town and by +their actions had warned off all would-be intruders almost as plainly +as though they had put out a sign. + +There were some hardy souls, however, who refused to recognize any +prior claim, and these had caused much grumbling among the Deepdale +boys. + +"I wonder what will happen when we have to go across," Frank had said +once. "I suppose then those chaps will think they have it all their +own way." + +And the bright faces of the girls had clouded so suddenly and they +had looked so distressed that poor Frank never dared repeat the +offense. + +But stopping every few minutes to speak to some one you know, +necessarily makes progress slow, and it was some time before the +girls succeeded in reaching the gate and turning their steps toward +the country. + +"It doesn't seem possible that Thanksgiving can be so near," said Amy +thoughtfully. "I never knew time to run away so." + +"Yes, it makes me feel dizzy sometimes," said Mollie, with a little +perplexed frown. "I feel as if I wanted to get hold of him by the +forelock and hold him back. He's in altogether too much of a hurry." + +"If we can only see that each one of the boys who can't go home for +Thanksgiving gets a regular, old-fashioned home-cooked dinner," said +Betty earnestly, "I'll feel as if we'd done some good in the world." + +"Well, more than half the boys will be able to get home for it," said +Grace, "and I'm sure we'll find enough good-hearted families to +account for the rest." + +"Yes, the people around here have certainly helped us more than we +dared to hope," said Betty enthusiastically. "We've hardly found one +so far who wasn't willing to open his house--and his heart, too, for +that matter--to the soldier boys. I love them all for being so +generous. It's done more than anything else to keep up the boys' +spirits and send them away happy and healthy and confident." + +"Where are we going first?" queried Mollie, for Betty had made out a +list of the houses they were to canvass. + +"The Shroths come first," she answered, consulting her list. "Then +the Atwaters and the Clarks. After that we'll just go up one street +and down the other till supper time." + +"Sounds simple," said Amy plaintively, "but, oh, our poor feet!" + +"We have walked a good deal, lately," laughed Betty. "But it's +nothing to what we _have_ done. Champion hikers like us shouldn't +complain about ordinary walking. Here we are at the Shroths. Now look +your prettiest and smile your sweetest for the sake of the soldier +boys!" + +Mrs. Shroth, a sweet-faced, elderly woman, opened the door to them +herself and smilingly ushered them into the handsome library. + +"I saw you coming, my dears," she said, settling down comfortably in +an enveloping armchair, "and I'm almost sure I know what you have +come to ask me. And you needn't even ask," she added, raising her +hand as Betty started to speak, "for the request was granted two +weeks ago. My whole house is at your disposal--to do with as you +please." + +"Oh, you're lovely," Betty cried impulsively, and Mrs. Shroth gently +covered the eager young hand on the chair arm with her own, smiling +down into the flushed face. + +"The admiration is mutual," she said, and then Betty's heart went out +to her entirely. "I've watched you girls for a long time, and the +work you've done for the boys has been simply splendid. I've tried to +help all I could---" + +"You have," broke in Mollie enthusiastically. "And we've been so +grateful to you." + +"And I've been grateful to you," Mrs. Shroth added, in her sweet +voice, "for showing me how best I could serve the boys and my +country. Now, how many do you think I could accommodate for +Thanksgiving dinner--or rather, how many would you like me to +accommodate?" + +Betty was a little at a loss. + +"Why, I hardly know," she said, hesitating. "We didn't expect you to +take in more than two, perhaps three at the outside----" + +"Oh, nonsense," said Mrs. Shroth, brushing the suggestion aside. "Two +or three boys would be lost in this big house, even counting all my +relatives who usually spend Thanksgiving day with me. No, I can take +half a dozen, at least." + +The girls looked at her a moment, delighted, but incredulous. Then +they told Mrs. Shroth what they thought of such generosity until she +found herself blushing with pleasure. + +"It's such a little thing," she said, as she stood on the porch to +say good-bye to them, "that I feel almost guilty to take thanks for +it. Good luck." The girls went on down the street with singing hearts +and a warm sense of friendliness and love for all their fellow +beings. + +They found the same spirit in every house they visited, and when they +at last started for home after walking "miles and miles" they were +too happy to feel tired. + +"Oh, every one's so kind and dear and anxious to help," cried Mollie, +skipping a little in her delight, "that your heart just feels too big +to stay inside. Seems as if it ought to come out in the open where +everybody can see how hard it's beating." + +"Well, I have heard of people wearing their hearts on their sleeves," +said Betty, twinkling. "But I've never tried it myself." + +"It's wonderful," said Amy softly, "what a comfortable, warm feeling +it gives you to find people--some of them you never knew before--who +are really working side by side with you for the same thing, ready to +hold out a helping hand when you need it." + +"Yes," agreed Betty, her eyes fixed dreamily on the horizon, "it +makes you feel as if there weren't any strangers in the world, as if +we were all just friends, working for the common good of everybody." + +"Betty, how pretty," cried Grace, and there was a thrill in her voice +as she repeated softly; "all just friends, working for the common +good of everybody." + +"I'll never forget one thing that happened to me," said Amy, and they +looked at her lovingly. Amy was such a dear--but then everybody was +that to-night! "It was only a little thing, and yet it made me +think." + +"Then it couldn't have been very little," Mollie, the irrepressible, +murmured. + +"You know," Amy went on, so deep in her own thoughts, she scarcely +noticed the interruption, "I never did talk much--I always felt as if +people were cold and unfriendly--and so kept to myself, except for my +really good friends, of course. Then, one morning, I saw that it was +all my own fault. + +"I just happened to be walking along the street, not noticing anybody +particularly, when an old woman dropped her nickel car fare and it +rolled out into the middle of the street. I ran after it and gave it +back to her, and she smiled at me. Somehow, that smile changed +everything for me." + +"How, dear?" asked Betty, putting a sympathetic arm about her. + +"Why," said Amy, blushing in her enthusiasm, "it just made me feel as +if everybody was ready to smile if you only gave them half a chance. +And I've found out it was true," she finished decidedly. "Because I've +tried it ever so many times since, and it's never once failed!" + +"Yes," concluded Mollie. "I guess everybody's just plain nice and +human, after all!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CAPTIVE AND CAPTORS + + +"Girls," Betty clutched Mollie by the arm and spoke in a tense +undertone, "isn't that the spy?" + +The girls gasped, looked, and set off on a dead run. The spy's back +was to them. He seemed to be waiting for somebody and he did not see +the girls till they were almost upon him. + +Then, with an exclamation, he dodged around the corner of the house +and commenced to run like a deer. + +"Amy!" gasped Betty, as they pursued, fleet of foot, "you go to the +camp for help! I'll try to cut him off!" + +With the strategy of a general, Betty dodged a couple of dirt piles--it +was a row of small houses, in process of construction near the +camp--slipped across between two of the houses and did actually +succeed in cutting the spy off. + +She caught a fleeting glimpse of him as he dodged into a doorway with +the evident intention of hiding till they got tired of the hunt. +Also, it was certain he had not seen Betty and had no idea that she +had seen him. + +With wildly beating heart, but no thought of turning back, the Little +Captain picked up a big piece of wood that could serve excellently as +a weapon and ran for the doorway through which the spy had +disappeared. + +Cautiously she opened the door, and the next moment thought her heart +would stop beating altogether as she took in the situation. The man +was fumbling desperately with the knob of the inside door. Evidently +it was locked. He had fallen into a trap! + +Breathlessly Betty closed the door and leaned her full weight upon +it. If the girls would only come! They might together manage to hold +it. But alone---- + +"Betty, Betty, where are you?" cried a voice close at hand and the +Little Captain gave a gasp of dismay. As long as the man had not +known he was trapped, there might be a chance that he would remain +quiet, hoping they would pass without thinking to look into the +house. But now! Some one was pushing against the other side of the +door. He was trying to get out! + +"Hurry!" she cried agonizedly as Mollie and Grace ran up to her. "Put +your weight against the door--quick." + +So used were they to obeying her without question that they threw +their full weight upon the door, bracing and holding with all their +might. + +"He's in there," gasped Betty. "I've sent Amy for help. If we can +hold on--just a few minutes----" + +The man was hurling himself against the door with all the force of +desperation, but the girls had not spent most of their life in the +open for nothing. They held on gallantly, though in their hearts they +knew that if help were very long in coming, there could be but one +answer. They were three against one, it is true, but then they were +girls and he was a man, and a desperate man. + +"Oh, why does it take her so long?" Grace cried after one +particularly vigorous lunge which it had taken all their combined +strength to withstand. "I don't think we can keep this up much +longer----" + +"Hush," gasped Betty, "I thought I heard voices." + +"Oh, I hope you did!" + +They listened breathlessly for a moment--then the wonderful truth +dawned. Help was coming, and coming swiftly! There was no sound, save +the regular thud-thud of running feet, but the most beautiful music +in the world would have had no charms in comparison with that +rhythmic sound. + +Their prisoner must have heard it too, for he redoubled his efforts +to escape and they had to turn all of their attention to the holding +of the door. + +"If they should come too late!" gasped Mollie. + +"Don't talk," hissed Betty, through clenched teeth. "We've got to +hold him." + +And they did! + +A moment later several guards, headed by a man not in uniform, came +in sight around the corner of the building and as Will afterward +expressed it "the game was all over but the shouting." + +For it was Will who headed the relief party and took charge of the +capture. And so excited were the girls, that they forgot even to +wonder until it was all over. + +Adolph Hensler was not easy to handle, even after he found himself +looking into the muzzles of two loaded revolvers. Even then he tried +to escape and the guard was forced to shoot a couple of bullets over +his head before he was scared into submission. + +The girls walked home behind captive and captors, too breathless and +excited even to think. They had not gone far before they met Amy +coming toward them, trembling all over from fatigue and excitement. + +"They got him, didn't they?" she asked, linking her arm through +Betty's and biting her lip to keep it steady. "I was so afraid they +would be too late." + +"So were we," said Grace, examining a big black and blue bruise on +her arm. "We could have held out just about a minute longer." + +"How did you do it, Amy?" cried Mollie. "Did you have to go all the +way back to camp to find help?" + +"No, I met it coming," she answered. + +They stared at her incredulously. + +"I was about half way to camp," she explained, "when I saw Will and +the three soldiers coming toward me. When I had managed to gasp out +what I'd come for they didn't say a word--just put on full speed and +ran." + +"Mighty lucky for us they did," said Mollie, but Betty interrupted +eagerly. + +"Doesn't it seem strange to you," she said, "that an armed guard +should be coming in this direction just when we needed them? And that +Will should be at the head of them?" + +"Why, Betty, what do you mean?" Mollie was beginning when Grace +interrupted. + +"Oh, do you think it can be true?" she cried, seeing Betty's meaning +and clinging to it desperately. "Oh, Betty, Betty, if it only is!" + +"What are you talking about?" cried Mollie impatiently. "Can what be +what?" + +"Let's wait," said Betty, quickening her pace, "and let Will tell the +story!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED + + +After dinner in the living-room of the Hostess House, a snapping, +dancing, crackling fire in the grate, and the girls gathered in an +expectant semicircle about it. + +They were nervous, too, for every once in a while one of them would +get up, look out the window, throw an extra log upon the fire and sit +down again with a "why-don't-they-come?" look of impatience upon her +face. + +A ring at the door bell! + +"I'll answer it," cried Betty, jumping up and nearly overturning a +chair in her eagerness. When she returned a couple of minutes later, +her face held a look of unutterable disgust. + +"Only one of the guests," she said, as the girls looked up eagerly. +"I was sure that must be the boys." + +"They're terribly late," grumbled Mollie, kicking an overturned edge +of the rug into place, as if even that small vent to her feelings was +a relief. "They'll be all talked out before they get here." + +Another ring at the door bell! + +This time there was no mistake. A chorus of excited voices greeted +Betty as she opened the door for them and a moment later the boys +burst into the living-room, fairly exhaling importance. The girls +welcomed them eagerly and drew up more chairs before the fire. + +"Gee, but we've had some time," cried Allen, fairly panting from +exertion and excitement. "If you girls were heroines before, you're +more than ever so, now." + +"But where's Will?" asked Grace, with that old, anxious look. "I +thought he was coming with you." + +"He is," Frank answered her. "But he was summoned to a very important +conference with the colonel----" + +"The colonel!" they cried incredulously, while Grace stamped her foot +with impatience. + +"What do you mean?" she demanded. + +"Just that," he answered, enjoying their mystification too much to +enlighten them at once. "When he received the order he told us +fellows to come on over and he'd join us as soon as he could break +away." + +"Oh, Allen, please tell me what it all means." Grace was fairly +crying with excitement and eagerness. "Please don't keep me waiting +any longer!" + +"I'm sorry, Grace--I didn't think," said Allen, in quick compunction. +"It means," he added, with a ring of pride in his voice, "that Will +is what we always believed him to be--one of the finest fellows that +ever lived. I'm proud to be called his friend!" + +"Oh, Allen!" Grace felt blindly for a handkerchief and Betty slipped +it into her hand. "Oh, Allen,----" + +"But what did he do?" demanded Mollie impatiently. "You haven't +gotten to the point yet." + +"Well," Allen continued, while Betty put a sympathetic arm about her +friend and snuggled close, "all the time we were wondering down in +our hearts why Will didn't enlist--although we never doubted he had +good reasons," he added hastily, "he was really working harder, +spending more time and energy for the government than we ever thought +of spending. There's one important thing we forgot--that Will was a +secret service man!" + +"Oh!" cried Betty, her eyes gleaming in the firelight, "now, I know I +guessed right!" + +"What did you guess?" asked Allen, remembering to marvel, even in +that moment of excitement, how very becoming firelight was to Betty! +"Out with it." + +"Why," said Betty, leaning forward eagerly, "after Amy told us that +she had met Will and the soldiers half way to the spot where we found +the spy, I seemed to see the whole thing as plainly as if some one +had told it to me. + +"I remembered Will's special interest in the spy the first time we +met Adolph Hensler on Pine Island--then how, soon after we saw him +here again, Will wrote Grace that he was coming on. That would seem +as though he were hot on his trail--" + +"He was," said Allen, while the others hung on every word. + +"Well, the rest is simple," said Betty. "I suppose that Will kept on +shadowing him till he got what he wanted. He was on his way to +capture the spy, while we were hanging on to the door, praying for +help. Oh, it all fits together like parts of a puzzle!" + +"You're a wonder, Betty!" said Allen, while the others drew a deep +breath, trying to take it all in. "But there was one little bit, or +rather, I should say, big bit, of cleverness on Will's part that +neither you nor anybody else could guess at. You remember the code +letter we picked up that night on Pine Island?" + +"Yes," they cried eagerly. + +"Well, Will had the code deciphered and found out who wrote the +document. It proved, by the way, that Adolph Hensler is one of the +most dangerous and most wanted German spies in this country." + +"And what else?" cried Mollie, who could never wait for the end of a +story. + +"The clever part of it," Allen continued, leaning forward, very +handsome and eager in the firelight, "was Will's copying of the +handwriting on the envelope." + +"Sure," chuckled Roy. "I told him I wouldn't be surprised to see him +start a life of crime any time now." + +"Surely no experienced forger could have done it better," Allen +agreed whimsically, while the girls waited with unconcealed +impatience. "Anyway, he wrote a short note--a decoy--to Adolph in +this handwriting, requesting an interview at the very spot where you +girls came upon him." + +"Oh!" cried Betty, in dismay. "Then it would have been better if we'd +left him alone. We took a chance of spoiling all Will's well-laid +plans." + +"How could it have been better?" asked Allen. "Will started out to +capture him and found you girls had beat him to it, that's all." + +"Yes and they might have had a good deal more trouble rounding him up +than you did," put in Frank. "From what Will tells us, you girls sure +did do a neat job." + +The girls flushed with pleasure, but Mollie, being truthful to a +fault, put an arm about Betty and told where most of the credit was +actually due. + +"Why, it was Betty who thought of cutting him off," she said, while +Betty vainly tried to stop her. "No, I'm going to tell the truth! And +it was Betty that really captured him. She saw him go in the door, +followed him, and was holding on for dear life when we came upon +her." + +"Yes, and how long would I have been able to hold on, I'd like to +know," protested the Little Captain vigorously, "if you girls hadn't +come along just then. No, sir, if there's any credit at all, it's got +to be divided equally among us!" + +"You'll be surprised to see how much credit everybody's giving you," +chuckled Roy. "When you make your next debut into society, I wouldn't +be surprised if they greeted you with brass bands." + +"Goodness, I wish they would," cried Mollie eagerly. "For the first +time in my life, I'd have a chance to feel like a regular soldier!" + +"But Will is the real hero," said Betty quietly. "To go on working +for your county, taking a chance on having people think things of you +that you don't deserve, that sort of thing is the real heroism." + +"And I'm so glad and happy," added Grace, who had been seeing happy +visions in the firelight, "to think that all his friends had faith in +him when he most needed it." + +"You bet we did," said Allen heartily. "There wasn't one of us who +doubted him for a minute." + +"I wonder when he'll get here," said Amy, rising slowly and strolling +over to the window. "I hope the colonel lets him out before twelve +o'clock." + +"Oh, he'll be here almost any minute now," said Allen reassuringly. +"Meanwhile, suppose you play something for us, Betty--something soft +and sweet to match the firelight--and you," this last so softly that +none but Betty heard. + +Smiling a little, Betty rose and walked over to the piano. Allen +followed her. + +"What shall I play?" she asked, looking up at him with a sweet +seriousness, that made him want desperately to gather her in his arms +and tell her--oh, so many things! Instead, he said: + +"Play 'Keep the Home Fires Burning.' It's the most appropriate thing +to-night. And Betty, sing it--sing it--to me----" + +"If I can," she murmured. "You know what happened when I tried to +sing it before--and it's apt to be harder to-night." + +"Try, anyway," he urged; and so she began, in the sweetest voice in +the world, or so Allen thought, to sing one of the most beautiful +songs ever composed. + +And how she sang it! Before she had half finished it, the girls were +feeling for their handkerchiefs and the boys were staring hard into +the fire. + +She sang it again--more softly than before, and when the last sweet +note had died away, there was not a dry eye in the room. + +"Betty, oh, Betty!" cried Allen, leaning across the piano toward her, +thrilling her with the new earnestness in his voice, "will you keep +the home fires burning for me--so that when I come back--Betty, when +I come back----" + +She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and held out a trembling +hand to him. + +"There will always be one--waiting for you," she whispered softly. + +"Hello, folks!" + +They turned suddenly and found Will standing in the doorway. Then, +such a welcome as they gave him! It made up to him for all these +months when he had seemed to stand on the outside, looking in. + +"Come over to the fire and tell us all about it," Betty commanded. +"Allen told us something, but we want to know the whole story--every +little bit of a detail." + +Will fairly beamed and entered into the story with the greatest +enthusiasm. + +"I really didn't do anything much," he finished modestly. "And at the +end it was you girls that did all the work. I was just an 'also +ran.'" + +"But, isn't there something you left out?" drawled Frank, pretending +to yawn and gazing into the fire. "It seems to me----" + +"Gee," said Will, surprised at himself, "if I didn't really forget +the most important part----" + +"Now what are you talking about?" cried Mollie, while the girls +pricked up their ears and began to scent a new mystery. "What did you +forget?" + +"Well," said Will, his eyes twinkling, and speaking with exasperating +slowness, "do you happen to remember an eventful night on Pine +Island, when Roy went to sleep----" + +"Aw, cut it out," grumbled Roy. "I guess I'll never be able to live +that down." + +"Well, what about it?" cried Betty, at the limit of her patience, +while the other girls looked threatening. "Please, Will----" + +"Do you happen to remember," drawled Will, "that on that same night +you lost some jewelry?" + +"Oh, you found it!" they cried, fixing him with four pairs of bright, +incredulous eyes. "Will, where is it?" + +"Some of it's here," he went on, pulling a small bag from his pocket +and opening it carefully while they crowded around him, fairly +smothering him in their eagerness, "and the rest of it's in the pawn +shop. We found the tickets on him, though--" + +"My watch!" + +"My necklace!" + +"My lavallière!" + +"My pearl brooch!" + +These and other exclamations like them made such a babel of sound +that the boys clapped their hands over their ears and looked at one +another in comic dismay. This lasted so long that the boys had to +pick up their caps and start for the door, before the girls consented +to notice them. + +"Where are you going?" asked Betty, while the other three stopped +talking long enough to look surprised. + +"We didn't think you'd miss us," said Roy plaintively. "So we were +going away from here--that's all." + +"Now, who's a flock of geese, I'd like to know," laughed Betty, as +they coaxed their neglected swains back to the fire. "We couldn't +very well help being excited, could we?" + +"And to think," said Grace, beaming, "that we not only helped to +catch a wanted spy, but helped to recover our own jewelry at the same +time!" + +"No wonder we had to pat ourselves on the back," chuckled Mollie, +"Just wait till we tell the folks at home about it." + +"Pretty good day's work," Roy admitted indulgently. "Couldn't have +done much better myself." + +They fell silent after that, each one busy with his own thoughts, +each one seeing, in the fantastic, ever-changing heart of the fire, a +little of his or her own future. And they were very happy. + +Suddenly Grace broke the silence. + +"And now," she said, glancing with love and pride at Will, who smiled +fondly back at her, "what do you expect to do, dear?" + +"Enlist," cried Will, jumping to his feet. "Thank heaven I can do it +now with a clear conscience. I'm going to get into the big game quick +and help give Fritz some of his own medicine. Gee, fellows, are we +going to do it--are we?" + +"I should smile!" they cried, their eyes gleaming with anticipation. +"All we want is the chance!" + +Quick as a flash Betty ran to the piano and began to play the +"Star-Spangled Banner." Instantly the others were on their feet and +singing with all the pent-up fervor of the last six months, emotions +almost too big to master finding expression in the stirring melody. + +"And we're all in it together," cried Betty, eyes bright and cheeks +flaming, "for our dear country--for America!" + +And, at the greatest moment of their lives, fired by patriotism, +confident of victory, we once more, slowly, reluctantly, with many +backward glances, take leave of our Outdoor Girls. + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Outdoor Girls in Army Service, by +Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE *** + +***** This file should be named 7494-8.txt or 7494-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/4/9/7494/ + +Produced by Charles Franks, Greg Weeks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Outdoor Girls in Army Service + Doing Their Bit for the Soldier Boys + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Posting Date: September 26, 2012 [EBook #7494] +Release Date: February, 2005 +First Posted: May 11, 2003 +Last Updated: November 3, 2004 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Greg Weeks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE + +OR + +DOING THEIR BIT FOR THE SOLDIER BOYS + + +BY + +LAURA LEE HOPE + + +AUTHOR OF "THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE," "THE MOVING PICTURE +GIRLS," "THE BOBBSEY TWINS," "BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE," ETC. + + +1918 + + + + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE + +CONTENTS + + I "I'VE VOLUNTEERED!" + II GRIM SHADOWS OF WAR + III NEWS FROM THE FRONT + IV THE POWDER MILL + V A SHOT IN THE DARK + VI MOONLIGHT AND MYSTERY + VII ROBBED + VIII THE BIG GAME + IX GAY CONSPIRATORS + X MAGIC LANTERNS + XI A SLACKER? + XII HONOR FLAGS + XIII "SMILE, GIRLS, SMILE" + XIV THE SPY AGAIN + XV MORE SURPRISES + XVI THE HOSTESS HOUSE + XVII HELPING UNCLE SAM +XVIII THE EVENING GUN + XIX FLAMES + XX THE RESCUE + XXI ALLEN A HERO + XXII MAKING GOOD +XXIII JUST FRIENDS + XXIV CAPTIVE AND CAPTORS + XXV THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED + + + + +CHAPTER I + +"I'VE VOLUNTEERED!" + + +"Well, who is going to read the paper?" + +Amy Blackford stopped knitting for a moment, the half-finished +sweater suspended inquiringly in the air, while she asked her +question and gazed about impatiently at her busy group of friends. + +"It's your turn, anyhow, Mollie," she added, fingers flying and head +bent as she resumed her work. "You haven't read to us for five days." + +"Oh, don't bother me," snapped the one addressed as Mollie. She was +black-haired and black-eyed, was Mollie Billette, with a little touch +of French blood in her veins that accounted for her restless vivacity +and sometimes peppery temper. "You've made me drop a stitch, Amy +Blackford, and if anybody else speaks to me for the next five +minutes, I'll eat 'em." + +"Well, as long as you don't eat any more of my chocolates, I don't +care," remarked Grace Ford, lazily helping herself to one of the +threatened candies. "I had a full box this morning, and now look at +them." + +"Haven't time to look at anything," returned Mollie crossly, fishing +in vain for the lost stitch. "If the poor soldiers depended upon the +sweaters you made, Grace, I'd feel sorry for them, I would indeed!" + +"Oh, dear, girls, now what's the matter?" + +Framed in the doorway of the cottage stood Betty Nelson, their adored +"Little Captain," fresh and sweet as the morning itself, smiling +around at them inquiringly. + +"What is the matter?" she repeated as they moved up to make room for +her on the veranda steps. "I'm more afraid than ever to leave you +alone these days when every dropped stitch means a quarrel. Give it +to me, Mollie, I'll pick it up for you." + +With a sigh, Mollie relinquished the tiresome sweater and Betty went +to work at it with a skill born of long practice. + +"There you are," she announced triumphantly, after an interval during +which the girls had watched with eager eyes and bated breath. "That +was a mean one. Thought it was going to make me rip out the whole +row--but I showed it! Now, please, don't anybody drop any more. I +must finish that pair of socks to-day." + +"Oh, dear," sighed Amy resignedly. "Then our last hope is gone." + +"Goodness, that sounds doleful," chuckled Betty, stretching her arms +above her head and reveling in the brilliant sunshine. "What +particular thing seems to be the matter now, Amy? Has Will been +misbehaving?" + +Amy flushed vividly and bent closer over her work. + +"How could he be when he's been in town for over a week?" she +retorted with unusual spirit. "It's just that nobody will read the +paper, and I'm just dying to hear the news. I want to keep up with +the times." + +"Well, if that's all," said the Little Captain, sitting up with +alacrity, "I'm always willing to oblige. Mollie, you're sitting on +it!" + +"Knit one, purl two," chanted Mollie. "Wait till I get this needle +off and I'll give it to you. I can't stop now!" + +"All right, then I'm going to get my knitting." + +Betty made as though to rise but Amy held her down and turned +despairingly to Mollie. + +"Mollie," she pleaded, "be reasonable. You know very well that if +Betty ever gets started with her knitting then nobody'll read the +news." + +"Knit one, purl two, knit one, purl two," sang Mollie imperturbably. +"There, now, isn't that beautiful?" + +She sprang from the seat and whirled around upon them, holding up the +almost-finished sweater for their inspection. + +"Isn't it beautiful?" she repeated enthusiastically. + +"Of course," said Grace, dryly, while Betty deftly grabbed the paper. +"It's the most beautiful and most curious thing I ever laid eyes on. +It isn't as though," she added, with biting sarcasm, "I had seen +hundreds just like it within the last month or two--" + +"Oh, you can't make me mad," said Mollie, settling down with energy +to the final finishing. "You're just jealous, that's all, and the +more you turn up your nose, the more you show your real feelings." + +"Oh, is that so?" retorted Grace, reaching out for the candy box for +the twentieth time that morning. "Well, as my kind of nose has never, +under any circumstances whatsoever, been known to turn up--" + +"Oh, do stop chattering," Mollie interrupted heartlessly. "Who cares +what kind of noses we've got? Go ahead, Betty, you'd better get +started before Grace gets to quarreling on the subject of eyelashes +or something." + +"I never quarreled with my eyelashes," said Grace haughtily. "I leave +that to other people." + +"My, isn't she conceited!" chuckled Betty. "Now I'm going to read," +she added, letting her eyes rest upon the glaring headlines of the +first page. "If you want to listen, all right; and if you want to +talk about sweaters and eyelashes--" + +"Oh, Betty, do go on," sighed Amy. "We've been waiting so long." + +"All right," said Betty obligingly; then, as the full sense of what +she read was borne in upon her, her face clouded and she bit her lip +and shook her head. + +"Girls," she began, and something in her tone made them drop their +knitting for a moment and gather anxiously about her. "Those, +those--Germans--" + +"Huns, you mean," interrupted Mollie fiercely, as she read over the +Little Captain's shoulder. + +"Have sunk another of our ships," said Betty, her lips set in a +straight line. "And--and they think the loss will be heavy. Oh, +girls, I can't read it--it's too horrible!" + +She flung down the paper, but Mollie snatched it almost before it +reached the step. Then with eyebrows drawn together, and twin spots +of red flaming in either cheek, she read the account of the disaster +from beginning to end. + +"There," she said at last, flinging down the paper and glaring about +her as though the girls themselves were at fault. "Now you see what +we're knitting sweaters for, and--and--everything! Oh, if I could +just put on a uniform, and take up a gun and--and--go after +those--those awful Huns!" + +"Goodness, if you looked like that," commented Grace, "you wouldn't +have to fire a shot. They'd all drop dead just from fright." + +"So much the better," said Mollie, beginning to knit again +ferociously. "It would be a shame to waste good ammunition on them." + +"I wonder," said Betty thoughtfully, her eyes on the far-off horizon, +"what the boys are going to do. They've seemed so mysterious lately, +and the minute you begin to question them about enlisting, they +change the subject." + +"Yes, and it's made me desperate," cried Mollie, the tempestuous, +flinging down the unfortunate sweater once more. "I know what I'd do +if I were a man, and Betty and all the rest of us girls! But either +they didn't know or they wouldn't tell. Do you suppose--" + +"They've decided to wait for the draft?" finished Grace, settling her +cushions more comfortably. "That's a funny thing to say, Mollie--about +our boys." + +"I know," said Mollie, knitting more furiously than ever. "But just +the same, I can't understand why they have been so terribly secretive +about it." + +"I guess we needn't worry about that," said Betty, although there was +a little worried line between her brows that belied her words. "Allen +wouldn't--" here she stammered, stopped and flushed, while the girls +turned laughing eyes upon her. + +"Of course," she added hastily, "I mean that none of the boys would +hesitate, when it's a question of serving his country." + +"That's all right, but you said Allen," teased Mollie, unconvinced. +"And oh, Betty, how you blushed!" + +"Nonsense!" returned Betty, blushing more than ever. "It's just +sunburn, that's all. Now do you want me to read the rest of the news, +or don't you? Because I have to finish those socks--" + +"Yes, yes, go on," cried Amy. "We won't say another word, Betty." +Which was funny, coming from quiet Amy, who usually spoke one word to +the other girls' ten. + +So Betty read the news from one end of the paper to the other, until +even those insatiable young people were content, then ran into the +cottage to get her knitting. + +"Now," she said, returning and seating herself with businesslike +alertness on the very edge of the step, "you'll see some real speed." + +"Oh, Betty, have you come to the heel?" cried Mollie, running over to +the Little Captain, and regarding the flying needles with a sort of +awe. "Please show me how. They say the Red Cross needs socks for the +boys more than they need anything else. And I know I'll never learn +to do them." + +"Oh, it's easy," returned Betty, obligingly slowing down for their +benefit, while they gathered about her, eager and bright-eyed, for +the lesson. + +They formed a pretty picture, this group of outdoor girls, with the +morning sunlight falling upon graceful figures and bent heads, ardent +little patriots, every one of them, whole-heartedly eager to give +their all for the service of their country. + +They were still engrossed in watching Betty's nimble fingers, when +the shrill and familiar whistle of the little ferryboat caught their +attention. + +"Oh, I didn't know it was time," Amy was beginning, when Mollie +interrupted her. + +"It's stopping here," she cried. "And somebody's getting off." + +"It's the boys!" cried Betty, springing to her feet, the bright color +again flooding her face. "They never told us they'd be back to-day. +There's Allen. Oh, tell me, what is it he is shouting?" + +The little ferryboat had steamed away, and four figures were racing +toward them. + +"Betty," yelled the foremost of these. "I've volunteered--I've +volunteered!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +GRIM SHADOWS OF WAR + + +"What is that he is yelling?" questioned Mollie. + +"He said something about volunteering," returned Betty. + +"Volunteering!" came from Mollie, Grace and Amy simultaneously, and +in the excitement of the moment, their knitting was completely +forgotten. + +And now while the girls are waiting for the boys to come up, let me +take just a moment to tell my new readers something concerning these +girls and the other volumes in this series of books. + +The leader of the quartette was Betty Nelson, often called the +"Little Captain." Betty was a bright, active girl, who always loved +to do things. + +Grace Ford was tall and slender, and a charming conception of young +womanhood. She had a brother, Will, who at times was rather hasty, +and occasionally this would get him into trouble, much to the +annoyance of his sister. Grace herself had one failing, if such it +could be called. She was exceedingly fond of chocolates, and was +never without some of this confection in her possession. + +Some years before there had been a mystery concerning Amy Blackford. +She had then been known by the name of Stonington, but the mystery +had been unraveled by the finding of her long lost brother, Henry +Blackford. Amy was of a quiet disposition, and more timid than any of +the others. + +The quartette was completed by Mollie Billette, often called "Billy." +Mollie was the daughter of a well-to-do widow of French ancestry, and +the girl was a bit French herself in her general make-up. + +In our first volume, entitled "The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale," the +particulars were given of the organization of a camping and tramp +club by the girls, and of how they went on a tour, which brought +them many adventures. + +After this first tour the Outdoor Girls went to Rainbow Lake, and +then took another tour, this time in a motor car. After that, they +had some glorious days on skates and iceboats while at a winter camp, +and then journeyed to Florida, where they took a trip into the wilds +of the interior, and participated in many unusual happenings. + +Returning from the land of orange groves, the girls next took a trip +to Ocean View. Here they had a glorious time bathing, and otherwise +enjoying themselves, and also solved the mystery surrounding a box +that was found in the sand. + +During those strenuous days the girls had made many friends, +including Allen Washburn, who was now a young lawyer of Deepdale. +Allen had become a particular friend of Betty's, and this friendship +seemed to be thoroughly reciprocal. + +Will Ford's particular high-school chum had been Frank Haley, and as +a consequence, Frank had been drawn into the circle, along with Roy +Anderson, another young man of the town. + +These young fellows often went off camping, and usually in the +vicinity of where the girls had planned to spend their outing days. + +Deepdale was a picturesque city of about fifteen thousand people, +located on the Argono river, which, some miles below, emptied into +Rainbow Lake. Back of Deepdale was a rich farming country, which +tended to make the town a prosperous one. + +Returning from Ocean View, the girls started on a new outing, as +related in the volume before this, entitled "The Outdoor Girls on +Pine Island." The girls occupied a bungalow, which had been turned +over for their use by an aunt of Mollie Billette. The boys were in a +camp near by. + +Quite by accident both girls and boys had stumbled upon a gypsy cave, +cleverly hidden in the underbrush, and had afterward succeeded in +rounding up the entire gypsy band, incidentally regaining some +property which had been stolen from the girls. + +Now, at the time our story opens, the Outdoor Girls were again at +Pine Island, in the cottage lent them by "Aunt Elvira"; but times had +changed, and they were no longer solely upon pleasure bent. The +grumbling, menacing unrest of war seemed in the very air they +breathed, and from dawn to evening they thought of very little else. + +Now at the ringing shout, "I've volunteered," they were on their +feet, fairly trembling with excitement and eagerness. + +"Allen, Allen!" cried Betty, the color flaming into her face. "Oh, +I'm so glad! I'm so glad!" + +"Gee, he's not the only one," cried a big, strapping lad, Frank +Haley, by name, throwing himself upon the steps, and looking up at +the girls triumphantly. "Just because he can run faster than we can, +he gets all the credit." + +"You, too, Frank?" cried Betty, turning upon him with shining eyes. + +"And here comes Roy," put in Mollie. "Did he--" + +"You just bet he did," Roy Anderson, red and perspiring, answered for +himself. "Did you ever hear of an Irishman staying out of a fight? +I'm aching already to get my hands on Fritz." + +"What's the matter with Will?" asked Grace a little anxiously, for +the young fellow coming slowly toward them with downcast eyes and +bent head was her brother. "He looks as if he'd lost his last +friend." + +Seven pairs of eyes were immediately focused upon the apparently +despondent figure, while the boys shifted uneasily and looked vaguely +troubled. + +"Hello, folks," Will saluted them, as he sank down upon the lower +step, and looked out toward the water. "Why the sudden hush?" + +For a moment no one spoke. They were all strangely embarrassed by +this unusual attitude of Will's. He had always been so frank and +outspoken. And now-- + +"Oh, for Pete's sake, say something!" he burst forth at last, looking +up at the silent group defiantly. "You were making enough noise +before, but the minute I come along, you just stop short and stare. I +didn't know I was so fascinating." + +"You're not," said Mollie promptly. + +With an impatient grunt, Will stuffed his hands into his pockets and +stalked off into the woods. + +"Well," said Grace, with a long sigh, "I never saw Will act that way +before. Now what's the matter?" + +"Indigestion, probably," said Allen, trying to pass it off. "He acts +just the way I feel when I have it. Which reminds me that I'm getting +mighty all-fired hungry." + +"Well, you don't get anything to eat," said Betty decidedly, "until +you tell us all about everything, since the day you left here so +mysteriously to the present time." + +"Seems we've got to sing for our supper--or rather, breakfast," said +Frank with a grin. "Go ahead, Allen, but be brief. I want some of +Betty's biscuits." + +"Goodness, do you suppose Betty's going to start in and cook +biscuits, now?" cried Mollie. "Why, we just got through our own +breakfast." + +"Well, we didn't," said Roy, nibbling a piece of grass for want of +something better. "And you ought to take it as a proof of our +devotion, that we didn't stop for any. We were too anxious to get +here to tell you our news." + +"And blow a little," scoffed Mollie, the irrepressible. + +"Oh, for goodness' sake stop talking," entreated Betty, with her +hands to her ears. "If the boys want biscuits they shall have them--if +I have to stay up all night to cook some for them. They can have +anything in the house, as far as I'm concerned." + +"Hear, hear!" cried the boys in chorus, looking up admiringly at her +flushed face. + +"If volunteering has that effect," Roy added, "I'm going back and do +it all over again." + +"You said it," agreed Frank. "Gee, but I'm hungry!" + +"Did you say we could have anything we wanted?" Allen was demanding +of the Little Captain in an undertone. "No exceptions?" + +"None," said Betty, dimpling. + +"Then," said Allen deliberately, his eyes fixed steadily upon her +sparkling face. "If you please--I'll take--you!" + +"Oh," gasped Betty, her eyes falling before the young lawyer's ardent +gaze, while the rich color flooded her face. "I said anything--not +anybody. Allen, please don't be foolish. They're all looking at us." + +"Well, you can't blame 'em," Allen retorted whimsically. "They're not +used to seeing two such good-looking people together," he added in +bland explanation. + +"My, don't we hate ourselves!" said Betty, dimpling again. "But go +ahead and tell us your adventures," she added, glad to change a +subject which was becoming too personal. "No story--no supper, you +know." + +"We don't want supper--we want breakfast," interrupted Frank, with a +grin. "What have you been saying to her, Allen--to get her dates +mixed like that?" + +"Allen Washburn, are you going to tell that story or are you not?" +queried Mollie, in a menacingly quiet tone of voice. "If you're not--" + +"Yes, ma'am," said Allen meekly. "Where shall I begin, please?" + +"At the beginning," said Grace sarcastically, and reached for her +candy box, grimacing to find it empty. + +"Thank you," said Allen courteously. "Well, as you know, we four +husky braves meandered from the island one bright morning in the +early part of the week to seek our fortune, as it were, in the city +of promise." + +"Yes, that's all it does do," Roy put in pessimistically. "Promise!" + +"As I was saying," Allen continued, settling himself in a more +comfortable position on the steps, and ignoring the interruption. "We +sauntered off, and straightway looked up a recruiting station." + +"Oh!" gasped Amy, hands clasped and eyes shining. "That must have +been exciting." + +"Well, I don't know," said Allen, scratching his head reflectively, +"that that part was so exciting, but wait till you hear what happened +afterward. After we found where the recruiting office was, we went to +the hotel we were stopping at, and punished a mighty big breakfast. +You see, we figured out that we were going to put our necks into the +noose, as it were, and we wanted something good and big to stand up +on." + +"Wouldn't your feet do?" asked Betty innocently. + +"Heavens, no!" replied Allen, answering the query in solemn earnest, +while the girls giggled, and the boys grinned appreciatively. "We +were so nervous by that time we weren't sure we had any feet." + +"All you had to do was to look," murmured Mollie maliciously. "You +couldn't miss 'em." + +Allen looked hurt, got up and sat on his feet. + +"If you don't see them, perhaps you'll forget about them," he offered +by way of explanation. "You don't know how sensitive I am on the +subject of feet." + +"I couldn't blame you," Mollie was beginning, when Betty broke in +with a little despairing cry for help. + +"If we don't stop them," she said, looking appealingly about her, "we +won't get any farther than breakfast. Allen, what did you do next?" + +"Next?" queried Allen, stretching his long legs and squinting up at +the sun. "Let me see. Oh yes! Having put down a breakfast that must +have added four pounds to our weight, we sauntered forth once more to +meet our doom. By that time we were so nervous, we almost mistook a +cafe on the corner for the recruiting station--" + +"Hey, speak for yourself, won't you?" queried Roy, adding, as he +turned to the girls with a grin, "We had to show Allen a performing +monkey on the street, and get his mind off, before we succeeded in +engineering him to the right place." + +"Gee, some fellows have a gift," said Allen, regarding Roy +admiringly. "If I could tell 'em like that, old man, I'd be Supreme +Court Justice before the month was up. + +"Well, as I was saying," he continued, "after much hesitation and +side-stepping, we at last succeeded in reaching our destination. +After that, it took ten minutes to get up nerve to go in. + +"When we had at last tremblingly ascended the stairs, we found +ourselves in a large room, with all the windows open and half a dozen +wise-looking men, whom we took to be doctors, presiding. There were +three or four other fellows in the room, come like ourselves, to be +examined. Then we were shoved behind a huge screen with half a dozen +other huskies--they looked like prize fighters to me--and told to +take our clothes off. Then--we were examined." + +"Well?" they queried, leaning forward eagerly. + +"Well," said Allen, waving his hand in a deprecating gesture, "of +course, being the perfect specimens of manhood we are, the committee +jumped at us." + +"If they'd jumped on you they'd have shown more taste," remarked +Mollie unflatteringly. + +"But, Allen," put in Grace, who had listened to the recital, with a +troubled frown on her forehead, "was Will with you?" + +Allen's glance fell and he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. + +"No," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +NEWS FROM THE FRONT + + +There was another awkward pause, which nobody seemed able to break. + +"But Will went to town with you," Amy remarked at last. + +"Yes, he went with us," Allen agreed reluctantly. "But after we +reached the hotel, and were making our plans for enlisting, he +refused to go with us, saying he had business of his own to attend +to. What that business was none of us know, for we were getting ready +to catch the train for here when he rejoined us. However," he added +loyally, "I'd bet my bottom dollar that Will has good reasons for +everything he does, and when he gets ready he'll tell us about them. +In the meantime, how about some biscuits, Betty?" + +"Yes, how about them?" added Roy, rousing to sudden life. "We've done +our duty--now we want the reward." + +"Goodness, you haven't done anything," said Grace loftily, as the +Little Captain vanished within the house, followed by black-eyed +Mollie. "You just sit around and let all the others do the work and +then take the credit to yourself." + +"That's all right if you can get away with it," grinned Allen. +"Besides," he added, with a humorous glance at Grace's languid +figure, "you don't look the soul of energy yourself this morning, +Miss Ford." + +"Looks are often deceitful," retorted Grace, languidly turning the +heel of her sock. "If you had to knit all day long, every day in the +week, you'd find out what work is." + +"Well, you don't _have_ to do it," returned Roy placidly. + +"Yes," said gentle Amy, roused to sudden indignation. "That's all the +credit we get. Goodness knows, we're glad enough to do the work, but +we do like it to be appreciated." + +Roy turned half way round, and regarded Amy's flying fingers and bent +head soberly for a moment. + +"I'm sorry," he said then, so gravely that she looked up in surprise, +and even Grace stopped knitting. "I didn't mean that we fellows don't +appreciate what you girls are doing for us. We do--and there'll come +a time when we'll appreciate it still more. When we're in the +trenches up to our knees in mud and water, when the wind finds the +chinks in our clothing, and freezes us to the bone, when--" + +"Oh, please don't!" cried Amy, clapping her hands to her ears. "I +can't even bear to think of those things." + +"Yet those are some of the things we've got to think about," said +Roy, still with that unusual gravity. "It's because you girls have +thought of those things, that you're giving your time and energy to +preparing for them, and warding them off. Please don't ever again +think that we're ungrateful." + +"We won't," said Amy softly, fighting back a sudden mistiness which +had come before her eyes. "We'll just go on knitting ten times harder +than before." + +"I think we're missing something," came Betty's voice from the +doorway, where she stood with her arm intertwined in Mollie's. "The +biscuits are in the oven now, and we're going to talk to you while +they're baking." + +"Will it take long?" asked Roy, sniffing hungrily. + +"I like that," said Betty, with a little grimace, as she flung +herself upon the top step, pulling Mollie down beside her. "When Roy +has to choose between biscuits and us--" + +"We're not in it," finished Mollie with a merry laugh. + +Roy looked pained. + +"I never said that, did I?" he inquired. "I haven't had the painful +necessity of making a choice yet." + +"What were you talking about so earnestly when we came out?" queried +Betty. "Roy looked solemn, Grace looked surprised, Amy looked +exalted, and Allen was thoughtful, while Frank looked as though--well, +as though he were seeing visions." + +"All I have to do is turn my head to see visions," Frank returned +gallantly, suiting the action to the word. "Gee, I never saw a crowd +of prettier girls." + +"Hey, you're going to get an extra biscuit for that," put in Roy, +raising himself on his elbow and looking alarmed. "Just because +you're a better flatterer than I am--" + +"Oh, hush, hush," protested Betty, showing all her dimples--Allen was +watching, so we have his authority for it. "You boys can never get to +the point, unless we happen to be talking of something to eat. Allen, +what were they talking about?" + +Allen roused himself from the happy reverie into which Betty's +dimples had thrown him, and responded good-naturedly. Allen was +invariably good-natured. + +"We were talking about some of the things we may be up against, when +we find ourselves in the trenches, face to face with the enemy," he +said. "Also we were saying that these sweaters, and mufflers and +socks you are knitting, will come in mighty handy over there." + +A shadow crossed Betty's bright face, and she leaned forward to pick +up the discarded paper she had thrown upon the porch. + +"'The enemy attacked in force our lines south of Cambrai,'" she read, +with puckered brow. "'The enemy succeeded in gaining a foothold in +our first line trenches, but were later driven back. The fighting on +both sides was sanguinary, and heavy losses were sustained!'" + +She flung the paper from her, and regarded her friends with flaming +eyes, and both little fists clenched close at her sides. + +"It doesn't seem as though it _could_ be real!" she cried. "Men +killing each other off by the hundreds and all for--what? Oh, it's +cruel, cruel!" + +"Of course it's cruel," said Allen grimly. "But so were the Huns +cruel, centuries ago. The German people have simply never advanced +beyond that state. They're still in the first stages of +civilization." + +"Yes, and the worst part of this kind of warfare," said Frank, his +eyes fixed thoughtfully upon the horizon, "is that each man in the +army is simply a unit in a great machine. In the old days, when they +had cavalry charges and hand-to-hand fighting there was some romance, +some adventure, some chance for personal bravery." + +"Well, of course there is still some chance for daring," remarked +Allen, "especially in the aviation branch of the service." + +"In the army too," added Roy. "Soldiers are being decorated every day +for some special act of bravery." + +"I know all that," replied Frank. "But there's nothing particularly +spectacular about it." + +"And yet," said Betty thoughtfully, "I should think that kind of +fighting would take more courage than the other. To stand day after +day in those horrible trenches waiting for orders. And then when they +do finally make a charge, nothing much seems to be gained by it." + +"Yes, the waiting must be the hardest part," agreed Allen. "We met an +Englishman in town," he added, smiling at the recollection, "and he +was a mighty interesting chap." + +"You said it," agreed Frank heartily. "He's been through some of the +heaviest fighting, and to hear him tell some of his experiences is +better than a dozen lectures. I wish we could have brought him along +so you girls could have heard him." + +"I don't," Roy interjected. "He was too good-looking." + +"All the more reason why you should have brought him," yawned Grace. +"It would be a treat to have around something good to look at." + +"Whew," whistled Frank. "That was a bad one, Gracie. We know we're +not Adonises--" + +"I'm glad you know something," Grace was beginning, when once more +Betty interrupted her. + +"Oh dear!" she said, "if you don't hurry, the biscuits will be done, +and we won't have heard anything about the nice Englishman. And I'm +very much interested." + +"Oh, you are, are you?" said Allen, sitting up. "I begin to think we +made a mistake in mentioning that Englishman. I think we must have +dreamed him, fellows." + +"Oh, he was real enough," put in Frank. "But I shouldn't wonder if he +dreamt some of those adventures. They sounded too good to be true." + +"Perhaps you've heard that old saying," Grace remarked, with her +usual languor, "that truth is stranger than fiction?" + +"Oh, hurry," begged Betty. "The biscuits are almost done; I can smell +them." + +"So can I," said Roy, with another longing sniff. "Don't let 'em +burn, will you, Betty?" + +"I will, if somebody doesn't satisfy my curiosity, right away," +threatened the Little Captain, her lips set threateningly. "Now, will +you be good?" + +"Gee, Allen, did you hear that?" Roy's expression was pathetic. +"Hurry it up, will you?" + +"Well," began Allen with aggravating deliberation, "he was a tall, +lean, rangy fellow with sandy hair and twinkling eyes. Seems he had +been wounded several times, and the last shot had cost him his right +arm." + +"Oh," cried Mollie, her eyes like two saucers. "How did that happen?" + +"Bomb exploding close to him shot it all to pieces," explained Allen +cryptically. "Of course it had to be amputated, permanently disabling +him. That's why he was sent across to America--to stimulate +recruiting." + +"As if we needed any stimulating," said Mollie indignantly. "You +don't have to stand behind our boys with a gun to make them go." + +"Of course not," agreed Allen. "Just the same, it's almost impossible +for us over here, with the broad Atlantic separating us from the +scene of conflict, actually to realize what we're up against. That's +why it's good to have a fellow like this Englishman, who has really +been right in the thick of it, relate his own experiences. While he +was talking you could almost hear the thunder of cannon and the +bursting of shells. I tell you, we fellows felt like shouldering our +guns, and marching over right away." + +"Oh, it's wonderful to be a man these days," sighed Mollie. "You can +get right in the thick of it, while all we can do is stay home and +root for you." + +"Well, that's a lot," said Frank soberly. "Just to feel that you +girls are backing us up, and that there's somebody who cares whether +we give a good account of ourselves or not, makes all the difference +in the world." + +"But that's not all we can do," cried Betty, her eyes shining with +the light of resolution. "There's real work enough to keep us busy +all day long. Girls, I've got a plan!" + +"What?" they cried, leaning forward eagerly. + +"I'm going to join the Red Cross!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE POWDER MILL + + +"Who's game for a paddle?" + +"I am!" + +"And I!" + +"Oh, it's the most wonderful night in the world for canoeing!" + +"And there's going to be a moon, too!" + +"Nobody seems to be eager or anything like that," remarked Frank, +strolling out on the veranda, and regarding the enthusiastic group +with a smile on his lips. "Why didn't you suggest something they +might agree to, Allen?" + +Allen, who had indeed made the suggestion, rose lazily to his feet, +and stretched out a hand to Betty. + +"I never make any suggestions that aren't good," he replied. "Come +along, Betty. It's a crime to waste a minute of this wonderful +night." + +"May we, Mrs. Irving?" queried Betty, smiling up at their chaperon, +who was the same who had shared their adventures, during that other +eventful summer on Pine Island. "You know you love canoeing as much +as the rest of us." + +"Of course we'll all go," Mrs. Irving assented readily. "Only we've +had a long day, and mustn't stay out too late." + +"I speak for Mrs. Irving in my canoe!" called out Betty. + +"No, mine!" "Ours!" were other cries. + +Merrily the girls ran into the house to pick up the wraps which were +always necessary on the water at night, and in another minute they +had rejoined the boys. + +"Are you glad I enlisted, Betty?" queried Allen, laying a hand on +Betty's arm, and holding her back. + +"Glad?" answered Betty, looking up at him with eyes that shone in the +starlight. "Yes, I'm glad that you knew the only right thing to do, +and I'm glad that you did it so promptly. But, Allen--" + +"Yes?" he queried, finding her little hand and holding it tight. + +"I--I'm like George Washington, I guess," she evaded, looking up at +him with a crooked little smile. + +"I don't want you to tell a lie," he countered very softly. "I want +the truth, little Betty. What were you going to say?" + +Betty's eyes drooped, and they walked along in silence for a minute. + +"Well?" he queried at last, studying her averted profile. "You're not +afraid to tell me, Betty?" + +"N-no," she answered, still with her head turned away. "I was only +going to say, that while I'm glad--oh, very glad in one way, I--I'm +not so very glad in another." + +"What other?" he asked, leaning over her. "Betty, Betty, tell me, +dear." + +Betty hesitated for another moment, then threw up her head defiantly. + +"Well," she said, "if you must know--I don't want you to go. I--I'll +be--lonesome--" + +"Betty," he cried imploringly, his heart beating like a trip-hammer, +"Betty--wait--" + +But she had slipped from him, and had run ahead to join the others, +so that he had no other course but to follow her. His head was in the +clouds--his feet scarcely seemed to touch the ground. + +"Well, it's about time you realized you were with us," Mollie +remarked as Betty, breathless with the run and the beating of her +heart, joined them. "We began to think you had eloped for fair this +time." + +Betty laughed happily. + +"I'm sure I don't know where we'd elope to," she remarked, stepping +one dainty foot exactly in the center of the unstable craft. "We'd +either have to swim or wait for the ferry, and I don't exactly know +which would be the more uncomfortable." + +"I'd prefer the swim," said Roy, arranging the pillows carefully +behind Mollie's straight little back. To quote the latter: She would +much rather do things for herself--boys were so clumsy--but they +always looked so funny and downhearted when she told them about it, +that, just in the interest of ordinary kindness, she had to humor +them! + +"Well," said Allen, as he dipped his paddle into the still water, +guiding the light craft from the shore, "where shall we go?" + +"'Where do we go from here, boys, where do we go from here?'" sang +Roy. + +"'Anywhere from Harlem to a Jersey City pier,'" finished Frank, +wickedly splashing some drops of water on Grace's immaculate white +dress. + +"That's sensible, isn't it?" retorted the latter, favoring the +offender with a look of cold disdain. "Since we don't happen to be +any more than sixty miles from Harlem or Jersey City, I'm sure Allen +appreciated your suggestion." + +"Oof!" said Frank. "I can't open my mouth without putting my foot in +it." + +"That's no compliment to your mouth," returned Grace. "Frank, if you +don't stop splashing me with that horrid water, I'm going to get out +and walk." + +"That would be jumping from the frying pan into the fire," returned +Frank with a grin, while Mollie, who was in the next canoe, chuckled +audibly. + +"Goodness," said Betty, as Allen shortened his stroke to bring the +canoes abreast. "It's almost impossible to think of there being a war +on a night like this. Everything is so calm and peaceful." + +"Yes, we haven't even been touched by it yet," said Allen, his mood +sobering. "The Englishman to-day was telling us that nobody in +England began to realize they were at war, until the boys began to +come back wounded and disabled." + +"Oh, I can't bear to think of it," cried Amy, who, in the canoe with +Will, still silent and aloof, had scarcely spoken a word till now. +"It seems as if there ought to be some other way of settling disputes +these days." + +"That's what every nation thinks, except Germany and her allies," +returned Frank. "As it is, we've got to fight her as we'd fight a mad +dog--wipe the whole German nation off the map, or at least, bring it +to its knees." + +"That reminds me of something one of the recruiting officers told me +the other day," put in Allen, with a whimsical smile. "He said he had +talked to hundreds of American enlisted men, and the great majority +of them were eager to learn German." + +"I don't admire their taste," put in Mollie, with spirit. "I hate the +very sound of it." + +"Well, the soldier's idea is," explained Allen, "that if he learns +the language he'll be able to flirt with the _frauleins_ when he gets +to Berlin." + +"Again I don't admire their taste," remarked Mollie spitefully. +"Almost all the German girls I've ever seen are too stout to suit +me." + +"Goodness, I had a German ancestor away back somewhere," remarked Amy +anxiously. "Maybe that's why I'm beginning to gain flesh so fast. +You've got me worried." + +The boys laughed, but the girls answered reassuringly. + +"It isn't your remote German ancestor that's giving you flesh, Amy," +said Grace condescendingly. "It's eating three hearty meals a day, +and the sitting still knitting from morning to night. We girls are +used to being on the go all the time." + +"What's that you said?" asked Frank, bringing his eyes down from the +stars to the lazy figure in the white dress. "I've never seen you +when you weren't taking life easy." + +"What!" said Grace, sitting up straight, the picture of indignation. +"How about our walking tour--didn't I walk just as far, and as much +as the other girls then? And how about swimming?" + +"Take it back! take it back!" cried Frank. "If going down on my knees +will help any--" + +"Don't be a goose," responded Grace shortly, settling herself once +more in a comfortable position. "Just a little bit of going down on +your knees, and we'll be in the water. Have a chocolate?" + +"No, thanks," said Frank absently. His eye had caught a sudden flare +of light, that had flickered for a moment and then disappeared. + +"Hey, Allen," he yelled. "Did you see that light--over there, to the +right?" + +"Yes," said Allen, looking puzzled. "And I don't remember ever seeing +signs of life over in that direction." + +"Isn't that about where the old powder mill stands?" asked Betty, and +Allen turned to her quickly. + +"Betty," he said, his eyes shining, "you've got it. The government +has bought that property, and started the old mill to working. By +George, this promises to be interesting." + +"There it is again!" cried Frank, while Grace strained her eyes +eagerly toward the point. "What do you say to paddling over there and +having a look?" + +"It's up to the girls," replied Allen, watching Betty's face eagerly. +"What they say goes." + +"And they say 'go,'" smiled Betty whimsically. "Do you suppose we'd +go back without solving the mystery? Lead on, Macduff--we follow." + +So Allen and Frank paddled hard toward the bend in the lake, the +other two canoes, which had fallen somewhat behind, quickening the +stroke to catch up with them, sensing that something unusual was +afoot. + +As the canoes in the lead rounded the bend, those in them saw that +indeed the old mill had been renovated, but that the flame they had +seen had come, not from the old mill, but from a small bonfire +started farther in the woods. + +And that was not all. What made them catch their breath and signal +for silence, was the figure of a man bent close to the flickering +fire, intent upon deciphering the writing on a long piece of paper, +that looked suspiciously like an official document. + +So silent had been their approach that the man had not even changed +his position. Luckily the canoes were screened by heavy, overhanging +branches of trees, so that the occupants could observe without being +observed. + +Silently the other two canoes joined them, and noiselessly, scarcely +daring to breathe, the young folks watched. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A SHOT IN THE DARK + + +In the minds of each of the young people in the canoes, one word kept +repeating itself over and over again: "Spy, spy, spy!" + +Since the war had begun, the country had been overrun with them, that +they knew; but out here on this remote island... Yet there was +something about the very posture of the man, his hunched-up figure, +the nervous twitching of the fingers that held the document, that +branded him. + +As they watched, he started to fold up the paper, glancing stealthily +about meanwhile; then, as though satisfied that no one was watching, +he picked up the heavy bag that lay beside him, evidently preparing +for flight. + +Betty, a little tense figure in the bottom of the boat, uttered a +gasp of dismay, as Allen began carefully to lower himself into the +shallow water. + +The man on shore heard the slight sound and turned swiftly, staring +suspiciously into the thick shadows of the foliage. Then did the boys +and girls literally hold their breath. + +After a few seconds, which seemed an eternity to the taut nerves of +the watchers, the man turned with a guttural growl, and started +cautiously to make off into the denser woodland beyond. + +In a second, Allen was out of the boat, and lending a hand to the +gallant Little Captain, who would not be outdone in any adventure, no +matter how perilous. + +The other boys and girls followed, silent as ghosts, their training +in woodcraft standing them in good stead. For an instant, they stood +in a tense, excited group on shore, Mrs. Irving in their midst. + +"I'll tell you what we'll do," Allen was saying, and they had to lean +close to catch the words, which were barely above a whisper. "There +must be a guard around this mill somewhere. We'll get him, and head +that fellow off." + +"I'll take you to a guard," said Will suddenly. "We'll find him at +the other end of the mill." + +Without another word, he turned and led the way, careful of the +betraying snap of twigs, along the shore, toward the mill. Even in +that moment of tense excitement, the girls and boys looked at his +suddenly stiffened back in surprise. It was the first time since he +had come ashore that morning, that his comrades had been able to +discover anything of the old Will. + +However, they had little time for the solving of riddles. There was +work to be done, work, which in these stirring times, might perhaps +help to make history. + +As they neared the mill, Will motioned to them to stay where they +were, and ran ahead to intercept a guard. A moment later he returned +with the latter, and the whole party made its way hurriedly and +stealthily in a roundabout direction, which would almost certainly +intercept the spy--if spy he were. + +"Oh, Betty," whispered Grace, close to the Little Captain's ear. +"I've always been horribly afraid of spies. Do you suppose he's got a +gun?" + +"I never heard of a spy that didn't," returned Betty grimly. "But +don't worry--we have one, too." + +"Better not talk," warned Roy, close at their side. "A whisper may +mean a bullet." + +Grace almost screamed, but Betty's firm little hand across her mouth +smothered it into something between a sob and a squeak. + +"Hush," whispered Betty fiercely. "You'll spoil everything." + +At that moment, the sharp crack of a twig somewhere to the left of +them in the woods, made them stop suddenly and stand motionless, +listening. + +Then with a shout, Will rushed forward, followed by the other boys +and the home guard man. + +"Hands up!" shouted the latter, leveling his pistol at something that +moved among the bushes. "Stand where you are." + +Like a flash of lightning the man wriggled out from his cover, and +made a dash for liberty. With a yell, the guard ran forward, firing +as he went, with the boys close at his heels. + +"Oh, oh, they'll get shot!" wailed Amy, her hands before her face. "I +don't see why we couldn't have left the old thing alone, anyway." + +"That's a nice thing to say!" cried Mollie, trembling with +excitement. "Is that your idea of patriotism, to let a spy get away +right under our very noses?" + +"It's a good deal better than having the boys shot right under our +very noses," retorted Amy with spirit. + +"We'll be lucky if we don't get shot ourselves," said Grace, almost +in hysterics. "Oh, there goes another one. I wonder who got shot that +time." + +"Let's go and see," said Betty, pale, but determined, "It isn't like +us to stand in the background, when there may be something to do." + +"But, Betty," wailed Amy, "we may get shot." + +"Well, then, we shall," cried Betty, turning upon her fiercely. "That +may have been the spy that was shot, or it may be one of our boys. +Are we going to stay here, or are we going to find out?" + +"I--I'm sorry, Betty," quavered poor Amy. "Of course, we'll go." + +Without another word the Little Captain turned and, with Mollie at +her side, made off in the direction the boys had taken. Amy and +Grace, arms entwined about each other, followed a little lingeringly +in the rear of their bolder companions. + +They had not gone far, when they heard the welcome sound of masculine +voices in excited altercation, and the heavy tramp of feet coming +toward them. + +"Oh," sighed Betty, her lip quivering, now that the need of courage +had passed, "they never sounded so good to me before." + +"Thank heaven you're safe," cried Allen, while relief banished the +fear in his eyes. "I don't know what we could have been thinking of, +to leave you all alone--" + +"But did you get him?" cried Mollie impatiently. + +"No, worse luck," responded Will disgustedly, while the guard mopped +his perspiring forehead. "That spy was a slippery customer. We did +get something out of it, though." + +"What?" they cried eagerly. + +"This," said Will, holding up something that gleamed white in the +moonlight. "It's a letter, and it ought to tell us a number of things +we want to know about Mr. Adolph Hensler." + +"Oh, is that his name?" cried Betty eagerly. "That tells us a good +deal without even opening the letter." + +"It's German enough," agreed Will. "But, gee! I'm sorry we didn't +catch the fellow. The government needs him." + +"But we're so glad you didn't get shot," Amy ventured mildly. "We +heard that last one back there in the woods, and we thought--" + +"We'd gotten ours?" grinned Roy. "Well, we hadn't--not yet." + +"It was too near for comfort, just the same," Frank added. "I could +almost hear the wind from it as it whizzed past me." + +Here Betty, who had been watching Allen closely, uttered a sharp +exclamation, and all turned to her. + +"Allen," she cried, for he had swayed a little and rested his hand +against a tree as though to steady himself, "why didn't you tell us? +Oh, Allen! It's blood!" + +"Nothing at all," said Allen, laughing a little unsteadily, as Mrs. +Irving and the girls and boys gathered about him anxiously. "A little +thing will bleed like a shambles sometimes. It's nothing--Betty--" + +But Betty, with a little catch in her breath, was tearing aside the +soft shirt, which was clotted with blood at the shoulder. + +"Oh, Allen, Allen!" she was murmuring over and over in a way that +sent the blood pounding madly to Allen Washburn's head, and made the +wound a blessing. "Why didn't you tell me? Oh, your poor shoulder! +Some one get some water, quick," she ordered imperiously, turning to +the anxious group. "I don't think it's serious, but we must stop this +bleeding. Please hurry." + +And hurry they did, bringing water from a near-by spring in cups they +expertly improvised from leaves as they had done so many times just +for the fun of it. + +Then the boys produced some spotless white handkerchiefs, which +served as a makeshift bandage, till they could reach the cottage. The +bullet, as Betty had said, had not much more than grazed the +shoulder, yet the wound had bled profusely, and Allen was beginning +to feel a little sick and dizzy, from the loss of blood. + +When at last all had been done, that it was possible to do, Allen was +helped down to the canoe, and they paddled home, a very much sobered +group of young people. + +"Never mind," said Allen, in an attempt to lift the general +depression, as they neared the cottage. "We found the letter anyway, +which may be of considerable help to the government. And what's one +shoulder more or less in the cause?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MOONLIGHT AND MYSTERY + + +The moon made a rippling path of silver upon the water, a soft wind +whispered drowsily through the trees, and far off in the depths of +the woodland, an owl hooted plaintively. Ordinarily, the romantic +paddle back to the island would have been filled with delight for the +Outdoor Girls and their four boy friends, but tonight the profuse +beauty all about them passed unnoticed. + +Betty, sitting beside Allen in the bottom of the canoe, while Frank +and Grace paddled, was very pale and silent. However, the others +talked enough to make up for her silence. + +"What do you suppose is in the letter?" said Mollie, for perhaps the +hundredth time. + +"How do you suppose we know?" responded Will, exasperated. "We can't +very well read it until we get home; and then perhaps there won't be +anything important in it. Gee, if we'd only gotten that fellow!" + +"Well, it's of no use to cry over spilled milk," said Frank +philosophically. "We were mighty lucky to get the letter. Allen's the +only one that ought to kick--he got the rough end of the deal." + +"Yes," said Betty fiercely; "and we ought to get that man for +shooting him. The coward!" + +Allen laughed softly, and put a hand over Betty's little clenched +one. + +"I don't suppose he meant to shoot me, especially," he said. "It was +my fault for getting in the way of the bullet." + +"Yes, that's a mighty bad habit to get into," remarked Roy dryly, +"especially in these times, when we're more than likely to get a +chance to exercise it." + +"Ooh!" squealed Amy, giving a sudden splash with her paddle, that +sent a geyser of spray all about her, causing several loud protests. +"I wish you'd stop talking about such things. I'd like to stop +shivering for about five minutes." + +The girls giggled hysterically and felt more natural. + +"Goodness," sighed Grace, after five minutes of silence, during which +each had been busy with his or her own thoughts. "This paddle never +seemed so long to me before." + +"Thanks," said Frank. "May I ask whether you are referring to the +company?" + +"I wasn't even thinking of the company," retorted Grace ungraciously. + +"Gee, we must be impressive," murmured Roy. "She doesn't even know +we're around." + +"Stop paddling, Frank," suggested Mollie maliciously, "and see how +soon she'd know you weren't around." + +Obediently Frank drew his paddle from the water, and Grace, who had +only been making a pretense of doing her share, looked around +indignantly. + +"Well, you can't expect me to do it all," she said, and with a sigh +of utter resignation, Frank resumed his work. + +"Say, fellows," he said, "isn't that just like a girl?" + +"What's that?" cried Amy suddenly, making them jump nervously. + +"What?" queried Grace in a voice scarcely above a whisper, while the +rest looked for an explanation from Amy to the shadowy woodland and +back again. + +"It--it was a noise," explained Amy, incoherently, "like a man +moving, and I was sure--I--saw a--couple of eyes watching us--" + +"For heaven's sake!" cried Allen, raising himself suddenly in the +canoe, "put on more steam, you fellows! We've got to get the girls +out of this. What do you say, Mrs. Irving?" turning to their +chaperon, who had been a silent spectator until the moment. + +"By all means," she said decisively. "We can face these mysteries +better by daylight, and we've had enough excitement for one night." + +So they all paddled hard while the girls' eyes remained fixed in +half-fearful, half-hopeful expectation upon the shadowy shore. For +these girls were outdoor girls, and adventure was the breath of life +to them. + +However, nothing else happened to disturb the calm of a perfect +summer night, and a few minutes later they landed at the pier, and +hastily fastened the canoes. + +"Now for a light and the contents of that letter," cried Will, his +eyes gleaming with anticipation. "We'll soon find out whether Mr. +Adolph Hensler was a regular, honest-to-goodness spy, or just an +impostor. How about it, Allen?" he went on, as the latter stumbled +over a stone, and Will hooked an arm through his. "Feeling pretty +much all in, are you?" + +"A little unsteady on my pins, as our friend Captain Kidd would say," +Allen replied, though his lips were set with the effort to walk +steadily. "It's funny what a little scratch will do to a fellow." + +"It wasn't such a little scratch, old man," said Will soberly. "If it +had hit you more directly, you'd have been in for a pretty long +siege. As it is, I'm afraid you'll have to lie low for a week or so. +Here we are. Now, just a couple of steps, old fellow--" + +Allen was, in truth, weaker than he thought, for each step seemed +mountains high, and Frank had to grasp his other arm, before they +finally made the floor of the porch, and succeeded in getting him +across the threshold. + +"Never mind," whispered Mollie, slipping a comforting arm about +Betty's shoulders as they followed slowly. "He isn't hurt seriously, +dear, and by to-morrow he'll be feeling all right again." + +"I know," said Betty, a little catch in her breath. "It isn't so bad +now, but I was just thinking what it would be like, if he were +wounded on the battlefield, with no one to look after him--and--and--" + +"Oh, Betty, we just mustn't think of things like that!" said Mollie, +her voice quivering. "No matter how we feel, we've just got to keep +on smiling for the boys' sake." + +"I know," said Betty, straightening up with a pathetic little attempt +at a smile. "We'll all have to say like the little boy that fell down +and hurt himself, 'I'm not cryin'; I'm laughin'.' Yes, we're coming." +This last was interpolated by way of encouragement to Frank, who had +been sent back to look for them. + +They found Allen propped up in a huge armchair before a fire, which +had been hastily laid in the grate, looking rather pale and wan, but +tremendously interested in the proceedings, nevertheless. + +"Betty," he said pleadingly, stretching out a hand to her. + +Without a word she went over to him, taking it in both her own. + +"I don't want you to go out of my sight," he whispered, while the +others thoughtfully looked the other way. "My shoulder doesn't ache +when you're around," he added whimsically, knowing how clearly Betty +saw through him; "but when you go away, the ache in it is--fiendish!" + +"I won't go away," Betty promised, touching the bandaged shoulder +gently. + +"Never?" he queried eagerly, twisting around so he could see her +face. "Is that a promise, Betty?" + +"While your shoulder hurts," she added quickly, while the color, +which did not come from the fire, flooded her face. "I--I hate to be +cross with you when you're not feeling well," she added, trying to be +severe, "but if you don't stop--looking at me--Allen... See, +they're waiting to read the letter!" + +[Illustration: WILL LEANED FORWARD, REGARDING THE PAPER CLOSELY.] + +"Does that mean I have to stop looking at you?" queried Allen, with a +smile. "Oh, well, I'll not complain, if you'll only keep on holding +my hand, Betty. I'd have a chronic bullet wound all the rest of my +life--" + +"Well, when the invalid and hero of the occasion is ready," Will +broke in, his patience at an end, "we should be pleased to read a +document, which probably will seem dull and uninteresting to him +beside what he has to say--" + +"Oh, Will, please don't talk so much," cried Grace. "If you don't +hurry I'll be so sleepy it wouldn't bother me if Adolph Hensler +turned out to be the Kaiser himself." + +"Yes, speed up, old man," Roy added. "Expectation may be better than +realization, but I don't believe it." + +"Well," said Will, opening the letter which had not been sealed, with +exasperating deliberation, "we shall see--what we shall see." + +He leaned forward, regarding the paper closely in the yellow +lamplight, while the others crowded eagerly about him. + +"Well--what-do-you-know-about-that!" he said slowly, pushing the +paper from him disgustedly. "All in code--and a code that will need +an expert to figure it out. Gee, that's a mean trick, that is!" + +Frank picked up the paper and pored over it for a moment, while the +rest watched him anxiously. + +"Yes, that's a stiff one," he said at last. "I guess there's no use +in our wasting time over it." + +"It proves one thing anyway," put in Allen, from his corner. "The +paper is important, and our friend to-night is undoubtedly what we +thought he was." + +"Much good that does us," said Will, morosely folding the paper and +stuffing it carefully into his pocket. "Of course, it's better than +nothing, and we'll get it into official hands just as soon as we can; +but we certainly ought to have caught that rascal." + +"Say!" exclaimed Roy suddenly, his eyes gleaming with the light of +adventure, "maybe it isn't too late yet. Unless Adolph, the spy, had +a boat or swam to the nearest island, which is more than a mile away, +he's still on this island somewhere. We've got our good old trusties +over in the big tent, and there's a bare chance we might be able to +round him up." + +"No, you don't!" said Grace decidedly, while all the girls looked +startled. "You're going to use your guns to keep that man away from +here. Do you suppose we're going to lie awake all night listening for +shots?" + +"Oh, all right," said Roy, "I'm properly squelched." + +"Let's go to bed," yawned Grace, "I'm dying by inches. And, oh, +Mollie, dear, don't forget to bring the candy box!" + +Half an hour later the lights in the little cottage were out and the +boys, all except Allen, who had been made as comfortable as possible +in the house, were taking turns at standing guard outside. + +Despite the quiet beauty and peace of the night, the girls found it +almost impossible to sleep. They tossed and dozed, and waked and +dozed again until, toward daylight, they fell into a restless, uneasy +sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ROBBED + + +Crack! Crack! + +The girls started to a sitting posture and regarded each other +fearfully. + +"What is it?" cried Mollie, her eyes big and round in the semi-dark. +"Betty, what are you doing?" + +"That was a shot," responded Betty, her voice quivering with +excitement. "I've been listening for it all night. Who's coming--" + +"Oh, dear!" wailed Amy. "I knew some one would get killed! It's worse +than some awful nightmare." + +But Betty was already running from the room, with Mollie close at her +heels. Reluctantly, Grace and Amy slipped on their robes and slippers +and followed. + +Betty almost ran into Mrs. Irving on the landing, and gasped an +apology. + +"Oh, dear, what do you suppose it is?" she panted, as they went on +down the stairs together. "If another of the boys is hurt--" + +But at that moment the boys themselves came bursting in upon them, +rumpled, sheepish and out of temper, to confront the excited girls in +the lower hall. + +"What do you know about that?" cried Roy disgustedly. "If I'm not the +biggest fool that ever lived, I'll eat my hat." + +"Far be it from me to stop you," growled Will. "He must have passed +near enough to touch you, and you let him get away." + +"Well, you needn't rub it in," retorted Roy, turning upon him +savagely, while the girls looked from one to the other +uncomprehendingly. "You ought to know I'm sore enough without having +you find fault." + +"Cut it out, fellows," Frank put in peaceably. "It wasn't anybody's +fault; just hard luck, that's all." + +"But what?" Mollie interrupted impatiently. "What happened?" + +"Well, you see it was like this," began Will, still in a bad temper. +"We fellows decided that our friend, Adolph Hensler, might have some +mistaken longings for the code letter he dropped, and might follow us +and try to steal it back. So we thought we'd set a trap for him by +keeping watch, turn and turn about, in such a position that he +couldn't possibly see us." + +"Yes, and that's about all," Roy, speaking bitterly, took the story +away from Will, "except that it was yours truly's turn at sentry +duty, and he went to sleep, leaving Adolph a clear field." + +"And did he really come back?" asked Betty, glancing apprehensively +over her shoulder as though she was afraid the rascal might be close +at hand. + +"Yes, he really did," said Roy, still bitterly. "And if I hadn't +happened to see him coming out of the window--" + +"Out of the window!" echoed Grace, who, with Amy, had decided that +the lower hall with company was more to be desired than a room +upstairs alone. "Oh, Roy, from this house?" + +"Since this is the only one for three miles around, I suppose it +was," said Roy, with biting sarcasm. + +"But he may have been in our room," cried Amy, beginning to shiver +again. + +"Very likely," said Will grimly, while Mrs. Irving looked decidedly +worried. "The one good thing about the whole affair is, that he +didn't get the letter." + +"Oh, bother the letter," cried Mollie, cross because she could not +stop trembling. "I--I wish it were daylight. I never wanted to see +the sun so much." + +"Well, it is, almost," said Frank, waving his hand toward the east +where a dim grey veil was replacing the blackness of night. "Adolph +must have been hanging around for some time, before he got the chance +he wanted." + +"Before I went to sleep," put in Roy moodily. + +"But didn't you follow him?" queried Betty, eagerly. + +"Of course," said Will, "until he disappeared in the woods; and you +might just as well hunt for a needle in a haystack, as look for him +there. Besides, we wanted to see if you girls were all right." + +"Well, we're not," said Grace dispiritedly. "We didn't have half +enough sleep, and now we've been scared to death for the second time +in one night." + +"Well," said Mrs. Irving, coming out of a brown study, and speaking +decidedly. "There's nothing to be gained by standing here. Probably +none of us will be able to sleep any more to-night, but we can at +least get dressed. Come, girls, we don't want to add sickness to our +problems." + +"This time we're all going to watch," Will called after them, as they +started up the stairs. "If Adolph comes back again, he won't get away +so easily." + +Slowly the girls reentered their room, and were relieved to find that +the long night with all its weird suggestions and imaginings, was +really over. Beds and dressers were distinctly visible in the faint +grey light that filtered into the room. Soon the sun would be up. + +"Oh, I'm so tired," sighed Mollie, sinking down on the edge of her +bed and gazing about her disconsolately. "I feel as if I ought to be +tremendously excited, but I'm too sleepy to care much about +anything." + +"Wait till the sun comes up," said Betty, recovering a little of her +old cheeriness. "That makes everything look different. I wonder," she +added, as if the thought had not been in her mind all the time, "how +Allen is. The noise didn't even seem to disturb him. I think I'll ask +Mrs. Irving if I can go--and--see----" + +"Why, of course you can," said Mrs. Irving, who happened to be +passing the door at that particular minute, and looking in at her +smilingly. "I was just going to visit the patient myself; so if you +hurry and get dressed, we can go together." + +It is safe to say that Betty was fully dressed, to the last little +pattings and fluffings of her blue morning dress, before ten minutes +was up, and, with Mrs. Irving, was walking with rapidly beating heart +down the hall toward Allen's room. + +The door had been left open in case he needed anything during the +night, and now his voice greeted them before they reached it. + +"Hello," it called imperatively. "I want to know something." + +"All right," said Mrs. Irving sunnily, pushing the door open and +advancing toward the patient, while Betty lingered a little in the +background. "You're not the only one. How are you feeling this +morning?" + +"All right--fine," he amended, as his eager eye caught sight of +Betty. "Never was feeling better in my life. Decidedly grateful for +being allowed to live at all--when there are so many beautiful things +to look at," this with so direct and ardent a gaze upon Betty, that +she turned and looked out of the window, unwilling to let him see +what her face must reveal. + +Mrs. Irving laughed a little and began to adjust his pillows +carefully. + +"We are going to have a doctor for you today," she announced, and +Allen sat up in bed with a jerk. + +"What for?" he demanded. "I don't need any doctor. I'm feeling all +right now, and ten to one, he'd make me sick. They always do. Please +don't bring one of them in here." + +"Don't make a fuss and get excited, please," Mrs. Irving cautioned +him gently, while her eyes dwelt with humorous sympathy upon Betty's +back. "I'm going down to prepare some breakfast, and perhaps Betty +can persuade you about the doctor." + +Before either of them realized it, she was gone, leaving them alone. +Still Betty forgot to turn round. + +For several minutes, Allen lay and regarded her contentedly. Then he +gave a mountainous sigh, and finally: + +"What have I done?" he queried pathetically. "It's one of the +prettiest backs I ever saw, but that's no reason why I should have to +look at it all the time. Besides, you seem to forget that I have a +sore shoulder." + +Betty turned to him swiftly, half laughing and half grave. + +"I never know when to believe you," she said, coming toward him +slowly and moving a chair up to the edge of the bed. "You see, that's +the worst of having a bad reputation." + +"I haven't," he denied stoutly, feeling for her hand, which, however, +persisted in evading his. "I've never said anything to you, Betty +Nelson, that wasn't true. If you'll give me your hand, my shoulder +will stop aching." + +Betty laughed whimsically. + +"And you said you never had told me anything that wasn't true," she +reminded him. + +"I repeat it," he answered doggedly, succeeding at last in finding +her hand, and holding it tight. "Just being near you makes me so +happy, I haven't time to think of pain." + +"D--did you hear all the noise just a little while ago?" stammered +Betty hastily. "You must have wondered what it was all about." + +"I did," he replied, still with his eyes on her face. "I started to +get out of bed and see for myself, only I found I was kind of wabbly, +and thought better of it. What--" + +"Oh, Betty!" Mollie flung wide the door and burst in upon them. +"Excuse me, but I had to tell you. What do you suppose has happened +now?" + +She sank down on the edge of the bed, and looked at them +despairingly. + +"Well, what?" asked Betty impatiently. "Has anybody else been shot +or--" + +"Goodness, it's worse than that!" cried Mollie hysterically. "You +know, we've never bothered to lock up our good things, because there +never seemed any danger at all of robbery on Pine Island--" + +"Yes, yes," cried Betty, fairly wild with impatience. "I know all +that. Tell me, what happened?" + +"Well," said Mollie, refusing to be hurried, "we thought of our +jewelry, looked for it--and it was----" + +"Gone!" cried Betty, reading the answer in Mollie's face. "Oh, +Mollie, my pin and my bracelet----" + +"Yes, and my gold watch, and Grace's pearl lavalliere, and goodness +knows how many other things," Mollie finished, in the calmness of +despair. + +"And of course, it was that spy that did it!" cried Betty. "Now, +we've got to catch him!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE BIG GAME + + +Betty opened her eyes slowly, and blinked at the sunlight that +flooded the room. She had a vague sort of idea that something unusual +was going to happen, but was too lazy and comfortable to realize just +what that something was. + +Then suddenly it came to her, and she sat up in bed with a start. +They were going home! That was the big event; and somehow, she did +not feel as sorry as she usually did at the end of a vacation. In +fact, she was almost eager to leave this island, with its powder +mills and spies that shot boys you liked, and robbed you in the +bargain--quite eager to drop play, and do her bit for the country she +loved. + +"Betty, what are you doing awake so early?" queried Grace petulantly. +"If you can't sleep you might lie still, and let me." + +"Have some candy, Gracie," Betty invited, pulling the empty candy box +from the table beside the bed, and handing it to her friend. "It may +help your disposition." + +"Goodness, what it is to have a reputation!" said Grace plaintively. +"People think they can insult and slight me, and then make it all up +by handing me a bon-bon!" + +"Not guilty," laughed Betty merrily. "If you'll look a little closer, +you'll see there is not a bit of candy in that box! No, don't glare +at me like that, Gracie, dear. The only way you could frighten me, +would be by getting up early. Then I'd know there was something +wrong." + +"So would I," said Grace, stifling a yawn. "I'm altogether too +good-natured to frighten anybody--even myself." + +"Well, you can stay there all day if you want to," said Betty, +inserting two determined little feet into two pretty bedroom +slippers, and running across to the open window, "but I wouldn't if I +were you. It's too wonderful a day in the first place, and in the +second, I can imagine pleasanter things than staying alone on this +island over night." + +"Oh, that's so!" cried Grace, sitting up and staring at Betty. "I +forgot we were going home to-day. Oh, dear, now I will have to get +up." + +"How awful," mocked Mollie, who had been watching them for some time +from the bed in the alcove. "It's an outrage, having to get up in the +morning. I think we should have been made so we could sleep all the +time." + +"Just my idea," Grace was beginning, unmoved, when Mrs. Irving's +voice sounded at the door. + +"Seven o'clock," she announced cheerily. "And you know we decided to +get an early start." + +For the next hour all was hurry and excitement while four girlish +tongues clattered unceasingly. + +"Have you fully decided to join the Red Cross, Betty?" queried Amy. + +"Why, of course. Haven't you?" asked the Little Captain, slipping on +the skirt to her pretty traveling suit and fastening it deftly. "I'm +going to make dozens and dozens of scarfs, sweaters and socks. The +boys are giving up everything for us, and I'm sure the least we can +do is, keep them warm." + +"Oh, I can't wait to begin," cried Mollie. "I'm so excited all the +time about the war and everything, I can't sit still--" + +"You've got to, if you're going to knit," grumbled Grace. "And you +can't eat candy, either, Mollie Billette." + +"Oh, look who's talking," crowed Mollie. "If that's true, and the +poor soldiers had to depend upon you to keep them warm, I'd feel +sorry for them, that's all." + +"Oh, I don't know," defended Betty, putting an arm about Grace, and +starting for the door. "Grace believes in quality more than quantity. +She may not knit as much as the rest of us, but she does it twice as +well." + +Grace laughed and hugged her friend as they ran down the stairs +together. + +"That's worth my lavalliere, Betty," she said. "If Adolph Hensler +hadn't gotten it first, I'd will it to you!" + +They flew around to prepare breakfast, and the smell of sizzling +bacon and baking biscuits sent their spirits soaring to the skies. +The boys, who had finished their own breakfast, and scoured up the +pans, heard the sounds of merriment, and came to inquire the cause. + +Betty saw them first and laughingly bade them enter. + +"We'd ask you to breakfast," she said, "only this is the last +biscuit, and I wouldn't give it up to my best friend. Why don't you +come in?" she continued, as they lingered on the threshold. "I never +knew you to be bashful before." + +"We're not bashful," denied Allen, as they distributed themselves +about the room in various and characteristic attitudes, grinning +happily at the girls. "We were so hypnotized by the charming picture +you made for us we couldn't move, that's all." + +"I told you there weren't any more biscuits," said Betty decidedly. + +"Goodness, I'm glad somebody else has a bad reputation besides me," +said Grace languidly. "At least you don't have anything to live up +to." + +"How is the shoulder this morning?" Mrs. Irving inquired of Allen. +"You haven't taken the bandage off, have you?" + +"Not yet," replied Allen, who, although it was scarcely a week since +the accident, had almost completely recovered from his wound. "The +doctor said he'd be around early this morning, and if it looked all +right, would take it off." + +"Gee, but I feel funny this morning," announced Roy, apropos of +nothing in particular. + +"You look it," murmured Mollie, pouring herself another cup of +coffee. + +"What do you mean--funny?" queried Frank with interest, while Roy +favored Mollie with a hurt look. + +"Oh, I don't know how to explain it," said Roy, blushing, as all eyes +were turned upon him. "Just sort of excited and--er--queer." + +"Yes, we heard you the first time," said Mollie patiently, while Roy +looked about for help. + +"I know what you mean," said Allen, coming to his rescue. "You're +thinking that we're likely to be called almost any time now, and it +gives you stage fright to think about it. It's a great big task we've +taken hold of, and we can't quite grasp it yet, that's all." + +"Th-that's the way I feel," said Betty, her eyes shining and her +cheeks flushed, stammering in her eagerness. "I feel somehow as if we +were acting in a great big play, where there are all actors and no +audience, and everybody's sort of flustered and excited and not sure +just where they belong but terribly anxious to get into it +somewhere." + +"Well, we're all in it," cried Frank, his eyes fired with enthusiasm. +"Thank heaven, there's not one among us we can call a slacker. We've +all enlisted without waiting to be hauled into it by the scruff of +the neck--we--we----," his eyes happened to fall upon Will as he sat +regarding him steadily from a chair near the window, and as though at +a signal, his enthusiasm died and he stammered incoherently. + +"Well, we know what _we're_ going to do," said Betty, hurriedly +changing the subject. "As soon as we reach town we're going to hunt +up the nearest Red Cross headquarters and join." + +"Bully!" cried Roy admiringly. "I heard a fellow saying the other day +that it was wonderful the way the American women have come up to the +scratch--pardon the slang, ladies, but that's what he said. He said +the Red Cross was turning out bushels of woolen wear, and that at +this rate there wouldn't be a man in the United States army or navy, +that wouldn't be kept warm and comfortable during the big fight. I +tell you it makes you feel good, to think that mothers and sisters +and sweet girl friends are backing you up like that. It takes away +old Fritz's last shadow of a chance." + +"Oh, it's wonderful to hear you talk like that," said Mollie, eyes +bright and cheeks glowing. "Ever since war was declared I've been +dying to put on a uniform and get into the thick of it myself. But if +we can't, it's the next best thing to be able to encourage our boys, +and make them as comfortable and happy as we can. Oh, I think they're +wonderful--and I love them all, every one of them!" + +"Hold on, hold on!" cried Roy, while the other boys looked delighted. +"It's all right for you to love me, but why take the whole army into +it? It would be much more exclusive the other way." + +"I love them all," said Mollie stubbornly. "And I'll keep on loving +them till this awful war is over. Then I'll consent to be exclusive." + +"Is that a promise?" cried Roy, while the others laughed delightedly. + +"But I didn't mean what you mean," protested Mollie, flushing +vividly. "Oh, dear, why does everybody have to be so foolish?" + +"I call upon the others to witness," said Roy, jumping to his feet +and bringing his fist down upon the table, with a force that made +them jump. "Mollie has consented to be exclusive when the war's over, +and you all know what that means." + +"Better get it in writing," Allen suggested. "That's the only safe +way." + +"And that isn't," said Mollie, recovering. + +"Well, we'll see what we shall see," said Roy, sitting down again, +rebuffed but undaunted. + +"Gee, it'll be up to Roy to end the war in a hurry now," grinned +Frank. "If we don't look out, he'll be starting some peace trip, and +getting his name in all the papers." + +"Nothing doing," said Roy decidedly. "When I deal with old Fritz, it +will be with a gun!" + +"So say we all of us," cried Allen, his eyes kindling, "I tell you, +it won't take us long, when we really begin to get our troops over +there. I'm crazy to get into it." + +"So am I," cried Betty, getting up energetically and beginning to +clear away the dishes. "And the first thing to do is to get back to +town where we can really start something. Goodness, I wish these +dishes were washed." + +"If all your wishes were granted so quickly," smiled Mrs. Irving, as +the other girls went at the task with equal vigor, "you wouldn't have +anything to worry about." + +Two hours later the campers were standing on the deck of the +ridiculous little ferryboat, that still plied between Pine Island and +the mainland, looking with mingled emotions toward the spot where +they had spent so many pleasant hours. + +"Do you remember," Amy said thoughtfully, as the girls stood in a +group in the bow of the boat, "how sorry we were to leave the island +that other summer? And now--" + +"We're almost glad," finished Grace. + +"We're glad because we're going to do our share in the biggest thing +that ever happened to this world," said Betty tensely. "We're glad +because we've got the greatest country in the world, and are going to +do our best to keep it the greatest country in the world. We're glad, +most of all, because--we're Americans!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GAY CONSPIRATORS + + +"It's all right," Mollie was saying, "to give our time and labor and +everything like that, but the Red Cross needs money. If we could only +find some way to raise it!" + +The four girls were seated on the porch of Betty's house in Deepdale, +busy as always, with their knitting. Mollie and Betty were swaying +gently in the big porch swing, while Grace and Amy were curled up +comfortably in roomy wicker armchairs. + +The weather was perfect--a typical fall day, with the brilliant +sunshine peeping in under the edge of the awning, creeping up almost +to the feet of the girls, while vagrant breezes, spicy and pungent +with the smell of burning leaves, fanned their faces, and stirred +them to a new restlessness, a new desire for action. + +"Well, why not?" asked Betty, putting down her knitting, and looking +from one to the other. "I don't see why it should be impossible for +us to raise money." + +"Betty, have you a plan?" asked Amy, gazing hopefully toward the +Little Captain. "I've thought of all sorts of things, from taking a +course in stenography to taking in washing, but nothing seems to be +just right, somehow." + +"Goodness, I should think not," said Grace, while Betty and Mollie +giggled happily. "I can't imagine you in the role of chief +washerwoman to Deepdale, Amy; and as for stenography--think how much +you would have to spend before you began to earn any money." + +"My idea's very much simpler than either of those," said Betty +demurely. "I thought--though of course it may not be possible, at +all--that we might give a lawn fete and charge fifty cents admission, +a person. We know pretty nearly everybody in Deepdale, and if only a +third of them came we'd raise quite a big sum." + +"Betty, that's splendid," cried Mollie, clapping her hands excitedly, +forgetful of the needles she still held. "We can have fortune-telling +booths and tableaux, and perhaps a sketch of some kind. Oh, won't it +be fun?" + +"It ought to be," said Grace conservatively, starting to wind another +skein of wool. "But if we have all those things I think we ought to +charge a dollar." + +"Goodness, I don't think they'd get their money's worth," smiled +Betty whimsically. "A dollar's rather a lot of money to pay for a +lawn party." + +"Well, they ought to be willing to give something, just for the sake +of patriotism," said Amy quietly--for there was no better patriot in +all of Deepdale than Amy. + +"Yes, but don't you see, we want to give them their money's worth," +Mollie argued excitedly. "Because then we'll feel we've really earned +whatever we raise." + +"Well, we will earn it," said Betty earnestly. "We have, as Doctor Morely +says, 'a good deal of local talent' that we ought to be able to win over +to our side, and if we really go into the thing to make it a success, +it will be one. And a successful lawn party is no end of fun." + +"Goodness, you've got me so excited, I can't wait to begin," cried +Mollie, waving her needles about in a way to endanger seriously +Betty's eyesight. "I want to start something." + +"If you don't stop poking me with those needles, you will start +something," threatened Betty, moving to the opposite corner of the +swing, and as far from danger as possible. "You wouldn't need a +bayonet in the trenches, Mollie dear. The whole German army would +drop dead, if they saw you moving down upon them with a knitting +needle. Stop it, I tell you, or I shall be forced to take them away +from you." + +"Oh, look who's going to take them away," mocked Mollie, continuing +her wild dabs and dashes. "There isn't a man, much less a woman, on +this earth could take these knitting needles away from me, against my +will." + +"Looks as if I'd have to start a little war of my own," remarked +Betty ruefully, carefully putting away her own knitting and preparing +for action. "I never yet let a challenge like that pass me by--Oh, +Allen, you startled me!" + +"Sorry," said Allen, making his usual, though undignified, entrance +over the railing of the porch, and seating himself with a sigh of +content in one of the big chairs. "Say, what was all the row about?" +he added, looking with interest at Mollie's still threatening +needles, and Betty's general air of preparation for attack. "About a +mile away I heard the noise, and thought I'd drop in to see who was +getting killed." + +"A mile away," sniffed Mollie, abandoning the attack, while Betty +once more opened her knitting bag. "If girls are good fibbers I +wonder what they'd call men." + +"Li--I mean prevaricators," said Allen cheerfully, and the girls +gasped in dismay. "Well, you asked me, didn't you?" he argued, +laughing at their shocked faces. "I only tried to be obliging." + +"Then we like you better when you're not," said Betty primly. + +"But what was the row?" he persisted. "I'm sure I interrupted +something, and if I'm still intruding, I'll go away so you can finish +it." + +"Oh, we were just starting a new kind of war," Mollie explained. "We +call it the war of the knitting needles." + +"That's just what I told the fellows," said Allen, shaking his head +sorrowfully, "only they wouldn't believe me." + +"Now what are you talking about?" asked Grace, without looking up +from her knitting. "I know you want somebody to ask it, so I'll be--as +you would say in vulgar slang--the goat." + +"That's right! Blame it all, even the slang, on us," said Allen +plaintively. "That's the way the girls----" + +"Goodness, you can't tell us anything about ourselves we don't know," +said Mollie impatiently. "We want to know what you told the boys." + +"Oh, about the needles," said Allen, stretching out his long legs, +and locking his fingers behind his head. "I just happened to remark +that while we were killing each other off with bayonets in the +trenches, the women and girls would be knitting themselves to death +at home, so there would probably be an equal number of both sexes +when the war was over." + +"Oh, dear, there you go, joking about it again," sighed Amy. "And you +made me lose a stitch too. Oh, dear, that's the first one in the +whole sweater." + +"Hand it over," said Betty patiently. "I may be able to catch it for +you, so you won't have to rip out too much. Oh, Allen, what do you +suppose we are going to do?" + +"What?" queried Allen, gazing admiringly from the busy deft fingers +to the pretty bent head. + +"We're going to give a lawn party," she answered. "It's going to be +as elaborate an affair as possible, and we're going to charge a +dollar admission." + +"Whew," said Allen, sitting up and regarding each one of the flushed +conspirators in turn. "What's this--a get-rich-quick-scheme?" + +"I should say not!" said Mollie hotly. "Isn't that just exactly like +a man? _Everything_ we do isn't selfish." + +"Well, what _is_ the idea?" asked poor Allen patiently. "If you'd +just tell a fellow----" + +"It's for the Red Cross," Betty explained, "I'm afraid that stitch is +too far down to get back, Amy dear. You'll have to rip out a little. +You see we want to raise a lot of money," she went on, raising her +pretty head and speaking quickly. "When we decided to join the Red +Cross, as you know we have, we didn't mean to go into it half way. It +didn't seem to us enough, just to give our time and labor--we wanted +to raise actual cash. And this seemed the best way to do it." + +"I think it's a mighty fine idea," said Allen heartily. "And as I +don't think there's a more patriotic town on the map than little old +Deepdale, I should think you ought to be able to raise quite a +considerable pile. I'll help all I can." + +"Oh, Allen, will you?" cried Betty excitedly. "Oh, if you boys will +only help, we'll be _sure_ to make it a success. I can't wait to +begin." + +"Well, why do we have to wait?" asked Mollie practically. "Why can't +we start in planning and rehearsing to-night?" + +"There's no reason in the world why we can't," cried Betty, putting +away her knitting definitely, and beginning to pace up and down the +porch as she always did when thinking things out. "Allen, do you +think you can round up the boys, and do you think they'll all be +willing to help us?" + +"Of course," said Allen, without taking his eyes from her. "I'll +bring them around to-night if you say so." + +"Good! Then there's Gladys Alden who plays the violin beautifully, +and Jean Ratcliffe who can recite like a professional and--oh, dear, +there's no end to the talent. And we'll----" she paused dramatically +and surveyed them with dancing eyes. "We'll--give a play!" + +"But a play takes time," Allen objected; "and if you're counting us +fellows in on it, you'll have to make it soon. We may be called any +time now." + +"Oh, but don't you remember that play we were going to give one +time?" Mollie broke in eagerly. "And then somebody's relative was +taken sick, and broke the whole thing up? That was a good little +sketch, and I don't think it would take us very long to brush it up +again." + +"Mollie, you're a genius," cried Betty, stopping before Mollie and +hugging her rapturously. "Why, of course it won't take us any time at +all to get that in shape, and it's sure to take well." + +"Do you know what would make a hit?" suggested Allen, catching the +general spirit of enthusiasm. "If this is going to be an outdoor +affair, we ought to have a big tent with a stage at one end, for this +concert and sketch business. We could make it mighty picturesque, +with Japanese lanterns, and we fellows might be able to rig up some +batteries and electric lights for footlights." + +"That would be wonderful," cried Grace, shaken out of her usual calm. +"That would be the big attraction. Then we could have little booths +for fortune-telling, and such things, scattered about the place." + +"And ice cream and cake counters," cried Amy, her eyes wide and dark +with excitement. "We girls could make the cakes, so it wouldn't cost +so much." + +"Allen," interrupted Betty, gazing eagerly down the street. "There +goes Roy now. Won't you go after him, and tell him to be sure to be +here to-night? Frank and Will, too--don't let them say no!" + +"All right," said Allen obligingly, untwining his long legs, and +taking the steps two at a time. "I go to do your bidding, Princess." + +"And, Allen," Betty ran down the steps to call after him, "whatever +you do--come early!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MAGIC LANTERNS + + +Two weeks of constant hustle, excitement and preparation passed by +until at last came--the big night! + +It was seven o'clock and Betty had started to dress. Mechanically, +with fingers that shook a little from excitement, she went through +the early stages of the process, until it was time to slip into the +pretty filmy lace dress she was to wear for the first part of the +evening. + +Then her eyes met the reflected ones in the mirror, and she stopped +short, wondering "if this were really I." She was very sure that that +very pretty girl in the mirror, with the flushed cheeks and brilliant +eyes, could never be the Betty Nelson she had grown up with--it could +not be! And yet she thrilled with a strange new happiness. It was so +good to be pretty. + +Then she drew a deep breath, and turned away with a little rippling +laugh at herself. + +"Betty Nelson," she scolded, slipping the pretty dress over her head, +and keeping her eyes severely away from the mirror, "you'll be +getting conceited next; and if there's anything I hate, it's a +conceited person." + +At a quarter of eight there came a ring at the door bell, and Betty's +heart missed a beat. It proved to be only Allen, however--but, +strange as it may seem, that fact did not seem to improve the +behavior of her heart in the least. + +As for Allen, he simply stood and stared, as a transformed Betty ran +down the stairs toward him. + +"Oh, Allen, I'm _so_ glad it was only you," she said, holding out her +hands to him--which he seemed by no means reluctant to take. "I was +so hoping you'd get here before the rest. There are one or two things +I want to talk over with you." + +"Betty," he whispered, his voice sounding strange, even to himself, +"you're so pretty, I can't think of anything else, or look at +anything else, while you're around. I always did have trouble that +way, but to-night----" + +"I--I'm--just the same to-night as I always am," she stammered, not +daring to look at him. "Allen, dear--I----" + +"What did you call me?" he shouted, turning her about so she had to +look at him. "Betty, Betty, say it again. I, oh, I--" + +"I--I didn't mean it," gasped Betty, joyfully afraid, wanting to run +away, yet wanting desperately not to. "I don't know what made me----" + +"Don't you?" he cried, that same wild thrill in his voice. "Then I'll +tell you, Betty. You said it because----" + +"Good evening, Allen." It was Mrs. Nelson's voice as she came +unsuspectingly upon them from the dining-room. "I didn't even know +you were here. Betty and I were hoping you would get here early. The +footlights don't work just as they should----" and Allen's golden +hour was gone, for the moment, at least. + +He gazed pleadingly toward Betty, but she had put an arm about her +mother--Allen noticed with joy that it trembled a little--and was +leading the way toward the rear of the house, and out upon the lawn, +where the big tent had been erected. + +It took Allen, who, besides being a very able and rising young +lawyer, was also something of an electrician, about two minutes to +find the flaw in the wiring and remedy it. Soon after that the first +guests began to arrive. + +The rest of the evening was one brilliant panorama, that the girls +never forgot. Until nine o'clock, the time set for the concert and +sketch in the big tent, the guests, about two hundred in number, +wandered happily about the lawn, watching "Denton's trained animals," +which consisted of a little French poodle, an aristocratic yellow +cat, and a gifted parrot, with an immense and varied vocabulary, +perform. + +The animals were the undisputed property of this young Denton, who +had grown up in Deepdale, and who, being a lover of animals, had +untiringly trained his pets, until their fame had spread all over the +town. He had a booth all to himself, and was having more fun than the +spectators--and that was saying a good deal, judging from the merry +laughter and jests issuing from the tent. + +There were several other attractions, the favorite, after "Denton's +trained animals," being the fortune-telling booth. This was presided +over by Jessie Johnson--one of the jolliest and wittiest of the +Deepdale girls. She was made up to resemble an old crone, and her +fortune-telling kept her victims in gales of laughter. + +"Isn't it great?" cried Mollie, hugging Betty rapturously, as they +met behind the scenes in the big tent about nine o'clock. "I knew it +would be a success, but this is better even than I expected." + +"Mollie," returned Betty, and there was a strange new thrill in her +voice, that made her friend look at her quickly, "I'm happy, happy, +happy! I thought I knew what it was to be happy before, but I never +did. I just feel like shouting aloud and hugging everybody I see. Oh, +I never dreamed we'd make such a success of it!" + +"It isn't over yet, though," said Mollie, beginning to feel a little +panicky. "We've got to speak _our_ little piece yet, and I never did +feel quite sure of that last line." + +"Oh, goodness, don't begin to worry now," cried Betty. "Our last +rehearsal was perfect, and we've never fallen down in anything we've +tried to do yet." + +"Well, there has to be a beginning to everything, hasn't there?" +argued Mollie pessimistically. "I'm perfectly sure I'm going to +forget that last line. I feel it coming on." + +"Well, then you deserve to lose it," said Betty, knowing very well +how best to handle Mollie. "You'll do just whatever you think you're +going to do, and if you think you're going to fail, you'll fail!" + +"I'm not going to fail any more than you are, Betty Nelson," cried +Mollie, her eyes blazing. "I've never seen anything yet I couldn't do +as well as you." + +"Goodness, what's this?" cried gentle Amy, aghast, coming upon the +two suddenly. "You're not quarreling, are you?" + +"What did it sound like--talk about the weather?" asked Mollie +sarcastically. "You just wait and _see_ what I'll do, Betty Nelson!" +and she marched out with her nose in the air. + +"Oh, dear," sighed Amy; "and I thought everything was going so +beautifully." + +"It is," chuckled Betty, and hustled the bewildered Amy out another +door of the tent. + +Then came Allen, dressed as a herald of olden times, and blew in +golden notes, a message to the people scattered about the lawn, that +the real attraction of the evening was about to begin. + +The girls had worried a little for fear the big tent would not be +able to accommodate all the guests, so great had been their response +to the call of patriotism, but it was found to their intense relief +that, although a few had to stand at the back, all could be admitted. + +The first part of the program consisted of music, recitations and +some very cleverly arranged tableaux. Everything was remarkably good, +as the hearty applause testified, and behind the scenes everywhere, +was jubilation. + +"Now if we only do as well," said Grace, as the improvised curtain +dropped, signaling the intermission, "we'll not have anything to +worry about." + +"We will," said Betty confidently. "Jean, you did wonderfully," she +added, to the girl who had been the elocutionist of the evening. "I +thought it was wonderful at the last rehearsal, but you outdid +yourself to-night. And you, too, Larry. Oh, it's such a success!" + +They fairly danced with impatience during the intermission, and were +ready with their costumes and stage settings before the ten minutes +was up. + +"Oh, I'm so frightened, I can hardly stand up," chattered Amy as she +and Betty stood together, waiting for the endless last minute to drag +past. "Betty, if this is stage fright, it's a lot worse than I +thought. I can't think of a line I have to say." + +"Well, you'd better not keep that up _too_ long," returned Betty +grimly. "It might be serious. There, that's Allen's cue." + +Local talent had even produced an orchestra for the sketch, and +although once in a while, the cornetist forgot to toot, or the first +violin became excited and left the rest of his flock behind to follow +him as best it might, still the music was pretty good and added +considerably to the general effect. + +And the play was the crowning glory of the evening! The stage fright +which had threatened to overwhelm the actors, magically disappeared +when they found themselves put upon their mettle, and they frolicked +through the play, with an ease and naive enjoyment that delighted +their audience and brought storms of applause. + +The play was called, "A Day in Court." It was a professional +production which had been almost completely rewritten by Allen and +Betty. The judge was a woman, and the various characters brought +before her, were all more or less funny. One character had originally +been a German servant girl, suing her mistress for wages, but this +character, on account of the war, was changed to Irish, and was +impersonated by Amy with marked success. + +Betty was the woman judge, and the way she laid down the law was most +marvelous, and brought forth many peals of laughter. + +Will, in a most ridiculous costume, performed the offices of court +clerk. + +Mollie impersonated a French flower girl, who had failed to receive +pay for bouquets sold to a local dude, a part played by Roy Anderson, +and it developed during the court scene, that the dude was engaged to +two girls at once, impersonated by Grace and another girl. + +There was an irate uncle of one of the girls, none other than Frank +Haley, and Allen as the brother of the other girl, who also demanded +satisfaction, and the mix-up in the courtroom was most realistic. + +"About the funniest thing I ever saw in my life," was Mr. Nelson's +comment. + +"They are certainly doing remarkably well," answered Mrs. Billette, +who chanced to sit near by. + +"If those youngsters keep on doing as well as that, they'll all want +to go on the professional stage," remarked Mr. Ford. + +All during the ice cream and cake part of the entertainment the young +performers were feted and congratulated, till they began, as Roy +expressed it, "to feel themselves some punkins." + +It was late before the last guest had departed, still laughingly +bandying jests back and forth, and the Little Captain and the group +of her particular chums and followers were left alone. Then-- + +"I wish it were beginning all over again," said Amy, leaning her head +against a pillar of the porch and gazing dreamily up at the stars. "I +never had such a good time in my life." + +"It seems to me I'm always saying that," sighed Betty, sinking into +the hammock, and laughing up at Allen, as he stood before her. "It's +wonderful when life is just a succession of good times." + +"Betty," he answered, sitting down beside her, and finding her hand +under cover of the darkness, "that's my one ambition--to make life +for you just a 'succession of good times.'" + +"But I guess that never happens to anybody," she said, trying to +speak lightly. "And I don't know that just having good times is a +very big ambition. No--I--didn't mean that, Allen," she added +quickly, seeing she had hurt him. "You've always been altogether too +good to me. I--I guess I don't deserve it." + +"There's nothing half good enough for you," said Allen fervently. +"Betty," he added, after a slight pause, "I--I may have to go away +pretty soon, and before I go I want you to know----" + +"Say, Allen, are you going home like a respectable citizen, or shall +we have to use force?" It was Roy who accosted him, and Allen +muttered something under his breath. + +"I'm going home when I get good and ready," he was beginning, when +Betty herself jumped to her feet and held out a hand to him. + +"It _is_ getting late," she said, "and we're all going to meet to-morrow, +anyway, so we won't even say good-bye. _Au revoir,_ everybody. It's +been such a night!" + +As she stood on the porch waving her hand to them, Allen hesitated a +moment, started forward, then ran back again. + +"There will come a night," he whispered, close in her ear, "when you +won't get rid of me so easily." + +And Betty, left alone, smiled a new smile at the stars. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A SLACKER? + + +Two weeks went by after the great night, two weeks of ceaseless +activity. The fame of Betty's lawn party had spread all over +Deepdale, and countless smaller affairs on the same order had been +given. As imitation is always the sincerest flattery, the girls were +delighted. + +"For we have the fun of knowing we started it," Mollie had said. + +"Yes," said Betty. "We've made people understand that the Red Cross +needs money, but, girls, there's another branch of the war work that +isn't receiving much attention." + +"What's that?" queried Grace, interested. It was just like Betty to +have things entirely thought out before she said anything about them. +"I never saw anybody with so many plans as you, Betty. You make my +head swim." + +"Well, there's the Y.W.C.A.," Betty explained. "It's doing wonderful +work, but it will need a great deal more money than it has now, to +keep it up in these war times." + +"Goodness," said Amy. "I wish we'd thought about it sooner. The boys +are sure they're going to be called every day, and if we took time to +get up anything like the entertainment we had before, we couldn't +have them in it." + +"Oh, we couldn't give an affair like that without the boys," said +Mollie decidedly, a fact which she would never have admitted in the +hearing of the young men themselves. "And I'd hate to give anything +tame, after the big success we had with the other one." + +"That's just it," Betty pursued, holding a sock up to the light and +regarding it critically. "I met Mrs. Barton Ross to-day----" + +"Oh, isn't she lovely?" Amy interrupted enthusiastically. "By the +time you've talked with her five minutes you're willing to promise +her anything in the world." + +"Goodness, I wish I had a gift like that," said Grace. "I could talk +all day and nobody'd do _anything_ for me." + +"That's gratitude, isn't it?" said Mollie, in an aggrieved tone. +"Here I walk two whole blocks out of my way, to buy you a box of +candy when you didn't even ask me to----" + +"Did you say you bought that box of candy for me?" asked Grace +bitterly, eying the alluring box, where it lay in Mollie's lap. +"Every time I want one I have to look extra sweet and go down on my +knees." + +"More ingratitude," sighed Mollie. "Didn't I hear the doctor say you +must stop eating so much ice cream and candy, if you wanted to keep +your marvelous complexion?" + +"No, you didn't," retorted Grace, "for the simple reason, that I +haven't been to the doctor's for over two years." + +"That's right, I guess it _was_ your mother," Mollie admitted, +wickedly helping herself to a delicious morsel. + +"Goodness, my family's been prophesying that thing ever since I can +remember," Grace retorted, putting aside her knitting, and drawing +nearer to the candy box. "If I had listened to them I'd have worried +myself into all sorts of things by this time." + +"Instead you'd rather _eat_ yourself into them," sighed Mollie +primly, handing over the box with an air of resignation. "Betty, what +was it you were saying?" + +Betty chuckled. + +"First of all, Grace is walking off with your wool," she said. "Look +out, Grace, you'll break it." + +"It was about Mrs. Barton Ross, wasn't it?" asked Amy patiently. + +"Oh, yes! Well, she suggested that we give the same performance over +again. Everybody liked it, and any number of people had spoken to her +about it, saying they'd like to see it over again. Of course we'd +have to leave out the booths and things; they would take too much +time to get ready, but we might give the sketch." + +"Goodness, that's a regular compliment," gurgled Mollie, knitting +furiously. "Instead of--as Roy would say--'getting the hook,' they +ask us to do it all over again. I wouldn't have thought any audience +would stand for it." + +"Well," continued Betty, "I told Mrs. Ross I'd talk it over with you +folks, and if we did it at all, it would be for the benefit of the +Y.W.C.A. Of course, we don't know how the boys will feel about it." + +But the boys were perfectly willing to give the play again, declaring +that "if Deepdale could stand for it, they surely could." + +Deepdale did stand for it to the amount of a sum that made Mrs. +Barton Ross open her eyes wide in delighted astonishment. The affair +was a huge success. + +"I don't know how to thank you," she had said to Betty and Grace, who +had been appointed by the others to take the money to her. "You girls +have waked Deepdale up with a vengeance. We were always intensely +patriotic, but we hardly knew how to go about showing it, until you +came and pointed the way." + +Mrs. Barton Ross was the manager of the local Y.W.C.A., and every one +in Deepdale both loved and respected her personally and as an +influence for good. + +"I believe," said Betty, as the two girls left her and started for +home, "I'd like to join the Y.W.C.A. also if only to be near Mrs. +Barton Ross. When I've talked with her for a little while, I always +feel as if I'd been to church, or something like that." + +And that was the way it came about. Not being satisfied with Red +Cross work alone, the Outdoor Girls joined the Y.W.C.A., and from +that time on their days were filled to overflowing. + +"It's all very well to knit in the day time," Roy complained one +stormy evening, when the four couples of young folks had congregated +in Mollie's cheerful living-room; "but I don't see why you have to +keep it up all evening too. It gets me dizzy just to watch the +needles." + +"Well, why don't you get busy and learn to knit yourselves?" asked +Mollie with a twinkle. "Percy Falconer was telling me that in one +place several men had gotten together, and formed a knitting club. Of +course, they're too old to join the army or the navy, so they thought +they'd do their bit that way." + +"Yes, and they've even made up a knitting song," chuckled Betty. "And +while they knit, they sing." + +"The little dears," said Frank disgustedly. "Well, thank heaven, I'm +not too old to fight." + +"I imagine that's just the sort of club dear Percy would like to +join," remarked Allen, smiling. "It's easier to imagine him in a +corner by the fireside knitting socks for soldiers, than in any other +role." + +Percy Falconer was the dude of Deepdale, whom the other vigorous and +hearty young folks pitied more than they despised. + +"I wonder if he'll enlist," said Roy interestedly. "It's kind of hard +to picture old Percy washing his own dishes." + +"Enlist!" snorted Frank. "Of course he won't. He'll wait till he's +drafted, and then pray every night that he'll be sick or something, +so he won't have to go. I know his kind." + +"Oh, there'll probably be a lot that will try to dodge the draft by +dropping hammers on their toes, and cutting off their fingers and all +such clever and noble little things as that," said Allen. + +"Oh, Allen, do you think so?" asked Amy, gazing at him with horrified +eyes over her knitting. + +"Why, of course," Roy backed him up. "It won't happen so much among +our boys. The slum districts will get most of it. Some of those +suckers would do almost anything to get out of fighting." + +"Goodness," said Betty, with a little shiver. "I should think it +would take lots more courage to hurt yourself than to take a chance +on getting shot in the trenches. I don't see how anybody can do it." + +"Oh, they're doing worse things than that," said Allen with a +chuckle. "Hundreds of the scared ones are getting married in the hope +that they can get out of it that way." + +"Jumping from the frying pan into the fire," grinned Roy. + +"Or from one war to another," added Frank, while the girls made faces +at them. + +"But isn't Congress going to pass some sort of law," asked Betty +earnestly--Allen reflected how very pretty she was when in +earnest--"that will make that kind of man serve first? It seems to me +I read something about it in the paper." + +"Goodness, I don't even get time to read the paper any more," sighed +Amy. "I feel wicked if I stop knitting for five minutes." + +"We'll allow you that much," said Allen graciously. "Why, yes, there +is a law like that pending, Betty, and I imagine there will be quite +a few happy homes broken up." + +"Did you hear about Herb Wilson?" asked Roy suddenly. + +Herbert Wilson was another of the Deepdale boys. + +"No," was the answer. "What's he been doing now?" + +"Why, he was spending the week-end at a house party when his folks +telegraphed him that his orders had come, and he was to report for +duty the next morning. Well, the poor old chap didn't even have time +to get home and say goodbye--had to rush off the next morning and was +sent down South. His mother came over to see mine, and, the way she +went on about it, you'd have thought Herb was going to be shot at +sunrise!" + +"Herb ought to answer like the old negro my uncle had on his +plantation," remarked Allen with a smile. "'Marse,' he said, 'dar +ain't no chaince o' my bein' shot at sunrise--no, sah. I don' never +git up dat early.'" + +They laughed, and Grace remarked casually: + +"I admire that negro. He has my own idea exactly." + +"You know, as far as I'm concerned I rather envy Herb," said Frank, +while the girls stared at him in surprise. "Not for being called away +without having time to say good-bye to his folks, of course, but for +receiving his orders. Waiting and expecting them every day is mighty +hard on your nerves, I can tell you." + +"Gee, it's time we were moving, Grace," said Will, jumping up. He had +been silent for the greater part of the evening. "It's getting late +and you've done enough knitting for one day." + +This was the signal for a general breaking up, and as the young folks +rose to say good-bye they stole furtive glances at Will. + +What was the matter with him? they wondered. Will, who had always +been the life of a party before, and so intensely patriotic and +thoroughly American! Yet he was the only one among them who was not +shouldering his share of the nation's responsibility. + +As Allen lingered after he and Betty had reached her home she spoke +her wonderment and worry. + +"Allen," she said, a little troubled line between her brows, "do you +know what's the matter with Will? Is he, can he be--a slacker?" + +"I don't know," said Allen, shoving his hands deep into his pockets +as he always did when anything was, as he expressed it, "too deep for +him." "I can't make him out at all, Betty. We'll just have to hope +for the best." + +"That's all we can do," she answered, and gave a long-drawn sigh. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +HONOR FLAGS + + +"Yes, yes, this is Betty.--Oh, Allen!--When?--To-morrow morning! Oh, +isn't that terribly short notice?--Oh, I can't, I can't believe +it!--Roy and Frank, too?--No, I didn't hear about it--Listen, +Allen.--No, I'm _not_ crying.--What's that?--Well, I'm trying not +to!--Please listen to me.--Bring the boys around here to-night, +will you? I'll get the girls and we'll have a p-party.--No, I'm +_not_ crying.--G-good-bye!" + +With a little jerk Betty hung up the receiver, and sat staring out of +the window with the tears streaming down her cheeks. She brushed them +away impatiently and felt feverishly for her pocket handkerchief. + +"Oh, I h-hate the old Kaiser, and I hate the old war, and I h-hate +everything!" she wailed, rolling the handkerchief up into a miserable +little ball. "Wh-what will we do when the b-boys are gone and we +haven't anything to do, but just think of the time they'll be sent +over to France to get k-killed? Oh, Betty, don't act so f-foolish," +she scolded, putting away the handkerchief with an air of decision. +"You know you wouldn't have had them do anything else anyway---- + +"Oh, there's that old telephone again. + +"Yes, hello, Mollie.--Isn't it terrible?--Oh, do come around--and +stay for supper.--I--can't bear to be left alone.--Good-bye." + +"Well, what are we going to do?" + +The four girls had gathered once more on Betty's porch and were +regarding each other mournfully. + +"Do?" echoed Grace. "Why, we can't do anything, of course, but let +them go." + +"But it won't seem at all like Deepdale!" mourned Amy. + +"Well, the only thing I can see that we can do," sighed Mollie, "is +to become Red Cross nurses and go across with them." + +"That probably wouldn't do any good, either," objected Betty, "as far +as being with the boys is concerned, because we'd probably be sent to +another part of the field entirely, and probably wouldn't see them +from the beginning of the war to the end of it. No, I guess we'll +just have to keep on knitting for them." + +"They're going to write to us, anyway," said Mollie. "And we must +write to them a good deal, too. They say the boys are just crazy for +letters when they're away from home." + +"Yes, and sometimes girls and women correspond with boys they never +saw and never expect to see," added Amy, "just because they haven't +any relatives, and it makes it less lonesome for them." + +"I imagine we'll have all we want to do just to keep up our +correspondence with the boys we know," said Betty, knitting steadily. +"I think it's wonderful the way practically all of Deepdale has +volunteered. It makes you proud to live here." + +"Yes, and they all seem to be leaving about the same time, too," said +Mollie. "Service flags are springing up all over town." + +"It's terrible," said Amy, with another sigh. "I can't walk along the +street and see those flags in the houses of people we've grown up +with, without having a funny lump rise in my throat, and I have to +hurry past to keep myself from acting foolishly." + +"I guess none of us really knew we were at war until all the boys we +know began to be called away," said Grace seriously. "And I know you +girls must all think it's strange--" she paused for a moment as if +uncertain just how to proceed, and the girls looked at her in +surprise. + +"I--I'm so worried about Will," Grace continued, not raising her eyes +from her knitting. "He hasn't been himself for a month--you girls +must have noticed that--and he won't give me any satisfaction at all +when I ask him what's the matter. We--he and I--used to be such good +friends----" her voice broke and the girls' hearts ached for her, +"and now he acts just like a stranger--only asks to be left alone. +And he's so moody and queer and silent----" Her voice trailed off and +for a long time no one spoke. + +The girls were troubled, and they longed to give her sympathy. It was +hard to know just what to say, for Will had puzzled them all sorely. + +"I wouldn't worry too much, Gracie, dear," said Betty, at last, going +over and sitting down beside her friend. "Will has some problem that +he's trying to work out all by himself. We know that he's true blue +all the way through, and when he's ready to confide in us, he'll do +it. Until then, we've just got to trust him, that's all, and help him +all we can by our good faith." + +Grace's head had dropped on Betty's shoulder and she was crying +softly. + +"B-Betty, you're such a comfort," she murmured as Betty gently +stroked her hair. "That was j-just what I w-wanted you to say. I've +been so m-miserable." + +That was more than the girls could stand, for they remembered how +gallantly Grace had striven to hide her trouble during all these +weeks, and they gathered around her, whispering little words of +endearment and comfort, till she started to laugh and cry together, +calling herself an "old goose" and clinging to them desperately. + +It was some time before they grew calm and could speak coherently. +Then Amy sighed and said: + +"Oh, dear, it's a quarter past six and I promised to be home by six +sharp. Now what shall I do?" + +"Telephone your brother that you're staying here," said the Little +Captain decidedly. "The boys are coming to-night, you know, and you +can all help me with the spread. No, you needn't waste time +arguing--you're going to stay." + +And when Betty spoke in that tone, no one dared dispute with her. + +It was half past eight before the boys came, and the girls were +getting so nervous and impatient they could hardly sit still. + +"Do you suppose they could have forgotten?" Amy was beginning, when +the sound of masculine voices in excited conversation floated to them +on the breeze, and she stopped short to listen. + +"They're coming," cried Mollie. "There's no mistaking Frank's raucous +tones, or Roy's either, for that matter. What do you suppose they're +so excited about?" + +A few moments later the boys themselves ran up the steps, greeted the +girls cheerily, and ranged themselves in various attitudes upon the +railing of the porch. + +"Say, did you hear the latest news?" asked Roy eagerly, before the +greetings were half over. "Another American ship has been sunk by +those beastly Huns, and quite a number of passengers are reported +missing. Gee, I wish instead of going to a training camp we were +going right across. It seems a crime to be wasting time on this side +when we might be getting at them." + +"Another ship!" cried Betty, while the boys eagerly poured forth the +details. "Oh, if I were only a man," she added, clenching her hands +as the recital finished, "I'd fight until there wasn't one German +left on the face of the earth." + +"You just leave that to us," said Frank, his eyes gleaming. "We may +not be able to exterminate the whole German nation, but we'll drag +the old Kaiser to his knees and make him kiss the Stars and Stripes +before we get through. Gee, but I'm aching to get right into the +thick of it all!" + +"What's this?" asked Betty, as Allen handed her several sheets of +paper, rolled together and fastened with a rubber band. + +"Music," explained Allen, who had not taken his eyes from her face +since he had come upon the porch. "A reporter I know handed them to +me. They're all the popular war songs, and I thought perhaps we might +run them over tonight." + +They went into the living-room, where Betty's treasured grand piano +was. Betty played and the others sang until they came to "Keep the +Home Fires Burning," when Allen interfered. + +"If nobody minds," he said seriously, "I'd like to hear Betty sing +that--alone." + +And Betty, who knew the song and had always liked it, started to +sing. But she did not get far. Something swelled and swelled in her +throat and every time she came to the lines: + + "Though our lads are far away + They think of home--" + +tears blinded her eyes, her voice quivered, and she had to stop. + +Three times she tried it, then with a little sob, dropped her head on +her arm and sat still. The girls ran to her, while the boys turned +away to hide their own emotion. + +"Never mind, Betty dear," whispered Mollie, wiping a tear from the +end of her nose and patting Betty's hand tenderly. "We--we all feel +the same way about it." + +Betty raised her head and smiled a little April smile upon them. + +"I'll always keep the home fires b-burning," she said unsteadily, +"but I c-can't sing about it." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +"SMILE, GIRLS, SMILE" + + +"Wake up, Gracie." Betty's voice was low and excited as she shook her +friend into semi-wakefulness. "The boys have to catch the early +train, you know, and we mustn't keep them waiting." + +"Yes, I know," said Grace, waking to full consciousness without a +protest--for the first time since Betty had known her. "What time is +it, Betty?" + +"Six-thirty," answered Betty, beginning to dress hurriedly. "That's +fifteen minutes later than we should be. Oh, if we should miss seeing +them off!" + +"Betty, I don't feel like myself at all," said Grace, after a silence +during which they had both been plunged in thought. She flourished a +shoe in the air and regarded Betty as though it were her fault. "I feel +all quivery and shaky and trembly inside, and I don't think I could +smile if you paid me for it." + +"Goodness, I know I couldn't!" said Betty, and then added as she +pinned on the bunch of carnations Allen had brought her the night +before: "We've just got to smile, though, whether we feel like it or +not. We don't want the boys to remember us in tears." + +"I should say not!" responded Grace emphatically. "When I cry I'm a +perfect fright. That's why I never do it." + +Betty chuckled despite the dull ache at her heart. + +"I wasn't quite thinking of that," she said. "But it surely will be +better if we're able to smile a little bit. Come on--let's practice." + +They stood together before the mirror, doing their best to smile +naturally, and their very failure to do it made them laugh at +themselves. + +"If we're not a couple of geese," said Betty, as arms intertwined, +they descended the stairs. "That's about the first time we ever had +to _try_ to smile. Now for a bite of breakfast." + +But, try though they did, they could not eat, and finally had to give +it up entirely. + +"We were all to meet at Mollie's, weren't we?" asked Grace, as they +made their way down the sun-flooded street. "Oh, Betty, I'm afraid to +meet anybody, I'm so sure I'm going to make a goose of myself. Will +you hold my hand all the time?" + +"Of course," said Betty, laughing unsteadily. "It's always hard to +say good-bye to anybody you--you--like," she added, "but when they're +going away to war and you may never see them again----" + +"Please don't," begged Grace, squeezing her hand convulsively. "If +you talk like that I just can't stand it, that's all. It wouldn't +take very much----" + +"All right, I won't do it again," cried Betty with forced gaiety. +"Isn't that Mollie waving to us? Of course it is. Come on, Grace, +I'll run you a race." + +But Grace was in no mind to run a race, and Betty reached the meeting +place alone, with Grace trailing in the rear. + +"Have any of the boys reached here yet?" asked Betty as she ran up +the steps. "I was afraid we'd be late." + +"No, they haven't come," said Mollie, looking anxiously down the +street; "and I'm so afraid they'll be late and miss the train, I +don't know what to do. Do you suppose they could have forgotten?" + +"Mollie Billette," cried Betty, looking at her wonderingly, "what on +earth----" + +"Oh, I know I'm impossibly silly," cried Mollie, dropping into a +chair and rocking nervously; "but I just don't know what I'm saying +this morning. I feel as if somebody was dead." + +"Not yet--but soon," boomed a deep voice behind them that made them +jump a foot. + +"Roy Anderson!" cried Mollie, her French temper flaring forth. +"That's a nice thing to do--come up behind us and scare us all to +death. And it's not nice to joke about such a serious thing, either." + +"Gee, it won't do any good to cry about it," retorted Roy +philosophically, looking around upon the three pretty girls with an +appreciative eye. "I call it a great lark, and if only you girls were +coming along my happiness would be complete." + +"Where are the other boys?" broke in Betty. "I thought you were all +coming together." + +"I called for both of them," Roy answered, grinning, "but it seems +they'd overslept themselves, and they said they'd be along later." + +"Well, if it's very _much_ later," said Grace grimly, "they might as +well go back to bed again. That train isn't going to wait." + +"Oh, they'll be here all right," Roy assured her confidently. +"They're not going to be left behind when there's any adventure like +this afoot." + +"Here they come now," cried Betty, running to the edge of the porch +and waving frantically. "Amy's with them, too. Must have picked her +up on the way." + +"We'll save time if we go on down to meet them," Roy suggested, +taking Grace by the arm. "Come along, girls, we really haven't any +time to waste." + +Betty and Mollie needed no such invitation. They were down the steps +and flying along the street before Grace had risen from her chair. + +"Oh, we were so afraid you'd be late," gasped Betty, as Allen caught +her on the wing, as it were, and drew her to his side. "And if you +weren't there on time, you might be tried for desertion, mightn't +you?" she added, looking so adorable in her concern that Allen failed +to reassure her right away. + +"Well, I don't know that we have to be there just on the minute," he +answered, smiling down at her. "But I may be really tried for +desertion some day. I can't stay away from you very long, Betty." + +She flushed and turned her eyes away. + +"I wouldn't get you into any trouble for the world," she said +demurely. + +"Will you write every day?" pleaded Allen, leaning close, and for the +moment these two were absolutely alone. "Letters are the next best +thing to having you with me, Betty. And if you stop writing, I give +you fair warning I'll come straight home on the next train, furlough +or no furlough, to see what the matter is; and if I get shot at +sunrise, so much the better. Betty, will you promise me?" He said it +pleadingly. + +"I--I'll try to write every day," she answered, still not daring to +look at him; "but you mustn't mind if some days it's only a little +line. I'm going to be terribly busy." + +"I expect to be busy, too," said Allen, drawing himself up a little; +"but I'd manage to find time to write to you every day if I had to +let other things go." + +"Allen," she laid a hand on his arm and he covered it eagerly with +his own, "I _will_ write to you every day and it will be a good long +one, too." + +"Not from a sense of duty?" he asked, still a little unbelieving, +though his heart was throbbing painfully. "You won't write just +because you'll think I'll be expecting it, Betty?" + +"No," she said, her voice very low, so low that he had to bend close +to catch the words. "I'll write to you, Allen--because I--can't help +myself." + +"Betty," he cried, "look at me." + +"Th-there's the engine whistle," she said unsteadily. + +"Engine whistle be hanged!" cried Allen explosively. "Betty, I want +you to look at me." + +Then, as she still turned from him, he deliberately put a hand +beneath her chin and turned her face to meet his. + +"Betty, little Betty," he cried tenderly, seeing that her eyes were +wet with tears, "do you care as much as that? Little girl----" + +"D-don't be nice to me," she sobbed, feeling for her handkerchief. "I +don't want to c-cry. I want to send you away with a s-smile----" + +"Betty," he cried, crushing her to him for a minute, as the train +thundered into the station, "I love you, I love you--do you hear +that? Goodbye, little girl--little girl----" + +The boys tore themselves away, not daring to look back until they +reached the train. And the girls stood in a pathetically brave little +group, waving to them and smiling through their tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE SPY AGAIN + + +They watched until the train was only a dot in the far distance, then +turned disconsolately away. + +"Well, they're gone," said Amy, when they had walked three whole +blocks in silence. + +"Goodness, why don't you tell us something we don't know?" snapped +Mollie. "Please forgive me, Amy," she added the next moment, as Amy's +eyes filled with tears. "I know I'm a beast, but I can't seem to +help it this morning." + +"Only this morning?" asked Grace maliciously, and Mollie made a face +at her--which went far toward making them feel more normal. + +"Didn't the boys say Camp Liberty was only a couple of hundred miles +from here?" asked Betty thoughtfully. Camp Liberty was the cantonment +in which the boys were to receive their initial military training. + +"Yes," said Mollie, glancing at her friend sharply. "Now what plan +have you got up your sleeve, Betty Nelson? I never in my life saw a +girl so full of plans." + +"Goodness, this isn't a plan," said Betty, though her eyes brightened +eagerly. "It's just a wild idea, that's all. You've all heard of the +Hostess Houses they're establishing at the different camps?" + +"Yes," they answered, impatient for what was to come. + +"Well, Mrs. Barton Ross said that there was a Y.M.C.A. hut at Camp +Liberty," Betty's face flushed with the daring of this new plan, "but +that there was no Hostess House there, yet." + +"Well?" they queried, not quite catching her meaning. + +"Of course it's probably absurd," said the Little Captain half +apologetically, "but I thought--I thought--" + +"Oh, Betty, for goodness sake, what did you think?" cried Mollie, +unable longer to bear the suspense. + +"That--that we might work in it," finished Betty, rather expecting to +be laughed at. + +"Betty!" gasped Grace, standing stock-still in the middle of the +sidewalk and gazing at Betty open-mouthed. "Do you suppose there's a +chance that we could?" + +"Betty Nelson, you're a wonder!" cried Mollie, throwing her arm about +the Little Captain in a bear's hug. "I'd never have thought of that +in a thousand years." + +"Well, I don't know but what it was mighty foolish to think of it," +said Betty ruefully. "It would be mighty hard to get our hopes all +raised for nothing." + +"Let's go around and see Mrs. Ross this morning," Amy suggested, +adding with sublime confidence: "She'll fix it so we can go." + +"I only wish I felt as sure," said Betty, still thinking how foolish +she had been not to speak to Mrs. Ross about it herself before she +had proposed it to the girls. Now she had got them all excited--and +it was such a wild idea. + +"Oh, Betty, don't be a wet blanket," said Mollie impatiently. "I'd +rather have my hopes raised just to be disappointed than never to +have any hopes at all." + +"It would be lots of fun," Grace went on, her eyes shining at the +mere thought. "We've heard so much about these Hostess Houses that +I've just been crazy to see one. But to live right there at the camp----" + +"We could help to see that the friends and mothers and sweethearts of +the boys were made comfortable," cried Mollie enthusiastically. "And +if there were too many to be entertained at the Hostess House we +could get families outside to entertain them. Oh, it would be no end +of fun." + +"Oh, I wish I hadn't said anything," wailed the poor Little Captain. +"Now if we are disappointed, as we almost certainly shall be, it will +be all my fault." + +"I don't know why it would be your fault," said Grace, slipping a +loyal arm about her friend. "You've chased the gloom away for one +morning at least, and if nothing comes of this idea, we'll at least +have had the delights of anticipation." + +"There's Mrs. Ross now," cried Mollie suddenly, as a figure emerged +from one of the cross streets and started on ahead of them. "Let's +run after her and learn our fate right away." + +And they did run, with the result that a moment later Mrs. Barton +Ross was surrounded by four very much excited, gesticulating and +pretty girls, all talking at once and all clamoring for her +attention. + +She watched them a moment, admiring their flushed cheeks and bright +eyes, then laughingly held up her hand. + +"One at a time," she begged. "I can play a different air with each +hand on the piano, but I'm not gifted enough to understand four +people all talking at once. Now, if you'll just say it all over +again." + +"Betty, you tell her," begged Amy, and so, eagerly, Betty put her +request. + +"I know it's probably very foolish," she finished, anxiously watching +Mrs. Ross' kindly, interested face. "But we thought, just perhaps, it +might be possible." + +"There's no 'just perhaps' about it," said Mrs. Ross decidedly, and +the girls wondered if they could believe the evidence of their ears. +"In fact," she continued, "I was going to speak to you girls about +that very thing this morning. You have been so successful in rousing +the general spirit here, that I thought you would be just the ones to +make a Hostess House at Camp Liberty a success. Why, yes, I think it +can very easily be arranged." + +Then the girls forgot dignity and decorum and everything else and +just celebrated. In the exuberance of their joy they hugged Mrs. Ross +until she gasped for breath, then they danced off down the street on +feet that scarcely touched the ground. + +"Oh, it's too good to be true," cried Mollie, when at last their +excitement had quieted down a little; then, gleefully, "Won't the +boys be surprised?" + +"Let's not tell them," Grace suggested. "It would be fun not to let +them know a thing about it till we actually got there. I want to see +their faces." + +"Who's that?" cried Mollie, grasping Betty's arm as a man sauntered +out from a cross street, glanced at them, then quickly dodged back +behind a house. "It looked like----" + +"It was!" finished Betty, running swiftly in the direction the man +had taken. + +"The spy!" gasped Amy, who with Grace, as usual, brought up the +rear. "Oh, Betty, be careful! You don't want to get shot!" + +Mollie and Betty, panting, just reached the end of the street in time +to see the man disappearing down another and knew that pursuit was +useless. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Mollie, ready to cry with vexation. "If we were +only half a dozen men apiece, and could have gotten our hands on +him!" + +"Yes, I wouldn't very much mind getting my pearl lavalliere back," +said Grace, as she and Amy joined them. + +"And my gold watch," mourned Mollie. + +"Look, girls, he dropped something," cried Betty, who had gone on a +few steps in advance of them. "And it's--why, I do believe it's----" + +"My opal ring!" cried Mollie, staring at it unbelievingly. "Oh, I +can't believe it. Give it to me, Betty; it has my initials on the +inside. Yes, that's my ring." + +The ring passed from one to the other, and the girls regarded it +thoughtfully. + +"Which proves beyond the shadow of a doubt," said Betty at last, +"that Adolph Hensler was the thief." + +"Oh, if we could only have stopped him!" mourned Amy, for perhaps the +eleventh time. "It's terrible to be so close and then lose sight of +him again." + +"If it weren't for getting back our stolen things," said Grace with a +little shiver, "I'd be only too glad not to lay eyes on his beauteous +countenance again. Goodness, I know I'll dream of him to-night." + +They walked on after that for some time in silence, each one busy +with her own absorbing thoughts. Then suddenly Betty spoke. + +"Do you know, girls," she said, "I may be foolish--probably I am, but +I have a strong conviction that some time we're going to meet that +spy again--and the third time he isn't going to get away from us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MORE SURPRISES + + +The next few weeks were filled with such excitement, that the girls +even forgot to miss the boys. In the letters they received from the +latter--and they were many--they never failed to find comments upon +this strange fact. The boys seemed to feel a little aggrieved that +the girls did not weep a few more tears in the absence of their +devoted swains. + +"Of course I want you to be happy, Betty," Allen had written once +upon this theme, "but I'd like to feel that you missed me, a little +anyway. It makes a fellow feel as though it wouldn't make any +difference if he disappeared off the face of the earth. If you missed +me one-tenth as much as I miss you--" etc., etc., until Betty's laugh +bubbled over and she patted the letter consolingly. + +"Never mind, Allen, dear," she said, putting the letter away +carefully in the rapidly increasing pile, tied with the blue ribbon. +"If you only knew what I know, you wouldn't have time to miss me so +much either. But I am glad," she added, all to herself, flushed of +face and shy-eyed, "oh, so very glad, Allen, to have you miss me!" + +So the days went on, drawing rapidly nearer to the date of their +departure, while the excitement and good spirits of the girls rose +proportionately. + +About a week before the great day, they gave another of the affairs +which had grown so rapidly in popularity. This time it was to raise +funds for the Hostess House, and the girls gave heart and soul and +all their time to make it a success. + +They were to have some very elaborate tableaux with dancing +afterward, and all Deepdale was on tiptoe with anticipation long +before the night arrived. And how they all enjoyed it! + +It spoke well for the patriotism of the young men of Deepdale that +there were very few within the age of enlistment, who had not already +gone to the various training camps, scattered all over the country. +So there were very few at the dance, giving, as Betty's father +jokingly said, a chance for the "young old men" to show their +accomplishments. + +And the "young old men," did so well that there had never, in all the +history of Deepdale, been a merrier party. Being an age when +everybody danced, up to the grandfathers of ninety, the girls had no +lack of partners, and were oftentimes amazed at the skill and +dexterity and lightness shown by men who were old enough to be their +fathers twice over. + +Of course some of them were stiff and a little "creaky in the +joints," but this only added to the general hilarity, and at one +o'clock the fun was still fast and furious. + +"Oh, I never had such a good time," cried Mollie, sinking down beside +Betty on one of the roughly improvised benches, weak from laughing. +"I was just dancing with old Doctor Riley, and he kept me in +stitches. Half the time he had almost to carry me around, I was +laughing so." + +Betty nodded and dimpled bewitchingly as Mr. Bailey, father of ten +children, gallantly asked for the next dance. + +"You're taking a chance, Miss Betty," he said, the corners of his +eyes crinkling into a million wrinkles as he laughed down at her. "I +used to be considered a fairly good dancer in the old days, but I +haven't danced in the last ten years. I watched the young folks so +much, though, I thought I'd take a chance if you were willing. If I +step on your toes too much we can go over and get some ice cream and +cake." + +"You're doing wonderfully," said Betty heartily, amazed to find how +much she was really enjoying the dance. "I'm going to write to the +boys, and say we don't need them any more," she added whimsically. +"I'll tell them we're just beginning to appreciate their fathers!" + +When it was over, their proceeds amounted to over a hundred dollars; +and that was not counting an uproarious good time, that none of the +young or middle-aged folk of Deepdale would ever stop talking about. + +Then at last came the dawning of the great day--the day the girls had +looked forward to for weeks. They woke with a strange, thrilly +sensation running up and down their spines, and hearts that refused +to beat normally. + +In four separate houses, four separate girls dressed with trembling +fingers and eyes on the clock; and four separate girls kept saying +over and over again: "What will they say? What will they say?" + +They met at Mollie's as usual--a tense-faced, excited little +group--with parents and relatives who were going to the train to see +them off. + +"Have we plenty of time?" asked Amy, who for two days and nights had +lived in the fear of losing that train. "I guess maybe we'd better +hurry." + +"Oh, there is oceans of time," Mrs. Ross assured them, who seemed, +for some unaccountable reason, bent on delaying them. "The train +isn't due for ten minutes yet, and then it's more than likely to be +late. Besides, there are a few last words I'd like to say to you +girls that can be said better here than on the station platform." + +Then she started to give them some minute instructions, to which they +tried hard to listen respectfully, although the mere effort to sit +still was torture, and Mollie afterward said she "wanted to scream." + +However, the harangue lasted at the most, two minutes--although it +seemed to the girls two ages--and they were at last on their way to +the station. It was not till they turned the corner that brought the +familiar platform in view, that they received their first surprise. + +The station was fairly thronged with people! + +"Wh-what is it?" stammered Betty, rubbing her eyes to make sure she +was not dreaming. + +"Is everybody in Deepdale going away?" added Mollie, her eyes big +with wonder. + +"I've never seen so many people at the station at one time," added +Grace, bewildered. + +"Do you know what it is, Mrs. Ross?" asked Amy. + +But Mrs. Ross made no answer--she did not have to. The crowd at the +station caught sight of the four girls, and a great shout went up. + +"Hurray," cried a masculine voice. "Hurray for the Outdoor Girls. +Give 'em three cheers and a tiger." + +The girls stood still, amazed, bewildered, until suddenly, out of a +maze of tangled thoughts, light dawned. + +"They're cheering _us_, Mollie," whispered Betty, squeezing Mollie's +hand until it hurt--at least it would have if Mollie had noticed it. +"All these people have turned out early just to see us off." + +"I--I'm afraid I'm going to cry," said Mollie unsteadily. + +When the shouts had died down, Doctor Riley made a speech full of +true Irish wit and humor, and pathos, too, telling the girls how +deeply Deepdale had appreciated the active and patriotic work they +had done for their country in the time of its bitterest need and how +very sorry they all were to see them go. + +He went on to tell something of what the country was doing and had +done, cracking a few jokes based on camp life, that almost sent the +girls into hysterics--so finely balanced were they between laughter +and tears. Then he ended with another eulogy of the Outdoor Girls and +the hope that health and good fortune would follow them wherever they +went. + +He stepped down from the box on which he had been making his address +just as the sharp toot of the whistle gave warning of the train's +approach. Some one handed him four little corsage bouquets of +carnations, which he handed in turn to each one of the tremulous +girls, with an appropriate little speech to each. + +With a grinding of brakes the train came to a standstill, and the +crowd gave way to let them pass. Clutching the little bouquets tight +and hoping desperately that they would not cry, the girls started for +the train. + +At the bottom of the steps Betty turned and faced them. + +"You dear people," she began, but choked and had to try again. +"I--we--want to thank you----" Then, as two tears forced their way +through and rolled unchecked down her face, she turned and ran up the +car steps. + +"All we can say," she added, smiling unsteadily down at them as the +train began to move, "is, just that we--we--love you all!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE HOSTESS HOUSE + + +Once settled comfortably in the seats, the girls smiled across at +each other unsteadily. + +"We didn't deserve it," said Amy, brushing away a tiresome tear that +would insist upon trickling down her face. + +"None of us did, except Betty," said Grace, recovering enough to open +the chocolate box she had thoughtfully purchased at a drug store. +"She was the one who really thought up all the things, and all we did +was follow where she led." + +"That's foolish, and you know it is," said Betty, beginning to get +indignant. "I'd like to know how much of it I could have done without +you girls! And of course the boys helped wonderfully, too." + +"Goodness, what's the use of arguing?" Mollie broke in. "The fact +remains that we've been cheered by a crowd of our friends, made +speeches to, and presented with bouquets, and I don't care whose +fault it was it all happened. I'm too happy." + +"Happy," echoed Amy, gazing dreamily out of the window at the flying +landscape. "I never was so happy in my life before--except for one +thing." Her face clouded a little and she bit her lip. + +"What one thing?" asked Mollie with interest. Grace and Betty turned +to gaze at her inquiringly. + +"Oh, n--nothing," stammered Amy, very much confused to find all eyes +upon her. "I was just--thinking aloud, I guess." + +"Well, do it some more," suggested Grace, passing her the candy. +"Something tells me it might be interesting." + +"Goodness, it is interesting," laughed Betty, changing the subject to +save Amy further embarrassment. "Have any of you girls ever heard +Grace talk in her sleep?" + +"Now, Betty," Grace turned upon her reproachfully. "You're never +going to--" + +"Yes, she is," cried Mollie gleefully. "What does she say, Betty? It +ought to be good." + +"I never say anything that isn't good," put in Grace primly, adding, +as she saw the light of mischief in Betty's eye. "If you tell tales +out of school, Betty Nelson, I'll never forgive you." + +"It's awfully funny," began Betty, bubbling over, while Mollie leaned +forward gleefully. "She talks in such a wee small voice, and +sometimes she'll even answer questions--if you speak very coaxingly." + +"I know, but what does she _say_?" asked Mollie impatiently. +"Goodness, I've missed a lot." + +"Well, I remember one conversation we had," began Betty reflectively. + +"Betty," Grace broke in imploringly, "I had a mistaken notion that +you were a friend of mine." + +"I am, dear," answered Betty soothingly. "I won't give away any +secrets--not many, anyway----" + +"Betty," cried Grace desperately, "I'll stop you if I have to use +force." + +"We'll protect you, Betty," Mollie promised. "Go ahead, tell us about +that conversation." + +"It was very interesting," complied Betty, with exasperating +deliberation, and eyes brimming over with fun. "It seems to me we +were discussing some of the boys we knew----" + +"Betty," cried poor Grace again, her face flaming, "if you say one +word more, I'll never speak to you again." + +"Well, in that case," said Betty, settling back and looking +disappointed, "I suppose I'll have to let you out." + +"That's a nice way to treat us, I should say," cried Mollie +disgustedly. "Just get our curiosity aroused and then sit on it. No, +you needn't try to make it up by offering me candy, Betty. I'm just +peeved." + +"Goodness, I seem to make enemies whatever I do," said Betty +plaintively. "I tell you what I'll do," she added, seized by +inspiration. + +"Take care," warned Grace, her mouth full of chocolate. + +"We'll wait till some night when Grace has eaten a specially large +amount of chocolates and ice cream----" + +"We won't have to wait long," murmured Mollie. + +"And then I'll invite you all to a seance," finished Betty, sitting +back and looking tremendously satisfied with herself. "Then you can +question Grace for yourselves." + +"But does she actually answer you?" asked Amy, still incredulous. +"I've heard of people talking in their sleep, but I never heard of +anybody's answering questions intelligently." + +"Goodness, she doesn't!" said Betty wickedly. "How can you expect +people to do in their sleep what they can't do when they're awake?" + +"Betty Nelson!" cried Grace--and if looks could kill, Betty's moments +would have been numbered--"that's the worst yet. Now I _am_ +offended." + +"Oh, dear," said Betty, while the others giggled merrily. "I always +seem to be getting myself in wrong. Will you pass me some candy, +Grace?" + +"No," said the latter firmly. "I only give candies to them what +deserves 'em. Mollie, come back with those--come back with them--I +tell you--" + +But Mollie had whisked them off Grace's lap before she could +interfere and had handed them around with great ceremony. + +And so the journey continued amid a great deal of fun and merriment +until the train was nearing Camp Liberty. Then the prospect of seeing +the boys and surprising them made the girls so nervous they could +hardly sit still. + +"I did such a foolish thing," said Betty, as they, put on their wraps +in a flurry of haste. "I wrote to Allen yesterday and I'll see him +before he gets the letter. It would have been better to have brought +it along." + +A few minutes later the train drew into the station, and a quartette +of very pretty girls stepped to the platform. So pretty were they, in +fact, that more than one passerby turned around to look a second +time. + +The girls gave their trunk checks to a negro who came bustling up, +stepped into a cab and, almost before they knew it, were being +whirled along the streets at a reckless pace toward the Hostess +House. + +"Oh," gasped Amy, holding on tight to the seat. "I have worse stage +fright now than I did on the night we gave the sketch. Everything's +so new and strange." + +"Well, what did you expect a strange city to be like?" asked Mollie +practically. + +In what seemed to them scarcely a second of time they had stopped +before a very pretty, homelike house, and a polite chauffeur was +holding the door of the cab open for them. + +Still feeling as if it were all happening in a dream, they crossed +the sidewalk and ran up the steps of the house. Before they had time +to ring the bell a stout, middle-aged, motherly-looking woman opened +the door and smiled down at them approvingly. + +"Well, well," she said, holding the door wide for them, "walk right +in, young ladies, and make yourselves at home." + +"We expected you almost an hour sooner," she added, as the girls +followed her into a big, cheerful front room. "I was rather afraid +there might have been an accident on the road--there have been +several lately." + +"No, we were simply delayed," replied Betty with her prettiest +smile--winning the woman's affections then and there. "Part of the way +we could have walked faster than the train moved, I think." + +"I'm Mrs. Watson," their hostess introduced herself a few minutes +later, as she led the way upstairs. "Mrs. Barton Ross has no doubt +told you I am representing the Y.W.C.A. here in Denton. I hope," she +added, as the girls took off their coats and hats and "did things" to +their hair, "that we are going to be friends." + +"We shall be," chorused the girls, smiling at her happily, "if we +have anything to say about it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +HELPING UNCLE SAM + + +After dinner, the girls were taken over their new domain, and were +enthusiastic about it. There were three big parlors where the boys +could entertain their friends and relatives, also bedrooms enough to +accommodate some score of people over night. + +"Of course, as you see, we're not nearly in shape yet," Mrs. Watson +apologized, as they came back to the big front room. "There are still +pictures to be hung, some draperies and odds and ends to be bought +that will change the looks of the place entirely. It is with those +things you girls can help me immensely, if you will." + +"That's what we came for," replied Betty quickly, while the other +girls looked eager. "And besides, I think it will be a lark. Somehow, +nothing seems half hard or strenuous enough to do for the boys that +are giving up so much for us." + +"That's the spirit we like to see," said Mrs. Watson, looking at the +girl's flushed face and shining eyes approvingly. "And it's the +spirit," she added slowly, "that we see among nine-tenths of our +girls and women these days. It's wonderful what we are +accomplishing." + +"It's nothing to what our boys are going to accomplish when they get +into the fight," broke in Mollie, her eyes big and dark. "My one +regret is that I can't put on a uniform, and fight side by side with +them." + +"But we can fight side by side with them," said Mrs. Watson, leaning +forward very seriously. "Don't you suppose the thought of us and the +certainty that we are backing them up with all our might, will be +with the boys every minute while they're in the trenches, helping +them to fight the Hun as they never would be able to alone?" + +"Yes," said Mollie, impressed but still unconvinced. "But I should +think it would help them ever so much more if we were really there in +person. Women have proved themselves just as good fighters as men, +you know." + +"That might be all right," said Amy quietly. "But then who would stay +at home to knit sweaters for them, and who would do the nursing work? +We couldn't do that, and be in the trenches at the same time." + +"That's the way I look at it," said Mrs. Watson, turning to the quiet +girl and regarding her thoughtfully. "It seems to me we are doing far +more good here at home where we've had experience, than we could +possibly do in the actual fighting. But it's getting pretty late," +she interrupted herself, "and you girls must be tired after your long +journey. Suppose we get to bed right away, so that in the morning we +can start bright and early to get things in shape." + +They assented unanimously, for, although their desire for information +was as unsatisfied as ever, their eyelids were heavy with sleep, and +the thought of bed lured them irresistibly. + +"Oh, I can't wait for the morning to come," sighed Betty, as she +slipped in between the cool sheets. "It seems wicked to waste time in +sleep." + +"In the morning we'll work," said Mollie, her voice eager with +anticipation; "and in the afternoon--" + +"We'll go over and surprise the boys," finished Grace. "I can almost +see their faces when we burst in upon them." + +"There'll be no bursting," said Betty primly. "We've got to behave +like perfectly proper young ladies." + +"Oh, impossible," murmured Mollie; and five minutes later, they were +all asleep. + +Morning, and the sun shining brightly in the window, challenging them +to action. + +"Awake?" queried Mollie, leaning over and poking Betty +experimentally. + +"If I'm not I soon will be," said Betty, sitting up and regarding +Mollie indignantly. "Goodness, that's a nice thing to do to a person. +Couldn't you see I was asleep?" + +"I was just asking you," said Mollie twinkling. "You looked so sweet +and peaceful----" + +"That you needs must spoil it all," said Betty plaintively. "My, but +I'd hate to have that kind of a disposition."' + +"Won't you let me be your little alarm clock?" begged Mollie, leaning +forward to administer another poke, which Betty skillfully dodged. + +"No, I won't," she answered, adding, as she squinted out at the sun: +"We don't need one in this room. We're facing directly east." + +Mollie chuckled. + +"Mrs. Watson made a mistake," she said, "when she put Grace and Amy +in the other room. She should have put them in this one, so the sun +could take our place and wake them up every morning. Betty, it's a +glorious day." + +"Don't you suppose I know it?" asked Betty, shaking herself +impatiently, as the tang of the air and the brilliant sunshine got +into her blood, making her eager for action. "And it's only six +o'clock," she added, appealing to her little wrist watch. "We'll +never be able to get Grace and Amy up this early." + +"Won't you, though?" chuckled a voice from the doorway, and they +looked up quickly to find Grace standing there, with Amy laughing at +them over her shoulder. And what was still more wonderful and +startling--they were dressed! + +Betty and Mollie stared unbelievingly for a moment, mouths and eyes +wide open, then jumped out of bed and made a rush for the +conspirators. + +"I don't see how you did it," gasped Mollie a few minutes later, when +they stopped for lack of breath. "There wasn't a sound----" + +"Yes, there were, lots of them," said Grace, stopping before a mirror +to tuck in a stray lock that had come loose in the general confusion. +"Only you and Betty were talking so hard and fast, you didn't hear +us. Goodness, but I'm hungry." + +As this was the case with them all, and as the savory odor of bacon +and eggs was wafted up to them at the moment from below stairs, they +wasted scant time in making their way to it. + +And after breakfast what a busy morning they spent! Never in all +their active lives could they remember anything to equal it. Downtown +first of all to shop under Mrs. Watson's guidance, in stores that +were so different from those in Deepdale, that they were in great +danger of becoming hopelessly confused. + +However, they eventually "got their bearings," as the boys would have +said, and came home at last laden with parcels, and very much +satisfied with themselves. + +After luncheon, which was extremely well-cooked and tasted, oh, so +good! Mrs. Watson proposed the one thing they wanted most to do. + +"Suppose," she suggested, as they rose from the table, "that we call +this a day and spend the afternoon in getting acquainted with the +cantonment. It's extremely interesting, especially for those who have +never been through one before. What do you say?" + +What they said was enough to convince her she could not have struck +upon a happier plan. Half an hour later, all talking at once and +tremendously excited, they set out upon their tour of inspection. + +Betty drew Grace a little apart from the others and they held a +whispered consultation. + +"What shall we do?" asked the former nervously. "Shall we send the +orderly to hunt up the boys and bring them to us, or shall we just +wait until we meet them by chance?" + +"We might be here a week without doing that," said Grace, looking +about at the scores of olive drab figures. "And in the meantime, +they'd think it was very strange we didn't write to them." + +"I suppose you're right," said Betty reluctantly, "but the other way +would be so much more fun." + +At this moment Mrs. Watson and the two other girls beckoned to them +to hurry, and they had no chance for further conversation. + +Then, just as Betty was about to broach the subject of the boys to +Mrs. Watson, the unexpected happened. + +A khaki-clad figure, cutting across their path at a dead run, almost +collided with them, paused to gasp an apology, stopped still and +stared. It was Allen! + +"Betty!" he cried, with eyes for only one of them. "Wh--what are you +doing here?" + +"Just what you're doing," said Betty with spirit, though she was +blushing furiously. "Helping Uncle Sam!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE EVENING GUN + + +"But wh-what?" stammered Allen, while Mrs. Watson looked on in +amazement. "Wh-why didn't you let a fellow know?" + +"We wanted to surprise you," said Betty gleefully, noting with pride +how splendid he looked in his uniform. "You don't seem at all glad to +see us. Mrs. Watson," remembering her manners in the nick of time, +"this is a friend of ours from Deepdale--Allen Washburn. He didn't +know we were coming." + +"So I see," smiled Mrs. Watson, shaking hands warmly with Allen. "I'm +very glad to know you, Mr. Washburn, and I hope we shall see you +often at the Hostess House." + +"It's very good of you," said Allen, still very much in the dark, and +totally unable to keep his eyes from Betty's face. "Did you say the +Hostess House?" + +"Yes. That's what we came down for," said Mollie, who had been quiet +just about as long as she could. "To help run it, you know--and +everything." + +"Especially 'everything,'" drawled Grace. + +"Say, that's great!" cried Allen, beginning to see light. "You mean +you're going to stay here--maybe for weeks--and see that everybody +has a good time--us included? Gee, what luck!" + +"I'm glad you think so," said Betty demurely, while Allen wished +desperately to have her alone. "What were you in such a hurry about, +when you nearly ran into us?" she asked, with interest. + +"I was going to look up Frank and Roy, to tell them we'd been granted +our five-day furlough. We were going to make a bee line home to +Deepdale. Now," he added, eyes still on Betty's averted face, "we won't +have to!" + +Mrs. Watson smiled sympathetically, and, being an ardent matchmaker, +looked forward to having even more of an interesting season than she +had expected. + +"And it's the greatest luck ever," Allen continued enthusiastically, +as they walked slowly across the parade ground, "that we happened to +get our furlough just now. What are you girls doing this afternoon?" + +"Seeing the sights," said Mollie. "We're taking a half-holiday." + +"Gee!" cried Allen, fairly capering in his delight. "This is +altogether too good to be true. Wait till I tell the fellows." + +"Oh, but we want to surprise them," said Grace, stopping short and +looking abused. "When we've come all this distance to do it, it isn't +fair for you to have all the fun." + +"All right, you stay here then," said Allen, conducting them around +the corner of one of the low wooden buildings, which the girls +afterward learned was the mess hall. "I'll look up the fellows, and +lead the poor unsuspecting----" + +"Goodness, you'd think we were going to murder them," broke in Mollie +impatiently. "I wish you'd do something and not talk so much." + +"Anything to oblige--see you later." Allen saluted smartly and went +off briskly in search of the other boys. + +Betty's eyes almost unconsciously followed the fine, stalwart figure +till it disappeared around the corner of one of the buildings, and +Mollie, who had been watching her closely, suddenly put an arm about +her in a little impulsive hug. + +"He _is_ splendid, dear," she whispered, and once more Betty flushed +to the roots of her pretty hair. + +They had only a few minutes to wait before Allen came striding back +to them, with two other khaki-clad figures. The girls shrank farther +back into the shadows of the building. Not until they were almost +upon them did the boys catch sight of them. Then Roy and Frank just +stood still and gaped, as Allen had done. + +"Great jumping jerushaphat!" cried Roy, at last finding his tongue. +"If it isn't the very people we wanted most to see in this world. +Welcome, little strangers! Oh, gee, but you're welcome!" + +Then Frank added some equally incoherent phrases, and for a few +moments confusion reigned, while they shook hands over and over +again, all talked at once to nobody in particular, and generally +enjoyed themselves. + +"And the best part of it is," said Roy enthusiastically, "that we can +be free to show you girls about the place. And I tell you, it's +something to see!" + +Before the girls had been half shown about the place, they more than +agreed with him. It was wonderfully inspiring, to see those hundreds +of boys, with their splendidly trained young bodies and their +determined young faces, knowing they were devoting their lives freely +and cheerfully to the greatest cause in all history. + +The girls peeped into the long, low buildings that were the sleeping +quarters of the men, with their cots all in a row and clothes hung +neatly along the wall. They saw the guardhouse, where unruly soldiers +were confined and forced to a state of reasonableness. + +They regarded it with awe, and Amy even backed away from it a little. + +"I don't like barred windows," she said. "It always makes me shiver." + +"Humph," said Mollie, the irrepressible. "You'd better get used to +them, Amy, dear. Some day we'll be feeding the boys peanuts through +the bars." + +"Gee, isn't she complimentary?" said Roy, as they walked on. "You +don't know what models of deportment we've been since we came here." + +"Yes," put in Grace sweetly, "they say military training does work +miracles!" + +"It's too bad you missed guard mount this morning," said Allen, while +the rest laughed at Roy's discomfiture. + +"That's when they change the guard, isn't it?" asked Betty. + +"Yes, and they're very formal about it," Allen continued. "It's +really very impressive, and the band is a joy forever. You must get +up bright and early in the morning." + +"As if we didn't always," said Betty indignantly. + +"Oh, listen to the music," cried Amy, her head on one side like a +bird. "Isn't it great? I simply can't keep my feet still." + +"It's over at the other end of the parade," said Frank, taking +Grace's arm and leading her in the direction of the stirring strains. +"Every nice afternoon they have a concert from three to four. It's +mighty fine, too." + +"Oh, I'm so glad I came," cried Betty, to whom music was like the +wine of life. + +"So am I," said Allen, drawing her away from the party and speaking +softly. "I've seen your face so often in my dreams, Betty, that when +you suddenly appeared before me I thought for a minute it was just +another of them--more real and vivid, but still a dream. And you are +a dream, Betty, the most wonderful dream in all the world!" + +"Hush, Allen," she begged, though her heart was beating suffocatingly +and she hardly dared to look at him. "Everybody is staring at us." + +"At you, you mean." Allen looked about fiercely at his comrades, who +indeed seemed very much attracted by his pretty companion. "I see +where I'll have to lick the whole camp." + +Betty's laugh rippled out merrily, and Allen looked more belligerent +than ever. + +"Don't think I could do it, I suppose," he was beginning, when they +came suddenly upon the other members of the party, who were waiting +for them. + +"Betty, isn't it wonderful?" cried Mollie, lips parted, eyes shining +as she slipped an arm through Betty's. "Now I want more than ever to +be a soldier." + +They enjoyed every minute of that hour's concert, and then felt +abused because they could not have more. After that they visited the +Y.M.C.A. hut, saw the officers' quarters from the outside, and +otherwise amused themselves till the boys declared there was nothing +more to be seen. + +Then, just as the sun was sinking, the clear notes of the bugle broke +in upon the evening stillness, and the girls glanced inquiringly at +their escorts. + +"That's retreat," Allen explained. "If you stand here, you can watch +it at close quarters. Here come all the fellows. They have to stand +at parade rest, left knee bent, weight on the right foot, guns held +in front of them, till the old gun goes off." + +"Gun?" Amy repeated questioningly, while the girls watched the +ceremony with beating hearts. + +"Yes. At reveille the morning gun goes off; and at retreat, the +evening," Allen explained. "When you hear the gun to-night, just +click your heels and stand at attention like all the rest of us." + +Boom! The girls jumped but retained presence of mind enough to stand +at attention as Allen had cautioned them. The boys were standing +stiff and straight as ramrods, hands at salute, their young faces +grave and tense. + +The band played the "Star-Spangled Banner," and never had it thrilled +the girls as it thrilled them now. It brought tears to their eyes, +yet they wanted to shout with pride and patriotism. Their star-spangled +banner, oh, long might it wave, o'er the land of the free +and the home of the brave! + +"Allen, Allen!" cried Betty when it was all over and they had turned +away, "I'm proud, so proud, just to be--an American!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FLAMES + + +For the girls during the happy, work-filled, pleasure-filled days +that followed, only one cloud darkened the horizon. That was the +continued strange behavior of Will Ford. + +About a week after their arrival, Grace had received a letter from +him, saying that he was coming on for an indefinite stay. Betty found +her friend with the letter clenched tight in one hand, while the +other crushed a handkerchief into a hard little ball. + +"Why, Grace, what is the matter?" Betty sat down beside her and +slipped a sympathetic arm about her shoulders. "Tell me, have you had +bad news?" + +"No, I suppose you couldn't exactly call it that," said Grace +wearily, folding up the letter and replacing it carefully in its +envelope. "As a rule I'd think it was mighty good news. Will is +coming to Camp Liberty." + +"Oh, has he enlisted, after all?" cried Betty impulsively, and the +next minute could have bitten her tongue out for her thoughtlessness. + +The tears had risen to Grace's eyes and she had turned away. + +"No," she said, very softly. "He hasn't enlisted." + +Betty's brow puckered in bewilderment. + +"Did he say why he was coming on?" she asked, not knowing just what +to say. + +"He said he was coming on business," Grace replied listlessly, then +added, with a sudden fierce outburst of emotion: "I wish he'd stay in +Deepdale. I wish, if he can't be honorable and live up to his ideals +like the other boys, he wouldn't come where they are. If he is my +brother, I'm ashamed----" + +"Hush, Grace, hush," cried Betty soothingly, putting a firm hand over +her friend's mouth. "You're all excited and worked up now or you +wouldn't say such things. Didn't I tell you before that Will has his +reasons? Are you going to let a friend have more faith in him than +his own sister?" + +"Betty Nelson," Grace began angrily, then broke down and began to sob +weakly. "I can't help it," she said, as Betty tried to comfort her. +"I've always loved Will so, and been so proud of him. He's been such +a good brother, too! I simply can't understand it!" + +"Never mind," went on Betty soothingly, trying desperately to think +of something really comforting to say. "Maybe after Will gets here +he'll explain things. Till then, as my mother says, we'll just be +'canty wi' thinkin' aboot it.'" + +But when the conversation was reported to the other girls, it +troubled them a good deal, and they longed to solve the mystery. And +when Will came he refused to be of any help whatever, keeping almost +entirely to himself, and answering questions put to him vaguely, if +at all. His actions became more and more mysterious, and it was +absolutely impossible to make him out. + +"Just leave him alone," was Allen's advice, and the girls were +reluctantly obliged to follow it. + +"But I wish I knew!" sighed Betty. + +"Yes," was all Allen answered. + +Then something happened that for a time drove the mystery from their +minds. It was after a particularly long and hard day, when the girls +had been entertaining at the Hostess House all morning and part of +the afternoon. + +Then about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, they had gone +downtown to do some very necessary shopping, and had been unable to +get back to dinner till seven o'clock; and that evening the boys had +arranged to take them to the theater. + +By the time it was all over, and the boys had left them at the +Hostess House, they were very, very tired and very, very happy. + +"I never felt so sleepy in my life," said Grace, sitting down on the +edge of the bed and stretching her arms above her head. "And yet +we've had such a good time. If somebody doesn't give me another +chocolate I won't be able to stay awake long enough to get undressed. +Thanks, Amy, you always were a friend of mine." + +"Well, I never laughed so much in my life," declared Mollie, pulling +off her slipper and wiggling her toes contentedly. "I think it's +perfectly wonderful to go out with the boys in uniform. They look so +splendid and we feel so very important." + +"Goodness, don't you think they feel important, too?" yawned Grace. +"I know that Teddy Challenger does." + +Teddy Challenger was a new-made friend of the boys, whom Allen had +brought along for Amy, Will having refused to make one of the party +on the plea of having important business to attend to. + +"Oh, I don't know," said Betty, thoughtfully running the comb through +her hair. "He seems like a mighty nice fellow to me and the boys all +like him." + +"Well, Allen won't, if Teddy doesn't mind his P's and Q's," said +Mollie, with a wickedly significant glance at Betty, which caused +that young person to flush prettily. + +"I don't even know what you mean," she announced demurely, and they +all laughed at her. + +"I wish you people would stop talking," Grace broke in plaintively. +"I've simply got to get some sleep!" + +And they slept the hearty sleep of tired girlhood till about four +o'clock in the morning. Then Amy, in the room next to Betty and +Mollie, rubbed her eyes, coughed a little, then sat up with a cry of +alarm. + +Smoke was curling thickly in around the crack in the door and the air +was hot and suffocating. Somewhere the sound of crackling, snapping +wood, the lurid flare of flames---- + +"Fire! fire!" she gasped, struggling to her feet and feeling blindly +for her clothes. "Grace, Grace, wake up! Grace----" her voice rose to +a scream as she saw that Grace was sleeping on. + +"Oh, please, please wake up," she moaned, seizing Grace by the +shoulders and shaking her wildly. "You must, you must! Grace, the +house is on fire!" + +Slowly the heavy eyelids opened, then Grace struggled to a sitting +posture, supported by Amy's quivering arm, and gazed wildly about +her. Then she sprang to her feet, swaying dizzily, and with Amy's arm +still about her, they felt blindly for the door. + +They found the knob at last and, after a nightmare moment when the +flames roared louder, and the smoke clutched viciously at their +throats, flung the door open and staggered into the hall. + +A blast of heat and smoke sent them reeling back into the room. Amy +closed the door with a little moan. + +"The other stairs!" gasped Grace, fairly dragging her friend forward. +"Maybe--it hasn't reached--them--yet----" + +"There's--Mollie and--Betty," cried Amy, clutching at her throat and +coughing spasmodically. In the frantic terror of the moment they had +forgotten everything but their own great danger. + +"We must--get--them--out!" gasped Grace, rushing into their chums' +room and frantically shaking Betty, while Amy vainly tried to waken +Mollie. The girls still slept on in the semblance of ordinary, +healthy slumber. + +"What can we do?" cried Amy hysterically. "We can't leave them here, +and we can't----" + +"Come on! We've got to--get some--help!" Grace fumbled for the knob +and finally succeeded in getting the door opened. + +As they had hoped, the stairway at the rear of the house was still +intact, although the smoke was so dense they had to feel every inch +of the way. + +Oh, the nightmare of it! Long years afterward the girls would live it +over again in their dreams, and wake up drenched in perspiration, +quivering and shaking with terror. + +When they finally reached the outer air they were smoke begrimed, +wild-eyed and the tears were rolling down their faces unnoticed and +unchecked. + +The fire, which had started inside, and had gained a good foothold +before any trace of it could be seen from the outside, had been +discovered by one of the guards, who had immediately sent in an +alarm. Already the shriek of the fire engine could be heard, soldiers +were being hurried out from the barracks to help in the rescue work, +and all was noise and confusion. + +A group of women who had escaped from the house before the girls, and +who stood huddled together in a terrified group, rushed forward at +sight of them, and gathered about them eagerly. + +But Grace was not to be detained. She pushed ruthlessly past the +women, and ran to intercept a group of firemen who were rushing down +upon them. + +"Two girls," she gasped, catching one of them by the arm and holding +on desperately. "At the head of the stairs--unconscious--get them----" + +And then Grace, who had done her gallant best, tumbled down in a +little heap, having fainted. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE RESCUE + + +Allen, rushing up with his company, gave one quick glance at the +group of women and girls before the burning house, then strode grimly +over to Amy's side. + +"Where's Betty?" he demanded roughly, his voice sounding strange, +even to himself. + +"Allen, Allen, they've gone to rescue her," cried Amy, shaking like a +leaf. "She's still in the house---" + +With a hoarse cry Allen turned, and ran like a madman toward the +burning building. A fireman, stumbling gaspingly from the house, +almost knocked him down. + +"Isn't any use!" he cried. "That stair's on fire, too. We've got to +reach 'em from the outside." + +"Get out of the way!" cried Allen, shoving him roughly to one side. + +The fireman called after him, but there was no stopping the terror +that forced him on. Terror for Betty--up there alone--Betty--Betty. +He clapped a hand before his eyes and stumbled blindly on. + +Flames lapped at him hungrily as he forced his mad way through them, +smoke choked him, blinded him, and yet he must go on. Betty--Betty... +A section of the stairs gave way before him and he had to jump to +keep from going with it. + +Was this the head of the stairs? He felt for it with his hand and +pulled it back with an involuntary cry of pain. He was horribly +burned, his hands, his face, his hair--his clothing had started. He +beat at them as he ran. He must live until he had rescued Betty--and +then---- + +A door. Fumblingly he opened it--then forced it shut from the other +side. Blindly he felt for the bed. Yes, she was here. Thank God he +had found her! But there was another figure--someone else to save. + +Then he felt a sharp pain. He looked down and found that the flames +were rapidly creeping up--creeping up... There was a rug on the +floor--with feverish haste he wrapped himself in it--smothering the +flames. He must live until---- + +He staggered to his feet, lifted one of the unconscious figures in +his arms and staggered with it to the door. A hades of flame leaped +at him. It was too late. They were trapped! + +He groaned aloud and great tears rolled down his face. Betty--Betty! +Carefully he laid his burden down and staggered to the open window. + +The firemen were raising a ladder to another window. He beckoned to +them, he shouted to them in a hoarse voice that seemed to him to make +no noise at all. + +But they saw him and shifted the ladder to his window. Was there a +chance, after all? The flames were eating away the door, were leaping +into the room. Down below the firemen had stretched a net. + +Sobbing now, his breath coming in great gasps, Allen rushed back to +the bed, picked up one of the figures, and staggered with it back to +the window. They saw him standing there; and a great cheer went up +from the spectators. + +Gathering all that wonderful reserve strength that comes to every one +in time of greatest need, he swung his burden far out from the +window--then dropped it. + +Allen paused for a moment, steadying hand on the windowsill, then +gathered himself for the last great effort. The bed was invisible +now, the room an inferno--he had to fight every step of the way back +to the bed. Then he found what he sought, and fought the slow fight +back to the window. + +But his strength was going--going--his arms were iron weights--the +room was going black. With a great effort he fought off the +faintness. Then he saw a great, helmeted head peering in at him from +the window. + +"Give her to me, son," said a hearty voice; then, it seemed to Allen +miraculously, he was relieved of his burden. Swaying, dizzy, he clung +to the windowsill to keep himself erect. + +"Now I guess I can die," he heard himself saying, through an eternity +of space. + +"You just hold tight, son," said the hearty voice, as its owner +carefully lowered himself and the poor little unconscious figure down +the ladder. "I'll be back for you in jig time." + +But it was an eternity while Allen waited, every nerve tense in the +fight for consciousness, red hot irons searing his flesh, that +roaring hades of flames creeping closer, closer---- + +"Your turn, son!" + +Dimly he saw the helmeted head through a haze of smoke and tried to +speak--but no sound came from between his cracked, parched lips. He +swayed. A brawny arm gripped him like a vise. + +"Can you climb out," asked the voice, "or will I have to carry you?" + +[Illustration: "ALLEN!" SHE CRIED, DRAWING A CHAIR TO THE BED-SIDE.] + +Allen's head jerked up proudly, and he forced still a little more +from that splendid reserve of strength. Afterward he could never +remember how he clambered over that windowsill, and got his feet upon +the ladder. + +That he did it and managed the descent with the aid of the firemen, +he afterward learned from his friends. All he could remember, was the +great shout which came to him like a little murmur that went up from +the crowd at sight of him. + +He was a hero, a great hero, but at the time the fact interested him +not at all. He wanted to sleep--to sleep--if they would only let him +sleep! + +Four days later, he awoke and looked around him lazily. A delightful +drowsiness surrounded him; he was too comfortable even to inquire +where he was. + +Then a sweet voice reached his ears and he turned his head sharply. + +"No, thank you," it said. "I think I'll take these to him myself, if +you don't mind. This door? Thank you." + +Fascinated, Allen watched the door as it slowly opened, +admitting--Betty! Betty, sweeter and more beautiful than he had ever +seen her. Her eyes widened at sight of him, and she ran forward +impulsively. + +"Allen!" she cried, drawing a chair to the bedside and taking his +outstretched hand. "Oh, I'm so glad! I was afraid you were just going +to sleep on forever. How do you feel?" + +"Not at all," he responded whimsically, his eyes devouring her face. +"I haven't been awake long enough to feel anything--except your hand +in mine," he added softly. + +She thoughtfully regarded the hand he still held, yet did not try to +draw it away. Instead she smiled a little--a smile that set Allen's +heart to throbbing painfully, and said, so softly he could hardly +hear her: + +"Aren't you just a little bit curious to know what I think of you--and +everybody else, for that matter--after what you did the other day?" + +"Yes, what do you think of me?" he asked breathlessly. "I've wanted +ever since I can remember, to know that." + +"I think," said Betty, flushing, yet meeting his eager eyes steadily, +"you're the dearest and most wonderful person I ever knew." + +"Betty," he cried hoarsely and would have leaped from the bed had she +not forcibly restrained him. "Oh, Betty, Betty," he murmured over and +over again. "Did you mean that--did you?" + +"I--I'm not the only one," said Betty, startled at what she had done. +"Everybody is talking about you and praising you to the skies, and +there was even a piece about you in the paper. I--I'm afraid when you +are able to get out and hear how everybody is raving about you, +you'll be spoiled entirely." + +"Betty," he commanded, in so very different a tone from any he had +ever used before that she started and looked at him shyly, "what are +you running on about such nonsense for? If I did anything, it was for +you and because I loved you, Betty. There wasn't any heroism. I don't +deserve any fuss about it and I don't want any thanks. I don't +deserve any. You weren't hurt, Betty?" + +"No," she answered softly, not daring to look at him. This was such a +different Allen and so wonderfully attractive. "Mollie and I were +both a little sick from the smoke and shock, but it didn't take us +long to recover. You were the one who was so terribly burned that for +one horrible long day, the doctors didn't know whether you'd pull +through or not. Oh, Allen, that awful day!" + +"Were you worried?" queried Allen gently. + +"I--I never want to live through another one like it," she said with +a little shiver, then suddenly rose to go. "The doctor said you +mustn't be excited," she explained as he looked up at her reproachfully. +"And I," she looked away again, "I just wanted to--thank you, +Allen--but if you won't let me----" + +"Betty," he broke in, an eager light of daring in his eyes, "I know +it's sort of taking advantage--but--there's just one way you can--thank +me. Won't you--please----" + +Slowly his meaning dawned upon Betty, and the color flamed into her +face. Then, light as thistledown, her lips brushed his cheek and she +was gone, closing the door softly behind her. + +With wildly beating heart Allen pressed a hand to his cheek and gazed +longingly after her. + +"Betty," he whispered. "Oh, my Betty!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +ALLEN A HERO + + +"Gee, Allen, but you're a lucky boy!" + +It was Sunday afternoon, and the young folks had hired two +automobiles for a trip out into the country. It was more than two +weeks since the fire, and all but Allen had completely recovered from +it. He, however, still felt a little "wabbly," so the boys and girls +had conferred together, deciding that an automobile trip was just +what he needed to complete his recovery. + +Now at Roy's rather vague remark about his luck, he turned to him +inquiringly. + +"In just what way?" he asked. "I rather thought I was running out of +it lately." + +"Gee," said Roy, waxing excited, "do you call it hard luck to get a +chance at being a hero, twice in three months, and have all the girls +falling down and worshiping you, and all the old ladies patting you +on the back----" + +"I imagine that wouldn't have been particularly soothing," +interrupted Grace, reaching, as always, for the ever-present candy +box, "especially with poor Allen's back in the condition it was." + +"Yes," said Allen with a grimace, "if anybody'd started to patting me +at that time, I'd have returned pat for pat--only mine wouldn't have +been gentle. Two cents for your thoughts, Betty. You haven't said a +word all the way." + +"Goodness, has the price of thoughts gone up with everything else?" +queried Mollie, snatching a candy from under Grace's very nose. +"Nobody ever offered me more than a penny for mine." + +"Probably they weren't worth it," said Roy, to be promptly subdued by +a look from Mollie's black eyes. "As I was saying," he continued, +hastily changing the subject. "I'd consider myself in luck if I'd +rescued two beautiful damsels----" + +"They'd be the lucky ones," interrupted Mollie, with a smile. + +"From a burning building," he continued, undaunted. "It certainly was +dramatic, Allen, old chap--we have to hand it to you." + +"I felt anything but dramatic at the time," said Allen ruefully. "The +funny part of it is that I've always had a secret longing to do +something of the sort--just to get the sensation. That," he paused +dramatically, "cured me!" + +"I should think it would cure most anybody," said Mollie with a +grimace. "Neither Betty or I are particularly light weights. I don't +see how you managed it, Allen--in the heat and the smoke and +everything." + +"Managed it," scoffed Roy. "Why, it isn't every fellow has the chance +to hold two beauteous maidens in his arms----" + +"Still I might have picked out a more appropriate place," said Allen +whimsically. + +"Tell me something, Frank," said Grace, taking another piece of candy +and looking her prettiest at him. + +"Anything," he answered promptly. + +"Under the same conditions, would you have rushed into a burning +house--to save me?" + +"Would I?" he replied with a fervor that made Grace jump and the rest +laugh. "You just give me a chance; that's all. I'll show you!" + +"Goodness!" exclaimed Betty, twinkling. "I'll be afraid to sleep with +Grace any more. She's apt to set the place on fire just to see what +happens." + +"Good-bye, I'm going away from here," said Mollie, making a pretense +of clambering out of the machine. "One fire is just about enough for +me. Let me go, Roy Anderson--don't you dare to hold me." + +"Couldn't do anything pleasanter," said Roy cheerfully, at which +Grace held up her hands in pretended horror. + +"Heavens, everybody's getting sentimental," she cried. "If we don't +stop it, we'll just ruin everything, that's all. Look out for that +dog, Frank!" + +"That's another thing we almost ruined," grinned Frank, as the wheel +just grazed the hind leg of the cur. "Dogs are the curse of tourists, +anyway. If I had my way, they'd all be shot." + +Amy screamed and clapped her hand to her ears. + +"Frank, how can you say such things?" she cried, adding plaintively, +"I never saw such people, anyway. You can't talk for five minutes +without saying something about people being shot." + +"But we were speaking of animals," said Frank politely. + +"Same thing," murmured Mollie. + +"Speak for yourself, please," he retorted amiably, swerving the car +at a perilous angle about a turn in the road. "Say, this is pretty +country along here, isn't it?" + +They all agreed that it was, and for a few minutes sat in silent +enjoyment of it. + +While the Hostess House was in process of repair some friendly +families living in the vicinity had opened their doors wide to the +girls and the other visitors at the Hostess House. The fire had done +a great deal of damage, but the house had been amply insured, and the +work of rebuilding was proceeding as fast as possible. Meanwhile, the +girls were going on with their work as usual, though eagerly looking +forward to the time when they should be installed in their proper +quarters again. + +The fire had temporarily put the subject of Will and his mysterious +doings out of their minds, but during the last few days their wonder +and curiosity had returned. + +To-day he had consented to accompany them, and during the early part +of the ride had seemed in hilarious spirits. Now, for the last +fifteen minutes or so, he had appeared gloomy and preoccupied, but as +they neared the spot where they had decided to eat their lunch, his +spirits seemed to revive somewhat, and he became talkative again. + +"Say, I'm hungry," he announced, more like the old Will than he had +been for weeks. "What are you girls going to give us, anyway?" + +"Chicken," announced Betty, "and honey and biscuits, and peach cake +and jelly, and hot coffee from the thermos bottle, some ham +sandwiches and deviled eggs----" + +"Stop her," pleaded Roy piteously. "Stop her, some one, before I +forget myself and decamp with the hamper----" + +"You'd be forgetting us too, if you tried it," said Frank grimly. "Do +you suppose with three ravenous wolves at your back you'd have a +chance of getting away with any of that kind of stuff?" + +"Gee, it's awful the appetite camp life gives you," said Roy +mournfully. "I wrote home the other day and told the folks that if I +ate like a wolf before, I eat like a flock of 'em, now." + +"Whoever heard of a flock of wolves?" asked Mollie scornfully. "You +must have been thinking of geese." + +"No," retorted Roy soberly. "I wasn't speaking of you." + +"Strike one for our side," chuckled Allen, while the others laughed +at Mollie's look of surprise. "That was a good one, Roy--right from +the shoulder." + +"Now I _know_ I'm going home," said Mollie forlornly. "Everybody's +agin me." + +"I'm not," said Betty, putting an arm about her. "The more they try +to down you, the more I love you." + +"If that's the way you feel," put in Allen whimsically, "won't +everybody please jump on me at once?" + +"Yes, I always had a weakness for the under dog," Betty was beginning +wickedly when Mollie drew sharply away from her, and the others began +to laugh. + +"Betty Nelson," said Mollie reproachfully, "I never expected it of +you. Under dog, indeed----" + +"Oh, I didn't mean you!" said Betty hurriedly, thereby increasing the +general mirth. + +"Oh, well, what does it matter, anyway?" said Frank philosophically, +as he swung the car around a curve, and brought it to a standstill. +"I won't mind being an under dog or anything else as long as I get my +share of the eats. Don't you think this is rather a pretty spot to +have lunch?" + +"I know a better spot to _put_ it, though," said Roy jocularly, as +they sprang out upon the soft grass by the roadside. "And if I have +my way it won't be long getting there." + +Instinctively, Betty held out a hand to Allen, as he descended more +slowly than the rest--she was very anxious about his "wabbliness." + +Allen took the little hand eagerly, but it is doubtful if he gained +much physical support from it. + +"How are you feeling?" asked Betty as they followed the others up the +grassy slope to a sort of ledge--just the kind of place for a picnic +lunch. She did not look at him. Somehow, it was almost impossible to +look at Allen, these days. + +"Happy," he answered, in reply to her question. "Just being near you, +Betty, makes me the happiest fellow on earth!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +MAKING GOOD + + +It was raining torrents outside, and the girls were seated in one of +the big parlors of the Hostess House. As usual, they were knitting, +and their tongues kept time to the rapid click, click, of their +needles. + +They were exceptionally thoughtful and, as Amy expressed it, "their +mood matched the weather." The war was not going as well as every one +had hoped. The dark cloud was growing darker and darker every day, +and each morning paper seemed to bring more disquieting news than the +one before. + +"And it won't be long now," Mollie was saying, "before our boys are +sent across. It's almost time for the second draft, and the camps +will have to be emptied of the first troops. And when they're gone----" +she bowed her head to hide the unbidden tears that were glistening +in her eyes. + +"Yes, it will be terrible," said Betty, trying hard to keep the +telltale tremulousness from her voice--trying desperately to sound +brave and resigned. "But we must remember that thousands of women and +girls all over the United States are going through the same thing. +And for the boys' sake, we must be cheerful." + +"The boys themselves are cheerful--heaven bless them," cried Grace, +in a rare burst of enthusiasm. "I never saw anything like their +spirit!" + +"Isn't it wonderful?" Mollie agreed, her eyes shining through her +tears. "It makes you want to shout with pride in them, and cry at the +same time." + +"Yes," said Amy quietly, "and I don't think anybody who hasn't been +close to military life, as we have been, can realize how great the +American army will be. It's meeting the boys day after day, seeing +them get more enthusiastic as the time comes near for them to face +those terrible guns----" + +"I feel as if I wanted to go down on my knees to every boy in +uniform," cried Betty, gripping the arms of her chair till the +knuckles showed white. "No matter how hard we try we can't make up to +them for what they're giving up--and giving up so cheerfully. And +they're so dear and appreciative and thankful for every little thing +that we have done for them, it makes me want to cry. + +"And have you noticed," she continued, while the girls stopped their +work to watch her, "what happens if you ask them about their home +folks? Their faces light up, and right away they begin to talk about +'mother.' + +"'You know,' one of them said to me just a little while ago, 'when I +first came to camp, I didn't exactly feel homesick, as I'd expected +to; I just felt queer and uneasy and restless. For a couple of nights +I couldn't sleep, just kept tossing and turning till reveille routed +me out again. Then suddenly, one night, I found out what the matter +was. I wasn't homesick; I was just missing my mother.' + +"I smiled at him, trying my best not to cry, and said: 'Home is +mother, isn't it?' + +"Then the boy just turned away, and I knew it was because his eyes +were misty and he was ashamed to let me see it, and when he looked at +me again he was smiling a little wistfully. + +"A few days after that he came up to me. 'You won't laugh, if I tell +you something?' he asked. 'On my word of honor,' I answered him. +'Well,' he said, looking so dear and sheepish, I had all I could do +to keep from hugging him, 'as soon as I found out what you said about +home being mother, I just put the picture I had of her under my +pillow, and honest, I've slept like a baby ever since.'" + +The girls were all crying and Mollie impatiently shook a tear from +the tip of her nose. "Betty, you never told us that before. If his +mother could only know about it." + +"She probably does," said Betty, wiping her eyes and taking up her +knitting again. "Somehow, most mothers know those things by +instinct." + +"And to think boys like that," cried Mollie, knitting fast to keep +time with her feelings, "to think boys like that have to go over to +the other side, and be mowed down by the thousands. Oh, I can't +believe it!" + +"I guess we've all sort of closed our eyes to it, till now," said +Grace, so unlike her usual self that she had completely forgotten to +eat candy for fifteen minutes. "But we can't go on like that forever. +When it comes right down to us and we lose somebody we care for--" +her voice broke and the girls went on knitting faster than ever, +fearing a general breakdown. + +"We've just got to work so hard we can't think," said Mollie with +decision, adding, a little hysterically: "It never used to be hard +before." + +"What, to keep from thinking?" asked Amy, while the other girls +smiled a little and felt better. + +"Who's that coming up the walk, Betty?" Grace asked, a moment later. +"The glimpse I got looked like a uniform." + +"It's Allen," Betty answered, waving to the splendid specimen of +manhood who was coming up the porch two steps at a time. "He looks as +if he had some good news for us. You let him in, will you, Amy? +You're nearest the door." + +So Amy, opening the door, admitted a six-foot cyclone, who swept her +before him into the parlor, where she sank into a chair to get her +breath. + +"Well, what in the world?" asked Mollie, round eyes on his face, as +he mopped his face and lowered himself into a seat. + +"Talk about good luck," he began, beaming round upon them. "I guess +the fellows were right when they said I was falling into it lately." + +"Good news, Allen?" asked Betty, leaning forward eagerly. "I knew +you had something wonderful to tell us the moment I saw you." + +"Well, in the first place," said Allen, modestly putting himself +last, "Frank has been promoted to the rank of corporal." + +"Oh, isn't that wonderful!" they cried together, and thereafter arose +a very babel of questions as to where, when and how the promotion had +occurred, which Allen answered one after another with equal +enthusiasm. + +"Frank's taken hold and worked with all his heart," he finished, "and +he simply got what's coming to him, that's all." + +"But, Allen," Betty broke in, struck by a sudden thought, "you said +something about _your_ having run into good luck. Was it something +that happened to you personally, or was it just the good luck of +being the friend of a corporal?" + +"Since I've been a corporal myself from the start," said Allen with +dignity, "I don't see why----" + +"Yes, yes, go on," said Mollie impatiently. + +"Well," said Allen, throwing the news like a bomb into their midst, +"I've been promoted to a sergeant." + +"What?" the girls cried, hardly knowing whether to believe him or +not. "Are you really in earnest?" + +"You're not very complimentary," he grumbled, though his eyes +twinkled. "You don't suppose I'd come here and tell you a thing like +that if it weren't so, do you?" + +Then arose a second babel, louder and more prolonged than the first, +and it was a long time before they quieted down enough to talk +coherently. + +"You see," Allen explained, "there's a chance for promotion now that +there never was before. New men are coming in by the hundreds, and +those men have to have officers. There's really no end to the chances +if you just stick to the big game and do your level best. You're sure +to win something good in the end." + +"And hasn't Roy been promoted?" asked Grace. "Hasn't he been 'on the +job,' as you say?" + +"You bet your life he has," Allen defended loyally. "It's just our +luck that we happened to get it; that's all. His turn will come next, +you take it from me." + +For a few minutes no one spoke, and only the ticking of the clock, +and the regular click, click of the knitting needles broke the deep +stillness. Then Allen bethought him of something. + +"Saw Will, too, on the way up," he said, and at the name the girls +all put down their knitting and looked at him inquiringly. "He seemed +to be immensely excited about something. Fact is, I don't think he +would even have seen me if I hadn't gotten in his way and flagged +him. Mark my words--that boy's got something big up his sleeve. I bet +he's going to surprise us all some day." + +"Did he--did he--tell you anything?" asked Grace. "Anything to make +you think that?" + +"No," he answered, adding with a sincerity that brought a light of +unutterable gladness to Grace's eyes: "But I've met lots of fellows +in my business, and have learned to size them up pretty well. And if +there was ever a brainy, plucky, true-blue fellow in this world, his +name is Will Ford!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +JUST FRIENDS + + +"Here comes the sun," cried Betty, "the sun, the sun, the beautiful +sun." + +"Well, I should say it was just about time," said Grace, carefully +arranging her hat before the mirror. "If it hadn't cleared up pretty +soon, I'd have stopped hoping. Are the other girls nearly ready?" + +"Oh, we've been ready and waiting for hours," came Mollie's voice, +slightly bored, from the other room. "And we took our time, too, +because we knew how long you are getting dressed----" + +"Oh, is that so?" Grace was beginning, when Betty interrupted +peaceably. + +"Well, we're all ready now. In the words of the army--'let's go.'" + +"Oh, it is lovely out!" cried Mollie, drawing in deep breaths of the +invigorating air, as they stood on the steps looking down the street. +"I feel like walking miles and miles and miles." + +As the four girls walked down to the main gate of the cantonment, +they nodded and smiled continually to the khaki-clad, +respectfully-saluting boys they passed; for the fame of the girls +at the Hostess House had spread all over the barracks, and the boys +always looked forward to catching a smile or two or a merry word as +they passed. + +Many there were who had been sentimentally inclined, but the Deepdale +boys had well nigh monopolized the girls from their home town and by +their actions had warned off all would-be intruders almost as plainly +as though they had put out a sign. + +There were some hardy souls, however, who refused to recognize any +prior claim, and these had caused much grumbling among the Deepdale +boys. + +"I wonder what will happen when we have to go across," Frank had said +once. "I suppose then those chaps will think they have it all their +own way." + +And the bright faces of the girls had clouded so suddenly and they +had looked so distressed that poor Frank never dared repeat the +offense. + +But stopping every few minutes to speak to some one you know, +necessarily makes progress slow, and it was some time before the +girls succeeded in reaching the gate and turning their steps toward +the country. + +"It doesn't seem possible that Thanksgiving can be so near," said Amy +thoughtfully. "I never knew time to run away so." + +"Yes, it makes me feel dizzy sometimes," said Mollie, with a little +perplexed frown. "I feel as if I wanted to get hold of him by the +forelock and hold him back. He's in altogether too much of a hurry." + +"If we can only see that each one of the boys who can't go home for +Thanksgiving gets a regular, old-fashioned home-cooked dinner," said +Betty earnestly, "I'll feel as if we'd done some good in the world." + +"Well, more than half the boys will be able to get home for it," said +Grace, "and I'm sure we'll find enough good-hearted families to +account for the rest." + +"Yes, the people around here have certainly helped us more than we +dared to hope," said Betty enthusiastically. "We've hardly found one +so far who wasn't willing to open his house--and his heart, too, for +that matter--to the soldier boys. I love them all for being so +generous. It's done more than anything else to keep up the boys' +spirits and send them away happy and healthy and confident." + +"Where are we going first?" queried Mollie, for Betty had made out a +list of the houses they were to canvass. + +"The Shroths come first," she answered, consulting her list. "Then +the Atwaters and the Clarks. After that we'll just go up one street +and down the other till supper time." + +"Sounds simple," said Amy plaintively, "but, oh, our poor feet!" + +"We have walked a good deal, lately," laughed Betty. "But it's +nothing to what we _have_ done. Champion hikers like us shouldn't +complain about ordinary walking. Here we are at the Shroths. Now look +your prettiest and smile your sweetest for the sake of the soldier +boys!" + +Mrs. Shroth, a sweet-faced, elderly woman, opened the door to them +herself and smilingly ushered them into the handsome library. + +"I saw you coming, my dears," she said, settling down comfortably in +an enveloping armchair, "and I'm almost sure I know what you have +come to ask me. And you needn't even ask," she added, raising her +hand as Betty started to speak, "for the request was granted two +weeks ago. My whole house is at your disposal--to do with as you +please." + +"Oh, you're lovely," Betty cried impulsively, and Mrs. Shroth gently +covered the eager young hand on the chair arm with her own, smiling +down into the flushed face. + +"The admiration is mutual," she said, and then Betty's heart went out +to her entirely. "I've watched you girls for a long time, and the +work you've done for the boys has been simply splendid. I've tried to +help all I could---" + +"You have," broke in Mollie enthusiastically. "And we've been so +grateful to you." + +"And I've been grateful to you," Mrs. Shroth added, in her sweet +voice, "for showing me how best I could serve the boys and my +country. Now, how many do you think I could accommodate for +Thanksgiving dinner--or rather, how many would you like me to +accommodate?" + +Betty was a little at a loss. + +"Why, I hardly know," she said, hesitating. "We didn't expect you to +take in more than two, perhaps three at the outside----" + +"Oh, nonsense," said Mrs. Shroth, brushing the suggestion aside. "Two +or three boys would be lost in this big house, even counting all my +relatives who usually spend Thanksgiving day with me. No, I can take +half a dozen, at least." + +The girls looked at her a moment, delighted, but incredulous. Then +they told Mrs. Shroth what they thought of such generosity until she +found herself blushing with pleasure. + +"It's such a little thing," she said, as she stood on the porch to +say good-bye to them, "that I feel almost guilty to take thanks for +it. Good luck." The girls went on down the street with singing hearts +and a warm sense of friendliness and love for all their fellow +beings. + +They found the same spirit in every house they visited, and when they +at last started for home after walking "miles and miles" they were +too happy to feel tired. + +"Oh, every one's so kind and dear and anxious to help," cried Mollie, +skipping a little in her delight, "that your heart just feels too big +to stay inside. Seems as if it ought to come out in the open where +everybody can see how hard it's beating." + +"Well, I have heard of people wearing their hearts on their sleeves," +said Betty, twinkling. "But I've never tried it myself." + +"It's wonderful," said Amy softly, "what a comfortable, warm feeling +it gives you to find people--some of them you never knew before--who +are really working side by side with you for the same thing, ready to +hold out a helping hand when you need it." + +"Yes," agreed Betty, her eyes fixed dreamily on the horizon, "it +makes you feel as if there weren't any strangers in the world, as if +we were all just friends, working for the common good of everybody." + +"Betty, how pretty," cried Grace, and there was a thrill in her voice +as she repeated softly; "all just friends, working for the common +good of everybody." + +"I'll never forget one thing that happened to me," said Amy, and they +looked at her lovingly. Amy was such a dear--but then everybody was +that to-night! "It was only a little thing, and yet it made me +think." + +"Then it couldn't have been very little," Mollie, the irrepressible, +murmured. + +"You know," Amy went on, so deep in her own thoughts, she scarcely +noticed the interruption, "I never did talk much--I always felt as if +people were cold and unfriendly--and so kept to myself, except for my +really good friends, of course. Then, one morning, I saw that it was +all my own fault. + +"I just happened to be walking along the street, not noticing anybody +particularly, when an old woman dropped her nickel car fare and it +rolled out into the middle of the street. I ran after it and gave it +back to her, and she smiled at me. Somehow, that smile changed +everything for me." + +"How, dear?" asked Betty, putting a sympathetic arm about her. + +"Why," said Amy, blushing in her enthusiasm, "it just made me feel as +if everybody was ready to smile if you only gave them half a chance. +And I've found out it was true," she finished decidedly. "Because I've +tried it ever so many times since, and it's never once failed!" + +"Yes," concluded Mollie. "I guess everybody's just plain nice and +human, after all!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CAPTIVE AND CAPTORS + + +"Girls," Betty clutched Mollie by the arm and spoke in a tense +undertone, "isn't that the spy?" + +The girls gasped, looked, and set off on a dead run. The spy's back +was to them. He seemed to be waiting for somebody and he did not see +the girls till they were almost upon him. + +Then, with an exclamation, he dodged around the corner of the house +and commenced to run like a deer. + +"Amy!" gasped Betty, as they pursued, fleet of foot, "you go to the +camp for help! I'll try to cut him off!" + +With the strategy of a general, Betty dodged a couple of dirt piles--it +was a row of small houses, in process of construction near the +camp--slipped across between two of the houses and did actually +succeed in cutting the spy off. + +She caught a fleeting glimpse of him as he dodged into a doorway with +the evident intention of hiding till they got tired of the hunt. +Also, it was certain he had not seen Betty and had no idea that she +had seen him. + +With wildly beating heart, but no thought of turning back, the Little +Captain picked up a big piece of wood that could serve excellently as +a weapon and ran for the doorway through which the spy had +disappeared. + +Cautiously she opened the door, and the next moment thought her heart +would stop beating altogether as she took in the situation. The man +was fumbling desperately with the knob of the inside door. Evidently +it was locked. He had fallen into a trap! + +Breathlessly Betty closed the door and leaned her full weight upon +it. If the girls would only come! They might together manage to hold +it. But alone---- + +"Betty, Betty, where are you?" cried a voice close at hand and the +Little Captain gave a gasp of dismay. As long as the man had not +known he was trapped, there might be a chance that he would remain +quiet, hoping they would pass without thinking to look into the +house. But now! Some one was pushing against the other side of the +door. He was trying to get out! + +"Hurry!" she cried agonizedly as Mollie and Grace ran up to her. "Put +your weight against the door--quick." + +So used were they to obeying her without question that they threw +their full weight upon the door, bracing and holding with all their +might. + +"He's in there," gasped Betty. "I've sent Amy for help. If we can +hold on--just a few minutes----" + +The man was hurling himself against the door with all the force of +desperation, but the girls had not spent most of their life in the +open for nothing. They held on gallantly, though in their hearts they +knew that if help were very long in coming, there could be but one +answer. They were three against one, it is true, but then they were +girls and he was a man, and a desperate man. + +"Oh, why does it take her so long?" Grace cried after one +particularly vigorous lunge which it had taken all their combined +strength to withstand. "I don't think we can keep this up much +longer----" + +"Hush," gasped Betty, "I thought I heard voices." + +"Oh, I hope you did!" + +They listened breathlessly for a moment--then the wonderful truth +dawned. Help was coming, and coming swiftly! There was no sound, save +the regular thud-thud of running feet, but the most beautiful music +in the world would have had no charms in comparison with that +rhythmic sound. + +Their prisoner must have heard it too, for he redoubled his efforts +to escape and they had to turn all of their attention to the holding +of the door. + +"If they should come too late!" gasped Mollie. + +"Don't talk," hissed Betty, through clenched teeth. "We've got to +hold him." + +And they did! + +A moment later several guards, headed by a man not in uniform, came +in sight around the corner of the building and as Will afterward +expressed it "the game was all over but the shouting." + +For it was Will who headed the relief party and took charge of the +capture. And so excited were the girls, that they forgot even to +wonder until it was all over. + +Adolph Hensler was not easy to handle, even after he found himself +looking into the muzzles of two loaded revolvers. Even then he tried +to escape and the guard was forced to shoot a couple of bullets over +his head before he was scared into submission. + +The girls walked home behind captive and captors, too breathless and +excited even to think. They had not gone far before they met Amy +coming toward them, trembling all over from fatigue and excitement. + +"They got him, didn't they?" she asked, linking her arm through +Betty's and biting her lip to keep it steady. "I was so afraid they +would be too late." + +"So were we," said Grace, examining a big black and blue bruise on +her arm. "We could have held out just about a minute longer." + +"How did you do it, Amy?" cried Mollie. "Did you have to go all the +way back to camp to find help?" + +"No, I met it coming," she answered. + +They stared at her incredulously. + +"I was about half way to camp," she explained, "when I saw Will and +the three soldiers coming toward me. When I had managed to gasp out +what I'd come for they didn't say a word--just put on full speed and +ran." + +"Mighty lucky for us they did," said Mollie, but Betty interrupted +eagerly. + +"Doesn't it seem strange to you," she said, "that an armed guard +should be coming in this direction just when we needed them? And that +Will should be at the head of them?" + +"Why, Betty, what do you mean?" Mollie was beginning when Grace +interrupted. + +"Oh, do you think it can be true?" she cried, seeing Betty's meaning +and clinging to it desperately. "Oh, Betty, Betty, if it only is!" + +"What are you talking about?" cried Mollie impatiently. "Can what be +what?" + +"Let's wait," said Betty, quickening her pace, "and let Will tell the +story!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED + + +After dinner in the living-room of the Hostess House, a snapping, +dancing, crackling fire in the grate, and the girls gathered in an +expectant semicircle about it. + +They were nervous, too, for every once in a while one of them would +get up, look out the window, throw an extra log upon the fire and sit +down again with a "why-don't-they-come?" look of impatience upon her +face. + +A ring at the door bell! + +"I'll answer it," cried Betty, jumping up and nearly overturning a +chair in her eagerness. When she returned a couple of minutes later, +her face held a look of unutterable disgust. + +"Only one of the guests," she said, as the girls looked up eagerly. +"I was sure that must be the boys." + +"They're terribly late," grumbled Mollie, kicking an overturned edge +of the rug into place, as if even that small vent to her feelings was +a relief. "They'll be all talked out before they get here." + +Another ring at the door bell! + +This time there was no mistake. A chorus of excited voices greeted +Betty as she opened the door for them and a moment later the boys +burst into the living-room, fairly exhaling importance. The girls +welcomed them eagerly and drew up more chairs before the fire. + +"Gee, but we've had some time," cried Allen, fairly panting from +exertion and excitement. "If you girls were heroines before, you're +more than ever so, now." + +"But where's Will?" asked Grace, with that old, anxious look. "I +thought he was coming with you." + +"He is," Frank answered her. "But he was summoned to a very important +conference with the colonel----" + +"The colonel!" they cried incredulously, while Grace stamped her foot +with impatience. + +"What do you mean?" she demanded. + +"Just that," he answered, enjoying their mystification too much to +enlighten them at once. "When he received the order he told us +fellows to come on over and he'd join us as soon as he could break +away." + +"Oh, Allen, please tell me what it all means." Grace was fairly +crying with excitement and eagerness. "Please don't keep me waiting +any longer!" + +"I'm sorry, Grace--I didn't think," said Allen, in quick compunction. +"It means," he added, with a ring of pride in his voice, "that Will +is what we always believed him to be--one of the finest fellows that +ever lived. I'm proud to be called his friend!" + +"Oh, Allen!" Grace felt blindly for a handkerchief and Betty slipped +it into her hand. "Oh, Allen,----" + +"But what did he do?" demanded Mollie impatiently. "You haven't +gotten to the point yet." + +"Well," Allen continued, while Betty put a sympathetic arm about her +friend and snuggled close, "all the time we were wondering down in +our hearts why Will didn't enlist--although we never doubted he had +good reasons," he added hastily, "he was really working harder, +spending more time and energy for the government than we ever thought +of spending. There's one important thing we forgot--that Will was a +secret service man!" + +"Oh!" cried Betty, her eyes gleaming in the firelight, "now, I know I +guessed right!" + +"What did you guess?" asked Allen, remembering to marvel, even in +that moment of excitement, how very becoming firelight was to Betty! +"Out with it." + +"Why," said Betty, leaning forward eagerly, "after Amy told us that +she had met Will and the soldiers half way to the spot where we found +the spy, I seemed to see the whole thing as plainly as if some one +had told it to me. + +"I remembered Will's special interest in the spy the first time we +met Adolph Hensler on Pine Island--then how, soon after we saw him +here again, Will wrote Grace that he was coming on. That would seem +as though he were hot on his trail--" + +"He was," said Allen, while the others hung on every word. + +"Well, the rest is simple," said Betty. "I suppose that Will kept on +shadowing him till he got what he wanted. He was on his way to +capture the spy, while we were hanging on to the door, praying for +help. Oh, it all fits together like parts of a puzzle!" + +"You're a wonder, Betty!" said Allen, while the others drew a deep +breath, trying to take it all in. "But there was one little bit, or +rather, I should say, big bit, of cleverness on Will's part that +neither you nor anybody else could guess at. You remember the code +letter we picked up that night on Pine Island?" + +"Yes," they cried eagerly. + +"Well, Will had the code deciphered and found out who wrote the +document. It proved, by the way, that Adolph Hensler is one of the +most dangerous and most wanted German spies in this country." + +"And what else?" cried Mollie, who could never wait for the end of a +story. + +"The clever part of it," Allen continued, leaning forward, very +handsome and eager in the firelight, "was Will's copying of the +handwriting on the envelope." + +"Sure," chuckled Roy. "I told him I wouldn't be surprised to see him +start a life of crime any time now." + +"Surely no experienced forger could have done it better," Allen +agreed whimsically, while the girls waited with unconcealed +impatience. "Anyway, he wrote a short note--a decoy--to Adolph in +this handwriting, requesting an interview at the very spot where you +girls came upon him." + +"Oh!" cried Betty, in dismay. "Then it would have been better if we'd +left him alone. We took a chance of spoiling all Will's well-laid +plans." + +"How could it have been better?" asked Allen. "Will started out to +capture him and found you girls had beat him to it, that's all." + +"Yes and they might have had a good deal more trouble rounding him up +than you did," put in Frank. "From what Will tells us, you girls sure +did do a neat job." + +The girls flushed with pleasure, but Mollie, being truthful to a +fault, put an arm about Betty and told where most of the credit was +actually due. + +"Why, it was Betty who thought of cutting him off," she said, while +Betty vainly tried to stop her. "No, I'm going to tell the truth! And +it was Betty that really captured him. She saw him go in the door, +followed him, and was holding on for dear life when we came upon +her." + +"Yes, and how long would I have been able to hold on, I'd like to +know," protested the Little Captain vigorously, "if you girls hadn't +come along just then. No, sir, if there's any credit at all, it's got +to be divided equally among us!" + +"You'll be surprised to see how much credit everybody's giving you," +chuckled Roy. "When you make your next debut into society, I wouldn't +be surprised if they greeted you with brass bands." + +"Goodness, I wish they would," cried Mollie eagerly. "For the first +time in my life, I'd have a chance to feel like a regular soldier!" + +"But Will is the real hero," said Betty quietly. "To go on working +for your county, taking a chance on having people think things of you +that you don't deserve, that sort of thing is the real heroism." + +"And I'm so glad and happy," added Grace, who had been seeing happy +visions in the firelight, "to think that all his friends had faith in +him when he most needed it." + +"You bet we did," said Allen heartily. "There wasn't one of us who +doubted him for a minute." + +"I wonder when he'll get here," said Amy, rising slowly and strolling +over to the window. "I hope the colonel lets him out before twelve +o'clock." + +"Oh, he'll be here almost any minute now," said Allen reassuringly. +"Meanwhile, suppose you play something for us, Betty--something soft +and sweet to match the firelight--and you," this last so softly that +none but Betty heard. + +Smiling a little, Betty rose and walked over to the piano. Allen +followed her. + +"What shall I play?" she asked, looking up at him with a sweet +seriousness, that made him want desperately to gather her in his arms +and tell her--oh, so many things! Instead, he said: + +"Play 'Keep the Home Fires Burning.' It's the most appropriate thing +to-night. And Betty, sing it--sing it--to me----" + +"If I can," she murmured. "You know what happened when I tried to +sing it before--and it's apt to be harder to-night." + +"Try, anyway," he urged; and so she began, in the sweetest voice in +the world, or so Allen thought, to sing one of the most beautiful +songs ever composed. + +And how she sang it! Before she had half finished it, the girls were +feeling for their handkerchiefs and the boys were staring hard into +the fire. + +She sang it again--more softly than before, and when the last sweet +note had died away, there was not a dry eye in the room. + +"Betty, oh, Betty!" cried Allen, leaning across the piano toward her, +thrilling her with the new earnestness in his voice, "will you keep +the home fires burning for me--so that when I come back--Betty, when +I come back----" + +She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and held out a trembling +hand to him. + +"There will always be one--waiting for you," she whispered softly. + +"Hello, folks!" + +They turned suddenly and found Will standing in the doorway. Then, +such a welcome as they gave him! It made up to him for all these +months when he had seemed to stand on the outside, looking in. + +"Come over to the fire and tell us all about it," Betty commanded. +"Allen told us something, but we want to know the whole story--every +little bit of a detail." + +Will fairly beamed and entered into the story with the greatest +enthusiasm. + +"I really didn't do anything much," he finished modestly. "And at the +end it was you girls that did all the work. I was just an 'also +ran.'" + +"But, isn't there something you left out?" drawled Frank, pretending +to yawn and gazing into the fire. "It seems to me----" + +"Gee," said Will, surprised at himself, "if I didn't really forget +the most important part----" + +"Now what are you talking about?" cried Mollie, while the girls +pricked up their ears and began to scent a new mystery. "What did you +forget?" + +"Well," said Will, his eyes twinkling, and speaking with exasperating +slowness, "do you happen to remember an eventful night on Pine +Island, when Roy went to sleep----" + +"Aw, cut it out," grumbled Roy. "I guess I'll never be able to live +that down." + +"Well, what about it?" cried Betty, at the limit of her patience, +while the other girls looked threatening. "Please, Will----" + +"Do you happen to remember," drawled Will, "that on that same night +you lost some jewelry?" + +"Oh, you found it!" they cried, fixing him with four pairs of bright, +incredulous eyes. "Will, where is it?" + +"Some of it's here," he went on, pulling a small bag from his pocket +and opening it carefully while they crowded around him, fairly +smothering him in their eagerness, "and the rest of it's in the pawn +shop. We found the tickets on him, though--" + +"My watch!" + +"My necklace!" + +"My lavalliere!" + +"My pearl brooch!" + +These and other exclamations like them made such a babel of sound +that the boys clapped their hands over their ears and looked at one +another in comic dismay. This lasted so long that the boys had to +pick up their caps and start for the door, before the girls consented +to notice them. + +"Where are you going?" asked Betty, while the other three stopped +talking long enough to look surprised. + +"We didn't think you'd miss us," said Roy plaintively. "So we were +going away from here--that's all." + +"Now, who's a flock of geese, I'd like to know," laughed Betty, as +they coaxed their neglected swains back to the fire. "We couldn't +very well help being excited, could we?" + +"And to think," said Grace, beaming, "that we not only helped to +catch a wanted spy, but helped to recover our own jewelry at the same +time!" + +"No wonder we had to pat ourselves on the back," chuckled Mollie, +"Just wait till we tell the folks at home about it." + +"Pretty good day's work," Roy admitted indulgently. "Couldn't have +done much better myself." + +They fell silent after that, each one busy with his own thoughts, +each one seeing, in the fantastic, ever-changing heart of the fire, a +little of his or her own future. And they were very happy. + +Suddenly Grace broke the silence. + +"And now," she said, glancing with love and pride at Will, who smiled +fondly back at her, "what do you expect to do, dear?" + +"Enlist," cried Will, jumping to his feet. "Thank heaven I can do it +now with a clear conscience. I'm going to get into the big game quick +and help give Fritz some of his own medicine. Gee, fellows, are we +going to do it--are we?" + +"I should smile!" they cried, their eyes gleaming with anticipation. +"All we want is the chance!" + +Quick as a flash Betty ran to the piano and began to play the +"Star-Spangled Banner." Instantly the others were on their feet and +singing with all the pent-up fervor of the last six months, emotions +almost too big to master finding expression in the stirring melody. + +"And we're all in it together," cried Betty, eyes bright and cheeks +flaming, "for our dear country--for America!" + +And, at the greatest moment of their lives, fired by patriotism, +confident of victory, we once more, slowly, reluctantly, with many +backward glances, take leave of our Outdoor Girls. + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Outdoor Girls in Army Service, by +Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE *** + +***** This file should be named 7494.txt or 7494.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/4/9/7494/ + +Produced by Charles Franks, Greg Weeks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Outdoor Girls in Army Service + Doing Their Bit for the Soldier Boys + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7494] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on May 11, 2003] +[Date last updated: November 3, 2004] + + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII, with a few ISO-8859-1 characters + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE *** + + + + +Charles Franks, Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE + +OR + +DOING THEIR BIT FOR THE SOLDIER BOYS + + +BY + +LAURA LEE HOPE + + +AUTHOR OF "THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE," "THE MOVING PICTURE +GIRLS," "THE BOBBSEY TWINS," "BUNNY BROWN AND HIS SISTER SUE," ETC. + + +1918 + + + + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE + +CONTENTS + + I "I'VE VOLUNTEERED!" + II GRIM SHADOWS OF WAR + III NEWS FROM THE FRONT + IV THE POWDER MILL + V A SHOT IN THE DARK + VI MOONLIGHT AND MYSTERY + VII ROBBED + VIII THE BIG GAME + IX GAY CONSPIRATORS + X MAGIC LANTERNS + XI A SLACKER? + XII HONOR FLAGS + XIII "SMILE, GIRLS, SMILE" + XIV THE SPY AGAIN + XV MORE SURPRISES + XVI THE HOSTESS HOUSE + XVII HELPING UNCLE SAM +XVIII THE EVENING GUN + XIX FLAMES + XX THE RESCUE + XXI ALLEN A HERO + XXII MAKING GOOD +XXIII JUST FRIENDS + XXIV CAPTIVE AND CAPTORS + XXV THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED + + + + +CHAPTER I + +"I'VE VOLUNTEERED!" + + +"Well, who is going to read the paper?" + +Amy Blackford stopped knitting for a moment, the half-finished +sweater suspended inquiringly in the air, while she asked her +question and gazed about impatiently at her busy group of friends. + +"It's your turn, anyhow, Mollie," she added, fingers flying and head +bent as she resumed her work. "You haven't read to us for five days." + +"Oh, don't bother me," snapped the one addressed as Mollie. She was +black-haired and black-eyed, was Mollie Billette, with a little touch +of French blood in her veins that accounted for her restless vivacity +and sometimes peppery temper. "You've made me drop a stitch, Amy +Blackford, and if anybody else speaks to me for the next five +minutes, I'll eat 'em." + +"Well, as long as you don't eat any more of my chocolates, I don't +care," remarked Grace Ford, lazily helping herself to one of the +threatened candies. "I had a full box this morning, and now look at +them." + +"Haven't time to look at anything," returned Mollie crossly, fishing +in vain for the lost stitch. "If the poor soldiers depended upon the +sweaters you made, Grace, I'd feel sorry for them, I would indeed!" + +"Oh, dear, girls, now what's the matter?" + +Framed in the doorway of the cottage stood Betty Nelson, their adored +"Little Captain," fresh and sweet as the morning itself, smiling +around at them inquiringly. + +"What is the matter?" she repeated as they moved up to make room for +her on the veranda steps. "I'm more afraid than ever to leave you +alone these days when every dropped stitch means a quarrel. Give it +to me, Mollie, I'll pick it up for you." + +With a sigh, Mollie relinquished the tiresome sweater and Betty went +to work at it with a skill born of long practice. + +"There you are," she announced triumphantly, after an interval during +which the girls had watched with eager eyes and bated breath. "That +was a mean one. Thought it was going to make me rip out the whole +row--but I showed it! Now, please, don't anybody drop any more. I +must finish that pair of socks to-day." + +"Oh, dear," sighed Amy resignedly. "Then our last hope is gone." + +"Goodness, that sounds doleful," chuckled Betty, stretching her arms +above her head and reveling in the brilliant sunshine. "What +particular thing seems to be the matter now, Amy? Has Will been +misbehaving?" + +Amy flushed vividly and bent closer over her work. + +"How could he be when he's been in town for over a week?" she +retorted with unusual spirit. "It's just that nobody will read the +paper, and I'm just dying to hear the news. I want to keep up with +the times." + +"Well, if that's all," said the Little Captain, sitting up with +alacrity, "I'm always willing to oblige. Mollie, you're sitting on +it!" + +"Knit one, purl two," chanted Mollie. "Wait till I get this needle +off and I'll give it to you. I can't stop now!" + +"All right, then I'm going to get my knitting." + +Betty made as though to rise but Amy held her down and turned +despairingly to Mollie. + +"Mollie," she pleaded, "be reasonable. You know very well that if +Betty ever gets started with her knitting then nobody'll read the +news." + +"Knit one, purl two, knit one, purl two," sang Mollie imperturbably. +"There, now, isn't that beautiful?" + +She sprang from the seat and whirled around upon them, holding up the +almost-finished sweater for their inspection. + +"Isn't it beautiful?" she repeated enthusiastically. + +"Of course," said Grace, dryly, while Betty deftly grabbed the paper. +"It's the most beautiful and most curious thing I ever laid eyes on. +It isn't as though," she added, with biting sarcasm, "I had seen +hundreds just like it within the last month or two--" + +"Oh, you can't make me mad," said Mollie, settling down with energy +to the final finishing. "You're just jealous, that's all, and the +more you turn up your nose, the more you show your real feelings." + +"Oh, is that so?" retorted Grace, reaching out for the candy box for +the twentieth time that morning. "Well, as my kind of nose has never, +under any circumstances whatsoever, been known to turn up--" + +"Oh, do stop chattering," Mollie interrupted heartlessly. "Who cares +what kind of noses we've got? Go ahead, Betty, you'd better get +started before Grace gets to quarreling on the subject of eyelashes +or something." + +"I never quarreled with my eyelashes," said Grace haughtily. "I leave +that to other people." + +"My, isn't she conceited!" chuckled Betty. "Now I'm going to read," +she added, letting her eyes rest upon the glaring headlines of the +first page. "If you want to listen, all right; and if you want to +talk about sweaters and eyelashes--" + +"Oh, Betty, do go on," sighed Amy. "We've been waiting so long." + +"All right," said Betty obligingly; then, as the full sense of what +she read was borne in upon her, her face clouded and she bit her lip +and shook her head. + +"Girls," she began, and something in her tone made them drop their +knitting for a moment and gather anxiously about her. "Those, those-- +Germans--" + +"Huns, you mean," interrupted Mollie fiercely, as she read over the +Little Captain's shoulder. + +"Have sunk another of our ships," said Betty, her lips set in a +straight line. "And--and they think the loss will be heavy. Oh, +girls, I can't read it--it's too horrible!" + +She flung down the paper, but Mollie snatched it almost before it +reached the step. Then with eyebrows drawn together, and twin spots +of red flaming in either cheek, she read the account of the disaster +from beginning to end. + +"There," she said at last, flinging down the paper and glaring about +her as though the girls themselves were at fault. "Now you see what +we're knitting sweaters for, and--and--everything! Oh, if I could +just put on a uniform, and take up a gun and--and--go after those-- +those awful Huns!" + +"Goodness, if you looked like that," commented Grace, "you wouldn't +have to fire a shot. They'd all drop dead just from fright." + +"So much the better," said Mollie, beginning to knit again +ferociously. "It would be a shame to waste good ammunition on them." + +"I wonder," said Betty thoughtfully, her eyes on the far-off horizon, +"what the boys are going to do. They've seemed so mysterious lately, +and the minute you begin to question them about enlisting, they +change the subject." + +"Yes, and it's made me desperate," cried Mollie, the tempestuous, +flinging down the unfortunate sweater once more. "I know what I'd do +if I were a man, and Betty and all the rest of us girls! But either +they didn't know or they wouldn't tell. Do you suppose--" + +"They've decided to wait for the draft?" finished Grace, settling her +cushions more comfortably. "That's a funny thing to say, Mollie-- +about our boys." + +"I know," said Mollie, knitting more furiously than ever. "But just +the same, I can't understand why they have been so terribly secretive +about it." + +"I guess we needn't worry about that," said Betty, although there was +a little worried line between her brows that belied her words. "Allen +wouldn't--" here she stammered, stopped and flushed, while the girls +turned laughing eyes upon her. + +"Of course," she added hastily, "I mean that none of the boys would +hesitate, when it's a question of serving his country." + +"That's all right, but you said Allen," teased Mollie, unconvinced. +"And oh, Betty, how you blushed!" + +"Nonsense!" returned Betty, blushing more than ever. "It's just +sunburn, that's all. Now do you want me to read the rest of the news, +or don't you? Because I have to finish those socks--" + +"Yes, yes, go on," cried Amy. "We won't say another word, Betty." +Which was funny, coming from quiet Amy, who usually spoke one word to +the other girls' ten. + +So Betty read the news from one end of the paper to the other, until +even those insatiable young people were content, then ran into the +cottage to get her knitting. + +"Now," she said, returning and seating herself with businesslike +alertness on the very edge of the step, "you'll see some real speed." + +"Oh, Betty, have you come to the heel?" cried Mollie, running over to +the Little Captain, and regarding the flying needles with a sort of +awe. "Please show me how. They say the Red Cross needs socks for the +boys more than they need anything else. And I know I'll never learn +to do them." + +"Oh, it's easy," returned Betty, obligingly slowing down for their +benefit, while they gathered about her, eager and bright-eyed, for +the lesson. + +They formed a pretty picture, this group of outdoor girls, with the +morning sunlight falling upon graceful figures and bent heads, ardent +little patriots, every one of them, whole-heartedly eager to give +their all for the service of their country. + +They were still engrossed in watching Betty's nimble fingers, when +the shrill and familiar whistle of the little ferryboat caught their +attention. + +"Oh, I didn't know it was time," Amy was beginning, when Mollie +interrupted her. + +"It's stopping here," she cried. "And somebody's getting off." + +"It's the boys!" cried Betty, springing to her feet, the bright color +again flooding her face. "They never told us they'd be back to-day. +There's Allen. Oh, tell me, what is it he is shouting?" + +The little ferryboat had steamed away, and four figures were racing +toward them. + +"Betty," yelled the foremost of these. "I've volunteered--I've +volunteered!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +GRIM SHADOWS OF WAR + + +"What is that he is yelling?" questioned Mollie. + +"He said something about volunteering," returned Betty. + +"Volunteering!" came from Mollie, Grace and Amy simultaneously, and +in the excitement of the moment, their knitting was completely +forgotten. + +And now while the girls are waiting for the boys to come up, let me +take just a moment to tell my new readers something concerning these +girls and the other volumes in this series of books. + +The leader of the quartette was Betty Nelson, often called the +"Little Captain." Betty was a bright, active girl, who always loved +to do things. + +Grace Ford was tall and slender, and a charming conception of young +womanhood. She had a brother, Will, who at times was rather hasty, +and occasionally this would get him into trouble, much to the +annoyance of his sister. Grace herself had one failing, if such it +could be called. She was exceedingly fond of chocolates, and was +never without some of this confection in her possession. + +Some years before there had been a mystery concerning Amy Blackford. +She had then been known by the name of Stonington, but the mystery +had been unraveled by the finding of her long lost brother, Henry +Blackford. Amy was of a quiet disposition, and more timid than any of +the others. + +The quartette was completed by Mollie Billette, often called "Billy." +Mollie was the daughter of a well-to-do widow of French ancestry, and +the girl was a bit French herself in her general make-up. + +In our first volume, entitled "The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale," the +particulars were given of the organization of a camping and tramp +club by the girls, and of how they went on a tour, which brought +them many adventures. + +After this first tour the Outdoor Girls went to Rainbow Lake, and +then took another tour, this time in a motor car. After that, they +had some glorious days on skates and iceboats while at a winter camp, +and then journeyed to Florida, where they took a trip into the wilds +of the interior, and participated in many unusual happenings. + +Returning from the land of orange groves, the girls next took a trip +to Ocean View. Here they had a glorious time bathing, and otherwise +enjoying themselves, and also solved the mystery surrounding a box +that was found in the sand. + +During those strenuous days the girls had made many friends, +including Allen Washburn, who was now a young lawyer of Deepdale. +Allen had become a particular friend of Betty's, and this friendship +seemed to be thoroughly reciprocal. + +Will Ford's particular high-school chum had been Frank Haley, and as +a consequence, Frank had been drawn into the circle, along with Roy +Anderson, another young man of the town. + +These young fellows often went off camping, and usually in the +vicinity of where the girls had planned to spend their outing days. + +Deepdale was a picturesque city of about fifteen thousand people, +located on the Argono river, which, some miles below, emptied into +Rainbow Lake. Back of Deepdale was a rich farming country, which +tended to make the town a prosperous one. + +Returning from Ocean View, the girls started on a new outing, as +related in the volume before this, entitled "The Outdoor Girls on +Pine Island." The girls occupied a bungalow, which had been turned +over for their use by an aunt of Mollie Billette. The boys were in a +camp near by. + +Quite by accident both girls and boys had stumbled upon a gypsy cave, +cleverly hidden in the underbrush, and had afterward succeeded in +rounding up the entire gypsy band, incidentally regaining some +property which had been stolen from the girls. + +Now, at the time our story opens, the Outdoor Girls were again at +Pine Island, in the cottage lent them by "Aunt Elvira"; but times had +changed, and they were no longer solely upon pleasure bent. The +grumbling, menacing unrest of war seemed in the very air they +breathed, and from dawn to evening they thought of very little else. + +Now at the ringing shout, "I've volunteered," they were on their +feet, fairly trembling with excitement and eagerness. + +"Allen, Allen!" cried Betty, the color flaming into her face. "Oh, +I'm so glad! I'm so glad!" + +"Gee, he's not the only one," cried a big, strapping lad, Frank +Haley, by name, throwing himself upon the steps, and looking up at +the girls triumphantly. "Just because he can run faster than we can, +he gets all the credit." + +"You, too, Frank?" cried Betty, turning upon him with shining eyes. + +"And here comes Roy," put in Mollie. "Did he--" + +"You just bet he did," Roy Anderson, red and perspiring, answered for +himself. "Did you ever hear of an Irishman staying out of a fight? +I'm aching already to get my hands on Fritz." + +"What's the matter with Will?" asked Grace a little anxiously, for +the young fellow coming slowly toward them with downcast eyes and +bent head was her brother. "He looks as if he'd lost his last +friend." + +Seven pairs of eyes were immediately focused upon the apparently +despondent figure, while the boys shifted uneasily and looked vaguely +troubled. + +"Hello, folks," Will saluted them, as he sank down upon the lower +step, and looked out toward the water. "Why the sudden hush?" + +For a moment no one spoke. They were all strangely embarrassed by +this unusual attitude of Will's. He had always been so frank and +outspoken. And now-- + +"Oh, for Pete's sake, say something!" he burst forth at last, looking +up at the silent group defiantly. "You were making enough noise +before, but the minute I come along, you just stop short and stare. I +didn't know I was so fascinating." + +"You're not," said Mollie promptly. + +With an impatient grunt, Will stuffed his hands into his pockets and +stalked off into the woods. + +"Well," said Grace, with a long sigh, "I never saw Will act that way +before. Now what's the matter?" + +"Indigestion, probably," said Allen, trying to pass it off. "He acts +just the way I feel when I have it. Which reminds me that I'm getting +mighty all-fired hungry." + +"Well, you don't get anything to eat," said Betty decidedly, "until +you tell us all about everything, since the day you left here so +mysteriously to the present time." + +"Seems we've got to sing for our supper--or rather, breakfast," said +Frank with a grin. "Go ahead, Allen, but be brief. I want some of +Betty's biscuits." + +"Goodness, do you suppose Betty's going to start in and cook +biscuits, now?" cried Mollie. "Why, we just got through our own +breakfast." + +"Well, we didn't," said Roy, nibbling a piece of grass for want of +something better. "And you ought to take it as a proof of our +devotion, that we didn't stop for any. We were too anxious to get +here to tell you our news." + +"And blow a little," scoffed Mollie, the irrepressible. + +"Oh, for goodness' sake stop talking," entreated Betty, with her +hands to her ears. "If the boys want biscuits they shall have them-- +if I have to stay up all night to cook some for them. They can have +anything in the house, as far as I'm concerned." + +"Hear, hear!" cried the boys in chorus, looking up admiringly at her +flushed face. + +"If volunteering has that effect," Roy added, "I'm going back and do +it all over again." + +"You said it," agreed Frank. "Gee, but I'm hungry!" + +"Did you say we could have anything we wanted?" Allen was demanding +of the Little Captain in an undertone. "No exceptions?" + +"None," said Betty, dimpling. + +"Then," said Allen deliberately, his eyes fixed steadily upon her +sparkling face. "If you please--I'll take--you!" + +"Oh," gasped Betty, her eyes falling before the young lawyer's ardent +gaze, while the rich color flooded her face. "I said anything--not +anybody. Allen, please don't be foolish. They're all looking at us." + +"Well, you can't blame 'em," Allen retorted whimsically. "They're not +used to seeing two such good-looking people together," he added in +bland explanation. + +"My, don't we hate ourselves!" said Betty, dimpling again. "But go +ahead and tell us your adventures," she added, glad to change a +subject which was becoming too personal. "No story--no supper, you +know." + +"We don't want supper--we want breakfast," interrupted Frank, with a +grin. "What have you been saying to her, Allen--to get her dates +mixed like that?" + +"Allen Washburn, are you going to tell that story or are you not?" +queried Mollie, in a menacingly quiet tone of voice. "If you're not--" + +"Yes, ma'am," said Allen meekly. "Where shall I begin, please?" + +"At the beginning," said Grace sarcastically, and reached for her +candy box, grimacing to find it empty. + +"Thank you," said Allen courteously. "Well, as you know, we four +husky braves meandered from the island one bright morning in the +early part of the week to seek our fortune, as it were, in the city +of promise." + +"Yes, that's all it does do," Roy put in pessimistically. "Promise!" + +"As I was saying," Allen continued, settling himself in a more +comfortable position on the steps, and ignoring the interruption. "We +sauntered off, and straightway looked up a recruiting station." + +"Oh!" gasped Amy, hands clasped and eyes shining. "That must have +been exciting." + +"Well, I don't know," said Allen, scratching his head reflectively, +"that that part was so exciting, but wait till you hear what happened +afterward. After we found where the recruiting office was, we went to +the hotel we were stopping at, and punished a mighty big breakfast. +You see, we figured out that we were going to put our necks into the +noose, as it were, and we wanted something good and big to stand up +on." + +"Wouldn't your feet do?" asked Betty innocently. + +"Heavens, no!" replied Allen, answering the query in solemn earnest, +while the girls giggled, and the boys grinned appreciatively. "We +were so nervous by that time we weren't sure we had any feet." + +"All you had to do was to look," murmured Mollie maliciously. "You +couldn't miss 'em." + +Allen looked hurt, got up and sat on his feet. + +"If you don't see them, perhaps you'll forget about them," he offered +by way of explanation. "You don't know how sensitive I am on the +subject of feet." + +"I couldn't blame you," Mollie was beginning, when Betty broke in +with a little despairing cry for help. + +"If we don't stop them," she said, looking appealingly about her, "we +won't get any farther than breakfast. Allen, what did you do next?" + +"Next?" queried Allen, stretching his long legs and squinting up at +the sun. "Let me see. Oh yes! Having put down a breakfast that must +have added four pounds to our weight, we sauntered forth once more to +meet our doom. By that time we were so nervous, we almost mistook a +café on the corner for the recruiting station--" + +"Hey, speak for yourself, won't you?" queried Roy, adding, as he +turned to the girls with a grin, "We had to show Allen a performing +monkey on the street, and get his mind off, before we succeeded in +engineering him to the right place." + +"Gee, some fellows have a gift," said Allen, regarding Roy +admiringly. "If I could tell 'em like that, old man, I'd be Supreme +Court Justice before the month was up. + +"Well, as I was saying," he continued, "after much hesitation and +side-stepping, we at last succeeded in reaching our destination. +After that, it took ten minutes to get up nerve to go in. + +"When we had at last tremblingly ascended the stairs, we found +ourselves in a large room, with all the windows open and half a dozen +wise-looking men, whom we took to be doctors, presiding. There were +three or four other fellows in the room, come like ourselves, to be +examined. Then we were shoved behind a huge screen with half a dozen +other huskies--they looked like prize fighters to me--and told to +take our clothes off. Then--we were examined." + +"Well?" they queried, leaning forward eagerly. + +"Well," said Allen, waving his hand in a deprecating gesture, "of +course, being the perfect specimens of manhood we are, the committee +jumped at us." + +"If they'd jumped on you they'd have shown more taste," remarked +Mollie unflatteringly. + +"But, Allen," put in Grace, who had listened to the recital, with a +troubled frown on her forehead, "was Will with you?" + +Allen's glance fell and he shoved his hands deep into his pockets. + +"No," he said. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +NEWS FROM THE FRONT + + +There was another awkward pause, which nobody seemed able to break. + +"But Will went to town with you," Amy remarked at last. + +"Yes, he went with us," Allen agreed reluctantly. "But after we +reached the hotel, and were making our plans for enlisting, he +refused to go with us, saying he had business of his own to attend +to. What that business was none of us know, for we were getting ready +to catch the train for here when he rejoined us. However," he added +loyally, "I'd bet my bottom dollar that Will has good reasons for +everything he does, and when he gets ready he'll tell us about them. +In the meantime, how about some biscuits, Betty?" + +"Yes, how about them?" added Roy, rousing to sudden life. "We've done +our duty--now we want the reward." + +"Goodness, you haven't done anything," said Grace loftily, as the +Little Captain vanished within the house, followed by black-eyed +Mollie. "You just sit around and let all the others do the work and +then take the credit to yourself." + +"That's all right if you can get away with it," grinned Allen. +"Besides," he added, with a humorous glance at Grace's languid +figure, "you don't look the soul of energy yourself this morning, +Miss Ford." + +"Looks are often deceitful," retorted Grace, languidly turning the +heel of her sock. "If you had to knit all day long, every day in the +week, you'd find out what work is." + +"Well, you don't _have_ to do it," returned Roy placidly. + +"Yes," said gentle Amy, roused to sudden indignation. "That's all the +credit we get. Goodness knows, we're glad enough to do the work, but +we do like it to be appreciated." + +Roy turned half way round, and regarded Amy's flying fingers and bent +head soberly for a moment. + +"I'm sorry," he said then, so gravely that she looked up in surprise, +and even Grace stopped knitting. "I didn't mean that we fellows don't +appreciate what you girls are doing for us. We do--and there'll come +a time when we'll appreciate it still more. When we're in the +trenches up to our knees in mud and water, when the wind finds the +chinks in our clothing, and freezes us to the bone, when--" + +"Oh, please don't!" cried Amy, clapping her hands to her ears. "I +can't even bear to think of those things." + +"Yet those are some of the things we've got to think about," said +Roy, still with that unusual gravity. "It's because you girls have +thought of those things, that you're giving your time and energy to +preparing for them, and warding them off. Please don't ever again +think that we're ungrateful." + +"We won't," said Amy softly, fighting back a sudden mistiness which +had come before her eyes. "We'll just go on knitting ten times harder +than before." + +"I think we're missing something," came Betty's voice from the +doorway, where she stood with her arm intertwined in Mollie's. "The +biscuits are in the oven now, and we're going to talk to you while +they're baking." + +"Will it take long?" asked Roy, sniffing hungrily. + +"I like that," said Betty, with a little grimace, as she flung +herself upon the top step, pulling Mollie down beside her. "When Roy +has to choose between biscuits and us--" + +"We're not in it," finished Mollie with a merry laugh. + +Roy looked pained. + +"I never said that, did I?" he inquired. "I haven't had the painful +necessity of making a choice yet." + +"What were you talking about so earnestly when we came out?" queried +Betty. "Roy looked solemn, Grace looked surprised, Amy looked +exalted, and Allen was thoughtful, while Frank looked as though-- +well, as though he were seeing visions." + +"All I have to do is turn my head to see visions," Frank returned +gallantly, suiting the action to the word. "Gee, I never saw a crowd +of prettier girls." + +"Hey, you're going to get an extra biscuit for that," put in Roy, +raising himself on his elbow and looking alarmed. "Just because +you're a better flatterer than I am--" + +"Oh, hush, hush," protested Betty, showing all her dimples--Allen was +watching, so we have his authority for it. "You boys can never get to +the point, unless we happen to be talking of something to eat. Allen, +what were they talking about?" + +Allen roused himself from the happy reverie into which Betty's +dimples had thrown him, and responded good-naturedly. Allen was +invariably good-natured. + +"We were talking about some of the things we may be up against, when +we find ourselves in the trenches, face to face with the enemy," he +said. "Also we were saying that these sweaters, and mufflers and +socks you are knitting, will come in mighty handy over there." + +A shadow crossed Betty's bright face, and she leaned forward to pick +up the discarded paper she had thrown upon the porch. + +"'The enemy attacked in force our lines south of Cambrai,'" she read, +with puckered brow. "'The enemy succeeded in gaining a foothold in +our first line trenches, but were later driven back. The fighting on +both sides was sanguinary, and heavy losses were sustained!'" + +She flung the paper from her, and regarded her friends with flaming +eyes, and both little fists clenched close at her sides. + +"It doesn't seem as though it _could_ be real!" she cried. "Men +killing each other off by the hundreds and all for--what? Oh, it's +cruel, cruel!" + +"Of course it's cruel," said Allen grimly. "But so were the Huns +cruel, centuries ago. The German people have simply never advanced +beyond that state. They're still in the first stages of +civilization." + +"Yes, and the worst part of this kind of warfare," said Frank, his +eyes fixed thoughtfully upon the horizon, "is that each man in the +army is simply a unit in a great machine. In the old days, when they +had cavalry charges and hand-to-hand fighting there was some romance, +some adventure, some chance for personal bravery." + +"Well, of course there is still some chance for daring," remarked +Allen, "especially in the aviation branch of the service." + +"In the army too," added Roy. "Soldiers are being decorated every day +for some special act of bravery." + +"I know all that," replied Frank. "But there's nothing particularly +spectacular about it." + +"And yet," said Betty thoughtfully, "I should think that kind of +fighting would take more courage than the other. To stand day after +day in those horrible trenches waiting for orders. And then when they +do finally make a charge, nothing much seems to be gained by it." + +"Yes, the waiting must be the hardest part," agreed Allen. "We met an +Englishman in town," he added, smiling at the recollection, "and he +was a mighty interesting chap." + +"You said it," agreed Frank heartily. "He's been through some of the +heaviest fighting, and to hear him tell some of his experiences is +better than a dozen lectures. I wish we could have brought him along +so you girls could have heard him." + +"I don't," Roy interjected. "He was too good-looking." + +"All the more reason why you should have brought him," yawned Grace. +"It would be a treat to have around something good to look at." + +"Whew," whistled Frank. "That was a bad one, Gracie. We know we're +not Adonises--" + +"I'm glad you know something," Grace was beginning, when once more +Betty interrupted her. + +"Oh dear!" she said, "if you don't hurry, the biscuits will be done, +and we won't have heard anything about the nice Englishman. And I'm +very much interested." + +"Oh, you are, are you?" said Allen, sitting up. "I begin to think we +made a mistake in mentioning that Englishman. I think we must have +dreamed him, fellows." + +"Oh, he was real enough," put in Frank. "But I shouldn't wonder if he +dreamt some of those adventures. They sounded too good to be true." + +"Perhaps you've heard that old saying," Grace remarked, with her +usual languor, "that truth is stranger than fiction?" + +"Oh, hurry," begged Betty. "The biscuits are almost done; I can smell +them." + +"So can I," said Roy, with another longing sniff. "Don't let 'em +burn, will you, Betty?" + +"I will, if somebody doesn't satisfy my curiosity, right away," +threatened the Little Captain, her lips set threateningly. "Now, will +you be good?" + +"Gee, Allen, did you hear that?" Roy's expression was pathetic. +"Hurry it up, will you?" + +"Well," began Allen with aggravating deliberation, "he was a tall, +lean, rangy fellow with sandy hair and twinkling eyes. Seems he had +been wounded several times, and the last shot had cost him his right +arm." + +"Oh," cried Mollie, her eyes like two saucers. "How did that happen?" + +"Bomb exploding close to him shot it all to pieces," explained Allen +cryptically. "Of course it had to be amputated, permanently disabling +him. That's why he was sent across to America--to stimulate +recruiting." + +"As if we needed any stimulating," said Mollie indignantly. "You +don't have to stand behind our boys with a gun to make them go." + +"Of course not," agreed Allen. "Just the same, it's almost impossible +for us over here, with the broad Atlantic separating us from the +scene of conflict, actually to realize what we're up against. That's +why it's good to have a fellow like this Englishman, who has really +been right in the thick of it, relate his own experiences. While he +was talking you could almost hear the thunder of cannon and the +bursting of shells. I tell you, we fellows felt like shouldering our +guns, and marching over right away." + +"Oh, it's wonderful to be a man these days," sighed Mollie. "You can +get right in the thick of it, while all we can do is stay home and +root for you." + +"Well, that's a lot," said Frank soberly. "Just to feel that you +girls are backing us up, and that there's somebody who cares whether +we give a good account of ourselves or not, makes all the difference +in the world." + +"But that's not all we can do," cried Betty, her eyes shining with +the light of resolution. "There's real work enough to keep us busy +all day long. Girls, I've got a plan!" + +"What?" they cried, leaning forward eagerly. + +"I'm going to join the Red Cross!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE POWDER MILL + + +"Who's game for a paddle?" + +"I am!" + +"And I!" + +"Oh, it's the most wonderful night in the world for canoeing!" + +"And there's going to be a moon, too!" + +"Nobody seems to be eager or anything like that," remarked Frank, +strolling out on the veranda, and regarding the enthusiastic group +with a smile on his lips. "Why didn't you suggest something they +might agree to, Allen?" + +Allen, who had indeed made the suggestion, rose lazily to his feet, +and stretched out a hand to Betty. + +"I never make any suggestions that aren't good," he replied. "Come +along, Betty. It's a crime to waste a minute of this wonderful +night." + +"May we, Mrs. Irving?" queried Betty, smiling up at their chaperon, +who was the same who had shared their adventures, during that other +eventful summer on Pine Island. "You know you love canoeing as much +as the rest of us." + +"Of course we'll all go," Mrs. Irving assented readily. "Only we've +had a long day, and mustn't stay out too late." + +"I speak for Mrs. Irving in my canoe!" called out Betty. + +"No, mine!" "Ours!" were other cries. + +Merrily the girls ran into the house to pick up the wraps which were +always necessary on the water at night, and in another minute they +had rejoined the boys. + +"Are you glad I enlisted, Betty?" queried Allen, laying a hand on +Betty's arm, and holding her back. + +"Glad?" answered Betty, looking up at him with eyes that shone in the +starlight. "Yes, I'm glad that you knew the only right thing to do, +and I'm glad that you did it so promptly. But, Allen--" + +"Yes?" he queried, finding her little hand and holding it tight. + +"I--I'm like George Washington, I guess," she evaded, looking up at +him with a crooked little smile. + +"I don't want you to tell a lie," he countered very softly. "I want +the truth, little Betty. What were you going to say?" + +Betty's eyes drooped, and they walked along in silence for a minute. + +"Well?" he queried at last, studying her averted profile. "You're not +afraid to tell me, Betty?" + +"N-no," she answered, still with her head turned away. "I was only +going to say, that while I'm glad--oh, very glad in one way, I--I'm +not so very glad in another." + +"What other?" he asked, leaning over her. "Betty, Betty, tell me, +dear." + +Betty hesitated for another moment, then threw up her head defiantly. + +"Well," she said, "if you must know--I don't want you to go. I--I'll +be--lonesome--" + +"Betty," he cried imploringly, his heart beating like a trip-hammer, +"Betty--wait--" + +But she had slipped from him, and had run ahead to join the others, +so that he had no other course but to follow her. His head was in the +clouds--his feet scarcely seemed to touch the ground. + +"Well, it's about time you realized you were with us," Mollie +remarked as Betty, breathless with the run and the beating of her +heart, joined them. "We began to think you had eloped for fair this +time." + +Betty laughed happily. + +"I'm sure I don't know where we'd elope to," she remarked, stepping +one dainty foot exactly in the center of the unstable craft. "We'd +either have to swim or wait for the ferry, and I don't exactly know +which would be the more uncomfortable." + +"I'd prefer the swim," said Roy, arranging the pillows carefully +behind Mollie's straight little back. To quote the latter: She would +much rather do things for herself--boys were so clumsy--but they +always looked so funny and downhearted when she told them about it, +that, just in the interest of ordinary kindness, she had to humor +them! + +"Well," said Allen, as he dipped his paddle into the still water, +guiding the light craft from the shore, "where shall we go?" + +"'Where do we go from here, boys, where do we go from here?'" sang +Roy. + +"'Anywhere from Harlem to a Jersey City pier,'" finished Frank, +wickedly splashing some drops of water on Grace's immaculate white +dress. + +"That's sensible, isn't it?" retorted the latter, favoring the +offender with a look of cold disdain. "Since we don't happen to be +any more than sixty miles from Harlem or Jersey City, I'm sure Allen +appreciated your suggestion." + +"Oof!" said Frank. "I can't open my mouth without putting my foot in +it." + +"That's no compliment to your mouth," returned Grace. "Frank, if you +don't stop splashing me with that horrid water, I'm going to get out +and walk." + +"That would be jumping from the frying pan into the fire," returned +Frank with a grin, while Mollie, who was in the next canoe, chuckled +audibly. + +"Goodness," said Betty, as Allen shortened his stroke to bring the +canoes abreast. "It's almost impossible to think of there being a war +on a night like this. Everything is so calm and peaceful." + +"Yes, we haven't even been touched by it yet," said Allen, his mood +sobering. "The Englishman to-day was telling us that nobody in +England began to realize they were at war, until the boys began to +come back wounded and disabled." + +"Oh, I can't bear to think of it," cried Amy, who, in the canoe with +Will, still silent and aloof, had scarcely spoken a word till now. +"It seems as if there ought to be some other way of settling disputes +these days." + +"That's what every nation thinks, except Germany and her allies," +returned Frank. "As it is, we've got to fight her as we'd fight a mad +dog--wipe the whole German nation off the map, or at least, bring it +to its knees." + +"That reminds me of something one of the recruiting officers told me +the other day," put in Allen, with a whimsical smile. "He said he had +talked to hundreds of American enlisted men, and the great majority +of them were eager to learn German." + +"I don't admire their taste," put in Mollie, with spirit. "I hate the +very sound of it." + +"Well, the soldier's idea is," explained Allen, "that if he learns +the language he'll be able to flirt with the _frauleins_ when he gets +to Berlin." + +"Again I don't admire their taste," remarked Mollie spitefully. +"Almost all the German girls I've ever seen are too stout to suit +me." + +"Goodness, I had a German ancestor away back somewhere," remarked Amy +anxiously. "Maybe that's why I'm beginning to gain flesh so fast. +You've got me worried." + +The boys laughed, but the girls answered reassuringly. + +"It isn't your remote German ancestor that's giving you flesh, Amy," +said Grace condescendingly. "It's eating three hearty meals a day, +and the sitting still knitting from morning to night. We girls are +used to being on the go all the time." + +"What's that you said?" asked Frank, bringing his eyes down from the +stars to the lazy figure in the white dress. "I've never seen you +when you weren't taking life easy." + +"What!" said Grace, sitting up straight, the picture of indignation. +"How about our walking tour--didn't I walk just as far, and as much +as the other girls then? And how about swimming?" + +"Take it back! take it back!" cried Frank. "If going down on my knees +will help any--" + +"Don't be a goose," responded Grace shortly, settling herself once +more in a comfortable position. "Just a little bit of going down on +your knees, and we'll be in the water. Have a chocolate?" + +"No, thanks," said Frank absently. His eye had caught a sudden flare +of light, that had flickered for a moment and then disappeared. + +"Hey, Allen," he yelled. "Did you see that light--over there, to the +right?" + +"Yes," said Allen, looking puzzled. "And I don't remember ever seeing +signs of life over in that direction." + +"Isn't that about where the old powder mill stands?" asked Betty, and +Allen turned to her quickly. + +"Betty," he said, his eyes shining, "you've got it. The government +has bought that property, and started the old mill to working. By +George, this promises to be interesting." + +"There it is again!" cried Frank, while Grace strained her eyes +eagerly toward the point. "What do you say to paddling over there and +having a look?" + +"It's up to the girls," replied Allen, watching Betty's face eagerly. +"What they say goes." + +"And they say 'go,'" smiled Betty whimsically. "Do you suppose we'd +go back without solving the mystery? Lead on, Macduff--we follow." + +So Allen and Frank paddled hard toward the bend in the lake, the +other two canoes, which had fallen somewhat behind, quickening the +stroke to catch up with them, sensing that something unusual was +afoot. + +As the canoes in the lead rounded the bend, those in them saw that +indeed the old mill had been renovated, but that the flame they had +seen had come, not from the old mill, but from a small bonfire +started farther in the woods. + +And that was not all. What made them catch their breath and signal +for silence, was the figure of a man bent close to the flickering +fire, intent upon deciphering the writing on a long piece of paper, +that looked suspiciously like an official document. + +So silent had been their approach that the man had not even changed +his position. Luckily the canoes were screened by heavy, overhanging +branches of trees, so that the occupants could observe without being +observed. + +Silently the other two canoes joined them, and noiselessly, scarcely +daring to breathe, the young folks watched. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A SHOT IN THE DARK + + +In the minds of each of the young people in the canoes, one word kept +repeating itself over and over again: "Spy, spy, spy!" + +Since the war had begun, the country had been overrun with them, that +they knew; but out here on this remote island... Yet there was +something about the very posture of the man, his hunched-up figure, +the nervous twitching of the fingers that held the document, that +branded him. + +As they watched, he started to fold up the paper, glancing stealthily +about meanwhile; then, as though satisfied that no one was watching, +he picked up the heavy bag that lay beside him, evidently preparing +for flight. + +Betty, a little tense figure in the bottom of the boat, uttered a +gasp of dismay, as Allen began carefully to lower himself into the +shallow water. + +The man on shore heard the slight sound and turned swiftly, staring +suspiciously into the thick shadows of the foliage. Then did the boys +and girls literally hold their breath. + +After a few seconds, which seemed an eternity to the taut nerves of +the watchers, the man turned with a guttural growl, and started +cautiously to make off into the denser woodland beyond. + +In a second, Allen was out of the boat, and lending a hand to the +gallant Little Captain, who would not be outdone in any adventure, no +matter how perilous. + +The other boys and girls followed, silent as ghosts, their training +in woodcraft standing them in good stead. For an instant, they stood +in a tense, excited group on shore, Mrs. Irving in their midst. + +"I'll tell you what we'll do," Allen was saying, and they had to lean +close to catch the words, which were barely above a whisper. "There +must be a guard around this mill somewhere. We'll get him, and head +that fellow off." + +"I'll take you to a guard," said Will suddenly. "We'll find him at +the other end of the mill." + +Without another word, he turned and led the way, careful of the +betraying snap of twigs, along the shore, toward the mill. Even in +that moment of tense excitement, the girls and boys looked at his +suddenly stiffened back in surprise. It was the first time since he +had come ashore that morning, that his comrades had been able to +discover anything of the old Will. + +However, they had little time for the solving of riddles. There was +work to be done, work, which in these stirring times, might perhaps +help to make history. + +As they neared the mill, Will motioned to them to stay where they +were, and ran ahead to intercept a guard. A moment later he returned +with the latter, and the whole party made its way hurriedly and +stealthily in a roundabout direction, which would almost certainly +intercept the spy--if spy he were. + +"Oh, Betty," whispered Grace, close to the Little Captain's ear. +"I've always been horribly afraid of spies. Do you suppose he's got a +gun?" + +"I never heard of a spy that didn't," returned Betty grimly. "But +don't worry--we have one, too." + +"Better not talk," warned Roy, close at their side. "A whisper may +mean a bullet." + +Grace almost screamed, but Betty's firm little hand across her mouth +smothered it into something between a sob and a squeak. + +"Hush," whispered Betty fiercely. "You'll spoil everything." + +At that moment, the sharp crack of a twig somewhere to the left of +them in the woods, made them stop suddenly and stand motionless, +listening. + +Then with a shout, Will rushed forward, followed by the other boys +and the home guard man. + +"Hands up!" shouted the latter, leveling his pistol at something that +moved among the bushes. "Stand where you are." + +Like a flash of lightning the man wriggled out from his cover, and +made a dash for liberty. With a yell, the guard ran forward, firing +as he went, with the boys close at his heels. + +"Oh, oh, they'll get shot!" wailed Amy, her hands before her face. "I +don't see why we couldn't have left the old thing alone, anyway." + +"That's a nice thing to say!" cried Mollie, trembling with +excitement. "Is that your idea of patriotism, to let a spy get away +right under our very noses?" + +"It's a good deal better than having the boys shot right under our +very noses," retorted Amy with spirit. + +"We'll be lucky if we don't get shot ourselves," said Grace, almost +in hysterics. "Oh, there goes another one. I wonder who got shot that +time." + +"Let's go and see," said Betty, pale, but determined, "It isn't like +us to stand in the background, when there may be something to do." + +"But, Betty," wailed Amy, "we may get shot." + +"Well, then, we shall," cried Betty, turning upon her fiercely. "That +may have been the spy that was shot, or it may be one of our boys. +Are we going to stay here, or are we going to find out?" + +"I--I'm sorry, Betty," quavered poor Amy. "Of course, we'll go." + +Without another word the Little Captain turned and, with Mollie at +her side, made off in the direction the boys had taken. Amy and +Grace, arms entwined about each other, followed a little lingeringly +in the rear of their bolder companions. + +They had not gone far, when they heard the welcome sound of masculine +voices in excited altercation, and the heavy tramp of feet coming +toward them. + +"Oh," sighed Betty, her lip quivering, now that the need of courage +had passed, "they never sounded so good to me before." + +"Thank heaven you're safe," cried Allen, while relief banished the +fear in his eyes. "I don't know what we could have been thinking of, +to leave you all alone--" + +"But did you get him?" cried Mollie impatiently. + +"No, worse luck," responded Will disgustedly, while the guard mopped +his perspiring forehead. "That spy was a slippery customer. We did +get something out of it, though." + +"What?" they cried eagerly. + +"This," said Will, holding up something that gleamed white in the +moonlight. "It's a letter, and it ought to tell us a number of things +we want to know about Mr. Adolph Hensler." + +"Oh, is that his name?" cried Betty eagerly. "That tells us a good +deal without even opening the letter." + +"It's German enough," agreed Will. "But, gee! I'm sorry we didn't +catch the fellow. The government needs him." + +"But we're so glad you didn't get shot," Amy ventured mildly. "We +heard that last one back there in the woods, and we thought--" + +"We'd gotten ours?" grinned Roy. "Well, we hadn't--not yet." + +"It was too near for comfort, just the same," Frank added. "I could +almost hear the wind from it as it whizzed past me." + +Here Betty, who had been watching Allen closely, uttered a sharp +exclamation, and all turned to her. + +"Allen," she cried, for he had swayed a little and rested his hand +against a tree as though to steady himself, "why didn't you tell us? +Oh, Allen! It's blood!" + +"Nothing at all," said Allen, laughing a little unsteadily, as Mrs. +Irving and the girls and boys gathered about him anxiously. "A little +thing will bleed like a shambles sometimes. It's nothing--Betty--" + +But Betty, with a little catch in her breath, was tearing aside the +soft shirt, which was clotted with blood at the shoulder. + +"Oh, Allen, Allen!" she was murmuring over and over in a way that +sent the blood pounding madly to Allen Washburn's head, and made the +wound a blessing. "Why didn't you tell me? Oh, your poor shoulder! +Some one get some water, quick," she ordered imperiously, turning to +the anxious group. "I don't think it's serious, but we must stop this +bleeding. Please hurry." + +And hurry they did, bringing water from a near-by spring in cups they +expertly improvised from leaves as they had done so many times just +for the fun of it. + +Then the boys produced some spotless white handkerchiefs, which +served as a makeshift bandage, till they could reach the cottage. The +bullet, as Betty had said, had not much more than grazed the +shoulder, yet the wound had bled profusely, and Allen was beginning +to feel a little sick and dizzy, from the loss of blood. + +When at last all had been done, that it was possible to do, Allen was +helped down to the canoe, and they paddled home, a very much sobered +group of young people. + +"Never mind," said Allen, in an attempt to lift the general +depression, as they neared the cottage. "We found the letter anyway, +which may be of considerable help to the government. And what's one +shoulder more or less in the cause?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MOONLIGHT AND MYSTERY + + +The moon made a rippling path of silver upon the water, a soft wind +whispered drowsily through the trees, and far off in the depths of +the woodland, an owl hooted plaintively. Ordinarily, the romantic +paddle back to the island would have been filled with delight for the +Outdoor Girls and their four boy friends, but tonight the profuse +beauty all about them passed unnoticed. + +Betty, sitting beside Allen in the bottom of the canoe, while Frank +and Grace paddled, was very pale and silent. However, the others +talked enough to make up for her silence. + +"What do you suppose is in the letter?" said Mollie, for perhaps the +hundredth time. + +"How do you suppose we know?" responded Will, exasperated. "We can't +very well read it until we get home; and then perhaps there won't be +anything important in it. Gee, if we'd only gotten that fellow!" + +"Well, it's of no use to cry over spilled milk," said Frank +philosophically. "We were mighty lucky to get the letter. Allen's the +only one that ought to kick--he got the rough end of the deal." + +"Yes," said Betty fiercely; "and we ought to get that man for +shooting him. The coward!" + +Allen laughed softly, and put a hand over Betty's little clenched +one. + +"I don't suppose he meant to shoot me, especially," he said. "It was +my fault for getting in the way of the bullet." + +"Yes, that's a mighty bad habit to get into," remarked Roy dryly, +"especially in these times, when we're more than likely to get a +chance to exercise it." + +"Ooh!" squealed Amy, giving a sudden splash with her paddle, that +sent a geyser of spray all about her, causing several loud protests. +"I wish you'd stop talking about such things. I'd like to stop +shivering for about five minutes." + +The girls giggled hysterically and felt more natural. + +"Goodness," sighed Grace, after five minutes of silence, during which +each had been busy with his or her own thoughts. "This paddle never +seemed so long to me before." + +"Thanks," said Frank. "May I ask whether you are referring to the +company?" + +"I wasn't even thinking of the company," retorted Grace ungraciously. + +"Gee, we must be impressive," murmured Roy. "She doesn't even know +we're around." + +"Stop paddling, Frank," suggested Mollie maliciously, "and see how +soon she'd know you weren't around." + +Obediently Frank drew his paddle from the water, and Grace, who had +only been making a pretense of doing her share, looked around +indignantly. + +"Well, you can't expect me to do it all," she said, and with a sigh +of utter resignation, Frank resumed his work. + +"Say, fellows," he said, "isn't that just like a girl?" + +"What's that?" cried Amy suddenly, making them jump nervously. + +"What?" queried Grace in a voice scarcely above a whisper, while the +rest looked for an explanation from Amy to the shadowy woodland and +back again. + +"It--it was a noise," explained Amy, incoherently, "like a man +moving, and I was sure--I--saw a--couple of eyes watching us--" + +"For heaven's sake!" cried Allen, raising himself suddenly in the +canoe, "put on more steam, you fellows! We've got to get the girls +out of this. What do you say, Mrs. Irving?" turning to their +chaperon, who had been a silent spectator until the moment. + +"By all means," she said decisively. "We can face these mysteries +better by daylight, and we've had enough excitement for one night." + +So they all paddled hard while the girls' eyes remained fixed in +half-fearful, half-hopeful expectation upon the shadowy shore. For +these girls were outdoor girls, and adventure was the breath of life +to them. + +However, nothing else happened to disturb the calm of a perfect +summer night, and a few minutes later they landed at the pier, and +hastily fastened the canoes. + +"Now for a light and the contents of that letter," cried Will, his +eyes gleaming with anticipation. "We'll soon find out whether Mr. +Adolph Hensler was a regular, honest-to-goodness spy, or just an +impostor. How about it, Allen?" he went on, as the latter stumbled +over a stone, and Will hooked an arm through his. "Feeling pretty +much all in, are you?" + +"A little unsteady on my pins, as our friend Captain Kidd would say," +Allen replied, though his lips were set with the effort to walk +steadily. "It's funny what a little scratch will do to a fellow." + +"It wasn't such a little scratch, old man," said Will soberly. "If it +had hit you more directly, you'd have been in for a pretty long +siege. As it is, I'm afraid you'll have to lie low for a week or so. +Here we are. Now, just a couple of steps, old fellow--" + +Allen was, in truth, weaker than he thought, for each step seemed +mountains high, and Frank had to grasp his other arm, before they +finally made the floor of the porch, and succeeded in getting him +across the threshold. + +"Never mind," whispered Mollie, slipping a comforting arm about +Betty's shoulders as they followed slowly. "He isn't hurt seriously, +dear, and by to-morrow he'll be feeling all right again." + +"I know," said Betty, a little catch in her breath. "It isn't so bad +now, but I was just thinking what it would be like, if he were +wounded on the battlefield, with no one to look after him--and--and--" + +"Oh, Betty, we just mustn't think of things like that!" said Mollie, +her voice quivering. "No matter how we feel, we've just got to keep +on smiling for the boys' sake." + +"I know," said Betty, straightening up with a pathetic little attempt +at a smile. "We'll all have to say like the little boy that fell down +and hurt himself, 'I'm not cryin'; I'm laughin'.' Yes, we're coming." +This last was interpolated by way of encouragement to Frank, who had +been sent back to look for them. + +They found Allen propped up in a huge armchair before a fire, which +had been hastily laid in the grate, looking rather pale and wan, but +tremendously interested in the proceedings, nevertheless. + +"Betty," he said pleadingly, stretching out a hand to her. + +Without a word she went over to him, taking it in both her own. + +"I don't want you to go out of my sight," he whispered, while the +others thoughtfully looked the other way. "My shoulder doesn't ache +when you're around," he added whimsically, knowing how clearly Betty +saw through him; "but when you go away, the ache in it is--fiendish!" + +"I won't go away," Betty promised, touching the bandaged shoulder +gently. + +"Never?" he queried eagerly, twisting around so he could see her +face. "Is that a promise, Betty?" + +"While your shoulder hurts," she added quickly, while the color, +which did not come from the fire, flooded her face. "I--I hate to be +cross with you when you're not feeling well," she added, trying to be +severe, "but if you don't stop--looking at me--Allen... See, +they're waiting to read the letter!" + +[Illustration: WILL LEANED FORWARD, REGARDING THE PAPER CLOSELY.] + +"Does that mean I have to stop looking at you?" queried Allen, with a +smile. "Oh, well, I'll not complain, if you'll only keep on holding +my hand, Betty. I'd have a chronic bullet wound all the rest of my +life--" + +"Well, when the invalid and hero of the occasion is ready," Will +broke in, his patience at an end, "we should be pleased to read a +document, which probably will seem dull and uninteresting to him +beside what he has to say--" + +"Oh, Will, please don't talk so much," cried Grace. "If you don't +hurry I'll be so sleepy it wouldn't bother me if Adolph Hensler +turned out to be the Kaiser himself." + +"Yes, speed up, old man," Roy added. "Expectation may be better than +realization, but I don't believe it." + +"Well," said Will, opening the letter which had not been sealed, with +exasperating deliberation, "we shall see--what we shall see." + +He leaned forward, regarding the paper closely in the yellow +lamplight, while the others crowded eagerly about him. + +"Well--what-do-you-know-about-that!" he said slowly, pushing the +paper from him disgustedly. "All in code--and a code that will need +an expert to figure it out. Gee, that's a mean trick, that is!" + +Frank picked up the paper and pored over it for a moment, while the +rest watched him anxiously. + +"Yes, that's a stiff one," he said at last. "I guess there's no use +in our wasting time over it." + +"It proves one thing anyway," put in Allen, from his corner. "The +paper is important, and our friend to-night is undoubtedly what we +thought he was." + +"Much good that does us," said Will, morosely folding the paper and +stuffing it carefully into his pocket. "Of course, it's better than +nothing, and we'll get it into official hands just as soon as we can; +but we certainly ought to have caught that rascal." + +"Say!" exclaimed Roy suddenly, his eyes gleaming with the light of +adventure, "maybe it isn't too late yet. Unless Adolph, the spy, had +a boat or swam to the nearest island, which is more than a mile away, +he's still on this island somewhere. We've got our good old trusties +over in the big tent, and there's a bare chance we might be able to +round him up." + +"No, you don't!" said Grace decidedly, while all the girls looked +startled. "You're going to use your guns to keep that man away from +here. Do you suppose we're going to lie awake all night listening for +shots?" + +"Oh, all right," said Roy, "I'm properly squelched." + +"Let's go to bed," yawned Grace, "I'm dying by inches. And, oh, +Mollie, dear, don't forget to bring the candy box!" + +Half an hour later the lights in the little cottage were out and the +boys, all except Allen, who had been made as comfortable as possible +in the house, were taking turns at standing guard outside. + +Despite the quiet beauty and peace of the night, the girls found it +almost impossible to sleep. They tossed and dozed, and waked and +dozed again until, toward daylight, they fell into a restless, uneasy +sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +ROBBED + + +Crack! Crack! + +The girls started to a sitting posture and regarded each other +fearfully. + +"What is it?" cried Mollie, her eyes big and round in the semi-dark. +"Betty, what are you doing?" + +"That was a shot," responded Betty, her voice quivering with +excitement. "I've been listening for it all night. Who's coming--" + +"Oh, dear!" wailed Amy. "I knew some one would get killed! It's worse +than some awful nightmare." + +But Betty was already running from the room, with Mollie close at her +heels. Reluctantly, Grace and Amy slipped on their robes and slippers +and followed. + +Betty almost ran into Mrs. Irving on the landing, and gasped an +apology. + +"Oh, dear, what do you suppose it is?" she panted, as they went on +down the stairs together. "If another of the boys is hurt--" + +But at that moment the boys themselves came bursting in upon them, +rumpled, sheepish and out of temper, to confront the excited girls in +the lower hall. + +"What do you know about that?" cried Roy disgustedly. "If I'm not the +biggest fool that ever lived, I'll eat my hat." + +"Far be it from me to stop you," growled Will. "He must have passed +near enough to touch you, and you let him get away." + +"Well, you needn't rub it in," retorted Roy, turning upon him +savagely, while the girls looked from one to the other +uncomprehendingly. "You ought to know I'm sore enough without having +you find fault." + +"Cut it out, fellows," Frank put in peaceably. "It wasn't anybody's +fault; just hard luck, that's all." + +"But what?" Mollie interrupted impatiently. "What happened?" + +"Well, you see it was like this," began Will, still in a bad temper. +"We fellows decided that our friend, Adolph Hensler, might have some +mistaken longings for the code letter he dropped, and might follow us +and try to steal it back. So we thought we'd set a trap for him by +keeping watch, turn and turn about, in such a position that he +couldn't possibly see us." + +"Yes, and that's about all," Roy, speaking bitterly, took the story +away from Will, "except that it was yours truly's turn at sentry +duty, and he went to sleep, leaving Adolph a clear field." + +"And did he really come back?" asked Betty, glancing apprehensively +over her shoulder as though she was afraid the rascal might be close +at hand. + +"Yes, he really did," said Roy, still bitterly. "And if I hadn't +happened to see him coming out of the window--" + +"Out of the window!" echoed Grace, who, with Amy, had decided that +the lower hall with company was more to be desired than a room +upstairs alone. "Oh, Roy, from this house?" + +"Since this is the only one for three miles around, I suppose it +was," said Roy, with biting sarcasm. + +"But he may have been in our room," cried Amy, beginning to shiver +again. + +"Very likely," said Will grimly, while Mrs. Irving looked decidedly +worried. "The one good thing about the whole affair is, that he +didn't get the letter." + +"Oh, bother the letter," cried Mollie, cross because she could not +stop trembling. "I--I wish it were daylight. I never wanted to see +the sun so much." + +"Well, it is, almost," said Frank, waving his hand toward the east +where a dim grey veil was replacing the blackness of night. "Adolph +must have been hanging around for some time, before he got the chance +he wanted." + +"Before I went to sleep," put in Roy moodily. + +"But didn't you follow him?" queried Betty, eagerly. + +"Of course," said Will, "until he disappeared in the woods; and you +might just as well hunt for a needle in a haystack, as look for him +there. Besides, we wanted to see if you girls were all right." + +"Well, we're not," said Grace dispiritedly. "We didn't have half +enough sleep, and now we've been scared to death for the second time +in one night" + +"Well," said Mrs. Irving, coming out of a brown study, and speaking +decidedly. "There's nothing to be gained by standing here. Probably +none of us will be able to sleep any more to-night, but we can at +least get dressed. Come, girls, we don't want to add sickness to our +problems." + +"This time we're all going to watch," Will called after them, as they +started up the stairs. "If Adolph comes back again, he won't get away +so easily." + +Slowly the girls reentered their room, and were relieved to find that +the long night with all its weird suggestions and imaginings, was +really over. Beds and dressers were distinctly visible in the faint +grey light that filtered into the room. Soon the sun would be up. + +"Oh, I'm so tired," sighed Mollie, sinking down on the edge of her +bed and gazing about her disconsolately. "I feel as if I ought to be +tremendously excited, but I'm too sleepy to care much about +anything." + +"Wait till the sun comes up," said Betty, recovering a little of her +old cheeriness. "That makes everything look different. I wonder," she +added, as if the thought had not been in her mind all the time, "how +Allen is. The noise didn't even seem to disturb him. I think I'll ask +Mrs. Irving if I can go--and--see----" + +"Why, of course you can," said Mrs. Irving, who happened to be +passing the door at that particular minute, and looking in at her +smilingly. "I was just going to visit the patient myself; so if you +hurry and get dressed, we can go together." + +It is safe to say that Betty was fully dressed, to the last little +pattings and fluffings of her blue morning dress, before ten minutes +was up, and, with Mrs. Irving, was walking with rapidly beating heart +down the hall toward Allen's room. + +The door had been left open in case he needed anything during the +night, and now his voice greeted them before they reached it. + +"Hello," it called imperatively. "I want to know something." + +"All right," said Mrs. Irving sunnily, pushing the door open and +advancing toward the patient, while Betty lingered a little in the +background. "You're not the only one. How are you feeling this +morning?" + +"All right--fine," he amended, as his eager eye caught sight of +Betty. "Never was feeling better in my life. Decidedly grateful for +being allowed to live at all--when there are so many beautiful things +to look at," this with so direct and ardent a gaze upon Betty, that +she turned and looked out of the window, unwilling to let him see +what her face must reveal. + +Mrs. Irving laughed a little and began to adjust his pillows +carefully. + +"We are going to have a doctor for you today," she announced, and +Allen sat up in bed with a jerk. + +"What for?" he demanded. "I don't need any doctor. I'm feeling all +right now, and ten to one, he'd make me sick. They always do. Please +don't bring one of them in here." + +"Don't make a fuss and get excited, please," Mrs. Irving cautioned +him gently, while her eyes dwelt with humorous sympathy upon Betty's +back. "I'm going down to prepare some breakfast, and perhaps Betty +can persuade you about the doctor." + +Before either of them realized it, she was gone, leaving them alone. +Still Betty forgot to turn round. + +For several minutes, Allen lay and regarded her contentedly. Then he +gave a mountainous sigh, and finally: + +"What have I done?" he queried pathetically. "It's one of the +prettiest backs I ever saw, but that's no reason why I should have to +look at it all the time. Besides, you seem to forget that I have a +sore shoulder." + +Betty turned to him swiftly, half laughing and half grave. + +"I never know when to believe you," she said, coming toward him +slowly and moving a chair up to the edge of the bed. "You see, that's +the worst of having a bad reputation." + +"I haven't," he denied stoutly, feeling for her hand, which, however, +persisted in evading his. "I've never said anything to you, Betty +Nelson, that wasn't true. If you'll give me your hand, my shoulder +will stop aching." + +Betty laughed whimsically. + +"And you said you never had told me anything that wasn't true," she +reminded him. + +"I repeat it," he answered doggedly, succeeding at last in finding +her hand, and holding it tight. "Just being near you makes me so +happy, I haven't time to think of pain." + +"D--did you hear all the noise just a little while ago?" stammered +Betty hastily. "You must have wondered what it was all about." + +"I did," he replied, still with his eyes on her face. "I started to +get out of bed and see for myself, only I found I was kind of wabbly, +and thought better of it. What--" + +"Oh, Betty!" Mollie flung wide the door and burst in upon them. +"Excuse me, but I had to tell you. What do you suppose has happened +now?" + +She sank down on the edge of the bed, and looked at them +despairingly. + +"Well, what?" asked Betty impatiently. "Has anybody else been shot +or--" + +"Goodness, it's worse than that!" cried Mollie hysterically. "You +know, we've never bothered to lock up our good things, because there +never seemed any danger at all of robbery on Pine Island--" + +"Yes, yes," cried Betty, fairly wild with impatience. "I know all +that. Tell me, what happened?" + +"Well," said Mollie, refusing to be hurried, "we thought of our +jewelry, looked for it--and it was----" + +"Gone!" cried Betty, reading the answer in Mollie's face. "Oh, +Mollie, my pin and my bracelet----" + +"Yes, and my gold watch, and Grace's pearl lavallière, and goodness +knows how many other things," Mollie finished, in the calmness of +despair. + +"And of course, it was that spy that did it!" cried Betty. "Now, +we've got to catch him!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE BIG GAME + + +Betty opened her eyes slowly, and blinked at the sunlight that +flooded the room. She had a vague sort of idea that something unusual +was going to happen, but was too lazy and comfortable to realize just +what that something was. + +Then suddenly it came to her, and she sat up in bed with a start. +They were going home! That was the big event; and somehow, she did +not feel as sorry as she usually did at the end of a vacation. In +fact, she was almost eager to leave this island, with its powder +mills and spies that shot boys you liked, and robbed you in the +bargain--quite eager to drop play, and do her bit for the country she +loved. + +"Betty, what are you doing awake so early?" queried Grace petulantly. +"If you can't sleep you might lie still, and let me." + +"Have some candy, Gracie," Betty invited, pulling the empty candy box +from the table beside the bed, and handing it to her friend. "It may +help your disposition." + +"Goodness, what it is to have a reputation!" said Grace plaintively. +"People think they can insult and slight me, and then make it all up +by handing me a bon-bon!" + +"Not guilty," laughed Betty merrily. "If you'll look a little closer, +you'll see there is not a bit of candy in that box! No, don't glare +at me like that, Gracie, dear. The only way you could frighten me, +would be by getting up early. Then I'd know there was something +wrong." + +"So would I," said Grace, stifling a yawn. "I'm altogether too good- +natured to frighten anybody--even myself." + +"Well, you can stay there all day if you want to," said Betty, +inserting two determined little feet into two pretty bedroom +slippers, and running across to the open window, "but I wouldn't if I +were you. It's too wonderful a day in the first place, and in the +second, I can imagine pleasanter things than staying alone on this +island over night." + +"Oh, that's so!" cried Grace, sitting up and staring at Betty. "I +forgot we were going home to-day. Oh, dear, now I will have to get +up." + +"How awful," mocked Mollie, who had been watching them for some time +from the bed in the alcove. "It's an outrage, having to get up in the +morning. I think we should have been made so we could sleep all the +time." + +"Just my idea," Grace was beginning, unmoved, when Mrs. Irving's +voice sounded at the door. + +"Seven o'clock," she announced cheerily. "And you know we decided to +get an early start." + +For the next hour all was hurry and excitement while four girlish +tongues clattered unceasingly. + +"Have you fully decided to join the Red Cross, Betty?" queried Amy. + +"Why, of course. Haven't you?" asked the Little Captain, slipping on +the skirt to her pretty traveling suit and fastening it deftly. "I'm +going to make dozens and dozens of scarfs, sweaters and socks. The +boys are giving up everything for us, and I'm sure the least we can +do is, keep them warm." + +"Oh, I can't wait to begin," cried Mollie. "I'm so excited all the +time about the war and everything, I can't sit still--" + +"You've got to, if you're going to knit," grumbled Grace. "And you +can't eat candy, either, Mollie Billette." + +"Oh, look who's talking," crowed Mollie. "If that's true, and the +poor soldiers had to depend upon you to keep them warm, I'd feel +sorry for them, that's all." + +"Oh, I don't know," defended Betty, putting an arm about Grace, and +starting for the door. "Grace believes in quality more than quantity. +She may not knit as much as the rest of us, but she does it twice as +well." + +Grace laughed and hugged her friend as they ran down the stairs +together. + +"That's worth my lavallière, Betty," she said. "If Adolph Hensler +hadn't gotten it first, I'd will it to you!" + +They flew around to prepare breakfast, and the smell of sizzling +bacon and baking biscuits sent their spirits soaring to the skies. +The boys, who had finished their own breakfast, and scoured up the +pans, heard the sounds of merriment, and came to inquire the cause. + +Betty saw them first and laughingly bade them enter. + +"We'd ask you to breakfast," she said, "only this is the last +biscuit, and I wouldn't give it up to my best friend. Why don't you +come in?" she continued, as they lingered on the threshold. "I never +knew you to be bashful before." + +"We're not bashful," denied Allen, as they distributed themselves +about the room in various and characteristic attitudes, grinning +happily at the girls. "We were so hypnotized by the charming picture +you made for us we couldn't move, that's all." + +"I told you there weren't any more biscuits," said Betty decidedly. + +"Goodness, I'm glad somebody else has a bad reputation besides me," +said Grace languidly. "At least you don't have anything to live up +to." + +"How is the shoulder this morning?" Mrs. Irving inquired of Allen. +"You haven't taken the bandage off, have you?" + +"Not yet," replied Allen, who, although it was scarcely a week since +the accident, had almost completely recovered from his wound. "The +doctor said he'd be around early this morning, and if it looked all +right, would take it off." + +"Gee, but I feel funny this morning," announced Roy, apropos of +nothing in particular. + +"You look it," murmured Mollie, pouring herself another cup of +coffee. + +"What do you mean--funny?" queried Frank with interest, while Roy +favored Mollie with a hurt look. + +"Oh, I don't know how to explain it," said Roy, blushing, as all eyes +were turned upon him. "Just sort of excited and--er--queer." + +"Yes, we heard you the first time," said Mollie patiently, while Roy +looked about for help. + +"I know what you mean," said Allen, coming to his rescue. "You're +thinking that we're likely to be called almost any time now, and it +gives you stage fright to think about it. It's a great big task we've +taken hold of, and we can't quite grasp it yet, that's all." + +"Th-that's the way I feel," said Betty, her eyes shining and her +cheeks flushed, stammering in her eagerness. "I feel somehow as if we +were acting in a great big play, where there are all actors and no +audience, and everybody's sort of flustered and excited and not sure +just where they belong but terribly anxious to get into it +somewhere." + +"Well, we're all in it," cried Frank, his eyes fired with enthusiasm. +"Thank heaven, there's not one among us we can call a slacker. We've +all enlisted without waiting to be hauled into it by the scruff of +the neck--we--we----," his eyes happened to fall upon Will as he sat +regarding him steadily from a chair near the window, and as though at +a signal, his enthusiasm died and he stammered incoherently. + +"Well, we know what _we're_ going to do," said Betty, hurriedly +changing the subject. "As soon as we reach town we're going to hunt +up the nearest Red Cross headquarters and join." + +"Bully!" cried Roy admiringly. "I heard a fellow saying the other day +that it was wonderful the way the American women have come up to the +scratch--pardon the slang, ladies, but that's what he said. He said +the Red Cross was turning out bushels of woolen wear, and that at +this rate there wouldn't be a man in the United States army or navy, +that wouldn't be kept warm and comfortable during the big fight. I +tell you it makes you feel good, to think that mothers and sisters +and sweet girl friends are backing you up like that. It takes away +old Fritz's last shadow of a chance." + +"Oh, it's wonderful to hear you talk like that," said Mollie, eyes +bright and cheeks glowing. "Ever since war was declared I've been +dying to put on a uniform and get into the thick of it myself. But if +we can't, it's the next best thing to be able to encourage our boys, +and make them as comfortable and happy as we can. Oh, I think they're +wonderful--and I love them all, every one of them!" + +"Hold on, hold on!" cried Roy, while the other boys looked delighted. +"It's all right for you to love me, but why take the whole army into +it? It would be much more exclusive the other way." + +"I love them all," said Mollie stubbornly. "And I'll keep on loving +them till this awful war is over. Then I'll consent to be exclusive." + +"Is that a promise?" cried Roy, while the others laughed delightedly. + +"But I didn't mean what you mean," protested Mollie, flushing +vividly. "Oh, dear, why does everybody have to be so foolish?" + +"I call upon the others to witness," said Roy, jumping to his feet +and bringing his fist down upon the table, with a force that made +them jump. "Mollie has consented to be exclusive when the war's over, +and you all know what that means." + +"Better get it in writing," Allen suggested. "That's the only safe +way." + +"And that isn't," said Mollie, recovering. + +"Well, we'll see what we shall see," said Roy, sitting down again, +rebuffed but undaunted. + +"Gee, it'll be up to Roy to end the war in a hurry now," grinned +Frank. "If we don't look out, he'll be starting some peace trip, and +getting his name in all the papers." + +"Nothing doing," said Roy decidedly. "When I deal with old Fritz, it +will be with a gun!" + +"So say we all of us," cried Allen, his eyes kindling, "I tell you, +it won't take us long, when we really begin to get our troops over +there. I'm crazy to get into it." + +"So am I," cried Betty, getting up energetically and beginning to +clear away the dishes. "And the first thing to do is to get back to +town where we can really start something. Goodness, I wish these +dishes were washed." + +"If all your wishes were granted so quickly," smiled Mrs. Irving, as +the other girls went at the task with equal vigor, "you wouldn't have +anything to worry about." + +Two hours later the campers were standing on the deck of the +ridiculous little ferryboat, that still plied between Pine Island and +the mainland, looking with mingled emotions toward the spot where +they had spent so many pleasant hours. + +"Do you remember," Amy said thoughtfully, as the girls stood in a +group in the bow of the boat, "how sorry we were to leave the island +that other summer? And now--" + +"We're almost glad," finished Grace. + +"We're glad because we're going to do our share in the biggest thing +that ever happened to this world," said Betty tensely. "We're glad +because we've got the greatest country in the world, and are going to +do our best to keep it the greatest country in the world. We're glad, +most of all, because--we're Americans!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +GAY CONSPIRATORS + + +"It's all right," Mollie was saying, "to give our time and labor and +everything like that, but the Red Cross needs money. If we could only +find some way to raise it!" + +The four girls were seated on the porch of Betty's house in Deepdale, +busy as always, with their knitting. Mollie and Betty were swaying +gently in the big porch swing, while Grace and Amy were curled up +comfortably in roomy wicker armchairs. + +The weather was perfect--a typical fall day, with the brilliant +sunshine peeping in under the edge of the awning, creeping up almost +to the feet of the girls, while vagrant breezes, spicy and pungent +with the smell of burning leaves, fanned their faces, and stirred +them to a new restlessness, a new desire for action. + +"Well, why not?" asked Betty, putting down her knitting, and looking +from one to the other. "I don't see why it should be impossible for +us to raise money." + +"Betty, have you a plan?" asked Amy, gazing hopefully toward the +Little Captain. "I've thought of all sorts of things, from taking a +course in stenography to taking in washing, but nothing seems to be +just right, somehow." + +"Goodness, I should think not," said Grace, while Betty and Mollie +giggled happily. "I can't imagine you in the role of chief +washerwoman to Deepdale, Amy; and as for stenography--think how much +you would have to spend before you began to earn any money." + +"My idea's very much simpler than either of those," said Betty +demurely. "I thought--though of course it may not be possible, at +all--that we might give a lawn fête and charge fifty cents admission, +a person. We know pretty nearly everybody in Deepdale, and if only a +third of them came we'd raise quite a big sum." + +"Betty, that's splendid," cried Mollie, clapping her hands excitedly, +forgetful of the needles she still held. "We can have fortune-telling +booths and tableaux, and perhaps a sketch of some kind. Oh, won't it +be fun?" + +"It ought to be," said Grace conservatively, starting to wind another +skein of wool. "But if we have all those things I think we ought to +charge a dollar." + +"Goodness, I don't think they'd get their money's worth," smiled +Betty whimsically. "A dollar's rather a lot of money to pay for a +lawn party." + +"Well, they ought to be willing to give something, just for the sake +of patriotism," said Amy quietly--for there was no better patriot in +all of Deepdale than Amy. + +"Yes, but don't you see, we want to give them their money's worth," +Mollie argued excitedly. "Because then we'll feel we've really earned +whatever we raise." + +"Well, we will earn it," said Betty earnestly. "We have, as Doctor Morely +says, 'a good deal of local talent' that we ought to be able to win over +to our side, and if we really go into the thing to make it a success, +it will be one. And a successful lawn party is no end of fun." + +"Goodness, you've got me so excited, I can't wait to begin," cried +Mollie, waving her needles about in a way to endanger seriously +Betty's eyesight. "I want to start something." + +"If you don't stop poking me with those needles, you will start +something," threatened Betty, moving to the opposite corner of the +swing, and as far from danger as possible. "You wouldn't need a +bayonet in the trenches, Mollie dear. The whole German army would +drop dead, if they saw you moving down upon them with a knitting +needle. Stop it, I tell you, or I shall be forced to take them away +from you." + +"Oh, look who's going to take them away," mocked Mollie, continuing +her wild dabs and dashes. "There isn't a man, much less a woman, on +this earth could take these knitting needles away from me, against my +will." + +"Looks as if I'd have to start a little war of my own," remarked +Betty ruefully, carefully putting away her own knitting and preparing +for action. "I never yet let a challenge like that pass me by--Oh, +Allen, you startled me!" + +"Sorry," said Allen, making his usual, though undignified, entrance +over the railing of the porch, and seating himself with a sigh of +content in one of the big chairs. "Say, what was all the row about?" +he added, looking with interest at Mollie's still threatening +needles, and Betty's general air of preparation for attack. "About a +mile away I heard the noise, and thought I'd drop in to see who was +getting killed." + +"A mile away," sniffed Mollie, abandoning the attack, while Betty +once more opened her knitting bag. "If girls are good fibbers I +wonder what they'd call men." + +"Li--I mean prevaricators," said Allen cheerfully, and the girls +gasped in dismay. "Well, you asked me, didn't you?" he argued, +laughing at their shocked faces. "I only tried to be obliging." + +"Then we like you better when you're not," said Betty primly. + +"But what was the row?" he persisted. "I'm sure I interrupted +something, and if I'm still intruding, I'll go away so you can finish +it." + +"Oh, we were just starting a new kind of war," Mollie explained. "We +call it the war of the knitting needles." + +"That's just what I told the fellows," said Allen, shaking his head +sorrowfully, "only they wouldn't believe me." + +"Now what are you talking about?" asked Grace, without looking up +from her knitting. "I know you want somebody to ask it, so I'll be-- +as you would say in vulgar slang--the goat." + +"That's right! Blame it all, even the slang, on us," said Allen +plaintively. "That's the way the girls----" + +"Goodness, you can't tell us anything about ourselves we don't know," +said Mollie impatiently. "We want to know what you told the boys." + +"Oh, about the needles," said Allen, stretching out his long legs, +and locking his fingers behind his head. "I just happened to remark +that while we were killing each other off with bayonets in the +trenches, the women and girls would be knitting themselves to death +at home, so there would probably be an equal number of both sexes +when the war was over." + +"Oh, dear, there you go, joking about it again," sighed Amy. "And you +made me lose a stitch too. Oh, dear, that's the first one in the +whole sweater." + +"Hand it over," said Betty patiently. "I may be able to catch it for +you, so you won't have to rip out too much. Oh, Allen, what do you +suppose we are going to do?" + +"What?" queried Allen, gazing admiringly from the busy deft fingers +to the pretty bent head. + +"We're going to give a lawn party," she answered. "It's going to be +as elaborate an affair as possible, and we're going to charge a +dollar admission." + +"Whew," said Allen, sitting up and regarding each one of the flushed +conspirators in turn. "What's this--a get-rich-quick-scheme?" + +"I should say not!" said Mollie hotly. "Isn't that just exactly like +a man? _Everything_ we do isn't selfish." + +"Well, what _is_ the idea?" asked poor Allen patiently. "If you'd +just tell a fellow----" + +"It's for the Red Cross," Betty explained, "I'm afraid that stitch is +too far down to get back, Amy dear. You'll have to rip out a little. +You see we want to raise a lot of money," she went on, raising her +pretty head and speaking quickly. "When we decided to join the Red +Cross, as you know we have, we didn't mean to go into it half way. It +didn't seem to us enough, just to give our time and labor--we wanted +to raise actual cash. And this seemed the best way to do it." + +"I think it's a mighty fine idea," said Allen heartily. "And as I +don't think there's a more patriotic town on the map than little old +Deepdale, I should think you ought to be able to raise quite a +considerable pile. I'll help all I can." + +"Oh, Allen, will you?" cried Betty excitedly. "Oh, if you boys will +only help, we'll be _sure_ to make it a success. I can't wait to +begin." + +"Well, why do we have to wait?" asked Mollie practically. "Why can't +we start in planning and rehearsing to-night?" + +"There's no reason in the world why we can't," cried Betty, putting +away her knitting definitely, and beginning to pace up and down the +porch as she always did when thinking things out. "Allen, do you +think you can round up the boys, and do you think they'll all be +willing to help us?" + +"Of course," said Allen, without taking his eyes from her. "I'll +bring them around to-night if you say so." + +"Good! Then there's Gladys Alden who plays the violin beautifully, +and Jean Ratcliffe who can recite like a professional and--oh, dear, +there's no end to the talent. And we'll----" she paused dramatically +and surveyed them with dancing eyes. "We'll--give a play!" + +"But a play takes time," Allen objected; "and if you're counting us +fellows in on it, you'll have to make it soon. We may be called any +time now." + +"Oh, but don't you remember that play we were going to give one +time?" Mollie broke in eagerly. "And then somebody's relative was +taken sick, and broke the whole thing up? That was a good little +sketch, and I don't think it would take us very long to brush it up +again." + +"Mollie, you're a genius," cried Betty, stopping before Mollie and +hugging her rapturously. "Why, of course it won't take us any time at +all to get that in shape, and it's sure to take well." + +"Do you know what would make a hit?" suggested Allen, catching the +general spirit of enthusiasm. "If this is going to be an outdoor +affair, we ought to have a big tent with a stage at one end, for this +concert and sketch business. We could make it mighty picturesque, +with Japanese lanterns, and we fellows might be able to rig up some +batteries and electric lights for footlights." + +"That would be wonderful," cried Grace, shaken out of her usual calm. +"That would be the big attraction. Then we could have little booths +for fortune-telling, and such things, scattered about the place." + +"And ice cream and cake counters," cried Amy, her eyes wide and dark +with excitement. "We girls could make the cakes, so it wouldn't cost +so much." + +"Allen," interrupted Betty, gazing eagerly down the street. "There +goes Roy now. Won't you go after him, and tell him to be sure to be +here to-night? Frank and Will, too--don't let them say no!" + +"All right," said Allen obligingly, untwining his long legs, and +taking the steps two at a time. "I go to do your bidding, Princess." + +"And, Allen," Betty ran down the steps to call after him, "whatever +you do--come early!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MAGIC LANTERNS + + +Two weeks of constant hustle, excitement and preparation passed by +until at last came--the big night! + +It was seven o'clock and Betty had started to dress. Mechanically, +with fingers that shook a little from excitement, she went through +the early stages of the process, until it was time to slip into the +pretty filmy lace dress she was to wear for the first part of the +evening. + +Then her eyes met the reflected ones in the mirror, and she stopped +short, wondering "if this were really I." She was very sure that that +very pretty girl in the mirror, with the flushed cheeks and brilliant +eyes, could never be the Betty Nelson she had grown up with--it could +not be! And yet she thrilled with a strange new happiness. It was so +good to be pretty. + +Then she drew a deep breath, and turned away with a little rippling +laugh at herself. + +"Betty Nelson," she scolded, slipping the pretty dress over her head, +and keeping her eyes severely away from the mirror, "you'll be +getting conceited next; and if there's anything I hate, it's a +conceited person." + +At a quarter of eight there came a ring at the door bell, and Betty's +heart missed a beat. It proved to be only Allen, however--but, +strange as it may seem, that fact did not seem to improve the +behavior of her heart in the least. + +As for Allen, he simply stood and stared, as a transformed Betty ran +down the stairs toward him. + +"Oh, Allen, I'm _so_ glad it was only you," she said, holding out her +hands to him--which he seemed by no means reluctant to take. "I was +so hoping you'd get here before the rest. There are one or two things +I want to talk over with you." + +"Betty," he whispered, his voice sounding strange, even to himself, +"you're so pretty, I can't think of anything else, or look at +anything else, while you're around. I always did have trouble that +way, but to-night----" + +"I--I'm--just the same to-night as I always am," she stammered, not +daring to look at him. "Allen, dear--I----" + +"What did you call me?" he shouted, turning her about so she had to +look at him. "Betty, Betty, say it again. I, oh, I--" + +"I--I didn't mean it," gasped Betty, joyfully afraid, wanting to run +away, yet wanting desperately not to. "I don't know what made me----" + +"Don't you?" he cried, that same wild thrill in his voice. "Then I'll +tell you, Betty. You said it because----" + +"Good evening, Allen." It was Mrs. Nelson's voice as she came +unsuspectingly upon them from the dining-room. "I didn't even know +you were here. Betty and I were hoping you would get here early. The +footlights don't work just as they should----" and Allen's golden +hour was gone, for the moment, at least. + +He gazed pleadingly toward Betty, but she had put an arm about her +mother--Allen noticed with joy that it trembled a little--and was +leading the way toward the rear of the house, and out upon the lawn, +where the big tent had been erected. + +It took Allen, who, besides being a very able and rising young +lawyer, was also something of an electrician, about two minutes to +find the flaw in the wiring and remedy it. Soon after that the first +guests began to arrive. + +The rest of the evening was one brilliant panorama, that the girls +never forgot. Until nine o'clock, the time set for the concert and +sketch in the big tent, the guests, about two hundred in number, +wandered happily about the lawn, watching "Denton's trained animals," +which consisted of a little French poodle, an aristocratic yellow +cat, and a gifted parrot, with an immense and varied vocabulary, +perform. + +The animals were the undisputed property of this young Denton, who +had grown up in Deepdale, and who, being a lover of animals, had +untiringly trained his pets, until their fame had spread all over the +town. He had a booth all to himself, and was having more fun than the +spectators--and that was saying a good deal, judging from the merry +laughter and jests issuing from the tent. + +There were several other attractions, the favorite, after "Denton's +trained animals," being the fortune-telling booth. This was presided +over by Jessie Johnson--one of the jolliest and wittiest of the +Deepdale girls. She was made up to resemble an old crone, and her +fortune-telling kept her victims in gales of laughter. + +"Isn't it great?" cried Mollie, hugging Betty rapturously, as they +met behind the scenes in the big tent about nine o'clock. "I knew it +would be a success, but this is better even than I expected." + +"Mollie," returned Betty, and there was a strange new thrill in her +voice, that made her friend look at her quickly, "I'm happy, happy, +happy! I thought I knew what it was to be happy before, but I never +did. I just feel like shouting aloud and hugging everybody I see. Oh, +I never dreamed we'd make such a success of it!" + +"It isn't over yet, though," said Mollie, beginning to feel a little +panicky. "We've got to speak _our_ little piece yet, and I never did +feel quite sure of that last line." + +"Oh, goodness, don't begin to worry now," cried Betty. "Our last +rehearsal was perfect, and we've never fallen down in anything we've +tried to do yet." + +"Well, there has to be a beginning to everything, hasn't there?" +argued Mollie pessimistically. "I'm perfectly sure I'm going to +forget that last line. I feel it coming on." + +"Well, then you deserve to lose it," said Betty, knowing very well +how best to handle Mollie. "You'll do just whatever you think you're +going to do, and if you think you're going to fail, you'll fail!" + +"I'm not going to fail any more than you are, Betty Nelson," cried +Mollie, her eyes blazing. "I've never seen anything yet I couldn't do +as well as you." + +"Goodness, what's this?" cried gentle Amy, aghast, coming upon the +two suddenly. "You're not quarreling, are you?" + +"What did it sound like--talk about the weather?" asked Mollie +sarcastically. "You just wait and _see_ what I'll do, Betty Nelson!" +and she marched out with her nose in the air. + +"Oh, dear," sighed Amy; "and I thought everything was going so +beautifully." + +"It is," chuckled Betty, and hustled the bewildered Amy out another +door of the tent. + +Then came Allen, dressed as a herald of olden times, and blew in +golden notes, a message to the people scattered about the lawn, that +the real attraction of the evening was about to begin. + +The girls had worried a little for fear the big tent would not be +able to accommodate all the guests, so great had been their response +to the call of patriotism, but it was found to their intense relief +that, although a few had to stand at the back, all could be admitted. + +The first part of the program consisted of music, recitations and +some very cleverly arranged tableaux. Everything was remarkably good, +as the hearty applause testified, and behind the scenes everywhere, +was jubilation. + +"Now if we only do as well," said Grace, as the improvised curtain +dropped, signaling the intermission, "we'll not have anything to +worry about." + +"We will," said Betty confidently. "Jean, you did wonderfully," she +added, to the girl who had been the elocutionist of the evening. "I +thought it was wonderful at the last rehearsal, but you outdid +yourself to-night. And you, too, Larry. Oh, it's such a success!" + +They fairly danced with impatience during the intermission, and were +ready with their costumes and stage settings before the ten minutes +was up. + +"Oh, I'm so frightened, I can hardly stand up," chattered Amy as she +and Betty stood together, waiting for the endless last minute to drag +past. "Betty, if this is stage fright, it's a lot worse than I +thought. I can't think of a line I have to say." + +"Well, you'd better not keep that up _too_ long," returned Betty +grimly. "It might be serious. There, that's Allen's cue." + +Local talent had even produced an orchestra for the sketch, and +although once in a while, the cornetist forgot to toot, or the first +violin became excited and left the rest of his flock behind to follow +him as best it might, still the music was pretty good and added +considerably to the general effect. + +And the play was the crowning glory of the evening! The stage fright +which had threatened to overwhelm the actors, magically disappeared +when they found themselves put upon their mettle, and they frolicked +through the play, with an ease and naive enjoyment that delighted +their audience and brought storms of applause. + +The play was called, "A Day in Court." It was a professional +production which had been almost completely rewritten by Allen and +Betty. The judge was a woman, and the various characters brought +before her, were all more or less funny. One character had originally +been a German servant girl, suing her mistress for wages, but this +character, on account of the war, was changed to Irish, and was +impersonated by Amy with marked success. + +Betty was the woman judge, and the way she laid down the law was most +marvelous, and brought forth many peals of laughter. + +Will, in a most ridiculous costume, performed the offices of court +clerk. + +Mollie impersonated a French flower girl, who had failed to receive +pay for bouquets sold to a local dude, a part played by Roy Anderson, +and it developed during the court scene, that the dude was engaged to +two girls at once, impersonated by Grace and another girl. + +There was an irate uncle of one of the girls, none other than Frank +Haley, and Allen as the brother of the other girl, who also demanded +satisfaction, and the mix-up in the courtroom was most realistic. + +"About the funniest thing I ever saw in my life," was Mr. Nelson's +comment. + +"They are certainly doing remarkably well," answered Mrs. Billette, +who chanced to sit near by. + +"If those youngsters keep on doing as well as that, they'll all want +to go on the professional stage," remarked Mr. Ford. + +All during the ice cream and cake part of the entertainment the young +performers were fêted and congratulated, till they began, as Roy +expressed it, "to feel themselves some punkins." + +It was late before the last guest had departed, still laughingly +bandying jests back and forth, and the Little Captain and the group +of her particular chums and followers were left alone. Then-- + +"I wish it were beginning all over again," said Amy, leaning her head +against a pillar of the porch and gazing dreamily up at the stars. "I +never had such a good time in my life." + +"It seems to me I'm always saying that," sighed Betty, sinking into +the hammock, and laughing up at Allen, as he stood before her. "It's +wonderful when life is just a succession of good times." + +"Betty," he answered, sitting down beside her, and finding her hand +under cover of the darkness, "that's my one ambition--to make life +for you just a 'succession of good times.'" + +"But I guess that never happens to anybody," she said, trying to +speak lightly. "And I don't know that just having good times is a +very big ambition. No--I--didn't mean that, Allen," she added +quickly, seeing she had hurt him. "You've always been altogether too +good to me. I--I guess I don't deserve it." + +"There's nothing half good enough for you," said Allen fervently. +"Betty," he added, after a slight pause, "I--I may have to go away +pretty soon, and before I go I want you to know----" + +"Say, Allen, are you going home like a respectable citizen, or shall +we have to use force?" It was Roy who accosted him, and Allen +muttered something under his breath. + +"I'm going home when I get good and ready," he was beginning, when +Betty herself jumped to her feet and held out a hand to him. + +"It _is_ getting late," she said, "and we're all going to meet to-morrow, +anyway, so we won't even say good-bye. _Au revoir,_ everybody. It's +been such a night!" + +As she stood on the porch waving her hand to them, Allen hesitated a +moment, started forward, then ran back again. + +"There will come a night," he whispered, close in her ear, "when you +won't get rid of me so easily." + +And Betty, left alone, smiled a new smile at the stars. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +A SLACKER? + + +Two weeks went by after the great night, two weeks of ceaseless +activity. The fame of Betty's lawn party had spread all over +Deepdale, and countless smaller affairs on the same order had been +given. As imitation is always the sincerest flattery, the girls were +delighted. + +"For we have the fun of knowing we started it," Mollie had said. + +"Yes," said Betty. "We've made people understand that the Red Cross +needs money, but, girls, there's another branch of the war work that +isn't receiving much attention." + +"What's that?" queried Grace, interested. It was just like Betty to +have things entirely thought out before she said anything about them. +"I never saw anybody with so many plans as you, Betty. You make my +head swim." + +"Well, there's the Y.W.C.A.," Betty explained. "It's doing wonderful +work, but it will need a great deal more money than it has now, to +keep it up in these war times." + +"Goodness," said Amy. "I wish we'd thought about it sooner. The boys +are sure they're going to be called every day, and if we took time to +get up anything like the entertainment we had before, we couldn't +have them in it." + +"Oh, we couldn't give an affair like that without the boys," said +Mollie decidedly, a fact which she would never have admitted in the +hearing of the young men themselves. "And I'd hate to give anything +tame, after the big success we had with the other one." + +"That's just it," Betty pursued, holding a sock up to the light and +regarding it critically. "I met Mrs. Barton Ross to-day----" + +"Oh, isn't she lovely?" Amy interrupted enthusiastically. "By the +time you've talked with her five minutes you're willing to promise +her anything in the world." + +"Goodness, I wish I had a gift like that," said Grace. "I could talk +all day and nobody'd do _anything_ for me." + +"That's gratitude, isn't it?" said Mollie, in an aggrieved tone. +"Here I walk two whole blocks out of my way, to buy you a box of +candy when you didn't even ask me to----" + +"Did you say you bought that box of candy for me?" asked Grace +bitterly, eying the alluring box, where it lay in Mollie's lap. +"Every time I want one I have to look extra sweet and go down on my +knees." + +"More ingratitude," sighed Mollie. "Didn't I hear the doctor say you +must stop eating so much ice cream and candy, if you wanted to keep +your marvelous complexion?" + +"No, you didn't," retorted Grace, "for the simple reason, that I +haven't been to the doctor's for over two years." + +"That's right, I guess it _was_ your mother," Mollie admitted, +wickedly helping herself to a delicious morsel. + +"Goodness, my family's been prophesying that thing ever since I can +remember," Grace retorted, putting aside her knitting, and drawing +nearer to the candy box. "If I had listened to them I'd have worried +myself into all sorts of things by this time." + +"Instead you'd rather _eat_ yourself into them," sighed Mollie +primly, handing over the box with an air of resignation. "Betty, what +was it you were saying?" + +Betty chuckled. + +"First of all, Grace is walking off with your wool," she said. "Look +out, Grace, you'll break it." + +"It was about Mrs. Barton Ross, wasn't it?" asked Amy patiently. + +"Oh, yes! Well, she suggested that we give the same performance over +again. Everybody liked it, and any number of people had spoken to her +about it, saying they'd like to see it over again. Of course we'd +have to leave out the booths and things; they would take too much +time to get ready, but we might give the sketch." + +"Goodness, that's a regular compliment," gurgled Mollie, knitting +furiously. "Instead of--as Roy would say--'getting the hook,' they +ask us to do it all over again. I wouldn't have thought any audience +would stand for it." + +"Well," continued Betty, "I told Mrs. Ross I'd talk it over with you +folks, and if we did it at all, it would be for the benefit of the +Y.W.C.A. Of course, we don't know how the boys will feel about it." + +But the boys were perfectly willing to give the play again, declaring +that "if Deepdale could stand for it, they surely could." + +Deepdale did stand for it to the amount of a sum that made Mrs. +Barton Ross open her eyes wide in delighted astonishment. The affair +was a huge success. + +"I don't know how to thank you," she had said to Betty and Grace, who +had been appointed by the others to take the money to her. "You girls +have waked Deepdale up with a vengeance. We were always intensely +patriotic, but we hardly knew how to go about showing it, until you +came and pointed the way." + +Mrs. Barton Ross was the manager of the local Y.W.C.A., and every one +in Deepdale both loved and respected her personally and as an +influence for good. + +"I believe," said Betty, as the two girls left her and started for +home, "I'd like to join the Y.W.C.A. also if only to be near Mrs. +Barton Ross. When I've talked with her for a little while, I always +feel as if I'd been to church, or something like that." + +And that was the way it came about. Not being satisfied with Red +Cross work alone, the Outdoor Girls joined the Y.W.C.A., and from +that time on their days were filled to overflowing. + +"It's all very well to knit in the day time," Roy complained one +stormy evening, when the four couples of young folks had congregated +in Mollie's cheerful living-room; "but I don't see why you have to +keep it up all evening too. It gets me dizzy just to watch the +needles." + +"Well, why don't you get busy and learn to knit yourselves?" asked +Mollie with a twinkle. "Percy Falconer was telling me that in one +place several men had gotten together, and formed a knitting club. Of +course, they're too old to join the army or the navy, so they thought +they'd do their bit that way." + +"Yes, and they've even made up a knitting song," chuckled Betty. "And +while they knit, they sing." + +"The little dears," said Frank disgustedly. "Well, thank heaven, I'm +not too old to fight." + +"I imagine that's just the sort of club dear Percy would like to +join," remarked Allen, smiling. "It's easier to imagine him in a +corner by the fireside knitting socks for soldiers, than in any other +role." + +Percy Falconer was the dude of Deepdale, whom the other vigorous and +hearty young folks pitied more than they despised. + +"I wonder if he'll enlist," said Roy interestedly. "It's kind of hard +to picture old Percy washing his own dishes." + +"Enlist!" snorted Frank. "Of course he won't. He'll wait till he's +drafted, and then pray every night that he'll be sick or something, +so he won't have to go. I know his kind." + +"Oh, there'll probably be a lot that will try to dodge the draft by +dropping hammers on their toes, and cutting off their fingers and all +such clever and noble little things as that," said Allen. + +"Oh, Allen, do you think so?" asked Amy, gazing at him with horrified +eyes over her knitting. + +"Why, of course," Roy backed him up. "It won't happen so much among +our boys. The slum districts will get most of it. Some of those +suckers would do almost anything to get out of fighting." + +"Goodness," said Betty, with a little shiver. "I should think it +would take lots more courage to hurt yourself than to take a chance +on getting shot in the trenches. I don't see how anybody can do it." + +"Oh, they're doing worse things than that," said Allen with a +chuckle. "Hundreds of the scared ones are getting married in the hope +that they can get out of it that way." + +"Jumping from the frying pan into the fire," grinned Roy. + +"Or from one war to another," added Frank, while the girls made faces +at them. + +"But isn't Congress going to pass some sort of law," asked Betty +earnestly--Allen reflected how very pretty she was when in earnest-- +"that will make that kind of man serve first? It seems to me I read +something about it in the paper." + +"Goodness, I don't even get time to read the paper any more," sighed +Amy. "I feel wicked if I stop knitting for five minutes." + +"We'll allow you that much," said Allen graciously. "Why, yes, there +is a law like that pending, Betty, and I imagine there will be quite +a few happy homes broken up." + +"Did you hear about Herb Wilson?" asked Roy suddenly. + +Herbert Wilson was another of the Deepdale boys. + +"No," was the answer. "What's he been doing now?" + +"Why, he was spending the week-end at a house party when his folks +telegraphed him that his orders had come, and he was to report for +duty the next morning. Well, the poor old chap didn't even have time +to get home and say goodbye--had to rush off the next morning and was +sent down South. His mother came over to see mine, and, the way she +went on about it, you'd have thought Herb was going to be shot at +sunrise!" + +"Herb ought to answer like the old negro my uncle had on his +plantation," remarked Allen with a smile. "'Marse,' he said, 'dar +ain't no chaince o' my bein' shot at sunrise--no, sah. I don' never +git up dat early.'" + +They laughed, and Grace remarked casually: + +"I admire that negro. He has my own idea exactly." + +"You know, as far as I'm concerned I rather envy Herb," said Frank, +while the girls stared at him in surprise. "Not for being called away +without having time to say good-bye to his folks, of course, but for +receiving his orders. Waiting and expecting them every day is mighty +hard on your nerves, I can tell you." + +"Gee, it's time we were moving, Grace," said Will, jumping up. He had +been silent for the greater part of the evening. "It's getting late +and you've done enough knitting for one day." + +This was the signal for a general breaking up, and as the young folks +rose to say good-bye they stole furtive glances at Will. + +What was the matter with him? they wondered. Will, who had always +been the life of a party before, and so intensely patriotic and +thoroughly American! Yet he was the only one among them who was not +shouldering his share of the nation's responsibility. + +As Allen lingered after he and Betty had reached her home she spoke +her wonderment and worry. + +"Allen," she said, a little troubled line between her brows, "do you +know what's the matter with Will? Is he, can he be--a slacker?" + +"I don't know," said Allen, shoving his hands deep into his pockets +as he always did when anything was, as he expressed it, "too deep for +him." "I can't make him out at all, Betty. We'll just have to hope +for the best." + +"That's all we can do," she answered, and gave a long-drawn sigh. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +HONOR FLAGS + + +"Yes, yes, this is Betty.--Oh, Allen!--When?--To-morrow morning! Oh, +isn't that terribly short notice?--Oh, I can't, I can't believe it!-- +Roy and Frank, too?--No, I didn't hear about it--Listen, Allen.--No, +I'm _not_ crying.--What's that?--Well, I'm trying not to!--Please +listen to me.--Bring the boys around here to-night, will you? I'll +get the girls and we'll have a p-party.--No, I'm _not_ crying.-- +G-good-bye!" + +With a little jerk Betty hung up the receiver, and sat staring out of +the window with the tears streaming down her cheeks. She brushed them +away impatiently and felt feverishly for her pocket handkerchief. + +"Oh, I h-hate the old Kaiser, and I hate the old war, and I h-hate +everything!" she wailed, rolling the handkerchief up into a miserable +little ball. "Wh-what will we do when the b-boys are gone and we +haven't anything to do, but just think of the time they'll be sent +over to France to get k-killed? Oh, Betty, don't act so f-foolish," +she scolded, putting away the handkerchief with an air of decision. +"You know you wouldn't have had them do anything else anyway---- + +"Oh, there's that old telephone again. + +"Yes, hello, Mollie.--Isn't it terrible?--Oh, do come around--and +stay for supper.--I--can't bear to be left alone.--Good-bye." + +"Well, what are we going to do?" + +The four girls had gathered once more on Betty's porch and were +regarding each other mournfully. + +"Do?" echoed Grace. "Why, we can't do anything, of course, but let +them go." + +"But it won't seem at all like Deepdale!" mourned Amy. + +"Well, the only thing I can see that we can do," sighed Mollie, "is +to become Red Cross nurses and go across with them." + +"That probably wouldn't do any good, either," objected Betty, "as far +as being with the boys is concerned, because we'd probably be sent to +another part of the field entirely, and probably wouldn't see them +from the beginning of the war to the end of it. No, I guess we'll +just have to keep on knitting for them." + +"They're going to write to us, anyway," said Mollie. "And we must +write to them a good deal, too. They say the boys are just crazy for +letters when they're away from home." + +"Yes, and sometimes girls and women correspond with boys they never +saw and never expect to see," added Amy, "just because they haven't +any relatives, and it makes it less lonesome for them." + +"I imagine we'll have all we want to do just to keep up our +correspondence with the boys we know," said Betty, knitting steadily. +"I think it's wonderful the way practically all of Deepdale has +volunteered. It makes you proud to live here." + +"Yes, and they all seem to be leaving about the same time, too," said +Mollie. "Service flags are springing up all over town." + +"It's terrible," said Amy, with another sigh. "I can't walk along the +street and see those flags in the houses of people we've grown up +with, without having a funny lump rise in my throat, and I have to +hurry past to keep myself from acting foolishly." + +"I guess none of us really knew we were at war until all the boys we +know began to be called away," said Grace seriously. "And I know you +girls must all think it's strange--" she paused for a moment as if +uncertain just how to proceed, and the girls looked at her in +surprise. + +"I--I'm so worried about Will," Grace continued, not raising her eyes +from her knitting. "He hasn't been himself for a month--you girls +must have noticed that--and he won't give me any satisfaction at all +when I ask him what's the matter. We--he and I--used to be such good +friends----" her voice broke and the girls' hearts ached for her, +"and now he acts just like a stranger--only asks to be left alone. +And he's so moody and queer and silent----" Her voice trailed off and +for a long time no one spoke. + +The girls were troubled, and they longed to give her sympathy. It was +hard to know just what to say, for Will had puzzled them all sorely. + +"I wouldn't worry too much, Gracie, dear," said Betty, at last, going +over and sitting down beside her friend. "Will has some problem that +he's trying to work out all by himself. We know that he's true blue +all the way through, and when he's ready to confide in us, he'll do +it. Until then, we've just got to trust him, that's all, and help him +all we can by our good faith." + +Grace's head had dropped on Betty's shoulder and she was crying +softly. + +"B-Betty, you're such a comfort," she murmured as Betty gently +stroked her hair. "That was j-just what I w-wanted you to say. I've +been so m-miserable." + +That was more than the girls could stand, for they remembered how +gallantly Grace had striven to hide her trouble during all these +weeks, and they gathered around her, whispering little words of +endearment and comfort, till she started to laugh and cry together, +calling herself an "old goose" and clinging to them desperately. + +It was some time before they grew calm and could speak coherently. +Then Amy sighed and said: + +"Oh, dear, it's a quarter past six and I promised to be home by six +sharp. Now what shall I do?" + +"Telephone your brother that you're staying here," said the Little +Captain decidedly. "The boys are coming to-night, you know, and you +can all help me with the spread. No, you needn't waste time arguing-- +you're going to stay." + +And when Betty spoke in that tone, no one dared dispute with her. + +It was half past eight before the boys came, and the girls were +getting so nervous and impatient they could hardly sit still. + +"Do you suppose they could have forgotten?" Amy was beginning, when +the sound of masculine voices in excited conversation floated to them +on the breeze, and she stopped short to listen. + +"They're coming," cried Mollie. "There's no mistaking Frank's raucous +tones, or Roy's either, for that matter. What do you suppose they're +so excited about?" + +A few moments later the boys themselves ran up the steps, greeted the +girls cheerily, and ranged themselves in various attitudes upon the +railing of the porch. + +"Say, did you hear the latest news?" asked Roy eagerly, before the +greetings were half over. "Another American ship has been sunk by +those beastly Huns, and quite a number of passengers are reported +missing. Gee, I wish instead of going to a training camp we were +going right across. It seems a crime to be wasting time on this side +when we might be getting at them." + +"Another ship!" cried Betty, while the boys eagerly poured forth the +details. "Oh, if I were only a man," she added, clenching her hands +as the recital finished, "I'd fight until there wasn't one German +left on the face of the earth." + +"You just leave that to us," said Frank, his eyes gleaming. "We may +not be able to exterminate the whole German nation, but we'll drag +the old Kaiser to his knees and make him kiss the Stars and Stripes +before we get through. Gee, but I'm aching to get right into the +thick of it all!" + +"What's this?" asked Betty, as Allen handed her several sheets of +paper, rolled together and fastened with a rubber band. + +"Music," explained Allen, who had not taken his eyes from her face +since he had come upon the porch. "A reporter I know handed them to +me. They're all the popular war songs, and I thought perhaps we might +run them over tonight." + +They went into the living-room, where Betty's treasured grand piano +was. Betty played and the others sang until they came to "Keep the +Home Fires Burning," when Allen interfered. + +"If nobody minds," he said seriously, "I'd like to hear Betty sing +that--alone." + +And Betty, who knew the song and had always liked it, started to +sing. But she did not get far. Something swelled and swelled in her +throat and every time she came to the lines: + + "Though our lads are far away + They think of home--" + +tears blinded her eyes, her voice quivered, and she had to stop. + +Three times she tried it, then with a little sob, dropped her head on +her arm and sat still. The girls ran to her, while the boys turned +away to hide their own emotion. + +"Never mind, Betty dear," whispered Mollie, wiping a tear from the +end of her nose and patting Betty's hand tenderly. "We--we all feel +the same way about it." + +Betty raised her head and smiled a little April smile upon them. + +"I'll always keep the home fires b-burning," she said unsteadily, +"but I c-can't sing about it." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +"SMILE, GIRLS, SMILE" + + +"Wake up, Gracie." Betty's voice was low and excited as she shook her +friend into semi-wakefulness. "The boys have to catch the early +train, you know, and we mustn't keep them waiting." + +"Yes, I know," said Grace, waking to full consciousness without a +protest--for the first time since Betty had known her. "What time is +it, Betty?" + +"Six-thirty," answered Betty, beginning to dress hurriedly. "That's +fifteen minutes later than we should be. Oh, if we should miss seeing +them off!" + +"Betty, I don't feel like myself at all," said Grace, after a silence +during which they had both been plunged in thought. She flourished a +shoe in the air and regarded Betty as though it were her fault. "I feel +all quivery and shaky and trembly inside, and I don't think I could +smile if you paid me for it." + +"Goodness, I know I couldn't!" said Betty, and then added as she +pinned on the bunch of carnations Allen had brought her the night +before: "We've just got to smile, though, whether we feel like it or +not. We don't want the boys to remember us in tears." + +"I should say not!" responded Grace emphatically. "When I cry I'm a +perfect fright. That's why I never do it." + +Betty chuckled despite the dull ache at her heart. + +"I wasn't quite thinking of that," she said. "But it surely will be +better if we're able to smile a little bit. Come on--let's practice." + +They stood together before the mirror, doing their best to smile +naturally, and their very failure to do it made them laugh at +themselves. + +"If we're not a couple of geese," said Betty, as arms intertwined, +they descended the stairs. "That's about the first time we ever had +to _try_ to smile. Now for a bite of breakfast." + +But, try though they did, they could not eat, and finally had to give +it up entirely. + +"We were all to meet at Mollie's, weren't we?" asked Grace, as they +made their way down the sun-flooded street. "Oh, Betty, I'm afraid to +meet anybody, I'm so sure I'm going to make a goose of myself. Will +you hold my hand all the time?" + +"Of course," said Betty, laughing unsteadily. "It's always hard to +say good-bye to anybody you--you--like," she added, "but when they're +going away to war and you may never see them again----" + +"Please don't," begged Grace, squeezing her hand convulsively. "If +you talk like that I just can't stand it, that's all. It wouldn't +take very much----" + +"All right, I won't do it again," cried Betty with forced gaiety. +"Isn't that Mollie waving to us? Of course it is. Come on, Grace, +I'll run you a race." + +But Grace was in no mind to run a race, and Betty reached the meeting +place alone, with Grace trailing in the rear. + +"Have any of the boys reached here yet?" asked Betty as she ran up +the steps. "I was afraid we'd be late." + +"No, they haven't come," said Mollie, looking anxiously down the +street; "and I'm so afraid they'll be late and miss the train, I +don't know what to do. Do you suppose they could have forgotten?" + +"Mollie Billette," cried Betty, looking at her wonderingly, "what on +earth----" + +"Oh, I know I'm impossibly silly," cried Mollie, dropping into a +chair and rocking nervously; "but I just don't know what I'm saying +this morning. I feel as if somebody was dead." + +"Not yet--but soon," boomed a deep voice behind them that made them +jump a foot. + +"Roy Anderson!" cried Mollie, her French temper flaring forth. +"That's a nice thing to do--come up behind us and scare us all to +death. And it's not nice to joke about such a serious thing, either." + +"Gee, it won't do any good to cry about it," retorted Roy +philosophically, looking around upon the three pretty girls with an +appreciative eye. "I call it a great lark, and if only you girls were +coming along my happiness would be complete." + +"Where are the other boys?" broke in Betty. "I thought you were all +coming together." + +"I called for both of them," Roy answered, grinning, "but it seems +they'd overslept themselves, and they said they'd be along later." + +"Well, if it's very _much_ later," said Grace grimly, "they might as +well go back to bed again. That train isn't going to wait." + +"Oh, they'll be here all right," Roy assured her confidently. +"They're not going to be left behind when there's any adventure like +this afoot." + +"Here they come now," cried Betty, running to the edge of the porch +and waving frantically. "Amy's with them, too. Must have picked her +up on the way." + +"We'll save time if we go on down to meet them," Roy suggested, +taking Grace by the arm. "Come along, girls, we really haven't any +time to waste." + +Betty and Mollie needed no such invitation. They were down the steps +and flying along the street before Grace had risen from her chair. + +"Oh, we were so afraid you'd be late," gasped Betty, as Allen caught +her on the wing, as it were, and drew her to his side. "And if you +weren't there on time, you might be tried for desertion, mightn't +you?" she added, looking so adorable in her concern that Allen failed +to reassure her right away. + +"Well, I don't know that we have to be there just on the minute," he +answered, smiling down at her. "But I may be really tried for +desertion some day. I can't stay away from you very long, Betty." + +She flushed and turned her eyes away. + +"I wouldn't get you into any trouble for the world," she said +demurely. + +"Will you write every day?" pleaded Allen, leaning close, and for the +moment these two were absolutely alone. "Letters are the next best +thing to having you with me, Betty. And if you stop writing, I give +you fair warning I'll come straight home on the next train, furlough +or no furlough, to see what the matter is; and if I get shot at +sunrise, so much the better. Betty, will you promise me?" He said it +pleadingly. + +"I--I'll try to write every day," she answered, still not daring to +look at him; "but you mustn't mind if some days it's only a little +line. I'm going to be terribly busy." + +"I expect to be busy, too," said Allen, drawing himself up a little; +"but I'd manage to find time to write to you every day if I had to +let other things go." + +"Allen," she laid a hand on his arm and he covered it eagerly with +his own, "I _will_ write to you every day and it will be a good long +one, too." + +"Not from a sense of duty?" he asked, still a little unbelieving, +though his heart was throbbing painfully. "You won't write just +because you'll think I'll be expecting it, Betty?" + +"No," she said, her voice very low, so low that he had to bend close +to catch the words. "I'll write to you, Allen--because I--can't help +myself." + +"Betty," he cried, "look at me." + +"Th-there's the engine whistle," she said unsteadily. + +"Engine whistle be hanged!" cried Allen explosively. "Betty, I want +you to look at me." + +Then, as she still turned from him, he deliberately put a hand +beneath her chin and turned her face to meet his. + +"Betty, little Betty," he cried tenderly, seeing that her eyes were +wet with tears, "do you care as much as that? Little girl----" + +"D-don't be nice to me," she sobbed, feeling for her handkerchief. "I +don't want to c-cry. I want to send you away with a s-smile----" + +"Betty," he cried, crushing her to him for a minute, as the train +thundered into the station, "I love you, I love you--do you hear +that? Goodbye, little girl--little girl----" + +The boys tore themselves away, not daring to look back until they +reached the train. And the girls stood in a pathetically brave little +group, waving to them and smiling through their tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE SPY AGAIN + + +They watched until the train was only a dot in the far distance, then +turned disconsolately away. + +"Well, they're gone," said Amy, when they had walked three whole +blocks in silence. + +"Goodness, why don't you tell us something we don't know?" snapped +Mollie. "Please forgive me, Amy," she added the next moment, as Amy's +eyes filled with tears. "I know I'm a beast, but I can't seem to +help it this morning." + +"Only this morning?" asked Grace maliciously, and Mollie made a face +at her--which went far toward making them feel more normal. + +"Didn't the boys say Camp Liberty was only a couple of hundred miles +from here?" asked Betty thoughtfully. Camp Liberty was the cantonment +in which the boys were to receive their initial military training. + +"Yes," said Mollie, glancing at her friend sharply. "Now what plan +have you got up your sleeve, Betty Nelson? I never in my life saw a +girl so full of plans." + +"Goodness, this isn't a plan," said Betty, though her eyes brightened +eagerly. "It's just a wild idea, that's all. You've all heard of the +Hostess Houses they're establishing at the different camps?" + +"Yes," they answered, impatient for what was to come. + +"Well, Mrs. Barton Ross said that there was a Y.M.C.A. hut at Camp +Liberty," Betty's face flushed with the daring of this new plan, "but +that there was no Hostess House there, yet." + +"Well?" they queried, not quite catching her meaning. + +"Of course it's probably absurd," said the Little Captain half +apologetically, "but I thought--I thought--" + +"Oh, Betty, for goodness sake, what did you think?" cried Mollie, +unable longer to bear the suspense. + +"That--that we might work in it," finished Betty, rather expecting to +be laughed at. + +"Betty!" gasped Grace, standing stock-still in the middle of the +sidewalk and gazing at Betty open-mouthed. "Do you suppose there's a +chance that we could?" + +"Betty Nelson, you're a wonder!" cried Mollie, throwing her arm about +the Little Captain in a bear's hug. "I'd never have thought of that +in a thousand years." + +"Well, I don't know but what it was mighty foolish to think of it," +said Betty ruefully. "It would be mighty hard to get our hopes all +raised for nothing." + +"Let's go around and see Mrs. Ross this morning," Amy suggested, +adding with sublime confidence: "She'll fix it so we can go." + +"I only wish I felt as sure," said Betty, still thinking how foolish +she had been not to speak to Mrs. Ross about it herself before she +had proposed it to the girls. Now she had got them all excited--and +it was such a wild idea. + +"Oh, Betty, don't be a wet blanket," said Mollie impatiently. "I'd +rather have my hopes raised just to be disappointed than never to +have any hopes at all." + +"It would be lots of fun," Grace went on, her eyes shining at the +mere thought. "We've heard so much about these Hostess Houses that +I've just been crazy to see one. But to live right there at the camp----" + +"We could help to see that the friends and mothers and sweethearts of +the boys were made comfortable," cried Mollie enthusiastically. "And +if there were too many to be entertained at the Hostess House we +could get families outside to entertain them. Oh, it would be no end +of fun." + +"Oh, I wish I hadn't said anything," wailed the poor Little Captain. +"Now if we are disappointed, as we almost certainly shall be, it will +be all my fault." + +"I don't know why it would be your fault," said Grace, slipping a +loyal arm about her friend. "You've chased the gloom away for one +morning at least, and if nothing comes of this idea, we'll at least +have had the delights of anticipation." + +"There's Mrs. Ross now," cried Mollie suddenly, as a figure emerged +from one of the cross streets and started on ahead of them. "Let's +run after her and learn our fate right away." + +And they did run, with the result that a moment later Mrs. Barton +Ross was surrounded by four very much excited, gesticulating and +pretty girls, all talking at once and all clamoring for her +attention. + +She watched them a moment, admiring their flushed cheeks and bright +eyes, then laughingly held up her hand. + +"One at a time," she begged. "I can play a different air with each +hand on the piano, but I'm not gifted enough to understand four +people all talking at once. Now, if you'll just say it all over +again." + +"Betty, you tell her," begged Amy, and so, eagerly, Betty put her +request. + +"I know it's probably very foolish," she finished, anxiously watching +Mrs. Ross' kindly, interested face. "But we thought, just perhaps, it +might be possible." + +"There's no 'just perhaps' about it," said Mrs. Ross decidedly, and +the girls wondered if they could believe the evidence of their ears. +"In fact," she continued, "I was going to speak to you girls about +that very thing this morning. You have been so successful in rousing +the general spirit here, that I thought you would be just the ones to +make a Hostess House at Camp Liberty a success. Why, yes, I think it +can very easily be arranged." + +Then the girls forgot dignity and decorum and everything else and +just celebrated. In the exuberance of their joy they hugged Mrs. Ross +until she gasped for breath, then they danced off down the street on +feet that scarcely touched the ground. + +"Oh, it's too good to be true," cried Mollie, when at last their +excitement had quieted down a little; then, gleefully, "Won't the +boys be surprised?" + +"Let's not tell them," Grace suggested. "It would be fun not to let +them know a thing about it till we actually got there. I want to see +their faces." + +"Who's that?" cried Mollie, grasping Betty's arm as a man sauntered +out from a cross street, glanced at them, then quickly dodged back +behind a house. "It looked like----" + +"It was!" finished Betty, running swiftly in the direction the man +had taken. + +"The spy!" gasped Amy, who with Grace, as usual, brought up the +rear. "Oh, Betty, be careful! You don't want to get shot!" + +Mollie and Betty, panting, just reached the end of the street in time +to see the man disappearing down another and knew that pursuit was +useless. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Mollie, ready to cry with vexation. "If we were +only half a dozen men apiece, and could have gotten our hands on +him!" + +"Yes, I wouldn't very much mind getting my pearl lavallière back," +said Grace, as she and Amy joined them. + +"And my gold watch," mourned Mollie. + +"Look, girls, he dropped something," cried Betty, who had gone on a +few steps in advance of them. "And it's--why, I do believe it's----" + +"My opal ring!" cried Mollie, staring at it unbelievingly. "Oh, I +can't believe it. Give it to me, Betty; it has my initials on the +inside. Yes, that's my ring." + +The ring passed from one to the other, and the girls regarded it +thoughtfully. + +"Which proves beyond the shadow of a doubt," said Betty at last, +"that Adolph Hensler was the thief." + +"Oh, if we could only have stopped him!" mourned Amy, for perhaps the +eleventh time. "It's terrible to be so close and then lose sight of +him again." + +"If it weren't for getting back our stolen things," said Grace with a +little shiver, "I'd be only too glad not to lay eyes on his beauteous +countenance again. Goodness, I know I'll dream of him to-night." + +They walked on after that for some time in silence, each one busy +with her own absorbing thoughts. Then suddenly Betty spoke. + +"Do you know, girls," she said, "I may be foolish--probably I am, but +I have a strong conviction that some time we're going to meet that +spy again--and the third time he isn't going to get away from us!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MORE SURPRISES + + +The next few weeks were filled with such excitement, that the girls +even forgot to miss the boys. In the letters they received from the +latter--and they were many--they never failed to find comments upon +this strange fact. The boys seemed to feel a little aggrieved that +the girls did not weep a few more tears in the absence of their +devoted swains. + +"Of course I want you to be happy, Betty," Allen had written once +upon this theme, "but I'd like to feel that you missed me, a little +anyway. It makes a fellow feel as though it wouldn't make any +difference if he disappeared off the face of the earth. If you missed +me one-tenth as much as I miss you--" etc., etc., until Betty's laugh +bubbled over and she patted the letter consolingly. + +"Never mind, Allen, dear," she said, putting the letter away +carefully in the rapidly increasing pile, tied with the blue ribbon. +"If you only knew what I know, you wouldn't have time to miss me so +much either. But I am glad," she added, all to herself, flushed of +face and shy-eyed, "oh, so very glad, Allen, to have you miss me!" + +So the days went on, drawing rapidly nearer to the date of their +departure, while the excitement and good spirits of the girls rose +proportionately. + +About a week before the great day, they gave another of the affairs +which had grown so rapidly in popularity. This time it was to raise +funds for the Hostess House, and the girls gave heart and soul and +all their time to make it a success. + +They were to have some very elaborate tableaux with dancing +afterward, and all Deepdale was on tiptoe with anticipation long +before the night arrived. And how they all enjoyed it! + +It spoke well for the patriotism of the young men of Deepdale that +there were very few within the age of enlistment, who had not already +gone to the various training camps, scattered all over the country. +So there were very few at the dance, giving, as Betty's father +jokingly said, a chance for the "young old men" to show their +accomplishments. + +And the "young old men," did so well that there had never, in all the +history of Deepdale, been a merrier party. Being an age when +everybody danced, up to the grandfathers of ninety, the girls had no +lack of partners, and were oftentimes amazed at the skill and +dexterity and lightness shown by men who were old enough to be their +fathers twice over. + +Of course some of them were stiff and a little "creaky in the +joints," but this only added to the general hilarity, and at one +o'clock the fun was still fast and furious. + +"Oh, I never had such a good time," cried Mollie, sinking down beside +Betty on one of the roughly improvised benches, weak from laughing. +"I was just dancing with old Doctor Riley, and he kept me in +stitches. Half the time he had almost to carry me around, I was +laughing so." + +Betty nodded and dimpled bewitchingly as Mr. Bailey, father of ten +children, gallantly asked for the next dance. + +"You're taking a chance, Miss Betty," he said, the corners of his +eyes crinkling into a million wrinkles as he laughed down at her. "I +used to be considered a fairly good dancer in the old days, but I +haven't danced in the last ten years. I watched the young folks so +much, though, I thought I'd take a chance if you were willing. If I +step on your toes too much we can go over and get some ice cream and +cake." + +"You're doing wonderfully," said Betty heartily, amazed to find how +much she was really enjoying the dance. "I'm going to write to the +boys, and say we don't need them any more," she added whimsically. +"I'll tell them we're just beginning to appreciate their fathers!" + +When it was over, their proceeds amounted to over a hundred dollars; +and that was not counting an uproarious good time, that none of the +young or middle-aged folk of Deepdale would ever stop talking about. + +Then at last came the dawning of the great day--the day the girls had +looked forward to for weeks. They woke with a strange, thrilly +sensation running up and down their spines, and hearts that refused +to beat normally. + +In four separate houses, four separate girls dressed with trembling +fingers and eyes on the clock; and four separate girls kept saying +over and over again: "What will they say? What will they say?" + +They met at Mollie's as usual--a tense-faced, excited little group-- +with parents and relatives who were going to the train to see them +off. + +"Have we plenty of time?" asked Amy, who for two days and nights had +lived in the fear of losing that train. "I guess maybe we'd better +hurry." + +"Oh, there is oceans of time," Mrs. Ross assured them, who seemed, +for some unaccountable reason, bent on delaying them. "The train +isn't due for ten minutes yet, and then it's more than likely to be +late. Besides, there are a few last words I'd like to say to you +girls that can be said better here than on the station platform." + +Then she started to give them some minute instructions, to which they +tried hard to listen respectfully, although the mere effort to sit +still was torture, and Mollie afterward said she "wanted to scream." + +However, the harangue lasted at the most, two minutes--although it +seemed to the girls two ages--and they were at last on their way to +the station. It was not till they turned the corner that brought the +familiar platform in view, that they received their first surprise. + +The station was fairly thronged with people! + +"Wh-what is it?" stammered Betty, rubbing her eyes to make sure she +was not dreaming. + +"Is everybody in Deepdale going away?" added Mollie, her eyes big +with wonder. + +"I've never seen so many people at the station at one time," added +Grace, bewildered. + +"Do you know what it is, Mrs. Ross?" asked Amy. + +But Mrs. Ross made no answer--she did not have to. The crowd at the +station caught sight of the four girls, and a great shout went up. + +"Hurray," cried a masculine voice. "Hurray for the Outdoor Girls. +Give 'em three cheers and a tiger." + +The girls stood still, amazed, bewildered, until suddenly, out of a +maze of tangled thoughts, light dawned. + +"They're cheering _us_, Mollie," whispered Betty, squeezing Mollie's +hand until it hurt--at least it would have if Mollie had noticed it. +"All these people have turned out early just to see us off." + +"I--I'm afraid I'm going to cry," said Mollie unsteadily. + +When the shouts had died down, Doctor Riley made a speech full of +true Irish wit and humor, and pathos, too, telling the girls how +deeply Deepdale had appreciated the active and patriotic work they +had done for their country in the time of its bitterest need and how +very sorry they all were to see them go. + +He went on to tell something of what the country was doing and had +done, cracking a few jokes based on camp life, that almost sent the +girls into hysterics--so finely balanced were they between laughter +and tears. Then he ended with another eulogy of the Outdoor Girls and +the hope that health and good fortune would follow them wherever they +went. + +He stepped down from the box on which he had been making his address +just as the sharp toot of the whistle gave warning of the train's +approach. Some one handed him four little corsage bouquets of +carnations, which he handed in turn to each one of the tremulous +girls, with an appropriate little speech to each. + +With a grinding of brakes the train came to a standstill, and the +crowd gave way to let them pass. Clutching the little bouquets tight +and hoping desperately that they would not cry, the girls started for +the train. + +At the bottom of the steps Betty turned and faced them. + +"You dear people," she began, but choked and had to try again. "I-- +we--want to thank you----" Then, as two tears forced their way +through and rolled unchecked down her face, she turned and ran up the +car steps. + +"All we can say," she added, smiling unsteadily down at them as the +train began to move, "is, just that we--we--love you all!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE HOSTESS HOUSE + + +Once settled comfortably in the seats, the girls smiled across at +each other unsteadily. + +"We didn't deserve it," said Amy, brushing away a tiresome tear that +would insist upon trickling down her face. + +"None of us did, except Betty," said Grace, recovering enough to open +the chocolate box she had thoughtfully purchased at a drug store. +"She was the one who really thought up all the things, and all we did +was follow where she led." + +"That's foolish, and you know it is," said Betty, beginning to get +indignant. "I'd like to know how much of it I could have done without +you girls! And of course the boys helped wonderfully, too." + +"Goodness, what's the use of arguing?" Mollie broke in. "The fact +remains that we've been cheered by a crowd of our friends, made +speeches to, and presented with bouquets, and I don't care whose +fault it was it all happened. I'm too happy." + +"Happy," echoed Amy, gazing dreamily out of the window at the flying +landscape. "I never was so happy in my life before--except for one +thing." Her face clouded a little and she bit her lip. + +"What one thing?" asked Mollie with interest. Grace and Betty turned +to gaze at her inquiringly. + +"Oh, n--nothing," stammered Amy, very much confused to find all eyes +upon her. "I was just--thinking aloud, I guess." + +"Well, do it some more," suggested Grace, passing her the candy. +"Something tells me it might be interesting." + +"Goodness, it is interesting," laughed Betty, changing the subject to +save Amy further embarrassment. "Have any of you girls ever heard +Grace talk in her sleep?" + +"Now, Betty," Grace turned upon her reproachfully. "You're never +going to--" + +"Yes, she is," cried Mollie gleefully. "What does she say, Betty? It +ought to be good." + +"I never say anything that isn't good," put in Grace primly, adding, +as she saw the light of mischief in Betty's eye. "If you tell tales +out of school, Betty Nelson, I'll never forgive you." + +"It's awfully funny," began Betty, bubbling over, while Mollie leaned +forward gleefully. "She talks in such a wee small voice, and +sometimes she'll even answer questions--if you speak very coaxingly." + +"I know, but what does she _say_?" asked Mollie impatiently. +"Goodness, I've missed a lot." + +"Well, I remember one conversation we had," began Betty reflectively. + +"Betty," Grace broke in imploringly, "I had a mistaken notion that +you were a friend of mine." + +"I am, dear," answered Betty soothingly. "I won't give away any +secrets--not many, anyway----" + +"Betty," cried Grace desperately, "I'll stop you if I have to use +force." + +"We'll protect you, Betty," Mollie promised. "Go ahead, tell us about +that conversation." + +"It was very interesting," complied Betty, with exasperating +deliberation, and eyes brimming over with fun. "It seems to me we +were discussing some of the boys we knew----" + +"Betty," cried poor Grace again, her face flaming, "if you say one +word more, I'll never speak to you again." + +"Well, in that case," said Betty, settling back and looking +disappointed, "I suppose I'll have to let you out." + +"That's a nice way to treat us, I should say," cried Mollie +disgustedly. "Just get our curiosity aroused and then sit on it. No, +you needn't try to make it up by offering me candy, Betty. I'm just +peeved." + +"Goodness, I seem to make enemies whatever I do," said Betty +plaintively. "I tell you what I'll do," she added, seized by +inspiration. + +"Take care," warned Grace, her mouth full of chocolate. + +"We'll wait till some night when Grace has eaten a specially large +amount of chocolates and ice cream----" + +"We won't have to wait long," murmured Mollie. + +"And then I'll invite you all to a seance," finished Betty, sitting +back and looking tremendously satisfied with herself. "Then you can +question Grace for yourselves." + +"But does she actually answer you?" asked Amy, still incredulous. +"I've heard of people talking in their sleep, but I never heard of +anybody's answering questions intelligently." + +"Goodness, she doesn't!" said Betty wickedly. "How can you expect +people to do in their sleep what they can't do when they're awake?" + +"Betty Nelson!" cried Grace--and if looks could kill, Betty's moments +would have been numbered--"that's the worst yet. Now I _am_ +offended." + +"Oh, dear," said Betty, while the others giggled merrily. "I always +seem to be getting myself in wrong. Will you pass me some candy, +Grace?" + +"No," said the latter firmly. "I only give candies to them what +deserves 'em. Mollie, come back with those--come back with them--I +tell you--" + +But Mollie had whisked them off Grace's lap before she could +interfere and had handed them around with great ceremony. + +And so the journey continued amid a great deal of fun and merriment +until the train was nearing Camp Liberty. Then the prospect of seeing +the boys and surprising them made the girls so nervous they could +hardly sit still. + +"I did such a foolish thing," said Betty, as they, put on their wraps +in a flurry of haste. "I wrote to Allen yesterday and I'll see him +before he gets the letter. It would have been better to have brought +it along." + +A few minutes later the train drew into the station, and a quartette +of very pretty girls stepped to the platform. So pretty were they, in +fact, that more than one passerby turned around to look a second +time. + +The girls gave their trunk checks to a negro who came bustling up, +stepped into a cab and, almost before they knew it, were being +whirled along the streets at a reckless pace toward the Hostess +House. + +"Oh," gasped Amy, holding on tight to the seat. "I have worse stage +fright now than I did on the night we gave the sketch. Everything's +so new and strange." + +"Well, what did you expect a strange city to be like?" asked Mollie +practically. + +In what seemed to them scarcely a second of time they had stopped +before a very pretty, homelike house, and a polite chauffeur was +holding the door of the cab open for them. + +Still feeling as if it were all happening in a dream, they crossed +the sidewalk and ran up the steps of the house. Before they had time +to ring the bell a stout, middle-aged, motherly-looking woman opened +the door and smiled down at them approvingly. + +"Well, well," she said, holding the door wide for them, "walk right +in, young ladies, and make yourselves at home." + +"We expected you almost an hour sooner," she added, as the girls +followed her into a big, cheerful front room. "I was rather afraid +there might have been an accident on the road--there have been +several lately." + +"No, we were simply delayed," replied Betty with her prettiest smile-- +winning the woman's affections then and there. "Part of the way we +could have walked faster than the train moved, I think." + +"I'm Mrs. Watson," their hostess introduced herself a few minutes +later, as she led the way upstairs. "Mrs. Barton Ross has no doubt +told you I am representing the Y.W.C.A. here in Denton. I hope," she +added, as the girls took off their coats and hats and "did things" to +their hair, "that we are going to be friends." + +"We shall be," chorused the girls, smiling at her happily, "if we +have anything to say about it!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +HELPING UNCLE SAM + + +After dinner, the girls were taken over their new domain, and were +enthusiastic about it. There were three big parlors where the boys +could entertain their friends and relatives, also bedrooms enough to +accommodate some score of people over night. + +"Of course, as you see, we're not nearly in shape yet," Mrs. Watson +apologized, as they came back to the big front room. "There are still +pictures to be hung, some draperies and odds and ends to be bought +that will change the looks of the place entirely. It is with those +things you girls can help me immensely, if you will." + +"That's what we came for," replied Betty quickly, while the other +girls looked eager. "And besides, I think it will be a lark. Somehow, +nothing seems half hard or strenuous enough to do for the boys that +are giving up so much for us." + +"That's the spirit we like to see," said Mrs. Watson, looking at the +girl's flushed face and shining eyes approvingly. "And it's the +spirit," she added slowly, "that we see among nine-tenths of our +girls and women these days. It's wonderful what we are +accomplishing." + +"It's nothing to what our boys are going to accomplish when they get +into the fight," broke in Mollie, her eyes big and dark. "My one +regret is that I can't put on a uniform, and fight side by side with +them." + +"But we can fight side by side with them," said Mrs. Watson, leaning +forward very seriously. "Don't you suppose the thought of us and the +certainty that we are backing them up with all our might, will be +with the boys every minute while they're in the trenches, helping +them to fight the Hun as they never would be able to alone?" + +"Yes," said Mollie, impressed but still unconvinced. "But I should +think it would help them ever so much more if we were really there in +person. Women have proved themselves just as good fighters as men, +you know." + +"That might be all right," said Amy quietly. "But then who would stay +at home to knit sweaters for them, and who would do the nursing work? +We couldn't do that, and be in the trenches at the same time." + +"That's the way I look at it," said Mrs. Watson, turning to the quiet +girl and regarding her thoughtfully. "It seems to me we are doing far +more good here at home where we've had experience, than we could +possibly do in the actual fighting. But it's getting pretty late," +she interrupted herself, "and you girls must be tired after your long +journey. Suppose we get to bed right away, so that in the morning we +can start bright and early to get things in shape." + +They assented unanimously, for, although their desire for information +was as unsatisfied as ever, their eyelids were heavy with sleep, and +the thought of bed lured them irresistibly. + +"Oh, I can't wait for the morning to come," sighed Betty, as she +slipped in between the cool sheets. "It seems wicked to waste time in +sleep." + +"In the morning we'll work," said Mollie, her voice eager with +anticipation; "and in the afternoon--" + +"We'll go over and surprise the boys," finished Grace. "I can almost +see their faces when we burst in upon them." + +"There'll be no bursting," said Betty primly. "We've got to behave +like perfectly proper young ladies." + +"Oh, impossible," murmured Mollie; and five minutes later, they were +all asleep. + +Morning, and the sun shining brightly in the window, challenging them +to action. + +"Awake?" queried Mollie, leaning over and poking Betty +experimentally. + +"If I'm not I soon will be," said Betty, sitting up and regarding +Mollie indignantly. "Goodness, that's a nice thing to do to a person. +Couldn't you see I was asleep?" + +"I was just asking you," said Mollie twinkling. "You looked so sweet +and peaceful----" + +"That you needs must spoil it all," said Betty plaintively. "My, but +I'd hate to have that kind of a disposition."' + +"Won't you let me be your little alarm clock?" begged Mollie, leaning +forward to administer another poke, which Betty skillfully dodged. + +"No, I won't," she answered, adding, as she squinted out at the sun: +"We don't need one in this room. We're facing directly east." + +Mollie chuckled. + +"Mrs. Watson made a mistake," she said, "when she put Grace and Amy +in the other room. She should have put them in this one, so the sun +could take our place and wake them up every morning. Betty, it's a +glorious day." + +"Don't you suppose I know it?" asked Betty, shaking herself +impatiently, as the tang of the air and the brilliant sunshine got +into her blood, making her eager for action. "And it's only six +o'clock," she added, appealing to her little wrist watch. "We'll +never be able to get Grace and Amy up this early." + +"Won't you, though?" chuckled a voice from the doorway, and they +looked up quickly to find Grace standing there, with Amy laughing at +them over her shoulder. And what was still more wonderful and +startling--they were dressed! + +Betty and Mollie stared unbelievingly for a moment, mouths and eyes +wide open, then jumped out of bed and made a rush for the +conspirators. + +"I don't see how you did it," gasped Mollie a few minutes later, when +they stopped for lack of breath. "There wasn't a sound----" + +"Yes, there were, lots of them," said Grace, stopping before a mirror +to tuck in a stray lock that had come loose in the general confusion. +"Only you and Betty were talking so hard and fast, you didn't hear +us. Goodness, but I'm hungry." + +As this was the case with them all, and as the savory odor of bacon +and eggs was wafted up to them at the moment from below stairs, they +wasted scant time in making their way to it. + +And after breakfast what a busy morning they spent! Never in all +their active lives could they remember anything to equal it. Downtown +first of all to shop under Mrs. Watson's guidance, in stores that +were so different from those in Deepdale, that they were in great +danger of becoming hopelessly confused. + +However, they eventually "got their bearings," as the boys would have +said, and came home at last laden with parcels, and very much +satisfied with themselves. + +After luncheon, which was extremely well-cooked and tasted, oh, so +good! Mrs. Watson proposed the one thing they wanted most to do. + +"Suppose," she suggested, as they rose from the table, "that we call +this a day and spend the afternoon in getting acquainted with the +cantonment. It's extremely interesting, especially for those who have +never been through one before. What do you say?" + +What they said was enough to convince her she could not have struck +upon a happier plan. Half an hour later, all talking at once and +tremendously excited, they set out upon their tour of inspection. + +Betty drew Grace a little apart from the others and they held a +whispered consultation. + +"What shall we do?" asked the former nervously. "Shall we send the +orderly to hunt up the boys and bring them to us, or shall we just +wait until we meet them by chance?" + +"We might be here a week without doing that," said Grace, looking +about at the scores of olive drab figures. "And in the meantime, +they'd think it was very strange we didn't write to them." + +"I suppose you're right," said Betty reluctantly, "but the other way +would be so much more fun." + +At this moment Mrs. Watson and the two other girls beckoned to them +to hurry, and they had no chance for further conversation. + +Then, just as Betty was about to broach the subject of the boys to +Mrs. Watson, the unexpected happened. + +A khaki-clad figure, cutting across their path at a dead run, almost +collided with them, paused to gasp an apology, stopped still and +stared. It was Allen! + +"Betty!" he cried, with eyes for only one of them. "Wh--what are you +doing here?" + +"Just what you're doing," said Betty with spirit, though she was +blushing furiously. "Helping Uncle Sam!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE EVENING GUN + + +"But wh-what?" stammered Allen, while Mrs. Watson looked on in +amazement. "Wh-why didn't you let a fellow know?" + +"We wanted to surprise you," said Betty gleefully, noting with pride +how splendid he looked in his uniform. "You don't seem at all glad to +see us. Mrs. Watson," remembering her manners in the nick of time, +"this is a friend of ours from Deepdale--Allen Washburn. He didn't +know we were coming." + +"So I see," smiled Mrs. Watson, shaking hands warmly with Allen. "I'm +very glad to know you, Mr. Washburn, and I hope we shall see you +often at the Hostess House." + +"It's very good of you," said Allen, still very much in the dark, and +totally unable to keep his eyes from Betty's face. "Did you say the +Hostess House?" + +"Yes. That's what we came down for," said Mollie, who had been quiet +just about as long as she could. "To help run it, you know--and +everything." + +"Especially 'everything,'" drawled Grace. + +"Say, that's great!" cried Allen, beginning to see light. "You mean +you're going to stay here--maybe for weeks--and see that everybody +has a good time--us included? Gee, what luck!" + +"I'm glad you think so," said Betty demurely, while Allen wished +desperately to have her alone. "What were you in such a hurry about, +when you nearly ran into us?" she asked, with interest. + +"I was going to look up Frank and Roy, to tell them we'd been granted +our five-day furlough. We were going to make a bee line home to +Deepdale. Now," he added, eyes still on Betty's averted face, "we won't +have to!" + +Mrs. Watson smiled sympathetically, and, being an ardent matchmaker, +looked forward to having even more of an interesting season than she +had expected. + +"And it's the greatest luck ever," Allen continued enthusiastically, +as they walked slowly across the parade ground, "that we happened to +get our furlough just now. What are you girls doing this afternoon?" + +"Seeing the sights," said Mollie. "We're taking a half-holiday." + +"Gee!" cried Allen, fairly capering in his delight. "This is +altogether too good to be true. Wait till I tell the fellows." + +"Oh, but we want to surprise them," said Grace, stopping short and +looking abused. "When we've come all this distance to do it, it isn't +fair for you to have all the fun." + +"All right, you stay here then," said Allen, conducting them around +the corner of one of the low wooden buildings, which the girls +afterward learned was the mess hall. "I'll look up the fellows, and +lead the poor unsuspecting----" + +"Goodness, you'd think we were going to murder them," broke in Mollie +impatiently. "I wish you'd do something and not talk so much." + +"Anything to oblige--see you later." Allen saluted smartly and went +off briskly in search of the other boys. + +Betty's eyes almost unconsciously followed the fine, stalwart figure +till it disappeared around the corner of one of the buildings, and +Mollie, who had been watching her closely, suddenly put an arm about +her in a little impulsive hug. + +"He _is_ splendid, dear," she whispered, and once more Betty flushed +to the roots of her pretty hair. + +They had only a few minutes to wait before Allen came striding back +to them, with two other khaki-clad figures. The girls shrank farther +back into the shadows of the building. Not until they were almost +upon them did the boys catch sight of them. Then Roy and Frank just +stood still and gaped, as Allen had done. + +"Great jumping jerushaphat!" cried Roy, at last finding his tongue. +"If it isn't the very people we wanted most to see in this world. +Welcome, little strangers! Oh, gee, but you're welcome!" + +Then Frank added some equally incoherent phrases, and for a few +moments confusion reigned, while they shook hands over and over +again, all talked at once to nobody in particular, and generally +enjoyed themselves. + +"And the best part of it is," said Roy enthusiastically, "that we can +be free to show you girls about the place. And I tell you, it's +something to see!" + +Before the girls had been half shown about the place, they more than +agreed with him. It was wonderfully inspiring, to see those hundreds +of boys, with their splendidly trained young bodies and their +determined young faces, knowing they were devoting their lives freely +and cheerfully to the greatest cause in all history. + +The girls peeped into the long, low buildings that were the sleeping +quarters of the men, with their cots all in a row and clothes hung +neatly along the wall. They saw the guardhouse, where unruly soldiers +were confined and forced to a state of reasonableness. + +They regarded it with awe, and Amy even backed away from it a little. + +"I don't like barred windows," she said. "It always makes me shiver." + +"Humph," said Mollie, the irrepressible. "You'd better get used to +them, Amy, dear. Some day we'll be feeding the boys peanuts through +the bars." + +"Gee, isn't she complimentary?" said Roy, as they walked on. "You +don't know what models of deportment we've been since we came here." + +"Yes," put in Grace sweetly, "they say military training does work +miracles!" + +"It's too bad you missed guard mount this morning," said Allen, while +the rest laughed at Roy's discomfiture. + +"That's when they change the guard, isn't it?" asked Betty. + +"Yes, and they're very formal about it," Allen continued. "It's +really very impressive, and the band is a joy forever. You must get +up bright and early in the morning." + +"As if we didn't always," said Betty indignantly. + +"Oh, listen to the music," cried Amy, her head on one side like a +bird. "Isn't it great? I simply can't keep my feet still." + +"It's over at the other end of the parade," said Frank, taking +Grace's arm and leading her in the direction of the stirring strains. +"Every nice afternoon they have a concert from three to four. It's +mighty fine, too." + +"Oh, I'm so glad I came," cried Betty, to whom music was like the +wine of life. + +"So am I," said Allen, drawing her away from the party and speaking +softly. "I've seen your face so often in my dreams, Betty, that when +you suddenly appeared before me I thought for a minute it was just +another of them--more real and vivid, but still a dream. And you are +a dream, Betty, the most wonderful dream in all the world!" + +"Hush, Allen," she begged, though her heart was beating suffocatingly +and she hardly dared to look at him. "Everybody is staring at us." + +"At you, you mean." Allen looked about fiercely at his comrades, who +indeed seemed very much attracted by his pretty companion. "I see +where I'll have to lick the whole camp." + +Betty's laugh rippled out merrily, and Allen looked more belligerent +than ever. + +"Don't think I could do it, I suppose," he was beginning, when they +came suddenly upon the other members of the party, who were waiting +for them. + +"Betty, isn't it wonderful?" cried Mollie, lips parted, eyes shining +as she slipped an arm through Betty's. "Now I want more than ever to +be a soldier." + +They enjoyed every minute of that hour's concert, and then felt +abused because they could not have more. After that they visited the +Y.M.C.A. hut, saw the officers' quarters from the outside, and +otherwise amused themselves till the boys declared there was nothing +more to be seen. + +Then, just as the sun was sinking, the clear notes of the bugle broke +in upon the evening stillness, and the girls glanced inquiringly at +their escorts. + +"That's retreat," Allen explained. "If you stand here, you can watch +it at close quarters. Here come all the fellows. They have to stand +at parade rest, left knee bent, weight on the right foot, guns held +in front of them, till the old gun goes off." + +"Gun?" Amy repeated questioningly, while the girls watched the +ceremony with beating hearts. + +"Yes. At reveille the morning gun goes off; and at retreat, the +evening," Allen explained. "When you hear the gun to-night, just +click your heels and stand at attention like all the rest of us." + +Boom! The girls jumped but retained presence of mind enough to stand +at attention as Allen had cautioned them. The boys were standing +stiff and straight as ramrods, hands at salute, their young faces +grave and tense. + +The band played the "Star-Spangled Banner," and never had it thrilled +the girls as it thrilled them now. It brought tears to their eyes, +yet they wanted to shout with pride and patriotism. Their star- +spangled banner, oh, long might it wave, o'er the land of the free +and the home of the brave! + +"Allen, Allen!" cried Betty when it was all over and they had turned +away, "I'm proud, so proud, just to be--an American!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +FLAMES + + +For the girls during the happy, work-filled, pleasure-filled days +that followed, only one cloud darkened the horizon. That was the +continued strange behavior of Will Ford. + +About a week after their arrival, Grace had received a letter from +him, saying that he was coming on for an indefinite stay. Betty found +her friend with the letter clenched tight in one hand, while the +other crushed a handkerchief into a hard little ball. + +"Why, Grace, what is the matter?" Betty sat down beside her and +slipped a sympathetic arm about her shoulders. "Tell me, have you had +bad news?" + +"No, I suppose you couldn't exactly call it that," said Grace +wearily, folding up the letter and replacing it carefully in its +envelope. "As a rule I'd think it was mighty good news. Will is +coming to Camp Liberty." + +"Oh, has he enlisted, after all?" cried Betty impulsively, and the +next minute could have bitten her tongue out for her thoughtlessness. + +The tears had risen to Grace's eyes and she had turned away. + +"No," she said, very softly. "He hasn't enlisted." + +Betty's brow puckered in bewilderment. + +"Did he say why he was coming on?" she asked, not knowing just what +to say. + +"He said he was coming on business," Grace replied listlessly, then +added, with a sudden fierce outburst of emotion: "I wish he'd stay in +Deepdale. I wish, if he can't be honorable and live up to his ideals +like the other boys, he wouldn't come where they are. If he is my +brother, I'm ashamed----" + +"Hush, Grace, hush," cried Betty soothingly, putting a firm hand over +her friend's mouth. "You're all excited and worked up now or you +wouldn't say such things. Didn't I tell you before that Will has his +reasons? Are you going to let a friend have more faith in him than +his own sister?" + +"Betty Nelson," Grace began angrily, then broke down and began to sob +weakly. "I can't help it," she said, as Betty tried to comfort her. +"I've always loved Will so, and been so proud of him. He's been such +a good brother, too! I simply can't understand it!" + +"Never mind," went on Betty soothingly, trying desperately to think +of something really comforting to say. "Maybe after Will gets here +he'll explain things. Till then, as my mother says, we'll just be +'canty wi' thinkin' aboot it.'" + +But when the conversation was reported to the other girls, it +troubled them a good deal, and they longed to solve the mystery. And +when Will came he refused to be of any help whatever, keeping almost +entirely to himself, and answering questions put to him vaguely, if +at all. His actions became more and more mysterious, and it was +absolutely impossible to make him out. + +"Just leave him alone," was Allen's advice, and the girls were +reluctantly obliged to follow it. + +"But I wish I knew!" sighed Betty. + +"Yes," was all Allen answered. + +Then something happened that for a time drove the mystery from their +minds. It was after a particularly long and hard day, when the girls +had been entertaining at the Hostess House all morning and part of +the afternoon. + +Then about three or four o'clock in the afternoon, they had gone +downtown to do some very necessary shopping, and had been unable to +get back to dinner till seven o'clock; and that evening the boys had +arranged to take them to the theater. + +By the time it was all over, and the boys had left them at the +Hostess House, they were very, very tired and very, very happy. + +"I never felt so sleepy in my life," said Grace, sitting down on the +edge of the bed and stretching her arms above her head. "And yet +we've had such a good time. If somebody doesn't give me another +chocolate I won't be able to stay awake long enough to get undressed. +Thanks, Amy, you always were a friend of mine." + +"Well, I never laughed so much in my life," declared Mollie, pulling +off her slipper and wiggling her toes contentedly. "I think it's +perfectly wonderful to go out with the boys in uniform. They look so +splendid and we feel so very important." + +"Goodness, don't you think they feel important, too?" yawned Grace. +"I know that Teddy Challenger does." + +Teddy Challenger was a new-made friend of the boys, whom Allen had +brought along for Amy, Will having refused to make one of the party +on the plea of having important business to attend to. + +"Oh, I don't know," said Betty, thoughtfully running the comb through +her hair. "He seems like a mighty nice fellow to me and the boys all +like him." + +"Well, Allen won't, if Teddy doesn't mind his P's and Q's," said +Mollie, with a wickedly significant glance at Betty, which caused +that young person to flush prettily. + +"I don't even know what you mean," she announced demurely, and they +all laughed at her. + +"I wish you people would stop talking," Grace broke in plaintively. +"I've simply got to get some sleep!" + +And they slept the hearty sleep of tired girlhood till about four +o'clock in the morning. Then Amy, in the room next to Betty and +Mollie, rubbed her eyes, coughed a little, then sat up with a cry of +alarm. + +Smoke was curling thickly in around the crack in the door and the air +was hot and suffocating. Somewhere the sound of crackling, snapping +wood, the lurid flare of flames---- + +"Fire! fire!" she gasped, struggling to her feet and feeling blindly +for her clothes. "Grace, Grace, wake up! Grace----" her voice rose to +a scream as she saw that Grace was sleeping on. + +"Oh, please, please wake up," she moaned, seizing Grace by the +shoulders and shaking her wildly. "You must, you must! Grace, the +house is on fire!" + +Slowly the heavy eyelids opened, then Grace struggled to a sitting +posture, supported by Amy's quivering arm, and gazed wildly about +her. Then she sprang to her feet, swaying dizzily, and with Amy's arm +still about her, they felt blindly for the door. + +They found the knob at last and, after a nightmare moment when the +flames roared louder, and the smoke clutched viciously at their +throats, flung the door open and staggered into the hall. + +A blast of heat and smoke sent them reeling back into the room. Amy +closed the door with a little moan. + +"The other stairs!" gasped Grace, fairly dragging her friend forward. +"Maybe--it hasn't reached--them--yet----" + +"There's--Mollie and--Betty," cried Amy, clutching at her throat and +coughing spasmodically. In the frantic terror of the moment they had +forgotten everything but their own great danger. + +"We must--get--them--out!" gasped Grace, rushing into their chums' +room and frantically shaking Betty, while Amy vainly tried to waken +Mollie. The girls still slept on in the semblance of ordinary, +healthy slumber. + +"What can we do?" cried Amy hysterically. "We can't leave them here, +and we can't----" + +"Come on! We've got to--get some--help!" Grace fumbled for the knob +and finally succeeded in getting the door opened. + +As they had hoped, the stairway at the rear of the house was still +intact, although the smoke was so dense they had to feel every inch +of the way. + +Oh, the nightmare of it! Long years afterward the girls would live it +over again in their dreams, and wake up drenched in perspiration, +quivering and shaking with terror. + +When they finally reached the outer air they were smoke begrimed, +wild-eyed and the tears were rolling down their faces unnoticed and +unchecked. + +The fire, which had started inside, and had gained a good foothold +before any trace of it could be seen from the outside, had been +discovered by one of the guards, who had immediately sent in an +alarm. Already the shriek of the fire engine could be heard, soldiers +were being hurried out from the barracks to help in the rescue work, +and all was noise and confusion. + +A group of women who had escaped from the house before the girls, and +who stood huddled together in a terrified group, rushed forward at +sight of them, and gathered about them eagerly. + +But Grace was not to be detained. She pushed ruthlessly past the +women, and ran to intercept a group of firemen who were rushing down +upon them. + +"Two girls," she gasped, catching one of them by the arm and holding +on desperately. "At the head of the stairs--unconscious--get them----" + +And then Grace, who had done her gallant best, tumbled down in a +little heap, having fainted. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE RESCUE + + +Allen, rushing up with his company, gave one quick glance at the +group of women and girls before the burning house, then strode grimly +over to Amy's side. + +"Where's Betty?" he demanded roughly, his voice sounding strange, +even to himself. + +"Allen, Allen, they've gone to rescue her," cried Amy, shaking like a +leaf. "She's still in the house---" + +With a hoarse cry Allen turned, and ran like a madman toward the +burning building. A fireman, stumbling gaspingly from the house, +almost knocked him down. + +"Isn't any use!" he cried. "That stair's on fire, too. We've got to +reach 'em from the outside." + +"Get out of the way!" cried Allen, shoving him roughly to one side. + +The fireman called after him, but there was no stopping the terror +that forced him on. Terror for Betty--up there alone--Betty--Betty. +He clapped a hand before his eyes and stumbled blindly on. + +Flames lapped at him hungrily as he forced his mad way through them, +smoke choked him, blinded him, and yet he must go on. Betty--Betty... +A section of the stairs gave way before him and he had to jump to +keep from going with it. + +Was this the head of the stairs? He felt for it with his hand and +pulled it back with an involuntary cry of pain. He was horribly +burned, his hands, his face, his hair--his clothing had started. He +beat at them as he ran. He must live until he had rescued Betty--and +then---- + +A door. Fumblingly he opened it--then forced it shut from the other +side. Blindly he felt for the bed. Yes, she was here. Thank God he +had found her! But there was another figure--someone else to save. + +Then he felt a sharp pain. He looked down and found that the flames +were rapidly creeping up--creeping up... There was a rug on the floor-- +with feverish haste he wrapped himself in it--smothering the flames. +He must live until---- + +He staggered to his feet, lifted one of the unconscious figures in +his arms and staggered with it to the door. A hades of flame leaped +at him. It was too late. They were trapped! + +He groaned aloud and great tears rolled down his face. Betty--Betty! +Carefully he laid his burden down and staggered to the open window. + +The firemen were raising a ladder to another window. He beckoned to +them, he shouted to them in a hoarse voice that seemed to him to make +no noise at all. + +But they saw him and shifted the ladder to his window. Was there a +chance, after all? The flames were eating away the door, were leaping +into the room. Down below the firemen had stretched a net. + +Sobbing now, his breath coming in great gasps, Allen rushed back to +the bed, picked up one of the figures, and staggered with it back to +the window. They saw him standing there; and a great cheer went up +from the spectators. + +Gathering all that wonderful reserve strength that comes to every one +in time of greatest need, he swung his burden far out from the +window--then dropped it. + +Allen paused for a moment, steadying hand on the windowsill, then +gathered himself for the last great effort. The bed was invisible +now, the room an inferno--he had to fight every step of the way back +to the bed. Then he found what he sought, and fought the slow fight +back to the window. + +But his strength was going--going--his arms were iron weights--the +room was going black. With a great effort he fought off the +faintness. Then he saw a great, helmeted head peering in at him from +the window. + +"Give her to me, son," said a hearty voice; then, it seemed to Allen +miraculously, he was relieved of his burden. Swaying, dizzy, he clung +to the windowsill to keep himself erect. + +"Now I guess I can die," he heard himself saying, through an eternity +of space. + +"You just hold tight, son," said the hearty voice, as its owner +carefully lowered himself and the poor little unconscious figure down +the ladder. "I'll be back for you in jig time." + +But it was an eternity while Allen waited, every nerve tense in the +fight for consciousness, red hot irons searing his flesh, that +roaring hades of flames creeping closer, closer---- + +"Your turn, son!" + +Dimly he saw the helmeted head through a haze of smoke and tried to +speak--but no sound came from between his cracked, parched lips. He +swayed. A brawny arm gripped him like a vise. + +"Can you climb out," asked the voice, "or will I have to carry you?" + +[Illustration: "ALLEN!" SHE CRIED, DRAWING A CHAIR TO THE BED-SIDE.] + +Allen's head jerked up proudly, and he forced still a little more +from that splendid reserve of strength. Afterward he could never +remember how he clambered over that windowsill, and got his feet upon +the ladder. + +That he did it and managed the descent with the aid of the firemen, +he afterward learned from his friends. All he could remember, was the +great shout which came to him like a little murmur that went up from +the crowd at sight of him. + +He was a hero, a great hero, but at the time the fact interested him +not at all. He wanted to sleep--to sleep--if they would only let him +sleep! + +Four days later, he awoke and looked around him lazily. A delightful +drowsiness surrounded him; he was too comfortable even to inquire +where he was. + +Then a sweet voice reached his ears and he turned his head sharply. + +"No, thank you," it said. "I think I'll take these to him myself, if +you don't mind. This door? Thank you." + +Fascinated, Allen watched the door as it slowly opened, admitting-- +Betty! Betty, sweeter and more beautiful than he had ever seen her. +Her eyes widened at sight of him, and she ran forward impulsively. + +"Allen!" she cried, drawing a chair to the bedside and taking his +outstretched hand. "Oh, I'm so glad! I was afraid you were just going +to sleep on forever. How do you feel?" + +"Not at all," he responded whimsically, his eyes devouring her face. +"I haven't been awake long enough to feel anything--except your hand +in mine," he added softly. + +She thoughtfully regarded the hand he still held, yet did not try to +draw it away. Instead she smiled a little--a smile that set Allen's +heart to throbbing painfully, and said, so softly he could hardly +hear her: + +"Aren't you just a little bit curious to know what I think of you-- +and everybody else, for that matter--after what you did the other +day?" + +"Yes, what do you think of me?" he asked breathlessly. "I've wanted +ever since I can remember, to know that." + +"I think," said Betty, flushing, yet meeting his eager eyes steadily, +"you're the dearest and most wonderful person I ever knew." + +"Betty," he cried hoarsely and would have leaped from the bed had she +not forcibly restrained him. "Oh, Betty, Betty," he murmured over and +over again. "Did you mean that--did you?" + +"I--I'm not the only one," said Betty, startled at what she had done. +"Everybody is talking about you and praising you to the skies, and +there was even a piece about you in the paper. I--I'm afraid when you +are able to get out and hear how everybody is raving about you, +you'll be spoiled entirely." + +"Betty," he commanded, in so very different a tone from any he had +ever used before that she started and looked at him shyly, "what are +you running on about such nonsense for? If I did anything, it was for +you and because I loved you, Betty. There wasn't any heroism. I don't +deserve any fuss about it and I don't want any thanks. I don't +deserve any. You weren't hurt, Betty?" + +"No," she answered softly, not daring to look at him. This was such a +different Allen and so wonderfully attractive. "Mollie and I were +both a little sick from the smoke and shock, but it didn't take us +long to recover. You were the one who was so terribly burned that for +one horrible long day, the doctors didn't know whether you'd pull +through or not. Oh, Allen, that awful day!" + +"Were you worried?" queried Allen gently. + +"I--I never want to live through another one like it," she said with +a little shiver, then suddenly rose to go. "The doctor said you +mustn't be excited," she explained as he looked up at her reproachfully. +"And I," she looked away again, "I just wanted to--thank you, Allen-- +but if you won't let me----" + +"Betty," he broke in, an eager light of daring in his eyes, "I know +it's sort of taking advantage--but--there's just one way you can-- +thank me. Won't you--please----" + +Slowly his meaning dawned upon Betty, and the color flamed into her +face. Then, light as thistledown, her lips brushed his cheek and she +was gone, closing the door softly behind her. + +With wildly beating heart Allen pressed a hand to his cheek and gazed +longingly after her. + +"Betty," he whispered. "Oh, my Betty!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +ALLEN A HERO + + +"Gee, Allen, but you're a lucky boy!" + +It was Sunday afternoon, and the young folks had hired two +automobiles for a trip out into the country. It was more than two +weeks since the fire, and all but Allen had completely recovered from +it. He, however, still felt a little "wabbly," so the boys and girls +had conferred together, deciding that an automobile trip was just +what he needed to complete his recovery. + +Now at Roy's rather vague remark about his luck, he turned to him +inquiringly. + +"In just what way?" he asked. "I rather thought I was running out of +it lately." + +"Gee," said Roy, waxing excited, "do you call it hard luck to get a +chance at being a hero, twice in three months, and have all the girls +falling down and worshiping you, and all the old ladies patting you +on the back----" + +"I imagine that wouldn't have been particularly soothing," +interrupted Grace, reaching, as always, for the ever-present candy +box, "especially with poor Allen's back in the condition it was." + +"Yes," said Allen with a grimace, "if anybody'd started to patting me +at that time, I'd have returned pat for pat--only mine wouldn't have +been gentle. Two cents for your thoughts, Betty. You haven't said a +word all the way." + +"Goodness, has the price of thoughts gone up with everything else?" +queried Mollie, snatching a candy from under Grace's very nose. +"Nobody ever offered me more than a penny for mine." + +"Probably they weren't worth it," said Roy, to be promptly subdued by +a look from Mollie's black eyes. "As I was saying," he continued, +hastily changing the subject. "I'd consider myself in luck if I'd +rescued two beautiful damsels----" + +"They'd be the lucky ones," interrupted Mollie, with a smile. + +"From a burning building," he continued, undaunted. "It certainly was +dramatic, Allen, old chap--we have to hand it to you." + +"I felt anything but dramatic at the time," said Allen ruefully. "The +funny part of it is that I've always had a secret longing to do +something of the sort--just to get the sensation. That," he paused +dramatically, "cured me!" + +"I should think it would cure most anybody," said Mollie with a +grimace. "Neither Betty or I are particularly light weights. I don't +see how you managed it, Allen--in the heat and the smoke and +everything." + +"Managed it," scoffed Roy. "Why, it isn't every fellow has the chance +to hold two beauteous maidens in his arms----" + +"Still I might have picked out a more appropriate place," said Allen +whimsically. + +"Tell me something, Frank," said Grace, taking another piece of candy +and looking her prettiest at him. + +"Anything," he answered promptly. + +"Under the same conditions, would you have rushed into a burning +house--to save me?" + +"Would I?" he replied with a fervor that made Grace jump and the rest +laugh. "You just give me a chance; that's all. I'll show you!" + +"Goodness!" exclaimed Betty, twinkling. "I'll be afraid to sleep with +Grace any more. She's apt to set the place on fire just to see what +happens." + +"Good-bye, I'm going away from here," said Mollie, making a pretense +of clambering out of the machine. "One fire is just about enough for +me. Let me go, Roy Anderson--don't you dare to hold me." + +"Couldn't do anything pleasanter," said Roy cheerfully, at which +Grace held up her hands in pretended horror. + +"Heavens, everybody's getting sentimental," she cried. "If we don't +stop it, we'll just ruin everything, that's all. Look out for that +dog, Frank!" + +"That's another thing we almost ruined," grinned Frank, as the wheel +just grazed the hind leg of the cur. "Dogs are the curse of tourists, +anyway. If I had my way, they'd all be shot." + +Amy screamed and clapped her hand to her ears. + +"Frank, how can you say such things?" she cried, adding plaintively, +"I never saw such people, anyway. You can't talk for five minutes +without saying something about people being shot." + +"But we were speaking of animals," said Frank politely. + +"Same thing," murmured Mollie. + +"Speak for yourself, please," he retorted amiably, swerving the car +at a perilous angle about a turn in the road. "Say, this is pretty +country along here, isn't it?" + +They all agreed that it was, and for a few minutes sat in silent +enjoyment of it. + +While the Hostess House was in process of repair some friendly +families living in the vicinity had opened their doors wide to the +girls and the other visitors at the Hostess House. The fire had done +a great deal of damage, but the house had been amply insured, and the +work of rebuilding was proceeding as fast as possible. Meanwhile, the +girls were going on with their work as usual, though eagerly looking +forward to the time when they should be installed in their proper +quarters again. + +The fire had temporarily put the subject of Will and his mysterious +doings out of their minds, but during the last few days their wonder +and curiosity had returned. + +To-day he had consented to accompany them, and during the early part +of the ride had seemed in hilarious spirits. Now, for the last +fifteen minutes or so, he had appeared gloomy and preoccupied, but as +they neared the spot where they had decided to eat their lunch, his +spirits seemed to revive somewhat, and he became talkative again. + +"Say, I'm hungry," he announced, more like the old Will than he had +been for weeks. "What are you girls going to give us, anyway?" + +"Chicken," announced Betty, "and honey and biscuits, and peach cake +and jelly, and hot coffee from the thermos bottle, some ham +sandwiches and deviled eggs----" + +"Stop her," pleaded Roy piteously. "Stop her, some one, before I +forget myself and decamp with the hamper----" + +"You'd be forgetting us too, if you tried it," said Frank grimly. "Do +you suppose with three ravenous wolves at your back you'd have a +chance of getting away with any of that kind of stuff?" + +"Gee, it's awful the appetite camp life gives you," said Roy +mournfully. "I wrote home the other day and told the folks that if I +ate like a wolf before, I eat like a flock of 'em, now." + +"Whoever heard of a flock of wolves?" asked Mollie scornfully. "You +must have been thinking of geese." + +"No," retorted Roy soberly. "I wasn't speaking of you." + +"Strike one for our side," chuckled Allen, while the others laughed +at Mollie's look of surprise. "That was a good one, Roy--right from +the shoulder." + +"Now I _know_ I'm going home," said Mollie forlornly. "Everybody's +agin me." + +"I'm not," said Betty, putting an arm about her. "The more they try +to down you, the more I love you." + +"If that's the way you feel," put in Allen whimsically, "won't +everybody please jump on me at once?" + +"Yes, I always had a weakness for the under dog," Betty was beginning +wickedly when Mollie drew sharply away from her, and the others began +to laugh. + +"Betty Nelson," said Mollie reproachfully, "I never expected it of +you. Under dog, indeed----" + +"Oh, I didn't mean you!" said Betty hurriedly, thereby increasing the +general mirth. + +"Oh, well, what does it matter, anyway?" said Frank philosophically, +as he swung the car around a curve, and brought it to a standstill. +"I won't mind being an under dog or anything else as long as I get my +share of the eats. Don't you think this is rather a pretty spot to +have lunch?" + +"I know a better spot to _put_ it, though," said Roy jocularly, as +they sprang out upon the soft grass by the roadside. "And if I have +my way it won't be long getting there." + +Instinctively, Betty held out a hand to Allen, as he descended more +slowly than the rest--she was very anxious about his "wabbliness." + +Allen took the little hand eagerly, but it is doubtful if he gained +much physical support from it. + +"How are you feeling?" asked Betty as they followed the others up the +grassy slope to a sort of ledge--just the kind of place for a picnic +lunch. She did not look at him. Somehow, it was almost impossible to +look at Allen, these days. + +"Happy," he answered, in reply to her question. "Just being near you, +Betty, makes me the happiest fellow on earth!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +MAKING GOOD + + +It was raining torrents outside, and the girls were seated in one of +the big parlors of the Hostess House. As usual, they were knitting, +and their tongues kept time to the rapid click, click, of their +needles. + +They were exceptionally thoughtful and, as Amy expressed it, "their +mood matched the weather." The war was not going as well as every one +had hoped. The dark cloud was growing darker and darker every day, +and each morning paper seemed to bring more disquieting news than the +one before. + +"And it won't be long now," Mollie was saying, "before our boys are +sent across. It's almost time for the second draft, and the camps +will have to be emptied of the first troops. And when they're gone----" +she bowed her head to hide the unbidden tears that were glistening +in her eyes. + +"Yes, it will be terrible," said Betty, trying hard to keep the +telltale tremulousness from her voice--trying desperately to sound +brave and resigned. "But we must remember that thousands of women and +girls all over the United States are going through the same thing. +And for the boys' sake, we must be cheerful." + +"The boys themselves are cheerful--heaven bless them," cried Grace, +in a rare burst of enthusiasm. "I never saw anything like their +spirit!" + +"Isn't it wonderful?" Mollie agreed, her eyes shining through her +tears. "It makes you want to shout with pride in them, and cry at the +same time." + +"Yes," said Amy quietly, "and I don't think anybody who hasn't been +close to military life, as we have been, can realize how great the +American army will be. It's meeting the boys day after day, seeing +them get more enthusiastic as the time comes near for them to face +those terrible guns----" + +"I feel as if I wanted to go down on my knees to every boy in +uniform," cried Betty, gripping the arms of her chair till the +knuckles showed white. "No matter how hard we try we can't make up to +them for what they're giving up--and giving up so cheerfully. And +they're so dear and appreciative and thankful for every little thing +that we have done for them, it makes me want to cry. + +"And have you noticed," she continued, while the girls stopped their +work to watch her, "what happens if you ask them about their home +folks? Their faces light up, and right away they begin to talk about +'mother.' + +"'You know,' one of them said to me just a little while ago, 'when I +first came to camp, I didn't exactly feel homesick, as I'd expected +to; I just felt queer and uneasy and restless. For a couple of nights +I couldn't sleep, just kept tossing and turning till reveille routed +me out again. Then suddenly, one night, I found out what the matter +was. I wasn't homesick; I was just missing my mother.' + +"I smiled at him, trying my best not to cry, and said: 'Home is +mother, isn't it?' + +"Then the boy just turned away, and I knew it was because his eyes +were misty and he was ashamed to let me see it, and when he looked at +me again he was smiling a little wistfully. + +"A few days after that he came up to me. 'You won't laugh, if I tell +you something?' he asked. 'On my word of honor,' I answered him. +'Well,' he said, looking so dear and sheepish, I had all I could do +to keep from hugging him, 'as soon as I found out what you said about +home being mother, I just put the picture I had of her under my +pillow, and honest, I've slept like a baby ever since.'" + +The girls were all crying and Mollie impatiently shook a tear from +the tip of her nose. "Betty, you never told us that before. If his +mother could only know about it." + +"She probably does," said Betty, wiping her eyes and taking up her +knitting again. "Somehow, most mothers know those things by +instinct." + +"And to think boys like that," cried Mollie, knitting fast to keep +time with her feelings, "to think boys like that have to go over to +the other side, and be mowed down by the thousands. Oh, I can't +believe it!" + +"I guess we've all sort of closed our eyes to it, till now," said +Grace, so unlike her usual self that she had completely forgotten to +eat candy for fifteen minutes. "But we can't go on like that forever. +When it comes right down to us and we lose somebody we care for--" +her voice broke and the girls went on knitting faster than ever, +fearing a general breakdown. + +"We've just got to work so hard we can't think," said Mollie with +decision, adding, a little hysterically: "It never used to be hard +before." + +"What, to keep from thinking?" asked Amy, while the other girls +smiled a little and felt better. + +"Who's that coming up the walk, Betty?" Grace asked, a moment later. +"The glimpse I got looked like a uniform." + +"It's Allen," Betty answered, waving to the splendid specimen of +manhood who was coming up the porch two steps at a time. "He looks as +if he had some good news for us. You let him in, will you, Amy? +You're nearest the door." + +So Amy, opening the door, admitted a six-foot cyclone, who swept her +before him into the parlor, where she sank into a chair to get her +breath. + +"Well, what in the world?" asked Mollie, round eyes on his face, as +he mopped his face and lowered himself into a seat. + +"Talk about good luck," he began, beaming round upon them. "I guess +the fellows were right when they said I was falling into it lately." + +"Good news, Allen?" asked Betty, leaning forward eagerly. "I knew +you had something wonderful to tell us the moment I saw you." + +"Well, in the first place," said Allen, modestly putting himself +last, "Frank has been promoted to the rank of corporal." + +"Oh, isn't that wonderful!" they cried together, and thereafter arose +a very babel of questions as to where, when and how the promotion had +occurred, which Allen answered one after another with equal +enthusiasm. + +"Frank's taken hold and worked with all his heart," he finished, "and +he simply got what's coming to him, that's all." + +"But, Allen," Betty broke in, struck by a sudden thought, "you said +something about _your_ having run into good luck. Was it something +that happened to you personally, or was it just the good luck of +being the friend of a corporal?" + +"Since I've been a corporal myself from the start," said Allen with +dignity, "I don't see why----" + +"Yes, yes, go on," said Mollie impatiently. + +"Well," said Allen, throwing the news like a bomb into their midst, +"I've been promoted to a sergeant." + +"What?" the girls cried, hardly knowing whether to believe him or +not. "Are you really in earnest?" + +"You're not very complimentary," he grumbled, though his eyes +twinkled. "You don't suppose I'd come here and tell you a thing like +that if it weren't so, do you?" + +Then arose a second babel, louder and more prolonged than the first, +and it was a long time before they quieted down enough to talk +coherently. + +"You see," Allen explained, "there's a chance for promotion now that +there never was before. New men are coming in by the hundreds, and +those men have to have officers. There's really no end to the chances +if you just stick to the big game and do your level best. You're sure +to win something good in the end." + +"And hasn't Roy been promoted?" asked Grace. "Hasn't he been 'on the +job,' as you say?" + +"You bet your life he has," Allen defended loyally. "It's just our +luck that we happened to get it; that's all. His turn will come next, +you take it from me." + +For a few minutes no one spoke, and only the ticking of the clock, +and the regular click, click of the knitting needles broke the deep +stillness. Then Allen bethought him of something. + +"Saw Will, too, on the way up," he said, and at the name the girls +all put down their knitting and looked at him inquiringly. "He seemed +to be immensely excited about something. Fact is, I don't think he +would even have seen me if I hadn't gotten in his way and flagged +him. Mark my words--that boy's got something big up his sleeve. I bet +he's going to surprise us all some day." + +"Did he--did he--tell you anything?" asked Grace. "Anything to make +you think that?" + +"No," he answered, adding with a sincerity that brought a light of +unutterable gladness to Grace's eyes: "But I've met lots of fellows +in my business, and have learned to size them up pretty well. And if +there was ever a brainy, plucky, true-blue fellow in this world, his +name is Will Ford!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +JUST FRIENDS + + +"Here comes the sun," cried Betty, "the sun, the sun, the beautiful +sun." + +"Well, I should say it was just about time," said Grace, carefully +arranging her hat before the mirror. "If it hadn't cleared up pretty +soon, I'd have stopped hoping. Are the other girls nearly ready?" + +"Oh, we've been ready and waiting for hours," came Mollie's voice, +slightly bored, from the other room. "And we took our time, too, +because we knew how long you are getting dressed----" + +"Oh, is that so?" Grace was beginning, when Betty interrupted +peaceably. + +"Well, we're all ready now. In the words of the army--'let's go.'" + +"Oh, it is lovely out!" cried Mollie, drawing in deep breaths of the +invigorating air, as they stood on the steps looking down the street. +"I feel like walking miles and miles and miles." + +As the four girls walked down to the main gate of the cantonment, +they nodded and smiled continually to the khaki-clad, respectfully- +saluting boys they passed; for the fame of the girls at the Hostess +House had spread all over the barracks, and the boys always looked +forward to catching a smile or two or a merry word as they passed. + +Many there were who had been sentimentally inclined, but the Deepdale +boys had well nigh monopolized the girls from their home town and by +their actions had warned off all would-be intruders almost as plainly +as though they had put out a sign. + +There were some hardy souls, however, who refused to recognize any +prior claim, and these had caused much grumbling among the Deepdale +boys. + +"I wonder what will happen when we have to go across," Frank had said +once. "I suppose then those chaps will think they have it all their +own way." + +And the bright faces of the girls had clouded so suddenly and they +had looked so distressed that poor Frank never dared repeat the +offense. + +But stopping every few minutes to speak to some one you know, +necessarily makes progress slow, and it was some time before the +girls succeeded in reaching the gate and turning their steps toward +the country. + +"It doesn't seem possible that Thanksgiving can be so near," said Amy +thoughtfully. "I never knew time to run away so." + +"Yes, it makes me feel dizzy sometimes," said Mollie, with a little +perplexed frown. "I feel as if I wanted to get hold of him by the +forelock and hold him back. He's in altogether too much of a hurry." + +"If we can only see that each one of the boys who can't go home for +Thanksgiving gets a regular, old-fashioned home-cooked dinner," said +Betty earnestly, "I'll feel as if we'd done some good in the world." + +"Well, more than half the boys will be able to get home for it," said +Grace, "and I'm sure we'll find enough good-hearted families to +account for the rest." + +"Yes, the people around here have certainly helped us more than we +dared to hope," said Betty enthusiastically. "We've hardly found one +so far who wasn't willing to open his house--and his heart, too, for +that matter--to the soldier boys. I love them all for being so +generous. It's done more than anything else to keep up the boys' +spirits and send them away happy and healthy and confident." + +"Where are we going first?" queried Mollie, for Betty had made out a +list of the houses they were to canvass. + +"The Shroths come first," she answered, consulting her list. "Then +the Atwaters and the Clarks. After that we'll just go up one street +and down the other till supper time." + +"Sounds simple," said Amy plaintively, "but, oh, our poor feet!" + +"We have walked a good deal, lately," laughed Betty. "But it's +nothing to what we _have_ done. Champion hikers like us shouldn't +complain about ordinary walking. Here we are at the Shroths. Now look +your prettiest and smile your sweetest for the sake of the soldier +boys!" + +Mrs. Shroth, a sweet-faced, elderly woman, opened the door to them +herself and smilingly ushered them into the handsome library. + +"I saw you coming, my dears," she said, settling down comfortably in +an enveloping armchair, "and I'm almost sure I know what you have +come to ask me. And you needn't even ask," she added, raising her +hand as Betty started to speak, "for the request was granted two +weeks ago. My whole house is at your disposal--to do with as you +please." + +"Oh, you're lovely," Betty cried impulsively, and Mrs. Shroth gently +covered the eager young hand on the chair arm with her own, smiling +down into the flushed face. + +"The admiration is mutual," she said, and then Betty's heart went out +to her entirely. "I've watched you girls for a long time, and the +work you've done for the boys has been simply splendid. I've tried to +help all I could---" + +"You have," broke in Mollie enthusiastically. "And we've been so +grateful to you." + +"And I've been grateful to you," Mrs. Shroth added, in her sweet +voice, "for showing me how best I could serve the boys and my +country. Now, how many do you think I could accommodate for +Thanksgiving dinner--or rather, how many would you like me to +accommodate?" + +Betty was a little at a loss. + +"Why, I hardly know," she said, hesitating. "We didn't expect you to +take in more than two, perhaps three at the outside----" + +"Oh, nonsense," said Mrs. Shroth, brushing the suggestion aside. "Two +or three boys would be lost in this big house, even counting all my +relatives who usually spend Thanksgiving day with me. No, I can take +half a dozen, at least." + +The girls looked at her a moment, delighted, but incredulous. Then +they told Mrs. Shroth what they thought of such generosity until she +found herself blushing with pleasure. + +"It's such a little thing," she said, as she stood on the porch to +say good-bye to them, "that I feel almost guilty to take thanks for +it. Good luck." The girls went on down the street with singing hearts +and a warm sense of friendliness and love for all their fellow +beings. + +They found the same spirit in every house they visited, and when they +at last started for home after walking "miles and miles" they were +too happy to feel tired. + +"Oh, every one's so kind and dear and anxious to help," cried Mollie, +skipping a little in her delight, "that your heart just feels too big +to stay inside. Seems as if it ought to come out in the open where +everybody can see how hard it's beating." + +"Well, I have heard of people wearing their hearts on their sleeves," +said Betty, twinkling. "But I've never tried it myself." + +"It's wonderful," said Amy softly, "what a comfortable, warm feeling +it gives you to find people--some of them you never knew before--who +are really working side by side with you for the same thing, ready to +hold out a helping hand when you need it." + +"Yes," agreed Betty, her eyes fixed dreamily on the horizon, "it +makes you feel as if there weren't any strangers in the world, as if +we were all just friends, working for the common good of everybody." + +"Betty, how pretty," cried Grace, and there was a thrill in her voice +as she repeated softly; "all just friends, working for the common +good of everybody." + +"I'll never forget one thing that happened to me," said Amy, and they +looked at her lovingly. Amy was such a dear--but then everybody was +that to-night! "It was only a little thing, and yet it made me +think." + +"Then it couldn't have been very little," Mollie, the irrepressible, +murmured. + +"You know," Amy went on, so deep in her own thoughts, she scarcely +noticed the interruption, "I never did talk much--I always felt as if +people were cold and unfriendly--and so kept to myself, except for my +really good friends, of course. Then, one morning, I saw that it was +all my own fault. + +"I just happened to be walking along the street, not noticing anybody +particularly, when an old woman dropped her nickel car fare and it +rolled out into the middle of the street. I ran after it and gave it +back to her, and she smiled at me. Somehow, that smile changed +everything for me." + +"How, dear?" asked Betty, putting a sympathetic arm about her. + +"Why," said Amy, blushing in her enthusiasm, "it just made me feel as +if everybody was ready to smile if you only gave them half a chance. +And I've found out it was true," she finished decidedly. "Because I've +tried it ever so many times since, and it's never once failed!" + +"Yes," concluded Mollie. "I guess everybody's just plain nice and +human, after all!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +CAPTIVE AND CAPTORS + + +"Girls," Betty clutched Mollie by the arm and spoke in a tense +undertone, "isn't that the spy?" + +The girls gasped, looked, and set off on a dead run. The spy's back +was to them. He seemed to be waiting for somebody and he did not see +the girls till they were almost upon him. + +Then, with an exclamation, he dodged around the corner of the house +and commenced to run like a deer. + +"Amy!" gasped Betty, as they pursued, fleet of foot, "you go to the +camp for help! I'll try to cut him off!" + +With the strategy of a general, Betty dodged a couple of dirt piles-- +it was a row of small houses, in process of construction near the +camp--slipped across between two of the houses and did actually +succeed in cutting the spy off. + +She caught a fleeting glimpse of him as he dodged into a doorway with +the evident intention of hiding till they got tired of the hunt. +Also, it was certain he had not seen Betty and had no idea that she +had seen him. + +With wildly beating heart, but no thought of turning back, the Little +Captain picked up a big piece of wood that could serve excellently as +a weapon and ran for the doorway through which the spy had +disappeared. + +Cautiously she opened the door, and the next moment thought her heart +would stop beating altogether as she took in the situation. The man +was fumbling desperately with the knob of the inside door. Evidently +it was locked. He had fallen into a trap! + +Breathlessly Betty closed the door and leaned her full weight upon +it. If the girls would only come! They might together manage to hold +it. But alone---- + +"Betty, Betty, where are you?" cried a voice close at hand and the +Little Captain gave a gasp of dismay. As long as the man had not +known he was trapped, there might be a chance that he would remain +quiet, hoping they would pass without thinking to look into the +house. But now! Some one was pushing against the other side of the +door. He was trying to get out! + +"Hurry!" she cried agonizedly as Mollie and Grace ran up to her. "Put +your weight against the door--quick." + +So used were they to obeying her without question that they threw +their full weight upon the door, bracing and holding with all their +might. + +"He's in there," gasped Betty. "I've sent Amy for help. If we can +hold on--just a few minutes----" + +The man was hurling himself against the door with all the force of +desperation, but the girls had not spent most of their life in the +open for nothing. They held on gallantly, though in their hearts they +knew that if help were very long in coming, there could be but one +answer. They were three against one, it is true, but then they were +girls and he was a man, and a desperate man. + +"Oh, why does it take her so long?" Grace cried after one +particularly vigorous lunge which it had taken all their combined +strength to withstand. "I don't think we can keep this up much +longer----" + +"Hush," gasped Betty, "I thought I heard voices." + +"Oh, I hope you did!" + +They listened breathlessly for a moment--then the wonderful truth +dawned. Help was coming, and coming swiftly! There was no sound, save +the regular thud-thud of running feet, but the most beautiful music +in the world would have had no charms in comparison with that +rhythmic sound. + +Their prisoner must have heard it too, for he redoubled his efforts +to escape and they had to turn all of their attention to the holding +of the door. + +"If they should come too late!" gasped Mollie. + +"Don't talk," hissed Betty, through clenched teeth. "We've got to +hold him." + +And they did! + +A moment later several guards, headed by a man not in uniform, came +in sight around the corner of the building and as Will afterward +expressed it "the game was all over but the shouting." + +For it was Will who headed the relief party and took charge of the +capture. And so excited were the girls, that they forgot even to +wonder until it was all over. + +Adolph Hensler was not easy to handle, even after he found himself +looking into the muzzles of two loaded revolvers. Even then he tried +to escape and the guard was forced to shoot a couple of bullets over +his head before he was scared into submission. + +The girls walked home behind captive and captors, too breathless and +excited even to think. They had not gone far before they met Amy +coming toward them, trembling all over from fatigue and excitement. + +"They got him, didn't they?" she asked, linking her arm through +Betty's and biting her lip to keep it steady. "I was so afraid they +would be too late." + +"So were we," said Grace, examining a big black and blue bruise on +her arm. "We could have held out just about a minute longer." + +"How did you do it, Amy?" cried Mollie. "Did you have to go all the +way back to camp to find help?" + +"No, I met it coming," she answered. + +They stared at her incredulously. + +"I was about half way to camp," she explained, "when I saw Will and +the three soldiers coming toward me. When I had managed to gasp out +what I'd come for they didn't say a word--just put on full speed and +ran." + +"Mighty lucky for us they did," said Mollie, but Betty interrupted +eagerly. + +"Doesn't it seem strange to you," she said, "that an armed guard +should be coming in this direction just when we needed them? And that +Will should be at the head of them?" + +"Why, Betty, what do you mean?" Mollie was beginning when Grace +interrupted. + +"Oh, do you think it can be true?" she cried, seeing Betty's meaning +and clinging to it desperately. "Oh, Betty, Betty, if it only is!" + +"What are you talking about?" cried Mollie impatiently. "Can what be +what?" + +"Let's wait," said Betty, quickening her pace, "and let Will tell the +story!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED + + +After dinner in the living-room of the Hostess House, a snapping, +dancing, crackling fire in the grate, and the girls gathered in an +expectant semicircle about it. + +They were nervous, too, for every once in a while one of them would +get up, look out the window, throw an extra log upon the fire and sit +down again with a "why-don't-they-come?" look of impatience upon her +face. + +A ring at the door bell! + +"I'll answer it," cried Betty, jumping up and nearly overturning a +chair in her eagerness. When she returned a couple of minutes later, +her face held a look of unutterable disgust. + +"Only one of the guests," she said, as the girls looked up eagerly. +"I was sure that must be the boys." + +"They're terribly late," grumbled Mollie, kicking an overturned edge +of the rug into place, as if even that small vent to her feelings was +a relief. "They'll be all talked out before they get here." + +Another ring at the door bell! + +This time there was no mistake. A chorus of excited voices greeted +Betty as she opened the door for them and a moment later the boys +burst into the living-room, fairly exhaling importance. The girls +welcomed them eagerly and drew up more chairs before the fire. + +"Gee, but we've had some time," cried Allen, fairly panting from +exertion and excitement. "If you girls were heroines before, you're +more than ever so, now." + +"But where's Will?" asked Grace, with that old, anxious look. "I +thought he was coming with you." + +"He is," Frank answered her. "But he was summoned to a very important +conference with the colonel----" + +"The colonel!" they cried incredulously, while Grace stamped her foot +with impatience. + +"What do you mean?" she demanded. + +"Just that," he answered, enjoying their mystification too much to +enlighten them at once. "When he received the order he told us +fellows to come on over and he'd join us as soon as he could break +away." + +"Oh, Allen, please tell me what it all means." Grace was fairly +crying with excitement and eagerness. "Please don't keep me waiting +any longer!" + +"I'm sorry, Grace--I didn't think," said Allen, in quick compunction. +"It means," he added, with a ring of pride in his voice, "that Will +is what we always believed him to be--one of the finest fellows that +ever lived. I'm proud to be called his friend!" + +"Oh, Allen!" Grace felt blindly for a handkerchief and Betty slipped +it into her hand. "Oh, Allen,----" + +"But what did he do?" demanded Mollie impatiently. "You haven't +gotten to the point yet." + +"Well," Allen continued, while Betty put a sympathetic arm about her +friend and snuggled close, "all the time we were wondering down in +our hearts why Will didn't enlist--although we never doubted he had +good reasons," he added hastily, "he was really working harder, +spending more time and energy for the government than we ever thought +of spending. There's one important thing we forgot--that Will was a +secret service man!" + +"Oh!" cried Betty, her eyes gleaming in the firelight, "now, I know I +guessed right!" + +"What did you guess?" asked Allen, remembering to marvel, even in +that moment of excitement, how very becoming firelight was to Betty! +"Out with it." + +"Why," said Betty, leaning forward eagerly, "after Amy told us that +she had met Will and the soldiers half way to the spot where we found +the spy, I seemed to see the whole thing as plainly as if some one +had told it to me. + +"I remembered Will's special interest in the spy the first time we +met Adolph Hensler on Pine Island--then how, soon after we saw him +here again, Will wrote Grace that he was coming on. That would seem +as though he were hot on his trail--" + +"He was," said Allen, while the others hung on every word. + +"Well, the rest is simple," said Betty. "I suppose that Will kept on +shadowing him till he got what he wanted. He was on his way to +capture the spy, while we were hanging on to the door, praying for +help. Oh, it all fits together like parts of a puzzle!" + +"You're a wonder, Betty!" said Allen, while the others drew a deep +breath, trying to take it all in. "But there was one little bit, or +rather, I should say, big bit, of cleverness on Will's part that +neither you nor anybody else could guess at. You remember the code +letter we picked up that night on Pine Island?" + +"Yes," they cried eagerly. + +"Well, Will had the code deciphered and found out who wrote the +document. It proved, by the way, that Adolph Hensler is one of the +most dangerous and most wanted German spies in this country." + +"And what else?" cried Mollie, who could never wait for the end of a +story. + +"The clever part of it," Allen continued, leaning forward, very +handsome and eager in the firelight, "was Will's copying of the +handwriting on the envelope." + +"Sure," chuckled Roy. "I told him I wouldn't be surprised to see him +start a life of crime any time now." + +"Surely no experienced forger could have done it better," Allen +agreed whimsically, while the girls waited with unconcealed +impatience. "Anyway, he wrote a short note--a decoy--to Adolph in +this handwriting, requesting an interview at the very spot where you +girls came upon him." + +"Oh!" cried Betty, in dismay. "Then it would have been better if we'd +left him alone. We took a chance of spoiling all Will's well-laid +plans." + +"How could it have been better?" asked Allen. "Will started out to +capture him and found you girls had beat him to it, that's all." + +"Yes and they might have had a good deal more trouble rounding him up +than you did," put in Frank. "From what Will tells us, you girls sure +did do a neat job." + +The girls flushed with pleasure, but Mollie, being truthful to a +fault, put an arm about Betty and told where most of the credit was +actually due. + +"Why, it was Betty who thought of cutting him off," she said, while +Betty vainly tried to stop her. "No, I'm going to tell the truth! And +it was Betty that really captured him. She saw him go in the door, +followed him, and was holding on for dear life when we came upon +her." + +"Yes, and how long would I have been able to hold on, I'd like to +know," protested the Little Captain vigorously, "if you girls hadn't +come along just then. No, sir, if there's any credit at all, it's got +to be divided equally among us!" + +"You'll be surprised to see how much credit everybody's giving you," +chuckled Roy. "When you make your next debut into society, I wouldn't +be surprised if they greeted you with brass bands." + +"Goodness, I wish they would," cried Mollie eagerly. "For the first +time in my life, I'd have a chance to feel like a regular soldier!" + +"But Will is the real hero," said Betty quietly. "To go on working +for your county, taking a chance on having people think things of you +that you don't deserve, that sort of thing is the real heroism." + +"And I'm so glad and happy," added Grace, who had been seeing happy +visions in the firelight, "to think that all his friends had faith in +him when he most needed it." + +"You bet we did," said Allen heartily. "There wasn't one of us who +doubted him for a minute." + +"I wonder when he'll get here," said Amy, rising slowly and strolling +over to the window. "I hope the colonel lets him out before twelve +o'clock." + +"Oh, he'll be here almost any minute now," said Allen reassuringly. +"Meanwhile, suppose you play something for us, Betty--something soft +and sweet to match the firelight--and you," this last so softly that +none but Betty heard. + +Smiling a little, Betty rose and walked over to the piano. Allen +followed her. + +"What shall I play?" she asked, looking up at him with a sweet +seriousness, that made him want desperately to gather her in his arms +and tell her--oh, so many things! Instead, he said: + +"Play 'Keep the Home Fires Burning.' It's the most appropriate thing +to-night. And Betty, sing it--sing it--to me----" + +"If I can," she murmured. "You know what happened when I tried to +sing it before--and it's apt to be harder to-night." + +"Try, anyway," he urged; and so she began, in the sweetest voice in +the world, or so Allen thought, to sing one of the most beautiful +songs ever composed. + +And how she sang it! Before she had half finished it, the girls were +feeling for their handkerchiefs and the boys were staring hard into +the fire. + +She sang it again--more softly than before, and when the last sweet +note had died away, there was not a dry eye in the room. + +"Betty, oh, Betty!" cried Allen, leaning across the piano toward her, +thrilling her with the new earnestness in his voice, "will you keep +the home fires burning for me--so that when I come back--Betty, when +I come back----" + +She nodded, not trusting herself to speak, and held out a trembling +hand to him. + +"There will always be one--waiting for you," she whispered softly. + +"Hello, folks!" + +They turned suddenly and found Will standing in the doorway. Then, +such a welcome as they gave him! It made up to him for all these +months when he had seemed to stand on the outside, looking in. + +"Come over to the fire and tell us all about it," Betty commanded. +"Allen told us something, but we want to know the whole story--every +little bit of a detail." + +Will fairly beamed and entered into the story with the greatest +enthusiasm. + +"I really didn't do anything much," he finished modestly. "And at the +end it was you girls that did all the work. I was just an 'also +ran.'" + +"But, isn't there something you left out?" drawled Frank, pretending +to yawn and gazing into the fire. "It seems to me----" + +"Gee," said Will, surprised at himself, "if I didn't really forget +the most important part----" + +"Now what are you talking about?" cried Mollie, while the girls +pricked up their ears and began to scent a new mystery. "What did you +forget?" + +"Well," said Will, his eyes twinkling, and speaking with exasperating +slowness, "do you happen to remember an eventful night on Pine +Island, when Roy went to sleep----" + +"Aw, cut it out," grumbled Roy. "I guess I'll never be able to live +that down." + +"Well, what about it?" cried Betty, at the limit of her patience, +while the other girls looked threatening. "Please, Will----" + +"Do you happen to remember," drawled Will, "that on that same night +you lost some jewelry?" + +"Oh, you found it!" they cried, fixing him with four pairs of bright, +incredulous eyes. "Will, where is it?" + +"Some of it's here," he went on, pulling a small bag from his pocket +and opening it carefully while they crowded around him, fairly +smothering him in their eagerness, "and the rest of it's in the pawn +shop. We found the tickets on him, though--" + +"My watch!" + +"My necklace!" + +"My lavallière!" + +"My pearl brooch!" + +These and other exclamations like them made such a babel of sound +that the boys clapped their hands over their ears and looked at one +another in comic dismay. This lasted so long that the boys had to +pick up their caps and start for the door, before the girls consented +to notice them. + +"Where are you going?" asked Betty, while the other three stopped +talking long enough to look surprised. + +"We didn't think you'd miss us," said Roy plaintively. "So we were +going away from here--that's all." + +"Now, who's a flock of geese, I'd like to know," laughed Betty, as +they coaxed their neglected swains back to the fire. "We couldn't +very well help being excited, could we?" + +"And to think," said Grace, beaming, "that we not only helped to +catch a wanted spy, but helped to recover our own jewelry at the same +time!" + +"No wonder we had to pat ourselves on the back," chuckled Mollie, +"Just wait till we tell the folks at home about it." + +"Pretty good day's work," Roy admitted indulgently. "Couldn't have +done much better myself." + +They fell silent after that, each one busy with his own thoughts, +each one seeing, in the fantastic, ever-changing heart of the fire, a +little of his or her own future. And they were very happy. + +Suddenly Grace broke the silence. + +"And now," she said, glancing with love and pride at Will, who smiled +fondly back at her, "what do you expect to do, dear?" + +"Enlist," cried Will, jumping to his feet. "Thank heaven I can do it +now with a clear conscience. I'm going to get into the big game quick +and help give Fritz some of his own medicine. Gee, fellows, are we +going to do it--are we?" + +"I should smile!" they cried, their eyes gleaming with anticipation. +"All we want is the chance!" + +Quick as a flash Betty ran to the piano and began to play the "Star- +Spangled Banner." Instantly the others were on their feet and singing +with all the pent-up fervor of the last six months, emotions almost +too big to master finding expression in the stirring melody. + +"And we're all in it together," cried Betty, eyes bright and cheeks +flaming, "for our dear country--for America!" + +And, at the greatest moment of their lives, fired by patriotism, +confident of victory, we once more, slowly, reluctantly, with many +backward glances, take leave of our Outdoor Girls. + + +THE END + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Outdoor Girls in Army Service +by Laura Lee Hope + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE *** + +This file should be named tdgrs10.txt or tdgrs10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, tdgrs11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, tdgrs10a.txt + +Charles Franks, Greg Weeks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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