“look here, chunky!” exclaimed jerry, after a quick glance at ned, “i may as well say what’s on my mind, and get it out of my system. both ned and i have been wondering about you, lately.”
“wondering about me?”
“yes, about the way you’re acting on this enlistment business. you want to volunteer and join the army, don’t you?”
“why, yes, sure i do.”
“well, you don’t act very happy over it,” put in ned. “you were enthusiastic at the start, and then you simmered out. are you getting cold feet? you’re not——”
“i’m not afraid, if that’s what you mean!” blurted out bob.
“no, i wasn’t going to say that,” put in ned, quickly. “no one who knows you, as jerry and i know you, would ever accuse you of that. you’ve gone through too many tight and dangerous places with us to have us say that you’re[60] afraid. and yet something has happened, hasn’t it?”
“well, yes, i s’pose you could call it that,” assented bob slowly.
“are you going to renege in the matter of volunteering?” asked jerry.
“no.”
“but you aren’t as keen on it as you were at first!” declared ned. “what’s the matter, bob? are you in trouble, chunky, old man?” and he put his arm affectionately over his chum’s shoulder.
“yes, fellows, i am in trouble,” said bob, and he spoke desperately. “i almost wish i hadn’t agreed to enlist! that i’d waited for the draft, and then——”
“what are you saying?” cried jerry in amazement.
“well, i mean that then i’d have a good excuse to go to war, and i couldn’t help myself,” and bob floundered a good deal in his explanation.
“why do you need an excuse?” asked jerry.
“oh, well, i suppose i may as well tell you.”
“wait a minute!” broke in ned. “bob, this is getting a bit personal, i know, but the end justifies the means, i think. have you been to see miss schaeffer lately?”
bob looked up quickly.
“last night,” he answered. “you ought to know. you left me there in the car.”
[61]
“so i did. but i have a reason for asking. doesn’t her father own some stock in a boston german paper?”
“i believe he does,” said bob.
“and the paper has been one of the strongest advocates against the united states taking any part in this war, as i happen to know,” went on ned. “it came out flatly, and justified the sinking of the lusitania on the ground that it was carrying munitions to england. the same paper has taunted uncle sam, since the declaration of war, with siding with our old enemy, great britain. am i right, chunky?”
“i suppose it’s true. but helena hasn’t anything to do with the paper.”
“no, but she can’t help siding with her father, and he helps to dictate the policy of that slanderous german sheet! bob, tell me the truth; isn’t the schaeffer family pro-german?”
“well, i suppose they are. it’s natural——”
“it isn’t natural!” burst out jerry. “if any so-called german-americans want to side with the kaiser let them go back to germany where they belong. uncle sam hasn’t any use for ’em! bob, i didn’t think this of you!”
“oh, don’t be too severe on chunky!” interposed ned. “he hasn’t done anything yet. i know just what the situation is, i think. bob, you have come to the parting of the ways.[62] you’ve either got to go with us or stay home. what are you going to do? i can see, of late, that you have been rather cold toward this enlistment proposition. now that won’t do. if you want to wait for the draft, well and good. that’s your business, of course. but we’d hate to see you do it.”
“i should say so!” agreed jerry. “i never dreamed of this. what does it all mean?”
“it’s his girl—helena schaeffer,” said ned. “isn’t it true, bob, that she has spoken to you against volunteering?”
“yes, she has, and that’s what makes me worry. i was going to keep still about it, and try to work everything out myself. but i don’t believe i can. you know— oh, well, i’m awfully fond of helena, and i think she likes me, a little. this is among friends, of course.”
“of course,” murmured jerry and ned.
“and she’s as good as said that if i enlist to fight against germany, when her father is so fond of the old kaiser, and what he represents, that she’ll—well—she and i will have to part company, that’s all!” and bob blurted out the words.
“what are you going to do?” and ned asked the question relentlessly. this was no time for half-way measures, he felt.
bob did not answer for a moment. they were talking in the street in front of colonel wentworth’s[63] office. and then, at what seemed a most opportune moment, a phonograph in a near-by store began playing one of the popular songs of the day; a song with the lilt of marching steps and an appeal for every one to do his duty and fight for uncle sam.
bob straightened up. his eyes grew brighter and he squared his shoulders in a way his chums well know.
“boys!” he exclaimed, “i’ve been a fool to hold back one minute on this thing. if you’ll wait a little while, i’ll come back and give you my answer. and you don’t have to guess what it is, either.”
he started off down the street.
“where are you going?” demanded jerry.
“i’m going to have a talk with helena,” bob answered.
“wait and we’ll take you to her corner in the auto. might as well ride as walk,” called ned. “we’ll wait for you at my house.”
jerry and ned did not say much to chunky during the ride. they thought it best to let him work out the problem in his own way. and it was better done without suggestion from them.
“see you later,” said ned, as his stout chum left the car and started down the street toward the schaeffer home.
“what do you think he’ll do?” asked jerry, as[64] ned turned the car in the direction of his own home.
“the right thing,” answered ned. “chunky is all right. it’s just that he’s a little fascinated by helena, who, to do her justice, is a mighty pretty girl. it’s too bad she has pro-german tendencies. and yet it isn’t so much her as it is her father who influences her. she is a nice girl, and mighty sensible, too, except on this one point. i know, for i’ve been there with chunky. that’s why i happened to know how the bug had bitten him.
“even before we got into this war against germany mr. schaeffer was ranting about the unneutrality of this country, and declaring that we were favoring england and france and discriminating against the kaiser. i wish we’d done more of it! we wouldn’t have it so hard as we’re going to have it from now on.”
“but about chunky. do you think he’ll tell his friend that he is going to enlist and let her make the best of it?” asked jerry.
“or the worst—yes. i think bob will do just that. he was wobbling the least bit, but i think he’s on his feet now. we’ll wait for him to come back.”
meanwhile bob baker was having his own troubles. he had made the acquaintance of miss schaeffer some time before, when it seemed there would be never a question as to what nationality[65] a person claimed. but the war had made a difference.
as ned had stated, mr. schaeffer was one of the owners of a rabid german paper, published in boston, and the editorial policy was against anything french or english, and against the united states helping the allies in any way.
when the united states formally entered the war the sheet did not dare come out and openly espouse the cause of germany, but in underhand ways and by sly insinuations it sought to deprecate the cause of the allies and tried to say, only too plainly, that the united states had no business entering the war, and that the youth of the land would do well to keep out of it. in other words it discouraged enlisting.
just what took place between chunky and helena, bob never disclosed in detail. ned and jerry felt it would be indelicate to do that, and they never asked much about the matter.
poor bob put in a bad quarter of an hour, and when he left the schaeffer home his step was not as buoyant as when he entered. but there was a look of determination on his face, and he seemed relieved, as though he had got rid of a weight.
“well?” asked jerry, as bob joined his two chums a little later. “how about you?”
“i’m ready to go and sign up whenever you are,” was the quiet answer.
[66]
“good!” exclaimed ned, clapping chunky on the back with such right good will that the stout lad almost lost his balance.
“i told you how it would be,” whispered ned to jerry, and the latter nodded comprehendingly.
“have any trouble?” asked ned. “i mean did she break with you?”
“oh, not exactly,” answered bob. “but things are not as pleasant as they were. it’s her father, though, not helena.”
“that’s what we thought,” said jerry. “well, i’m glad it’s over. now we’ll be three together once more. too bad it had to happen, chunky, but it’s better to come out and know where you stand.”
“that’s right,” agreed the stout lad. “i’m going to do my duty. friendship doesn’t count in this war. it’s duty.”
“you said something!” commented ned. “and now to take the step that will put us in the fight formally for uncle sam and against the kaiser. we’ll go and volunteer!”
“that’s what i’ve been wanting to do right along,” declared chunky; “but i didn’t want to break with helena if i could help it. she says she doesn’t see why i have to enlist, why i can’t wait for the draft, and all that. she says maybe there won’t be any draft if there’s enough opposition to it. but i’m going to volunteer.”
[67]
so the three boys started for richfield, where the nearest enlistment station was located.
as they drove down the street their attention was attracted by a large notice posted on the door of the auditorium.
“another patriotic meeting?” asked jerry.
“wait until i get out and see what it is,” suggested ned.
he sprang from the car and ran up the steps. when he came back there was a queer look on his face.
“what is it?” asked bob.
“a rotten pro-german meeting!” was the righteously angry answer. “it’s a meeting at which mr. schaeffer is going to preside, and it is called for the purpose of protesting against any person being sent to fight outside of the boundaries of the united states!”
“do you know, fellows, they oughtn’t to allow ’em to hold that meeting!” exploded bob, who, now that he had made his decision, was as enthusiastic as his chums.
