33
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER T Robert Hollis, one-time
eea captain, u lio tells the story, is a
truest on Gerald Carrington's yacht, Es
meralda. It is supposed to be a "stag"
party and Hollis Is surprised on discover
ing a W‘ man, who evidently wishes tu re
main unknown, aboard.
CHAPTER II—Hollis, the next night,
succeeds in having an interview with the
woman. She merely tells him her name
Is Vera.
CHAPTER III-Carrington tells his
guests of the coming war, and that he
Is engineering a copper pool.
CHAPTER IV The yacht Is snnk In a
collision and Hollis saves McCann, mil
lionaire, and one of the party.
CHAPTER V Hollis and Mr'"ann rr„_
cue Vera and leave the ship in a small
boat.
CHAPTER VI—Hollis and Vera become
friendly, tbougn he Is unaware of her
identity.
CHAPTER VII -McCann refuses to sub
mit to Hollis' authority, and tlu: latter
enforces it.
CHAPTER VIII—The castaways are
s.ghted by a ship, the Indian Chief, which
takes them aboard.
CHAPTER IX—The Indian Chief lias
recently been struck by lightning and is
almost a wreck. All the oUlcers are dead.
Hollis meets the owner, who tells him
the vessel has a cargo of ammunition,
consigned to the German government.
CHAPTER X—Hollis consents to take
charge of ship and continue voyage. Vera
recognizes an old friend in Robert
Bascom. owner of the Indian Chief
p.ascom and McCann are deadly ene
mies.
. nnj-rER XT—Idssatlsfaetion among
the crew quickly develops, and Hollis
selects his officers.
CHAPTER XII.
The Crew Grow Ugly.
For a moment I remained forgetful
of the presence of the trirl on dec!;.
There was but one course to pursue—
at the very first evidence of disobedi
ence I must assert full authority.
There must bo no hesitation, no sign
of weakness. Even as this cr> stnllized
in my own mind, the girl's hand
touched the sleeve of my jacket.
“Supper is ready. Mr. Hollis," she
said. “Are you not coming down?"
“Very shortly. I will have the men
knock off work, and leave the mate in
charge of the deck.”
“What were you thinking about so
earnestly? You actually forgot me."
I glanced aside into her eyes.
Not guilty. Miss Vera; I was thlnk
01" ymiTiind of how I could get you
safely out of this scrape. I do not say
this to frighten you, Miss Vera, bnly,
perhaps it is best for you to know the
situation. Tile first thing necessary
on tills voyage is to show those fellows
F
The Girl’s Hand Touched the Sleeve
of My Jacket.
forward who is master aboard. But
we’ve talked about it loan enough now.
I do not anticipate any locking of horns
tonight for those lads will need to dis
cuss plans among themselves (irst.
B >scorn will be waiting for you in the
cabin, and I will join you presently.
1 walked with her as far ns the lad
der, and watched until she disappeared.
Forward I could perceive little outside
the glow of the lanterns in the radius
of which black, grotesque figures con
stantly passed and repassed. Occasion
ally a voice sang out some command,
the words scarcely distinguishable.
“Mr. Lenyord!” I sang out.
“Aye, aye, sir.”
“Let the men knock off work for the
present, and send the second mate's
watch down for supper. You will take
the deck, and it will be better to have
another hand aft here at the wheel.”
“Very well, sir."
I waited until he clambered heavily
up the ladder and joined me, ids huge
figure outlined against the gleam of
the binnacle light.
“1 was pleased to see the way in
which the crew took hold, Mr. Lea
yord,” I said quietly, “and that Olson
set them so good ah example.”
i;,. crossed over to the rail and came
bach wiping his lips on his sleeve.
“Olson is a good man. Mr. Hollis;
you made no mistake when you chose
him for second ollieer, but I never saw
q worse hunch of sea scum ip any iq.
east le than giit aboard lien1, sir."
“They took hold, all right.”
“Ayo, for tin* once; they're a bil
dazed yet, an’ have hail no time to talk
it over among themselves.”
"Well hear from them later, you
think?’’
"Tomorrow, sir, or perhaps tie
night, as soon as they learn for sure
I ’lie course we're steering. They are
] dead set against Hamburg.”
"Why Hamburg, Mr. Leayord?”
"Weil, sir, I don’t just know myself,
1 for I was tiie bosun, and the lads never
; talked to me very frojjy. f rom all I've
1 heard, however, It's largely caused by
' v,hat that fat bloke yer brought aboard
; with yer had to ,«av about this ditty
war brookin' out. I don't know tiie
duffer's name, sir; I u| I hear be elait is
to be a millionaire, an’ is willin’ ter
spend a- lot o’ coin, just to lie took
back ter New York, rookie told tne
that be and the guy that goes hy the
name of Liverpool had quite a talk.”
"Liverpool I ted—yes. I've heard of
him; he's the men's leader forward.”
“Likely so; but there’s others of
tin* same kidney. If I was you, s’r.
I’d have a talk with Olson when he
come on deck again. lie'll tell you
niore>i I can.”
I stood silent a moment, staring out
into the black void.
“I presume, Mr. Leayord, I can con
fidently rely on your loyalty in case
trouble develops?”
"You sure can, sir.”
"And Olson?”
"He’ll face it like a man; and al
tnougn .unsu'rs is a mi oi a loot, i in
gues'tng lie can'bo counted on in n
pinch.”
“Arp there any others?"
“That’s hard to say. sir, offhand. I
haven’t been shipmates with them, or
with any o’ this crew long enough yet
to size ’em up; hut there are a few
men forward who don’t chum none
with Liverpool’s crowd. Oison would
know ’em better than I."
“Well, the sooner we learn exactly
how we stand In this matter the better.
I’ll relieve you as soon as I have
a bite to eat.”
In spite of its general dinginess of
paint and furnishings, the main cabin
had a look of coziness and comfort as
I entered from the black gloom of the
decks. Bascom and Miss Vera occu
pied seats on one side, while Olson,
washed and brushed into a state of
rare discomfort, sat alone opposite. A
slim, narrow-chested man. his weak
mouth partially concealed by a strag
gling mustache, and who answered to
the name of Dade, acted as steward,
but the hoy, Moon, was doing most of
the work. I drew out the sing!? va
cant chair and sat down.
“Well," I said pleasantly, breaking
the rather awkward silence, “1 do not
exactly know wh“re we are going, but
we are on our way.”
|* “The sea is rising, I judge,” re
marked Bascom.
“There is every promise of a rough
night, but nothing to worry over. Dade,
why did you set the table only for
four? There is another passenger
! aboard.”
“He has refused to mess aft, sir.”
“Oh, he has! Well, possibly, I may
have something to say as to that. Did
lie give any reason?”
Dade endeavored to hide a grin. “Not
exactly, a reason, sir.” he answered
softly, “but I took it from what he said
that he was not overly proud o’ the
way la* wits marked up. sir.”
i devoted a few minutes to the meal,
but when Dade departed on an errand
forward, decided I might just as well
discuss the situation frankly.
“1 am beginning to fear,” I said qui
etly, "that Mr. Fergus McCann intends
to make us all me trouble possible, and
is even now behind most of the dis
satisfaction on board. Do you' know
anything definite, Mr. Olson?”
1 ne mate paused m ms earing, wun
knife and fork uplifted.
“I had not heard, sir. May I ask
if he is rich?”
“Quite so; he was a guest on (lie
yacht Esmeralda. Now that I have
answered these questions, Mr. Olson,”
and I stared into his rather emotion
less face intently, “perhaps you will be
kind enough to answer mine.”
“I would know what 1 talk,” he re
turned stubbornly, “lie, this Mr. Mc
Cann, lie offers ten thousand dollars
to be put back in New York.”
“So that’s his game! Who brought
the word forward?”
“Cookie, I think, sir. I overheard
Jim White say that Mr.' McCann had
a belt on him with more money in it
than they’d ever seen before in all
their lives. The d- fool—I beg
your pardon, miss—didn’t know no
more than to show it to ’em. Why, the
sight of it fairly drove them two wharf
rats crazy.
"There’s half a dozen men forward,”
he went on slowly, “who would murder
their grandfathers, sir, to get hold o’
all that coin. The rest o’ the crew are
decent enough fellows as sailormen go,
but there’s liquor aboard yet, and all
this ’ere war talk has scared ’em
against continuing the voyage.”
“McCann told them?”
"lie told Cookie an’ Liverpool, an’
they circulated the news. ’Tis said
we're chuck uji witJi contraband, sij.
an* that if we’re took, every man jack
of as will lie chucked into an English
or French prison.”
“You expect a mutiny, then, Mr. Ol
son V”
“I don’t know what’ll stop it, sir,”
he answered solemnly. “The men went
aft ter sorter take your measure, sir,
and hear what it was you proposed do
ing. They ain't had no chance to git
tergether an’ talk since, but it's my
notion they’re ripe enough for the job.”
I looked him squarely in the eyes.
"And how about you, Mr. Olson?”
“Me, sir?” his lips grinned. “If I
hadn’t intended for to slay with yer,
sir, I never would ’a’ took the job.”
I reached out my hand, and our lin
gers locked.
“Hood; with both my officers loyal,
we’ll find a way out of this mess. Come
with me into the captain’s stateroom,
until we see what we can find there
useful.”
I disturbed tilings as little as pos
sible, leaving any necessary research
into Captain Hadley's private affairs
to a later date, but sought with some
anxiety through a roll of maps shoved
behind the chest, Olson holding a lan
tern aloft, until I finally brought forth
an old chart of the North Atlantic. We
bent over this, outspread on the deck
between us, and Olson’s stubby fore
finger traced the prickings of two voy
ages around the Orkneys Into the
North sea. The chart revealed, also,
although in somewhat less detail, the
Herman coastline. I was far from snt
isfied with tHis discovery, but nothing
bettor could be hoped for. The total
destruction of the chart house forward
made this find a godsend indeed, and
we were fortunate in the fact that
Captain Iladlcy preserved his old
maps. Kidding Olson relieve the first
olhcer. I remained there.alone for some
minutes familiarizing myself with the
two charts, and outlining in my mind
tlie safest course to pursue. As I sat ;
there the rising wind began to hurl
nun against the closed glass of the
port, and i could hear the splash of
tile drops on the deck overhead. An
oiled cunt, belonging to the skipper,
hung dangling from a hook, and I
scoped i> on. e.Xliugtlishing tile light
before closing and locking the door.
I.cnyord was al .no at the table in the
cabin, which had already been cleared
of its dirtied dishes.
I had advanced fo the companion
steps when his voice stopped me.
“Captain,” he said in hoarse whis
per, “was you planning to go forward
alone?”
i errainiy.
Leayord glanced about uneasily.
“Well, I wouldn’t, sir, if 1 was you—
not tonight anyhow. The men are that
ugly there’s no knowin’ what might
happen. I)o you carry a gun, sir?”
“Why. no; I saw one there in a
drawer of Captain Hadley’s desk. You
think the situation is as bad as that?”
“I'd go hack and get it, sir,” he said
soberly, “an’ then keep to the after
deck till daylight.”
An instant I stood staring at the
rain boating fiercely ngains* the glass
of tlie companion, then turned back
to the stateroom I had just left, slipped
| the revolver out of the desk drawer
! into my pocket, and re-entered the
i cabin.
I buttoned the oilskin closely about
| my throat and stepped out on deck,
the wind driving the rain full into my
face, and, for tile moment, blinding me.
CHAPTER XIII.
I Make McCann Prisoner.
It was evident enough in my mind
that there were two elements of evil
aboard—liquor and McCann’s wealth.
Either alone would have been bad
enough, hut thus combined, they ren
dered our situation more than perilous
—and I was facing this peril com
paratively alone. Masters would doubt
less perform his duty, hut Ids work
would keep him below, and lie would
prove of slight value on deck. My im
pression of Lenyord and Olson was fa
vorable enough; they were, undoubted
ly, the very host material on hoard;
jet, from long association with the
forecastle, it was only natural that
their sympathies should he with their
mates forward. An efficient sea offi
cer is not made overnight, and either
man might fail me at a pinch. As to
Ihiscom. he could never be counted on;
while as regards Vera—but at thought
of her, the cold perspiration beaded my
temples with tt horror of what might
yet occur on board. No, the burden
was mine, mine practically alone. It
was up to mo to strike first, to assert
my authority, and then maintain it.
Tills was tlie one thing which would
impress the mind of the sailor—a quick
decision, a swift blow. This very night
we must win the ship, if ever, and the
first man for me to gain control over
must be Fergus McCann.
I reached this decision coolly and de
liberately, yet with no clear plan of
action in my mind. At that moment
Olson sang out some order from the
rail overhead, and I could hear the
hustle of tlie watch along the black
deck.
:uy eyes uisungmsneo no ngures, mn
suddenly n blaze of lightning seemed
to rip the shy usunilor, and, in the
swift, ghastly glare, 1 perceived two
human figures against the starboard
rail, safe from observation beneath a
boat swung In davits. The man direct
l.v facing me, his countenance illu
mined for a single instant by the flame,
was Liverpool lied. The very postures
of the two men, the position chosen
amidships, and in the shadow, led me
to identify Liverpool’s companion and
guess their purpose. Very well, there
was no better time than now to start
tny task. Yet I had scarcely taken a
step forward when I became aware
that their secret conference was over,
and that the two were separating. )
could not positively determine tin
movement In the Intense dnrkness, bul
I felt assured that one of the two met;
hud moved forward, crouching nlonjj
the rail, leaving the second man stand
ing alone. Unquestionably the one
thus left would lie McCann.
I waited motionless until the fellow
stealing away was well beyond earshot
and then advanced straight across the
pitching deck. The fellow, taken quite
by surprise, stared at my indistinct fig
ure, unable to determine my identity
“I Was Not Aware There Were Any of
My Class on Board."
until I spoke. There was that about
his figure, black as the slight was.
which convinced me he was the man
sought.
“Well, McCann,” I said shortly, “you
seem to prefer associating with the
crew, rather than with your own class
aft. What is the game?”
"I was not aware there were any of
my own class on board,” he answered
sn°eringly.
“Perhaps you have not yet discov
ered who are on board. Do you chance
to know who owns this vessel and
ca rgo?”
"Who owns them!” he laughed
coarsely. “What difference does that
make?”
“It depends entirely on whether or
not you have any decent manhood left
in you,” I said coldly, “and, frankly.
I do not believe you have. However
the truth can do no harm, and we'll
understand each other better. This
ship and cargo are owned by Philip
P.ascom of Philadelphia.”
“Bnscorn ! By God ! You don’t mean
It?”
“But I do; and more than that, all
his fortune is invested in this one
enterprise; that is why I consented to
assume command, and sail the Indian
Thief across to Germany.”
There was a moment’s silence.
“Baseoni,” he repeated at last. “You
learned this from the ship’s papers?”
“I learned it from his own lips—the
man himself is on board.”
He breathed heavily from surprise:
then laughed.
“T tliio 5 c* oaimo
ho
managed to ejaculate, “but surely you
hardly expect me to be sympathetic
do you?”
"No, I hardly expect it,” unable to
lisguise my intense disgust at his tone.
"However, Philip Bascorn is here, ru
ined by your persecution, crippled for
life by the cowardly bullet—”
“Now, look here, Hollis,” he broke
in, “if you think 1 am going to stand
for your bullying any longer, you’re
mistaken. It’s my turn to talk.”
“Yours! What will you talk with—
money?”
“Perhaps,” he sneered, “and with
men also. In the first place, I might
as well tell you, I don’t give a d
who owns this ship. Of course you
gave me a jolt by saying that this man
Bascorn was on board, but. after all,
that’s nothing to me. We had our
light, and he learned the same lesson
others have, that Fergus McCann is
perfectly able to take care of himself.
Now I’m ready to teach the same thing
to Mr. Robert Hollis of Chicago. This
is no small boat In mid-Atlantic, where
you can bully tflVbecause of your phys
ical strength. You made a mistake,
Hollis, playing me for a fool. I’ve got
your number already.”
“You are quite sure of that?”
“You bet 1 am, but I’m not going
to say any more about it tonight. To
morrow I’ll talk with you again.”
He turned away, the shrug of his
shoulders picturing, contempt, and a
studied insolence which set my blood
boiling. With the grip of one hand I
flung him back against the rail, and
held him there.
“No, we’ll discuss it right now,” I
said sternly, “but I’ll do the talking
in your place. You haven’t anything to
tell me. I know what your plans are
already. I know what you are attempt
ing to accomplish, and I know your
purpose. You have found a few ruf
fians forward who will take your dit ty
gold. To gain control of the others,
you have played up the war scare.
You think now that tite time has come
when you can act—is that so?”
He wriggled in an effort to break
free of my grip, and I let go of him
in utter contempt.
“Y’ou would find out,” he snarled an
grily, “if I culled for help.”
“But you are not going to call for
help, for if you even open your lips for
that purpose, you are going to die right
where you stand. Take that seriously,
MeCanu. You are endeavoring to in
cite mutiny on board, and under the
law of the sea, I can kill you for it.
Now, I confess my feeling toward you
i
Is not a fonder one, but there Is going
to be no bloodshed If I ran avoid It.
Where have you bunked?”
“Amidsliip.”
“'Petty officers' quarters. Well, I
prefer having you aft. There is a va
I eqnl stateroom below. Walk ahead of
I me to the cabin, and go down the
steps.”
■■You'll pay for this in the rnorn
(ing”
"Do not worry about the morning,
my man. Trust me to take care of
'your friends forward when the time
comes. This is not my first voyage.
Move on !”
Sullenly he left the rail, and crossed
the deck to the companion, with me
trailing a step behind. I was aware
| that Olson was leaning out over the
i poop-rail watching our dim figures,
I wondering, no doubt, what was occur
ring below. I did not venture to glance
upward, or remove my eyes from the
prisoner.
“Below there,” the mate called,
gruffly, “what's going on?”
“It is all right, Mr. Olson,” I an
swered, speaking quietly. “I’ll explain
later. Open the door, McCann, and go
straight down.”
lie must have realized the utter fu
tility of resistance, for he never even
turned his head, marching before me
down the stairs, and across the de
serted cabin. I threw open the door
next to Bascotn’s stateroom, switched
on the light, and glanced within, keep
ing my grasp hard on McCann’s arm.
His eyes met mine, blaek with a
coward’s hatred.
"By God! it you wasn’t armed—”
I swung him about in sudden disgust,
flinging him forward, and he fell
sprawling on the deck, overturning the
stool. The next Instant I had closed
the door and locked it, dropping the
key into my jacket pocket. There had
been little noise, scarcely enough to
arouse the sleepers below, and it was
with a feeling of decided relief, that
1 returned to the open deck.
I climbed the ladder, joining Olson
at the port rail. Two men were at
the wheel, which bucked sufficiently
to keep them busy.
“You are off a couple of points, lads,
I said. “Can’t you hold tier any
closer?”
.Mil nit- way me sea is running,
sir,” answered a voice I recognized as
Simms’, “unless we raise a bit more
Jib, and the mate thought it best not
to risk the canvas.”
“Right, no doubt, hut hold her down
the best you can.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
The response was cheerful enough,
and 1 crossed the deck to where Olson
stood. In somewhat better frame of
mind.
“You are not exactly holding to the
| course, Mr. Olson.” I said, hut not un
i kindly, “and Simms tells me you
thought it best not to shake out an
other reef in the jib.”
“It would only strain the old hooket
to buck these seas, sir.” he replied
“and as you had no observation,
hardly thought n point or two would
make much difference.”
“Nor does It; only r prefer to he
consulted on such matters hereafter.
You must have had some other rea
son ?”
lie glanced about to make sure of
our distance from the men at the
wheel.
“Well, in n way T suppose T did, sir,”
he admitted slowly. “The watch for
ward is sullen, an’ I had no desire to
stir them up unless there was some
'■cal need. It’s Liverpool’s turn on
deck. Mr. Hollis, an’ he an' I never was
no friends. If I was to give an order,
and then had to go forward to make
’em hold, it might start up quite a
row, sir.”
“Quite a sensible decision. It may
interest you to know that I have just
cut Liverpool’s claws—his friend Mc
Cann is below, safely locked up.”
“Exactly, sir. That was what oc
curred on the main deck just now? He
was very quiet about it, sir. Is it
true what I hear that he is a real New
York millionaire? And you are not a
real sailor, Mr. Hollis, hut just a
yachtsman?”
“Has McCann been circulating that
yarn forward?”
“He has, sir. Simms just told me
the story at the wheel,”
“Well, then, listen to me, Mr. Olson,
and then see to it thn^ the word gets
to the crew. I *vas a member of n
yachting party whim we suffered ship
wreck, hut I'm no yachtsman. I’ve
served before the mast. Mi*. Olson, and
won every grade up to a captaincy in
the old Atlas line. I know the sen and
its way from forecastle to after cabin,
anil any time those lads forward there
want to tnhe my measure, the chance
is wide open. You understand?”
“I do, sir.” and I thought there was
more respect in the tone.
“flood; thorp will he no trouble to
night?”
they will begin to wonder what has
become of this man McCann, and may
grow ugly.”
“We can handle them by daylight.
It is darkness which gives them an
advantage. I'll return t«i the main
deck, Mr. Olson, and leave you in
charge here.”
(Continued N( vr W ek.)
Poor Amusement.
Kissing a woman against her will
probably Is the poorest form of enter
tainment. and that accounts for the
fact that It has hut few devotees.—
Topeka Capital.
Ofiant Idiom.
“It's me,” is an idiom, say's a Har
vard professor, and is allowable. It is
allowable largely for the reuson that
we huveu't standing army enough to
suppress It.—Houston I’ost.
We have arranged for a
series of six interesting articles,
“War Talks, by Uncle Dan,”
written by Mr. Howard H.
Gross, president of the Univer
sal Military Training League, of
which this is the first. They tell
in a graphic way why military
training is of value, both to the
nation and to the individual, and
our readers will find them of
unusual interest.
WAR TALKS
By UNCLE DAN
Number Orta
America Must Fight Hard or Germany
I May Win—Necessity for Mili
tary Training.
“Now, Billie,” said his mother, "your
Uncle Dan Is coming tomorrow to
spend a week with us on the farm, and
if you want to know about the war,
here’s your opportunity. Uncle Dan Is
probably one of the best-informed men
In the country.” Billie clapped his
hands and gave such a whoop thut he
wakened the baby, but what could you
expect of a fifteen-year-old boy who Is
a living interrogation point and wants
to know about wyar?
Uncle Dan arrived In due time and
Billie watched for an opportunity. It
came that evening after dinner when
Uncle Dun had lighted a cigar and
taken a seat on the porch.
“I'ni mighty glad you came, Uncle
Dan. I want to tolls to you about the
war. We have just put military train
ing in our township high school, but
we had a hard time to do it. The
Joneses and the Greggs objected. They
said the war wouldn’t come over here.
Grandma Jones said: ‘They ain't no
use to worrit, it will soon blow over.’
Well, we put the training in just the
same. You orter hoard Judge Brow
nell, the president of the school board,
do the slackers up. He said unless wo
take off our coats and go to it, Ger
many may yet win, nnd if she does, sho
will take over the great British fleet as
a war trophy nnd compel us to do what »
ever she wants to; that she could make
us pay all the cost of the war; the
kaiser could tax us as he pleased and
that we couldn't help ourselves. He
•■ould make every one pay over a part
of what he earns; that he could make
the farmers pay rent for their own
farms, etc. Now, Uncle, what do you
think of that?’’
i “Well, my boy,” said Uncle Dan,
“all that Judge Brownell says might
easily come true and may unless we go
. quickly to the aid of the allies with
I large numbers of men nnd help them
! break the German line. Unless we can
bent the submarines, they may pre
vent us from getting enough food to
tlio allies to keep them going. In that
case Germany would win. As matters
stand today, our greatest need Is
: trained men. If we had had several
' millions of men with military training
, in our industries nnd on our farms
when the war came, who could
have been called at once for service, I
do not believe the kaiser would have
forced the war upon us. As It was, he
had no respect for us, and now we are
in It and must go through with It. But
never again must we be caught so
wholly unprepared,
“There Is only one safe way.” aald
! Uncle Dan, “and that la to adopt per*
manently universal military training,
apply it to every young man who Is
physically fit, say In his nineteenth or
twentieth year. The training can be
carried forward in the United States
training camps that are now being es
tablished for training men called by
the selective draft. As soon as these
men vacate these stations, they should
be filled by younger men, and this
should be made the permanent policy
of the country.”
Billie’s mother, Mrs. Graham, had
overheard the conversation. She came
out and said: “Really, Brother Dan.
are you serious as to the dangers of
our country? If It is us bad as that. It
is high time for us to wake up and do
something about It.”
"txactiy," replied Uncle Dan. “It
is lietter to wake up now ttian to be
rudely awakened later. We may as
well understand, sister, that this Is our
war and we must win it or God help
America. Everything that we have
or hope to have—our liberties, our
blessings, our opportunities are all in
volved in the great issue before us.
Nothing must stund between us and
winning this war. It Is a question
whether the peoples’ right or the kai
ser's might shall dominate the world,
if there eVer was a holy war, this is
it. We are fighting for world liberty.
| ,We are fighting for the freedom of
humanity. We are fighting for the
right of men to govern themselves In
stead of being governed against their
will by a war-mad overlord. Perilous
times are ahead of us. We must be
prepared to make any sacrifice, to per
form any service thut may be required
b.f us.”
I “Oh, Uncle Dan.” exclaimed Billie.
l“may I bring my chum, Jimmie Col
lins, when we have our next talk? F!o
is a bug on this war business and just
crazy to sec you.”
“Certainly," said Uncle Dan, with a
hearty laugh. “If we are to have more
talks. I shall be glad to have Jimmie
! join us.”
Billie clapped ms hands and ran to
the ’phone and told Jimmie to be over
I it seven o’clock the next evening.