CHAPTER VII
THE VISIT TO CAMP MILLS
As Nathalie reached the booth she glanced quickly about; no one was insight. With a hurried movement she drew a letter from the bag that hungfrom her wrist, and after glancing at the written words, "To whomsoeverthis Comfort Kit may come, greetings and good wishes," she slipped outthe enclosure and slowly read:
"Dear Mr. Soldier Boy:
"Please remember that you are going to fight under the banner of the Cross, which means that you belong to a Christian nation whose motto is, 'In God we Trust.' Hold to the feeling that you are a gentleman by the culture--not 'Kultur'--that comes from kindliness, courtesy, and consideration for all people, so please don't kill anybody unless you have to.
"Don't forget that you are an American patriot, and that your heart is seared with the Stars and Stripes, which means the red of courage, the white of purity, and the blue of royal devotion to the right, and starred with the divine fire of liberty.
"Remember you are fighting for the mothers and children: yes, fighting so the mothers and children of all nations may have liberty and peace. Be strong and brave in the thought that this war is to maintain the principles back of our flag, the ideals given to us by the founders of this nation. As Christ died to make men holy, so these men suffered and shed their blood that you might have the joy and independence that comes from the liberty which God has given to us. Be happy with the thought that no matter what comes to you you will not have lived in vain, but will have fought for the grandest and greatest things in life,--liberty and humanity. The best of luck to you,
"Blue Robin."
Nathalie returned the letter to the envelope, and then rummaged under apile of kits that had been filled and fastened, ready for the boys atcamp, until she found one way down beneath the pile. She quickly openedit. Then something stayed her hand.
"No, it will not be a wicked thing to do, for it can't do any harm," shereasoned doubtfully; "and yet I just _hate_ to do it, but I feel that Imust do something to try to help some boy, who, perhaps, has a laggingspirit, whose heart may fail him when he thinks of what is before him,or who, perhaps, fails to realize the greatness of what we are fightingfor, the way I did. This letter may spur him on, give him courage to do_his best_, perhaps, when he realizes the truth. And _no one will know_who Blue Robin is, and yet it will do for a name, as mother always saysit is not considered fair to send an anonymous letter to any one, and Isurely would not sign my own."
Nathalie heaved a deep sigh, and then, as if she would not let herselfhave any more misgivings, she seized the letter and dropped it into thebag. A moment later she was on her way to the Red Cross booth, to learnwho had won the prize for buying the first Liberty bond.
"Oh, Nathalie, Dr. Morrow bought fifteen bonds!" came in an excitedchorus from a group of girls, who were standing in front of the booth,chatting excitedly over this unlooked-for event.
"Fifteen? Oh, isn't that just too lovely," answered the girl. And thenshe hastily made her way towards the Morrow group, where the doctor,with the twins clinging excitedly to his coat-tails,--trying to climb uphis back, he declared,--was signing the bond-certificate that made eachone of them the possessor of five bonds, and his wife the owner of fivemore.
A Liberty button was now fastened to the doctor's coat as a guaranteethat he was a good patriot, and then he was presented with the prize, abox of Liberty candy from the Girl Scouts' booth, something he neverindulged in, he laughingly asserted, as he stood with the box in hishand, lookingly helplessly at it. But the twins did, and they quicklyrelieved him of it and were soon blissfully happy as they munched on thesweets.
A good beginning must have brought the girls good luck, for as soon asMrs. Van Vorst heard of this sale she followed the doctor's example andinvested in ten bonds, five for herself and five for Nita. A few morefollowed suit, some buying two or three, while others only took one, butevery little helped, the girl delightedly cried, jubilantly happy at themany sales they were having. And then a surprise came, as her cousinLucille pushed her way through those surrounding the booth, and boughtthree bonds,--one for herself, one for Dorothy, and one for Nathalie.
"Oh, Lucille, don't do that!" cried distressed Nathalie with flushedcheeks. "It is too much to give me."
"Indeed, it is not," insisted Lucille smilingly, who could be verygenerous at times, as her cousin knew by the gift of her Pioneeruniform. "I think you have worked hard enough for these Liberty Girls tohave that much at any rate." And several must have agreed withher,--judging by the nods and claps that came from those who werestanding near and heard this remark.
As Nathalie, sometime later, sat gathering up her certificates,--she hadbeen kept busy all the afternoon making out the little blue and pinkreceipts that certified as to her many sales,--Lillie came flying up.
"Oh, Nathalie, hasn't it been a big success!" she cried with gleamingeyes. "And the patriotic speeches and recitations have been just fine.But, O dear!" she added with a sudden note of disappointment in hervoice, "there are a lot of things that have not been sold. Of coursethey will all go to the boys at camp, but I was in hopes that everythingwould be sold, so as to add to our fund for the bonds." For those whohad purchased that afternoon had patriotically returned the things theyhad bought, as their donation for the boys at camp, thus giving thegirls an opportunity to use the purchase money for Liberty bonds.
"Yes, we have several sweaters and mufflers left," announced Barbara,who had been talking to Nathalie, "and poor Captain Molly is quitedisappointed, as she was so sure that we should sell everything we had."
"And we have a number of flowers and potted plants that have not beendisposed of," added a Girl Scout in a disappointed voice.
"But we can give those to the hospital," answered Nathalie quickly, "andgive some sorrowful heart a bit of cheer."
"Well, we have some boxes of candy, too," added the Girl Scoutdolefully, "and they won't do for the sick ones for--"
"And we have some books left over," interrupted another bystander.
"Oh, I have an idea, a big one, too," broke in Helen, her eyes all of aglow. "Why could we not have an auction sale? Of course a good many willreturn what they buy,--and I think it will be lots of fun."
This idea was voted a good one, and a few minutes later Dr. Morrowannounced from the Liberty platform that he was to act as auctioneer. Afew brief words of explanation and the auction was on. First a box ofcandy was bid for, which, after much laughter, was finally knocked downfor one dollar, a much larger sum than it would have brought earlier inthe afternoon. A few books were now disposed of, a pile of cannedvegetables, a number of comfort-kits, and so on, until everything, evento the posters and decorations, had been auctioned off.
As the girls were counting up the proceeds of this expected sale, oldDeacon Perkins came up, and, after a few hems and haws, told the girlsthat if they wanted to make a raid on his cherry-trees the next morning,they could do so, and carry the fruit to the boys. They were to visitCamp Mills the following afternoon, and present their many donations tothe young soldiers.
"Oh, isn't that jolly good luck!" "Oh, that's just glorious!" and manysimilar outbursts of joy caused the old deacon to beam with complacentbenignity. The Sport, with a little giggle, whispered to Lillie that sheknew old Perkins had never felt so goody-goody in his life before,--hewas called the meanest man in town.
"Yes, girls," admonished Nathalie, after the old deacon had beenoverwhelmed with thanks, and had gone smilingly on his way, "you willall have to get up very early to-morrow morning if you want thosecherries, for you know we are to start for Mineola at an early hour, forit is some drive. Mrs. Morrow kindly offered me her car, so I asked herto be one of the chaperons. Mrs. Van Vorst is the other, and then Grace,you know, will take some of the party in her car.
"I am sorry," her face sobered a lit
tle, "but there will only be room inthe three cars for the officers of the Club, and,--yes, I think we oughtto ask Marie, Captain Molly," she explained, "to ride with us, for youknow, of course, that she can't walk far. The rest of you girls willhave to go by train, that is, those who want to go."
"But we all want to go," called out several voices eagerly, "and weexpected to go by train, for Lillie and Helen have given us atime-table, so we shall know just what to do, and we'll meet you at thecamp."
The raid on the cherry-trees proved "a lark," Edith declared, as, anhour or so before the girls started in the cars, she and Grace whizzedup in the car, filled with several baskets of cherries. A little laterthe three cars started for the camp, passing two or three groups of thegirls on the road, en route for the depot. But they were soon left farbehind as the cars whirled along the Merrick road, every one in the bestof spirits, the little newsdealer so buoyantly happy to think that shewas riding in the same car with the young president, that it did onegood to look at her face, keenly aglow with delight.
Nathalie's eyes were sparkling, too, for the little Jewess had justcried, "Bend down your head, Mees President, for I likes I shall whispermit you in your ear." And then, as the girl had smilingly complied, sheheard the happy announcement, "My papa, he says like that you iss myfriend, und so my papa he buy me a Liberty bond, for he says you areloving now mit me." The owner of the pink ear into which these words hadbeen loudly whispered, dimpled with pleasure, and then came the thought,"O dear, I wonder if my little liberty lecture had anything to do withpapa's buying the bond?"
There was a short stop at the Military Police guardhouse, to learn theway around the encampment, where several soldier-boys, with the bigletters M. P. on their arms, were viewed with much curiosity by thegirls. A call at the hostess house now followed, where the gifts for thesoldiers--the knitted articles, the books, candy, and fruits--were left,the girls reserving the baskets of cherries to distribute to the boysthemselves.
The slow ride through the encampment, with its streets flanked by brownand white tents, reminded Nathalie somewhat of an Indian encampment, andshe gazed about with eager interest, as this was her first visit to anarmy post. The girls were specially interested in the prisoners,--two orthree men here and there guarded by a soldier-boy,--who were acting asWhite Wings by gathering up flying papers, or debris of any kind lyingabout, while other groups were digging ditches or performing similarduties.
"But see," cried one of the girls, "the prisoners carry clubs, while theguard in the rear hasn't any."
"No, but he carries an automatic pistol in his trousers' pocket,"answered Mrs. Morrow quickly, who had visited the camp many times; "andif he should fire it, a crowd of soldiers would immediately surround theprisoners and disarm them. And then, too," she added, "you must rememberthat these prisoners, as a rule, are not real jailbirds, but just young,thoughtless lads who have probably been punished for what we wouldconsider a very slight misdemeanor."
But they were now in what Mrs. Morrow called the "chow" quarters, thatis, where the mess-tents were. It was quite an interesting sight to seea long line of soldiers, with their plates, cups, and pans in theirhands, standing waiting for the "eats" at one of these tents.
The girls, alert-eyed, watched them with more than the usual curiosity,for when they were supplied with food they came straggling out of theline with their "chow" and sat down here and there in groups, whileothers sat down on the street-curb and began their meal, using theirlaps for a table. This elicited many exclamations of surprise,especially when their director told them that Uncle Sam's soldiers werenot allowed to sit at tables, but had to dine standing. Theirdenunciation of this system and their expressions of pity were loud, butwhen they were told that it was these very hardships to which a boy hadto be inured that made him a well-trained soldier, they became somewhatreconciled to what they had seen.
Just at this moment a sudden inspiration came to Nathalie, and, leaningforward, she whispered softly to Mrs. Morrow. That lady smiled andnodded approval evidently, and immediately brought the car to astandstill so that Nathalie and Helen could alight. Going swiftlytowards a couple of boys who were sitting on the curb, their eyes brightand keen, and their faces tanned to a rich brown, Nathalie said,somewhat timidly, "I beg your pardon, but wouldn't you younggentlemen--er--soldiers--" she hastily corrected herself laughingly,"like to have some cherries to eat with your dinner?"
"Most assuredly we would," responded one of the lads, a tallbroad-shouldered chap with dark hair, from whose sun-tanned face twodark-lashed eyes looked down at her, with a half-smile in their blue.The boys had courteously risen and were standing at attention when thegirl spoke.
Nathalie's cheeks took on a deeper pink, and then she turned, and thetwo girls walked back to the car with the boys in their wake. Butunfortunately, as she attempted to lift one of the heavy baskets overthe edge of the car, something jarred her elbow, and the next moment thebasket had fallen to the ground with the cherries rolling all over theroad.
There was a loud shout from the boys, and then a dozen or morekhaki-clad figures had rushed to the girl's assistance, and presentlysoldier-boys and girls were all scrambling about in the dust of theroad, gathering up the fruit. Indeed, by the time it was replaced in thebasket,--for, of course, the girls had to polish off the dust from theluscious red fruit--they had all become very merry with one another.
Several minutes later, as the car whirled around the corner of the longstreet, they saw the soldier lads gathered about the basket, whilelaughing and joking with one another in good-natured banter. Suddenlyone of the boys looked up, and as he spied the now disappearing car hetook off his cap and waved it in a parting salute. Nathalie smiled back,for she recognized this good-by as coming from the boy with thedark-lashed, blue eyes.
"Wasn't that young solider a handsome boy?" queried one of the girlsadmiringly, as the car flew along the level road. "And what lovely blueeyes he had."
"Yes, and that boy with the light hair was nice-looking, too," chimed inHelen. "He had such a frank way of looking you right in the eye. I'llwarrant you he's no coward."
But the cherries and the boys in the "chow" quarters were forgotten asthe girls drove by a group of buglers, who were sitting on the grassnear a large tent, practicing on their bugles. Every eye was curiouslywatchful as the three cars went slowly past, for Mrs. Morrow, who wasdriving, had slowed up as she saw "the camp alarm-clocks," as she calledthem. Every head was bent forward and eyes grew big with alertness, forhad the girls not set out that morning with the avowed intention of notmissing anything worth seeing, and surely a group of soldier buglers wasan interesting feature of the camp.
They were a merry-eyed crowd, those boys with their happy, care-freefaces under the brown hats with their gay-colored cords. All on undressparade, Helen declared, as she noted their brown flannel blouses andbelts, as they knelt or stood upon the grass, blowing on their goldenhorns as Captain Molly called their brass instruments.
Evidently they were not worrying about going overseas, or losing theirlives in No Man's Land, but were good examples of live-wire Americanlads, with the grit inherited from their ancestors, the Yanks, inspiringthem to make good when called by Uncle Sam to the job of making war.
The girls were alert and watchful, as they spied into open tents, orbehind flying flaps, at the rows of tiny white cots, or at a few strayarticles of clothing seen here and there, yes, even a pair of shoes setout in the sun to dry were objects of their silent adoration as theyswung along the road.
But now the scene had changed as they whirled along, for, instead oftents, the streets were lined with little wooden houses, or cabins, thebarracks of the United States Aviation School at Mineola, which adjoinedCamp Mills. A stop at the hostess house was next in order, where a callwas sent in for Dick.
Twenty minutes later Nathalie was blithesomely happy, as she and herbrother, over in a corner of the little wooden building, chatted abouthome news,--how mother was getting along, yes, and about the wonderfulevent
s that had occurred in the last few days. Then Nathalie turnedinquisitor, and Dick was subjected to a series of questions in regard tohis life as a war-eagle. In fact Nathalie's questions were so many andso swiftly put that her brother declared that one would have thoughtthat he was being interviewed by some expert reporter.
Yes, reveille was at five in the morning, followed in half an hour bybreakfast. His sister immediately asked, somewhat anxiously, if he gotenough to eat.
"You bet your life I do," was Dick's laughing rejoinder. "The 'eats' areO. K.--nothing to be added. At six," he continued, "I report atheadquarters for flying, and then, with an instructor, learn a fewflying stunts. I return to barracks at ten, and from eleven untiltwo-thirty have a 'do-as-you-please time,' which includes luncheon, and,generally, a nap, for, by Jove!" exclaimed the young aviator, "thisflying business makes a fellow feel drowsy.
"Then we drill for a while, listen to a lecture," he went on, "and thenagain for a space I am a bird of the air. We dine about half-aftereight, and at ten comes taps, or 'lights out.' Anything more you wouldlike to know, young lady?" he inquired teasingly. But Nathalie wassatisfied, for surely her brother's ruddy cheeks, tanned skin, andglowing eyes attested to what he called the "joy-time of his life," anda few moments later the little party started for the aviation field.
Here Dick conducted them around the field and showed them many kinds ofaircraft, as aeroplanes, dirigibles, kite-balloons, serviceable in war;in fact, they were so well instructed as to the uses and mechanism of somany different machines that Mrs. Morrow declared that they would bewell-versed in aeronautics. But the little personal stories that Dicktold about the heroism of well-known war-eagles over in France made astronger appeal to the girls, especially when he explained the severalvarieties of aviators and their special work.
To the girls' disappointment there was no flying going on while theywere on the field, but they were partly appeased when Dick showed them agroup of students, aviation observers, he called them, who were learningto sketch from a miniature battlefield, and in this way learn how itwould look from the air. As they were about to leave the field they sawsome students bringing out a machine, to get it ready for flying, astesting the motor and so on.
At this particular moment one of the girls uttered a sudden cry, and asall eyes glanced upward with newly awakened eagerness, they wererewarded by seeing an aeroplane returning from a training flight. AsNathalie gazed eagerly at the machine that flew like some strangemonster above their heads, the perils of flying in space came to herwith a sudden, keen realization, and, with a sickening pang as to whatmight happen to Dick some day, her eyes darkened with apprehensiveterror and she turned hastily away. But Dick, catching sight of thegirl's pale face and fear-haunted eyes, as if to divert her mind fromdismal forebodings, called attention to the camp mascot, a little yellowpolice-dog, who was standing by his master, equipped, like him, withgoggles. The girls were soon laughing heartily as Dick told of the dog'salertness in doing "stunts," and the eagerness he showed when waiting totake a flight in one of the machines.