"You came pretty close to it," said Thane, with a smile. "You see, Cale, it's the sort of thing one puts away in a safe place. That's why I left it in New York. Mother likes to look at it occasionally. Mothers are queer creatures, you know. They like to be reminded of the good things their sons have done. It helps 'em to forget the bad things, I suppose." "You're always joking," pouted Rosabel, leaning forward, ardour in her wide, young eyes. "If I was a boy and had been in the war, I'd never stop talking about it." "And I'd have been in it, too, if pa hadn't up and told 'em I was only a little more than fifteen," said Cale, glowering at his father in the darkness. "You mustn't blame your pa, Cale," rebuked his mother. "He knows what a soldier's life is better than you do. He was down in that camp at Chattanooga during the Spanish War, and almost died of typhoid, Courtney. And when I think of the way our boys died by the millions of the flu, I--well, I just know you would have died of it, sonny, and I wouldn't have had any cross or medal to look at, and--and--" "Don't begin cryin', Lucindy," broke in old Caleb hastily. "He didn't die of the flu, so what's the sense of worryin' about it now? He didn't even ketch it, and gosh knows, the whole blamed country was full of it that winter." "Well," began Mrs. Vick defensively, and then compressed her lips in silence. "I think it was perfectly wonderful of you, Mr. Thane, to go over to France and fight in the American Ambulance so long before we went into the war." This from the adoring Rosabel. "I wish you'd tell us more about your experiences. They must have been terrible. You never talk about them, though. I think the real heroes were the fellows who went over when you did,--when you didn't really have to, because America wasn't in it." "The American Ambulance wasn't over there to fight, you know," explained Courtney. "What did you get the cross for if you weren't fighting?" demanded young Cale. "For doing what a whole lot of other fellows did,--simply going out and getting a wounded man or two in No-Man's Land. We didn't think much about it at the time." "Was it very dangerous?" asked Rosabel. "I suppose it was,--more or less so," replied Thane indifferently. He even yawned. "I'd rather talk about Alix the Third, if it's all the same to you. Is she light or dark?" "She's a brunette," said Rosabel shortly. "All except her eyes. They're blue. How long were you up at the front, Mr. Thane?" "Oh, quite a while,--several months, in fact. At first we were in a place where there wasn't much fighting. Just before the first big Verdun drive we were transferred to that sector, and then we saw a lot of action." "Some battle, wasn't it?" exclaimed young Cale, a thrill in his voice. "Certainly was," said Courtney. "We used to work forty-eight hours at a stretch, taking 'em back by the thousands." "How near did the shells ever come to you?"