In the spring of 1914 Frank Sacobie, now seventeen years of age, left Beaver Dam to work in a sawmill on the big river. Peter Starkley invested his winter's wages in another mare, two cows and a ton of chemical fertilizers. He ploughed ten acres of his meadows and sowed five with oats, four to buckwheat, and planted one to potatoes. The whole family was thrilled with the romance of his undertaking. His father helped him to put in his crop; and Dick and Flora found the attractions of Peter's farm irresistible. The very tasks that they classed as work at home they considered as play when performed at "Peter's place." In the romantic glow of Peter's agricultural beginning Dick almost resigned his military ambitions. But those ambitions were revived by Peter himself; and this is how it happened. Peter planned to raise horses, and he felt that the question what class of horse to devote his energies to was very important. One day late in June he met a stranger in the village of Stanley, and they "talked horse." The stranger advised Peter to visit King's County if he wanted knowledge on that subject. "Enlist in the cavalry," he said--"the 8th, Princess Louise, New Brunswick Hussars. That will give you a trip for nothin'--two weeks--and a dollar a day--and a chance to see every sort of horse that was ever bred in this province, right there in the regiment. Bring along a horse of your own, and the government will pay you another dollar a day for it--and feed it. I do it every year, just for a holiday and a bit of change." It sounded attractive to Peter, and two weeks later he and his black mare set off for King's County to join the regiment in its training camp. In his absence Dick and Flora looked after the sorrel mare, his cows and his farm. Two weeks later Peter and the mare returned; the mare was a little thinner than of old, and Peter was full of talk of horses and soldiering. Dick's military ambitions relit in him like an explosion of gunpowder. Then came word of the war to Beaver Dam. The folk of Beaver Dam, and of thousands of other rural communities, were busy with their haying when Canada offered a division to the mother country, for service in any part of the world. Militia officers posted through the country, seeking volunteers to cross the ocean and to bear arms against terrific Germany. Peter, now in his twentieth year, wished to join. "And what about your new farm and all your great plans?" asked John Starkley. "Dick and I will look after his farm for him," said Flora. "We can harvest his crops and--" Just then she looked at her mother and suddenly became silent. Mrs. Starkley's face was very white. "If the need for men from Canada is great, other divisions will be called for," said the father. "At present, only one division has been asked for--and I think that can easily be filled with seasoned militiamen." "Some one drove past the window!" exclaimed Flora.