"Gee whiz, that's tough," sympathized Jimmy. "Say, I like you. You're all right. What do you say? Let's enlist. Yes? No ride in that recruiting wagon for me, though. Look! They've got four fellows already! That Glory Road song waked 'em up, _I_ guess. Tell you what you do. Jump into my roadster and we'll get away from here and be at the station ahead of those fellows. This car can certainly go some. I call it 'Old Speedy.' If we were out in the country on a good smooth road I'd give you a fast ride, all right. Course I have to go easy in the city. But climb in and let's beat it. Those Sammies in the wagon are getting ready to move on. What's the matter? You're not going to back out, are you?" Quick to note a trace of hesitation in his new acquaintance's manner, the gray-eyed boy's straight brows drew together in a disappointed frown. "Back out? Well, I _guess_ not." With this the other boy hopped nimbly up to a seat beside the driver. "It's fine of you to do this," he burst forth impulsively. "Why, you don't even know my name or----" "Oh, can it," grinned Jimmy. "I took a good look at you. That's enough. I always know when I first see a fellow whether I'm going to like him or not. I don't change my mind about him, either. Now I'm going to back out of here in a hurry. I'll turn around up the street, then cut down a side street and hit it up for the recruiting station." With this Jimmy busied himself with his car and soon had it backed far enough to make the turn. As it glided into the side street, his companion glanced over one shoulder at the crowd they had left behind. "It looks as if they were going to start," he commented. "Let 'em start. We'll beat 'em to it," predicted Jimmy. "I'll run as fast as I dare. Say," he continued, as they spun along over the smooth pavement, "as long as we enlist together, we'll probably be sent to the same training camp. Then we'll be pals. How's that? My name's James Sumner Blaise. My folks call me Jimmy and the fellows call me Jimmy Blazes." His companion smiled at this funny nickname. He was already under the spell of Jimmy's careless, happy-go-lucky manner. "I'd like to be pals," came his hearty response. "My name's Roger Barlow. I've been working in a munitions plant ever since the war in Europe began. I used to be in the shipping room of a big hardware place. I didn't make very good wages, so I left it for munitions. This is the first Saturday afternoon I've had off for three months. I've earned quite a lot of money and I've got almost a hundred dollars saved up," he added confidentially.