"'It's Paul,' she said softly. 'Of course I'm thankful he is so little that I can keep him safe at home with me, but sometimes when I think of my dear country and the terrible wrongs she has suffered, I almost wish that my little son were old enough to bring retribution upon those hideous Germans. Sometimes I feel cheated--yes, you needn't stare--that I have not a son "over there".'" "Oh, Mollie!" cried the Little Captain softly, "what a wonderful thing to say. And yet I think she would die if anything happened to either of the twins." "That's just it," said Mollie, her eyes glowing with pride. "Loving them as she does, she almost wishes it were possible to make the supreme sacrifice for her country." "It was that spirit," said Grace thoughtfully, "that won the battle of the Marne." For a long time after that the girls worked quietly, each busy with her own thoughts. It was Amy who finally broke the silence. "And here we are," she said plaintively, "letting another whole afternoon slip by without deciding what we are going to do on our vacation. Can't somebody suggest something?" "I have already suggested half a dozen things, only to be laughed to scorn," said Mollie, adding decidedly: "I'm through." "And nothing I can say seems to meet with approval," added Betty plaintively. "Well," said Grace, stretching herself, sitting up in the swing, and looking important, "nobody asks me whether I have anything to suggest," adding as they turned a battery of surprised and eager glances her way: "I don't know whether I can be persuaded to tell you now or not." "Tell us!" they cried, piling into the swing till the supporting ropes creaked with the strain. "Can't we bribe you with candy?" pleaded Amy. "No. I just made an advantageous trade in that article, you will remember," was the answer. "Anyway, we don't bribe, we command," put in Betty. "Grace, we refuse to be trifled with. What have you to suggest? Out with it!" "You'd better hurry," added Mollie, raising her knitting needle threateningly, "before I spit thee like a pig!" CHAPTER IV GRACE SURPRISES HER CHUMS "I'm not a pig," cried Grace, striving to look dignified, which is a rather difficult procedure when one is being hugged by three pairs of arms at once. "I don't care how many times you spit me, whatever that is, Mollie, but you shan't call me a pig." "Of course she shan't," said Betty soothingly. "If she does it again, we'll try our hand at this spitting business--" "Goodness, sounds like a cat fight," chuckled Grace, but Mollie unceremoniously shook her into attention. "Grace, behave and tell us," she ordered. "What?" asked Grace aggravatingly, but added hastily as Mollie again raised the knitting needle at a threatening angle: "All right, if you'll just give me space enough to breathe I'll do any little thing you ask."