"Hey, you're going to get an extra biscuit for that," put in Roy, raising himself on his elbow and looking alarmed. "Just because you're a better flatterer than I am--" "Oh, hush, hush," protested Betty, showing all her dimples--Allen was watching, so we have his authority for it. "You boys can never get to the point, unless we happen to be talking of something to eat. Allen, what were they talking about?" Allen roused himself from the happy reverie into which Betty's dimples had thrown him, and responded good-naturedly. Allen was invariably good-natured. "We were talking about some of the things we may be up against, when we find ourselves in the trenches, face to face with the enemy," he said. "Also we were saying that these sweaters, and mufflers and socks you are knitting, will come in mighty handy over there." A shadow crossed Betty's bright face, and she leaned forward to pick up the discarded paper she had thrown upon the porch. "'The enemy attacked in force our lines south of Cambrai,'" she read, with puckered brow. "'The enemy succeeded in gaining a foothold in our first line trenches, but were later driven back. The fighting on both sides was sanguinary, and heavy losses were sustained!'" She flung the paper from her, and regarded her friends with flaming eyes, and both little fists clenched close at her sides. "It doesn't seem as though it _could_ be real!" she cried. "Men killing each other off by the hundreds and all for--what? Oh, it's cruel, cruel!" "Of course it's cruel," said Allen grimly. "But so were the Huns cruel, centuries ago. The German people have simply never advanced beyond that state. They're still in the first stages of civilization." "Yes, and the worst part of this kind of warfare," said Frank, his eyes fixed thoughtfully upon the horizon, "is that each man in the army is simply a unit in a great machine. In the old days, when they had cavalry charges and hand-to-hand fighting there was some romance, some adventure, some chance for personal bravery." "Well, of course there is still some chance for daring," remarked Allen, "especially in the aviation branch of the service." "In the army too," added Roy. "Soldiers are being decorated every day for some special act of bravery." "I know all that," replied Frank. "But there's nothing particularly spectacular about it." "And yet," said Betty thoughtfully, "I should think that kind of fighting would take more courage than the other. To stand day after day in those horrible trenches waiting for orders. And then when they do finally make a charge, nothing much seems to be gained by it." "Yes, the waiting must be the hardest part," agreed Allen. "We met an Englishman in town," he added, smiling at the recollection, "and he was a mighty interesting chap."