And Betty, who knew the song and had always liked it, started to sing. But she did not get far. Something swelled and swelled in her throat and every time she came to the lines: "Though our lads are far away They think of home--" tears blinded her eyes, her voice quivered, and she had to stop. Three times she tried it, then with a little sob, dropped her head on her arm and sat still. The girls ran to her, while the boys turned away to hide their own emotion. "Never mind, Betty dear," whispered Mollie, wiping a tear from the end of her nose and patting Betty's hand tenderly. "We--we all feel the same way about it." Betty raised her head and smiled a little April smile upon them. "I'll always keep the home fires b-burning," she said unsteadily, "but I c-can't sing about it." CHAPTER XIII "SMILE, GIRLS, SMILE" "Wake up, Gracie." Betty's voice was low and excited as she shook her friend into semi-wakefulness. "The boys have to catch the early train, you know, and we mustn't keep them waiting." "Yes, I know," said Grace, waking to full consciousness without a protest--for the first time since Betty had known her. "What time is it, Betty?" "Six-thirty," answered Betty, beginning to dress hurriedly. "That's fifteen minutes later than we should be. Oh, if we should miss seeing them off!" "Betty, I don't feel like myself at all," said Grace, after a silence during which they had both been plunged in thought. She flourished a shoe in the air and regarded Betty as though it were her fault. "I feel all quivery and shaky and trembly inside, and I don't think I could smile if you paid me for it." "Goodness, I know I couldn't!" said Betty, and then added as she pinned on the bunch of carnations Allen had brought her the night before: "We've just got to smile, though, whether we feel like it or not. We don't want the boys to remember us in tears." "I should say not!" responded Grace emphatically. "When I cry I'm a perfect fright. That's why I never do it." Betty chuckled despite the dull ache at her heart. "I wasn't quite thinking of that," she said. "But it surely will be better if we're able to smile a little bit. Come on--let's practice." They stood together before the mirror, doing their best to smile naturally, and their very failure to do it made them laugh at themselves. "If we're not a couple of geese," said Betty, as arms intertwined, they descended the stairs. "That's about the first time we ever had to _try_ to smile. Now for a bite of breakfast." But, try though they did, they could not eat, and finally had to give it up entirely. "We were all to meet at Mollie's, weren't we?" asked Grace, as they made their way down the sun-flooded street. "Oh, Betty, I'm afraid to meet anybody, I'm so sure I'm going to make a goose of myself. Will you hold my hand all the time?"