"You've had no cause to," the Colonel looked humorously across at him. "But my bark in this case was worse than my bite. I merely wanted to stir the young man's ardor so that he'll be the more keen for a smell of powder. Did you note his eyes sparkling, Amos?--did you, Marian?" Marian had not stirred during the Colonel's admonitions to Jeb. She had been sitting limply in her father's desk chair, looking at the targets which lay crumpled and forgotten beneath the table. Now she answered listlessly: "Yes, I noticed it." Her tone, as well as her attitude, caught the Colonel's attention and sobered him. He glanced toward Amos Strong, who had again turned to the window and, with hands crossed behind his back, was gazing down into the street; then whispered guardedly: "You mustn't jump at conclusions, my dear little girl. Jeb's the soul of honor, and of courage; he's just a mite unstrung, that's all--why shouldn't he be?" "Why do you think I'm jumping at conclusions?" she asked, smiling at him. "He ought to make a very fine soldier, and I'm sure he will." "He will, indeed," the old fellow patted her cheek. "And now let me beg of you, for your dear father's sake, to let the honor of Hillsdale rest with Jeb, and you stay home here with us!" "Oh, I couldn't stay home," she moved restlessly. "Don't put your plea on old daddy's account--it isn't fair! He has you, now," she added, trying to smile bravely. "Why, Uncle Roger, I was counting on you to support me!" "There, there! I will, I will! When do you want to start?" "To-day," she answered, again listlessly. "To-day?" he cried in astonishment. "Why, my dear child----" She sprang to her feet, fighting back tears, and faced him. "Certainly to-day," she said quickly. "Aren't men falling to-day?--suffering and crying for help to-day? Are the Germans going to stop firing until I get there?--or any of us can get there? Don't you see the sooner everyone gets busy the sooner it will be over?--and can't you see that I--I can't stay here a minute longer than is absolutely necessary?" She looked down again at the fallen targets, and a little shiver seemed to pass over her; then she crossed to her father, tiptoed behind him and put her arms around his neck. "Your promise, Daddy?" she asked, tenderly. He wheeled, almost savagely, and gathered her close to him, saying huskily: "Your daddy never went back on a promise, dear." "Damn those Hun outcasts!" the Colonel thundered, stamping from the room and banging the door after him. CHAPTER III Jeb had stepped out upon the street with heavy feet. There was a dull weight at his heart; a sickening weariness permeated his entire body. The Colonel's words of warning to protect his stomach, the suggestion of bullets ploughing through it, caused him to stop and loosen his belt, which had begun to feel uncomfortable. He even ran his had over that part of his anatomy and found that it seemed actually to be tender.