“Well, I can tell you now,” he said as he and the two nieces of Professor Petersen watched the victorious troops go marching by. “There are three boys—three young men, American soldiers who––”
The professor paused, and looked hard at a certain group of marching Americans. He took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them on again to stare with all his power at three youths who swung along with the sang-froid of veterans.
“Why!” exclaimed Professor Snodgrass. “Why—bless my—bless—why, it’s Ned, Bob, and Jerry themselves!” he fairly shouted. “Oh, there they are! There are the boys themselves!” and he rushed forward, tears of joy for the moment dimming the glasses he had so carefully cleaned a moment ago.
“There are the boys. Jerry! Ned! Bob! 246 Here I am! And here are the girls! Hurrah! Hurrah for the U. S. A.! Hurrah for President Wilson! Hurrah for General Pershing! Down with the Germans! The United States and the Allies forever! Hurrah!”
There was a laugh in the ranks of the marching Americans. Most of them did not catch all that the little, excited, bald-headed man said, but they laughed at his enthusiasm and loved him. But Ned, Bob, and Jerry heard.
“It’s him!” yelled Bob.
“It’s the professor!” cried Ned.
“And the girls are with him!” added Jerry.
The lieutenant of the boys’ company, seeing that something unusual was in the wind said:
“You may fall out. Join us later. We’ll probably stay here a while. This is our objective, and we’ve made it.”