“Oh, well, you know what I mean!”
“This gets me!” said Spouter. “I’d like to know what my father is going to do. If he is going into the army, I’d like to know it.”
“And I’d like to know what my father is going to do, too,” said Gif. “I don’t believe he cares much for military matters, but just the same, he is intensely patriotic, and I know he would like to get a chance at those Boches.”
“I suppose we’ll get more news in a day or two,” said Jack. “This telegram was sent more to break the ice than anything else. It puts it up to us to let Mary and Martha know,” and he looked at Fred as he spoke.
“We’ll go over to-morrow and see them,” was Fred’s reply. “I don’t think I care to telephone news like this. No, we’ll take them off by themselves and let them know.”
A little later Spouter and Gif retired. The four Rover boys sat up for fully an hour longer, discussing the subject from every possible point of view. To Jack and Fred the entrance of their fathers into the army of the United States meant a great deal. The great war was on in all its fury, and they knew that sooner or later their fathers would be sent to France to face the enemy.
“It’s all well enough to talk about going to the front and covering oneself with glory,” was the way Fred expressed himself. “But some of those who go to the front never come back.”
“That is true, Fred,” answered Jack soberly. “But a good citizen has got to be ready to do his duty, no matter what the cost.”
“Oh, I know that! Just the same, this going to the front is a serious business. Even if a person isn’t killed, he may come back minus an arm or a leg, or something like that.”
“Well, don’t you go to talking like that to Mary and Martha.”