"No, I've got to see mother first and straighten my tie," grinned Frank. "I'll probably catch up to you though. So long."
Frank found his mother awaiting him with outstretched arms.
"Oh, my boy," she cried, "you were splendid! If you will wait just a little while till our affairs are more settled I will not say a word to your joining the army. If all Germans are like that—"
"They are, Mother," replied Frank, grimly. "Germany is a nation of men like him. What he did to our flags the whole Prussian empire is trying to do to the world."
"Then you must go!" cried his mother, holding him from her and regarding him with flaming eyes. "Because I love my son, I will give him—for my dear France and for America!"
CHAPTER VI
THE DIE IS CAST
"That's it, Mother," cried Frank, his whole soul responding to the kindling spirit in her eyes. "For America and France, the two greatest republics in the world. It won't be the first time they've fought together."
"No," replied his mother proudly. "Lafayette and other brave sons of France helped this country to win its independence, and it is only right that now when France is hard pressed and pouring out her blood like water, Americans should fight side by side with her to make the world safe for democracy."