"Well," said Slim, his face now painfully red from his efforts to keep chest out and stomach in, "it was finally decided upon just now, although we have talked about the thing in a general way many times."
"You really mean to enlist—all three of you?" Mr. Burton demanded.
"Yes, sir," they chorused, "all three."
"Good!" exclaimed the man who had been their friend and helper. "Fine! I'm proud of you," and he proceeded to shake hands heartily with each in turn.
"Have you decided upon the branch of the service you intend to enter?" he then asked.
Joe looked at Jerry, Jerry looked at Slim, and Slim cast a helpless glance back at Joe.
"I see you haven't," said Mr. Burton hastily, "and I'm glad of it. Now how about the Signal Corps?"
"What do men in the Signal Corps do?" asked Jerry.
"Do they fight?" demanded Slim.
"Yes," Mr. Burton replied, "they do some fighting on their own account, and often in tough places and against discouraging odds. But they do even more than that. Without their assistance no general would dare lay plans for a battle. The Signal Corps keeps the commanders posted, not only as to the whereabouts and disposition of his own troops, but also of those of the enemy. The Signal Corps is the telephone, the telegraph, the wireless, and often the aviation section as well, of the American army, and often of the American navy, too."