"But, Allen," Betty broke in, struck by a sudden thought, "you said something about your having run into good luck. Was it something that happened to you personally, or was it just the good luck of being the friend of a corporal?"
"Since I've been a corporal myself from the start," said Allen with dignity, "I don't see why——"
"Yes, yes, go on," said Mollie impatiently.
"Well," said Allen, throwing the news like a bomb into their midst,
"I've been promoted to a sergeant."
"What?" the girls cried, hardly knowing whether to believe him or not. "Are you really in earnest?"
"You're not very complimentary," he grumbled, though his eyes twinkled. "You don't suppose I'd come here and tell you a thing like that if it weren't so, do you?"
Then arose a second babel, louder and more prolonged than the first, and it was a long time before they quieted down enough to talk coherently.
"You see," Allen explained, "there's a chance for promotion now that there never was before. New men are coming in by the hundreds, and those men have to have officers. There's really no end to the chances if you just stick to the big game and do your level best. You're sure to win something good in the end."
"And hasn't Roy been promoted?" asked Grace. "Hasn't he been 'on the job,' as you say?"
"You bet your life he has," Allen defended loyally. "It's just our luck that we happened to get it; that's all. His turn will come next, you take it from me."