“Now, do tell me all about everything,” exclaimed Gretel, leaning back in her brother’s comfortable limousine, as they moved away from the station. “Is Percy all right?”
“Yes, but frightfully busy. He has entered heart and soul into war work. By the way, I have a surprise for you. Where do you think we are going to spend the summer?”
“I haven’t the least idea. Not Bar Harbor or Murray Bay, I suppose?”
“No, indeed; nowhere as cool as Maine or Canada. I am afraid we shall have to put up with a good deal of hot weather, but it can’t be helped. You see, Percy expects to be in Washington nearly all summer, and I couldn’t bear the thought of going so far away from him, so we have rented a house there, or rather in the suburbs. It is rather prettily situated, right on the banks of the Potomac, and within very easy distance of the city. We expect to move down the last of next week. How do you think you will enjoy spending a summer in Washington?”
“I shall love it, I am sure,” said Gretel, enthusiastically. “And, oh, Barbara, I want to do some war work, too. It seems as if every one ought to do something to help just a little.”
“Every one is doing something to help,” said Mrs. Douaine. “You have no idea what the women had done already. Two of my best friends have gone over to nurse in Paris hospitals, and three more have joined the woman’s motor corps, and are learning to drive ambulances. I want to help Percy all I can, and, oh, I am so thankful it is Washington for him, and not the trenches. He was determined to go at first, in spite of his being over age, but they turned him down on account of his eyes. He is terribly near-sighted, you know. So now he has asked for home service in Washington, and been accepted.”
Gretel uttered a little sigh of satisfaction, and slipped her hand into her sister-in-law’s.
“I can’t help being thankful he isn’t going,” she said, “though I suppose it must have been a great disappointment to him. Some of the girls’ brothers are going, and it seems so dreadful. Ada Godfrey says we ought to be glad to give our fathers and brothers to the country, but Molly Chester says it’s easy for Ada to talk about giving up, when she hasn’t any one to give herself.”
“I am afraid that is the way with a good many people,” she said, “but I was willing to let Percy go, though the thought of parting from him almost broke my heart. It must be a wonderful thing to die for one’s country, Gretel.”