"Red Angel saw George's design, and without saying a word he slowly descended"
The hoisting of the flag was, indeed, a solemn thing, but it had its amusing side, and when, with uncovered heads, the flag went up to the masthead and stopped there, the Professor said: "We should have had music to make it more appropriate, but as we have no band, let us sing 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'"
The boys were both good singers, as the Professor knew. The song was started, but before the first line was finished, they broke down and tears began to come; the Professor, with his hands clasped and head bowed, did not look up, nor was he surprised when they stopped. The boys had a suspicion that even he could not have carried that song a single bar. They were powerless to go on.
When the Professor did look up and gaze on the flag, the boys saw his tears; they were ashamed no longer, and their eyes looked up, too.
In a voice which sounded almost strange to the boys, the Professor said: "We take possession of this land in the name of the United States of America, and give notice that we shall defend the same against all powers."
Then, as the beautiful flag unfurled itself, and threw its waving shadow on the ground that it now protected, they looked down, and there was Red Angel, close beside them, looking up at the flag as though he understood what it meant, and his silence gave consent to the solemn act which transferred his allegiance to a greater power.
As they were about to descend the hill the Professor called them to a halt. "Do you intend to leave the flag at full mast?"
They had entirely forgotten to half mast it. "And now," said Harry, "if they can't see that flag we'll make one big enough next time."
As they went down the hill, they could not help looking back over and over, to admire the flag and the pole, and everything connected with it. They knew every thread and every piece of it. Somehow it seemed to be a part of them.