At hearing that astounding assertion, the young aviator looked as though he believed himself dreaming. To meet his younger brother here in the midst of bloody scenes, Amos, the “kid” whom he only remembered as a little fellow, was almost beyond his comprehension.
But in another moment Amos had reached his side, and putting out his arms, Frank hugged the lad to his heart, regardless of the pain such a movement must have caused him.
“What brought you over here, boy?” he demanded, as soon as he could catch his breath.
“Oh! we have been searching for you everywhere,” replied Amos, beaming upon the brother of whom he was so proud. “All the way across Belgium, and most of the way along the lines of battle in France, always arriving just too late to meet you. Get your arm looked after, Frank, and then I’ve got a thousand things to tell you. I’m so happy I feel as if I were flying through space, just as we saw you do when you threw those bombs on the Turks yesterday.”
“What, were you there with the Australians through the fierce battle?” demanded Frank, hardly able to believe his ears, for to his mind Amos was still the same “kid” the latter had been when he left home some years back, and he could not realize that the boy had grown to be so tall and stout.
“Yes, and we helped carry in the wounded afterwards; but you shall hear it all, only on condition that you let the surgeon attend to your wound, which looks like a bad one, too.”
“The only tough thing about it is I need that arm every time I go up, and it’s going to cripple me for some time, I’m afraid,” complained Frank, bitterly.
“Then you must take a vacation, and go back home with me, if only for a visit,” said Amos, in a thrilling tone. “Father is nearing his end, we fear, Frank, and he is crazy to see you just once again before he dies. You surely wouldn’t refuse him the last chance to ask you to forgive him; for, Frank, what was lost has been found just lately, back of the drawer in the desk where it lay all these years!”
Upon hearing how his name had been cleared, Frank seemed to draw in a long breath. It evidently meant much to him to have that stern father know he was innocent of the crime that had been laid at his door. He put a hand to his head—the army surgeon was already busily engaged with the other arm.
“I’d rather wait until I hear the whole story, Amos, before deciding,” he said, presently. “Though I want to tell you right now I’m sorely inclined to do what you are asking of me. With this wound I’d be of little use here for some time; and it wouldn’t take more than a month or so to run over and come back. Yes, I own up that I would never forgive myself if father passed away, and I refused to give him a chance to see me again after all these years. Most of the bitterness has left my heart in the passage of time, and if I survived this war I would probably have made the first advances toward patching up a peace with father.”