THE FLAG-BEARER
BY CAROLYN SHERWIN BAILEY
The primary class had a very beautiful American flag, and some child was going to carry it from the schoolroom across the park and into the Town Hall on the holiday. All the primary children would march after the flag, and they were going to sing “America” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” It would be a wonderful day and each child wanted to carry the flag.
No one was sure who would be chosen as flag-bearer, but their teacher had said the week before: “It will be the child who loves his country the most who will carry the Stars and Stripes. Try and do something for your country during the week.”
So the children had been very busy ever since doing all sorts of things that would show how they loved their country.
Marjory had been knitting for soldiers. Her grandmother had given her a pair of pretty yellow needles and a ball of soft gray yarn and had started a scarf. But the stitches would drop, and there was still enough snow for sliding on the hill back of Marjory’s house. Her knitting was not much further along on Saturday than on Monday.
“I will show how much I love my country,” Hubert said, and he asked his mother to take the gilt buttons from his great-grandfather’s soldier coat that hung in the attic and sew them on his reefer. Then he showed the bright buttons to all the other children, and they thought that Hubert looked very fine indeed.