THE GREAT VICTORY PARADE
"My, what a jam of people!"
"Did you ever see such a crowd before in all your life!"
"And look at the flags and other decorations! Aren't they beautiful?"
"This time New York has outdone herself."
It was the day for the great parade of the returned soldiers, and New
York City, especially in the vicinity of Fifth Avenue, was packed with
dense crowds that filled miles of grandstands, windows, and other points
of vantage, and also jammed the sidewalks and the side streets. It was a
holiday for all, and everybody was going to make the most of it.
The Rovers had left their homes early to make their way to the seats
they had obtained on one of the stands. With those who resided in the
city were Grandfather Rover and also Aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph, who
had come down the day previous from Valley Brook Farm.
"This is the greatest day of my life," said Grandfather Rover, his eyes
glistening with pleasure. "To think that my boys have all fought for our
country and come back from the war safely."
"Yes, and to think one of them has won a medal--not but what the others
have been equally brave," responded old Uncle Randolph.
"I hope they never have to go to another war--they or their sons
either," murmured old Aunt Martha.
The girls had invited May and Ruth to come to New York to witness the
parade. May had accepted the invitation, but Ruth had sent word the
doctor did not think a trip advisable at this time, her eyes being still
in bad condition.
"It's too bad Ruth couldn't come," sighed Jack.
"Well, she had better take care of her eyes," answered his sister. "Oh,
dear, why did that horrid Werner have to do such a mean thing!"
The Rovers had all they could do to get to the seats reserved for them.
Each carried a small flag, to be waved as the soldiers passed. There was
quite a wait, and the crowd seemed to grow denser every minute. Then
from a distance came the fanfare of trumpets and the booming of many
drums.
"Here they come! Here they come!" was the glad shout, and soon a platoon
of police on horse-back swept by. Then followed a brass band of a
hundred pieces or more, and the great parade was fairly started.
To go into the particulars of this tremendous spectacle would be
impossible in the limits of these pages. Regiment after regiment swept
by, representing every State in the Union. There were brass bands
galore, with Old Glory everywhere in evidence. The crowd clapped and
cheered, and sometimes shouted itself hoarse as some favorite command
swept by with soldierly precision. Here and there a hero was recognized,
and then the din would increase.
"Some parade, I say!" exclaimed Fred enthusiastically.
"Isn't it wonderful how many soldiers there are?" marveled May, who sat
next to him.
"When are our boys coming?" questioned Grandfather Rover anxiously.
"They'll be coming along pretty soon now," answered Jack, who had been
studying the program closely. "They are in the second regiment after the
one now passing."
The New York State troops were now approaching, and the din became
terrific, the more so as one company after another was recognized.
"Here they come! Here they come!" exclaimed Martha, who was gazing down
the line.
"I see them! They are just at the corner!" added Mary.
"There's dad! I see dad!" screamed Andy, to make himself heard above the
noise. "There he is, in the front row on this side!"
"Yes, and there is my father!" yelled Fred. "See him? Two men away from
Uncle Tom!"
"I see dad," announced Jack. "He's in the middle. See him with that
medal on his breast?"
"Hurrah, boys! Hurrah for you!" yelled Grandfather Rover, and arose
excitedly, shaking his cane in one hand and a small flag in the other.
[Illustration: "HURRAH FOR YOU, BOYS!" YELLED GRANDFATHER ROVER.]
By this time all were on their feet, cheering and waving their flags
wildly. Dick, Tom and Sam Rover saw them, and although they did not dare
to turn their heads, they smiled broadly in recognition. For them the
moment was just as thrilling as it was for those on the stand.
"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" shouted the boys and girls, and their parents
and other relatives joined in as strenuously as any one.
Old Aunt Martha was crying openly, and the other women had also to wipe
the tears from their eyes.
"Somehow it chokes me all up," declared old Uncle Randolph, and blew his
nose vigorously.
The company containing the Rovers passed on and the great parade
continued hour after hour until it seemed as if there would be no end to
that grand procession.
"Gracious! I didn't know there were so many soldiers in the whole
world," declared Aunt Martha at length.
"If you are getting tired, Aunt Martha, I'll have somebody take you back
to the house," remarked Mrs. Dick Rover, after they had been watching
the parade for four hours.
"No, no. I am going to see it to the end," declared the old lady. "It
will be something to talk about as long as I live."
"Just think of a lot of soldiers like these fighting all over our farm
at Valley Brook," was Uncle Randolph's comment. "That's what they did
over in France. It must have been terrible, the way things were cut up."
"My dad says you wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it," answered
Randy. "He said some of the shell craters were big enough to dump a
small barn in. Think of holes like that in your pasture lot."
But even the greatest of parades must come to an end, and at last the
final body of soldiers marched by, and then came more police, followed
by a great crowd of people that surged into Fifth Avenue like great
flocks of sheep, hurrying, bustling, and jostling in an effort to get
every way at once.
"Wasn't it perfectly grand?" cried Mary.
"It couldn't have been more wonderful," answered May.
"Now we'll get you back to the house and give you something to eat,"
said Mrs. Dick Rover to the old folks. "You certainly must be hungry as
well as tired."
"Well, a little bit of something to eat wouldn't go bad, Dora," answered
Grandfather Rover, placing an affectionate hand on her shoulder. And
then he added softly: "We're mighty proud of our Dick, aren't we?"
"Proud! I should say we are!" answered Mrs. Rover, her whole face
glowing with keen satisfaction.
It was decided that all of the older folks, as well as the three girls,
should return to Riverside Drive. The boys, however, wanted to remain
out and see what might take place further.
"We can pick up a little lunch somewhere--some sandwiches and pie and
maybe a glass of milk," said Randy.
"Anything will do for me," announced Fred. "I'm almost too excited to
eat."
"If you boys stay out you take good care of yourselves in this awful
jam," warned Mrs. Tom Rover. "And don't you get into any mischief," she
added to her twins.
The four lads saw the others safely to the automobiles, which were
standing down one of the side streets, and then came back to Fifth
Avenue.
"Let's walk down and look at the decorations and at the Arch of
Victory," suggested Jack, and so it was decided.
In many places the sidewalks were littered with boxes which had been
used to sit or stand upon. As a consequence, the best place to walk was
in the street, and down this the boys pushed their way through the
crowds which were gradually beginning to thin out.
"I never imagined buildings could be so handsomely decorated," declared
Jack. "Those flags and banners and all that mass of bunting must have
cost a fortune."
"Yes, and think of the money spent in decorating some of these windows,"
put in Fred.
They were gazing at a large show-window filled with a representation of
American soldiers and sailors from colonial times to the present day.
There were at least twenty-five figures in full uniform, and the display
was as valuable to study from an historical standpoint as it was
interesting to view as a picture.
"Some work to get all those uniforms together and to have everything
exactly right," remarked Randy.
"I like the plain khaki of to-day as well as any of them," announced
Jack. "The others are more gaudy, but when it comes to actual
service--Ouch!"
Jack's remark broke off abruptly as a small but heavy box thrown from
the gutter landed directly on his head. Then another box came flying
through the air, to strike between the three other Rovers. It was
followed by a ball of soaking-wet and muddy newspapers which struck the
show-window with a thud, sending some dirty drops of water into the
Rover boys' faces.
Fred was the first to whirl around in an endeavor to see where the two
boxes and the wadded-up newspapers had come from. He was just in time to
see two young fellows try to lose themselves in the rapidly moving
crowd.
"Gabe Werner!" he ejaculated. "There he goes!"
"Yes, and there is Bill Glutts with him!" added Andy.
"What's that?" questioned Jack. He had received a small cut on one ear
from the flying box and his cap had been knocked over his eyes.
"Werner and Glutts did it," answered Fred. "There they go down the
street."
"If that's the case we've got to catch them," returned the oldest Rover
boy. "Come on, quick!"
All started in pursuit of the two former bullies of Colby Hall. But to
follow them through the rapidly moving crowd was not easy, and several
times they were afraid the rascals would get away from them.
"Here, here! Take your time," said a policeman to Fred, as the latter
brushed by him. "Take your time."
"I'm after a fellow who ought to be arrested," answered Fred quickly.
"Where is he?" demanded the bluecoat with interest.
"There he goes--down around the corner!" And then, as the policeman
showed no disposition to leave his post, the youngest Rover boy hurried
away after the others.
Werner and Glutts had looked back, and seeing that the Rovers were in
pursuit, they had tried to throw them off the trail by passing around
the nearest corner. Now they headed in the direction of the East Side.
"I told you not to bother with them," panted Glutts, who was somewhat
out of breath. "Now, for all you know, they'll have us arrested."
"Oh, shut up your whining, Bill!" growled Werner in disgust. "I wish I
had knocked that Jack Rover's head off with the box."
"You came very near busting the window."
"I wouldn't care if I did bust it," answered the other recklessly.
"It don't look as if that dose of pepper hurt Jack Rover much."
"Never mind. I'll fix him some day, you see if I don't."
The two glanced back once more and to their chagrin saw that the Rovers
had come around the corner and were chasing after them faster than ever.
This caused Bill Glutts to become more frightened than before.
"Oh, what shall we do? They'll catch us sure!" he wailed.
"No, they won't! Come on!" yelled Werner, and caught his crony by the
arm.
He was too excited to notice carefully where he was running, and the
next instant he, followed by Glutts, brought up against a stand on the
sidewalk in front of a small shop. This stand was filled with various
articles of bric-a-brac, and it went down with a crash, carrying dozens
of small articles with it.