NEWS FROM HOME
Immediately after receiving his letter from Laura, Roger had been
called away to perform some duties as a corporal, consequently it was
not until some time later that Dave met him again. In the meantime the
young sergeant ran across Phil, who was all smiles.
“Everything is going along beautifully with the Endicotts,” announced
the shipowner’s son. “Belle is deep in Red Cross work, and has promised
to send me a fine sweater she is making for the coming winter. Her
mother is in the work, too. Mr. Endicott, of course, has his hands full
with railroad matters, for the road is shipping large quantities of
provisions and war materials, as well as many soldiers. He says they
are also raising an extra large amount of cattle on Star Ranch, because
the packing-houses want all they can get.”
“I’m glad to hear everything is going along so swimmingly,” announced
Dave.
“Did you get a letter from Jessie?”
“I did not--worse luck! But I got a letter from my Uncle Dunston, and
he says they are all well with the exception of poor old Professor
Potts, who seems to be growing quite feeble. He wrote about Nat Poole,
who was drafted, and he says Nat is now on the way to France.”
“You don’t say, Dave! That certainly is news. How angry old Aaron Poole
must have been when they drafted Nat!”
“I suppose that is so, Phil. But I don’t believe Mrs. Poole was angry.
If you’ll remember, she was quite a patriotic woman, and insisted on
doing a lot for the Red Cross in spite of her husband’s objections.”
“Yes, I remember that. Probably she is proud to know her son is in the
army. I’d like to know how Nat takes it.”
“I’m sure I don’t know. I don’t believe he would dare to grumble. The
other fellows would jump on him pretty quick.”
“Perhaps joining the army will make a man of him.”
“I hope so.” Dave shook his head dolefully. “Nat certainly was a
slacker. He didn’t believe in fighting, no matter what the provocation.”
“If he comes to France perhaps we’ll see him, Dave.”
“It’s possible, but not very probable, Phil--with so many hundreds of
thousands coming over. He may not come to this part of the country at
all. You know they are sending some of our men up into Belgium, and
others down into Italy, as well as over here.”
“Did your uncle have anything to say about the Widow Carot and her
children, or that rascally spy, Rudolph Holtzmann?”
“He said that the widow was overjoyed at the recovery of her children,
and they were greatly pleased to think that Holtzmann was going to get
what was coming to him from the French Government. Of course, our claim
against Holtzmann has not yet been settled; but I think that sooner or
later we’ll get that money through the French courts.”
A little later Roger came back, and Dave and some of his other chums
noticed that he looked unusually thoughtful. Dave at once mentioned the
letter from his Uncle Dunston and told what it contained.
“You got some letters too, didn’t you, Roger?” he remarked after he
had finished telling his news and when there had come something of an
awkward pause.
“Yes, I got two; one from my mother and the other from Laura. My
mother says that she and father are well and that father is very deep
in affairs at Washington. These are certainly mighty busy times for
a United States senator.” Roger paused and Dave waited for him to go
on. It was quite usual for the chums to mention what their letters
contained, and often one or another would read a portion of an epistle
which he thought might prove especially interesting.
“Laura also said they were all well at Crumville except Professor
Potts, who is beginning to show his age,” went on the senator’s son.
“She wrote me quite a lot about some entertainments they had been
getting up for the benefit of some local charities which have been
suffering because of the Red Cross and the Y. M. C. A. activities. I
suppose a good many folks think because they give so much to the war
organizations, they can’t afford to give much for local charities,
although local charities have to be kept up just the same.”
And then Roger began to talk about charities in general and from that
branched off to other subjects, including the war and the probable
movements of the engineers. It was evident to Dave and Phil that he was
holding something back, but what it was neither of them could imagine.
Dave hoped with all his heart that no quarrel had arisen between his
sister and the chum he loved so well.
“Roger has got something on his mind--that’s sure,” remarked Phil a
little later, when he and Dave were by themselves.
“So it looks to me, Phil. I hope neither of his letters contained bad
news.”
“If it was anything ordinary I think he would tell us about it,”
continued the shipowner’s son thoughtfully. “It almost looks to me as
if it might concern us as well as Roger.”
“Well, if he doesn’t want to mention it, Phil, I certainly am not going
to ask him about it.”
“Certainly not--it wouldn’t be fair. He has a right to keep it a secret
if he wants to.”
All through the evening, when the young engineers took themselves once
again to the Y. M. C. A. hut, where a well-known vaudeville singer gave
a short entertainment which was highly appreciated, Dave and Phil,
as well as some of the others, noticed how preoccupied in mind Roger
continued to be. He paid hardly any attention to the singing or the
jokes which were told, and seemed to be glad when it was over and he
could return to their quarters and go to bed.
“It must be something pretty serious,” whispered Phil to Dave, as they
retired for the night.
The young corporal was quite surprised when, early in the morning, he
found himself awakened by Roger, who had come over and touched him on
the shoulder.
“As soon as you are dressed, Phil,” whispered his chum, “I want you to
come outside and listen to something I have to tell you. But don’t say
anything to Dave or the others about it. Slip out as quietly as you
can. I don’t want them to think that we’ve anything in secret between
us.” And then before the shipowner’s son could answer, Roger tiptoed
away and commenced to dress rapidly and silently.
A few minutes later found both of the corporals outside of the shelter
which served them for sleeping quarters. Then Roger motioned Phil away,
and they walked quite a distance, to a place where they would be safe
from interruption.
“I want to tell you about that letter I received from Laura yesterday,”
began the senator’s son. “It’s got something in it, Phil, that I don’t
like at all.”
“I hope it isn’t any serious trouble for you, Roger.”
“It isn’t trouble for me, Phil. That is, except in a general way--the
same way it might affect you too. It’s trouble for Dave.”
“Dave! Why, what’s happened? Nobody sick or hurt, I hope?”
“No; it’s nothing like that. Did you ever meet a young fellow by the
name of Max Gebauer?”
Phil thought for a moment. “It seems to me I did. A tall, thin fellow
with blue eyes and light hair. We met him once or twice at the
Wadsworth jewelry works.”
“That’s the chap. His folks have jewelry works of some kind in
Philadelphia, and this Max Gebauer came to Crumville to see Mr.
Wadsworth on business.”
“Well, how does that affect Dave?”
“You just read these few pages from Laura’s letter,” returned
Roger, and handed over the sheets. Laura had been writing of the
entertainments given in Crumville for the benefit of the local
charities, and added the following:
“And now I have got to write something which is very distasteful to
me, Roger, for it concerns Jessie and Dave in a way I do not like to
think about.
“At the time we were getting up the principal entertainment, that
young salesman, Max Gebauer, who, as you will remember, is in the
jewelry business with his father and his uncle in Philadelphia,
was in Crumville to see Mr. Wadsworth. He is now a lieutenant in
the army, and looks quite spick and span in his new uniform. Mr.
Wadsworth was so enthusiastic to think that Gebauer had joined the
army and was soon going over to France, he invited him to the house
for dinner.
“We, of course, did our best to entertain him, and he seemed
particularly interested in Jessie--so much so that he asked her to
allow him to do a number of things connected with the entertainment,
and he likewise purchased ten dollars’ worth of tickets from
her, which, of course, pleased her a good deal. Then, when the
entertainment came off, he presented her with a beautiful bouquet of
American Beauty roses, and later still gave her a very handsome Red
Cross emblem, which, it seems, their firm has something to do with
manufacturing. He gave the pin to Mr. Wadsworth to give to Jessie,
so that she had no chance to refuse it even if she wanted to.
“Since that time he has been to Crumville three times, and on each
occasion managed to call on Jessie. Once while he was out in an
automobile he met her on the outskirts of the town, where she had
been visiting one of our poor families, and insisted on taking her
for a ride.
“Now, I don’t think Jessie intends to do anything that is mean,
but Gebauer is well educated, and can make himself very pleasing
when he tries, and he has certainly done everything in his power to
attract her. She, of course, feels flattered at the attentions of an
army officer, and I know some of the other girls in Crumville are
beginning to envy her just a little and some are talking about her.
“Now, I suppose, Roger, you will wonder at once why I have not had a
straight talk with Jessie and why I haven’t told her exactly what I
think of all this. Well, to do that is not easy with such a girl as
she is. As an only child she has been very much petted and allowed
to have her own way, and she often sees no wrong at all in things
which I sometimes think might be different. I did mention once, in an
offhand way, that I thought Gebauer was growing too attentive, but
she merely laughed and tossed her head and told me there was nothing
I needed to worry about. And then she told me, a while later, she
didn’t understand why Dave didn’t write oftener--that she had not had
a letter from him for two weeks.
“All of this makes me greatly worried, but I do not know what to do.
Once or twice I have thought of speaking to Mrs. Wadsworth, but I am
afraid that might only make matters worse. She doesn’t seem to notice
how attentive Gebauer has become or notice how some folks are talking
about Jessie. I wish the lieutenant would get orders to leave for
France at once.”
Phil read the sheets through twice before he handed them back to Roger.
Then the chums looked at each other thoughtfully. Roger was the first
to break the silence.
“Do you wonder I was worried after I read that?” he demanded.
“It certainly is fierce!” was Phil’s comment. “But, Roger, you don’t
suppose for a minute that Jessie would go back on Dave?”
“I don’t see how it could be possible--unless the sight of the
lieutenant in his uniform has completely turned Jessie’s head.”
“But Jessie’s too sensible for anything like that, isn’t she?”
“I should hope so, Phil. But you never can tell. You know there are
lots of girls who for some reason or other don’t seem to be able to
resist a uniform. Even the cook feels flattered by the fireman or the
policeman.”
“Yes; but Dave’s in uniform, and he’s a sergeant.”
“True. But he is over three thousand miles away, while this Gebauer is
right on the spot. I wish, as Laura says, that Gebauer would get his
orders to leave at once.”
“Yes, that’s the best thing that could happen.”
“I don’t know whether to mention this to Dave or not,” went on Roger,
after a pause. “I don’t want to worry him needlessly, and at the same
time I think he ought to know what is going on at home.”
“I know he has been writing to Jessie regularly. I saw him send off the
letters myself.”
“I know that, too. It must be the fault of the post-office that she
doesn’t get them.”
“He didn’t get any letter this time from Jessie, and that I am afraid
is making him feel quite blue. He heard from his Uncle Dunston, and
that’s all.”
The two talked the matter over for several minutes more, and then
reached the conclusion that it might be as well to remain silent on
the subject for at least several days longer, trusting that during
that period a letter might come from Jessie which would clear up the
situation.
During the past few days the ammunition dump which Dave had discovered,
and part of which had been blown up, had been subject to an
investigation by those in authority. Several hundred shells were found
unexploded, and these were taken to a safe place and stored away. It
was learned that a mine had been placed on the old trail through the
wood, and this had gone up, doing, however, no further damage than to
uproot some trees and brushwood.
Dave received permission to visit the spot and did so in company with
Phil and Ben, Roger remaining behind to favor his hurt ankle, which
still pained him a little.
The young sergeant was, of course, anxious to find his lost
wrist-watch, and a search was instituted which lasted the best part of
half a day. But it was of no avail--the timepiece could not be located.
“I guess it’s of no use--we might as well give it up,” said Dave at
last. “Come on, we’ll go back to camp.”
And this they did. The young sergeant felt decidedly blue, and he had
two things to make him feel so: the loss of the watch and the fact that
he had not heard from Jessie for some time.