"Nancy darling, Bill and Julius and Frank and John must. Old Glory is
calling, baby, and no Branton Hills boy will balk at _that_ call. It's
awful, but it's a fact, now."
Lady Gadsby said nothing, but Nancy and Kathlyn saw an ashy pallor
on that matronly brow; and Gadsby going out without waiting for his
customary kiss.
For what you might call an instant, Branton Hills, in blank, black
gloom, stood stock still. But not for long. Days got to flashing past,
with that awful sight of girls, out to lunch, saying:--
"Four from our shop; and that big cotton mill has _forty-six_ who will
go."