CHAPTER VIII
A PRO-GERMAN MEETING
“Look here, Chunky!” exclaimed Jerry, after a quick glance at Ned, “Imay as well say what’s on my mind, and get it out of my system. BothNed and I have been wondering about you, lately.”
“Wondering about me?”
“Yes, about the way you’re acting on this enlistment business. You wantto volunteer and join the army, don’t you?”
“Why, yes, sure I do.”
“Well, you don’t act very happy over it,” put in Ned. “You wereenthusiastic at the start, and then you simmered out. Are you gettingcold feet? You’re not----”
“I’m not _afraid_, if that’s what you mean!” blurted out Bob.
“No, I wasn’t going to say that,” put in Ned, quickly. “No one whoknows you, as Jerry and I know you, would ever accuse you of that.You’ve gone through too many tight and dangerous places with us to haveus say that you’re afraid. And yet something has happened, hasn’t it?”
“Well, yes, I s’pose you could call it that,” assented Bob slowly.
“Are you going to renege in the matter of volunteering?” asked Jerry.
“No.”
“But you aren’t as keen on it as you were at first!” declared Ned.“What’s the matter, Bob? Are you in trouble, Chunky, old man?” and heput his arm affectionately over his chum’s shoulder.
“Yes, fellows, I am in trouble,” said Bob, and he spoke desperately. “Ialmost wish I hadn’t agreed to enlist! That I’d waited for the draft,and then----”
“What are you saying?” cried Jerry in amazement.
“Well, I mean that then I’d have a good excuse to go to war, andI couldn’t help myself,” and Bob floundered a good deal in hisexplanation.
“Why do you need an excuse?” asked Jerry.
“Oh, well, I suppose I may as well tell you.”
“Wait a minute!” broke in Ned. “Bob, this is getting a bit personal, Iknow, but the end justifies the means, I think. Have you been to seeMiss Schaeffer lately?”
Bob looked up quickly.
“Last night,” he answered. “You ought to know. You left me there in thecar.”
“So I did. But I have a reason for asking. Doesn’t her father own somestock in a Boston German paper?”
“I believe he does,” said Bob.
“And the paper has been one of the strongest advocates against theUnited States taking any part in this war, as I happen to know,”went on Ned. “It came out flatly, and justified the sinking of the_Lusitania_ on the ground that it was carrying munitions to England.The same paper has taunted Uncle Sam, since the declaration of war,with siding with our old enemy, Great Britain. Am I right, Chunky?”
“I suppose it’s true. But Helena hasn’t anything to do with the paper.”
“No, but she can’t help siding with her father, and he helps to dictatethe policy of that slanderous German sheet! Bob, tell me the truth;isn’t the Schaeffer family pro-German?”
“Well, I suppose they are. It’s natural----”
“It isn’t natural!” burst out Jerry. “If any so-called German-Americanswant to side with the Kaiser let them go back to Germany where theybelong. Uncle Sam hasn’t any use for ’em! Bob, I didn’t think this ofyou!”
“Oh, don’t be too severe on Chunky!” interposed Ned. “He hasn’t doneanything yet. I know just what the situation is, I think. Bob, you havecome to the parting of the ways. You’ve either got to go with us orstay home. What are you going to do? I can see, of late, that you havebeen rather cold toward this enlistment proposition. Now that won’t do.If you want to wait for the draft, well and good. That’s your business,of course. But we’d hate to see you do it.”
“I should say so!” agreed Jerry. “I never dreamed of this. What does itall mean?”
“It’s his girl--Helena Schaeffer,” said Ned. “Isn’t it true, Bob, thatshe has spoken to you against volunteering?”
“Yes, she has, and that’s what makes me worry. I was going to keepstill about it, and try to work everything out myself. But I don’tbelieve I can. You know-- Oh, well, I’m awfully fond of Helena, and Ithink she likes me, a little. This is among friends, of course.”
“Of course,” murmured Jerry and Ned.
“And she’s as good as said that if I enlist to fight against Germany,when her father is so fond of the old Kaiser, and what he represents,that she’ll--well--she and I will have to part company, that’s all!”and Bob blurted out the words.
“What are you going to do?” and Ned asked the question relentlessly.This was no time for half-way measures, he felt.
Bob did not answer for a moment. They were talking in the street infront of Colonel Wentworth’s office. And then, at what seemed a mostopportune moment, a phonograph in a near-by store began playing one ofthe popular songs of the day; a song with the lilt of marching stepsand an appeal for every one to do his duty and fight for Uncle Sam.
Bob straightened up. His eyes grew brighter and he squared hisshoulders in a way his chums well know.
“Boys!” he exclaimed, “I’ve been a fool to hold back one minute on thisthing. If you’ll wait a little while, I’ll come back and give you myanswer. And you don’t have to guess what it is, either.”
He started off down the street.
“Where are you going?” demanded Jerry.
“I’m going to have a talk with Helena,” Bob answered.
“Wait and we’ll take you to her corner in the auto. Might as well rideas walk,” called Ned. “We’ll wait for you at my house.”
Jerry and Ned did not say much to Chunky during the ride. They thoughtit best to let him work out the problem in his own way. And it wasbetter done without suggestion from them.
“See you later,” said Ned, as his stout chum left the car and starteddown the street toward the Schaeffer home.
“What do you think he’ll do?” asked Jerry, as Ned turned the car inthe direction of his own home.
“The right thing,” answered Ned. “Chunky is all right. It’s just thathe’s a little fascinated by Helena, who, to do her justice, is a mightypretty girl. It’s too bad she has pro-German tendencies. And yet itisn’t so much her as it is her father who influences her. She is a nicegirl, and mighty sensible, too, except on this one point. I know, forI’ve been there with Chunky. That’s why I happened to know how the bughad bitten him.
“Even before we got into this war against Germany Mr. Schaeffer wasranting about the unneutrality of this country, and declaring that wewere favoring England and France and discriminating against the Kaiser.I wish we’d done more of it! We wouldn’t have it so hard as we’re goingto have it from now on.”
“But about Chunky. Do you think he’ll tell his friend that he is goingto enlist and let her make the best of it?” asked Jerry.
“Or the worst--yes. I think Bob will do just that. He was wobbling theleast bit, but I think he’s on his feet now. We’ll wait for him to comeback.”
Meanwhile Bob Baker was having his own troubles. He had made theacquaintance of Miss Schaeffer some time before, when it seemed therewould be never a question as to what nationality a person claimed. Butthe war had made a difference.
As Ned had stated, Mr. Schaeffer was one of the owners of a rabidGerman paper, published in Boston, and the editorial policy was againstanything French or English, and against the United States helping theAllies in any way.
When the United States formally entered the war the sheet did not darecome out and openly espouse the cause of Germany, but in underhand waysand by sly insinuations it sought to deprecate the cause of the Alliesand tried to say, only too plainly, that the United States had nobusiness entering the war, and that the youth of the land would do wellto keep out of it. In other words it discouraged enlisting.
Just what took place between Chunky and Helena, Bob never disclosed indetail. Ned and Jerry felt it would be indelicate to do that, and theynever asked much about the matter.
Poor Bob put in a bad quarter of a
n hour, and when he left theSchaeffer home his step was not as buoyant as when he entered. Butthere was a look of determination on his face, and he seemed relieved,as though he had got rid of a weight.
“Well?” asked Jerry, as Bob joined his two chums a little later. “Howabout you?”
“I’m ready to go and sign up whenever you are,” was the quiet answer.
“Good!” exclaimed Ned, clapping Chunky on the back with such right goodwill that the stout lad almost lost his balance.
“I told you how it would be,” whispered Ned to Jerry, and the latternodded comprehendingly.
“Have any trouble?” asked Ned. “I mean did she break with you?”
“Oh, not exactly,” answered Bob. “But things are not as pleasant asthey were. It’s her father, though, not Helena.”
“That’s what we thought,” said Jerry. “Well, I’m glad it’s over. Nowwe’ll be three together once more. Too bad it had to happen, Chunky,but it’s better to come out and know where you stand.”
“That’s right,” agreed the stout lad. “I’m going to do my duty.Friendship doesn’t count in this war. It’s duty.”
“You said something!” commented Ned. “And now to take the step thatwill put us in the fight formally for Uncle Sam and against the Kaiser.We’ll go and volunteer!”
“That’s what I’ve been wanting to do right along,” declared Chunky;“but I didn’t want to break with Helena if I could help it. She saysshe doesn’t see why I have to enlist, why I can’t wait for the draft,and all that. She says maybe there won’t be any draft if there’s enoughopposition to it. But I’m going to volunteer.”
So the three boys started for Richfield, where the nearest enlistmentstation was located.
As they drove down the street their attention was attracted by a largenotice posted on the door of the auditorium.
“Another patriotic meeting?” asked Jerry.
“Wait until I get out and see what it is,” suggested Ned.
He sprang from the car and ran up the steps. When he came back therewas a queer look on his face.
“What is it?” asked Bob.
“A rotten pro-German meeting!” was the righteously angry answer. “It’sa meeting at which Mr. Schaeffer is going to preside, and it is calledfor the purpose of protesting against any person being sent to fightoutside of the boundaries of the United States!”
“Do you know, fellows, they oughtn’t to allow ’em to hold thatmeeting!” exploded Bob, who, now that he had made his decision, was asenthusiastic as his chums.