Part 10 (2/2)

On the afternoon of the day before they were to start for Moonlight Falls, the girls were gathered in Betty's garage at the back of the house, where the Little Captain was giving her car one last overhauling to make sure that it was in perfect condition for the trip. Mollie suddenly espied the postman coming down the street.

Now the postman was a very popular man with the girls, for the reason that he brought almost daily some message from the boys on the other side. He sympathized with the chums so fully in their desire for letters with the red triangle in one corner that he actually confessed to a guilty feeling when he had no missive of the sort for them.

So now, as Mollie ran toward him with outstretched hand, he held up to her delighted gaze not only one letter, but four.

”One for each of you,” he said beamingly, as Mollie reached him. ”I thought that probably I would find all four of you at one place, so I kept the letters together.”

”Oh, thanks, it is awfully good of you,” said Mollie absent-mindedly, as she took the welcome letters and hurried with them back to the garage.

”One for each of us, just think of that!” she cried to the questioning girls. ”It looks as if the boys had all written at the same time. Put down your duster, Betty, for goodness' sake, and read what Alien has to say.

Maybe,” she added hopefully, as she ripped her envelope open, ”they will tell us something definite about coming home.”

So down the girls sat in the midst of dust cloths and more or less dirt to find what the boys had written. For a moment only the crackling of paper broke the silence. Then Grace gave a little joyful cry.

”Will says he is almost sure to be home soon--”

”And he has been made a sergeant,” Amy interrupted, or rather added, her eyes s.h.i.+ning with pride. ”Just think of that--Will, a sergeant!”

”I was just going to tell them that if you had waited a minute,” said Grace, rather crossly. There was quite a little jealousy between Grace and Amy over Will. Grace had declared more than once that whereas she had known her brother all her life, Amy had only known him for a couple of years--or--or more. Grace loved her brother devotedly and once in a while she resented Amy's place in his affections.

So now to change the subject and avert a possible quarrel, Mollie jumped into the breach.

”Listen to this,” she said. ”Roy and Frank have been made corporals and Allen--oh, look at Betty blus.h.!.+” She looked gleefully across at the Little Captain and Amy and Grace followed her glance.

Betty was not blus.h.i.+ng, but she felt as uncomfortable as though she had been.

”Tell us what Allen says,” Mollie dared her wickedly. ”Come on, honey--dare you to.”

”You can go on daring all you like,” said Betty defiantly. This time she was blus.h.i.+ng--from the fact that she knew she could not, or would not, tell the girls what Allen had said in his letter. Not for anything in this world!

”I don't mean what you mean,” said Mollie, enjoying her confusion immensely, while Grace and Amy looked on laughingly. ”I just thought that maybe you would like to be the one to tell us about his promotion.”

”His promotion!” cried Amy and Grace together, and Betty looked quite as bewildered as any of them.

”Mollie, for goodness' sake tell us what you mean,” she demanded.

”But didn't he tell you about it, Betty?” Mollie insisted.

”Wait a minute,” said the Little Captain as she hastily scanned the pages of her long letter. Then, down near the end of the last page she found it, just a little paragraph, put in as though it had been an afterthought.

”Why,” cried Betty, her eyes beginning to s.h.i.+ne with excitement, ”girls, listen to this. Allen has been promoted. He's an officer now--a lieutenant! Think of it--leather leggings and all!”

It was too much for the girls. They laughed and cried and hugged each other and tried to imagine Allen in his new uniform to their hearts'

content, for the young new-made officer was a favorite with them all.

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