CHAPTER V

FUN AND SOLDIERS


"I wish we could do something for Mrs. Sanderson," Betty remarked with a
sigh. "I haven't slept a wink for two nights just trying to think out some
way of finding that boy of hers."

"He must have been a darling," Grace added thoughtfully. "I can't
understand how a boy like that could run away from home and stay away for
years without even trying to get in touch with his mother."

"Maybe that charge changed his character," Mollie suggested dramatically.
"I've heard of such things."

"I've read of 'em," sniffed Grace. "But I must say I never believed it.
Give a boy the right sort of character to start with--"

"I don't see where you get that," Mollie interrupted hotly. "Why, half the
criminals in the world are made up of boys who were good enough to start
with, but because of some temptation, or their environment, went wrong--"

"But Mrs. Sanderson's Willie wasn't a criminal," suggested Amy mildly.

"But he was accused of being one and threatened with jail," retorted