to look after the mater when he's gone."

"You can do it, too," said Harry, surprised, despite himself, by
the change in his chum's manner. "You seem older than I now,
Dick, and I've always thought you were a kid!"

"The pater says we've all got to be men, now," said Dick,
steadily. "The mater cried a bit when he said he was going -- but
I think she must have known all the time he was going. Because
when he told us -- we were at the breakfast table -- she sort of
cried a little, and then she stopped.

"I've got everything ready for you,' she said.

"And he looked at her, and smiled. 'So you knew I was going?' he
asked her. And she nodded her head, and he got up and kissed her.
I never saw him do that before he never did that before, when I
was looking on," Dick concluded seriously. "I hope he'll come
back all right, Dick," said Harry. "It's hard, old chap!"

"I wouldn't have him stay home for anything!" said Dick, fiercely.
"And I will do my share! You see if I don't! I don't care what
they want me to do! I'll run errands -- I'll sweep out the floors
in the War Office, so that some man can go to war! I'll do
anything!"

Somehow Harry realized in that moment how hard it was going to be
to beat a country where even the boys felt like that! The change
in the usually thoughtless, light-hearted Dick impressed him more
than anything else had been able to do with the real meaning of