with puckered brow. "'The enemy succeeded in gaining a foothold in
our first line trenches, but were later driven back. The fighting on
both sides was sanguinary, and heavy losses were sustained!'"

She flung the paper from her, and regarded her friends with flaming
eyes, and both little fists clenched close at her sides.

"It doesn't seem as though it _could_ be real!" she cried. "Men
killing each other off by the hundreds and all for--what? Oh, it's
cruel, cruel!"

"Of course it's cruel," said Allen grimly. "But so were the Huns
cruel, centuries ago. The German people have simply never advanced
beyond that state. They're still in the first stages of
civilization."

"Yes, and the worst part of this kind of warfare," said Frank, his
eyes fixed thoughtfully upon the horizon, "is that each man in the
army is simply a unit in a great machine. In the old days, when they
had cavalry charges and hand-to-hand fighting there was some romance,
some adventure, some chance for personal bravery."

"Well, of course there is still some chance for daring," remarked
Allen, "especially in the aviation branch of the service."

"In the army too," added Roy. "Soldiers are being decorated every day
for some special act of bravery."

"I know all that," replied Frank. "But there's nothing particularly
spectacular about it."