"You are wondering about Allen," he said, and Betty nodded eagerly. "You
see," continued Will, his face lighting up in a smile that would always be
boyish, "since Allen became one of the big bugs--which is another name for
officer, you understand--he had to pay the penalty and stay over there
with them for a little while longer. He will probably be over on the next
transport, although of course you can never be sure about that. Oh, and I
forgot," he put his hand in his pocket and drew forth a pocketknife, a wad
of string and--a little three-cornered note. "He asked me to give this to
you as soon as I saw you. So now you can tell him that 'I seen my duty and
I done it noble.'"

With a twinkle in his eye Will turned back to the others and Betty was
left to open her note. This is what she read:

"Gosh, some fellows do have all the luck, don't they? But never mind,
little girl. I'm coming to you by the very first boat, and when I get
there do you know what I'm going to do? Do you?"

Betty wanted to run away by herself and read the note over and over again.
But she could not do that. With a sigh she hid the little message in a
pocket of her skirt and turned back to the others.




Chapter XIX

Like Old Times