throng made him kiss the flag that he had insulted. From that moment his
resolution was taken, and his mother, who had witnessed the scene, gave
her consent to his joining the old Thirty-seventh regiment, made up
chiefly of Camport boys, including Billy Waldon, who had seen service on
the Mexican border.

Bart Raymond, Frank's special chum, a sturdy, vigorous young fellow, was
equally patriotic, and joined the regiment with Frank as soon as war was
declared. Tom Bradford, a fellow employee in the firm of Moore & Thomas,
a thriving hardware house, wanted to enlist, but was rejected on account
of his teeth, although he wrathfully declared that "he wanted to shoot
the Germans, not to bite them." In fact, almost all the young fellows
employed by the firm, except "Reddy," the office boy, who wanted to go
badly enough, but who was too young, tried to get into some branch of
the army or navy.

A marked exception was Nick Rabig, the foreman of the shipping
department, who, although born in the United States, came of German
parents and lost no opportunity of "boosting" Germany and "knocking"
America. He was the bully of the place and universally disliked. He
hated Frank, especially after the flag incident, and only the thought of
his mother had prevented Frank more than once from giving Rabig the
thrashing he deserved.

Frank's regiment was sent to Camp Boone for their preliminary training,
and here the young recruits were put through their paces in rifle
shooting, grenade throwing, bayonet practice and all the other exercises
by which Uncle Sam turns his boys into soldiers. There was plenty of fun
mixed in with the hard work, and they had many stirring experiences. A
pleasant feature was the coming of Tom, who although rejected when he