ere very
busy, but no one forgot those who weren't there--not for a minute. The
sense of them lived underneath all the confidences. There were
confidences _en masse_, so to speak, and confidences _a deux_.
Priscilla chattered away into her mother's ear without once stopping
to catch breath, and Bruce had his own quiet report to make. Perhaps
Bruce and Priscilla and the rest said more than Elliott heard, for
when Aunt Jessica bade her good-night she rested a hand lightly on the
girl's shoulder.

"You dear, brave little woman!" she said. "All the soldiers aren't in
camp or over the seas."

Elliott put the words away in her memory. They made her feel like a
man who has just been decorated by his general.

She felt so comforted and quiet, so free from nervousness, that not
even the telephone bell could make her jump. It tinkled pretty
continuously, too. That was because all the next day the neighbors who
didn't come in person were calling up to inquire for the returned
travelers. Elliott quite lost the expectation that every time the
telephone buzzed it meant a possible message for her.

She had lost it so completely that when, as they were on the point of
sitting down at supper, Laura said, "There's the telephone again, and
my hands are full," Elliott remarked, "I'll see who it is," and took
down the receiver without a thought of a cable.

"This is Elliott Cameron speaking.... Yes--yes. Elliott Cameron. All
ready." A tremor crept into the girl's voice. "I didn't get that....
Just received my message? Yes, go on.... Repeat, please.... Wait a
minute till I call some one."

She wheeled from the instrument, her face alight. "Where's Bruce?
Please, somebody, call--oh, here you are!" She thrust the receiver
into his hands. "Make them repeat the message to you. It's from
Father. Pete was a prisoner. He's escaped and got back to our lines."

Then she slipped into Aunt Jessica's waiting arms.

Supper? Who cared about supper? The Camerons forgot it. When they
remembered, the steaming-hot creamed potato was cold and the salad was
wilted, but that made no difference. They were too excited to know
what they were eating.

To make assurance trebly sure there were more messages. Bob cabled of
Pete's escape through the Hun lines and the government wired from
Washington. The Camerons' happiness spilled over into blithe
exuberance. They laughed and danced and sang for very joy. Priscilla
jigged all over the house like an excited