o her to think of him in the same way she thought
of her other men friends.

A friend who understood her, and whom she could understand. That was what
she had always wanted and what she had never quite had with any of her
young associates. One or two had approached to that, but always there had
been a point at which they had fallen short. That she should make this
man her friend whose letter crackled in her pocket, in that intimate
sense of the word, did not occur to her even now. He was somehow set
apart for service in her mind; and as such she had chosen him to be her
special knight, she to be the lady to whom he might look for
encouragement--whose honor he was going forth to defend. It was a misty
dreamy ideal of a thought. Somehow she would not have picked out any
other of her boy friends to be a knight for her. They were too flippant,
too careless and light hearted. The very way in which they lighted their
multitudinous cigarettes and flipped the match away gave impression that
they were going to have the time of their lives in this war. They might
have patriotism down at the bottom of all this froth and boasting,
doubtless they had; but there was so little seriousness about them that
one would never think of them as knights, defenders of some great cause
of righteousness. Perhaps she was all wrong. Perhaps it was only her old
baby fancy for the little boy who could always "lick" the other boys and
save the girls from trouble that prejudiced her in his favor, but at
least it was pleasant and a great relief to know that her impulsive
letter had not been misunderstood.

The girls prattled of this one and that who were "going over" soon, told
of engagements and marriages soon to occur; criticized the brides and
grooms to be; declared their undying opinions about what was fitting for
a war bride to wear; and whether they would like to marry a man who had
to go right into war and might return minus an arm or an eye. They
discoursed about the U-boats with a frothy cheerfulness that made Ruth
shudder; and in the same breath told what nice eyes a young captain had
who had recently visited the town, and what perfectly lovely uniforms he
wore. They argued with serious zeal whether a girl should wear an
olive-drab suit this year if she wanted to look really smart.

They were the girls among whom she had been brought up, and Ruth was used
to their froth, but somehow to-day it bored her beyond expression. She
was glad to make