med.

"Mother!" he exclaimed, "I have an idea!"

"Why, Pen; how you startled me! What is it?"

"I have an idea, mother. I'm going to--"

He paused and looked away from her.

"Going to what, Pen?"

He did not reply at once, but after a moment he said:

"I'll tell you later, mother, after it's all worked out and I'm sure
of it. I'm not going to bring home to you any more disappointments."

CHAPTER X

It was three days later that Pen came home one evening, alert of step,
bright-eyed, his countenance beaming with satisfaction and delight.

"Well, mother," he cried as he entered the house; "it's settled. I'm
going!"

She looked up in surprise and alarm.

"What's settled, Pen? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to war."

She dropped the work at which she had been busy and sat down weakly in
a chair by her dining-room table. He went to her and laid an
affectionate hand on her shoulder.

"Pardon me, mother!" he continued, "I didn't mean to frighten you, but
I'm so happy over it."

She looked up into his face.

"To war, Pen? What war?"

"The big war, mother. The war in France. Do you remember the other
night when I told you I had an idea?"

"Yes, I remember."

"Well, that was it. It occurred to me, then, that if I couldn't fight
for my own country, under my own flag, I would fight for those other
countries, under their flags. They are making a desperate and a
splendid war to uphold the rights of civilized nations."

He stood there, erect, manly, resolute, his face lighted with the glow
of his enthusiasm. She could but admire him, even though her heart
sank under the weight of his announced purpose. Many times, of an
evening, they had talked together of the mighty conflict in Europe.
From the very first Pen's sympathies had been with France and her
Allies. He could not get over denouncing the swiftness and savagery of
the raid into Belgium, the wanton destruction of her cities and her
monuments of art, the hardships and brutalities imposed upon her
people. The Bryce report, with its details of outrage and crime,
stirred his nature to its depths. The tragedy of the _Lusitania_
filled him with indignation and horror. Now, suddenly, had come the
desire and the opportunity to fight with those peoples who were
struggling to save their ideals from destruction.

"I'm going to Canada," he continued, "to enlist in the American
Legion. They say hundreds and thousands of young men from the United
States