Mollie continued,
suddenly earnest. "You know how she adores Paul. Well, I caught her
looking at him with the most wistful expression, and when I asked her
what the matter was she looked up at me and I saw there were tears in
her eyes.

"'It's Paul,' she said softly. 'Of course I'm thankful he is so little
that I can keep him safe at home with me, but sometimes when I think of
my dear country and the terrible wrongs she has suffered, I almost wish
that my little son were old enough to bring retribution upon those
hideous Germans. Sometimes I feel cheated--yes, you needn't stare--that
I have not a son "over there".'"

"Oh, Mollie!" cried the Little Captain softly, "what a wonderful thing
to say. And yet I think she would die if anything happened to either of
the twins."

"That's just it," said Mollie, her eyes glowing with pride. "Loving them
as she does, she almost wishes it were possible to make the supreme
sacrifice for her country."

"It was that spirit," said Grace thoughtfully, "that won the battle of
the Marne."

For a long time after that the girls worked quietly, each busy with her
own thoughts. It was Amy who finally broke the silence.

"And here we are," she said plaintively, "letting another whole
afternoon slip by without deciding what we are going to do on our
vacation. Can't somebody suggest something?"

"I have already suggested half a dozen things, only to be laughed to
scorn," said Mollie, adding decidedly: "I'm through."

"And nothing I can say seems to meet with approval," added Betty
plaintively.

"Well," said Grace, stretching herself, sitting up in the swing, and
looking important, "nobody asks me whether I have anything to suggest,"
adding as they turned a battery of surprised and eager glances her way:
"I don't know whether I can be persuaded to tell you now or not."

"Tell us!" they cried, piling into the swing till the supporting ropes
creaked with the strain.

"Can't we bribe you with candy?" pleaded Amy.

"No. I just made an advantageous trade in that article, you will
remember," was the answer.

"Anyway, we don't bribe, we command," put in Betty. "Grace, we refuse to
be trifled with. What have you to suggest? Out with it!"

"You'd better hurry," added Mollie, raising her knitting needle
threateningly, "before I spit thee like a pig!"

CHAPTER IV

GRACE SURPRISES HER CHUMS

"I'm not a pig," cried Grace, striving to look dignified, which is a
rather difficult p