seconds as she stared through the glasses Vera made no reply.

As she turned to present the glasses to Peggy, Vera shook her head.

"Then I am a better American than you are, Bettina, because I most
assuredly do not feel as you do. Our guard of destroyers gives me an
almost perfect sense of security. It may be absurd of course and a kind
of jingoism, but I do not consider that we can possibly come to grief,
protected by our own navy."

As they stood thus close together the Camp Fire girls were wearing the
uniforms which had been especially designed for their trip abroad.

Their ordinary Camp Fire outfit was of course not suitable; nevertheless
the new costumes had been made to follow as closely as possible the idea
and the model of the old. For military reasons they had chosen a darker
shade of brown than the ordinary khaki color. At present over their
serviceable brown serge traveling dresses they wore long coats of a
golden brown cloth made with adjustable capes to conform with the
changes of climate. The only suggestion of the Camp Fire was the
insignia of the crossed logs with the ascending flames embroidered upon
one sleeve. Their hats were of soft brown felt.

In spite of the variety of striking and interesting uniforms on board
ship, already the Camp Fire girls had excited a good deal of quiet
attention. However, this may not have been due to their uniforms alone.
As a matter of fact, they were younger than the other passengers and
many persons were curious with regard to the work they were planning to
undertake in France.

Sailing upon the same vessel there chanced to be a Red Cross unit of
twenty other girls who were to do canteen work among the French and
American soldiers. But except for one conspicuous exception, this unit
of girls was noticeably older.

This made the one girl appear rather an outsider; moreover, the Camp
Fire girls learned that she was not an American girl, but a French girl
returning to her own country.

There were no passengers on the ship who were not sailing to France for
urgent reasons and for reasons which the United States government
considered of sufficient importance to permit of their crossing.

There were a number of business men whose affairs were not only of
importance to themselves, but to the Allied interests as well. There was
a medical unit with a staff of doctors, nurses and assistants, three or
four newspaper and magazine men, one well-known woman writer. But the