what he might have to say.

"Why, Dad, you are as brown as a berry!" declared the young captain.

"And look how tall and strong he seems to be!" put in Martha.

It was Mrs. Sam Rover herself who answered her husband's ring, and her
shout of joy quickly brought Fred downstairs. Mary had already retired,
but, leaping up, she threw a kimona around her and came flying down in
bare feet.

And then what a reunion there was among the members of all three
families! The doors which connected the three residences were thrown
wide open, and all gathered in the middle house. All seemed to be
talking at once, and boys, fathers and uncles shook hands over and over
again, while the girls and their mothers came in for innumerable hugs
and kisses.

"We are not yet mustered out," said Dick Rover. "But we expect to be
before a great while."

"You ought to be very proud of having done your bit for Uncle Sam," said
Mary to her father and her uncles.

"Well, I think our boys did their bit, too, if I am any judge," was Sam
Rover's fond comment. "First they helped to catch those chaps who blew
up the Hasley ammunition factory, then they aided in rounding up the
crowd who had the hidden German submarine, and lastly they prevented
those Huns from establishing that wireless station in the woods. I
certainly think they did remarkably well."

"But they've made some terrible enemies," broke in Mrs. Dick Rover.
"Just look at Jack's eyes. One fellow tried to throw pepper into them."

"Oh, let's not talk about that now, Ma!" cried the young captain. "I
want to hear all about what dad and Uncle Tom and Uncle Sam have been
doing in France."

"If we started to give you all the details we wouldn't get to bed
to-night," said his Uncle Tom, with a grin. They had already been
talking for quite a while, and the clock hands pointed to nearly one in
the morning.

"Oh, well, this is a red-letter night, Dad," broke out Randy.

"Such a coming together may not happen again in a lifetime," added his
twin.

Then the older Rovers told of many of their adventures, both while in
camp in France and during the time they had been on the firing line.

"We were in some pretty hot fights," admitted Tom Rover. "One in
particular--when we forced the Huns out of a stretch of woods they were
holding--none of us is liable to forget. That's the fight in which Sam
and I were wounded."

"Yes, and the day after they were wounded I was caught in a gas attack,"
said