The Boy Scouts on the Trail

s not yet

of the French people. No. It did not mean war. Not quite. But it meant that war was inevitable; that within a few hours, at the most, mobilization would be ord

ded to know. He knew already where he must report, where his uniform and his equipment would be given to him, and which regiment he was to join. He was a soldier by virtue of the three years, or the two, he had spent alrea

the time when the order was issued, they were on their way and the school was deserted, save for boys and one or two old men, who bew

school. Madame Donnet, left in charge when

s a hospital. So it was in 1870. I shall stay, and I shall prepare for what is to come. M. Donnet telegraphed yesterday to all the p

Barnes might well have been in a sorry plight. And, inde

to the American ambassador, or the consul, he will see that I am

wouldn't h

l see. But this much is certain-I think we shall not be able to go to Amiens at once. Amiens is in the north-it is that way that the soldiers must go, soldiers from Paris, from Tours, from Orleans, from all

on in St. Denis, where they went from the school, they found activity enough to make up, and more than make up, for the silence and stillness everywhere else. The station was choked with soldiers, reservi

ave soldiers. The gates of the station were barred to

ve our bags here at the school, and make packs of the things we need. And the

, but now they realized what a mistake it would have been to do that, since with every normal activity cut off by the war

less automobiles carrying refugees. Already the Americans were pouring out of Paris in their frantic haste to reach the coast and so tak

. Men in uniforms were all about. Officers, as soon as they were seen, were hailed by the drivers of taxicabs, who refused even to think of carrying a civilian passenger if an officer want

he is to report at his depot. It may be the first day, the third, the fifth, the tenth. If all c

ok it," was Fr

hen the time comes, off he will go. Why, even in your America, now, all the Frenchmen who have gone there are trying to get back.

r, there was a difference in the sort of crowding. There were fewer

asked Frank. "Aren't ther

The government has always the right to take them all. Even at the time of the manoeuvres, some are taken, though not all. It is the same with the automobiles. In a few days ther

Who i

He will drive a general. He is a soldier, like all Frenchmen, and tha

ance, where as a rule the little tables in front of the cafes would be crowded, all the tables had vanished. That was a result of what was happening. Everything brought the fact of war home to

r wheels and walk for a space, but in the end they came to their

, when we heard of the mobilization: 'And what of Henri? He cannot go home yet.'

imed, a moment later. "You

e face of a terrible and pressing danger had made it easier for him to understand his mother's love of her own land. He was still an American above a

he spoke of the uncle who was to come

for him to get here. But we can look after you until he comes. Th