The Boy Allies at Liege | Page 2

was killed leading a
charge at the battle of El Caney, in the Spanish-American war. Hal's

grandfather died of a bayonet wound in the last days of the Civil War.
But, if Hal's father's family was a family of fighters, so was that of his
mother. Her father, a Virginian, was killed at the head of his men while
leading one of Pickett's regiments in the famous charge at Gettysburg.
Three of her brothers also had been killed on the field of battle, and
another had died in prison.
From her own mother Mrs. Paine had learned of the horrors of war.
Before the war her father had been a wealthy man. After the war her
mother was almost in poverty. While too young then to remember these
things herself, Mrs. Paine knew what havoc had been wrought in the
land of her birth by the invasion of armed men, and it is not to be
wondered at that, in view of the events narrated, she should view the
coming struggle with anguish, despite the fact that her own country was
not involved and that there was no reason why her loved ones should
be called upon to take up arms.
Chester's father was a prominent and wealthy lumberman, and Chester,
although nearly a year younger than Hal, had graduated in the same
class with his comrade. The two families lived next door to each other,
and the lads had always been the closest of chums.
For the last three years the boys had spent each summer vacation in one
of the lumber camps owned by Chester's father, in the great Northwest.
Always athletically inclined, the time thus spent among the rough
lumbermen had given the boys new prowess. Day after day they spent
in the woods, hunting big game, and both had become proficient in the
use of firearms; while to their boxing skill--learned under a veteran of
the prize-ring, who was employed by Chester's father in the town in
which they lived--they added that dexterity which comes only with
hard experience. Daily fencing lessons had made both proficient in the
use of sword and saber.
Among these woodsmen, composed of laborers from many nations,
they had also picked up a smattering of many European languages,
which proved of great help to them on their trip abroad.

Standing firmly upon their rights from first to last, the two lads never
allowed anyone to impose upon them, although they were neither
naturally pugnacious nor aggressive. However, there had been more
than one lumberjack who had found to his discomfort that he could not
infringe upon their good nature, which was at all times apparent.
Both boys were large and sturdy, and the months spent in the lumber
camps had given hardness to their muscles. Their ever-readiness for a
rough-and-tumble, the fact that neither had ever been known to dodge
trouble--although neither had ever sought it, and that where one was
involved in danger there was sure to be found the other also--had
gained for them among the rough men of the lumber camp the
nickname of "The Boy Allies," a name which had followed them to
their city home.
It was by this name that the boys were most endearingly known to their
companions; and there was more than one small boy who owed his
escape from older tormentors to the "Boy Allies'" idea of what was
right and wrong, and to the power of their arms.
Both lads were keenly interested in history, so, in spite of the manner in
which they tried to reassure Mrs. Paine and set her mind at rest, there is
no cause for wonder in the fact that both were more concerned in the
movement of troops and warships than in the efforts the other powers
were making to prevent a general European war.
Staunch admirers of Napoleon and the French people, and, with a long
line of descendants among the English, the sympathies of both were
naturally with the Allies. As Chester had said to Hal, when first rumors
of the impending conflagration were heard:
"It's too bad we cannot take a hand in the fighting. The war will be the
greatest of all time, and both sides will need every man they can get
capable of bearing arms."
"You bet it's too bad," Hal had replied; "but we're still in Europe, and
you never can tell what will happen. We may have to play a part in the
affair whether we want to or not," and here the conversation had ended,

although such thoughts were still in the minds of both boys when they
accompanied Mrs. Paine to their apartment to pack up, preparatory to
their departure in the morning.
The packing completed, the lads announced their intention of walking
out and learning the latest