The Boy Allies in Great Peril | Page 4

place,
boys, is with your mothers."
Chester and Hal had sought consent to rejoin the army in vain. Neither
Mrs. Paine nor Mrs. Crawford would hear of such a thing. So at last
they agreed to return home. First, however, at Uncle John's suggestion,
the party decided to stop in Rome.
"Italy is still a sane and peaceable country," Uncle John had said.
Naturally the lads had been greatly interested in the war demonstrations
in Rome. Uncle John, who at first had "pooh-poohed" the prospect of
Italy's entering the war, finally had been convinced that such a course
was only a matter of time. Mrs. Paine and Mrs. Crawford, realizing
how greatly interested their sons were becoming, immediately decided
to return to America. They feared that some harm would come to Hal
and Chester--feared that the boys might be drawn into trouble
again--for they both knew their dispositions not to shirk danger.
The war situation at this time was anything but favorable to the Allies.
Along the great western battle line, stretching out from the North Sea
far to the south, the mighty armies were gripped in a deadlock.
Occasional advances would be made by both sides and retreats would
follow.
Having pushed the invader back from the very walls of Paris soon after
the outbreak of hostilities, the French had shoved him across the Aisne
and then across the Marne. But here the allied offensive halted. Grand
assaults and heroic charges proved ineffectual. The Kaiser's troops
were strongly intrenched and could not be dislodged. On their side, the

Allies' positions were equally impregnable and repeated assaults by the
enemy had failed to shake their lines.
In the eastern theater of war the Russians, at this moment, were
meeting with some success. Several large Austrian strongholds had
been captured after the bloodiest fighting of the war, and it was
believed that it would only be a question of a few weeks until the
Russian Grand Duke would develop his long-expected invasion of
Hungary.
In the north of the eastern war arena, also, the Russians had met with
some success, Poland had been invaded, and around Warsaw the great
German drive had been checked. The sea was still free of German ships,
with the exception of the submarines which still continued to prey upon
all commerce, neutral as well as Allies'.
The situation in the Balkan states remained unchanged. It was hoped
that the Balkan countries would rally to the support of the Allies, and
thus form an iron ring about the Germanic powers, but this matter was
no nearer a successful issue than it had been months before. However,
diplomats of both sides were still busy in the Balkans, and each hoped
to gain their support.
But for the last few weeks all eyes had been turned toward Italy. A
member of the Austro-German Triple Alliance at the beginning of the
war, Italy had refused to support a war of aggression by the Kaiser and
had severed her connection with the Alliance. She had announced that
she would remain neutral.
At length, however, matters reached such a pass that Italy realized she
must cast her lot with the Allies. She knew that should the Germans
emerge from the war victorious she had all to lose and nothing to gain.
The first act of the successful German army would be to crush her.
Besides, there had always been antagonism between Austria and Italy,
and the drawing of Italy into the Triple Alliance in the first place was
considered an act of trickery. Austria and Italy could have nothing in
common.

The people of Italy demanded that she throw her military as well as her
moral support to the Allies. The matter had been threshed out in the
Chamber of Deputies. Wild anti-German and anti-Austrian
demonstrations were almost daily occurrences in the streets of Rome
and other of the larger Italian cities. The people wanted war. Here was
the one country of all the powers engaged in the mighty conflict that
could truthfully say: "This is a popular war."
At the instigation of the Kaiser, Austria had agreed to make many
concessions to Italy in return for her neutrality. She agreed to almost
anything. But the Italian government was not fooled. Austria would
yield anything at the present time, and then, with the aid of her
powerful ally, Germany, at the close of the war, take it away from Italy
again.
So the Italian people and the Italian government decided upon war on
the side of the Allies. Millions of trained fighting men, fresh from the
rigors of the recent Turkish war, were ready to take the field at almost a
moment's notice. The reserves had already been ordered to the colors.
The Italian fleet was ready for action.
There was now no question