The Boy Scout Aviators | Page 4

that his father had been right. At first he had
to put up with a good deal. He found that the English boys he met in
school felt themselves a little superior. They didn't look down on him,
exactly, but they were, perhaps the least bit sorry for him because he
was not an Englishman, always a real misfortune in their sight.
He had resented that at first. But his Boy Scout training stood him in
good stead. He kept his temper, and it was not long before he began to
make friends. He excelled at games; even the English games that were
new and strange to him presented few difficulties to him. As he had
explained to Dick, cricket was easy for any boy who could play
baseball fairly well. And it was the same way with football. After the
far more strenuous American game, he shone at the milder English
football, the Rugby game, which is the direct ancestor of the sport in
America.
All these things helped to make Harry popular. He was now nearly

sixteen, tall and strong for his age, thanks to the outdoor life he had
always lived. An only son, he and his father had always been good
friends. Without being in any way a molly-coddle, still he had been
kept safe from a good many of the temptations that beset some boys by
the constant association with his father. It was no wonder, therefore,
that John Grenfel, as soon as he had talked with Harry and learned of
the credentials he bore from his home troop, had welcomed him
enthusiastically as a recruit to his own troop.
It had been necessary to modify certain rules. Harry, of course, could
not subscribe to quite the same scout oath that bound his English
fellows. But he had taken his scout oath as a tenderfoot at home, and
Grenfel had no doubts about him. He was the sort of boy the
organization wanted, whether in England or America, and that was
enough for Grenfel.
Though the boys, as they walked toward their homes, did not quite
realize it, they were living in days that were big with fate. Far away, in
the chancelleries of Europe, and, not so far away, in the big government
buildings in the West End of London, the statesmen were even then
making their best effort to avert war. No one in England, perhaps,
really believed that war was coming. There had been war scares before.
But the peace of Europe had been preserved for forty years or more,
through one crisis after another. And so it was a stunning surprise, even
to Grenfel, when, as they came into Putney High street, just before they
reached Putney Bridge, they met a swam of newsboys excitedly
shrieking extras.
"Germany threatens Russia!" they yelled. "War sure!"
Mr. Grenfel brought a paper, and the scouts gathered about him while
he read the news that was contained on the front page, still damp from
the press.
"I'm afraid it's true," he said, soberly. "The German Emperor has
threatened to go to war with Russia, unless the Czar stops mobilizing
his troops at once. We shall know tonight. But I think it means war!
God save England may still keep out of it!"

For that night a meeting at Mr. Grenfel's home in West Kensington had
long been planned. He lived not far from the street in which both Harry
and Dick lived. And, as the party broke up, on the other side of Putney
Bridge, Dick, voicing the general feeling, asked a question.
"Are we to come tonight, sir?" he said. "With this news -- ?"
"Yes -- yes, indeed," said the scoutmaster. "If war is to come, there is
all the more reason for us to be together. England may need all of us
yet."
Dick had asked the question because, like all the others, he felt
something that was in the air. He was sobered by the news, although,
like the rest, he did not yet fully understand it. But they all felt that
there had been a change. As they looked about at the familiar sight
about them they wondered if, a year from then, everything would still
be the same. War? What did it mean to them, to England?
"I wonder if my father will go to war!" Dick broke out suddenly, as he
and Harry walked along.
"I hadn't thought of that!" said Harry, startled. "Oh, Dick, I'm sorry!
Still, I suppose he'll go, if his country needs him!"


CHAPTER II
QUICK WORK
At home, Harry had an early dinner with his father and mother, who
were going to the theatre. They lived in a comfortable house, which Mr.
Fleming had taken on a five-year lease when they came to