Chapter XXV: Conclusion

"We're here because we're here!" announced Bob, beaming fatuously on four young men gathered about a round table in a Tremont restaurant.

A week had elapsed since Franz Schnitzel had sprung the dramatic dénouement that had rid the world of one more fiend. Johann Freidrich, alias Juan Fernando, had been shot at sunrise of the morning before. Bob whimsically declaring that the event needed celebrating, he had straightway invited his Brothers and Schnitzel to a celebration in Tremont.

"We're not going to be _here_ long. I mean at Camp Sterling," smiled Roger. "I expect any minute to get the order to pack."

"We should worry," rejoined Bob. "We've stirring times ahead of us. We've had a few right in camp, too."

"Gee whiz, Schnitz, you must feel great!" glowed Jimmy. "Think of all you've done already for your country. I thought I was some when I nabbed Bixton. Beside you--well--I'm not so much. What a shame there aren't any medals handed out in the Army. You ought to get enough to cover up your chest. You're due for a rise in ranks, though. Bet you my hat on that. Now you've got to tell us how you did it all. You've never peeped. We've been laying for you. Got you down here on purpose to-night. Now spill."

"I intended to tell you fellows." Schnitzel's melancholy dark eyes wandered over the group. Ever since that eventful evening in the rain he had been the observed of all observers. As a result he had promptly retired into his shell, declining to be lionized. Even to the four Khaki Boys he had granted only the barest details of his exploit.

"Somehow I couldn't bear to talk about it. It was all so sickening. But I don't mind telling you fellows now. There isn't much to tell. I never suspected Freidrich until after I got out of the guard-house. One day he came to me and started saying how sorry he'd been for me. He began asking me about myself and my people. What they thought about the war and if they had any relatives in it in Germany. He said many of the Germans were fine people who'd been misunderstood. He gave me a kind of a queer look and, I don't know why, but it somehow made me distrust him. So I said I didn't know how my folks felt about it because I hadn't seen them for several years. That wasn't true, but anyway it wasn't any of his business. I told him I didn't know if any of our relatives in Germany were in the war. That was true enough. I didn't say what I thought about the Germans themselves.

"That was all he said that time. He kept coming around after me and sympathizing with me. I thought at first he was trying to get me to queer myself. Thought maybe headquarters had put him on my trail to see if I was really all O. K. So I was pretty careful. I found out he could speak German, too. I thought that was rather queer and said so. He explained that he'd learned it from a German overseer on his father's plantation in Cuba. I didn't believe it. He spoke it like a German. He had more of the way of a German than a Cuban.

"All of a sudden I made up my mind not to go on in the dark. I went to the K. O. and asked him flat if Fernando had been set to watch me. He nearly had a fit until I told him a few things that I suspected. Then he gave me leave to spring a bluff on the fellow that I was down on the Army, just to see what he'd do.

"So next day I went to him and gave him a great line of talk about how sick I was of Camp Sterling and what a mistake the U. S. had made in declaring war on the Fatherland. That made him prick up his ears. But he was no fool. I had to string him along good and hard before he bit at the hook. One day he asked me why I'd enlisted. I just smiled and threw him a funny look. He stared hard at me and muttered: 'Hoch der Kaiser,' and I said: 'You bet.'

"Then I had him going. After that it was easy. He soon got so he'd talk for hours about how bad the Germans had been treated. He'd almost always end by saying, 'It is for you and me to avenge the great wrongs done the Fatherland.' But he'd never said what we ought to do until about a week before the bomb business. Then he asked me to go for a walk. We went away out past the trenches. After a while he stopped me and asked if I was willing to do my bit for the Kaiser. I said I was and he put me through an oath of allegiance to Kaiser Bill and then told me what the 'great work' was to be. He was careful not to let me know how he got the bombs. He had two or three of them, you know.

"I put it up strong to him then about the poison. Gave him a lot of guff about our being Brothers in the cause, and all that. He didn't say in so many words that he did it, but he let me understand it just the same. You know the rest. Thank God, I got that bomb away from him. I'm glad I could do something to help the United States and I'm glad, too, on my own account. I'd never have rested easy as long as that poison affair wasn't cleared up. I feel now as though I couldn't go over quick enough to help even the score for Simpson and Brady."

"That's the way we all feel," declared Jimmy.

"I would to-morrow go," declared Ignace.

"Well, I'm ready to hike along the little old Glory Road," smiled Roger.

"Here, too," echoed Bob.

"Take the Glory Road to France;
Hike along to join the fray.
With the Sammies take a chance,
'Neath the Stars and Stripes to-day,"

hummed Jimmy.

"That's us," approved Bob. "Lead us to it!"

"Going Over" held no dread for the Khaki Boys. They were indeed ready to take their chance beneath the Stars and Stripes in the trenches of far-off France.

When the welcome summons came and what happened to them after leaving Camp Sterling for a longer hike along the Glory Road is told in the second volume of this series entitled, "The Khaki Boys on the Way, or Doing Their Bit on Sea and Land."

THE END

* * * * *

THE KHAKI BOYS SERIES

BY CAPT. GORDON BATES

_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full color._

_Price per volume, 50 cents, postpaid._

_All who love the experiences and adventures of our American boys, fighting for the freedom of democracy in the world, will be delighted with these vivid and true-to-life stories of the camp and field in the great war._

THE KHAKI BOYS AT CAMP STERLING
_or Training for the Big Fight in France_

Two zealous young patriots volunteer and begin their military training. On the train going to camp they meet two rookies with whom they become chums. Together they get into a baffling camp mystery that develops into an extraordinary spy-plot. They defeat the enemies of their country and incidentally help one another to promotion both in friendship and service.

THE KHAKI BOYS ON THE WAY
_or Doing Their Bit on Sea and Land_

Our soldier boys having completed their training at Camp Sterling are transferred to a Southern cantonment from which they are finally sent aboard a troop-ship for France. On the trip their ship is sunk by a U-boat and their adventures are realistic descriptions of the tragedies of the sea.

THE KHAKI BOYS AT THE FRONT
_or Shoulder to Shoulder in the Trenches_

The Khaki Boys reach France, and, after some intensive training in sound of the battle front, are sent into the trenches. In the raids across No-Man's land, they have numerous tragic adventures that show what great work is being performed by our soldiers. It shows what makes heroes.

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BY EDNA BROOKS

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_When Uncle Sam sent forth the ringing call, "I need you!" it was not alone his strong young sons who responded. All over the United States capable American girls stood ready to offer their services to their country. How two young girls donned the khaki and made good in the Motor Corps, an organization for women developed by the Great War, forms a series of stories of signal novelty and vivid interest and action._

THE KHAKI GIRLS OF THE MOTOR CORPS
_or Finding Their Place in the Big War_

Joan Mason, an enthusiastic motor girl, and Valerie Warde, a society debutante, meet at an automobile show. Next day they go together to the Motor Corps headquarters and in due time are accepted and become members of the Corps, in the service of the United States. The two girl drivers find motoring for Uncle Sam a most exciting business. Incidentally they are instrumental in rendering valuable service to the United States government by discovering and running down a secret organization of its enemies.

THE KHAKI GIRLS BEHIND THE LINES
_or Driving with the Ambulance Corps_

As a result of their splendid work in the Motor Corps, the Khaki Girls receive the honor of an opportunity to drive with the Ambulance Corps in France. After a most eventful and hazardous crossing of the Atlantic, they arrive in France and are assigned to a station behind the lines. Constantly within range of enemy shrapnel, out in all kinds of weather, tearing over shell-torn roads and dodging Boche patrols, all go to make up the day's work, and bring them many exciting adventures.

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The Curlytops were delighted when grandpa took them to camp on Star Island. There they had great fun and also helped to solve a real mystery.

THE CURLYTOPS SNOWED IN
_or Grand Fun with Skates and Sleds_

Winter was a jolly time for the Curlytops, with their skates and sleds, but when later they were snowed in they found many new ways to enjoy themselves.

THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH
_or Little Folks on Pony Back_

Out West on their uncle's ranch they have a wonderful time among the cowboys and on pony back.

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BASEBALL JOE OF THE SILVER STARS
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Joe's great ambition was to go to boarding school and play on the school team.

BASEBALL JOE AT YALE
_or Pitching for the College Championship_

Joe goes to Yale University. In his second year he becomes a varsity pitcher and pitches in several big games.

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_or Making Good as a Professional Pitcher_

In this volume the scene of action is shifted from Yale college to a baseball league of our central states.

BASEBALL JOE IN THE BIG LEAGUE
_or A Young Pitcher's Hardest Struggles_

From the Central League Joe is drafted into the St. Louis Nationals. A corking baseball story all fans will enjoy.

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_or Making Good as a Twirler in the Metropolis_

How Joe was traded to the Giants and became their mainstay in the box makes an interesting baseball story.

BASEBALL JOE IN THE WORLD SERIES
_or Pitching for the Championship_

The rivalry was of course of the keenest, and what Joe did to win the series is told in a manner to thrill the most jaded reader.

BASEBALL JOE AROUND THE WORLD (_New_)
_or Pitching on a Grand Tour_

The Giants and the All-Americans tour the world, playing in many foreign countries.

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By ALFRED RAYMOND

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The trials and triumphs of Harry Harding and Teddy Burke, two wide-awake boys who make a humble beginning on the messenger force of a great department store, with the firm resolve to become successful business men, form a series of narratives calculated to please the alert, progressive boys of today.

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After a blissful two weeks' vacation, spent together, Harry Harding and Teddy Burke again take up their work in Martin Brothers' store. Their "year of promise" brings them many new experiences, pleasant and unpleasant, but more determined than ever to reach the goal they have set for themselves, they pass courageously and hopefully over the rough places, meeting with many surprises and exciting incidents which advance them far on the road to success.

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CANYON
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_or After a Treasure of Gold_

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_or In the Hands of the Enemy_

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* * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Printer, punctuation, and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.

Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.

Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.

Inconsistencies in formatting and punctuation of individual advertisements have been retained.