"Gladly! Just try me."
"Don't answer too quickly," warned Mr. Fleck. "Remember, it will be real
work, serious work, not always pleasant, sometimes possibly a little
perilous. Remember, too, it must be done with absolute secrecy. You must
not let even your parents know that you are working with us. You must
pledge yourself to breathe no word of what you are doing or are asked to
do to a living soul. Everything that we may tell you is to be buried
forever from everybody. No one is to be trusted. The minute one other
person knows your secret it will no longer be a secret. Can we depend
upon you?"
"You may absolutely depend on me," said Jane slowly and soberly. "I give
you my word. I have been eager for ever so long to do something to help,
to really help. My father is doing all he can to aid the government.
He's on the Shipping Board."
Mr. Fleck nodded. Evidently he was aware of it already.
"My brother, my only brother," Jane continued, with a little catch in
her throat, "is Over There--somewhere Over There--fighting for his
government. If there is anything I can do to help the country he is
fighting for, the country he may die for, I pledge you I will do it
gladly with my heart, my soul, my body--everything."
"Thank you," said Mr. Fleck softly, taking her hand.
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