"We were saying that if we didn't get a furlough so we could go
back to Deepdale--"
"For a certain purpose," suggested Will.
"For a certain purpose," Frank repeated solemnly--"we were afraid we
might have to desert."
"Yes, that would have been sensible," scoffed Mollie. "Get half a dozen
years in prison for yourselves and I'd like to know where your furloughs
would be then."
"And you haven't really told us a single nice thing about ourselves,"
added Betty plaintively. "All the time we've just been holding our breath
to listen--"
"We've been doing our best to tell you those nice things, every minute of
every day since then," said Allen in a low voice. "If you haven't heard,
it's because you wouldn't listen."
Betty colored adorably--to quote Allen again--and resumed her packing with
great fervor.
"All of which," Frank finished his self-justification, "shows that we're
far from anxious to leave you girls when we say we're eager for action. I
guess," he added, thoughtfully, "it's just because we're so crazy to be
with you that we're eager to go across."
"That sounds rather--" began Grace, but Frank would not let her finish.
"I know it does," he admitted. "Sounds like a contradiction. But I think
you know what I'm trying to get at, just the same."
"Why, sure," Will backed him up eagerly.
"Frank means that we've got a confounded, disagreeable job to do before we
can settle down and be happy on good old United States soil again--"
"And the sooner we get it done, the better," finished Roy.
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