Читать книгу Two American Boys in the War Zone онлайн

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“I do not know,” said the clerk, looking with pity at the distressed boys; “but I would advise you to wait quietly and your father may return in the morning.”

That seemed to be good advice and the boys determined to follow it. It was then time for dinner and they tried to eat something, but with poor success. They were so uneasy about their father that they could hardly think of anything else, and they had not yet begun to consider what they, themselves, should do. All thought of the Great Fair, which they had come so far to see, had entirely left their minds. Their trouble, however, did not prevent them from sleeping well, and when they went to bed they knew nothing more until long past daylight the next morning.

After such a night’s rest things did not appear so bad to the boys as they had seemed the day before, and they ate a hearty breakfast. Then they hunted up the English-speaking clerk again, for they had received no message from their father. That person could tell them nothing and they went out on the street. The evening before they had noticed nothing unusual in conditions, or if there had appeared to be great activity, they had supposed it was only the ordinary business of the city. With their knowledge that war had been declared, however, the boys plainly perceived an air of suppressed excitement everywhere. Automobiles raced through the streets, and the boys noticed that the cars always carried men in uniform. Private automobiles seemed to have strangely disappeared, and the boys did not know that all such cars had been commandeered by the Government.