Georgina's service stars

Foreword

AUTHOR OF “MRS, WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH*’

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

NEW YORK LONDON

COPYRIGHT, 1920,

. By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY

Copyright, 1918, by Britton Publishing Company, Inc. FRINTEO IN THE UNITEO STATES OF AMERICA

To

THOSE BEHIND THE SERVICE FLAGS

whose part in this world-struggle can never he chronicled. Their sacrifices are unnumbered and their wounds are within.

To the silent Heroism which shoulders the double load and faces the loneliness undaunted.

To the Patriotism which, denied the sword, takes up whatever weapon lies at hand and wields it valiantly at home.

To the Love which **beareth all things, endureth all things,*^ that in its “Service Stars^* may be written a righteous destiny for the Nations, and the prophecy of a lasting peace.

Gareth: **Non€, For the deed’s sake have 1 done the deed.”

— Idylls of the King.

FOREWORD

With every generation of girls comes a best beloved story-teller, one whom they select above all others to be their leader into the enchanted land of make-believe. For many years Louisa M. Alcott held the high honor but, with her gracious passing, came the necessity for another guide.

With unerring instinct the girls of the present generation turned to a sleepy little Kentucky town, stormed one of its loveliest homesteads, and, capturing its modest little mistress, acclaimed Annie Fellows Johnston their new and cherished leader.

There are certain magic words, if grown-ups only knew them, that will open the lips of the most inarticulate little girls from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. You have only to whisper “The Little Colonel,’’ or “Mary Ware,” or “Georgina,” and you are straightway known and accepted as one of the elect. /

What is the secret of this universal allegiance, this juvenile enthusiasm, that scarcely permits the ink to dry upon one volume before it clamors for another? If I had to express it in the Ian-

FOREWOED guage of the children themselves I should say: “Mrs. Johnston remembers and understands.^’ Into maturity she has carried an amazing recollection of her first shining impressions of life, quite undimmed by the wear and tear of the intervening years. She sees youth, not through the telescope of time, but through its own radiant eyes, and, having seen, she understands and interprets it to itself.

It would be difficult to estimate the influence and inspiration that have gone forth from her books. Under the bright entertaining woof of the stories runs the long, serious warp of their purpose. Hundreds of thousands of girls have met their own problems in the problems of their favorite heroines. They have seen the first perplexities of life faced beautifully and spiritually; they have seen that stupid little word “duty” glorified into something fine and noble; they have seen the small and seemingly insignificant things of life take on a new and beautiful dignity.

Those who enjoy the privilege of Mrs. Johnston’s friendship know that the verdict of the American Girl is right. Behind the charming story-teller is a woman of rare character and exalted vision; one in every way worthy to lead youth toward its highest fulfillment.

Alice Hegan Rice.

Part I Chapter Page

I. Georgina Begins Her Memoirs ... 13

II. The Misunderstood ’Teens .... 26

III, In the Shadow of War 37

IV. Her Ideal Girl Steps In 46

V. A Photograph and Some Day-Dreams 56

VI. The One and Only Star 66

VII. A Modern Sir Gareth . • 79

VIII. Disillusioned 91

IX. Seven Months Later 104

X, At Harrington Hall ri6

XI. The Midshipman Hop 126

XII. “Shod Goes Sure” 140

XIII. A Work-A-Day Vacation 151

Part II

XIV. The Call to Arms 163

XV. “The Gates Ajar” 173

XVI. Home-Comings 184

XVII. Back with the Old Crowd .... 198

CONTENTS

CHAPTER page

XVIII. A War Wedding 210

XIX, The Vigil in the Swing 224

XX. The Highway of the Angels . . . 238

XXI. “Pirate Gold” 243

XXII. “The Maid Who Binds Her Warrior’s

Sash” 257

XXIII. Marked on the Calendar 267

XXIV. Brave Little Carrier Pigeon! . . . 277

XXV. “Missing” 289

XXVI. “The Service of Shining” .... 300

GEORGINA’S SERTICE STARS PART I

**My salad days, when 1 was green in judgment.**