Very good; turn him over to the doctor; next! Then
the doctor weighed him, looked at his teeth, hit him in the chest,
listened to his heart, thumped and questioned him, and then passed
him on to a third person to be enrolled.
When George Raymond emerged into the open air it was as a full A B
in the service of the United States
This announcement at the office made an extraordinary sensation.
Men he hardly knew shook hands with him and clapped him on the
back. He was taken upstairs to be impressively informed that his
position would be held open for him. On every side he saw kindling
faces, smiling glances of approbation, the quick passing of the
news in whispers. He had suddenly risen from obscurity to become
part of the War; the heir of a wonderful and possibly tragic
future; a patriot; a hero! It was a bewildering experience and not
without its charm. He was surprised to find himself still the same
man.
The scene at home was less enthusiastic. It was even mortifying,
and Georgie, as his mother invariably called him, had to endure a
storm of sarcasm and reproaches. The old woman's ardent patriotism
stopped short at giving up her son. It was the duty of others to
fight, Georgie's to stay at home with his mother. He let her talk
herself out, saying little, but regarding her with a grave, kind
obstinacy. Then she broke down, weeping and clinging to him.
Somehow, though he could hardly explain it to himself, the
relation between the two underwent a change.
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