{"product_id":"2940013615632","title":"AMERICA FIRST","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                                                             PAGE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  CALLED TO THE COLORS                                          1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  UNDER THE FLAG                                               53\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  AMERICA FIRST                                                89\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eILLUSTRATIONS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \"I wouldn't go when you dared me to,\" said the tenderfoot,\u003cbr\u003e  \"but this is--different.\" And he added\u003cbr\u003e  in his heart: \"This is for _my country_\"         _Frontispiece_\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e                                                      FACING PAGE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  A man was sitting over some sort of instrument               36\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \"You can't touch Rudolph!\" she cried. \"He's under\u003cbr\u003e  the flag!\"                                                   86\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \"Riego Yañez,\" he said, \"I am proud to shake hands\u003cbr\u003e  with an American hero!\"                                     120\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCALLED TO THE COLORS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is the story of a \"tenderfoot\"--of a pink-cheeked, petted lad,\u003cbr\u003eand of his first service as a Boy Scout.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDanny Harding was what his mother's friends termed \"wonderfully\u003cbr\u003efortunate,\" but Danny himself took quite another view of his life's\u003cbr\u003ecircumstances as he hurried home from school one afternoon, an hour\u003cbr\u003ebefore the regular time for dismissal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe day was golden with sunshine, but the boy's spirit was dark. There\u003cbr\u003ewas singing in the air and singing in the tree tops, but in the heart\u003cbr\u003ewhich pounded against his immaculate jacket were silent rage and\u003cbr\u003edespair.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Whippoorwill Patrol had been called to the colors, and he the\u003cbr\u003euntried, the untested tenderfoot would have to remain at home in\u003cbr\u003eluxurious security, while the huskier, browner, less-sheltered lads\u003cbr\u003eanswered their country's call. It was beyond the power of a boy's\u003cbr\u003eheart to endure--the mortification--the wild despair of it! They would\u003cbr\u003ecall him a slacker, a _coward_! But, worse still, his country needed\u003cbr\u003ehim, and he could not answer!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDanny brushed away the tears which threatened to blind him, and\u003cbr\u003estumbled on.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe call had come through a telegram from the Scout Master to the boys\u003cbr\u003ewhile they were yet at school, and the teacher had promptly dismissed\u003cbr\u003ethem to service. The Whippoorwills were to leave immediately upon an\u003cbr\u003eexpedition to the mountains, but just what duty they were called to\u003cbr\u003eperform was not stated in the brief message. All they knew was that\u003cbr\u003ethey were to leave at once for a certain distant mountain-top, there\u003cbr\u003epitch tents and await orders for serious service.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn receipt of the news the other boys had rushed off noisily with\u003cbr\u003eeager joy to don their khaki uniforms and make ready, but Danny had\u003cbr\u003eslipped down a by-street--a wounded, a hurt thing, trying to hide his\u003cbr\u003eanguish away from mortal sight. He would not be allowed to go--he\u003cbr\u003eknew it--for he was the only son of a widowed mother who loved him all\u003cbr\u003etoo well. He was her all, her idol, and her days had been spent in\u003cbr\u003epampering and shielding him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnly a week before, the scouts had gone on a hike together and she had\u003cbr\u003erefused absolutely to allow Danny to accompany them--the sun would be\u003cbr\u003etoo hot, he might get poisoned with wild ivy, he would be sure to\u003cbr\u003eimbibe fever germs from the mountain spring!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo, thought the miserable boy, she would be doubly fearful, doubly\u003cbr\u003eunwilling, now that the Whippoorwills were to do serious scout duty on\u003cbr\u003eDeath Head Mountain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDanny's soul raged against his soft fate as he stumbled up the side\u003cbr\u003esteps of his handsome home and entered his mother's presence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe did not fly to her arms as he was wont to do, but, instead, flung\u003cbr\u003ehimself into the first convenient chair with a frown. He could not\u003cbr\u003etrust himself to speak.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut even in that moment of stress Danny realized that his mother had\u003cbr\u003enot hurried to him for the usual kiss. She was struggling with some\u003cbr\u003esort of bundle, and she only looked up with a quick smile.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe next instant, however, the smile of welcome died out of her face,\u003cbr\u003eand she stopped suddenly and regarded him with a startled question in\u003cbr\u003eher eyes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDanny frowned more darkly, and moved uneasily under her searching\u003cbr\u003egaze. He looked away in a vain attempt to hide the tears which had\u003cbr\u003esprung to his eyes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd then came the unexpected:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Danny,\" said his mother, in a voice that sounded new to him, \"I\u003cbr\u003ereceived a long-distance phone message from the Scout Master, and--he\u003cbr\u003esaid he had wired to the school----\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe paused a moment, and then asked: \"Didn't you get the message?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yes,\" said the boy doggedly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere was a pause, and then his mother deliberately put down the\u003cbr\u003ebundle she had been working with, and approached.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083142873328,"sku":"2940013615632","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013615632_p0.jpg?v=1763583052","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013615632","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}