sing it for a bus. I wouldn't
let them, though."

Dave looked sidewise and saw how tired the English lad was. His cheeks
were slightly pale from fatigue, and his eyelids were heavy. Dave
reached out and touched the wheel.

"I've just had a pretty good sleep," he said with a laugh, "and you look
pretty much all in, Freddy. Want me to take the wheel for a spell? You
can tell me which way to go."

The English boy turned his head and smiled at him, and somehow both
suddenly knew that a deep friendship between them had been cemented.

"Thanks, awfully much, Dave," Freddy Farmer said, "but I'm not really
tired at all. Besides, there isn't far to go now. Only a few more miles,
I fancy. It's nice of you to ask, though."

"It'll still be okay if you change your mind," Dave said. "Have you been
driving an ambulance long? Do you go out and help pick up the wounded,
and stuff? I guess you've seen a lot of battles, haven't you?"

"Oh, No, I'm not really an ambulance driver, Dave. You have to be
eighteen to get in this volunteer service, and I won't be seventeen
until next month. You see, I've been going to school just outside Paris
and my family decided I'd better come home to England. Well, yesterday
several of these ambulances arrived at the Paris headquarters of the
Service. They had been shipped clear to Paris through a mistake. The
French do funny things sometimes, you know. Anyway, they were needed in
Belgium and there were no regular drivers in Paris. Not enough, anyway.
I thought it would be good fun to drive one and then carry on to the
Channel and on home to England. We left Paris at midnight last night,
and soon lost track of each other. It's been fun, though. I'll be sorry
to have the trip end."

"Jeepers, you've been driving since midnight?" Dave exclaimed. "You sure
can take it, Freddy, and how!"

"Take it?" the English boy murmured with a puzzled frown. "I don't think
I know what you mean."

Dave laughed. "That's American slang, Freddy," he said. "It means that
you've got a lot of courage, and stuff. It means that you're okay."

"Thanks, Dave," Freddy Farmer said. "But it really doesn't take any
courage. I'm very glad to do my bit, if it helps the troops any. We've
got to beat the Germans, you know. And we jolly well will, I can tell
you!"

The two boys lapsed into silence and for the next two or three miles
neither of them spoke. During that time Dave stared at the dim red glow
of burning buildings in t