That afternoon Claude spent with his mother.  It was the first time she had had him to herself.  Ralph wanted terribly to stay and hear his brother talk, but understanding how his mother felt, he went back to the wheat field.  There was no detail of Claude’s life in camp so trivial that Mrs. Wheeler did not want to hear about it.  She asked about the mess, the cooks, the laundry, as well as about his own duties.  She made him describe the bayonet drill and explain the operation of machine guns and automatic rifles.

“I hardly see how we can bear the anxiety when our transports begin to sail,” she said thoughtfully.  “If they can once get you all over there, I am not afraid; I believe our boys are as good as any in the world.  But with submarines reported off our own coast, I wonder how the Government can get our men across safely.  The thought of transports going down with thousands of young men on board is something so terrible—­” she put her hands quickly over her eyes.

Claude, sitting opposite his mother, wondered what it was about her hands that made them so different from any others he had ever seen.  He had always known they were different, but now he must look closely and see why.  They were slender, and always white, even when the nails were stained at preserving time.  Her fingers arched back at the joints, as if they were shrinking from contacts.  They were restless, and when she talked often brushed her hair or her dress lightly.  When she was excited she sometimes put her hand to her throat, or felt about the neck of her gown, as if she were searching for a forgotten brooch.  They were sensitive hands, and yet they seemed to have nothing to do with sense, to be almost like the groping fingers of a spirit.

“How do you boys feel about it?”

Claude started.  “About what, Mother?  Oh, the transportation!  We don’t worry about that.  It’s the Government’s job to get us across.  A soldier mustn’t worry about anything except what he’s directly responsible for.  If the Germans should sink a few troop ships, it would be unfortunate, certainly, but it wouldn’t cut any figure in the long run.  The British are perfecting an enormous dirigible, built to carry passengers.  If our transports are sunk, it will only mean delay.  In another year the Yankees will be flying over.  They can’t stop us.”

Mrs. Wheeler bent forward.  “That must be boys’ talk, Claude.  Surely you don’t believe such a thing could be practicable?”

“Absolutely.  The British are depending on their aircraft designers to do just that, if everything else fails.  Of course, nobody knows yet how effective the submarines will be in our case.”

Mrs. Wheeler again shaded her eyes with her hand.  “When I was young, back in Vermont, I used to wish that I had lived in the old times when the world went ahead by leaps and bounds.  And now, I feel as if my sight couldn’t bear the glory that beats upon it.  It seems as if we would have to be born with new faculties, to comprehend what is going on in the air and under the sea.”