SHE WANTED TO JOIN ARMY.
But Changed Her Mind When It Came
to Final Test.
While the sergeant at the local recruiting station yesterday was busy at his desk there came a timid rap at the office door. "Come in," called he as he turned about in his chair. The door opened and a young man dressed in stylish clothes, and who had wavy chestnut hair under a rakish had, advanced towards the sergeant, blushing profusely.
"Is this the army station?" asked he. "Well, I would like to join the army if I can be stationed at St. Louis." This sounded a little strange to the sergeant, so he inquired why he was so particular about going to St. Louis. Again the blush mounted on the applicant's cheeks, and he stammered an unintelligible reply.
"Well, yes," he said slowly. "I guess that we can take you on and send you to St. Louis, too. You look like a good man and I think that you could bear up under hard drilling which will be given you for the first three or four months. Just step into the other room there and let the corporal examine you."
Falteringly the applicant entered the ante-room where the physical examinations are held. The corporal tested eyes, hearing and length of arms. They were all satisfactory. "Just walk back there and remove your clothes, please," said he.
This was too much for the applicant and he began to cry. The astonished corporal could not understand, but the hard-hearted sergeant was standing in the doorway, laughing.
"I can't do that," sobbed the girl, "because, because I am n-not a man; I am a girl. I didn't think that I would have to go through all of this to get in the army. I wanted to go to St. Louis to see my sweetheart who enlisted a month ago. I thought that this would be the only way," and she ran from the room, crying as if her heart would break.
