What a turmoil there was about us! So fast were things moving that
there seemed no time for thought, John's mother and I could not
realize the full meaning of all that was happening. But we knew that
John was snatched away from us just after he had come, and it was
hard--it was cruelly hard.
But such thoughts were drowned in the great surging excitement that
was all about us. In Melbourne, and I believe it must have been much
the same elsewhere in Australia, folks didn't know what they were to
do, how they were to take this war that had come so suddenly upon
them. And rumors and questions flew in all directions.
Suppose the Germans came to Australia? Was there a chance of that?
They had islands, naval bases, not so far away. They were Australia's
neighbors. What of the German navy? Was it out? Were there scattered
ships, here and there, that might swoop down upon Australia's shores
and bring death and destruction with them?
But even before we sailed, next day, I could see that order was
coming out of that chaos. Everywhere recruiting offices were opening,
and men were flocking to them. No one dreamed, really, of a long
war--though John laughed, sadly, when someone said it would be over in
four months. But these Australians took no chances; they would offer
themselves first, and let it be decided later whether they were needed.
So we sailed away. And when I took John's hand, and kissed him good-by,
I saw him for the last time in his civilian clothes.
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