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a. A channel through which people’s concerns become a political agenda
b. A location to express a political opinion
c. Formation of a special interest group
d. An environment where one learns about the political process
e. A gathering of people to represent a public opinion
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 10
Skill: Knowledge

2
4. Linkage institutions are
a. political channels through which people’s concerns become political issues on the
policy agenda.
b. issues that attract serious attention of public officials.
c. branches of government charged with taking action on political issues.
d. choices that governments make in response to political issues.
e. systems of selecting policymakers and of organizing government so that policy
represents and responds to the public’s preferences.
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 10
Skill: Knowledge

5. A law passed by Congress and the adoption of a regulation by an agency are both
examples of
a. public policies.
b. interest groups.
c. red tape.
d. exercises in public opinion.
e. majoritarian politics.
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 11
Skill: Application

6. The principle that, in a democracy, choosing among alternatives requires the majority’s
desire to be respected is called
a. majority rule.
b. minority rights.
c. representation.
d. pluralism.
e. enlightened understanding.
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Knowledge

3
7. The theory that argues that group competition results in a rough approximation of the
public interest in public policy is
a. hyperpluralist theory.
b. balance-of-power theory.
c. elite-and-class theory.
d. pluralist theory.
e. bureaucratic theory.
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Comprehension

8. The condition occurring when interests conflict and no coalition is strong enough to form
a majority and establish policy is called
a. divided government.
b. hyperpluralism.
c. policy gridlock.
d. separation of powers.
e. federalism.
Answer: c
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 16
Skill: Knowledge

9. A set of values widely shared within a society is referred to as


a. liberalism.
b. political culture.
c. public policy.
d. politics.
e. government.
Answer: b
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 17
Skill: Knowledge

4
10. That the U.S. government is more limited and smaller than other advanced industrialized
countries is a reflection of the strength of _________ economic policies.
a. populist
b. pluralist
c. laissez-faire
d. elitist
e. corporatist
Answer: c
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 18
Skill: Knowledge

11. The political philosophy supporting the rights of average citizens in their struggle against
privileged elites is known as
a. liberalism.
b. laissez-faire.
c. libertarianism.
d. populism.
e. pluralism.
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 18–19
Skill: Knowledge

12. Which of the following is NOT one of the ways that America may be experiencing a
culture war, as understood by Wayne Baker?
a. A loss over time of traditional values associated with religion
b. A loss over time of traditional values associated with family life
c. An unfavorable comparison with the citizens of other countries in terms of key
values such as patriotism
d. The division of society into opposed groups with irreconcilable moral differences
e. The growth of more centrist positions among the American population
Answer: e
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 20
Skill: Comprehension

5
13. The sum total of the value of all the goods and services produced in a year in a nation are
collectively referred to as
a. gross domestic product (GDP).
b. national debt.
c. national deficit.
d. laissez-faire economics.
e. national surplus.
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.5
Page Reference: 20
Skill: Knowledge

14. Which of the following is true of the United States?


a. Social Security consumes a greater share of the national budget than does defense
spending.
b. National defense consumes a greater share of the national budget than does Social
Security spending.
c. Medicare spending is the single largest item in the federal budget.
d. Aid to state and local governments consumes the largest share of the federal
budget.
e. National defense spending consumes the largest share of the federal budget.
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.5
Page Reference: 22
Skill: Knowledge

True/False Questions

1. Since 2008, the number of young Americans aged 18–29 has exceeded older Americans
on measures of political engagement.
Answer: FALSE
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 3–4
Skill: Comprehension

2. Public goods are things that everyone shares, such as clean air.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.1
Page Reference: 8
Skill: Knowledge

6
3. Americans’ preferences and interests are communicated to policymakers in government
through linkage institutions.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 10
Skill: Knowledge

4. The closer the correspondence between representatives and their electoral majority, the
closer the approximation of democracy.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Comprehension

5. Elite theory contends that class is the major dividing line in politics and that the upper-
class elite pull the strings of government.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 15
Skill: Knowledge

6. Increased technical knowledge of complex contemporary issues casts doubt on the


traditional democratic notion that ordinary citizens have the good sense to reach sound
political judgments around which government can act.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 15–16
Skill: Comprehension

7. When interests conflict, which they often do, no coalition may be strong enough to form
a majority and establish policy—this can lead to a policy gridlock.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 16
Skill: Knowledge

8. Patrick Henry’s famous utterance, “Give me liberty or give me death!” is an example of


Americans’ belief in egalitarianism as a central component to the American creed.
Answer: FALSE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 17
Skill: Application

7
9. Most Americans are proud of the United States in its fair and equal treatment of all
groups.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 17
Skill: Comprehension

10. Pluralism is a political philosophy supporting the rights of average citizens in their
struggle against privileged elites.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 18–19
Skill: Comprehension

CHAPTER EXAM

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Michael Delli Carpini and Scott Keeter, political knowledge is important
because it
a. fosters civic virtues.
b. helps citizens identify policies that would benefit them.
c. promotes active participation in politics.
d. All of the above are true.
e. None of the above is true.
Answer: d
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 4
Skill: Comprehension

2. Who claimed that there has never been, nor ever will be, a people who are politically
ignorant and free?
a. Thomas Jefferson
b. Franklin D. Roosevelt
c. Ronald Reagan
d. Bill Clinton
e. George W. Bush
Answer: a
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 3
Skill: Knowledge

8
3. Which of the following statements is TRUE of the relationship between age and political
knowledge as suggested by data from the National Election Studies?
a. Americans aged 45–65 had higher levels of political knowledge in 2008 than in
1972.
b. Americans younger than age 30 had higher levels of political knowledge in 2008
than they did in 1972.
c. Since 1972, all Americans’ political knowledge has decreased.
d. Since 1972, all Americans’ political knowledge has increased.
e. Americans age 65 and older display higher levels of political knowledge in 2008
than they did in 1972.
Answer: c
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 3
Skill: Analysis

4. Which of the following is TRUE of voter turnout in the United States?


a. The youth vote in 2008 erased the age gap in voter turnout between young
Americans and older Americans.
b. The youth surge in the 2008 election was due in large part to increased turnout
among minorities; for the first time ever, young African Americans had a higher
turnout rate than did young whites.
c. Turnout rates for the young have generally been going up, while turnout among
people over 65 years of age has generally been going down since 1972.
d. Young adults age 18–29 report higher levels of interest in keeping up with politics
when compared to older adults.
e. All of the above are true.
Answer: b
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 4–5
Skill: Analysis

5. Which of the following statements helps explain the link between youth voter turnout and
changes in media communication and technology?
a. The current generation is the first to grow up in a media environment with few
shared experiences.
b. The proliferation of television channels makes it easier for young Americans to
avoid exposure to politics.
c. Most young Americans have not developed habits of following the news.
d. Young people today have never known a time when most citizens paid attention
to major political events.
e. All of the above are true.
Answer: e
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 5
Skill: Comprehension

9
6. The institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society are
collectively called
a. government.
b. the separation of powers.
c. federalism.
d. power.
e. politics.
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.1
Page Reference: 7
Skill: Knowledge

7. An example of a public good is


a. national defense.
b. a toll road.
c. food stamps.
d. a college education.
e. medical care.
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.1
Page Reference: 8
Skill: Application

8. Harold Lasswell’s definition of politics is


a. “who gets what, when, and how.”
b. “what gets done, then, and now.”
c. the authoritative allocation of the gross national product, or GNP.
d. voting in a duly constituted election.
e. joining a political party.
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.1
Page Reference: 9
Skill: Knowledge

9. The who of politics includes voters, candidates, groups and parties; the what refers to the
a. media organizations that cover voters, candidates, groups, and parties.
b. institutions that respond to voters, candidates, groups, and parties.
c. substance of politics and government—benefits and burdens.
d. procedures through which voters, candidates, groups, and parties get what they
want.
e. winners and losers.
Answer: c
Learning Objective: 1.1
Page Reference: 9
Skill: Analysis

10
10. The media usually focus on the ____ of politics.
a. “who”
b. “what”
c. “when”
d. “how”
e. “why”
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.2
Page reference: 9
Skill: Comprehension

11. ______ is the process by which policy comes into being and evolves over time.
a. Democracy
b. The policymaking system
c. A constellation
d. The bureaucracy
e. Government
Answer: b
Learning Objective: 1.2
Page Reference: 9
Skill: Knowledge

12. Which of the following is an example of a linkage institution?


a. Political parties
b. Interest groups
c. Elections
d. The media
e. All of these are examples of linkage institutions.
Answer: e
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 10
Skill: Application

13. The __________ describes those issues that attract serious attention from public officials
and policymakers.
a. backburner
b. policy agenda
c. bureaucracy
d. policymaking process
e. gatekeeper
Answer: b
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 10
Skill: Knowledge

14. Which of the following is NOT a policymaking institution according to your textbook?

11
a. Congress
b. The presidency
c. The courts
d. The bureaucracy
e. The media
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 11
Skill: Knowledge

15. Another name for a law passed by Congress is a(n)


a. budgetary choice.
b. regulation.
c. bill.
d. congressional statute.
e. presidential action.
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 12
Skill: Knowledge

16. Public policy


a. is specifically defined as government action.
b. only relates to democracies.
c. is not relevant unless it is coupled with political culture.
d. includes all decisions and nondecisions made by government.
e. only emerges through formal legislative procedures.
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 11
Skill: Comprehension

17. The U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan resulted from a


a. congressional statute.
b. presidential action.
c. court decision.
d. budgetary choice.
e. regulation.
Answer: b
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 12
Skill: Application

12
18. What kind of public policy involves the legislative enactment of taxes and expenditures?
a. Congressional statute
b. Presidential action
c. Court decision
d. Budgetary choice
e. Regulation
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 12
Skill: Application

19. Which of the following statements is TRUE?


a. The authors of the U.S. Constitution were wary of democracy and doubted the
ability of ordinary Americans to make informed judgments about what
government should do.
b. Most people in most democracies around the world believe that although
democracy has its faults, it is the best form of government.
c. Government “by the people” is literally impossible in the U.S.
d. Democracy is a system of selecting policymakers and organizing government so
that policy represents and responds to the public’s preferences.
e. All of these are true.
Answer: e
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 12–13
Skill: Comprehension

20. Free speech and a free press are essential to which principle of traditional democratic
theory?
a. Equality in voting
b. Effective participation
c. Enlightened understanding
d. Inclusion
e. Citizen control of the agenda
Answer: c
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 13
Skill: Comprehension

13
21. The basic principles of traditional democratic theory include all of the following
EXCEPT
a. equality in voting.
b. effective participation.
c. government control of information.
d. inclusion.
e. citizen control of the agenda.
Answer: c
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 13
Skill: Comprehension

22. Which principle of traditional democracy theory is violated in circumstances in which the
wealthy have influence far exceeding what would be expected based on their numbers?
a. Equality in voting
b. Effective participation
c. Enlightened understanding
d. Inclusion
e. Citizen control of the agenda
Answer: e
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 13–14
Skill: Application

23. Pluralist theory suggests that, in the United States,


a. society is governed by an upper-class elite.
b. too many influential groups cripple government’s ability to govern.
c. many groups vie for power with no one group dominating politics.
d. Congress is stronger and more influential than the presidency.
e. because most citizens fail to pay attention to serious issues, government has
become an elite institution.
Answer: c
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Comprehension

14
24. The notion that, in politics, the desires of the people should be replicated in government
through the choices of elected officials is called
a. minority rights.
b. majority rules.
c. representation.
d. pluralism.
e. political participation.
Answer: c
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Comprehension

25. Robert Dahl’s note that in the U.S. “all active and legitimate groups in the population can
make themselves heard at some crucial stage in the process” is an expression of which
theory of democracy?
a. Pluralist theory
b. Elite theory
c. Class theory
d. Hyperpluralist theory
e. Bureaucratic theory
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Application

26. Which of the following is NOT a contemporary theory of democracy?


a. Hyperpluralism
b. Class theory
c. Democratic centralism
d. Pluralism
e. Elite theory
Answer: c
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14–15
Skill: Knowledge

15
27. The recent proliferation of interest groups would be seen as a positive development to
proponents of ____ theory.
a. pluralist
b. elite
c. class
d. hyperpluralist
e. bureaucratic
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Application

28. At the center of all theories of elite domination of politics is


a. big business.
b. the Congress.
c. the nouveau riche.
d. the Trilateral Commission.
e. the president.
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 15
Skill: Knowledge

29. Hyperpluralists believe that the dominant players in American politics are
a. groups.
b. government officials.
c. the media.
d. rich individuals.
e. poor individuals
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 15
Skill: Comprehension

16
30. According to hyperpluralists, the increasing caseloads of federal and state courts
demonstrate
a. the high status of attorneys in the United States.
b. the inability to control the bureaucracy in implementing policy.
c. that groups are more likely to appeal to different institutions in order to gain
policy benefits.
d. the expanding scope of government in the United States.
e. the increasing complexity of our social networks.
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 15
Skill: Comprehension

31. The relationship between groups and the government in hyperpluralist theory is
a. strong government and strong groups.
b. weak groups and strong government.
c. weak groups, strong elites, and weak government.
d. strong groups and weak government.
e. too few groups result in the creation of many governments.
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 15
Skill: Comprehension

32. Escalating campaign costs pose a challenge to contemporary American democracy


because
a. candidates have become dependent on PACs, which represent specific economic
interests rather than the American people as a whole.
b. candidates may be more likely to pay attention to PACs because they depend on
PAC contributions for reelection.
c. candidates’ reliance on PACs and PAC contributions makes them more likely to
get involved in single-issue politics.
d. the influence of PAC money on the electoral process widens the gap between
democratic theory and the reality of democracy in America.
e. All of the above are true.
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 16
Skill: Comprehension

17
33. PAC stands for
a. partisan assistance commission.
b. party affairs council.
c. policy advisory committee.
d. politically active constituency.
e. political action committee.
Answer: e
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 16
Skill: Knowledge

34. The diversity of the American people is reflected in a great diversity of interests, which
may pose a challenge to democracy to the extent that
a. it leads to lower levels of political participation.
b. it contributes to policy gridlock.
c. interests conflict and, thus, each interest uses its influence to thwart others.
d. it makes it more difficult for government to deliver policies that are responsive to
all citizens’ needs and interests.
e. All of these are true.
Answer: e
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 16
Skill: Comprehension

35. What unites Americans more than anything else according to your textbook?
a. The president
b. Their political culture
c. Participation in elections
d. A belief in group politics
e. Liberal attitudes toward immigration
Answer: b
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 17
Skill: Knowledge

18
36. The well-known phrase, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created
equal,” in the Declaration of Independence is a statement of the principle of
a. communism.
b. egalitarianism.
c. individualism.
d. libertarianism.
e. republicanism.
Answer: b
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 17
Skill: Application

37. Patrick Henry’s exclamation, “Give me liberty or give me death,” was an expression of
which element of the American creed?
a. Liberty
b. Egalitarianism
c. Individualism
d. Populism
e. Laissez-faire
Answer: a
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 17
Skill: Application

38. In the United States, egalitarianism includes


a. equality of condition.
b. equality of opportunity.
c. the absence of monarch and aristocracy.
d. Both b and c are true.
e. None of the above is true.
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 17
Skill: Comprehension

19
39. One of the primary reasons for the comparatively small scope of American government is
a. liberalism.
b. pluralism.
c. judicial review.
d. capitalism.
e. individualism.
Answer: e
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 18
Skill: Comprehension

40. Which of the following statements is FALSE?


a. Compared to most other economically developed nations, the U.S. devotes a
smaller percentage of its resources to government.
b. The United States, more than Western European democracies, displays a
preference for free markets.
c. The U.S., more than Western European democracies, displays a preference for
limited government.
d. The United States, more than Western European democracies, displays a
preference for more generous social welfare benefits.
e. All of these are false.
Answer: d
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 18
Skill: Comprehension

41. According to James Q. Wilson, an “intense commitment to a candidate, a culture, or an


ideology that sets people in one group definitively apart from people in another, rival
group” is a definition of
a. socialization.
b. polarization.
c. reification.
d. liberalism.
e. laissez-faire economics.
Answer: b
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 19
Skill: Knowledge

20
42. Which president said, “As government expands, liberty contracts”?
a. Richard Nixon
b. Ronald Reagan
c. Jimmy Carter
d. Bill Clinton
e. Barack Obama
Answer: b
Learning Objective: 1.5
Page Reference: 20
Skill: Knowledge

True/False Questions

1. A recent study of college freshmen found that fewer than one-half said that “keeping up
with politics” was an important priority for them.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 3–4
Skill: Knowledge

2. Young people are more likely to be politically informed than are older Americans.
Answer: FALSE
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 4–5
Skill: Knowledge

3. There is a significant gap between the young (under the age of 25) and the elderly (over
the age of 65) on measures of political interest, knowledge, and participation.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 4–5
Skill: Knowledge

4. The institutions and processes through which public policies are made for a society are
collectively known as government.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.1
Page Reference: 7
Skill: Knowledge

21
5. Highways and public parks are examples of public goods.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.1
Page Reference: 7–8
Skill: Application

6. Governments have little incentive to provide public goods.


Answer: FALSE
Learning Objective: 1.1
Page Reference: 7–8
Skill: Comprehension

7. One of the basic functions of government is to socialize young citizens into the political
system through schooling.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.1
Page Reference: 8
Skill: Comprehension

8. The political channels through which people’s concerns become political issues on the
policy agenda are known as linkage institutions.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 10
Skill: Knowledge

9. The Supreme Court ruling that individuals have a constitutional right to own a gun is an
example of public policy made through a congressional statute.
Answer: FALSE
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 12
Skill: Application
10. Most public policies are made by a single policymaking institution.
Answer: FALSE
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 11–12
Skill: Comprehension

11. Free speech and a free press are essential to enlightened understanding.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 13
Skill: Comprehension

12. The idea that the desires of the people should be replicated in government through the
choices of elected officials is the idea of representation.

22
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Comprehension

13. Pluralist theory holds that because so many groups compete for power in the United
States, none has a majority say and, therefore, public policy roughly approximates the
public interest.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Comprehension

14. Elite theory maintains that who holds office in Washington is of marginal consequence;
the corporate giants always have the power.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 15
Skill: Comprehension

15. Hyperpluralists believe that government gives in to too many interest and single-issue
groups.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 15
Skill: Knowledge

16. Americans are united by a shared religion and ancestry.


Answer: FALSE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 17
Skill: Knowledge

17. According to Seymour Martin Lipset, the American creed includes a commitment to
laissez-faire economics.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 18
Skill: Knowledge

23
18. Those who argue that “the average people should be put first, ahead of elites” are
emphasizing populism.
Answer: TRUE
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Knowledge

19. The sum total of the value of all the goods and services produced in a nation is called the
national deficit.
Answer: FALSE
Learning Objective: 1.5
Page Reference: 20
Skill: Knowledge

Short Answer Questions

1. What groups or categories of Americans are most likely to be interested in and


knowledgeable about politics? What groups are least likely to be interested and
knowledgeable? What are the implications of this?
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 2–7
Skill: Synthesis

2. Describe the relationship between age and voter turnout.


Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 2–7
Skill: Analysis

3. What are the major functions provided by all governments? Give examples of how these
functions are performed in the United States.
Learning Objective: 1.1
Page Reference: 7–8
Skill: Application

4. What is Harold Laswell’s definition of politics? To what extent do you agree with this
definition?
Learning Objective: 1.2
Page Reference: 9
Skill: Comprehension

5. Define public policy. Give some examples of different types of public policies.
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 11
Skill: Application

24
6. What is democracy? Define the term, then briefly describe three characteristics typically
associated with democracies as understood by traditional democratic theory.
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 12–15
Skill: Comprehension

7. Compare and contrast majority rule and minority rights. How does democracy provide
for both? What is the importance of both majority rule and minority rights to democracy?
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Analysis

8. Compare and contrast the role of groups in pluralist theory and in hyperpluralist theory.
In your opinion, which theory best reflects the role of groups in the U.S.?
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14–15
Skill: Analysis

9. What is the role of wealth in pluralist theory vs. elite theory? Which do you find most
convincingly portrays the reality of contemporary United States politics and why?
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14–15
Skill: Evaluation

10. Identify two challenges to democracy in the contemporary United States. How and why
are these challenges?
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 15–16
Skill: Evaluation

11. What are the five elements to the American creed? Explain them.
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 17–18
Skill: Comprehension

12. List the challenges and opportunities that emergent communication technologies present
for political participation.
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 15–16
Skill: Synthesis

25
13. Summarize conflicting views on the scope of government as presented in your textbook.
In what ways does American democracy make room for and partially accommodate these
conflicting views?
Learning Objective: 1.5
Page Reference: 20–22
Skill: Synthesis

Essay Questions

1. What ways do Americans participate in politics? How is political participation stratified


by age? Why does it matter? How is the health of government reflected in varying levels
of political participation?
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 2–7
Skill: Evaluation

2. Despite their apparent political apathy, young Americans are among the most active
volunteers in their communities. What is the difference, if any, between political
participation and voluntarism? Are both forms of engagement equally important to a
democracy? Why (or why not?) and how?
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette
Page Reference: 2–7
Skill: Evaluation

3. What opportunities and challenges do emergent communication technologies provide for


engaging American youth in government and politics?
Learning Objective: Opening Vignette, 1.4
Page Reference: 2–7, 13-14
Skill: Evaluation

4. Which of the major linkage institutions in the policymaking process is the strongest?
Which is the weakest? Are some linkage institutions more important than others? How
and why?
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 10
Skill: Evaluation

5. What are the principle choices that governments face when confronting policy problems?
In your answer, include examples of policies that pose tough choices for policymakers.
Also explain how government makes policy even when it chooses to “do nothing.”
Learning Objective: 1.3
Page Reference: 11–12
Skill: Synthesis

26
6. Describe the five principles of traditional democratic theory, as understood by Robert
Dahl. To what extent does the U.S. fit this theory?
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 13–14
Skill: Comprehension

7. What is democracy? What are the basic principles of traditional democratic theory? How
are these principles increasingly challenged in the contemporary United States?
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 13–14
Skill: Evaluation
8. What are the five elements of the American creed? Where and in what ways are each of
the five elements evidenced in contemporary American politics? Provide examples.
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 14
Skill: Synthesis

9. What is American political culture? What is its nature? How is it construed? Is America
experiencing a “culture war”? How do you know?
Learning Objective: 1.4
Page Reference: 17–19
Skill: Evaluation

10. Is American government “big” or “small”? According to whom and compared to what?
How active is American government? Why does government grow, and what are some of
the consequences of this growth?
Learning Objective: 1.5
Page Reference: 20–22
Skill: Evaluation

27
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I heard a tumult of trampling feet on the planks above me, with calls
and outcries. Then it occurred to me that some one might look
under the planking; so I dove under the boat, swam to one that was
nearer the shore from which we had come, and waited again until
their footsteps receded to the other end of the bridge, and I was
satisfied that they had abandoned further search for me.
But what had become of my chum? He was to have followed me.
I stayed under the bridge, keeping myself above water by holding on
to a boat, until it was very dark, then swimming quietly down
stream, landed on the shore, thinking it safer to keep away from the
roadway for a time.
I was lying on my stomach, looking and listening, and trying to make
out which was south, but with neither moon or stars visible, I could
only guess. I was in a quandary. It would not do to blunder, for fear
of getting caught, which was likely enough with the country
swarming with Boches.
I finally made up my mind to reach the bridge once more, and get
the points of the compass thereby. I walked for a long distance
without seeing the bridge, which I had thought to be near me. Was
it possible that they had removed it?
I was lying in the grass thinking it over, when I heard the roar of
wheels and the tramping of men on what I knew must be the
bridge; but it was in a different direction from what I thought it to
be.
I waited an hour until the sounds died entirely away. Then I crept
cautiously to the bridge to get my bearings. I had approached the
bridge through the field, mostly on my hands and knees, and was
about to get to my feet, when I saw—or did I only imagine it?—a
dark figure slowly moving on the road, occasionally stopping as
though to look or listen. I saw this figure so indistinctly that, as I
have said, I at times questioned its reality. Then the moon came out
from behind a cloud, and I no longer doubted. It was a man. And I
had but little doubt that it was a German soldier who had been left
behind to hunt me down.
I moved cautiously, crouching in the short grass, observing the
movements of the man, and dreading lest he had spied me out as I
had him. Then he suddenly disappeared from view. I waited awhile;
then, not seeing him, I began cautiously to move along the field
parallel with the road, occasionally stopping to look and listen. At
last, believing the course to be clear, I walked as fast as my feet
could carry me, though still keenly observant with eyes and ears, of
everything near me.
Again I heard a rustling sound near by which sent me crouching to
the ground again. But, seeing and hearing nothing more, I went
forward again, and again dropped to the ground to listen.
Then I heard a loud, hoarse whisper, which, but for the words
distinctly enunciated, I should have mistaken for the wind in the tree
tops: “Stark! Stark! David!” I did not trust my senses, for my
imagination had deceived me more than once in my life when under
excitement, and might again be deluding me.
From the shadows again came the whisper—“Dave! Dave! Dave! Is it
you?”
I sprang up, and there stood erect a form I could mistake for no one
else than my comrade, Gordon.
In another moment we had clasped hands.
So deep had been my emotions of fear and hope during that short
interval of suspense, that I could only thank God for that which had
seemed to be peril, was the reverse.
“It won’t do to talk here,” he said; “let us get back into the field.”
CHAPTER XXIV
LOOSE AMONG THE BOCHES

“It is plain to me,” said Gordon, “that you are not a hunter, and have
never stalked deer as I have often done. If it had been a Boche
instead of me, you would have been captured or shot, when you
were so near me.”
“But how,” I asked, “did you get away from them?”
“When you were knocked overboard,” he answered, “there was a
good deal of confusion. The sergeant commanding the guard made
motions urging me to go to your rescue. None of them wanted to try
it, and when I had made him understand that I could not swim,
enough time had passed for any reasonable man to drown; and no
real effort was made to rescue you or to retrieve your body. Then
the guard who knocked you overboard was scolded by the sergeant,
not particularly for striking you, but for making it hard for him to
account for a missing prisoner. There was a rejoinder that there was
one less American pig to feed, which caused a laugh. And just then,
when attention was drawn from me, I softly slipped into the water
and, swimming under for some distance, at last crawled upon the
shore.
“Apparently they did not discover my absence for some time. Then
they came tramping back across the bridge, looking in the ends of
the boats and then beneath the planking. When they got to this end
of the bridge, I heard one of our officers suggest to the sergeant
that you were not drowned but faking it.”
“Did that fellow who was giving me away have a voice like the purr
of a cat—too sweet to be honest?” I asked suddenly.
“I reckon that’s him to a T. How did you happen to know him?”
“I spotted him,” I answered, “the first hour I was in that Boche wire
coop, and I wouldn’t trust him for a cent’s worth.”
“I reckoned you felt it rather than reasoned it; didn’t you?”
“That’s about it,” I replied. “I always did have ‘hunches’—and I
wouldn’t have shaken hands with him with a pair of tongs.”
“I reckon we are twins. I have that same feeling about some folks
myself.”
Gordon and I were glad of each other’s company, though neither of
us said much about it; for between some folks there is no need to
say things. That night we walked rapidly; for my comrade’s trained
senses enabled him to see and travel in the dark without missing the
right direction. Sometimes we kept the road in view for guidance,
but he seemed never to have doubts of the right road.
When daylight came, we found a hiding place in what, at first, we
thought was a quarry, but soon saw excavations that told us it had
been used by both the French and German soldiers for bomb proofs
and other military service. We halted and made a breakfast from our
tins and wheat bread, and lay there for most of the day, taking turns
in standing guard, while the other slept.
I think that I was, possibly, doing more than my share of sleeping,
when Gordon awakened me, and with a motion to keep silent, said
in a whisper: “There are some folks near here—quite a lot of them—
sounds like women—and I think they are French. But as we used to
say in the Medical School, ‘Don’t be sure of your subject until you
are certain it is a dead one.’ So you stay here until I find out what it
means.”
It was a full half-hour before he returned, saying, “There is a nest of
people in an underground dugout. I reckon that the question before
the house is, shall we make their acquaintance, or skip them.”
“Can you speak French?” I inquired.
“Not ten cents’ worth,” he replied. “Can you?”
“Well,” I said, following his simile, “about twenty cents’ worth.”
“A few words,” he observed, “are sometimes better than a sermon.”
“All right,” I said, “we will chance it.”
“We’d better doll up a little first,” suggested Gordon. “You’d look
better to get them weeds and burs out of your hair, chum.”
“And you,” I retorted, “would look less like a bear from the
wilderness if you shaved and washed.”
“No soap or razor,” said Gordon, “but I will do it, if you will produce
them.”
“I am more provident,” I said; “when I travel, I travel first class”—
showing a comb and other articles.
“That’s fine!” he agreed. “But I don’t see what you carry a razor for
with nothing to shave—that I can see.”
When he had shaved, as he said, “with tears,” for he declared that
the razor was as “full of gaps as a hand saw,” we were ready for the
interview.
After some search we found the entrance to the excavation, and
introduced ourselves to the people. But instead of the welcome we
had expected, they drew together like so many frightened sheep,
and made outcries of fear and held up their hands in supplication.
“We are Americans,” I said, expecting that this would calm their
fears; but to my surprise they became still more frantic.
Then an old crippled man cried out in broken English, “We know you
—devils! The German soldiers have warned us that Americans are
savages and kill everybody on sight.”
It was some time before we convinced them that the Americans had
come to France to help them, and were fighting on their side.
This German lie to these people showed the deep cunning of the
enemy to prejudice the French peasants against American soldiers.
One old Frenchman told us that he had once lived in Montreal, and
had a little shop there, but had come home two years before the
war. The Germans, he said, had taken everything away from them
and destroyed their homes.
We tried to tell them of the victories the French and Americans had
achieved, but they could not believe it; for the Germans had told
them that they were besieging Paris and that London had been
destroyed. It was hard to convince these poor people of the truth,
and they still shrank at our approach.
We remained with them two hours or more and then, fearing that
some of the Huns might return, we resumed our journey, which,
with the information the Frenchman gave us, and a little compass
that Gordon carried offered fair directions for reaching our lines.
When morning came we recognized by the sound of guns and in
other ways known to soldiers, that we were near the German lines.
We found a hiding place in a field where there were some stacks of
straw, and soon saw the troops of the enemy moving over the near-
by roads.
“I judge,” I said, “that there is going to be a fight near here, and the
enemy are concentrating for it; but I believe it is a rear-guard action,
to make their way clear for still further retreat.”
It was not long before an outburst of artillery and machine-gun fire
confirmed this belief. The sound of combat grew nearer and nearer
showing that the Boches were falling back.
“Let’s get out of this,” said Gordon, “for the enemy will be falling
back here before long, and we will be caught. When it comes night,
they will be after this straw for bedding.”
It was fortunate that we got away when we did, for before long we
saw soldiers going into the field and streaming back with sheaves of
straw.
In another hour by crawling through a bit of woodland we came to
an abandoned village which, apparently, the Huns had occupied, and
which now was a wrecked heap of masonry and jagged walls. Here
we thought no human being would resort, or Huns approach, for
there was nothing to steal or destroy, but to our surprise we came
upon an aged couple still clinging to their ruined home. They had a
few tattered bed clothes and garments, some wheat that they had
apparently gathered from the near-by fields, a few potatoes, but not
a scrap of bread or meat. Their condition was so pitiable that we
attempted in our poor French to condole with them. They must have
partially understood, for the old man shook his head and with
trembling voice said, “C’est la guerre.”
Thus we traveled for several nights, lying very close during the day,
without incident worthy of record except getting wet and tired. The
country hereabouts was rough and hilly and sparsely inhabited by
French speaking people, mostly of the peasant class, with whom we
came in contact but twice, and that in an accidental way.
It had been raining almost constantly. After traveling all night,
drenched to the skin and weak with long hunger and exposure, I felt
that I could not go further without rest and warmth. So, just before
daylight, we crept into a thatched little barn where, in one secluded
corner, there was some straw.
“Say, chum!” said Gordon, “this is right comfortable.”
“Yes,” I replied petulantly, “but ain’t it ‘right’ dangerous?”
“We can’t have everything, Yank,” he replied. “We’ve got to chance it
once in a while.”
“Yes,” I assented, “but I’m afraid I’m all in. I’m all of a shiver.”
After looking at my wound, my chum said, “That arm is right bad;
and I don’t like them shivers you are having. If we don’t get into
God’s country pretty soon, I reckon we shall have to do something
desperate to get that arm fixed.”
He covered me over with his coat, and heaped straw on top of that,
and then after a while, asked anxiously, “Getting over them shivers?”
“Yes,” I replied, “I am getting comfortable and warmer than I have
been for a good while. Better take your coat.”
“That’s good!” he said with a relieved expression. “Never mind about
the coat. I was afraid that them shivers meant something more than
cold.”
I had dropped into the dreamless sleep of exhaustion when I was
awakened by a sharp punch, and the rustling of the straw. Looking
up, I saw an old man with a pitchfork in one hand, staring down
upon me with eyes big with surprise and inquiry.
My chum sprang up with a greeting in German, and was answered in
French by the inquiry: “Who are you?”
“Un Americain,” I answered quickly.
He dropped his hay fork, and held out his arms to embrace me, then
called to his wife; and as she spoke German quite well, we soon had
an understanding with them.
They said that though some of the French people of that country
had become Germanized, they still loved “la belle France” and
prayed for deliverance from the hated, overbearing Germans. They
had conscripted his son and had taken his horse, his crop of
potatoes and other food, for their soldiers.
From them we learned that there was a heavy force of Germans a
few miles away, but that they were constantly falling back before the
French and Americans. They said, further, that many of the Boches
they had met were discouraged and feared that they could not
continue to fight much longer.
The old man gave us food to continue our journey, saying: “We are
good friends,” and then added ruefully, “C’est la guerre.”
CHAPTER XXV
AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER

A few days after this meeting we saw, while hiding in some woods,
German artillery moving over near-by roads, and by this inferred
that we were near the German lines, and that they were falling back.
I was not sick but weak and tired. I lay down to rest and hide, while
my chum left me to get some water, and forage for turnips or other
food, still unharvested.
I had waited for a long time—so it seemed to me—and becoming
alarmed I cautiously started out to find him. Just as I had about
given him up, he came creeping on his hands and knees through
some underbrush saying, “Hist! The German devils are right thick
around here; I have been trying to dodge them for an hour. Get
down out of sight, chum!”
All this was uttered in a hoarse whisper, and with an expression of
alarm more ominous of danger than his words.
We remained in our hiding place during most of that day, and at
night began once more to travel cautiously, with many misgivings,
westward, hoping to get through the German lines.
“If it were not for our uniforms, chum,” said my comrade, “we would
stand a better chance; but they are ‘a dead give away.’”
We traveled slowly and warily—but at last, in some unexplainable
way, we fell into a trap.
We had stopped in a little depression of the ground in the outskirts
of a wood near a little brook. Thinking it as good a place for
concealment as we would find, we refreshed ourselves by bathing
our hands and faces, after which Gordon began dressing my wound.
He was rewinding the bandage, after washing it, when he stopped
short and, in a whisper said, “What’s that?”
But there was no need of an answer, for there came the sharp call:
“Hande hoch!” And to enforce this order of “hands up” several rifle
barrels pointed towards us from behind trees. We were caught.
Our German captors were mostly young fellows who looked like
students. With one exception, and that was an old grizzled sergeant,
not one of them, I should judge, was over seventeen years of age. I
learned through Gordon that they had but lately come in to the
service, and they were greatly pleased to have captured us. The old
sergeant spoke fair English.
“Who are you?” he interrogated. “How came you inside our lines?”
“We are Americans and escaping prisoners,” Gordon answered in
German.
“Ach!” he responded in English. “You gets avay?”
“Yes.”
He allowed Gordon to finish dressing my wound, and after taking a
look at it himself, said, when he saw that Gordon had some clean
bandages, “Verbande” and coolly took most of them, with the grim
remark: “May need these myself.”
From this I inferred that linen bandages were scarce with them.
Then came the order: “Vorwart!” and we were hurried forward to
their headquarters, where we were halted and turned over to a new
guard.
For a while but little attention was given us, and we were allowed to
lie down while awaiting—we knew not what.
“It is rather disheartening,” I said, “to be gobbled when we were so
close to our lines.”
“Yes,” replied Gordon coolly, “but that was the place where we were
most likely to get caught. Don’t look so glum; never say die, chum,
until you are dead, and then—you can’t.”
“They will be marching us to prison soon, I suppose,” I said.
“Very likely,” replied Gordon; “but I will do my best to vote in the
negative, as we used to say in our debating club.”
We were brought to our feet by a command, and conducted by a
guard to a shattered house, where we found ourselves in the
presence of a black-headed, blotch-faced, severe-looking officer, who
began to question us in imperfect English. Then, as we were unable
to understand his questions, and he equally unable to understand
our replies, he spoke a few guttural words to an orderly, who saluted
and went away.
As I stood at attention looking the ill-natured officer in the face, I
noticed some one stop at my side and brush my elbow never so
slightly, as if in warning, and at the same time slip something into
my side pocket.
I turned my head to look, and saw Lieutenant Jonathan Nickerson in
the uniform of a German officer, clicking his heels and saluting his
superior. It took all my resolution to appear unconcerned. I was so
astonished that I could have been knocked down with a straw. But I
knew I must be on my guard.
Under direction of the officer, Jot, whom I took to be his aide, began
to question me.
“You are Americans?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What regiment?”
We answered that question and several other correctly.
“How came you inside our lines?”
“We had been made prisoners, but escaped, and at the time your
men captured us, we were trying to get through your lines to our
own.”
The questions that followed were mostly about our army, and were
answered in such way that little information was given.
Gordon told me afterwards that Jot reported to the officer, “These
are ignorant Americans. They don’t know anything that is taking
place a foot beyond their noses. They are not educated like our
soldiers.”
So we were dismissed, and marched to a place where there were
other prisoners, but none that I knew. From them, however, I
learned that my own division was now on that front, and also got
the comforting information that the Boches were being constantly
beaten. But though comforting, it made me all the more impatient to
be with my regiment again.
My heart had given a great throb of pain when I had seen Jot’s face.
It was worn as though by mental suffering and, at one time, when
we were about leaving, it had such an expression of imploring love,
that all my anger and distrust gave way to sympathy at sight of his
dear face. As from our first acquaintance, I could not distrust his
truthfulness or his friendship when in his presence.
Then, remembering that something had been dropped into my coat
pocket when he passed me, I drew out a little book. It was Jot’s
New Testament, that I had often seen before, and had been given
him by his mother when on her death-bed.
I knew how highly he prized it, and as I held it in my hand I could
almost feel his presence.
I opened and examined it. The page on which his mother’s name
had been written, with his own, was torn out; and upon examining
its blank leaves I saw nothing to indicate why it had been given me.
I was about to return it to my pocket, without further examination,
when on one corner of a fly-leaf I saw written “1st chapter of St.
John.” Then I remembered that we used to play at secret
communications with each other, by marking the pages of a
newspaper.
I turned to that chapter, but could discover nothing, and was about
to put it away, when I saw at the bottom in faint pencil lines the
word, “Marked.”
On further examination I found letters and words underscored, and
by patient examination I got this message. “When you see me,
watch. If I remove hat, be careful; if I take out handkerchief, make
ready, I have plan for your escape. When Jack is in your lines, rip
saddle.”
I had no need to re-read the message, for it was stamped upon my
memory by the pains I had taken in deciphering it. Then I carefully
erased the marks.
All that day and the next we remained in the same place, but I saw
nothing of Jot. It was Tuesday when we were put here, and by
Wednesday several other American prisoners had been added to our
party. The nearing sound of artillery and of fainter rifle fire told that
a battle was on.
A young non-commissioned officer who spoke English was put in
charge of the guard. Once as he walked by my side, Jot came up
and spoke a few words in German to him, and then took off his hat
and used his handkerchief. It was the signal.
Our next march began, with the sound of battle closing in around
us. Later we halted to rest, and Gordon remarked while dressing my
wound, “There don’t seem to be a right good chance for us to get
away together, so do your best for yourself, and I will do the same
for myself, and trust to chance for the rest.”
Before I could reply the young sergeant on guard came up and said,
“You are talking too much,”—and peremptorily ordered Gordon to
another part of the line.
Gordon shook hands with me at parting, saying, “When you get back
into God’s country again, look me up,” and was gone.
“Are you not needlessly severe?” I remonstrated to the sergeant.
“He was dressing my wound, and you are taking away what little
comfort a prisoner has by separating friends?”
But he answered loudly as though accidentally addressing me in
German: “Wenn sie versuchem sich zu entfernen, schiesse ich!”—
and repeated in English, “If you try to run away, I’ll shoot you.” Then
he added in a whisper while scarcely moving his lips, as he turned
away, “Wait!”
I could hardly believe I had heard it. Was he in Jot’s service and a
part of his plan? Nothing else occurred just then to confirm that
belief. Could I have imagined I heard it? Hardly!
Before night came on it began raining, and as I marched on, I was a
prey to thoughts as dark as the clouds above me. Was this young
German trying to test Jot’s loyalty to the German cause through me?
Was there a trap set for both of us? But how could he do it?
We were marched into a field, where there were stacks of straw and
hay, and halted for the night. With the slight shelter afforded by my
overcoat thrown over a portion of a straw stack I lay down, the
young guard loudly and roughly repeating his warning about running
away in German, and as though to enforce this, he sat down with his
back against the stack near me.
Most of the guard by this time were trying to shelter themselves
from the storm by taking refuge near the stacks; but the young
sergeant, as though determined to keep an eye on me, stretched
himself by my side.
I was napping when, to my surprise, the sergeant, clutching my arm
with a whispered precaution for silence, said, “When you hear me
snore, take my revolver, put on the coat that covers me, without
getting to your feet. When I pinch your arm, creep to the other side
of this stack, then go on keeping in line with the next stack ahead,
and then the next, until you reach a tree on the road at the end of
this field. If the alarm is not given, wait awhile and then give two
whistles through your fingers for the horse. Give him the rein when
you get into the saddle; he knows the way to your lines.”
I could hardly believe my senses, much less my good fortune. I
waited, it seemed for hours, and thought the signal would never
come, or that I had been dreaming. Then it came and, reassured, I
followed his instructions. I stealthily took the revolver, put it in my
pocket, then removed the coat and put it on, and was about to move
to the other side of the stack, when in a whisper, the sergeant said,
“Wait. The countersign is Blood and Iron. Don’t use it unless obliged
to; now wait again until I pinch.”
I then saw, what I had not before observed, that there was a
sentinel walking post at a little distance from the stack.
At last there came a sharp pinch, and the whispered caution, “Go
softly.” I crept to the other side of the stack, then stealthily
proceeded to the one ahead of me, and so on until I reached the
tree. Peering in every direction and seeing no indications that I had
been observed, I gave two sharp whistles. It was not long until I
heard the tramp of a horse. I softly called, “Jack!” and the little
horse came to my side, tossing his head and rubbing his nose
against my arm, as though recognizing me.
I mounted and gave the horse the reins. Before long rifle shots rang
out, showing that my escape had been discovered. But we soon left
them in the rear.
At times galloping swiftly and at others walking softly, Jack went on
in the rain and darkness. In my impatience it seemed as though
daylight and safety would never come. Then close ahead came the
sharp command “Halt!” and at the same time my bridle was seized,
and I was pulled from my horse.
I thought I was in the hands of the enemy, and was about to cry
“Blood and Iron,” and struck the horse to urge him forward. He gave
a startled jump but did not move onward. Then I heard a voice say,
“Look out for the Boche and his horse,” and knew that it was an
American outpost.
I said not a word as they conducted me to a shattered building a
few hundred yards away, then into a room where a candle was lit,
and a tall form indistinctly seen by the dim light, shot out the
question, “What are you doing here?”
“Trying to escape,” I replied, half amused at the situation.
“What is your name, rank, and regiment?”
“Lieutenant David Stark,” I replied, and was about to add my
regiment, when I was interrupted—
“Great scott! Is it Dave?” And my old colonel, forgetting military
etiquette, was slapping me on the back and almost dancing, as he
cried out “My! David, I am glad to see you!”
He had no need to tell me that.
“I little thought yesterday,” I said, “that I should be here this
morning, or possibly ever again. I can hardly believe it even now.”
As I told of my escape, and about the horse, the colonel said, “I see
—the horse has been here before, and knew the safe way.”
Calling to his orderly he commanded, “Bring the saddle here at once,
and feed the horse well.” Then, looking at his watch—“It is thirty
minutes past four. What time did you get away?”
I couldn’t tell. It had seemed an eternity since I had started, so long
was the way to freedom.
CHAPTER XXVI
A HOSPITAL CASE

When the saddle was brought in, I told the colonel what Jot had
written about ripping it open. With a smile which I could not
interpret, he cut the stitches with his pocket knife and, inserting his
fingers, drew out two packages, passed one to me and retained the
other. Giving the saddle to his man he directed him to restore the
stitching, and bring the saddle back to him.
“There are some blankets,” he said to me. “Make yourself
comfortable and get your sleep. If there is anything else you want
call on me.”
“Since you are so kind to mention it, Colonel,” I said, “have you got
anything to eat around here? I feel pretty empty, and have ever
since I struck the Huns.”
The colonel smiled and directed his man to feed me. And that darkey
got me up a lunch to which I did full justice.
“Golly!” said that personage, with astonished awe at seeing his
provender disappear about as fast as he could bring it on: “You’s de
most powerful eater I’s eber seed; you’s done gone an’ beat de
Kernal fo’ sure!”
When I had finished my repast, I said, “I want to see the little horse
before I sleep, and to thank him for bringing me through safely.”
So I went out with Sam but found the colonel there before me. He
explained that Jack must be sent back that night, so after I had
petted and talked to Jack I clapped my hands and sent him swiftly
away over the fields.
“You must not mention this,” said the colonel; “but it is not the first
time, and the horse always finds his way back to the place from
which he last went.”
I understood.
“Now, Captain,” he said, “get your sleep. I have much still to do
tonight.”
I was getting ready for bed, when in rushed Muddy, frantically
barking and yelping to give me welcome.
“De colonel thought you’d like to see him powerful well,” said Sam,
“so I lets him out.” And Muddy snuggled down beside me to share
my bed, as he had often done before.
It was late in the morning when Sam called me to breakfast where I
found the colonel waiting for me.
“We shall have time for breakfast, this morning,” he said, “as we are
likely to have a little peace now; for yesterday we sent the enemy to
the right about face with a kick! But all the same we’ve got orders to
hold ourselves in readiness to move at a moment’s notice, Captain.”
“Lieutenant sir,” I corrected. “You forget.”
“No,” said my colonel, “you’ve been promoted. We all agree that you
deserved it, for the fight you put up when you were captured.
Captain Cross has been promoted to be major.”
“I am ready to begin fighting right now,” I said, blushing with pride
in spite of myself; “but I don’t know how I shall fill a captain’s place,
though I suppose that I can walk around in it.”
“Oh, that will come,” said my colonel, “and you can study up a little
while you are on permission. I have been promoted too: Brevet
Brigadier if that is promotion.”
“Fine!” I said. “I guess I will stay with the company and learn my
duties; but I’d like to get this hole in my arm fixed up a little.”
“Wounded! I hadn’t noticed it; why didn’t you mention it before?
Here, orderly, show the captain the way to the surgeon’s station.”
Then looking at my arm from which I had removed the bandage,
preparatory to putting on a clean one, he said, “Whew! It’s
gangrened; you can’t go on duty in that shape!”
I went to the station slowly and sorrowfully, for I had looked for
plentiful chow, and my experience told me that a surgeon was likely
to put me on short rations. I had had, heaven knows, enough of that
while in Bocheland to last me the rest of my life, and I was not
anxious for its continuance under a sawbone. I should not have
cared so much, had I thought it needful; but I knew that plenty of
food was good for me—all theories of doctors notwithstanding.
I found several letters from home folks, and also one from Emily
Grant that delighted me. Its contents were enough to make a less
susceptible heart than mine beat fast. Sentiments and feelings that
had almost been starved out of me were revived and, when General
Burbank suggested that I go to the hospital where Doctor Rich was
in charge, I fear I consented rather too willingly; though I did want
to get at those Boches again. But as the colonel had said that the
division was to go to another sector for rest, I was the more willing.
When I first reported to the hospital the doctor didn’t seem to know
me. He examined my wound, sniffed at it, grumbled out something
about inflammation and ulceration, and a little of his camouflage
Latin, then directed his assistant to apply caustic with such calm
indifference to my wishes, that I had an inclination to bang his eye.
And then he fussed some more while giving directions to his
assistant, until I was out of patience with him.
“What dunce,” he said, “has been fooling with this wound?”
“No dunce at all, sir,” I replied, “but as good a surgeon as you are.
Only he didn’t have the stuff to care for it as you have. Like myself,
the Boches had him.”
The doctor, who knew me as well as I knew him, had been so
absorbed with examining the wound that he had taken little notice
of the soldier attached to it. Now he recognized me and greeted me
heartily.
“You’ve grown thin, Stark—and your clothes!”
“I have been starved,” I said, “and I am ragged and dirty too. I need
good food and a lot of it, so that I can get my strength back. As for
dirt, I haven’t been traveling in Pullman cars or sleeping in first-class
hotels, Doctor. I am satisfied to be here, dirt, rags and all. But don’t
give that food the absent treatment.”
“You will have to go on low diet for a while, I’m afraid,” said the
doctor, “until the wound heals.”
I growled some more, but it did no good. If Surgeon Williams failed
to understand my views about diet, he at least did not slight the
wound. He had made a “history of the case” and applied a new
dressing, all within two hours; for was I not Captain Stark, and not
merely “a case”?
When I escaped that doctor, got some clean clothes, a shave, a hair
cut, and a good dinner, I felt fit for anything, and wanted to see my
comrades.
They had heard of my return from Fritzland, and came clustering
around me with many expressions of good will; and my, wasn’t I
glad to see the boys that had stood by me so stoutly in the fight?
The painful part of it was that there were so many absent ones who
would never report for duty again. The boys were as glad to see me
as I was them—for had we not fought side by side through thick and
thin? And this gives a feeling of comradeship that can never be
gained in any other way, one that can never be broken, and which
soldiers who have stood by each other in danger alone can fully
appreciate.
“Shure,” said Pat Quinn—now a sergeant—saluting, “we give them
Boches wan Hail Columbia drubbing, Captain!”
“Yes,” I replied; “but I got ‘The Watch on the Rhine,’ and didn’t like
it.”
“Well,” said Sutherland, who had just returned to duty from a severe
wound, “we can’t have all of it our own way, but we must try and
get the best of the exchange of drubbings. If the Boches would only
fight a fair fight we might forgive them, but some of our men were
killed in that last fight by explosive bullets—the savages!” And it was
true.
In the heartiness of our greeting we forgot rank, and only
remembered that we were comrades who had stood by each other
in the pinch of battle. Muddy was a great favorite.
“That little devil of a dog,” said Quinn, “knows too much for wan
dog. Shure by carrying your lether, he did as much as any tin av us
in that fight.”
I reported once more to Colonel Burbank who turned me over to
Major Cross, who said with a provoking wink, “You will have to go to
a hospital—perhaps you would prefer the one Doctor Rich has
charge of? When your wound is healed, you will get a permission for
two weeks more. Perhaps you will prefer to stay near there during
your permission!” Then with a chuckle of amusement he added, “I
see that Monte Carlo has been offered as a leave area, but has not
been accepted. Just imagine the ‘Y’ or the Salvation Army setting up
headquarters in front of the Casino.”
“I don’t want much of a permission,” I said, “for I have a debt to pay
the Huns before I die; and I am afraid that in spite of your going
into a rest sector soon, you will get them licked before I can get
around to fight them.”
“Don’t worry about that,” answered he. “There will be fighting
enough, so that half of us may possibly be dead before we have
finished this job; especially if the last sample of fighting you gave us
is repeated.”
“I know that I lost more men than I should,” I replied. “Still I don’t
believe the Huns thought that their fun paid for their powder.”
“No, nor I either,” said the major, putting out his hand and grasping
my shoulder with the other. “You made a good skillful fight of it.”
“I have some doubts about the skill,” I said; “but my men! weren’t
they daisies for a scrap?”
And we agreed about that.
The next day I took my departure for the hospital with conflicting
emotions. I wanted to go, and yet I wanted to stay, for fear that I
might miss a chance to hit back at the Huns. But obedience to
orders and—other considerations—tipped the scales.
I can not describe my reception at the hospital without appearing
egotistical. While my wound was given proper attention, it was
pleasant to feel that, for once, in a hospital, I was something more
than a “case.”
Emily’s face beamed with pleasure as with smiles and blushes she
greeted me. She was not so wordy in her expressions of welcome as
was Miss Rich; but somehow I liked Emily’s way best.
Dr. Rich had common sense; he did not prescribe any special diet,
but when I hinted that a liberal one suited me best, said: “Eat what
best agrees with you. A patient ought to know what agrees with him
better than a doctor.”
That suited me exactly. He gave me perfect liberty to go and come
just as I pleased—only I must report once a day to have my wound
dressed, and of course three times a day for my meals, and also
sleep there.
I stuck to that hospital, and one of its nurses, more faithfully than
perhaps my case demanded; and I was interested in cases and in
everything else of which Emily had charge.
There was one young whipper-snapper of an assistant surgeon, who
evidently thought that she devoted too much time to my case, for he
was around when he wasn’t wanted and constantly annoyed me by
detailing her to some other case she had in hand. I wouldn’t have
needed much encouragement to have kicked the puppy, he made
himself so disagreeable to me.
There were several men of my company who had been seriously
wounded when I was, to whom I gave personal, sympathetic
attention. I requested Emily to give them special care—and I
brought them cigars and other luxuries, with the consent of Doctor
Rich; for such little attentions go a great way in comforting boys who
are wounded and away from home.
I found my friend, Chaplain John, so far recovered from his wound,
that he was about to return to the regiment again. We had many
comforting talks, and he congratulated me on my promotion, and
spoke of the brave fight my men had made at the time I was
captured.
“I was afraid,” I said, “that they would find fault with me for losing
so many men.”
“No,” he said, “it was thought that you did the best thing possible in
fighting, rather than retreating; and the colonel praised your
judgment and firmness.”
There’s one thing I liked in Chaplain John, which was that he never
made a fellow feel cheap by plastering it on too thick.
“I’m afraid that the colonel is rather partial to me,” I said bluntly.
Emily, who was listening to our talk, cast down her eyes and blushed
—she has most beautiful eyelashes—as the chaplain said, in one of
his miserable attempts to be funny, “So are others!”
All things must have an end. My wound healed, and my permission,
in addition, was about to expire; and but for that young peacock of
an assistant surgeon, I should have been glad—almost—to get back
to my company and duty again.
Before going I had a private conversation with Miss Rich, and told
her something about Lieutenant Nickerson that brought the happy
tears to her eyes. “How could you have doubted him?” she said half
reproachfully. “I never did!”
The day that I was to leave the hospital for the front, I requested a
private interview with Emily—to bid her good-bye. As she stood
there with her hand in mine, perhaps a trifle longer than necessary,
that puppy of a young doctor knocked at the door—and would have
pushed his way in had I not placed my back against it—and called
out that she was needed on a case at once.
I was so annoyed at this intrusion that I told Emily—well never mind
what—but we had an understanding that was so nice, that I almost
forgave the puppy for “butting in”—and something better than words
cemented the understanding.
CHAPTER XXVII
THE MIX-UP OF BATTLE

I have not had the opportunity as yet, to tell of the message brought
back with me, in Jack’s saddle.
The latter was in Jonathan’s minute and familiar handwriting. It
began abruptly, without being addressed to me.
“Whatever else you may believe of me, my dearest friend,
I am true to you. I do not deny that what I have done
may have justly brought upon me the stigma of disloyalty.
We can not divide our love; one must either hate or love
one’s country, and serve one flag, only. I have been tried
in the furnace of war as few others have ever been. If I
have erred in serving the country of my love, and to which
I am devoted and owe allegiance with every fibre of my
being, then I have erred honestly.
“You must not believe me other than I am, though I may
not always be what I seem to be. My allegiance is given,
right or wrong, heart and soul to the country I love. And I
must go on in this chosen path though it lead to
misunderstanding of my motives by those I love, and
though I may know that it leads to darkness and to death
—for it is the path of duty.
“I have a difficult and heart-and-nerve trying part to play,
on a larger stage of the world, than perhaps any one of
my age and small abilities ever before attempted.
“When I learned that you were a prisoner, I made a plan
for your liberation. I am risking my life to set you free; for
I love you more than I do my life. If I should meet you in
battle—which God forbid—you should kill me, rather than
I would harm you.
“I have confided in one who loves and trusts me, and who
likewise loves his country. He will help you to escape.
“Jonathan N. Von Rucker.”
What did this strange letter mean? I sat, after reading it, like one
confounded. It made me heartsick to believe that it was a
declaration of disloyalty to my country. It crushed, for the time
being, my belief in Jonathan’s loyalty to our flag, that he had
professed and promised to love and protect when he enlisted to fight
its battles. But by the same process of thought must I not mistrust
General Burbank? Whom could I trust, when the men of all others I
had loved and believed in, seemed disloyal? Though reason said that
they were false to their country, my heart said “no”; for I felt,
against reason, that it could not be so.
I read and reread Jonathan’s letter, and finally decided to take a
plain course—a straight cut. I took the letter to General Burbank and
asked him to read it, and to make some explanation. Was it not a
declaration of disloyalty?
A flush passed over his face as he read the letter. Then with a
thoughtful look he read it again and passed it back to me saying,
“He had his reasons for writing this letter, but what they are I do not
know. But don’t you see, he does not say it is Germany that he is
serving? I know that he is loyal to our flag.”
“Thank you, General, for the assurance,” I exclaimed. And stretching
out my hand to his, grasped it, for I had no longer the least doubt of
him or of his word. Whatever the mystery, I must and did believe in
him, though I confess, Jot’s letter had puzzled me.
Upon my return from my permission, I had found my regiment
occupying a rest sector, where they had been for nearly two weeks.
Here, let me explain, that under prevailing conditions in the great
war, a battle lasts sometimes for several weeks, and no troops can
remain for that time in line of battle. They must be sent for rest at
intervals, to more quiet sectors, to recuperate and reorganize.
Our division was now, after more than two weeks’ rest, again ready
for active service; though Sam Jenkins and others attempted to
explain that hunting cooties was active duty enough for any one.
The marching and fighting that followed is hard to describe; for we
were now a part of a great whole, whose operations no one man
could see or understand fully. When a battle stretches out on a front
of fifty or sixty miles or more, a single participant, even though he
be a captain or a general, can not know much more about it than
what he sees.
We had been moved from place to place for several days; sometimes
by marching and sometimes by auto trucks.
We were now on the march. I was in my place, having left my horse
as too good a target when near the enemy’s snipers moving along a
pathway that skirted a forest. The rising sun reflected from the
helmets of the men who came tramping wearily but cheerfully—for
they had been marching for over twenty hours with little sleep—with
prospects now of both rest and sleep.
When the order, “In place, rest,” came, and the brave fellows had sat
down to eat, though they were hungry, some of them got to
napping, in spite of it.
It was before daylight, when orders came to leave even their light
packs behind—which shows what a hurry they were in—for a forced
march.
Over strange roads, in a strange country, to a destination we knew
not of—possibly “to that bourne from which no traveler returns,” we
marched on all that day. We met regiments of poilus who hugged us
and held our hands, joyfully telling us that there was to be a big
advance on the Boches lines, and that we were to be “in it” with
them.
We got a little more sleep and chow, then were loaded into trucks,
and buzzed off—heaven knew where—we didn’t!
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