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SIX
HE LAST SHOT
la tht* «tory Mr. Palmer, tho
noted war oorrecpondent, hu paint
ed war at he has teen It on many
botUeflelda, and between many na
tion*. Hie Intimate knowledge of
armte* and armament* haa enabled
him to prodaoe a graptrlo picture of
the greateet of all ware, and hla
knowledge of oondltlona haa led
Mm to propheay an end of armed
ooerfTVct*. Vo man la better quali
fied to write the atory of the final
world war than Mr. Palmar, and
ha haa handled hia aubjecl with a
■Mater hand.
(Continued from Yesterday.)
CHAPTER 111.
. The Second Prophecy.
Marta, when aim bad received the
sold from Westerllng, hail been In
doubt aa to her answer Her curiosity
to anu him again »u« not of Itself com
pelling The actual making of the
prophecy was rather dim to her mind
until be recalled It. Hbn had heard of
Mb rtae and Hbe bad heard, too, thlnga
about him which a girl of twenty-seven
can better understand than a girl of
•eventeen. His reason for wanting to
eea her he had said was to "renew an
old acquaintance." He could have lit
tle Interest. In her, and her Interest In
him was that he was head of the Gray
army. Hla work had Intimate relation
to that which the Marta of twenty
«n*en, a Marta with a mission, had set
for herself. 4
A page came to toll Westerllng that
Miss Galland would be down directly.
(When abe appeared she crossed the
jnaa with a flowing, spontaneous vital
ity that appealed to him as something
familiar.
“Tern pears. Isn't It T” she exclaimed
as she seated herself on the other side
of the tea-table. "And, let me st>e, you
took two lumps. If 1 remember?"
Tfone now," he said
"Do you find It fattening?" she
asked.
He recognised the mischievous
sparkle of the eyes, the quizzical turn
of the lips, which was her asset In 1
keeping any question from bulng per- 1
aouaL Neverthleu*. he flushed slightly. 1
“A change of taste," he averred.
"Btnoe you’ve become such a great
man?" she hazarded "la that too 1
atvong?" This referred to the tea.
"No, Just right!" he nodded.
. H# was studying her with the polite,
.welled scrutiny of a man of the world
A mot eriathit, he would look a woman
over as he would a soldier when he
bad beau a major-general making an
Inspection. Bite was slltu, supple; he
Vked slim. supple women. Yea, abe
was twentywwnn. with the vivacity of
■eventeen retained, though she went
on the edge of being an old maid ar
cording to the conventional nottoiu*
Keck* and Stum Mere that happened to
be at bta otde at dinner, he had found,
when they were really beautiful, were
nag averse to Ms glance of epprocl
sgtvw and <1 twortniinoting admiration of
physical •harm Hut he sow her
shrug etlgtitly and nought a spark from
bar eyes that made htin vaguely con
scious of an offense to her mumlMll
gle», and he was wholly nmsoloma that
the augfseMlon. bringing hta faculties
gif sharply, had the pleasure of s novel
"How fkal you have gone ahvwrt!"
•be eekd. 'I hat little prophecy of
mine did come tree. Yoe are chief of
stain "
After a senile at satis fact too hs cor
rected her.
"*t* quits; Worchlcf the right,
fiend man of Hla Uxrallanry. 1 am a
bofTer between htm and the head* of
division* Tfafs haa led to the ernaie
«•* aeesmi<loo which I cannot too
Bnerdbty deny *
; He was proceeding with the phraar
"fogy hefiltual whenever men or worn
en. to flatter him. had hitlmated that
fcbey aagOsed that he was the aotaai
bead of the army, in* Excellency,
with the |mglp< of a career, must be
kegpg sapormcally enjoying the forme
nf author! <t TV atooee hla Jealousy
might curtail Weaterltug a actnal
'Tea yue!‘ breathed Marta softly,
arehtug her vyebnvws a trifle as ahe
would when looking all around and
themi*h a thing or when ahe found
bny one beating <hoot the tenth The
little frown disappeared and ahe
amtled gnderatandtngly ~Tr>a know
I’m not a perfect goose I" aha added
"Had you been made chief of etmff 1n
name, too. all the ok! generate would
have been In the aulka and the young
general* Jealous." abe continued "The
one way that you might have the
power to ax err tee wae by proxy."
Tht* downright frankness was an
other reflection of the old day* before
ha wax at the apex of the pyramid.
Now tt was so unusual tn hla experi
ence as to be almost a shook. On the
point of arguing, he nought a nita
shhsvnua. delightful "Isa t that so?" tn
her eyes, and replied:
"Tea, 1 shouldn't wonder ts ft we ref**
Why shouldn't be admit the truth to
tbs one who bad ruug lbs bell of hla
secret ambition long ago by rvougnlx-
tog In him the ability to reach hla
goal? He marvelled at her grasp of
the situation.
"It wasn't so very hard to say, was
It?" she asked happily, In response to
his smile. Then, her gift of putting
herself In another’s place, while she
strove to look at thinge with hts pur
pose and vision. In full play, she went
on In a different tone, an mtch to her
self bh to him: "You have labored to
make yourself master of a mighty or
ganization. You did not care for the
noD-eenentlaJs. You wanted the ruailty
of shaping results."
"Yes, the results, the power!" be
exclaimed.
"Fifteen hundred regiments!" she
continued thoughtfully, looking at s
given polut rather than at htm. "Kvery
regiment K blade which you would
bring to an even sharpness! Every
regiment a unit of a harmonious whole,
knowing how to screen Itself from Ore
and give fire as long as bidden, tn
answer to your will If war comes! That
Is what you live and plan for. Isn’t it?”
"Yes, exactly! Yea, you have It 1 ”
he laid. His shoulders stiffened as he
thrilled at seeing a picture of him
self. os he Wanted to see hlmeelf, done
In bold strokes. It assured htm that
not only bad his own mind grown be
yond what were to him the narrow urn
sedations of his old 1 m Ttr days, but
that hers had grown, too. "And yow
what have you been doing all these
years?" he asked
"IJvtng the life of a woman on a
oounfry estate," she replied. "Hlnee
yon mode a rule that no Gray officers
tdt'Kjld crons the frontier we have bean
a" little lonelier, having only the Grown
officers to tea IHd you really find It
so bod for discipline In your own
rose?" she concluded with playful
solemnity.
"One cannot consider Individual
cast's In a general order," he explained.
"And, remember, the llrowns made the
ruling first. You see, every year
means a tightening yes, a tightening,
as arms and armies grow more compli
cated and the maintaining of staff
secrets more Important. And you have
been all the time at La Tlr, truly V he
asked, changing the subject. He woe
convinced that she had acquired some
thing that could not be gained on the
outskirts of a provincial town
"No. I have traveled. 1 have been
quite arouud the world."
"You have!” This explained much.
"How I envy you I That U a privilege
1 shall not know until I am superannu
ated " While he should remain chief
of staff ho must be literally a prisoner
In hts own country.
"Yes. I should ea.v It was splendid I
Kplemltd yes. Indeed I" Bnappy little
noda of the head being unequal to ex
pressing tho Joy of tive memories that
her exrlntnatlon evoked, she clanpod
her hands over her knees and ivw.tng
back and forth in the ecstasy of aeve.v
te«n. "H|>iondtdl I should say so!"
Khe nestled the curling tip of her
tongue against her teeth, as If the
recollection must also he tasted.
"Hplendld. enchanting, enlightening,
stupendous and wickedly erxpiuudve!
Another girl and 1 did It all on our
own."
"O-oli!" be exclaimed.
"Oh. oh, oh!" she repeated after htm.
"Oh, what, please?”
"Oh. nothing!" he said. It was qntte
comprehensible to him how well
equipped she wse to take care o t
self on such an adventure.
"l’recluely, when you come to think
It over!" site concluded.
"What Interested you moat? \Vthot
woa the big lesson of all your journey
ing?" he asked, ready to play ths lis
tener.
"Hulng born and bred on a fTootler,
of an ancestry that was born and bred
on a frontier, why, frontiers interested
me most," ehe said. "I collected Im
pressions of frontiers sa some people
collect pictures I found them all alike
-etupM, Just stupid! Oh. so stupid!"
Her frown grew with the repetition of
the word; her Angers closed tn on her
palm tn vexation. He recollected that
he had seen her like this two or three
tines* st La Tlr, when he had found
the outbursts most entertaining. He
Imagined that the small hat pressed
against the table edge could dettvnr a
stinging blow. "As stupid as tt 1* tar
neighbors to quarrel! It pul me at
war with all frontiers."
• Apparently,” he said.
She withdrew her list from the table,
dropped the opened hand over the
other on her knee, her body relaxing,
her wrath passing Into a kind of
shamefsceduoss and then Into s soft,
prolonged laugh
1 laugh at myself, at my own ltvooci
slstency,* she said "1 was warlike
sgminat war, At all event*, ts there Is
anything to make a teacher tjtf peace
too* her tamper It ts t* Vly of
fron tiers"
"Year he exctefmr “Tea? Oo
on!" And he thou- E «i*m really
having a very goo dma*
"You see, 1 Mm home from my toar
with an Men -an Idea for a Ilfs oocu
pettou Just as eogrnrslng as yours,*
*he *v*M on. "and <W oeed to youis I
•aw there was 00 uee of woiktng with
ths grown-up folk*. They mud be loft
to The Hague conferences sn<l the
peace soc.terles. But children are quite
alike the world over. You can plant
thought* In the young that will take
root and grow as they grow.”
“Patriotism, for Instance," he ob
served narrowly.
"No, the follies of martial patriot
ism! The wickedness of war, which
is the product of martial patriotism I’’
The follies of patriotism! This was
the red flag of anarchy to him. He
started to speak, flushing angrily, but
held his tongue and only emitted a
"whew!" In good-humored wonder.
"I see you are not very frightened
by my opposition,” she rejoined In a
flash of amusement not wholly untemc
pc rod by exasperation.
"We got the appropriation for an ad*
ditlonal army corps this year,” he ex*
plained contentedly, his repose com
pletely regained.
"Thus Increasing the odds against
us. But perhaps not; for we are deal
ing with the children not with re
cruits, as I said. We call ourselves
the teachers of peace. I organised the
first class in La Tlr. I have the chlV
This Was the Red Flag of Anarchy to
Htm.
dren come together every Sunday
morning and 1 tell them about the chil
dren that live In other countries. I
tell them that a child a thousand miles
away Is Just as much a neighbor aa
the one across the street. At first I
feared that they would flud tt uninter
esting. Hut If you know how to talk
to thorn they don’t.”
"Naturally they don't when you talk
to them," he interrupted.
Hhe was eo Intent that she passed
over the oompllment with a gesture
like that of brushing away a cobweb.
Her eye# were like deep, clear wells
of faith and purpose.
‘I try to make the children of other
countries so interesting that our chil
dren will like them too well ever to
want to kill them when they grow up.
We have a little peace prayer they
have even come to like to recite It—a
prayer and an oath. But HI not bother
you with It. Other women have taken
up the Idea. 1 have found a girl who
Is going to start a doe* on your side
tn South La Ttr. and I came here to
meet some women who want to In
augurate the movement In your capi
tal."
’Til have to see about that!" he re-
Joined. haU-hantnrtngly, half-threaten
ingly.
“Thera ts something also to ooma
even more Irritating.” she sold, leas
Intently and smiling “So please be
prepared to bold your temper.”
"I shall not heat my flat on the tahla
defending war as you did defending
peace!" he retaliated with significant
enjoyment.
Rut ahe used his retort for aa opeiv
tog.
"life, I*d rather yon would do iflat
than JnA! It* human. If* going to
war because orw* t* angry. You would
go to vox as a matter of cold reason.”
"If otherwise, I should loe*“ ha re
plied.
"Exactly Yon make It easy for ms
approach my point. 1 want to pro
vant you from losing?" she announced
cheerfully yet very seriously.
"Tee? Prooeed. I brace myeelf
against an explosion at Indignation t”
"It Is the duty of * teacher of peace
to use all bar Influence with the people
she know*." she went on. "80 1 ata
going to ask you not to let your coun
try over go to war against mine while
you see chief of staff ”
"Mine against yours?" he equivo
cated "Why, you live almost within
gunshot of the line! Your people have
aa much Gray aa Hrown blood tn their
veto* Your country! My country I
littt that patriotism r
THE AUGUSTA HERALD, AUGUSTA, GA.
"Patriotism, but not martial patriot
ism," she corrected him. "My thought
is to stop war for both countries aa
war, regardless of sides. Promise me
that you will not permit it!”
“I not permit it!” He smiled with
the kindly patronage of a great an
who sees a charming woman flounder
ing In an attempt at logic. "It ts for
the premier to say. I merely make the
machine ready The government says
(he word that makes it move. I able
to stop war! Come, come!”
"But you can— yen, you can with a
word! ” she declared positively.
"How?" he asked, amaaed. "How?"
he repeated blandly.
Was she teasing him? he wondered.
What now resource* of confusion had
ten years and a tour around the world
developed In her? Was It possible that
the whole Idea of the teachers of peace
was an Invention to make conversa
tion at his expense? If so, she carried
it off with a sincerity that suggested
other depthß yet unsounded.
“Very easily,” she answered. “You
can tell the premier that, you cannot
win. Toll him that you will break your
army to pieces against the Browns'
fortifications!’’
He gasped. Then an inner voloe
prompted htm that the cue was
comedy.
Excellent fooling—excellent!" he
said with a laugh. "Tell the premier
that I should lose when I have live
million men to their three million!
What a harlequin chief of staff I
should be! Excellent fooling! You al
most had me!"
Again he laughed, though In the
fashion of one who had hardly unbent
his spine, while he was wishing for
the old days when he might take tea
with her one or two afternoon* a week.
It would be a tine tonic after hla Isola
tion at the apex of the pyramid sur
veying the deference of the lower
levels. Then he saw that her eyes,
shlmmerlug with wonder, grew dull
and her lips parted In a rigid, pale line
as If she were hurt.
"You think I am joking?" she asked.
"Why, yes!”
"But 1 am not! No, no, not about
suoh a ghastly subject as a war to
day I" She was leaning toward him,
hands on knee and eyes burning like
coals without a spark. “I”—she pa/used
as she had before ahe broke out with
the first propheoy—"l will quote part
of our children’s oath: 'I will not be
a 00 ward. It is a coward who strikes
first. A brave man even after he re
ceives a blow tries to reason with his
assailant, and does not strike back un
til he receives a second blow. I shall
not let a burglar drive me from my
house. If an enemy trlee to take my
land I shall appeal to his sense of Jus
tice and reason with him, but If he
then persists I shall fight for my
home. If I am victorious I shall not
try to take hla land but to make the
most of my own. I shall never cross a
frontier to kill my fellowmen.’"
Very Impressive she made the oath.
Her deliberate recital of It had the
quality which justifies every word
with an urgent faith.
"You see, with that teaching there
can be no war,” she proceeded, “and
those who strike will be weak, those
who defend will be strong.”
"Perhaps," he said.
"You would not like to see thou
sands, hundreds of thousands, of men
killed and maimed, would you?” she
demanded, and her eyes held ths hor
ror of the sight In reality. "You can
prevent tt—you can!" Her heart wu
in the appeal.
"The old argument! No, I should
not Uks to see that," hs replied. ”1
only do my duty as a soldier to my
country.”
"The old answer! The more reason
why you should tell tbs premier you
can’t! Hut there is still another reason
for telling him,” she urged gently.
Now he saw her not at twenty-seven
but at seventeen, girlish, the subject
of no processes of reason but in the
spell of an Intuition, and he knew that
something out of the blue In a flash
was coming
"FY>r you will not win!" she declared.
This struck fire. Square Jaw and
sturdy body. In masculine energy, reso
lute and trained, were set Indomitably
ugulnst feminine vitality.
“Yea. we shell win! We shell win!"
he said without even the physical dem
onstration of a gesture and In a hard,
even voire which was like that of the
machinery of modern war Itself, a
voice which the aristocratic sniff, the
Louis XV! ourla, or any of ths old gal
lery-display heroes would have thought
utterly lacking In hlatrionloa suitable
to the occasion. He remained rigid
after he had spoken, handsome, salt
posessssd.
There was no use of boating femi
nine fists against suoh s stone well.
The force of the male was supreme.
She smiled with s strange, quivering
loosening of the lip*. She spread out
her hands with fingers sport, ad If to
let something tun free from them Into
the air, and the flame of appeal that
had been In her eyes broke Into many
lights that seemed to scatter Into
yet ready to return at her com;
A Great Story of Present War Between
Germany and France . Modern War
and the Moves of Game Thrillingly De
scribed by Famous War Correspondent
mand. Bhe glanced at the clock and
rose, almost abruptly.
”1 was very strenuous riding my
hobby against yours, wasn’t I?” she ex
claimed In a flutter of distraction that
made it easy for him to descend from
his own steed. "1 stated a feeling. I
made a guess, a threat about your
winning—and all In the air. That’s a
woman's privilege; one men grant,
isn’t it?”
"We enjoy doing so," he replied, all
urbanity.
“Thank you!” she said simply. “I
must be at home in time for the chil
dren's lesson on Sunday. My sleeper
is engaged, and If I am not to miss tha
train I must go immediately."
With an undeniable shock of regret
he realized that the interview was
over. Really, he had had a very good
time; not only that, but—
" Will It be ten years before we meet
again?” he asked.
“Perhaps, unless you change the
rules about officers crossing the fron
tier to take tea,” she replied.
"Even If I did, the vice-chief of staff
might hardly go."
“Then perhaps you must wait," she
.warned htm, "until the teachers of
peaoe have dome away with all fron
tiers.”
"Or, if there were war, I should
come!” he answered In kind. He half
wished that this might start another
argument and she would miss her
train. But she made no reply. “And
you may come to the Gray capital
again. You are not through traveling!”
he added.
This aroused her afresh; the flame
WBjB back In her eyes.
"Yes. I have all the memories of my
journeys to enjoy, all their lessons to
study,” she said. “There Is the Mg
world, and you want to have had the
breath of all Its climates in your lungs,
ths visions of all Its peoples yours.
Then the other thing is three acres
and a cow. If you could only have the
solidarity of the Japanese, their pub
lic spirit, with the old Chinese love at
family and peace, and a cathedral
near-by on a hill! Patriotism? Why,
It is In the soil of your three acres. I
love to feel the warm, rioh earth of our
own garden in my hands! Hereafter I
shall be a stay-at-home; and If my chil
dren win." she held out her hand In
parting with the same frank, earnest
grip of her greeting, “wt\y, yon will
find that tea Is, as usual, at four
thirty.”
He had found the women of Ms high
official world—-a narrower world than
he realized—much alike. Striking cer
tain key*, certain chords responded.
He could probe the depths of their
minds, he thought, in a single evening.
Then he passed on, unless it was In
the Interest of pleasure or of hts ca
reer to linger. This meeting had left
his curiosity baffled. He understood
how Marta’s vitality demanded action,
which exerted itself in a feminine way
for a feminine cause. The cure for
suoh a fad was most clear to his mas
culine perception. What if all the
power she had shown In her appeal for
peace could be made to serve another
ambition? He knew that he was a
great man. More than once he had
wondered what would happen IX he
were to meet a great woman. And he
should not see Marta Galland again
unless war come.
CHAPTER IV.
Times Have Changed.
The 63d of the Browns had started
for La Tlr on the same day that the
128th of the Grays had started for
South La Tlr. While the 128th was
going to new scenes, the 63d was re
turning to familiar ground. It had de
trained in the capital of the province
from which It* ranks had been recruit
ed. After a steep incline, there was a
welcome bugle note and with shouts
of delight the centipede's legs broke
apart! Bankers', laborers’, doctors’,
valets', butch a re', manufacturers' and
Judges’ sons threw themselves down
on the greensward of the embankment
lo rest. With their talk of homo, of
relatives whom they had met at the
station, and of the changes in the town
was mingled talk of the crisis.
Meanwhile, an aged man was ap
proaching. At times he would break
Into a kind of trot that ended, after a
few steps, in shortmws of breath. Ha
was quite withered, hi* bright eye*
twinkling out of an area of moth
patches, and he wore a frayed uniform
cost with s medal on the breast.
"I* this the 63d?" he quavered to
the nearest soldier.
"It certainly Is!" some one answered.
“Pome and Join us, veteran!”
"Is Tom —Tom Fraglnl here?"
The aijrwer name from a big soldier,
who sprang to hi* feet and leaped to
ward the old man.
"It's grandfather, a* I live!** ha
called out, kissing the veteran on both
cheeks. "I saw sister In town, and
she said you’d be at the gate as we
marched by."
“Didn’t wait at no gate! Marohed
right up to yon!" said grandfather.
"Marched up with tny uniform and
medal on! Stand off there, Tom. eo
1 cab see you.. My word; You re big;
gerin your father, but not bigger’n I
was! No, sir, not bigger’n I was in
my day before that wound sort o’ bent
me over. They say it’s the lead In the
blood. I’ve still got the bullet!”
The old man’s trousers were thread
bare but well darned, and the holes in
the uppers of his shoes were carefully
patched. He had a merry air of op
timism, which his grandson had in
herited.
"Well, Tom, how much longer you
got to serve?” asked grandfather.
"Six months,” answered Tom.
“One, two, three, four—" grandfa
ther counted the numbers off on his
fingers. “That’s good. You’ll be in
time for the spring ploughing. My,
how you have filled out! But, some
how, I can’t get used to this kind of
uniform. Why, I don’t see how a girl’d
he attracted to you fellows, at all!”
“They have to, for we’re the only
kind of soldiers there are nowadays.
Not as gay as in your day, that’s sure,
when you were in the Hussars, eh?"
“Yes, 1 was In the Hussars—in the
Hussars! I tell you with our sabres
a-gleaming, our horses’ bits a-jtngling,
our pennons a-flying, and all the color
of our uniform—l tell you, the girls
used to open their eyee at us. And we
went Into the charge like that—yes,
sir, Just that gay and grand. Colonel
Galland leading!"
Military history said that It had
been a rather foolish charge, a fine
example of the vainglory of unreason
ing bravery that accomplishes nothing,
but no one would suggest such skepti
cism of an immortal event In popular
imagination in hearing of the old man
as he lived over that Intoxicated rush
of horses and men into a battery of
the Grays.
“Well, didn’t you find what I said
was true about the lowlanders?” asked
grandfather after he had finished the
charge, referring to the people of the
southern frontier of the Browns, where
the 63d had just been garrisoned.
"No, I kind of liked them. I made a
lot of friends,” admitted Tom. ‘‘They’re
very progressive.”
“Eh, eh? You’re Joking!" To like
the people of the southern frontier was
only less conceivable than liking the
people of the Grays. “That’s because
you didn’t see deep under them.
They’re all on the outside —a flighty
loti Why, If they’d done their part.
In that last war we’d have licked ths
Grays until they cried for mercy! If
their army oorps had stood its ground
at Vbtener —’’
“So you’ve always said,” Interrupted
Tom.
"And the way they cook tripe! I
couldn't stomach It, could you? And
ts there’B anything I am partial to It’s
a good dish of tripe! And their light
beer —like drinking froth! And their
bread—why, It ain’t bread! It’s chips!
’Taint fit for civilised folks!"
“Bat I sort of got used to their
ways,” said Tom.
"Eh, eh?" Grandfather looked at
grandson quizzically, seeking the cause
of suoh heterodoxy In a northern man.
"But I Won’t Fight far Yoel"
“9ay, you ain't been falling In love?"
he hazarded. "Yoo—you ain't gotng to
bring one of them southern girls
home?"
"No!" said IVm, laughing
"Well, I'm glad you ain’t, for they're
naturally light-minded. I remember
’am well." He wandered on with his
question# and comments. ’l* tt a fact,
Tom, or was yon Just Joking when you
wrote hotne that ths soldier* took so
many baths P
"Yea, they do."
’’Well, that beats me I It's a wonder
yon didn’t all die of pneumonia!" He
passed to absorb the phenomenon.
Then hts half-childish mind, prompted
hi’ a random recollection, flitted to ate
SUNDAY, AUGUST 30
other subject which set him to gig
gling. "And the little crawlers —did
they bother you much, the little crawl
ers?”
'The little crawlers?" repeated Tom,
mystified.
“Yes. Everybody used to get ’em
Just from living close together. Had
to comb ’em out and pick ’em out of
your clothes. The chase we used to
coll It"
"No, grandfather, crawlers have
gone out of fashion. And no more epl*
demies of typhoid and dysentery
either," said Tom.
"Times have certainly changed I**
grumbled Grandfather Fraglnl,
Interested in their own reunion, they
had paid no attention to a group of
Tom’s comrades nearby, sprawled
around a newspaper containing tha
latest dispatches from both capitals.
“Five million soldiers to our t.hred
million!"
“Eighty million people to our fifty,
million!” \
"Because of the odds, they think we
are bound to yield, no matter If we ara
to the right!”
"Let them come!" said the butcher 1 *
son. "If we have to go, it will be on n
wave of blood.”
“And they will come some time,"
said the judge’s son. "They want our
land.”
"We gain nothing If we beat themi
back. War will be the ruin of busi
ness," said the banker’s son.
"Yes, we are prosperous now. Let
well enough alone!” said the manufac
turer's son.
"Some say It makes wages higher,"
said the laborer’s son, "but I am think
ing It’s a poor way of raising your
pay."
"There won’t be any war,” said the
banker’s son. "There can’t be without
credit. The banking interests will
not permit it”
"There can always be war,” said the
Judge’s son, “always when one people
determines to strike at another people
—even if It brings bankruptcy.”
Tt would be a war that would make
all others In history a mare exchange
of skirmishee. Every ab/e-bodied man
to line—automatics a hundred shots a
minute—guns a dozen shots a minute
—and aeroplanes and dirigibles!” said
the manufacturer’s son,
"To the death, too!” j|
"And not for glory! We of the 63d,
who live on the frontier will be fight
ing for our homes."
Ts we lose them weil never get
them back. Better die than be beaten!”
Herbert Stransky, with deep-set
eyes, slightly squinting inward, and a
heavy jaw, an enormous man who was
the best shot In the company when
he cared to be, had listened In silence
to the others, his rather thick but ex
pressive lips curving with cynicism.
His only speech all the morning had
been In the midst of the reception in
the public square of the town when he
said :
“This home-coming doesn’t mean,
much to me. Home? Hell! The
hedgerows of the world are my home!"
He appeared older than his years,
and hard and bitter, except when his
eyes would light with a feverish sort
of fire which shone as he broke into
a lull In the talk.
"Comrades,” he began.
“Let us hear from the Socialist!" a
Tory exclaimed.
"No, tho onaxcblstl" shouted a So
cialist.
"There •pn't be any war!" said
Stransky, his voice gradually rising to
the pitch of an agitator relishing the
sensation of his own words. "Patriot
ism is the played-out trick of the ruling
classes to keep down the proletariat.',
There won’t be any war! Why? Be- .
cause there are too many enlightened'"
men on both sides who do the world’s
work. We of the 63d are a pro
vincial lot, but throughout our army
there are thousands upon thousands
like me. They march, they drill, but
when battle oomee they will refuse
to fight—my comrades In heart, to
whom the flag of this country means
no more than that of any other coun
try!"
"HoM on! The flag Is sacred!"
cried the banker’s son.
"Yes. that will do!”
’’Shut up!”
Other voices formed a chorus of
angry protest.
T knew you thought It; new Fv*
caught you!” This from the sergeant,
who had seen hard fighting against
a savage foe In Africa and there
fore was particularly bitter about
tbe Bodlapoo affair. The welt of a
scar on the gaunt, fover-yeflo tred
cheek turned a deeper rpd m he heared
Btrnn*ky by the collar yt tha bkw*»
Stransky raised bis free hand as 3
to strike, but peueed as be faced tha
company’s boyish captain, slender nd
figure, aril too rat! c of feature, til* In
dignation was as evident ns the sere
grant*, bat be was biting his Ups to
keep It uader oontroL (
"You beard what he sold, *ir?~
"The latte'- part—enongn!"
TVs InclUtlon to mutiny l An ere
ample!”
(To be continued Tomorrow .)