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FOUR
THE LAST-SIIOT -
c/tA#U3 jamr/fAi; FREDERICK PALMER
In thin story Mr. Palmer, the
noted war correapondent, has paint
ed war as he has aean It on many
battlefields, and between many na
tions. His Intimate knowledge of
amnlee and armamenta has enabled
Mm to produce a graphic picture of
the greatest of all wars, and Ms
knowledge of conditions has led
him to prophesy an end of armed
eonfllote. No man Is bettor quali
fied to write the etory es the ffnal
world war than Mr. Palmar, and
he haa handled his subject with a
nose ter hand.
(Continued from Yesterday.)
Too saw so much morn of me than
tbe others, Miss Galland.'’ h« said with
a charming bow, "and yon are so quick
, 'They Shall Not Wlnl They Mint
Notl-
to observe. I am sorry” he panned
with heed down for an instant—“very
norry to have deceived you."
"But you are still a deaf gardener
to me," said Marta, flndiug consolation
In pleasing him.
"Bh? HJh?" He put hi* hood to hie
ear as be rammed hts stoop "Yea,
Fee.' he added, as a deaf man will
when undenrtaading of a remark which
he failed at lint to cat oh cranes to him
In an echo. “Tea, the gardener has no
•net." he declared In the gentle old
wardener* voice, "when all the flow
ers die every year and he thinks only
of next year's bloeaome—of tha fu
ture!"
Nov the air at ths room seemed to
be stifling him. that of the rootless
world of the garden calling him The
bent figure disappeared around a turn
to the path and they listened without
moving until the sound of his alow,
dragging footfalls had dlod away.
"When he Is serving those of his
own socle! station I ran see how it
would be sealer for him not to have
me know," said Maria. "Sensitive,
proud and intense— ” and a look of
horror appeared in her eyas. “As he
cam" across the room his faro wan
transformed 1 imagine it was like
that of n man giving no quarter in a
baronet charge!"
Feller had won the day fbr himself
where a friend’s pleas might have
tolled TMs was as It should lie. Lan
gtron thought.
"The right view- the view that you
were bound to taka!” he said
"And yet, I don’t know your plans
tor him Lanny There is another thing
l» oanaider.” aha replied, with an ah
topt change of tons "But first let u*
leave FMfer’s quarters We ere in
truders hare."
"A men playing deaf; a secret tele
phone Installed on our premises with
out our oooeeot— this is all 1 know so
far," said Marta, sealed opposite
Lanstron at one end of the circular
east tn the arbor of Mercury
“Of course. with our 1,000,000
against their i,000,000. the Grays will
taka the offensive.’ be said Tor us.
the defensive La Tlr Is in an angle
It dose not belong In the permanent
tactical line of our defenses Never
theless. there will be herd fighting
hers The Browns will fail back step
by slap, and wa meau. with relatival)
small cost to ourselves to make the
Gray* pay a heavy price for each step
—Just as heavy as we can "
"You need not use euphonious
terms." she said without lifting her
lasts* or any movement except a
quick, nervous gesture of her free
hand "What you mean is that you
will kill as many as possible of the
Grays, isn't Is? And If you could kill
flva for every man you loat. that would
be splendid, wouldn’t II?”
"1 don't think of It a* splendid. There
Is nothing splendid about war," be oh
Jested, "not to ms. Marta.”
- "And altar you have made them pay
five to one or tvn to ooe in human
lives for the tangent, what then? Go
on! I want to look at war face to face,
free of the wlll-o’ the-wlsp glamour that
draws on soldiers.”
“We fall back to our first line of de
denso, lighting all the lime. The Grays
occupy La Tir, which will be out of tbes
reach of our guns. Your bouse will
no longer be In danger, and we happen
to know that Wester ling means to
make it hie headquarters.”
"Our house Westerling's headquar
ters!” she repeated. With a start that
brought her up erect, alert, challeng
ing, her iaabes flickering, she recalled
that WesterllDg had said at parting
that he should see her If war came
This corroborated Lanstron'* informs
tion. One sida wanted a spy in the
gardes; the other a general In the
house. Wsui she eipected to make a
choice? Ho had ceaaed to he Lanny.
He personified war. Westerling per
sonified war. ”1 suppose you have
spies under bis very nose—in his very
staff offices?" she asked.
“And probably be has In ours.” said
Lari sir on. "though we do our beat to
prevent it.”
"What a pretty example of trust
among civilized nations!” she ex
claimed. "You say that Westerling,
who commands the killing on his side,
will be In no danger. And, Lanny, are
you a person of suck distinction In the
bnaiiMMM of killing that you also will
ha out of danger?”
She did not see, an her eyes poured
bar hot indignation into his, that hie
maimed hand was twitching or how
he bit his lips and flushed before he re
p Mad;
"Bach ona goee where he is ssnt,
link by link, down from the chief of
staff. Only in this way can you have
that solidarity, that harmonious effi
ciency which means victory.”
"An aotocracy, a tyranny over the
Uvea of all the adult malea in countries
that boast of the ballot and self-gov
erning lnstttntlone!” she put in.
"But I hope,” he went on. with the
quickening pulse and eager smile that
used to greet a call from Feller to "set
things going” In their cadet days, "that
i may take out a squadron of dirigibles.
After all this spy business, that would
be to my taste.”
"And if you canght a regiment in
clone formation with a shower of
bomba, that would be positively heav
enly. wouldn't ttr Hhe bant nearer
to him, her eyas flaming demand and
sat Ira.
"No! War —neceaearv, horrible, hell
ish!" he replied. Something in her
seemed to draw out the brutal truth
she had asked for In place of euphonl
oua terms
"When I became chief of lntelllgnnoa
I found that an underground wire had
been laid to the raatle from the Klghtti
division headquarters, which will be
our general etaff headquarters In time
of war. The purpose was the same ae
now, but abandoned as chimerical. All
that was necessary was to install the
Instrument, which Feller did. I, too,
saw the plan as chimerical, yet It was
a chance the ona out of a thousand.
If it should happen to succeed ws
should play with our cards eoncoHled
and thstrs on the table.
"The rest of Fellor's part yoa have
guessed already," he concluded. "You
ran see how a deaf. Inoffensive old
gardener would hardly eeem to know
a Gray soldier from a Brown, how It
might no more occur to Westerling to
send him sway than tha family dog or
eat; how ha might retain his quarters
In tha towar, how he could judge the
atmosphere of the staff, whether elated
or depressed, pick up scraps of conver
sation, and. as a trained officer, know
the value of what he heard and report
it over the phone to i’artow'e head
quarters."
"But what about the aeroplanes?"
she asked. ”1 thought you were to de
pend on them for scouting ”
"We shall use them, but they are
the least tried of all the new re
sources." he said. "A Gray aeroplane
may cut a Brown aeroplane down be
fore it returns with the news we want
At most, whan the aviator may descend
lo* enough for accurate observation
he can see only what is actually betng
done. • Feller would know Wesle rltng’s
plans before they were even la the
first steps of execution This"—play
ing the thought happily—"this would
be the Ideal arrangement, while our
planes and dirigibles were kept over
our lines to strike down theirs. And.
Marta, that Is all,” he concluded.
"if there Is war, the moment that
Feller’s ruse Is discovered he will be
shot as a spy?** she asked.
"I warned him of that.’ said Lan
stron "He Is a soldier, with a sol
dier’s fatalism. He sees no more dan
der in (hie than in commanding a bat
tery In a crisis "
"Suppose that tbs Grays win? Sup
pose thst La Tlr is permanently
theirs?"
"They shell not win! They must
not!” lanstron exclaimed, his tone as
rigid as Wssterling's toward her a so
on J prophecy.
"Yet If tb«y should win and W ester
ling finds that 1 have been party to
this treachery, aa 1 shall be now that
1 am in the secret, think of the posi
tion of toy mother and myeelf!** ahe
continued "Has that occurred to yon,
a friend. In making our property, our
garden, our neutrality, whfch Is our
only defense, a faotor In one of your
plans without our permission?”
Her eyes, blue-black In appeal and
reproach, revealed the depths of a
wound as they had on the terraoe steps
before luncheon, when he had been
apprised of a feeiing for him by seeing
It dead under hla blow. The logic of
the chief of intelligence withered. He
understood how a friendship to her
was, Indeed, more sacred than patrlotle
paKslon. He realized the shame of
what he had done now that he wea
free of professional Influences.
"You are right, Marta I” he replied.
"It was beastly of me -there is no ex
cuse.”
He looked around to see an orderly
from the nearest military wireless sta
tion.
"I was told It was urgent, sir," said
the orderly, In excuse fbr hla Intrusion,
as he passed a telegram to Lanstron.
Immediately Lanstron felt the touch
of the paper his features seemed to
take on a mask that concealed ble
thought as he read:
"Take night express. Come direct
from station to me. Partow.”
This meant that he would be ex
pected at Partow’s office at eight the
eext morning. He wrote his answer;
the orderly saluted and departed at a
rapid pace; and than, as a matter of
habit of the same kind that makes
some men wipe their pens when lay
ing them down, he struck a match and
set fire to one corner of the paper,
which burned to his fingers’ ends be
fore he tossed the charred remains
away. Marta Imagined what he would
be like with the havoc of war raging
around him—all self-possession and
mastery; but aotually be was trying to
reassure himself that he ought not to
feel petulant over a holiday cu( short.
“I shall have to go at once." he said.
"Marta, If there were to be war very
soon—within a week or two weeks —
what would be your attitude about Fel
ler’s remaining?"
"To carry oat hie plan, you mean!**
"Yes."
There was a perceptible pause on
her part.
"Let him stay," she answered. "1
shall have time to decide even after
war begins.”
"But Instantly war begins you must
got” be declared urgently.
"You forget a precedent," she re
minded him. "The Galland women
have never deserted the Galland
bouse!"
“1 know the precedent. But this
time the house will be In the thick of
the Oghilng."
"it has been In the thick of the light
ing before," ahe said, wtth a gesture of
Impatience.
"Marta, you will promise not to re
main?” he urged.
"Isn't that my affair?" she aaked.
"Aren’t you willing to leave even that
to me after all you have been telling
how you are to make a redoubt of our
lawn, Inviting the shells of the enemy
Into our drawing-room 7”
What could lie say? Only cal! up
from the depths the two passions of
his life in an outburst, with ell tbe
force of his nature In play.
"I love this soli, my country'* soil,
oura by right- and I love you! I would
be true to both!"
"Level What mockery to mention
that now!" she cried chokingly. "Jt’g
monstrous!"
"1 —• —“ He wee making an effort
to keep his nerves under control.
This time the stiffening elbow failed.
With a lurching abruptness he swung
his right hand around and seised the
wrist of that trembling, injured hand
that would not be stIIL She oould not
fall to notes the movement, and the
sight was a magic that struck anger
out of her.
"Lanny, I am hertlngyrm!" she orlad
miserably.
"A little," he said, will Anally domi
nant over Its servant, and he was
smlllug as when, half stunned and In
agony and ashamed of the tart—he
had risen from the debris of cloth and
twisted braces. "It's all right," hs con
cluded.
She throw back her arms, bar heed
raised, with e certain abandon as if
she would bare her heart.
lanny, there have been moments
when 1 would have liked to fly to
your arms. There have been moments
when I have bad the call that comes to
every woman in answer to a desire.
Yet I was not ready. When 1 really
go It must be In a flame, la answer to
your flame!”
“You mean—l-—"
But if the flame were about to buret
forth she smothered It in the spark.
"And all this has upaet ms,” she
went on Incoherently, "We’ve both
been cruel without meaning to be, and
we re In the shadow of a nightmare,
and next time you oome perhaps all
the war talk will be over and—oh.
this is enough for today!"
She turned quickly In veritable flight
end hurried toward the bouse.
’’lf It ever comes," she called. "11l
let you know! I'll fly to you In h
chariot of Ore bearing my slams—l am
that bold, that braten. that recklesa!
For 1 am not an old maid, yet. They've
moved the age limit up to thirty. But
2#u eas t drill love into me as you
THE AUGUSTA HERALD, AUGUSTA, GA.
3rQl discipline Into armies—no, bo
more than I can argue peace into
armies!"
For a while, motionless, Lanstron
watched the point where she had dis
appeared.
CHAPTER VII.
Making a War.
Hed worth Westerling would have
said twenty to one it he had been asked
the oddt against war when be was
parting from Marta Galland in the
hotel reception room. Before he
reached home he would have changed
them to ten to one. A scare bulletin
about tha Bodlapoo affair compelling
attention as his car baited to let the
traffic of a cross street paes, he bought
a newspaper thrust In at the car win
dow that contained the answer of the
government of the Browns to a dis
patch of the Grays about the dispute
that had arisen in the distant African
Jungle. This be had already read two
days previously, by courtesy of the
premier. It was moderate In tone, as
became a power that had 3,000,000 sol
diers against its opponent’s 5.00(1,000;
nevertheless, it firmly pointed out that
the territory of the Browns had been
overtly invaded, on the pretext of se
curing a deserter who had escaped
across the line, by Gray colonial
troops who bad raised the Gray flag in
place of the Brown flag and remained
defiantly In occupation of the outpost
they had taken.
As yet. the Browns had not attempt
ed to repel the aggreseor by arms for
fear of complications, but were relying
on the Gray government ,o order a
withdrawal of the Gray force and the
repudiation of a commander who had
been guilty of ao grave tin international
affront. The surprising and illuminat
ing thing to Westerling was the in
spired statement to the press from the
Gray foreign office, adroitly appealing
to Gray chauvinism and justifying the
“Intrepidity” of the Gray commander
In response to so-called “pin-pricking'’
exasperations.
At the door of hie apartment, Fran
cois, his valet and factotum, gave Wes
terling a letter.
"Important, sir,” said Francois.
Westerling knew by a glance that it
woa. for it was addressed and marked
’’Personal" In the premier’s own hand
writing. A conference for ten that
evening wee requested in a manner
that left no doubt of its urgency.
Curiosity made him a little ahead of
time, but he found the premier awalb
ing him in his study, free fTom inter*
ruption or eavesdropping.
In the shadow of the table lamp the
old premier looked his years. From
youth he had been in politics, ever a
bold figure ai d a daring player, hut
now beginning to feel the pressure of
younger men’s elbows. Fonder even
of power, which had become a habit,
than in his twenties, he saw it slipping
from his grasp at an age when the
downfall of hts government meant that
he should never bold the reins again.
He had been called an ambitious dem
agogue and a makeshift opportunist by
his enemies, but the crowd liked him
for hla ready strategy, his genius for
appealing phrases, and for the gam
bler’s virtue which hitherto had made
him a good loser.
“You saw our communique tonight
that went with the publication of the
Browns’ dispatch?" he remarked.
“Yes, and I am glad that I had been
careful to send a spirited commander
to that region," Westerling replied.
"So you guess my intention, 1 see."
The premier smiled. He picked up a
long, thin Ivory paper-knife and softly
patted the palm of his hand with it
"Certainly!” Westerling replied in
hie ready, confident manner.
"We hear a great deal about the pre
cision and power of modern arms as
favoring the defensive," said the pre
mier. ‘T have read somewhere that It
will enable the Browns to hold us back,
despite our advantage of numbers.
Also, that they oen completely man
every part of their frontier and that
their ability to move their reserves
rapidly, thsnks to modern facilities,
makes a powerful flanking attack in
surprise out of the question."
"Some half-truths In that.” an-
Westerltng. "One axiom, that must
hold good through all time, is that the
aggressive which keeps at it always
win*. We take the aggressive. In the
space where Napoleon deployed a di
vision, we deploy a battalion today.
The precision and power of modern
arms require this With such immense
forces and present-day tactics, the line
of battle will practically cover the
length of the frontier. Along their
iwage the Browns have a series of
fortresses commanding natural open
ings for our attack. These are almost
Impregnable. But there are pregnable
points between them. Here, our
method will be the earns that the Japa
nese followed and that they learned
from European armies. We shall con
centrate in masses and throw in wave
after wave of attack until we have
gained the positions we desire. Once
we have a tenable foothold on the
crest of the range the Brown army
must fall back and the rest will be a
matter of skillful pursuit ”
The premier, ae be listened, rolled
the paper knife over and over, regard
ing its polished sides, which ware like
Westerling's manner of facile state
ment of a program certain of fulfll}-
mepL ._
(To be continued Tomorrow.)
A SUCCESS SERMON.
(Jump* A Garfield.)
THINGS PON T Tt’RN IT IN 1 HIS
WORLD I’NTIL SOMKBODY TURNS
TUKM UF.
THOMASVILLE FIRE.
Thomatvils.— ThomaavlUe* Opera
house, with four store* underneath,
j was destroyed by fire Monday, three
adjoining store* l>e!ng wrecked by
falling wait*. The loss is estimated
at about $50,000, partly covered by in
i suranc*. '
UNEQUALED VALUES
IN DRY GOODS
AT THE
WISE DRY GOODS CO.
25c 36*inch white Nulinons for tailor
ed Waists and separate skirts 15c
Final close out of all figured lawns
and batiste 12 k to 15c values
at OL
Remnants of 12k yard wide
Entire stock of remnants of Ratines,
Linens, Voiles, Repps and Madras at
Half Price and Less
25c short Chamoisette Gloves 19c
50c long Chamoisette Gloves 35c
SI.OO long Silk Gloves 75C
35c Children’s Rompers 25C
72x90-inch Sheets 50C
Regular 10c Embroideries C
at
Slightly soiled Shirt Waists, J C
up to $2.00 each at • JC
59c Black and white Foulard C -
Silks at JC
SI.OO Colored Satine C£
Petticoats at JV/C
WISE DRY GOODS CO.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER^