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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1930)
IT THE ETTftTStfT! T?T!GTSTEft-GTTAT?'D fS A GREAT WAR By MARY LEE stretched from . h.ni nut hit franc i monter. a " . . ' . .... -Jk., To ianui- ----- re sh8'd he I r That afternoon . . . Hi--.' ' I" ai.. .med. She could not .himc. J"V " . . . He shoo' 1,18 n,,a" pit . . m him he'd ought to giv. her 1 told j -Hu'd OUKht to HiEiCT better than to choke her k?. u aettin' awful "!" ,,nmnr " 'WhoJ' the 3 jtninu - L- Vrirk atrnde into the canteen 0l1'f.-.J"1.,. which mi hia . SI Allowed Ann. through the F' bevond the storeroom. I 1 1 Hell the man sleeping up M "P.J... t hia atuff,' he I tad tn. i'""'-' Tb r0,m rMld and boil.ke. 'vm nails on tlie wan oiive uiu "v . - nit iritznatriCK tOOK """""l-r' Vith afur lining, w ?'" " 1.. -Vn.. Tot a fur " . '.-.a ... Anno. "tsnr Mere. v ne emu - : -- . . .. .u that' 1 rtirhr.. It be- I'10"'.," ' sc.n. What? Disc"? !.f . the hospital at Toul last iJl In the hoap b said Anne. And then: "I'll tour coffee ready when you get MM-" .. A room. oiut'M) . hrr . . . She rushed to the stove. . thoes the last pair lanen oil blocks of wood she's propped . ut down on the bed, gazed at .m SUe IflUpiieil. .... - It if her trunk locked un In Paris Hare to so .ne.o ... " . . kbti . . am nouses . . rcupic I kaivr -. . . Eicitement . . . fehe rall'd "P Headquarters. 4tn iroulu take a weeK, iaej iuu. . put the noon up. oue u s iu damn the orders . . . Paris. i.r jon could walk on pavements 3 . m .1... fo in.'. Yes. there'd bo ferry pilots jl is the morning. A new train t Or 10U1 me rnuiuMvi mi ..s xiii'mi. was free acain now. . . . . the trurk would call for Anne fin a. m. Not at all. glad to! Th.nt Ton." said Anne. ferreinr. Anne rubbed mist off tho w Mow. and peered out into tno Wat darknss. Pnle, blue lights, irlinrj . Him outlines of houses. . Windows, snutterea. . . . i-aris. The Oare du ord, sna its pal. Ur train shed. . . . Crowds, pass- the iradarmes. Hldame had anything to declare hr bac? Madame lind nothing. idsmB hud orders? Madnme did not lientand, it seemed. '1'grec Em Ah. nulitalre,' she muttereo. Iricsn pilot, pushing from behind '. Ten-crl Ihe guarrt at toe other I iras Sudanese. Anne backed nr. and went to hia gate. He nted as she ran past. .rii . . . Pavements . . . Dim, blue tt . . . Three taxis, standing, their nosed drivers talking to the pilots. In stepped out. They wanted to lo Llirliy. 1 1 or no one would tney cross Ihe river ... An American ;t trurk bumped townrd tliem. lbs pilots hailed it. They helped id. Pips or Americana ... J lie drivers grumbled in the darkness . Paris . . . the track bounced toward the roe Iniversite. A city, all about you. It had seemed that all cities must rp melted, leaving just mud, and riaeval towns and great fields . . . sere it was the civilization that T fought for France . . . The rue fUimersite. The elhiDed hedge a the leaves that tasted bitter . . . ) shutters, all closed . Anne aked the pilots. Not st all! It was a pleasure!" r isid. . . . 'Hi familiar door of the apartment ;re she and Joan bad once lived. pushed u open. The smell of f'-m . , , Why. it was home. Bat. how rnn cough, my child! you are thin!'' Mndrnns de "sues drew Anne's hand through rm. pattins It as they walked 'osh the fnmilinr, clean hall. "My r fftii he m content to have you sum .iinrlame. l-low does it the war'; What do thev tell vou alone dip front''" Nothins." said Anne, "but I have rht you lots of sugar, SIndnme. ue irniterl along the nuai, and cross the fnmilinr hrirlo. thnf "d the river. Torix. . . . Whit.. "illi purple slmdnns under Hie the l.rML'OS. A rlifTfront wnrlf! " f ranee, tins . . . Ycur feet were here. V..U ilidn't l,t.,.A tA r.,,11 P henr llie mud smack, kick them ' oi ynu . i i fr onou in lii-li-licrl., ,1 ,hn irlin M allOUt smontli navomantm. river, rushing between Ha qunin An o,d man fishing ... A snnd P. IlloilL'hiTIV nr. l,At.i..J U. .... ' 'ir X rOl'llllcro ft hivnrrn tnwarD fnsT. Tho IncBr. f Vn,.o F'- dim. fmurd the Cite. Why, .- "iiai jou Klllgllt for. .Service ,.n,l ,. ! ... Slomnk-i,,.. Miss Kentherstonc. 1 "'e .Mnroilisp. in nenrla nnfl " '"'d Anne. ,Mi Kenllier- ta'l uiurrio.i M,,jor Moor. h I be M. i.. j . MOVMI. VVOrrvin., -n H.- T II.. 1 '"'I " II. Vs. h sv.atoe, ,h(,m .pinming ? Anne KBiil. I KII..M . St,,-. ,,L. ,, M,.. ' to nuil,. bin, fri:et..."'Anne 'd like a ll i i j ii . ru luruujiu I here seemed to be a , .".uir., n iiuuureu loors. red tifw pretty uirla here, ' sKt of grease on the 'ill: behind Ttr.,nL-i A.., "lirpinl II. .. . A h. i , . inere, cnair chair d-vvn with a bumn wlien "ell. say, look who's rrn.p,.,! i,er hand and "I mill sllnok. tfo nilllnt in 1 !"r.,hfr- snt d..n. tipped 'S.i t "' M' lpgs dnng 'ka'i 1 ''"ette " he held 1e ti,-nr, run Aunp, lie it. rar. t. ed. My uniform," Anne linT,1' A cro,r'1 of people chat Mo':'',7 ""Iging their way " ' mn;' Afk- American "in eioeriy v c- IhL"!!'" ''"g nnder p arms. Anna h.p.J V I'-. . I""' A ' P"rt 'imi i l hrT fnther's old hfr- Patting , . ' .; ""t seen War . . . 't i ,!' fr"m Iowa, just rt.nf r..ii .r .n. , 'in "I IH'lt. Th Saint-Mihiel w RarvT Cald- The 8. O. S. was a wry smile , , . And there was Greeubaum, from the hospital on his way to stop the typhus. She'd lunch with him? She had to get mail, and shoes out of her trunk, and read the American papers to find out about the great war he'd wait for her in the waiting room? All right . . , Tho New York papers. In the resd ing room, hanging from sticks. On the front page, a fac, handsome, careless, smiling through the blur of the newspaper . . . Why, that was Hoffman ... 'AMERICA'S AUK SHOT DOWN . . .' Anne bent over, reading, A brave story. No mention of fire ... Of blackened hands, cov ering that debonair face . . . 'Cooked, like beefsteak . , .' Greenbauin. waiting here for her to go to luncheon. "Ready?" he said. Anne laid down the paper. You couldn't find out about the war from that. "Yes, ready," she said. . . . Letters, in her broad, military pocket. Luxurious feeling that one could read them later . . . New shoes on her feet. Feet wouldn't be cold, wet, any more now . . . Greeubaum. smiling at her through bis heavy glasses. Telling her how Ttrnnhw nA tha little Quartemaater had been shipped off . . . How Mary Denton had died too bad . . . Should they go to Vois in's? Mouth, watering at the idea of lunch at Voisin's . . . About them the pleasant, urban racket of the rue ocrioe . . To have had a hot bath, and to be dressing to go out to dinner . . . The luxury r- it! Anne dressed slowly Let Barry Caldwell wait . . . She would not dispel that sweet, relaxed untroubled feeling . . Civilinn clothes. She'd bought a new, French dress of soft black velvet. It hung from her shoulders after the new style. It made her very straight and smooth, and thin. She put on Rosalind's blnck velvet nar, iot bad looking She leaned across the mantci toward the mirror, powdering her nose. Wicket . . It iuok tno slilne ott . . . Made you look well . . . Smell good . . . White gloves . . . And Rosalind's nice slippers . . . A fur, lent by the Red Cross woman down the entry. 'You look lovely,' she snid ... "Ah, ha!" Barrr Caldwell snrnnir lownra ner. wny, sne was tome on, ssid Anne. . . . The restaurant was in the Chamni Elysees. Glass walls and roof en closed a sort of garden. The white surfaces of the tables seemed to float in darkness, the lamp on each small table lost under its block shade. Above the tablecloths there floated facea. Faces, bending over, eating, faces leaning bock and chatting, t'niform buttons . , . The white shirt fronts of waiters Nice of you to Wear black. T can just see your face." said Barry Cold- wen, a disembodied spirit.' He looked across at the white face, the gray eyes shining. "What rot we write home," said Barry Caldwell. "Now If I write to my wife that I'm not doing much of anything, that I dined tonight in one of the best restaurants In Paris, op posite to a beautiful woman in block velvet. It'll moke her unhappy. She'll reel that all the sacrifices she s mak ing are for nothing. She wants to feel that I m on an Important mis sion." Anne looked across at the man's face. Hed talked about his wife on purpose . . . Needn't have done thot she hod known all along that he was married ... He leaned back, and his high cheekbones cast shadows upward. Something a little softened in the keen eyes . . . Something a little dan' gerous, now, in the man's face . . Something it gave the world a new tang , , . "What is your mission?" she asked. He laughed. "Oh, taking congressmen to see safe sector of the front. Swell way to promote action in the great war! Last one I took was blind. Insisted on getting out, feeling a shell bole. We both got some gas. I came back teary. I wrote my wife that thought she might think T was just a little noble. Women don't mind physical suffering God knows they get too much of it! To them it s a sort of noble, cleansing fire " "Hoffman burned up." said Anne. "why didn t they put that in the Amer ican naDers?" "Why don't they put it in the paper (hat forty per cent of nil our aviators burn up ' said Barry (.airmen, -iviij don't they print that It's because we don't Imve parachutes, because our planes are no good!" He laughed. "If people knew what, war was reany like, it wouldn't go on." They helped themselves to envinr from a great bo"'1' . . . "Why don't we tell them?" Anne said. "Partly tho censor. Partly because we're cowards. I'm in the S. O. S. on regular duty. It takes seven men down there to keep one up front. Well, those seven, after a certain doRe of boredom . . ." He looked at her. Her eyes-she knew . . . "Half the, letters I censor are stringing the folks at home on to think their little darling is at the front." he went on. "That's to protect their forailies. Families have got to think we're brave, self-sacrificiug heroes. They've gut to think we live -. sort of glorified, celibate life here." "There's one noble thing about the S. O. S.," ssid Anne. "That is that every one there would rother go up front." "Not all of "em," said Barry Cald well, "but most. And can you bloroo them? Danger's fun. Danger's ex citing. You go to war thinking you re going to see excitement. And you find that seven-eighths of it is a worse bore than ever Peace was. . "That's why I object to writing home and giving the impression that war is danger. Most of it is boredom and moral slumping. If every on would write home exactly what they do here, every momnn in the L. S. would be a pacifist when we get back. " "Yes," said Anne. "I know. I've been In Bordeaux." "You've been in Avenue Montaigne." said Barry Caldwell. "An accurate BRINGING UP FATHER By George McManui I CAnTt omoeuvtand i-n ivj-OftysJO HE fto CPoS ''M AFRAID Of HIM -1 AAeftD YOUR, HOSr40 "TO CALL ONI him "TO E.a tea uir CAN CA.LM WlM U a-r--. i af A a. I ttTl! HE WILA.-l'V6 Got mv Hi ,- 8A.MDTRAIWEO i wwm i l e MY MOS3An1D KtslOW WHol oO'o'b Its) OOF? II I III) rfW L.. 73 . NOW TAKE THE AOVJlCE I'VE. ClVEisl VOO- OON'T TRY TO CilVE ME AMY- 'Ve WORM A BALL AN' CHAINI LoMfi -v E.WOUGH , j-J Ma ' I 6YJOW6'. f -iou wave r .rti IMS. Intl Feature Sfrvni. tlau. TMlMCb ARE: COlN3 TO BE OVFPERENT- Onit grltsln rlghls rmrvrt 2 tFl I ( COME ON HOMe- LI WUY ,VtEH '- 1 COlN3 to BE NS WANJT TO TALK. VHATf MAO igp I w 1 I 1 1 r 1 1 KWI 1-11 II I I I J u T I I 1 1 1 1 I I Th description of what goes on there nmilil mill swell hit! N"t that I blame 'em. 1 know nactly why they act th day they do act. It's part ot War. Same thing goes on in all wart. What I ofcject to is that the people at home have to be guarded from it. They'd Vttr swallow that. too. First thing you know people will be teach ing children all over again that ar ia noble. "I'd like to see 'em slop saying. Johnnv. vour sm-estors went n"hly out lo Make the World free.' and be. gin savi g. 'Your ancestors got the world into such sad mess that there aaii, j , " Harry raid- wOrld into such san mess mat m-r-ir lo din that night. 1 wis no way to get out of U eicept by the anscient method of th beast and savage." "I'd like to see them stop saying, 'Johnny, this is your father's sword!' and begin saying 'Johnny, this i a photograph of the French girl that your father lived with. Your dear father was so thoroughly bored by the Great War that he got pleasure from a woman like that.' " "Would that make Johnny any less anxious to go and try it?" said Anne, una man laughed. "No, but it would make Johnny's wife and Johnny's mother twice at determined to keep him at home." "I doubt." said Anne, "if you'd ver make people at home believe what war's like." "Damn It," said Bnrry ,Caldwell. "There's a sort of conspiracy against it. The publishers are in it they've gotten out hundreds of volumes of tetters, each one a pail of whltewasn. And then the orators that raise the money tell people all sorts of liea. Liberty Loon speeches all this rot about our army Is the 'cleanest army.' Nobody ever tells 'em It. isn't moral cleanness merely better physical ar rangements. If they could see statis tics" He handed her a cigarette, and held a match up. "What we remember about war, and what they remember are going to be two entirely different matters." "Some day we'll have to write about it," Anne said. "And will they print It?" Barry Caldwell shook his head. They pushed their chairs back. "Let'e go lo the Folies-Bergere, Miss Wentworth," he sold. The theatre was dark. They edged their way past people's knees to their seats. Sat back. 'Ah . . .' (tirls. in bright dresses, dancing . . . Weaving in and out, kicking slim legs, throwing kisses . . , Slim legs with silk stock ings, silver shoes here . . . Lithe legs . . . Petticonts that openert . . . An American major and a captain in the side box shouted, their voices raucous ... A marine M. P. leaned over the side of the box toward the Major. "Less noise, sir." he was whispering, "less noise, sir!" "Making the world safe!" said Bar ry Caldwell. Outside the window the watched a lit tle creek. Not the way you thought the Marne should look. . .Nothing in war the way you thought it would be... Two French officers, opposite her, talking . , . "Mnrvelous what these Americans had done at Mont-Sec! Soldiera had gone across barbed wire os though it were mere grass... But they were young, these Americans, mere boys! And they were brave! And enfin, there were many of tnemr and tbey were coming fast now..." Anne mad her wny back through the evil-smelling corridors of the French train. Outside closed doors Frenchmen waited, line up... She walked past quickly, peering into car riages trying to find her own place. At laBt there was the bag. A young America,! officer sitting opposite. Hadn't noticed him before she went to breakfast. Hoped he wouldn't talk, at least till lunch time. Sleepy... She sat down, put her head back, closed her eyelids. A flat wheel going ker-plunk, ker-plunk below her. . . Anne got up, went out into the cor ridor, stood leaning over. Looking; at the narrow belief between the river und the railway. . .Little fences ran across it, this way, that way. Here and there among the gross aud bush es, little crosses. . . As if some one hud planted crosses wftn tne cabbage... She turned and beckoned to the young man in the compartment. Menu, not lo show it lo him. . .llefore lie came that way agnin he might be killed... "Come, see Ihe battlefield of Cha teau Thiery," she Noid. The young innu jumped. He stood next her, lean ing on the railing. More little mud fields. . .More little crosses... A hel met hanging on a bayonet among the dead grass... A narrow creek... "I came down on the train with a man who'd fought here. He told me..." The girl was telling him nbout the battle. "(josh. Is that the Mnrue? It's not the wny you'd thought it would be," lie said. They were stopping nt n sta tion murked with big letters HOU MANS. "Nothing in war is the way you thought it would be,'' said the strange girl... " James Eaton sat down again. Hor rible lo Imve girls know more about the front thun you did... Still, how could you help it? Thin girl would get off soon long before they got wny up there. .. "Where are you going? she asked. The young man gazed nt a sign above her heod. "Tnisez-voils, mcfiez-vous, les orielles ennemies vous content. O. hell. . ."Toul." he answered proud ly. Wasn't Toul almost all the way to Verdun? , "M-m-ni. So am I. At lensl, (hats where I get off." "But I go farmer up tnnn mm ny truck." the boy snid. Better not tell liar new where he finiillv went to. might he a spy. this girl. ..Anne smiled. So this boy bad never been there. The hut at Avency, out in tho mud field... And she was walking, some how, up the road toward it. with her mess hit... He'd be in the hut...Slio wonted to see him... He was going to tell her something. . . About two shining rails thai D....,l.A nff nlHe hv side, nnd seem ed to meet somewhere, for off, round a corner. . .She must walk faster... Hurry, . .The only person in the world she really wnnteu rus anus, scimc. moving up. toword her... "I'm hungry," he snid. "will yon tnke lunch..." Anne opened her eyes. Something that she wanted to remem ber, slipping, slipping... Something precious... Catch it .. .Something, t . Tho train had stopped, was standing. The voung man oppoaite was asking her if she wouiu tone mnen u him. - . ..... . "Thank vou," she said. If must find Hint miserable pink ticket. "Was that wha; that's for "Yes. Didn't you get one? They probably won't, let yon In." Th boy, dismaved. Hungry... "Got a package nf cigarettes?" snid the girl. 'Come on. We'll give th Frog that... Afternoon. The train was growing dark now. There were no lights. Ker plunk, ker-plunk, ker... plunk, ker... The train stopped. Outside, over the damp fields, darkness settled. Inside, the railroad carriage was dnnk, coin. Wrapped in her overcoat, Anne shiv ered in her corner. Cold waiting, in the eerie darkness. . .Across the II est dangereux' sign the young man leaned out. peering. The French officer had got off at Chnlons. with a solemn salute. Anne nnd the young American W'ere alone. She knew bis name now. Knew Hint be had been nt college with her coa sin. Knew all annul the Immb.ng school at flermont-Kerrniid. and just what s'luadron he was hoping to go "PKnew Ihnt when he got off at Toul. he had !" find his wsy somehow to o place called Aven-ry-le-Seo. . .Quite the opposite direction from where she'd lie going somewhere out to ward lb lines, the boy thought.. . An hour passed. Anne knew that he hoped to he a writer, was going up to Harvard, to take up V rench. Hoped to write poetry or something, under th inspiration of the front like Rupert Brooke did. . .S". far. of course, he hadn t seen anything that wos inspiring only mud and and stuff nt Clermont-t errand. Ann K"Hehr'e','lie'd ret a blanket for her oui of his bug. No reason she slioiiui oc col, like m.t. (Why ill 1111 did I hey s,n, women up here) lie v, -nipped the blanket roiino ner. " """:'" ...... clnin.v. Anne smiled in the darkness. Nice b".v. .. .i... km,., colder than the last one. Still the trucks bounced past, through the. darkness. .lame,. Knton wondered if he couldn't learn o writ nlnvs before you'd really lived much. Felt danger, perhaps, or had your heart broken, or something like that Would like to write a good piny about this war. But hang it, so far he hadn t "You'.' seen the rear." said Ann. "That's seven-'rlith " "But people just want th one eishlh." he snid. "Io you think a plav could ever give the whole lliing" "Nothing that people writ will erer alvi th whole thing." her voice was fleuut lolituda. sipping atr eofftt. drsamy is tb dirknssi. They'll write .Tass music, crowds milling hsck and forth . . . Tobacco smoke, swirl ing . . . People's shoulders, jiggling to the music . . . People buying drinks ar little tables . . . Italian officers with girls . . . British officers with girls . Portugues officers with girls . . . American officers with girls . . . American soldiers with girls . . . French avintors, British aviators. American aviators . . . Everybody buy ing drinks with girls. Girls laughing, winking at one another, patting the officers, pulling military hats off . . . Vivacity, music, smoke . , . Swirling , . . Swirling . . . Anne and Bnrry Caldwell stood, their bncks against a pillar. A stout American major tang at a table near I hem. His cap was tilted toward the French girl next him. Her hand on his shoulder, beating time . . . "Mod- dnmuzell from Armenheres, paries Voo-ooo!" A slim Marine lieutenant, a red band on his slve, dged In next Ann. "Yet sir. It's him. I warned him twice." she heard the soldier M. P. behind him saying . . . "Sir." the Marine lieutenant, sal uting the major. "I suggest that the Major return to his billet." "Th hell vou do!" The major pushed bis hnt bock. His heavy hand fell on th lahl. rattling glasses . . . "Mofl Inmuzell from Armentleres. porler.- voo-o-o-o . . . "Sir. I have a taxlcab at th door to take Hi Major to his billet . The hell yon have! Mnrlrlamuzoll from Armentieres. pa-r" "I.-nless the Major returns to his billet, it will be my duty to accompany him to the Rue Sointe-Anne . . ." Lt s move on. sold Barry t aid- well. To the Marine lieutensnt, as he passed, he said. "Hello. Snm . . ." Ynu know him'' Anne asaed as she edged Into her teat. Yes. I was In colleg with mm. Fin feller, Sam! Joined the Marines, because he wns snr that. thy'd see octlon. Then his battalion got stuck here on M. P. duty. His Job is to com her snd to the Casino every t tpn-Hiirty. to piv. the mnj or and cnlnnHi. who ure drunk, homo. Sn.-lier nrn't nllowd to arrent mnj orn nnd colonels, no they pt Vm nnd pnint 'em out to Rnm when he Rets hem, Swell job! "Well." flnrrr CnWwell lnuchPl. f lie hnrln't been doine this, he'd h.ire pot his dsmned head shot off nt flinteau-Thierrr. He thinks, of course, that he'd have liked that bet "It front wnr." said Anne. The finale, wonderful with color. Refore the chorus of irirls, n woman. drpfiP like a pencoek. . . All beads nnd fathers, sinuous, bare arms nnn bnre. white atomneli, . .Kissins her hnndf. s.njrtnr. wavintr. The house nhmitinr. . .Chorus srirls. klcklne slim lec. sinrinrj ann tnrowmr Kisses... a hedlnm of sound, the curtain, falling. falling... . , From the gfire nox an American captain and two lieutenants leapt onto the tasre. shout inr. dodffinir the rlnln. rurmilnir vanishing sman. hith-heeled slippers. . .Oaitered les rliM.ppenr.ns Deri inn nt p or imw ers. , . I he currain iHiimr. inmnir. mi tine the lees off... "Oh. la! la!" A woman's roice from aomewhere... fiiirhfer. . .The audience crowding up Ihe nlsles toward the exits,.. O.itt'Ho the theatre neonle clutch- inff at one another'a elbows. Blue, aoft , darkness... Paris... j Are you an ricnt: sain narrj Caldwell. m "All riirht." Anne mm. i Anne stood on the sidewalk In Tier treat foat. Rhe'd ml her train nn- mm the conctertre omnn nnn a laxi in i three minutes. At last Anne wared I nacknre or American ncarerres. The taxi stopped A box of boks that be had taken from the Ameri can library. Anns, ifl fh dinim ear. tat In about their own little corner, about the Infantry, or about the S.O.S. or about the Air Service. They'll never give you tne reeling oi people, bouno ins in ana Douncma out ot one moth er a Uvea. People thrown together. growing to know each other better in a week tnan id a year at home. Peo ple thrown apart again, forgetting uncut eacu otner in me next wee it People keeping on the -surface of things for fear that if they uiva be low they may be drowned there... They'll never get that feebug of lives, like bits of confetti, tossed from a high place, fluttering downward, downward. . .That's what war is. Con fettii, fluttering downward..." "Heavens." sit id James Eaton. An hour of walking of stumbling up and dowu beside the track and trying to get warm. At last the train went. Jauiea Katon boosted Anne on, after the thing was moving, lie held her coat up for her, tucked iu her blanket. She fumbled in her bag and found a candle. And he he blushed and hesitated about it lie bad a cu mile stick. He'd bought it in an old shop in Paris- one did so uauker alter some tu ing nice to look at in one s billet. . . He found it a brass dm sou that crouched and held the candie in its mouth. They lit the candle, set the Unix m on the floor between I hem And in Ihe wav?ring, yellow light tbey wiitcneu eucu otner,,. The slntiou at Toul black aud raiuy soldiers and officers bumpiug inio one a not tier in tne uarKness.. J nmes Eaton shouldered Anne's Itooks, hia duffle bag, her suitcase. He struggled on, behind her. ihe seemed to know her way here. Hhe smiled nnd showed her order to the guard at tho exit. Ho du In t look nt it. but looked nt her, and said "Hello, you're back!" riace tun ot soldiers, in ere was a soi tlicr leaning over from the line at the exit, srabhinit the bin: she carried. ruiy, .Misa Wemivortu, trie uoi nel'a sbofer waited for you two hours. The soldier smiling at her, triad to see her. u mailer, you can come aiong with me: 1 sot a truck Here.' "Kmitzl Hoh, but I'm glud lo see vou I she was savintt. .lames fjuioti waicneo; tue somier take her arm and steer her gently. Su, the fellow thought he owned her. lid he? Hell, if you weren t carrying her dnrn books, you'd turn right around and leave her. . .Only you i hi hi i. want to leave her. daiuu it... Wanted to follow her... Talk to her more, more,. .Women ougbt lo be wined right off the earth in wartime. There she was, turning around now, to say goodbye, ibis would be tlie end. t iuii . . . ever see ner "Would you like to ride to Avency with us'" she said. "I'm going there, tlil. James Katon dumped the box down on the streaming pavement. So, it wasn't to the front at all that he was iniini?. . .The ffirl wan commie. . " e nuvway. he wouldn't have to leave her. ... Til, if neb kniimtfH forward, anlash ing mud behind it. Inside, Anne and James Katon nnd another Lieutenant nut on their bags. Under the flapping I'Uiivus side, rain spattered. The other l. eutenaut bad turned up, someuow, from the darkness. He, too, was going to Avencyle8ec, wherever that waa ...Url througti tins muo ami unr nes...Who were this girl and man that seemed to know each other? Glad he wasn't the driver. , .Black ' night like this, and running into tho black ruin with no lights. James Katon listened to the mud Mhidi. Kd of the earth, this must he where they were, going through the black mud. ..Why, in Heaven's mime, did they send women Anne leaned her back against Ihe slamming sideboard. The hut home, that... Could hardly wait to get there... Her Kitchen, with MacLeod end Hopkins -lookin for you..." That tiny room of hers. ..He: stove. ..Her bed, of shock absorber. . .Her tin hat, on it ntiil...Sho beirnn humming on old tune in the darkness her voice Jiggled hv the firce vibration. "Hy the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin eastward to the aea... James Katon caught the tune up. his voice a strong, clear tenor: "There's s Burma irl a-settin, nnd I know sho things o me... he nng. Life, not so bad...fiod, how the on brouicht back Ihe old, old things that you'd been wanthu Ut remem ber... The goofer across the truck there, coming in with rnther a good "An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer ,, "China. Vront. the Bay..." Verse after verse, they sang it... The truck stopped. The girl was Jumping out over the tailboard, land ing, splash, in a muddy puddle below The driver, hauling out her bHgs and talking to her. "Carnerr's gone.' he was saying. "There a another boob in there now. ..." tm tt , "No. Not really?' she said. "Won't you come in and have something to eat?" she called to the lieutenants. They piled out. They looked pround them. Nothing in sight. This girl, nnd the eoldior. must be trying to fool them. . . .Nothing any where but rain and blanknesa, and there was this strange girl plunging off into it. . . .Mud. over your ankles . , .Coming in between your boots nnd puttees .... Why, this was just o ploughed field Suddenly the girl, the soldier, disappeared In some thing. A fence, that hit you, James Kntnn Mt his way along ft with hla hands. An opening he went through. There was the girl, holding a wood en door wide open, before him. He blinked. A place with little lamps or pink and yellow. A big place, warm nnd smoky An open fire of wood, thn flickered in a brnzier. Abound It soldiers, tinnimr back In chairs, their feet annlnst its railing. rtoldiers playing checkers, writiue letters. One soldier pounding at an old piano. Mn. rushing up. shaking the girl's hand, taking hr coat off, telling her they'll got her supper ready. , .Toll ing her lo take her hat off 'Vo tdic'd lof.k like ho.r-4." !ame Katon Mood, unnoticed. In tlf shadow. The noldier at the piano was striking up a nw tune. ! lbs ethf soldiera isouUd, taxi ing, looking across their shoulders at the girl, here. Four hundred voices, yelling. . .Eight hundred sets of hob nails, stamping the board floor. , , . "Hail, hail, the gang's all here," the whole place shook. . . . "What the Hell do we care? Wbut the Hell do we care? Hail, Hail, the gang's all here, What the Hell do we care now?" Silence, after the uproar. And then a quiet laugh. "It's good to be home," the girl said. The new Y. M. C. A. mau wanted a can of bullied beef for breakfast. Uut.kel was his name, he explained. old Bad (Ittskell, of Omahaw. He'd like a little of this corned willy opened up every morning, just fixed up with a little creamed sauce. Sure she'd like it herself, once ahe'd tried it. . , . He'd be glad to wake her up a little early, his wife, uow, buck in Omaha, "Thank you." Anue said, "I believe I'll wake myself up." Cutting bread. It was as if she'd never left the canteen. . . . Piling saudwlches. Almost time to stop ami go to dinner. MiicLeml came in, it ml stood beside the table, quiet. "Pvo something for you." He picked her hand up, gently, nnd slipped n broad, silver ring over her finger, "1 mude it for you," he said. ''How beautiful!" She held her hand up. looking. Who look the rtug off, fiogering its silver smoothness. The man's eyes, on her, waiting. . , A hoy's face. , , .Boy, bringing u pres ent to tho teacher. . . .No, a ninny But you mustn't see that. . ,"I,low did you ever do it?" He showed her, standing a two-franc piece on the table, pounding with his big finger. "It plays out, snd you cut the in side." Well, auywuy, she'd taken it. . . . .Something thnt he bad handled would be near her. . , .Near as he'd ever get to this girl. "I've got something for you, too." She reached behind a cocoa tin and pulled out Dnr win's "Origin of Spe cies." "That the one that's goin to spoil my religion for me. ain't it? Thanks." lie tucked the book inside bis blouse and walked out. Anne held the tsilver ring between her fingers. A beautiful thing smooth and hand-made and simple. Inside the rim. letters. . She held it up. "Liberte Egnlilc craicruiie, mey aaid. A row of British officers sat next Anne, smoking block pipes. Before them, on an improvised stage in their mess shuck, the Avency ahow troupe was periormmg. i.eiimd them Ifritisb tommies sat. in solid rows, eyes sol emn above big mustaches. Anne laugheif tlie jokes were old, but boys were funny After her, the British officers removed their pipes and laughed, too. Behind, the Tommies sat in silence. Tho boys on th stage winked at Anne as they went past. The officer neit Anne looked at the watch on bis wrist. He rose. The others rose. too. "Going to bomb Kssi'ii,'' he whispered; "I any. it was awfully good of you to come wit h this show, , , ." lie shook Anne's hund. "Vou can't think how nice It is to see on American lady" . . . .Tho twelve filed out. , Anne snt alone in the front row. with the American lieutenant who ran the show troupe. A roar, like an express trniii, sounded above the roof, drowning the final chorus. "There goes Ihe Hnndley-Page," said the lieutenant. A black night. Tt began to min Just as they starred back. A mizzing mist beat against Anne's face on the truck's front seat. She peered out in to darkness. Could lie rely aee the heads of the two soldiers who lay stretched along the mud gunrds. . , . Could feel the Lieutenant. tenBe be side her, his eyes straining. inside the truck" the piano began to janirte. The boys singing "Keep Your Heod I 'own, Frltzie Boy." The truck lurched. Like being joggled in to a bottomless abyss, this. . , .The soldier next her crouched over the wheel, eyes half closed, neck moving this way. that way. '. . . .see a darn thing "she heard him mutter. 1 lie Lieutenant, nervous1. His thiuh tense aicainst hers. , . .Tils arm, jerk ing when the truck lurched. A shrill whistle Explosions from motor cycle engine The thing grew loud, and louder Galling below them, nn the roadway, sputtering off ahend Into the blackness. Plana tch rider, said the driver. "fiot to keep over to the right. Lieu tenant. There'll be another in a min ute. They send two Id case one of em crashes Anne wanted to take hold of some thing, to cling to it. But there whs nothing to take bold of. Would the day ever come when one could ride In automobiles with lights on? Oainu that piano!' muttered the Lieuten ant. "To the left. Smith, lo the left! (iod!" He was leaning forward, hold ing to the runnina lioard. Hey. there!" The man on the ntht mudtruard was shouting. , , . .Tho great trurk settled sidewavs. sinkinir. slnkinir. . . Tipping, lurching that crusy piano inside always Jinellng uning to tip over well, you could die here, in this muddy blackness. , . . Anne felt the Meutcnanf a arm against her, holding. . . .Not much would be left when you got under neath that big truck, , , .Anyway, the family wouldn't have to see you, , . Nobody would ever tell that that part , .A jolt. Thank (tod. the thinir had stopped, had touched the bottom, aooiewhere. Inside, men's voices, singing: 'Keep your head down. Fritzie boy! Keep your head down. Fritzie boy!' Piano stilt playing. .. ,M .'Lett night by the star shell light We saw you! We saw you! Yoti were flxlnir Your burhrd wire When we opened rapid fire. ix you want to see your lather In the Fatherland. Keen your head down, Frltzie Boy!' Damn thnt music" anid the Lieu tenant. "Gilt, evervhntlvl "Hnan Ant Of it.' M Anne walked tin and down In the blink mud of the field while the men shoved. The oltimv truck hung bal anced, over the bank's edge, its rear wheel whirling the field's mud out behind. "Shore on the rear end there, you (iod da" "Shut up!" j aom waikt4 o. Battar to the field a way, so tbey could curse all they wanted , . . Xabier to do things in the army if you swore . , , .Part of the bottied-up rage of all this wasted generation, working itself off. . . .She tried to move her toea inside her damp shoes. If only one's feet weren't always cold. . . Water from furze bushes slapped her ankles. How calm those British era had been, going to bomb Kssen . . . .Might have been starting out to play a golf match A groan. A groan, out here in the darkucsa? She stum bled forward, bending over, peering. A man's groan. . . God, what could It be? What was it? A man's boots, lying here, at her feet. . . .One boot turned up. tho other with its toes down in tho wet grass. , .A man's leg. ... A man's body ... .A mau, lying on his stomach, Ms head twist ed strangely, under his shoulders. Leg must have been on backwards ... .It looked like a doll's leg, twisted the wrong wny. . , .Anne knelt down, pulled hia shoulder. If she could turn him over, . . .Wounded soldiers ought to lie on their backs Iwnutiful, with pale faces facing Heaven. , .Another groan, , . .His face wns (lark, distort ed. It dropped dowu. into the wet grass, nose in the mud. Katon snt In Ihe kitchen, elbow on the tnble. watching Berths cut bread, when Anne got hack. "I got my or ders,'' he said. "The i7th wants some one who can play the piano " His voice was gloomy. , , "The 07th?" Fine! You'll be off today, then?" She tied her apron, rolled her sleeves up. Be nice not to have him always silting round the kitchen . . . ''Yes,'' he watched her dipping golden mnrmnlade nut of a tin pail. Wondered how 'much the French wo man would understand what be said . , , Something he must say to her before ho left here damn H, here camo that big sergeant , . And the talkative fellow out of the Post Of fice . , , Filling the whole kitchen up. as I!! they owned it . , , And she wat talking to them, laughing, kidding. . She vva glad that they hnd come, and stopped his Katon went out the kitchen door nnd hanged It. , . New prisoners came that day to sweep the hut out, Roay, pink faces blue eyes, wearing strnnga, round caps without, a vizor. They brought their heels eogether, their hands up. stiffly stood, like wooden soldiers . . .Oiiziug nt Anne, their faces deli berately blank, without expression. . . Why, these were children. . ."CJer mans." explained the guard. "We got four hundred of 'em in a stockade downtown." "Oulen Morgent" Anne smiled. The wooden soldiers melted. Sudden smiles lit their fnces. , .Boys, delighted. . . "(Juten Morgen, (inadigea Frnuleln!" They stood, grinning. , .Bowing. , . Listening to her. eager Ach, yes to clean a floor, they understood that! They got on their knees and scrubbed acruhled without stopping. The guard leaned on his riffc, watching, grinning. The floor had never been so clean, the boards shone yellow. Anne came with sandwiches and cups of cocoa. The guard grubbed bis. The prisoners stood looking. "Fur Sie." snid Anne. "Fur Ihnen " How did you ny it?" MA-n-ach!" Their faces flushed. They put hesitating hands nut. watch ing her face. For them? Really for them? White bread? Cocoa? (.ott In Himmel! "Ttnnke schon. mein Fraul letn!" They looked nt her. shyly, from un der blond brows. "Hehr gut!" She watched them, eating. Small boys, with a treat . , , Might be Americans, except for their caps. . ."The Frail leln reminds me of my alster In Hentsclilniid.'" said Ihe youngest, "Do I!" Anue nid. ... 'Will you conduct n funeral?" The Doctor stood behind Anne, his trench cont dripping. "What, me?' She looked nt the pleasant, pink face, that was streaked with rain. "Two boy a died yesterday of flu down at the camp hospital. There are no chnp lains In the Air Service, and I don't know how to get these fellers buried. You're nn uplifler, I thought perhaps you " "'The T.M.C.A. man can do It. I'll bring him.' snid Anne. "But I ain't a minister, any more than you are," Dad (Jiiskell complain ed. "I didn't come out here to " "That's what war h, Isn't It. Mr. Oaskell?" Anne snid. doing some thing you didn't expect to. I'm sure nobody could read the service bet ter " Had t.nskell buttoned up the collar of his blouse, puffed his thick chest out. Marched s couple of times up and down the kitchen. . . "Well say!" he said. "I'll have a try at it." They rode out on the f rnnt seal of a triielt. Bain dampening their knees, stinging their faces, , .The oak trees on the ridge beyond the road rone up and lost themselves in trailing white mist. On Anne's right sat flaskcll, his face Rfjuinchcd up, eyes half closed. Thri heating rain, running down the wrinkles. . .On her left the soldier at the wheel lowered his head against the storm, his eyes Intent on the truck ahead. Its wheels flinging mud back. . .Behind, a pine box rattled against the bouncing floor boards. . . They turned off Into a little field. The forward truck slopped moving, wheels whirling, sending up clots of brown mud. A young lieutenant jumped down, signalled to stop. Across the field there, someone had dug two hole and thrown the dirt up in a great pile be tween them. Inti the empty holes, the rain poured. , The soldiers struggled with the heavy box, , , Lugging it, they lurched forward, mud sucklnc their hnnta. The men slid, clutched at tho slippery wood, trod on. , .After them ploughed Anne and Mr. (iaskell. Behind the hole the soldiers laid the box down. They shook their reddened fingers . . .nix men with rifles, lined up in the mud. and stood, red face trl earn ing, . , A sergeant save a shnrn command. The riflpp, clattered. The lieutenant aMkajaal tA ffaihaljj iMtfcaat Ml AassilM Anne fumbled in her pocket for a book that she had borrowed from a lieutenant at mess. She handed it to Gaakell, opened at a place where she bad put a rib bon. He burrowed for hia glasses, put them on, eyes blinking, mouth set, like some ugly toad, gazing upward, ltain pattered on the book's small, thin pages. Uaskcll smacked his lips and gave an odd gasp. "I am the Uesurrectlon and tha Life," he began. , . The soldiers gazed, down at the mud that ran from tba lose pile into the black bole. Tin lieutenant gazed down. Gaskell stumbled on, gasping, spluttering ov er unfamiliar words. Anne gazed aft the long box. Mud, staining the wbtta bonrds, , .Somewhere were tbia man'a family, his friends. . .Lump rising in her throat. . .She swallowed hard. . To die alone, of flu, in a camp hospi tal. . .You didn't come to war to do that ... To be planted Id a wheat field by people who didn't know yon, didn't care. .Mud, staining the white boards. She felt for her handkerchief. Hea nose. . .It waa his mother she was weeping for, not fir the soldier. . . Shu did.i't know him. Nobody here did . . .A sharp command. Rifles, point ing toward the gray sky. .ltiflsa crackling. .Crackling again. .Again , . .Sileuce. .The patter of rain . -Little Levinson, raising his bugle, puffing his cheeka out. Anne closet) her eyes. Taps. . .The sweet, famil iar music of each night. , .The last note trailing sadly on the damp air. . The soldiers were getting the other box down off the truck, struggling with it through tha mud. This whole thing to do again. . .Another. . . Katon waa strolling around the hat when Anne got back. She watched him. He was unhappy, reatlesa. . . Why didn't he go? Five duya bad passed now since he got his order, To the U7th, too, tha one be wanted. There waa that piano business it must be that afraid to tell them that be didn't really play the piano. Anne leaned against the counter She looked out into the smoky hut, where the men sat. Tbey sat, feet up, oo the rail about the brazier, cap tipped back, coughing. .Tbej seldom sang now. . .From the darkness, over iu the corner, little K1 ward's white face, gazing at her. . .Men, cougbiug , , .Coughing. . .By the stove, behind her, MacLeod coughing . , .Hopkins coughing , . .Anne coughed. When the) coughed now, her ears hurt. . Cutting bread. 'Just a baby's pray eg at twilight,' some soldier wailed M the tinkling piano In the hut outaidc , . .Through the kitchen wjndow Ann) saw Jamea Katon strolling aerosg fro... the woods, , .Still here queer! He come In the kitchen door. 'When ltghta are lo-o-o-o-o-ow. 'They've signed an armistice with Austria," said Jamea Eaton. "They have?" Anne held tha bread knife poised. Could It be true, then, that this wsr might end? Not now . . Not so soon. , .'Poor baby's ya-e-are Damn that song. Are filled wits, te-e-e-e-ears. , "Dope come over the telephone, from Chsumont." "Truly ? Do you suppose "sna Isid down the bread knife, stood gaz ing out of'the window. It It should slop. . .It it could only stop. . .Queer noiie behind her. Eaton . , .She could feel him, standing very close, making funny noises with his breath. Uood Lord! Ho it. was that? And not be cause he couldn't play the piano, that ho boil stayed here "Her precious little tot, Js Dnd'a forgot-ma-not . . ." That tune. . .God! if only there wasn't any piano. , "You don't care anything about met" His mouth near her ear. . .Hia hot breMb against her neck. . .Bo he was going to make a scene right here . . .What Idiots men were . . Slaves to their bodies. , .Most of them not nil . . .There had been one who and he waa the only one you 'She cllmhe the ata-a-a-a-aira, . . Got to say something. With Katon making noises here be hind you. . .Making the whole place tremble with his Ugh. , .If only men could "Nope." Rhe went on cutting bread. 'Quite unawa-a-anres, and says her prayers. , Damn that piano. , . . "(iod!" Fnton stepped back. Always known this girl was a hard one. . Known it ever since the day he saw her toss thnt prayer book on the tnble. , .After a funeral, laughing. . . And yet, Grent God! He wanted If only this fool place weren't full of people. , .You couldn't argue women into this thing. , .But tbey fell, once you'd Ievfnaon1' she was calling, Toms help me lift this marmite off tba stov. like a good boy, will yon. Easy now. Now up. Tha-a-at'a ft' The little bugler stood there, beam ing. She treated the fellow as If ha were a small boy. , .You had to act like a small boy. it seemed, with wo men like her. . .She was turning now and looking at him. .Making him ache all over. , "Do yon know what I'd do If I were you? Her yoiee was very gentle. His mother nsed to talk, Just like that, when he was naughty. . . Perhaps, after all, she wasn't a hard one. . .Made you ache worse, thle . . 'No,' he stammered. Hia face hot . , .Growing hotter. . .I'd go up to my squadron today, right off. for fesr the war should be over before I got there." Rhe held her band out. Pend him off feeling friendly. . .Must a Ba by's Prayer at Twi-l-I-l-Iight. . , . Damn that piano. . . 'For Her Daddy Over There . . Her hand still out. . . He stood. Didn't dare to touch her . . .Wanted God! say something, make your damn mouth more. . .X sound. , . .Didn't care look at her eyes for fear ha He turned, rushed out. "Good Luck,' she waa saying. . . Anna went on spreading salmon on a sandwich. 'Poor things,' aha rnnt tered. . . . "Say, If you was Teferrln' to tbesa here goldfish sandwigea you're mak ing." Hopkins came In, perched Mm aelf Oil the table, breetr. smiling, " say tbey are poor things'," Anna laughed, i
