Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-06-17


Inv own-waiting for message from
} lSoren. It came. but it was not what |
lhad expected and Hoped for. The maid
who brought in the lamp said that imme-
diately after supper all the men, includ-
ine Soren, Lad been marched off to their
rooms, with strict orders not to leave
! them on any condition whatever.
/ said nothing but that l wanted no
, srrfer, only cup of tea, and she went
AWAY. / remember that when next
moved my limbs we're stiff, and it cost
ne an effort to loosen my clasped hands,
and from this | conclude that had been
sitting perfectly moIionless for more
than an hour. But had not been idle.
As / sat there | gradually made up my
mind rightly or wrongly 1 cannot even
row tell-that it was my duty to risk
what | had to risk to save our men. |
Swallowed the tea the servant had
brought me, and then / got up, and,
crossing the hall, l. went into the draw
ling room that had been given up to the
officers. The room was full of smoke.
land they were playing cards when 1 en-
tered: but as / crossed the room to where
they sat they all rose and put down their
cigars.
Colonel" ! said, Il find you have
locked up all my men,"
only for the night, madam" he said,
'and am very sorry"
1T makes no difference to me whether
you are sorry or not" / said, haughtily.
Il am not here to seek for sympathy. /
come to ask how far you mean to 60"
He said that he did not quite under
stand my question.
| Sam / ond ,,,1, dc ,o,,;cnpore
asked.
NO, madam, certainly not; we are not
waging war on ladies'" he said, and
smiled in the way that always vexed
me so.
But ON invalids,' l said scornfully,
child as was. He looked inquiringly at
me- Il am thinking of my old servant
with the wooden leg" | went on.
"Oh, if he can be of any use to you,
madam, he shall be let out Immediately.
Only you must promise that he shall not
leave the place tonight"
| II can promise you that" l said; and
| then l went on as if / were queen
speaking ~ ole of her subjects: "Then
will you see tn orders are given to that
end?"
| Again | was exed to see the amused
i tApIeSSiOi OH ala tItlI IdCeS5 btlIS COO
/ great a fool to think of what terrible
comedown | should have had if they had
| taken me seriously One of the young
officers was dispatched with the colonePs
orders, and | stalked out of the room,
the colonel himself holding the door open
| for me.
| A little later SOren came to the kitchen
door, where cook and / stood waiting for
1 1. Al l.. L, IL
went on what was believed to be a round
of inspection to all the different sheds
and houses / told him what | had decided
to do. He did not approve of it, and l
had to use all my authority to make him
consent to help me in carrying out my
plan. But l must say this of him, that
when once he had given in he helped me
| with real good will. One of my great
est difficulties was how to get Male, my
riding horse, out of the stable and on to
the road. Taking ner out the ordinary
way was out of the question, as the door
was sure to be watched, and we would
have to cross part of the yard. The only
fpossible way would be through the
coaehman's kitchen, which opened both
into the stable and into the kitchen gar
den; but then there were steps leading
up " OIlt hibSIlSl liOtii DOtH SUES. anu
Male knew no more of this way out of
the stable than she knew of the way into
our drawing room. However, as it was
the only way, we had to try it. So we
made all our preparations; lifting the
inner door from its hinges, and pushing
the other one as far back as possible we
moved everything in the kitchen out of
Males way, and at last we pulled two
IF So fhSnlxne4 -{1
over her hoofs. And all the while we
cerned, talking in our natural voices, so
as to make them think we We're only
setting things right for the night
When we had done, cook and 1 went
back to the house and made believe that
we were fastening all the windows in
the kitchen, while we were opening the
one looking into the garden. Cook wept
bitterly when / said goodnight to her,
and it made me scold her, for | was
somewhat nervous and frightened my
self.
1t took me some time to get properly
dressed in one of my husbands suits, but
at last | was ready, and before | put out
the light / had a peep at myself in the
mirror. Terrified as I certainly was at
that time, l still felt pang of disap-
pointment at my own aspect. There Ger
tainly was nothing very chivalrous or
imposing in my appearance, as I stood
there in clothes made to grow in," with
a pair of worsted stockings over my
boots and up above my knees, and soft
felt hat pulled down over my ears.
i then put out my light, and the time
that followed while l waited to see the
lights disappear from all the windows in
the house was the only time seriously
contemplated giving up my foolhardy
enterprise All my patriotic zeal died
right away, and if my many big words
to Soren had not stood on my side. cow
ardice would have got the better of me.
Ever since then l have had some trust in
big words for keeping a middling good
man up to his mark.
1t was close upon midnight before all
xxsnS Hurly aO1 G1,iot I