Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1909-11-18

"Of course" he replied. "Ill be
down in the works experimenting as
much as i can"
"And L." murmured the girl, half to
herself. will be up here waiting pa
gerly. anxiously, watching for you to
come with the news that everything
has gone right. Oh. what Il pity 1t is
that you should invent this gun aud
not get anything for your brains and
your labcr!"
he shook his head. smiling.
NO." he said; Its right. That's
part of the contract l made with Uncle
Sam when he took me in at Annapolis.
He educated me. gave me the chance
to work. and l promised to devote my
life to him.
Were all merely cogs in the big
machine. Miss Durant, we fellows
from Annapolis and West Point. cogs
in the machine that makes the flag.
and the flags the biggest thing to us.
you know. It's hard sometimes. fear
fully hard. We have to give up a lot.
But it's duty, INC duty is what we
must think Of"
The girl had been looking a: him. ad-
miration and just n hint Of something
more showing In her face.
YES" she said Mt last: after all,
you men Of the navy and the army are
the real patriots working for your
country. You seem to be about the
only ones who do any renl sacrificing"
Then her voice became more earnest.
But l don't see why you should sac
rifce everything"
The man laughed somewhat grimly.
"That's just it. you see" he said.
1--WE try not to sacrifice everything.
We always try not to sacrifice our self
respect. l think"
self respect. tiddlesticks. 1t isn't
self respect men won't Sacriiice.' she
snapped. Its generally s%eltishness.
Oh. how you men do love to fool
yourselves. You step back and stand
on your dignity. so proud and hard
and rigid. and you pretend your suf-
fering. that you are heroes who won't
sacrifice self respect. and in reality
yOo "a oNilAi vi u IN WV thN
simply stupid self deceiverS who are
willing to sacrifice your future. hap
piness. everything. on the altar of yuul
own enthusiastically sacrifice our
selves and sometimes
She paused suddenly, aghast at what
she was about to say
"And sometimes" the mar question.
cd unsteadily.
Aud sometimes girls talk more than
they should" she ended sharply. Then
she looked at him with a sudden smile
and quick change of mood that baffied
him completely. II think it's time we
went back to wireless t~elegraphy, don't
your
Baftled. but still somewhat relieved
at being saved from himself, Sommers
turned to the wireless instrument.
You can send and take well:" he
asked.
"Of course" she answered. edward
taught me originally. but I've learned
a lot since. He's quite an adept too
l learned really because l wanted tc
have a wireless plant placed on ia
LIN . JoALl. L Sl % ooLlC lllllC liz
I'm cruising on the yacht l may pict
you up when you are on your battle
ship and have a little chat with you
Do you think you'd be glad to heal
from meg"
I'D he glad t hear from you NJ
matter where l was" he exclaime,
eagerly. land I'd recognize you. too
u-1othnr tbn 90 yroc ,1irootod Z,
me or not"
II will se::d it to YOU" she said. Will
meaning. "n!id you must recognize it.
II will; YOU may be sure of that" ht
agreed earnestly. And now | thinl
L must be going. It's late"
He turned within the door and thel
started back to the drawing room.
Meantime down in the drawing roon
Edward Pinckney had been having az
uncomfortable quarter of an hour
Marsh had come up from the work:
determined to see Mr.. Durant.
Pinckney had not told the master
d~raughtsman of the contract which he
had signed, and Marsh. thoroughly
imbittered with the prospect of losin.
csCiS llLllS ne udu QOuG, uullleu up u
the house determined to lay bare the
whole matter before the owner OF the
works, throw himself on Durant's mer
cy and beg that at least he be given
credit for the invention Of the Rhine.
strom gun.
Fortunately Pinckney had beer il
the drawing room when the butler
brought in Marsh's name and so had
been able to intercept the man before
he got to Durant.
II don't want to tall to you" ex
claimed the inventor when he entered
and found it was Pinckney and not
Durant he had been shown in to see
Il don't want any more Of your soft
talk. You talk and promise. but you
don't do anything. l ought to have
known better than to trust you the
other day when you fooled me down
at the works with all that stuff about
giving me II chance. | felt in my
heart you weren't going to do it: but