The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-03-15
Continued fr = l

resisnation, but they'd be willing to
courtmartiai me and dismiss me from
the service In disgrace. Then you
wouldn't want to marry me-and 1
shouldn't have any way of supporting
you II you did. only know one
trade, and that's soldering"
Don't call 1t a trade, beloved. it's
the noblest profession IN all the
world, and you're the noblest soldier
that ever was. and in year or two
you'll be the biggest general In the
army"
He could not AFFORD to shatter such
a devout illusion or quench the light
OF faith In those beloved and loving
eyes He tacitly admitted his ability
to be promoted commander-in-chief In
year or two. He allowed that gilt
tering possibility to remain, used 1t
as basis for argument.
Then, dearest, you must help me
to do my duty"
She clasped his upper arm as If it
were an altar and she an lphigenia
about to be sacrificed to save the
army. And she murmured with utter
heroism:
Il Will Do what you like with
mel"
He squeezed her hand between his
biceps and his ribs and accepted the
Offering In look drenched with graf
itude. Then he said, matter-of-factly:
Well see how much time we have
when we get to-whatever the name
of that street is"
The car jolted and walled on its
way like an old drifting rocking
chair. The motorman was in no bur-
ry. The passengers seemed to have
no occasion for haste. Somebody got
on or got off at almost every corner,
and paused for conversation while
the car waited patiently. But eventu-
ally the conductor put his head in and
drawled:
Hay. Here's where you get OF
at"
They FASTENED to debark and found
themselves in narrow, gaudily-light-
ed region where they saw lordly
transfer-distributor, profound schol-
ar in Chicago streets. He informed
them that the minister's street lay
far back along the path they had
come; they should have taken a car
in the opposite direction, transferred
at some remote center, descended at
some unheard-of street, walked three
blocks one way and four another, and
there they would have been.
Mallory looked at his watch, and
Marjorie's hopes dropped like a
wrecked aeroplane. 1or he grimly
asked how long it would take them to
reach the railroad station.
We'll, you'd ought to make 1t in
forty minutes" the transfer agent
said-and added, cynically, IF the car
makes schedule"
Good Lord, the train starts In
twenty minutes!"
We'll. I tell you-take this here
green car to Wexford avenoo-tnere's
usually a taxicab or two standin'
there"
Thank you. Hop on, Marjorie
Marjorie hoped on. and they sat
down, Mallory with eyes and thoughts
on nothing but the watch he kept in
his hand,
During this tense Journey tSe Girl
peftoCIeu uoI cOuA Win BToCcAui
martyrdom.
I'll go to the train with you, Har.
ry. and then you can send me home
In q taxicab." - F
Her neither lip trembledA and her
eyes were filmed, but they were brave.
and her voice was so Stcnderg that It
wooed his mind from his watch. he
gazed at her, and found her so dear,
so devoted and 80 pitifully exquisite.
that he was almost overcome by an
impulse to gather her. into his arms
mediate passengers or to his far-on
military superiors. An hour ago they
were young lovers in, all the Tilt and
thrill of elopement. She had chung to
him In the cleaning of their taxicab,
3 as It sped like a genie at their whim
to the place where the minister
would unite their hands and raise his
own in blessing Thence the new
husband would have carried the new
wife away, his very own, soul ana
body, duty and beauty. Then, ah.
then in their minds the future was an
unwaning honeymoon, the journey
across the continent, d Stroii diohS o.
lovers lane, the Pacific ocean gar
den lake, and the Philippines a chain
OF Fortunate Isles decreed especially
for their Eden. And then the taxi
cab encountered lamppost. They
thought they had merely wrecked a
motor garland 10, they had wrecked
Paradise.
The railroad ceased to be lovers
lane and became a lingering torment;
the ocean was a weltering Sahara,
and the Philippines Dry Tortugas
of exile.
Mallory realized for the first time
what heavy burdens he had taken on
with his shoulder straps; what dis
NAL life of restrictions and hardships
an officers life is bound to be. 1t was
hard to oDey the soulless machinery
of discipline, to be a brass-buttoned
slave. He felt all the hot, quick re-
sentiment that turns faithful soldier
n,tti AZ takes time to