The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1913-10-24

to the village or ParadiseG WhyI
The Countess said: IL welcome all
who care for the cause. You will never
hear an unkind word from me If you
desire to resume the work in Para
disc. DR.. belmont will be there; Mon
sieur Tavernier also, l hope; and they
are older and wiser than |, and they
have reached that lofty serenity which
is far above my troubled mind. Ask
them what you have asked Of me;
they are equipped to answer you"
1t was time for another discord from
me, so l said: Madame, you have seen
a thousand men lay down their lives
for France. Has it not shaken your
allegiance to that ghost of patriotism
which you call the Internationale'r'
The Countess turned her troubled
eyes to me.
What | have seen, what | have
thought since yesterday has distressed
me dreadfully," she said. q have
tried to include all the world in a
broader pity, a broader, higher, and
less selfish love than the jealous,
single-minded love for one country"
You saw the ~cuirassiers die in the
street below" l repeated, with the OBJ
stinacy of a limited intellect.
"Yes-and my heart went out to
Them" she replied, with IN emphasis
that pleased me and startled Buck
hurst.
Buckhurst began to speak, but l
cut him short.
"Then, madame, if your heart went
out to the soldiers of France, it went
out to France, tool"
"Yes-to France" she repeated, and
saw her lip begin to culver.
Wherein does love for France con
fict with our creed, madame" asked
B%uckhurst, gently. 1T is only hate
that we abjure."
She turned her gray eyes on him.
Il will tell you: in that dreadful mo
ment when the cavalry of France
cheered Death In his own awful pres
ence, loved them and their country
my country!-as l had never loved in
all my life. And | hated, too!
hated the men who butchered them
-more!-I hated the country where
the men came from; / hated race and
country and the blows they dealt, and
the evil they wrought on France-my
France! That is the truth; and | real.
ize i'll"
After a silence Buckhurst said: IAN
that may be, madame, yet not impair
your creed.
What" she said, docs not hatred
OF the stranger impair my creed?"
1T will die out and give place to
reason"
when? When l attain the lofty.
dispassionate level / have never at.
talned. That will not be while this
war endures."
who knows?" said Buckhurst,
gently.
said, abruptly: $50 you are not go
ing to denounce me to the Prussian
provost?"
He lifted his w~ell-shaped head and
gazed at the Countess with an ad-
mirable pathos which seemed a mute
appeal for protection from brutality.
That question is a needless one"
said the Countess, quietly. 1T was a
cruel one, also, Monsieur Scarlet"
Il did net mean it as an offensive
question" said l. 81 was merely recit-
ing a fact, most creditable to Mr..
Buckhurst. And if it be true that Mon.
sieur Buckhurst desires to atone for
for what has happened, then it is per.
fectly proper for me, even as a pris-
oner myself, to speak plainly. Is It
not my duty, as a guardian of national
interests, to point out to Mr.. Buck.
hurst his honest errors? Certainly It
Is, madame, and this is the proper
time"
Turning pompously to Buckhurst, |
eancied l could almost detect a sheer
on that inexpensive mask he wore-at
~
least / hoped l could, and ! said, heav.
lily:
Monsieur, for a number Of years
there has passed under our eyes here
In France certain strange phenomena.
Thousands Of Frenchmen have, 30 to
speak, separated themselves from the
rest Of the nation.
France is only a name to them;
they were born there, they live there,
they derive their %nourishment from
her without gratitude. But France
10 nothing to them; their motherland
ID the Internationale!"
/ was certain now that the shadow
OF a sheer had settled in the corners
OF Buckhurst's thin lips.
believe me, madame, the time is
coming when the whole world will rise
to combat this Internationale; and
when the mask is dragged from its
benignant visage, there, grinning be-
N IIh