The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1913-10-23


| showed it in my face is certain, for
the Countess looked up at me and
said, smilingly: You must not look at
US so sorrowfully, Monsieur Scarlet.
1t is we who pity you"
And I replied. Madame, you are
generous" and took my place among
them and ate and drank with them
in silence, listening to the breeze in
the elms.
l turned to Dr. belmont
with the German armies massing
behind the forest borders yonder. it
is unsafe for the government to leave
you here at La Trappe, doctor You
are 100 neutral"
You mean the government fears
treaSon?" demanded the doctor, grow
ing red
Yes" l said. If you insist"
The Countess had turned to me in
amazement.
treason" she repeated. in an I'M
steady voice rs IL treason for a
small community to live quietly here
in the Alsatian hills, harming nobody,
asking nothing save freedom Of
thought? Treason, Monsieur. the
word has an ugly ring to me | am
a soldiers daughter"
There was something touchingly
illogical in the last words-this young
apostle of peace naively displaying her
credentials as though the mere word
soldier" covered everything.
Because | have learned that the
boundaries of nations are not the
frontiers of human hearts, am | a
traitor? Because | know no country
but the world, no speech but the uni
versal speech that one reads in a
brothers eyes, because | know no bar
riers, no boundaries, no limits to hui
man brotherhood, am | traitor?'
The young Countess had risen in
her earnestness and had laid one slen-
der, sun-tanned hand upon the table.
War;" she said. What is this
war to US? The Emperor? What is
he to US? We who have set a watch
on the worlds outer ramparts, guard
ing the white banner of universal
brotherhood! What is this war to
u.s."
DO you mean to say that you care
demanded, sharply.
Il love the world-all of it-every
inch-and II France is part OF the
world. so is this Prussia that we are
teaching our poor peasants to hate"
Madame" said |, the women OF
France today think differently. Our
Creator did not make love OF country
a trite virtue, but a passion, and set
1t In our bodies along with our other
passions. If in you it is absent, that
concerns pathology, not the police!"
She had turned trifle pale; now
she sank back into her chair. looking
at rpe with those troubled gray eyes
in which Heaven itself had set truth
and loyalty.
Come" said Bazard, in a rage
choked voice, "iet it end here. Mon
sieur Scarlet If the government
sends you here as a spy and an Off
cial, pray remember that you are not
also sent as a missionary"
My ears began to burn That is
true" | said, looking at the Countess.
whose face had become expressionless.
81 ask your pardon for what | have
said and for what | am about
to do.
There was a silence. Then. in a low
voice, | placed them under formal ar
rest, one by one, touching each lightly
on the shoulder as prescribed by the
code. And when | came to the Count
ess. she rose, without embarrassment
| moved my lips and stretched out
my arm. barely touching her. She
was my prisoner.
Il must ask you to prepare for a
journey" | said. You have your
own horses. OF course?"
Without answering, DR.. belmont
walked away towards the stables: Pro
hfessor Tavernier followed him, head
| bent
We shall want very little" said the
Countess, calmly, to Mademoiselle Ell
ven. viii you pack up what We
need? And you, Monsieur Bazard, will
you be good enough to go to Trois-
Feuilles and hire old Brauer's car
riage?"
Madame" said |, before | affix
the government seals to the doors Of
your house | must ask you to conduct
me to the roof of the east wing"
She bent her head in acquiescence;
| followed her up the terrace into a
stone hall where the dark Flemish
pictures stared back at me and my
spurred heels jingled in the silence.
Up, up, and still up, winding around
a. Gothic spiral, then through a pas