Carson City daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1907-1930, 1913-12-24
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES


exporters: Inc eII;n1ea makers. heads
of the great iOtteries. manufacturers.
dealers and their wives and daughters
and sons There were the voyagers
who came and went at the consulate.
but these Betty eschewed. What the
months and years did with her in their
detail of rising and setting of suns
and the like. it Is not the province of
this record to state.
/ But even to Limoges there did come
news one day of the great war that
had broken out in the United States.
Following fast on his there arrived
one of Amy de Peyster's letters in
which there was this paragraph:
peter Van Zandt has volunteered for
the army: his regiment has been order
ed to the front"
Mrs. Van Zandt. as she read this.
was sitting in the garden of her ia
theirs chateau in the upper town. the
high wall covered with vines was am
pie protection from the passerby. and
the tender shade of the pOplars served
to shield her from the sun. On a rustic
table stood her breakfast tray, an
equipage for two.
Betty was not alone. One was there
with her.
AS she sat With .Anny's letter spread
out before her she heard the tinkle of
the fountain on the terrace, the cav
ing of the rocks in their nests. the
click of the sabOts on the pavement
! of the court where the servants were
at work: and likewise Betty heard the
voice of her companion.
She saw. too. all these people and
things. felt the wonderful balm of the
breeze perfumed by the flowers from
the little beds around her; felt the IN
erring and complacent peacefulness of
her environment; the superb self stuff.
cheney that exists in some corners of
the world. a self sufficiency 50 com
plete that 1t has. in certain instances.
the strange and subtle power of erasing
the storms and stresses Of those who
come beneath it's influences.
For twelve times twelve months
Betty. radiant. irresponsible. laughing.
dancing. willful Betty had lived on at
Limoges. AS has been set down it is
no part of this simple narrative to tell
what she vel through during her SO
journ in the France where she had
once so longed to live.
But the outward quiet had been hers.
The dull and perhaps deadly average
had seemed to set it's seal upon Colonel
Revere's daughter.
Peter. had nnVnr wriffpn pofors0
checks came every month and as regu-
larly were filed away by his father-in-
law. but never presented for payment:
never once.
That morning the charm of the pop
lars. and the gardens. and the river
below. with it's lazing craft; the faint
azure Of the sky: the drone of the
windmill: the hum of the bees in the
fields Of viOlets on the other side of
her terrace: the distant song of a shep-
herd on the hills with his t1ocks: ever
the voice of the One who was her com
panion: all suddenly were blurred. blot
ted. stamped ont Of sound. vision. and
yer remembrance by the overpower
Of Anny's news,
peter Van Zandt has volunteered
for the army: his regiment has beer
ordered to the front"
She got up from her seat. threw her
thimble. scissors. the garment she was
making. to the table. walked to the
little gate in the wall. opened it and
stepped forth to the road
Shading her eyes with her hand. she
looked to the west.
Yes. to the west. where her husband
was.
"Husband?" Well. yes. certainly.
And across from the west there
seemed to Betty out Of the immeasur-
able blue to stretch toward her soul a
yearning cry. 1t was not a sob. not an
articulated >oherence; a strange some
thing that made to say Come" as
nearly as she could define it herself.
Then as her arms. her soul, her
mind. answered this the gate behind
her was pushed wider open. and the
| One who was her companion came
! through and with tender words lured
Betty back into the safety of the gar
dens and into a semblance Of the inert
ness Of the days before Anny's letter