Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1914-09-24
CHAPTER X.
Marta's First Glimpse Of War.

the QlrectlOn or me range. HeiS "oo
nothing for Marta to do but start
homeward. The thought that her
mother was alone made her hasten at
pace much more rapid than the pro-
cession of people. whose talk and ex-
CARNATIONS formed monotone audi
Bile in it's nearness, despite the continu
GUS riHe-fire, now broken by the pound
ing of the guns.
ITS all done to beat the Grays, isn't
1t. Miss Galland? They are trying to
take our land" said Jacky Werther
as Marta parted from him.
Eyes, 1t is done to heat the Grays,'
she answered Good luck, Jacky!'
Yes, yes, to beat the Grays! The
same idea-the fighting, nature, the
brute nature of man-animated both
sides. Had the Browns really tried for
peace! Had they, in the spirit of her
oath. appealed to justice and reason?
Why hadn't their premier before all
the world said to the premier of the
Grays, as one honest, friendly neigh
Dor to another over matter of dis
pute:
1--WE do not want war. We know
you outnumber us, but we know you
would not take advantage of that. II
we are wrong we will make amends;
if you are wrong we know that you
will. Let us not play tricks in secret
to gain points. we civilized nations,
but be frank with each other, Let us
not try to irritate each other or to in
fluence our people, but to realize how
much we have in common and that
our only purpose is common progress
and happiness"
At the turn of the road in front of
the castle she saw the gunners of the
batteries making an emplacement for
their guns in a field of carrots that
had not yet been harvested. The roots
of golden yellow were mixed with the
tossing spadefuls of earth.
A shadow like a great cloud in mad
flight shot over the earth, and with the
gunners she looked up to see Gray
.dirigible. Already it was turning
homeward; already it had gained its
object as a scout. On the fragile plat
form of the gondola was man, SEEM
ingly human mite aiming tiny toy
gun. His target was one of the Brown
aeroplanes.
They're in danger of cutting their
own. envelope! They can't get the an
gle! The plane is too high" ex-
claimed the artillery commander. Both
he and his men forgot their work in
watching the spectacle of aerial David
against aerial Goliath. "If our man
lands with his little bomb, oh, my!"
he grinned. That's why he Is SO
high He's been waiting up there"
pray God he wilt" exclaimed one
of the gunners.
Look at him volplane-motor at
full speed, too!'
Into it! Making sure! Oh, splen-
Or cried the artillery commander.
A ball of lightning shot forth sheets
of flame Dirigible and plane were
hidden in an ugly swirl of yellowish
smoke, rolling out into a purple cloud
that spread into prismatic mist over
the descent of cavorting human bodies
and broken machinery and twisted
braces, flying pieces of tattered or
burning cloth. David has taken Goliath
down with him in death grip.e
An aeroplane following the dirigible
as a screen, hoping to get home with
information if the dirigible were lost,
had escaped the sharpshOoters in the
church tower by flying around the
town. However, it ran within range of
the automatic and the sharpshooters
on top of the castle tower. They failed
of the QUILL 's-eye, but their bullets, rim
ming the target, Gripping the motor,
and cutting braces, brought the crum-
ping wings about the helpless pilot.
The watching gunners uttered Abs
of horror and triumph as they saw him
fall, gliding this way and that, in the
agony of slow descent.
Come. now called the artillery
commander. "We are wasting pre-
cious time
Entering the grounds of the Galland
house, Marta had to pass to one side
of the path, now blocked by army
wagons and engineers materials and
lOOlS. SOlulcIS ylA6 oetAN-Oo6S
were taking the shortest cut. tram
ping the flowers on their way.
dc you know whose property this
is?" she demanded in burst of an
ger.
"Ours-the nation's!" answered one,
perspirng freely at his work "Sor-
ry!" he added on second thought.
Already parts of the first terrace
were shoulder-high with sand-bags and
one automatic had been set in place,
Marta observed as she turned to the
veranda. There her mother sat in her
favorite chair, hands relaxed as they
rested on its arms, while she looked
out over the valley in the supertran-
guilty that comes to some women
under a strain-as soldiers who have
been on sieges can tell you-that some
psychologists interpret one way and
some another, none knowing even
their own wives.
Marta. did any of the children
Gomez" Mrs Galland asked in her
usual pleasant tone. So far as she
1 =.