Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-12-17

4 came to those whom they later aWak-
+ ened with a start. Fights as desper-
ate as the one around the house be-
/ came features of this period, which
was only a waTming-up practice for
/ the war demon before the orgy OF
! impending assault on the main line.
Marta began TO realize the immen-
| sity OF the chessboard and Of the
/ forces engaged in more than the bare
/ statement of numbers and distances.
, II first attack on a position failed,
the wires from the Galland house re-
| peated their orders to concentrate
| more guns and attack again. In the
end the Browns always yielded, but
grudgingly, caIculatingly, never be-
ing taken by surprise. 3 The few of
them who fell prisoners said, God
with US! We shall win in the end!"
and answered no questions. Gradually
the Gray army began to feel that it
was battling with a mystery which
was fighting under cover, falling back
under cOver-a tenacious, watchful
mystery that sent sprays Of death into
every finger of flesh that the Grays
thrust forward in assault
Another position taken. Our ad:
vance continues" was the only news
that Westerling gave to the army, his
people, and the world, which forgot
its sports and murders and divorce
cases in following the progress of the
first great European war for two gen
eratiOns. He made no mention of the
costs; his casualty lists were secret.
The Gray hosts were sweeping for
ward as a slow, irresistible tide; this
by Partow's own admission. He an
nounCed the loss of a position as
promptly as the Grays it's taking He
published a daily list of casualties so
meager in contrast to their own that
the Grays thought it false; he made
known the names of the killed and
wounded to their relatives. Yet the
seeming candor of his press bureau
included no straw of information of
military value to the enemy.
Westerling never went to tea at the
GalIands' with the other officers, for it
was part of his cultivation of great
ness to keep aloof from his subordi-
mates. His meetings with Marta hap
pened casually when he went out into
the garden. Only once had he made
any reference to the "And then" of
their interview in the arbor.
4 am winning battles for you'll" he
had exclaimed with the thing in his
eyes which she loathed.
To her it was equivalent to saying
that she had tricked him into sending
men to be killed in order to please
her She despised herself for the
way he cOnfded in her; yet she had
to go on keeping his confidence, re-
turning a tender glance with one that
held out nope. She learned not to
shudder when he spoke of a loss of
'Only ten thousand. In order to rally
| herself when she grew faint-hearted
10 her task, she learned to picture the
lines of his face hard-set with five
against-three brutality, while in COM
fort he ordered multitudes to death,
and, in contrast, to recall the smile
of Dellarme, who asked his soldiers to
| undergo no risk that he would not
share. And after every success he
would remark that he was so much
nearer Engadir that position of the
main line of defense whose weakness
she had revealed.
Your Engadir!'' he came to say.
Then we shall again profit by your
information; that is, unless they have
fortified since you received it,
fortified" she thought. She was al
ways seeing the mockery of his words
| in the light of her own knowledge and
her own part, which never escaped
! her consciousness. One chamber of
| her mind was acting for him; a Sec
and chamber was perfectly aware that
the other was acting.
Zone position more-the Twin BouI-
der Redoubt, it is called" he an
nounced at last I'VE shall not press
hard in front. We shall drive in
masses on either side and storm the
| TANKS"
This she was teIephoning to Ian
stron a few minutes later and having,
in return, all the news of the Browns.
| The sheer fascination of knowing what
both sides were doing exerted its spell
in keeping her to her part.
They've lost four hundred thousand
men now, Lanny," she said.
! And we only a hundred thousand
| We're whiting them down." answered
| Lanstron.
Whiting them down! What
CHASTITY expression!" she gasped. You
are as bad as Westerling and 1 am
worse than either of you! II an
| nounced the four hundred thousand as
/ if they were a score-a score in
! game in our favor I am helping,
Lanny? All my sacrifice isn't for
/ nothing?" she asked for the hun
/ dredth time
"Immeasurably. You have saved US
many livesi' he replied
And cost them many?" she asked.
Yes, Marta, no doubt, he admitted;
but no more than they would have
lost in the end. 1t is only the mount
ing up of their casualties that can
end the war. Thus the lesson must
be taught"
And can be of most help when the
attack on the main defense is begun ~
Yes"
And when Westerling finds that my
information is false about Engadir-
then
She had never put the question to
him in this way before. What would
WesterIing do if he found her out?
My God, Marital" he exclaimed. IF
I'd had any sense ] would have thought
of that in the beginning and torn out
the phone! I've been mad. mad with
the one thought of the nation-inhu-
man in my greedy natriotism. I will