Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1914-12-31

"Just Like Old Days, Isn't 1T"
with beam of restrained ana ques
tioning good humor that spoke al
least a truce to the invader.
you called sooner than expected"
she said In a note Of equivocal pleas.
antry.
"Or l." he rejoined with shade of
triumph, the politest of triumph. He
was a step above her, her head on a
level with the pocket Of his blouse.
His square shoulders, commanding
height, and military erectness were
thus emphasized, as was her own femi-
nine slightnees.
II want to thank you," she said. "As
becomes a soldier, your forethought
was expressed in action. It was the
promptness of the men you sent to
look after the garden which saved the
uprooted plants before they were past
recovery"
Il wished 1t for your sake and some
what for my own sake to be the same
that 1t was In the days when l used
to CALL" he said graciously. "Tea was
from four to five, do you remember?
VIII you join me? have just ordered
It,"
A generous, pleasant conqueror,
this! No one knew better than Wester-
ling how to be one when he chose. He
was something of an actor. Leaders
of men of his type usually are.
why, yes. Very gladly!" she as
scented with no undue cordially and
no undue constraint, quite as If there
were no war.
Neutrality could not be better i'm
personated, he thought, than in the
even cleaving of her lips over the
words. They seemed to say that a
storm had come and gone and q new
set Of masters had taken the place Of
the old. AS they approached the
veranda Francois was placing the tea
things.
"Just like the old days, isn't it?" he
exclaimed with his first sip, convinced
that the officers commissary supplied
excellent tea In the field.
Eyes, for the moment-if we forget
the war!" che replied, and looked
away, preoccupied, toward the land
scape.
If we forget the war! She bore on
the words rather grimly. The change
that he had noted between the Marta
of the hotel reception-room and the
Marta of the moment was not alto
gether the work of ten years. 1t had
developed since she. was In the CAPT.
tai. In these three weeks war had
been brought to her door. She had
been under heavy fire. Yet this sub
ject Of the war was the one which he,
as an invader, considered himself
bound to avoid
I'VE do forget 1t at tea, don't WeI
he asked.
"At least we need not speak Of it,"
she replied.
81 am staying tonight. ] was going
to ask II you wouldn't remain on the
veranda while / go over these pa
pers. lit would be very cozy and
pleasant"
why, yes" she agreed with evident
pleasure.
Turcas came. in answer to Wester-
ling's ring. The orders and Rugges-
tons on the table seemed to BE- the
product Of this lath of q man, the vice
chief, but q lath of steel, not WOOD
who appeared a runner trained for q
race Of intellects in the scratch class.
One by one. almost perfunctorAy'
,Westerling gave his assent as ne
passed the papers to Turcas; while
Turcas's dry voice. coming from be-
tween q narrow opening Of the thin
lips. gave his reasons with q rapid
arer's precision in answer to his
chiefs inquiries.
with each order somewhere along
that frontier some unit Of q great or
ganism would respond. The reserves
from this position would be trans
ferred 70 that: such 3 position would