Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1914-11-12

long. thin ivory paper-knife and softly
patted the palm OF his hand with II.
Certainly" westefling replied In
his ready, confident name
I'VE hear a great deal about the pre-
cision and power Of modern arms as
favoring the defensive" said the pre-
mier. IT have read somewhere that II
will enable the Browns TO hold US back.
despite our advantage OF numbers.
Also, that they can completely man
every part of their frontier and that
their ability to move their reserves
rapidly, thanks to modern facilities.
makes 4 powerful Ranking attack In
surprise out OF the question"
Some half.truths in that" an
Westerling. "one axiom. that must
hold good through all time, is that the
aggressive which keeps at II always
wins. We take the aggressive. In the
space where Napoleon deployed q al,
vision, we deploy q battalion today.
The precision and power Of modern
arms require this. With such immense
forces and present-day tactics, the line
OF battle will practically cove the
length Of the frontier. Along their
range the Browns have q series OF
fortresses commanding natural open
ingv for our attack. These are almost
~impregnable. But there are pregnable
points between them. Here, our
method will be the same that the Japa-
nese followed and that they learned
from European armies. We shall con-
centrate in masses and throw In wave
after wave Of attack until We have
gained the positions we desire. Once
we have q tenable foothold on the
crest Of the range the Brown army
must fall back and the rest will be .
matter Of skillful pursuit"
The premier. ~ he listened. rolled
the paper knife over and over, regard
ing its polished sides. which were like
Westerling's manner Of facile state
ment Of . program certain Of fulfill
ment.
"How long will It take to mobilixeT"
Less than q week after the rail-
roads are put entirely at our service.
with three preceding days Of scattered
movements" answered Wester(ing.
Deliberate notifications r all right
for q diplomatic threat that creates .
furore in the newspapers and . de-
preston in the stock market. but
which is not to be carried out. When
you mean war. all speed and the war
fever at white heat"
"You would have made q good poll
,tician, Westerling," the premier re-
marked, with q twitching uplift Of the
.brows and q knowing CLEAN In his
shrewd old eyes.
"Thank you" replied Westerling, "a
man who is able to lead in anything
must be something of a politician"
Every true, indeed. Perhaps ! had
that partly in mind in making you
vice-chief of STAFF" responded the pre-
mier.
r"Then It all goes back to the public
TO that enormous body of human
ity out there!" He swung the paper
knife around with outstretched arm
toward the walls Of the room. ITO
public opinionT-as does everything
else in this age-to the people-our
masters, your and mine! For no man
can stand against them when they say
no or yes"
"You know the keys to play on,
though" remarked Westerling with q
complimentary smile. mo n knows
quite 30 we'll" F.,
"And you are sure--sure we IAN
win?" the premier, asked with q long,
tense. look at W~esterling, who was
steady under the scrutiny. =.
Absolutely" he answered. Five
millions against three! It's mathe-
matics, or our courage and skill are