Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-10-01
CHAPTER XIV.
Tea on the Veranda Aaaln,

I0d OFT tno teFanoa Again.
1t was more irritating than ever for
Mrs. Galland to keep pace with her
daughters Inconsistencies. Here was
Marta saying coolly:
Unto Caesar the things that are
Caesar's!' We have our property, our
home to protect. Perhaps the Grays
have. come to stay for good, so
graciousness is our only weapon We
cannot fight a whole army single
handed"
You have found that out, Marta?"
said Mrs. Galland.
We have four rooms in the baron's
tower and kitchen stove" Marta pro-
ceeded. with Minna we can make
ourselves very comfortable and leave
the house to the staff"
THE Gallands in their gardeners
quarters! The staff of the Grays In
ours! Your father will turn in his
gravel" Mrs. Galland exclaimed.
But, mother, 1t is not quite agree
able to think of three women living
in the same house with a score of
strange men!" Marta persisted.
Il had not thought of that, Marta
OF course, 1t would be abominable!"
agreed Mrs. GaDand, promptly capitu-
lating where a point Of propriety was
involved.
When Marta informed the officer
the same one who had rung the door
bell on his second visit-of the family's
decision he appeared shocked at the
idea of eviction that was implied. But,
secretly pleased at the turn of events,
he hastened to apologize for wars
brutal necessities, and Marta's COM
plaisance led him to consider himself
something of a diplomatist. Yes, more
than ever he was convinced of the
wisdom Of an invader ringing door
bells.
Meanwhile, the service-corps men
had continued their work until now
there was no vestige of war in the
grounds that labor could obliterate;
and masons had come to repair the
walls of the house itself and plasterers
to renew the broken ceilings.
All this Marta regarded in a kind
of charmed wonder that an invader
could be 80 considerate. Her manner
with the officers in charge of prepara-
tions had the simplicity and ease
which woman of twenty-seven, who
is not old-maidish because she Is not
afraid of single future, may employ
as a serene hostess. She frequently
asked il there were good news.
"Yes," was the uniform reply. An
unexpected setback here or resistance
there, but progress, nevertheless. But
she learned, too, that the first two
days fighting along the frontier had
cost the Grays fifty thousand casual
ties.
I'm order to make an omelet you
must break eggsl" she remarked.
Spoken like true soldier-like a
member of the staff!" was the reply.
In her constraint and detachment
they realized her conscious apprecia-
ton of the fact that in earlier times
her people had been for the Browns;
but in her flashes of interest in the
progress Of the war, flashes from a
woman's unmilitary mind, they judged
that her heart was with the Grays. And
why not? Was 1t not natural that
woman with more than her share of
intellectual perception should be on
the right side? From her associations
it was not to be expected that she
would make an outright declaration of
apostasy. This would destroy the value
and the attractfveness Of her CONVEX
sion. Reverence for the past. for a
father who had fought for the Browns,
against her own convictions. made her
attitude appear singularly and deli
cately correct.
ITO BE Continued