Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1914-10-28
Europe's Armaged(on and
the Last War
How wonderful he was, thought the

How wonderful he was, thought the
woman at the window, how wonderful
it all was. This was the brain Of tho
western world. this was Olympus with
the warning earth at Its feet And be
was guiding France, France 80 long
resentful exile from Imperialism,
back to her old predominance.
1t seemed to her beyond the desert Of
a woman that she should be privileged
to participate.
1t Is hard to be woman, full Of the
stormy impulse to personal devotion,
and to have to be impersonal, abstract,
exact, punctual. She must control her
self.
She gave herself up to fantastic
dreams. dreams Of the days when the
war would be over and victory en-
throned. Then perhaps this harshness,
this armcr. would be put aside and
the gods might unbend. Her eyelids
dropped
She reused herself with q start. She
became aware that the night outside
was no longer still. That there was
an excitement down below on the
bridge and running in the street
and ffickering Of searchlights among
the clouds from some high place away
beyond tho Trocadero, and then the
excitement came surging up past her
and invaded the hall within.
One Of the sentnels from the ter
race stood at the upper end Of the
room gesticulating and shouting some
thing.
And all the world had changed-a
kind Of throbbing. She couldn't un-
derstand. 1t was as If all the water
pipes and concealed machinery and
cables Of the ways beneath were beat
1ng-as pulses beat. And about her
blew something like wind-a wind
that was dismay.
Her eyes went to the face of the
marshal as frightened child might
look toward its mother.
He was still serene. BE was frown-
ing slightly, she thought, but that was
natural enough, for the Earl OF Delhi,
with one hand gauntly gesticulating
had taken him by the arm and was all
too manifestly disposed to drag him
toward the great door that opened on
the terrace. And Ward was hurrying
toward the huge windows and doing
so in the strangest of attitudes, bent
forward and with eyes upturned.
Something up there?
And then 1t was as If thunder broke
overhead.
The sound struck her like a blow
She crouched together against the ma
sonry and looked up. She saw three
black shapes swooping down through
the torn clouds, and from point lit
tie below two Of them had already
started curling trails Of red.
Everything else In her being was par
alyzed. She hung through moments
that seemed infinities watching those
red missiles whirl down toward her.
She felt torn out Of the world. There
was nothing else in the world but
crimson purple glare and sound deaf
ening, all embracing, continuing sound
Every other light had gone out about
her. and against this glare hung slant
Ing walls, pirouetting pillars, project
ing fragments Of cornices and a disor-
derby fight OF huge angular sheets Of
glass.
She had an impression of a great ball
of crimson-purple fire like maddened
living thing that seemed to be whirling
about very rapidly amidst chaos of
falling masonry that seemed to be at
lacking the earth furiously, that SEEM
ed to be burrowing into it like blaz-
ing rabbit.
She had all the sensations Of waking
up out of dream.
She found she was lying face down.
ward on bank Of mold and that lit
tie rivulet of hot water was running
over one foot. She tried to raise her
self and found her leg was very pain
full. She was not clear whether it was
night or day nor where she was. She
made a second effort, wincing and
groaning, and turned over and got into
sitting position and looked about her.
Everything seemed very silent She
was, in fact, in the midst Of vast up
roar, but she did not realize this be-
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