Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-11-19

In bold strokes. II assured him that
not only had his own mind grown be-
yond what were to him the narrow as
sociations OF his old La Tir days, but
that hers had grown. too. "And you
what have you been doing all these
y~ears?" he asked.
Living the life Of a woman on q
country estate" she replied. "Since
you made a rule that no Gray officers
should cross the frontier we have been
a little lonelier. having only the Brown
officers to tea Did you really find 1t
so bad for discipline in your W
case?" she concluded with playful
solemnity.
"One cannot consider individual
cases in a general order" he explained.
"And. remember. the Browns made the
ruling first. You see, every year
means a tightening-yes. a tightening.
as arms and armies grow more compli-
Gated and the maintaining Of stan
secrets more important. And you have
been all the time at La Tir, truly?" he
asked. changing the subject. He was
convinced that she had acquired some
thing that could not be gained on the
outskirts of a provincial town.
mo. ! have Travelled. have been
quite around the world"
you have!" This explained much.
How I envy you! That is a privilege
l shall not know until l am superannu-
ated." While he should remain chief
Of staff he must be literally a prisoner
in his own country.
Yes, ! should say 1t was splendid!
Splendid-yes, indeed" Snappy little
mods Of the head being unequal to ex-
pressing the Joy Of the memories that
her exclamation evoked, she clasped
her hands over her knees and swung
back and forth in the ecstasy Of seven
teen. Splendid! l should say sol"
She nestled the curling tip Of her
tongue against her teeth. as If the
recollection must also be tasted.
Splendid, enchanting. enlightening,
stupendous and wickedly expensive!
Another girl and l did 1t all IN our
own"
"O-oh!" he exclaimed.
"Oh. oh. OH" she repeated after him.
"Oh, what, ~please?"
"Oh, nothing!" he said. 1t was quite
comprehensive to him how we'll
equipped she was to take care Of her
self on such ar adventure.
Precisely. when you come to think
1t overt" she concluded.
What interested you most? What
was the big lesson Of all your journey
ing?"Ahe asked, ready to play the lis
tener.
Being born and bred on a frontier,
Of an ancestry that was born and bred
on a frontier, why. frontiers interested
me most" she said. 81 collected i'm
pressions of frontiers as some people
collect pictures. l found them all alike
stupid, just stupid! oh, so stupid"
Her frown grew with the repetition of
the word; her fingers closed in on her
palm in vexation. He recollected that
he had seen her like this two or three
times at La Tir, when he had found
the outbursts most entertaining. He
imagined that the small fist pressed
against the table edge could. deliver q
singing blow. "As stupid as it is for
neighbors to quarrel! 1t put mt at
wal with all frontiers"
Apparently" he said.
She withdrew her fist from the table,
dropped the opened hand over the
other on her knee, her body relaxing,
her wrath passing into a kind Of
shamefacedness and then into a soft,
prolonged laugh.
II laugh at myself, at my own incon-
%sistency." she said. II was warlike
against war. At all events, If there is
anything to make a teacher Of peace
lose her temper 1t Ii the folly Of
frontiers"
"Yes?" he exclaimed. YES? Go
on!" And he thought: I'm really
having a very. good time"
"You see. l came home from my tour
with an idea-an idea for a life occu-
patton Just as engrossing as yours"
she went on, "and opposed to yours. !
saw there was no use Of working with
the grown-up folks. They must be left
to The Hague conferences and the
peace societies. But children are quite
alike the world over. You can plant
thoughts in the young that will take
root and grow as they grow"
Patriotism, for instance" he OBJ
served narrowly.
mo, the follies Of martial patriot
ism! The wickedness Of war, which
is the product Of martial patriotism!"
The follies of patriotism! This was
the red flag Of anarchy to him. He
started to speak, flushing angrily. but
held his tongue and only emitted q
"whew!". in good-humored wonder.
Il see you are not very frightened
by my opposition" she rejoined in a
fash Of amusement not wholly untem-
pered by evaporation.
mn~