Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1914-12-03

main. L an Bthu VI eh"~ 80 o.
now that we kept her. Marta. She is
as loyal as my old maid and the butler
and the cook we're TO your grand
mother in the last war. An, the Cal
lands had many servants theni"
This isn't like the old war. This
place will be shelled. enfiladedi And
you two" the captain protested des-
perately.
81 became q Galland when / mar
RED" said Mrs. Galland. "and the
Galland women have always remained
with their property In time OF war;
Naturally, shall remainl"
Miss Galiand, II was you-your In
fiuence / was counting on to-" The
captain turned to Marta in fnal aD-
peal.
Mrs. Galland was watching her
daughters face intently.
I'VE stay!" replied Marta, and the
captain saw in the depths Of her eyes.
a cold blue-black, that further argu-
ment was useless.
Now came the sweep of rising roar
from the sky with the command to at
tention of the rush Of fast express
train past q country railway station
Two Gray dirigibles with their escort
of aeroplanes were bearing toward the
pass over the pass road. The auto
matte and the rifiemen in the tower
banged away to no purpose, but the
central sections Of the envelope OF the
rear dirigible had been torn In shreds;
It was buckling. Clouds OF blue shrap-
mel smoke broke around its gondola.
A number Of field-guns Joined forces
with q battery of high-angle guns In a
havoc that left drifting derelict; the
remainder Of the squadron had COM
pleted It's loop and was pointing
toward the plain.
From a great altitude. literally out
of the blue of heaven, high over the
Gray lines, Marta made out a Brown
squadron of dirigibles and planes, de-
scending across the track Of the
Grays.
The Gray dirigibles, stern on, were
little larger than umbrellas and the
planes than swallows; the Brown diri'
gibles, side on, we're big sausages and
their planes specks. To the eye, this
meeting was like that Of two small
focks Of soaring birds apparently un'
able to change their course. But
Imagination could picture the fearful
clash of forces, whose wounded would
find the succor Of no hospital except
impact on the earth below.
Marta put her hands over her eyes
for only q second, she thought, before
she withdrew them in yexation-
hadn't she promised herself not to be
cowardly TO see one Brown dirigible
and two Brown aeroplanes ascending
at a sharp angle above a cloud OF
smoke to escape the high-angle guns
Of the Grays.
We've got them all! No lips sur
vive to tell what the eye saw!" ex
claimed the engineer captain, his
words bubbling with the Joy Of wate1
in the sunlight. "As thought" nc
continued in professional enthusiasm
and discrimination.
With high-power binoculars glued tc
his eyes, he then turned to see II the
faint brown line of Dellarme's mer
were going to hold or break. II II
held. he might have hours in which
to complete his task; II 1t broke, ne
had only minutes.
Marta came up the terrace patti
from the chrysanthemum bed in time
to watch the shroud of shrapnel smoke
billowing over the knoll, to visualize
another scene in place Of the collision
Of the sQuadrons, and to note the cap
tain's exultation over Fracasse'S re
pulse. :.
How we must have punished them!'
he exclaimed to his lieutenant. Chow
we must have moved them down
Lanstron certainly knew what he wal
doing"
"You mean that he knew how w
should NOW them DOWN." asked Marta
Not until che spoke did he realize
that she was standing near him.
"Why, naturally! If we hadn'
moved them down his plan woul'
have failed. Moving them down wa
the only way to hold them back" h
said; and seeing her horror mad
haste to add: Miss Galland, now yo'
know what a CHASTITY business war IL
1t will be worse here than there"
eyes," she said blankly. Her colol
less cheeks, her dropping underlip coz
WINGED him that now, with a littl
show of masculine authority, he woul
gain his point
"You and your mother must go!" h
said firmly.
This was the very thing to viii
her thoughts back from the knoll. H
was thunderstruck at the transforms
tom. hot color in her cheeks, eye
, afame. lips curving around q whir
wind Of words