Evening star., 1914-08-09

He felt frantic hepessness to what to do At first
he thought of summoning his officers about him. but de-
cded to wait, to take time to fight the question out by
himself. He stepped out into the cool air Of the
randa. The great swung high in the heavens; but
he had mind for beauty tonight He stared at it,
conscious only of the ugly reality that had to him.
his gaze rested on the disk of brliance suddenly
across it swept an unexpected apparition which at
took concrete and definite form in his startled
vision its details sharply slhoutted against the great
plate of light 1t was aeroplane. Every stay and
strut and rod of its structure clear cutthe Com
mandan fanced that he could make out the pilots
profile against the
With the sight of it came the immediate realization
of the significance of that faefu flaw the face of the
which went through his mind like poignant
electric shock. The mystery of the map answered
The details of the Reservation masked from eyes on
the level of the earth would be completely patent to
eyes looking down upon them from aloft, lighted and
revealed by the moons radiance.
The dazed bewilderment that had followed his first
study of the map gave way now to frantic activity
He called orderly, and Sent for all his off
GERS and at the time set orders foot that would
put the whole garrison on the alert, and awaken
that peacefully browsing night with pusng of
alarm.
Yet what was there to do? He had hardly finished
giving his orders before that question shaped itself in
his thoughts With every officer, every man, every de-
vice the Reservation, readiness and the alert
then what there to be done? Half of the great
already out and what could be done to
what eft2 He left that question unanswered, and
stood staring at the aeroplane.
1t hovered to and fro in the light of the moon He
stood watching it grimly through his powerful night
glasses. Subconsciousy he aware of the low hum
of activity that yelling up through the night in
response to his commands the shuffng of feet; and
from varying distances the militant notes of the bugles
calling @To arms' sounding through the still night.
He that his staff gathering about him.
R11tt tn all he VIII
attention fixed on that great vulture in the
light. 1t vertably vuture, hovering above the
body Of his ifework AS he watched it he there
codly premedtated method in its fight; it not
some chance passerby of the skies. 1t wheeled and
swooped back and forth across the Reservation, at
times lowering in circles if making close
scrutiny of the place beneath Sometimes it seemed
almost if about to land, scarcely seeming to have
enough headway to maintain its lift; then it would
pick up and away again.
The Commandant noted with muttered mprecations
the places where these studious hoverngs took place.
invariably they were over some emplacement OF the
gardenmasked guns magazines, arsenas or other
great details in the plans He knew that these things
flooded they by the light of the moon massive
in character could easily be observed and plotted
his sketches by the looking down upon them from
above, almost easily under broad daylight and
certainly good military purpose, since locality and
not detail was the point to be gained.
As he stood there watching, raging helpessly within
himself the great vision of supreme military efficiency
that only an hour before had been clear his minds
eye rapidly dissolved into chaos of doubt and utity
With its essential bulwark Of secrecy violated the
Reservation, with all its many million dollars worth
of the highest enginery of war; was falling and
bling, in effect into vast military nonentty before his
eyes-a its massive strength of steel and deep-rooted
concrete foundations becoming vast field of scrap
iron and crippled structures worthless for the purposes
either of of peace beneath the cold scrutiny of
that man his fragile support of rods and wires and
cloth planes
THE Commandments staff had gathered about him.
Without words thew had fu1lv understood the So