The Medina sentinel. [volume] (Medina, Ohio) 1888-1961, 1914-12-18
A 6yFR REDERICk PALMER

meant to go over 4ne subjects requir-
ing special attention while he had tea.
Everything is going well-well!'
he added.
WELL" ran the unspoken communi-
cation of confidence through the staff.
So well that His Excellency was
calmly taking tea on the veranda! For
the indefatigable Turcas the detail;
for Westerling the front of Jove.
He had told Marta only two weeks
ago that he should see her again If
war came; and war had come. With
the inviting prospect of a few holiday
moments in which to continue the in
terview that had been abruptly con-
cluded in hotel reception-room, he
started down the terrace steps. Above
the second terrace he saw a crown of
woman's hair-hair Of Jet abundance,
shading face that brought familiar
completeness to the scene. Their
! glances met where the path ended
at the second terrace fight; hers shot
with a beam Of restrained and ques-
tfoning good humor that Apoke at
least truce to the invader.
"You called sooner than expected,
she said in note Of eQuivocal pleas
antry. ..,
"Or l." he re1oined with a shade Of
triumph, the politics: of triumph. He
was a step above her, her head on a
level with the pocket Of his blouse.
His square shoulders, commanding
height, and military erectness were
thus emphasized. as was her own femi-
nine slightness.
Il want to thank you," she said. "As
becomes a soldier, your forethought
was expressed in action. II was the
promptness Of the men you sent to
look after the garden which saved the
uprooted plants before they were past
recovery"
Il wished 1t for your sake and some
what for my own sake to be the same
that 1t was in the days when / used
to call" he said graciously. "Tea was
from four to FIVE, do you remember ?
Will you join me2 have just ordered
] It,"
A generous. pleasant conqueror,
this! No one knew better than Wester-
ling how to be one when he chose. He
was something Of an actor. Leaders
Of men Of his type usually are.
why, yes. Very gladly" she as
sented with no undue cordiality and
no undue constraint. quite as If there
were no war.
Neutrality could not be better i'm
personated, he thought, than in th ,
even cleaving Of her lips over toe
words. They seemed to say that q
storm had come and gone and q new
set Of masters had taken the place Of
the old. As they approached the
veranda Francois was placing the tea
things.
"Just like the old days, isn't it?" he
: exclaimed with his first sip. convinced
that the officers commissary supplied
excellent tea in the field.
Eyes, for the moment-if we forget
the war!" she replied, and looked
away, preoccupied. toward the land
scape.
II we forget the war! She bore en-
the words rather grimly. The change
that he had noted between the Marta
Of the hotel reception-room and the
Marta of the moment was not alto
gether the work of ten years. 1t had
developed since she was in the capt.
tai. In these three weeks war had
been brought to her door. She had
been under heavy fire. Yet this sub
ject Of the war was the one which he,
as an invader, considered himself
bound to avoid.
''We do forget 1t at tea, don't WEI"
he asked.
| "At least we need not speak of it,"
she replied.
II am staying tonight. l was going
to ask If you wouldn't remain on the
veranda while I go over these pa
pers, lit would be very cozy and
pleasant"
"Why, yes" she agreed with evident
pleasure.
Turcas came, in answer to Wester'
ling's ring. The orders and sugges-
tions on the table seemed to be the
product of this lath Of man, the vice.
chief, but lath Of steel, not wood,
who appeared runner trained for a
race of intellects in the scratch class.
One by one, almost perfunctorily,
Westerling gave his assent as he
passed the papers to Turcas; while
Turcass dry voice, coming from be.
tween a narrow opening Of the thin
lips, gave his reasons with rapid
tlrer's precision In answer to his
chiefs inquiries.
With each order somewhere along
that frontier some unit Of a great or
ganism would respond. The reserves
from this position would be trans