Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-10-28
IContinued1

cause he was unaccompanied by q re-
tinue or any other symbol of his power.
He might have been coming to call on
a Sunday afternoon. In that first
| glimpse 1t was difficult to think of
| him as the commander of an army. But
that he was, she must not forget. She
was shaken and trembling; and a
mist rose before her, so that she did
not see him clearly when, with a ges-
ture of relief, he saw her.
'Lanstron!" exclaimed an officer In
the first explosive breath of amaze
ment on recognizing him; then added:
His Excellency, the chief of staff"
But the one word, Lanstron, had
been enough to thrill all the officers
into silence and ramrod salutes. Marta
noted the Difference Of their glances as
they covertly looked him over
Il wanted glimpse of the front as
well as the rear" Lanstron remarked
in explanation of his presence to the
general of brigade as he passed on
toward Marta. who was thinking that
she, at least, was not in awe of him;
she, at least, saw clearly and truly his
part.
Marta! Marital"
Lanstron's voice was tremulous, as
II he were in awe of her, while he
drank in the fact that she was there
before him at arms length, safe, alive.
She did not offer her hand in greeting.
She was incapable OF any movement,
such was her emotion; and he, too,
was held in spell, as the reality of
her. after all that had passed, filled
his eyes. He waited for her to speak,
but she was silent
Mar :a-that bandage! You have
been hurt!" he exclaimed.
TITS the fashion to be wounded" she
said, eyebrows lifted and lashes low
cred, with a nervous smile. 'T played
Florence Nightingale, the natural wom-
ans part, 1 believe. We should never
protest; only nurse the victims of war.
After helping to send men to death l
went under fire myself, and-and that
helped"
"Yes. that would help" he agreed,
wincing as from knife thrust
and taking no risk himself! She saw
that he WINGED; she realized that she
had stayed words that were about to
come in flood. She was marshaling
her thoughts to begin when the brittle
silence was broken by a rumbling of
voices, a stirring Of feet, and cheer.
"Lanstron! Lanstron! Hurrah for
Lanstron!"
The soldiers in the garden did not
bother with any Your Excellency, the
chief of staff" formula when word had
been passed of his presence. Marta
looked around to see their tempestu-
Gus enthusiasm as they tossed their
caps in the air and sent up their spon-
taneous tribut" from the depths of
their lungs. Conqueror and hero to
the living, but the dead could not
speak, whispered some fiend in her
heart.
Lanstron uncovered to the demon
stration impulsively, when the conven-
tional military acknowledgment would
have been salute. He always looked
more like the real Lanny to her with
his forehead bare. 1t completed the
ensemble of his sensitive features. She
saw that he was blinking almost boy
ishly at the compliment and noted the
little deprecatory shake of his head,
as much as to say that they were
making a mistake.
THANK you'll" he called, and the
cheeriness of his voice, she thought,
expressed his real self; the delight of
victory and the glowing anticipation
of further victories.
THANK you'll" called the private with
a big voice.
Eyes, thank you'll" repeated some of
the officers in quick appreciation of a
compliment as real as human courage.
He stood smiling for a moment in
reply to their smiles; then, still smil-
ing, but in a different way, he said to
Marta:
"As you say, that helps!" with nod
toward the bandage on her forearm,
and hurriedly turned away.
She saw him involuntarily clutch the
wrist above the pocket of his blouse to
still the twitching; but beyond that
there was no further sign of emotion
as he went to the telephone. Instantly
he was through he started toward the
pass road, not by the path to the steps,
but by leaping from terrace to terrace
and waving his hand gayly to the sol
diers as he went. The officers stared
at the sight of a chief of staff break
ing away from his communications in
this unceremonious fashion. They
saw him secure horse from a group
of cavalry officers on the road and gal
lop away.
Marta having been the object of
Lanstron's attention now became the
object OF theirs. 1t was good to see a
woman, woman of the Browns, after
their period of separation from femi-
nine society. She found herself hold
ing an impromptu reception. She
heard some other self answering
their polite questions; while fear,
a new kind of fear was taking hold of
her real self; fear inexplicable, in-
sidiously growing. Lanstron was still
in the officers minds after his strange
appearance and stranger departure.
They began to talk of him, and Marta