Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-11-12
CHAPTER l.
A Speck In the Sky.

ucE HOlicE anu SoiOuci WcciSiiAA6
after her onto the lawn. where they
became motionless figures. screening
their eyes with their hands. The new
est and most wonderful thing in the
world at the time was this speck ap
pearing above the irregular horizon Of
the Brown range, In view Of a land
scape that centuries of civilization had
fortified and cultivated and formed.
At the base Of the range ran a line
Of white stone posts. placed by inter-
national commissions Of surveyors to
the nicely Of an inch's variation. In
the very direction Of the speck's flight
q spur Of foothills extended into the
plain that stretched away to the Gray
range. distinct at the distance Of
thirty miles in the bright afternoon
light Faithful to their part in refus-
Ing to climb. the white posts circled
around the spur. hugging the levels.
In the lap Of the spur was La Tir,
the old town. and on the other side
Of the boundary lay South La Tir. the
new town. Through both ran the dusty
ribbon Of q road, drawn straight cross
the plain and over the glistening
thread of a river. On Its way to the
pass Of the Brown range 1t skirted the
garden Of the Gallands. which rose in
terraces to a seventeenth-century
house overlooking the old town from its
outskirts. They we're such a town. such
a road, such a landscape as you may
see on many European frontiers. The
Christian people who lived in the re-
gion we're like the Christian people
you know II you look for the realities
Of human nature under the surface diff
~ferences Of language and habits.
Beyond the house rose the ruins Of a
castle, its tower still intact. Marta al
ways referred to the castle as the
baron; for in her girlhood she had a
way Of personifying all inanimate
things. If the castle walls were COW
cred with boar frost, she said that the
baron was shivering; If the wind tore
around the. tower, she said that the
baron was groaning over the demo
cratic tendencies of the time. On such
a summer afternoon as this, the baron
"a growing old gracefully. at peace
with his enemies.
Centuries older than the speck In
the sky was the baron; but the pass
road was many more, countless more,
centuries older than he. 1t had been
q trail for tribes long before Roman
legions won o victory in the pass,
which was acclaimed an imperial tri.
umph. To hold the pass was to hold
the range. All the blood shed there
would make a red river, inundating the
plain.
Beside the old baron, we are par
venus" Marta would say. "And what
a parvenu the baron would have been
to the Roman aristocrat!"
Our family is old enough-none
older in the province!" Mrs. Galland
would reply. Marta. how your mind
does wander! I'd get a headache Just
contemplating the things you are able
TO think of In FIVE minutes"
The first Galland had built q house
on the land that his king had given
him for one Of the most brilliant feats
Of arms In the history Of the pass.
Even the tower, raised to the glory
Of an older family whose descendants,
Il any survived, were unaware Of their
lineage, had become known as the
Galland tower. The Gallands were
rooted In the soil Of the frontier; they
were used to having wars hot breath
blow past their door; they we're at
home in the language and customs Of
two peoples; theirs was a peculiar ira.
dition, which Marta had absorbed with
her first breath. Town and plain and
range ere the first vista Of landscape
that she had seen; doubtless they
would be the last -.
One or two afternoons a week Col
mel Hedworth W~esterling, commander
Of the regimental post OF the Grays on
the other side Of the white posts,
stretched his privilege Of crossing the
frontier and appeared for tea at the
Gallands. 1t meant a pleasant half
hour breaking q long walk, q relief
from garrison surroundings. and in
view OF the order, received that morn
Ing. this was to be q farewell call.
He had found Mrs. Galland an agree
able reflection OF an aristocratic past.
The daughter had what he defined
vaguely az girlish %piquancy. He found
It amusing to try to answer her un.
usual questions; he liked the variety
Of her inventive mind, with It's flashes
Of downright matter-of-factness.
Not until tea was served did he men.
ton his new assignment; he was going
10 the general stan at the capital. Mrs.
Galiand murmured her congratulations
In conventional fashion.
Marta's chair was drawn back from
Che table. She leaned forward in q
favorite position Of hers when she was
intensely interested, with hands
clasped over her knee, which her
mother always found aggrayatingly
tomboyish. She had q mass of lustrous
black hair and a mouth rather large
IN repose, but capable Of changing
curves Of emotion. Her large, dark
eyes, luminous1y deep under long
Iasheg. n not the rest OF her face. had