The Spectator., 1915-03-26
UNDER A WAR STAMP By ELSIE CRUEL MARTIN.


 month abroad, his heart stirred with. in him. They had been nothing more than friends, but she had made the i'm pression of his life upon him. A thought of how genial and friendly the father and daughter had been to him, of their present distressing con- dition, of their friendlessness and pov- erty in foreign land, appealed to the best instincts of his loyal nature.
 They were wealthy people, the Duri- wages, but Earl as we'll had an abund- ance of worldly means. He had a business to attend to, and going abroad just now meant something se- rous for it's interests, but he was will ing to make the sacrifice.
 When Earl reached his office he sat down to think out his plans for an i'm mediate departure. While he was ar ranging in his mind all the details, the office boy brought in the afternoon mail. Earl Tipped the letters over carelessly. Then his face flushed up and his eyes took to their depths rare token of interest. From post lildl d lu iS hhO" oN once the source of one of the letters.
 Tt is from Elsa-from Miss Duri' vage!" he breathed eagerly, and opened it.
 The letter was a brief, ordinary mis- sive. as If written between acquaint. ances. It gave an address in the far away war-beleaguered city. It told of business there going on as usual, of no particular effect of the war. There was nothing in the letter that would not pass the most critical cen sorship.
 There was a postscript to the let ter and it greatly puzzled Earl. It read: "The war stamp on this letter is probably quite a curiosity in Amer ica. You might soak it off. for they will be scarce after while, and it is quite memento to preserve"
 "Of course, I will save it. mur mured the ardent Earl. thinking of the dainty lips that had touched the insensible piece of paper. and he pro ceeded to follow instructions,
 "Why-there is writing under the stamp" exclaimed Earl. and with dis tending eyes he read the words We are penniless and starving"
 In a flash Earl Hosmer read the oracle. The letter had been written in a noncommittal way that had passed with the censor Elsa had used the war stamp to conceal mes sage telling of the real situation in the district from which she wrote.
 It required no further thought for Earl to arrive at speedy decision. The evening train bore him eastward, and two days later he was on the ocean, bound for the continental war center.
 Within two hundred miles of the city that held his beloved. the prog ress of the ardent Earl was blocked He had with him large amount in ready cash. This had enabled him to proceed thus far without much diffi- culty Now a broad stretch of dis puted and war-ravaged territory lay between him and his prospective des. tination.
 It was through little child that long. anxious waiting was brought to a close Passing a house wrecked by q shell .n the little town where he was staying, Earl heard a faint wall ing voice He investigated. to discov- CT a little four-yearold girl lying ten feet down in the dismantled cellar where she had fallen.
 Her arm was broken, she was we'll nigh exhausted with cold and starya- ton. He managed to learn from her where she lived. When he restored her to her frantic parents he found that she had been missing for two days.
 The gratitude of the poor parents was genuine. The father chanced to mention that he was one of some fifty wagon men who were to carry some wounded soldiers to the city where the Durivages were. He was to bring up the rear with five days pro- visions. It did not take Earl long to decide that here was his opportunity to reach his beloved,
 He had an understanding with the man. When the caravan set out Earl was comfortably ensconced in a shielded corner of the enclosed wagon.
 How his heart beat with suspense and then sorrow as he finally reached his journeys end The Durivages were sheltered in a poor hovel and had parted with all they possessed to secure the bare necessities of life.
 The wagon man was to return to neutral ground with his vehicle. and Earl and the Durivages were smuggled through in his vehicle.
 ''To think of that dreadful past!" murmured Elsa, as they set sail from the coast, homeward bound at last. "Oh, what a messenger of joy and hope you have been!"
 A messenger of love as we'll The moon wac cp,{lfpu dnup fha