Catoctin clarion., 1916-06-01
LORD OLLIE
ey lzoLA FORESTER.

We have been accustomed to hear
Ollie speak of the Countess In, we'll.
not exactly friendly or comradely or
familiar terms, but as II he knew her
pretty we'll. For instance, he would
say when the mail was brought in:
Another letter from the Countess.
Now I'll get it for not writing" Quite
as If It mattered to the Countess
-Whether he wrote or not.
He had come to the old-fashioned
boarding house on West Fifty-ffth
street in the summertime. From his
tone and words we gathered that he
was q man of peace and would not
60 to war. that the Countess disap-
proved Of his sentiments, and that his
elder brother was fighting somewhere
In France.
He was slim, dark, nice sort Of
chap, with big, speculative. humorous
blue eyes behind eyeglasses. Until
Jessica came to stay with US, he had
matters his own way in an argument
down in the dining room. The rest Of
US were too hungry and weary to COM
bat world peace or anything else.
But Jessica was different. Fresh
from the West she was, and thorough
ly prepared for war at any moment.
She was In the nurses training school.
waiting for her chance to 60 abroad
in Red Cross work.
Ollie was all for social evolution,
and the two of them would sit and let
their dinners grow cold while they
thrashed the wars Of the nations over
and over again. His name, by the
way was Oliver Grovesnor. Sometimes
his mail came to Mr.. Oliver Grovesnor
and sometimes to Lord Oliver Francis
Grovesnor, but we called him Ollie.
A boarding home is . curious COM
monwealth To save your life you
can't help knowing every other body's
business. We used to run across the
two of them sitting out on the little
green wooded bench in the bit Of .
front yard talking after dinner.
Then came another letter from tho
Countess. the first one since Jessica
had come to stay. Oliver found 1t un.
der his napkin as usual, glanced at it
whimsically, said it was another let
ter from the Countess. and that he'd
get It for not writing.
And Jessica, being woman, prompt
iy asked who the Countass was.
Whereupon Ollie answered simply:
my mother"
pect from that moment. At first, with
suspicion as II he might be pokins
fun at her. You see, Jessica came
from Q small town in South Dakota,
and she was twenty-one. She won
dered, Just as we all had, II Ollie were
telling the truth.
Jessica waited until she had him to
herself on the green garden bench.
She approached the subject Of Ollie's
connection with the English nobility
without fear or compromise.
rs the Countess really your moth
err
so | have always been told." r.
piled Ollie.
Countess what?"
Countess Of Walsingham. Her
name, though, 10 Margaret. Margaret
Olivia"
Il blame you more than ever" she
said briefly and tensely. Since you
do happen to be born in this particu-
lar age and in certain class, you owe
It to your times, to the spirit Of your.
times. to stand for the morale Of that
class"
Rot" said Ollie, and he opened the
last letter from the Countess. She was
silent as he read 1t. Presently hs
spoke in curious voice, sort Of baf-
fed voice, as II fate had handed him
. foul.
by Jove!" hs said. Poor old
Bert!"
For q minute Jessica didn't get the
portent of his words. he had spoken
SO quietly, but she turned her head
and saw his face, suddenly sharp and .
bit white in the half Light
who is he?" 49,.
Ollie stood up.
I'm going back. She wants me to.
My brothers dead"
And this Is the strangest part. Al
he stood there looking down In her
face, suddenly all the little foolish
conventionalities Of everyday life
dropped from them.
you're going over there to fightf"
she asked.
"Of course. Bert died somewhere
in France. It isn't SO much the war,
you understand" His hands olenched
at his sides. IT'S what they've done
to him. l want to 60 and just give
It to them for his sake, and my moth
er expects me to-
I'm sailing on the 10TH" Jessica
spoke eagerly. Il didn't want to tell
you because you had q way of taking
all the spirit out of 1t for me, and l
wanted to 60 the other way-believ-
ing in 1t, mean
We'll sail together" he told her.
You said once that had no morale.
Maybe haven't. l don't like the mess
over there, and don't believe in war,
but when the wolf climbs over the
sheep shelter. one grabs gun.
guess"
And then he looked down at her
and said in that simple. square, nice
way of his we all liked, IS II 1t set
tied the whole thing between them
THE Countess will think you're an aw-
fully plucky girl"
And the next morning they sailed,
married sure and fast. Somehow,
they seemed to take q little of the
springtime with them, perhaps into
the life of the Countess.