Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-04-12

III CONSTRUCTOR ana 1ull VI dl liAlSAoA
MISUNDERSTANDING a sort OF SUI
perhuman battle of wits between
the sophisticated agents OF rival
secret services. In The Idea OF
Balint. the Gypsy" Herr Poldi
Schmidt has departed from the
usual form and struck u novel note
OF simplicity and naturalneSS. HIS
take is thoroughly original in mat
ter and manner, and 1T has the
further merit of casting an inter-
esting sidelight on the character of
a contingent in the great wal which
has been very little in the lime
light in this Countrywide pictur-
esque and gallant citizen army of
Hungary. The original from which
Herr Schmidt's story was translate
ed appeared in the "Berliner Nor
gen-POSt."
At midday they quartered themselves
In the suburb. Two hours later the
field kitchens distributed food. But.
in spite of much hot fighting and many
fatlgueS, the troops ate little.
All of them We're almost drunk with
joy and looked longingiy across at the
freed population to come over the
bridge into the suburb in order to
greet their liberators and to receive
bread and other supplies. But nobody
/ was allowed to go back into the city,
so that no hin of the strength OF the
relieving army might be given to the
retiring Russians.
Hunger and joy drove swarms of the
| city's inhabitants into the camp But
| when darkness came and the first
intoXication of enthusiasm abated, the
populace pleaded to be permitted to
return to their houses across the river
which the Russians had ~plundered. In
vain. The c-ommandant was unyield-
ing. The sentinels on the bridge and
on the shore let no man pass back into
the city. Ever If one had sought to
swim through the icy river to the 9TH
er bank he would have been under the
fire of hundreds of rifles. All civilians.
pass the night in the suburb.
Then, for the first time in many,
many weeks. the trumpeter blew taps
again n the long drawn out notes re-
minded both the youngest ond the old
est soldiers of the barracks Of peace
n Of long departed days.
On the market place Of the suburb
stood a big, empty grain warehouse.
A company of Hungarian Honved in
fantry now slept in it. And scarcely
had the last c Of the trumpet faded
away when some n over in a corner
raised the familiar soldiers cry which
n hears in every Hungarian garrison
room every evening after taps: Egg
meset" "a story. Then some one be-
gan to tell something until he noticed
that all his comrades were asleep. And,
If the story hadn't come to an end, 1t
was continued the next night.
The Strange File Leader.
"Say. Kardos, have you noticed the
strange file leader who got his meal
today from our field kitchen?" asked
the Honved infantryman Balint Bella
softly of his neighbor in the straw.
Balint Bella was a gypsy.
Yes" answered Kardos. What
about him."
him nNot thin gu but I feel ss,a as If ! III, had seen seer
thinking about him all day. Day be-
fore yesterday he took his meal with
a battalion of the Vienna division. To-
day I saw him with u.s."
He is probably attached to some
staff, or a detail. or an ink writer. They
all eat that way in war time-each day
at a different field Kitchen" mumbled
Kardos, already half asleep.
Come, Balint, tell us something's"
came a call from all sides, inasmuch
as they had already heard him talking.
But Balint demurred.
I'm sleepy; and then I must think
over something"
He spoke this out loud into the dark
ened room, %whereupon everybody be-
gan to laugh.
Quiet. fellows" cried a voice; "Ba-
lint must think over something. He is
going to become a professor with the
Russians" Balint Bella spoke Russian
fluently. So it went for a while until
he at last a in.
Good, I will tell you something"
Everything became dead still. For
Balint always had a couple of good
stories in stock, in which rich gentle
men and champagne and fine ladies
played prominent parts. Balint Bella
was a musician n knew the whole
world.
Well, we had an engagement once
is! And much bigger than Budapest.
And there is a place there called the
aquarium. Everything is there, every.
thing that Is amusing. We played there
IN The bar. Almost every night a. count
ess came there quietly, under cover, as
It We're: with her was an officer of the
husband. They always sat alone in a
private box. Many people have e N
for me and taken the violin out of my
hand to play on it themselves. But
this guard officer, he could really play.
AZ ebadta" (Now I have it). cried
story. e he turned on his straw
n smashed into Kardos, who cried
out In protest. From that moment on
the gypsy was dumb. He wouldn't tell
a. word more. Some Of his comrades
abused him because they thought that
curiosity. Others laughed. holding the
whole thing to be a gypsy joke. Soon
the inspector came with a lantern and
ordered silence. n gradually all went
to sleep.
The Idea Had Come.
But the gypsy didn't go to sleep. He
thought for a long time. Then he threw
OFT the covers and put on his coat. He
told the sentinel at the door that he
/ VnNNot a Tho ~~~k1- -