Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-09
CHAPTER Y



Andenne
MADAME JOOs was old for her fifty
lN1 years and heavy wthal Hers was not
the finer quality OF human clay which
hardens in the fire Of adversely. She be.
came i'll, almost seriously IN, and had TO
be nursed back into good health again
during nine long days. And long these
days were. the longest Dalroy had ever
known. To man Of his temperament, en-
forced inactivity was anathema in any con-
ditions; n gnawing doubt that he was not
justified in remaining in Nerviers at all did
not improve matters Monsieur Garnier,
the cure, was frequent though unob-
trusive visitor He doctored the invalid,
and brought scraps OF accurate information
which filtered through the far-hung screen
of Uhlans and the dense lines of German
infantry and guns. Thus the fugitves
knew when and where the British eXpedi-
tlonary force actually landed on the Con-
tinent They heard Of the gradual sapping
Of the defenses of Liege, until Fort Loncin
fell, and with It, as events were TO prove
the shield which had protected Belgium for
nearly fortnight The respite did moi
avail King Albert and his heroic people
in so far as the occupation and ravagina
Of their beautiful country was concerned,
But calm-eyed historians i'm years TO
come will apprase at its true value the
secured for France and England.
Dalroy found It extraordinarily difficult
to Sift the true from the false in the crop
Of conflicting rumors In the first instance
German legends had TO be discounted
From the outset of the campaign the
Kaisers armies were steadily regaled with
accounts of phenomenal successes else
where. Thus, when four army corps, COM
manded now by Won Klpck, were nearly
demoralized by the steadfast valor or Cen
eral Leman and his stalwarts, the men
were rallied by being told that the Grown
Prince was smashing his way to Paris
through Nancy and Verdun. Prodigies were
being performed in Poland and the North
Sea, and London was burnt by Zeppelins
almost daily. Nor did Belgian imagination
lag far behind in this contest of unveracity.
British and French troops were marching
TO the Meuse by dozen roads; the French
raid into Alsace was magnified into a great
military feat the British fleet had squelched
the German navy by sinking nineteen
battleships; the Kaiser, haggard and blear-
eyed, was alternately degrading and shoot
ing generals and issuing lamboyant procla-
nations Finally, Russia was fattening
out East Prussia and GaliCia with the slow
crunchlng Of a steamroler.
out of this maelstrom of news" a level
headed soldier might, and did extract certain
hard facts The landing of Sir John
Frenchs force took place exactly at the
himself had estimated. To throw small
army into Flanders would have been folly
Obviously, the British must join hands
with the French before offering battle, For
the rest--though he went out very little, and
alone, as being less risky--he recognized
the hour when the German machine re-
covered its momentum after the first un.
expected collapse. He saw order replace
chaos lie watched the dragon crawling
ever onward and understood then that no
Iii.
was the best possible site for an observer
who knew how to use his eyes. lie assumed
that what was occurring there was going
on with equal precision in LuXemburg and
along the line of the Vosges Mountains.
Gradually too, he reconciled his con,
science TO these days of waiting He he.
leved now that his services would be i'm.
mander-in-chief in the field if he could
cross the French frontier rather than reach
London and the War Office by way Of the
Belgian coast. This decision lightened his
heart He was beginning to fear that the
welfare OF Irene Beresford was connictnr
with duty. II was cheering to feel con,
vnced that the odds and ends of informa,
ton picked up in Verviers might prove OF
inestimable value to the Allied cause.
For instance Liege was being laid low
by eleven-inch howitzers, but he had seei
seventeen-inch howitzers, each in thre,
DaILh tdtH ldlN ulhNll ny lOIlA nOISeS O
a dozen traction engines, moving slowl,
| toward the southwest. There lay Manu-
! and France; No need to doubt now wher
| the chief theatre of the war would find IL
| habitat. The German staff had blundere,
| i'm its initial strategy but the defect wa
| being repaired, All that had gone befor
was mere prelude TO the grim busines
which would be transacted beyond tn
! Meuse
During that period Of quiescence certain
/ minor and personal elements affecting tn
| future passed from nebulous stage 10 (
| state of quasi-acceptance. There was not
| there could not be, any pronounced love
| making between two people so situated a
] Dalroy and Irene Beresford But eye
| can exchange messages which the lips dar
| not utter, and these two began TO realiz
that they were designed the one for tn
| other by a wise Providence. As that
precisely the right sentiment Of young fol
| In love romance throve finely in Madam
Beranger's little auberge in the Rue d
| Nivers at Verviers. A tender glance
| touch of the hand, a lighting Of a trouble
face when the dear one appears-thes
things are excellent substitutes for tn
| spoken word
(copyrlght Edward J. clode)
(coNTINUED TOMORROW