The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1917-06-02

which she so longed to see, the cloud
of dust which should mark the prog
ress of a large body of horsemen.
The little expeditionary force had
move rapidly and with craft, effacing
itself completely from the face of the
country side, long before sunrise.
For upwards of an hour Patria pur-
sued her fruitless reconnaissance.
At length, discouraged and dis
heartened, she turned back to her start
ing point and dropped down to the
private aviation field.
As she descended, In spite of the
preoccupation of every faculty i'm
posed by hat most difficult task
known to aviators, that of negotiat-
ing a successful landing, she was con-
Scious that strangers watched her from
the body of a huge gray motorcar on
the edge of the field.
Alighting beside her stationary BIZ
dozen moving toward her from a car.
Donald was n of these; the others
were all men in the field uniforms of
the regular army of the United States.
She identified m or two faces made
familiar to her by production In the
pages Of newspapers and magazines
the faces of men who had risen to high
places in the service of their country.
One wore on the collar of his tunic
the insignia of a brigadier general.
Her heart warmed to their soldier
ly bearing-then sank as she was re-
minded that all they stood for, of gal
lantry, loyalty, bravery, intelligence
and efficiency, must count for nothing
in event of war, because the country
they served refused them men enough
to lead successfully against any but
the most pitifully impotent enemy.
Introduced by Captain Parr, the brig
adler general greeted her with grave
courtesy, presented formally each
member of his staff, and complimented
Patria on her own skill in aviation, as
well as the skill of her corps of air.
men.
II have seen a great deal of wonder
full flying" he said, "but what l see
going on here surpasses anything that
has come under my observation, for
snap and precision-comes near to
what I have heard of the work of the
French and English flying corps. 1
could wish," he added, a trace visit
fully, yet with a p%erceptible twinkle
in his eyes as they held Patria's, my
WI command were as well off !"
"My men and my machines" Patria
told him, "are always at the service of
my country"
"In event of need, then, I shall not
hesitate to call upon you"
"You need not. 1 am doing'-Pa-
tria hesitated briefly; yet this official
visit proved that the secret of her
preparations had leaked out-"what
I am doing solely as a patriot and a
soldiers daughter"
sit is because you have proved your
self to be that-a worthy daughter of
my own comrade," the general said,
that I have ventured to make this
unlimited call. I would be glad If
you could give me a few moments of
your time to discuss a question of pub
lie policy"
There was no way to escape. Pa
tria bowed gracefully to the inevitable.
eff you will be good enough to ac-
company me to my home" she said,
1--WE can find there a quiet place in
which to talk. And I shall be honored
if you and your staff will be my
guests for luncheon"
The invitation was eagerly accepted,
and the party motored back to the
hacienda.
There, while luncheon vas being
prepared, Patria abandoned all effort
at concealment and, conducting the
general to the library, laid before him
a complete exposition of all her plans
and preparations to repel an invasion,
emitting no material detail.
"Not my biplanes alone" she con-
cluded, "but the rest of the gear I
have gathered together here-and the
men trained to manipulate it-are at
my country's CALL"
The general Strengthened up from
the Typographical map W. which he
had been bending. There was admira-
ton and something more in his regard.
"You are a very remarkable young
woman, if you will permit me to say
so, Miss Claiming. I am only sorry
that there are not more wonderland
men-like you in this land. If there
were"
The wistful look possessed his eyes
again, but he shook that humor off.