Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-05

onpHIN' tfpIlnNfu ny Sp''tdl aiA"ib'HlSA'N
descent the fugltives gave eyes thought
TO naught else. Jules, the pioneer quoted
by Leontine, who was the owner of the hut
and maker Of sabots, had rough -hewed \
sort of stairway out Of narrow cleft in
the rock face To young people, steady in
nerve and sure of foot the passage was
| dangerous enough, but to Joos and his wife
! II offered real hazard. However, they were
| allowed no time for hesitancy. With Leon
| tine in front. guiding her father, and
! Maert2 next, telling Madame Joos where
to put her feet, while Dalroy grasped her
broad shoulders and gave an occasional eye
! to Irene. they all reached the level tow
| path without the least accident. Irene, by
| the way, carried the rifle. so that Dalroy
should have both hands at liberty.
Without a moments delay he took the
| weapon and readjusted the magazine which
| he had removed for the climb Bidding the
| others follow at such distance that they
| would not lose sight Of him, yet be able TO
| retire If he found the way disputed by SOL
| diers, he set off In the direction of Argcn,
| teau
lie had made up his own mind what to
| 40 II he met any Germans He would ad-
| wise the Joos family and Maert2 to hide
In the cleft they had Just descended while
! he would take TO the Meuse with Irene
| provided, that is, she agreed to dare the
long swim by night Happily there was
! NV Il''u " buOpl lulS counsel OF despair.
The fire. instead Of assisting the nanking
party on the western side, only delayed
1t, Sheer curiosity to what was hap
pening in the wood drew all eyes there
rather than to the river bank, 80 the three
men and three women passed along the
towpath unseen and unchallenged
After half mile of rapid progress Dali
roy judged that they were safe for the
time. and allowed Madame Joos to take a
much-needed rest. Though breathess and
nearly spent, she. like the Others found
an irresistible fascination in the scene
lighted by the burning trees. The whole
| countryside was resplendent in crimson and
silver because the landscape was now
stepped in moonshine, and the deep glow
of the fire was most perceptible In the
| patches where ordinarily there would be
black shadows. The Meuse resembled
river Of blood, the movement Of its slug
gsh current suggesting the onward roll Of
some fluid denser than water Old .Joos,
/ whose tongue was seldom al rest, used that
very smile
, Those cursed Prussans have made Bel
gium shambles," he added bitterly Look
, at our river It isn't our dear, ,muddy
Meuse. It's stream in the Internal
regions"
Yes" gasped his wife. "And listen to
those guns Henri! They beat a sort of
roulade, like drums in hell I"
This stout Waloon matron had never
: heard Of Milton. Her ears were not turned
to the music of Parnassus. She would
\ have gazed in mild wonder at one who
+ told Of noises loud and runous,"
when Bellona storms
: with all her hattertng engines bent to raze
Some capital city.
But in her distress of body and soul she
, had coined a phrase which two at least
of her hearers would never forget. The
, siege Of Liege did, indeed roar and rumble
with the din OF n demoniac orchestra Its
clamor mounted to the armament. 1t
was as though the neither fends follow
Ing Moloch's advice were striving.
Armd with Hell flames and fury, all at
( Ger Heavens high towers to force resstless
way.
1 Dalroy himself yielded to the spell of the
moment. Here was red war such as the
= soldier dreams of. His warrior spirit did
. not quail He longed only for the hour If
r ever the privilege was vouchsafed, when
ne would stand shoulder to shoulder with
the men of his own race, and watch with
A" unfinchiag eye those same dread tokens OF
l a far-hung battle line.
I Irene Beresford seemed to read his pass,
p ing mood. "War has some elements of
I greatness" she said quietly 1.-THE pity is
that while It ennobles a few it degrades
:. the multitude"
With woman's intuition, she had gone
!, straight to the heart Of the problem pro-
' pounded by Teutonism to an amazed world
. ! The degradation" Of a whole people was
already Germanys greatest and unforgiv-
, | able Offense. Few, even the most cynical
q among the students of European politics
;. could have believed that the Kaiser's troops
would sully their CountTy's repute by the
, inhuman eXccsscs committed during those
n first days in Belgium. At the best, "wai
y Is hell"; bat the great American leader
~ who summed up its attributes in that plthS
!, phrase thought only Of the mangled men
- the ruined homesteads, the bereaved fami
n lies which mark its devastating trail IL,
"a had seen nothing Of German "frightfu
|, ness" The men he led would have scornet
:, | to ravage peaceful villages, impale babie,
:, on bayonets and lanCes, set fire to houses
containing old and bedridden people, mur
der hostages rape every woman in a com
munity, torture wounded enemies and shoe
- harmless citizens i'm drunken sport. Ye
10 the German armies did all these thing
d before they were a fortnight In the field
u They are not impeached on isolated counts
Ie attributable, perhaps, to the criminal in
10 stincts of a small minority. They carrie,
! out bestial orgies in battalions and brigade
II | acting under word Of command The iolIN
N good-humored fellows who used to tr, 4
In in droves through the Swiss passes
n, summer, each man with a rucksack on hi
back, and bcguiling the road In lusty sons
re seemed 20 cast aside all their cheerfI
ne camaraderie all their eXuberant kindlines
of nature, when garbed in the field gray
IL livery Of the State and let loose anon
m the pleasant wales ana well-tilled fields {
re- Flanders. That will ever remain GeI
~ many's greatest sin, When "the thundt
Iv Of the captains and the shouting" is stillet
- when time has healed the wounds OF victC
"A and vanquished, the memories of Wise,
y | LouVain, Of Aershot, of nearly every tow
a and hamlet in Belgium and northern Franc
=, once occupied by the savages from beyon
~ the Rhine, will remain imperishable
VI their horror, German Kultur was highl
u polished veneer Exposed 20 the hot blai
en- of war II peeled and shriveled. leavin
a bare a diseased, worm-eaten structure.
Ia which the honest fiber OF humanity ha
er been rotted by vile Influences, both socil
ne and political
" Copyright. Edward J. clods)
us (coNTINUED ToMoRRoWl