Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-02


had to retreat in a hurry. Once the
lower level was reached there was no
difficulty. and. with due precautions. ne
gained the shelter of a hedge close 10
the main road.
The stream of troops still continued.
Few things could be more ominous
than this unending torrent OF armed
men. BY how many similar roads, he
wondered. was Germany pouring her
legions into tiny Belgium? Was she
forcing the French frontier in the same
remorseless way? And what of Rus
STA? When he left Berlin the talk was
only of marching against the two
great allies. II Germany could spare
such a host of horse, foot, and artillery
for the overrunning of Belgium, while
moving the enormous forces needed on
both tanks, what millions of men she
must have placed under arms long be-
fore the mobilization order was an
nounced publicly! And what was Eng
land doing and sayingf England. the
home of liberty and free press, where
demagogueS spouted plattuoes aoou'
aged that very monster by leaving the
richest country in the world open 10
lust such sudden and mercliess at
tack as Belgium was undergoing De-
fore his eyes!
lying there among the underground,
listening to the tramp OF an army
corps. and watching the n1cker OF
countless riie-barrels in the moon.
IL
thought only of the appropriateness OF
Britain He was soldier by training
and inclination. He harbored no oe-
lusions Man for man. the alert, IN
telligent and chivalrous British army
was far superior to the cannon-fodder
Of the German machine. But of what
avail was the hundred thousand Brit
ain could put in the field in the west OF
Europe against the four millions OF
GERMAN? Here was no combat of
David and a Goliath, but of one man
against forty. Naturally, France and
Russia came into the picture. yet ne
feared that France would break at tho
outset of the campaign, while Austria
might hold Russia in check long
enough to enable Germany to work her
1nurderous design. Be it remembered,
he could not possibly estimate the me
and fierce valor of the resistance Of
that the Teuton hordes must already
be hacking their way to the coast,
leaving sufficient men and guns to con-
tain the Belgian fortresses. and hating
only when the white cliffs of England
were visible across the channel.
If his anxious thoughts wandered.
however. and gnawing doubt ate into
his soul lest the British fleet might. as
the Germans in Wise claimed, nave
been taken at a disadvantage. he did
not allow his eyes and ears to neglect
the duties of the hour.
A fall in the temperature had con-
densed the river mist, and the air near
the ground was much clearer now than
at o'clock. The breeze, too, gathered
the dust into wraiths and scurrying
wisps through which glimpses OF the
sloping uplands toward AK were OBJ
tainable. During one Of these unham-
pered moments he caught sight of
something SO weird and uncanny that
he was positively startled.
A sorrowladen, waxen-hued face
seemed to peer at him for an instant.
a,11 thny, fch Ry,f tS0
no face SO high in the air. twenty feet
or more above the heads of a Prussian
regiment bawling Deutschland.
Deutschland uber allies" The land was
seauently. must be a mere trick Of the
imagination. Yet he saw, or fancied he
saw. that same spectral face twice
again at intervals of few seconds.
and was vexed with himself for allow
ing his bemused senses to Weld to some
supernatural influence. Then the Wis
ion came a fourth time, and a thrill
IAN through every fiber in his body.
Because there could be no mistake
now. The face. SO mournfuI. so be-
nign. SO plying, bore on the forehead
a crown of thorns! Even while the
blood coursed in Dalroy's veins with
the awe of it, he knew that he was
looking at the figure of Christ on the
cross. This. then, was the calvary
spoken of by Joos. and invisible in the
earlier murk. The beams Of the risen
moon etched the painted carving in
most realistic lights and shadows. The
pallid skin Rlistened as though in
agony. The big. piercing eyes gazed
down at the passing soldiers as the
Man OF Sorrows might have looked at
the needless legfonaries of Rome.
The travelled Briton, to whom the
wayside calvary Is a familiar object in
many a continental landscape, can sell
dom pass the twisted, tortured figure
on the cross without a feeling of awe.
tempered by insular non-comprehen-
sion of the religious motive which
thrusts into prominence the most SOL
emn emblem of Christianity in unex-
Dected and often incongruous places.
Seen as Dalroy saw it. a hunted fugi-
tive crouching in a ditch while the
were lurchfng past In thousands within
a few feet of where he lay, the image
of Christ crucif1ed had new and over
whelming Significance. 1t induced a
vague uneasiness of spirit, almost a
doubt. That very day he had killed
four men and gravely wounded a fifth,
and there was no shred of compunc-
ton in his soul. Yet. in body and
this gray old world has failed to evolve
any finer human type than that which
is summed up in the phrase, an officer
and gentleman. For the foulest of
crimes. either committed or contem-
plated. he had been forced to use both
the scales and the sword of justice;
but there was something wholly dis
turbing and abhorrent in the knowl-
edge that two thousand years after
the great atonement men professedly
Christian should so wantonly disregard
every principle that Christ taught and
Dracticed and died for. He reflected
bitterly that the German soldier.
whether officer or private. is enjoined
to keep diary. What sort of record
would Heinrich or Busch. or the
three Westphalian lieutenants have
left of that days doings il they had
lived and told the truth?
The answer to these vexed question
ings came with the swift clarity of a
lightning fash. Another rift in the
dust clouds revealed the upper part OF
the cross, and the moonbeams shone on
gilded scroll Dalroy knew his BIZ
BILE. And a superscription also was
and Latin. and Hebrew: This is the
King of the Jews And one Of The
Indicators which were hanged ra led
on Him. saying. II Thou be Christ, save
Thvself and u.s."
From that instant one God-fes ring
Briton. at least. never again allowed the
shadow of a doubt to darken his faith
in the divine II ;nscrutable purpose
He had passed already through dark
then near at hand: but he was stead
fast in doing what he conceived his
duty without seeking to interpret the
ways of Providence. IF Thou he
Christi" 1t was the last taunt of thf
unbe'ievtr. though the veil of the tenn.
pie would be rent IN twain, and the
earth would quake. and the graves bt
opened. and the bodies of the saints
arise and be seen by many,
IA ,-s-ED Il