Evening star., 1917-10-07

seemed to encourage the young man.
who knows, I'm deserttng" he de-
manded. mo ones ever seen me In
Saloniki before, and in these 'cits can
get on board all right. And then they
can't touch me. What do the folks at
home care how left the British army?
They'll be SO darned glad to get me
back alive that they won't ask II l
walked out or was kicked out. l should
worry"
It's none Of my business" / began.
but 1 was interrupted. In his restless
LAS you say" ne remarked icily. 1T
is none Of your business. It's none of
your business whether. get shot as
deserter. or go home. Or
You can go to the devil. for all l
care" I assured him. II wasn't con-
sidering you at all. I was only sorry
that I'd never be able to read your
For a moment Mr.. Hamlin remained
silent, then he burst forth with a jeer.
mo British firing squad" he buster
ed, will ever stand me up"
Maybe not" ! agreed, but you viii
never write that book"
Again there was silence. and this
time 1t was broken by the Kid. He
turned from the window and looked to-
ward Hamlin. That's right" he said.
He sat down on the edge of the table.
Son." he went on. this war Is somo
war. It's the biggest war in history
and folks will be talking about Moth
ing else for the next ninety years;
folks that never were nearer it than
Bay City. Mich. But you won't talk
about it. And you've been all through
1t. You've been to hell and back again.
Compared with what you know about
hell Dante is in the same class with
DR.. Cook. But you won't be. able to
talk about this war or lecture' or write
a book about IT."
Il won't?" demanded Hamlin. why
won't II"
Because of what you're doing now"
Billy told him; because you're queer
ing yourself" The Kid was very much
in earnest: His tone was intimate. kind
and friendly.
Now. you've got everything" he
said You've seen everything, done
everything We'd give our eye-teeth
to see what you've seen and to write
the things you can write. You've got a
record now thatll last you until you're
dead and your grandchildren are dead
and then some. When you talk the
You can say. was there I was in it,
1 saw, I know When this war is
over you'll have everything out of it
that's worth getting; all the expert
'nosehag' news; you'll have wounds.
medals, money, reputation. And you're
throwing all that away"
MI Hamlin Interrupted savageiy.
ITO hell with their medals" he said
They can take their medals and hang
'em on Christmas trees. / don't owe
the British army anything! 1t owes
me! I've done my bit. I've earned
what I've got. and there's no one can
take 1t from me-"
You can" said the Kid.
Before Hamlin could reply the door
opened and John came in, followed by
Uncle Jim. The older man was looking
very grave and John very unhappy
Hamlin turned quickly to John.
II thought these men were friends
of yours" he began, "and Americans.
They're fine Americans, They're as full
of human kindness and red blood as a
kippered herring!'
John looked inquiringly at the Kid.
HE wants to hang himself" ex-
planned Billy. "and because we tried to
cut him down he's sore"
''They talked to me-" protested Ham.
lin, "as though I was yellow dog! AS
though / was gutter. I'm no uuitteri
But II I'm ready to quit who has a bet
ter right? I'm not an Englshman. hut
there are several million Englishmen
haven't done as much for England in
this war as I have. What do YOU feIIows
know about IT? You write about it, about
the brave lads in the trenches; but what
do you know about the trenches? What
you've seen from the staff automobiles.
That's all. That's where you get on! rye
lived in the trenches for fifteen months
froze in 'em. starved in 'em, risked NV
life in EN- and I've saved other lives too
by hauling men out Of the trenches. And
that's no airy persihage, either!'
He ran to the wardrobe where John'a