The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1917-08-13

FAMILY
By OSCAR cox

Warringham was a wealthy young
man with nothing to do TO kill time.
There was nothing but war talk in the
city, and it tired him. 1t was spring
time and every one was going into gar
dening. Though it did not make any
difference TO him whether he paid =
or 80 cents for a cabbage, he concluded
to go in for gardening too. Looking
ever a catalogue of farms for sale and
finding one that seemM about right,
he took a train TO go and inspect the
premises.
When he alighted at the station and
went out on to the street he saw a girl
sitting in an auto She wore an alpine
hat with feather In it and a tiny
American flag on her corsage.
Can you tell me-" he said to her.
handing her the ad. where / can find
that?"
She took the slip, glanced at it and
said: That's the Erskine property
I'm going there in a few minutes and
will take you with me in my machine
If you like
Warringham accepted the offer, and
after every one who had come i'll on
the train had passed out the girl re-
marked that she reckoned she hadn't
come on that train and turned her
car away from the station.
who did you say owned this prop
erty" asked Warringham.
1T belongs to Major Erskine.'
whats he major off"
"The Pittsford battalion"
Everybody here is preparing for
war, then?"
eyes, everybody that has any spunk.
There are a few slackers among the
men,
when is man to be considered a
slacker?"
when he's young. ablebodied and
don't go to the war"
Warringham WINGED. The cap fitted
him exactly. He noticed that the girl
wore leggings, which were plainly Wis
ible beneath her short skirt
1T seems to me-" he said, that you
are got up in a soldierly fashion. l
| reckon you're not a slacker'
You bet
| w nat oAC gSu 6OAAS " w W nC1p
| the cause-ight?"
II don't know. I'm going to do some
thing. You see, I'm the granddaugh.
| ter of Union soldier in the big wal
| fifty years ago and the granddaughter
of Confederate soldier. So. you see
| it won't do for me to Shirk"
did you have any more GRANDPA
theirs in the Cuban fracas?"
mo. You don't suppose could have
| more than two grandfathers, do you
But my father and four uncles were in
that diminutive fight"
| women are not now what they were
In your grandmothers' time. Then they
were feminine"
| my Confederate grandmother WASN'T
coward. She drove some Federal
soldiers cut of her potato patch with q
gun"
How about your Union grand
| mother?
"She stood off a mob in the draft
! riots"
you do come of a fighting family
don't you? Do you think you could
stand UP to be shot at without show
ing the white feather?"
81 don't know. / reckon it would
depend ON how mad / got. Both my
| grandfathers agreed that when they
first went In to fight they 'heaved 10
nah,' but when they got mad they
weren't scared Bit
"On that ground they should make
soldiers of women. My experience
| with your sex Is that when a woman /:
mad she's mad from the crown of he
head to the tip of her big toe"
BY this time the girl was turning il
to grounds with house and big pole
from which foated the Stars and
Stripes. Women in feminine uniform
were walking about, and before thu
house paced sentinel.
. whats this?" asked Warringham.
1.-THE barracks of the Pittsford bat
| TALON"
/ She drove up to the house and alight
/ ed, while the sentinel faced ant
brought his musket to present"
young woman came out of the hous'
with a heutenant's straps on her shoul
ders and asked:
where's the recruit you were tt
bring, major"
"She didn't come. l reckon She
going to turn out Stacker"
Are you Major Erskine" asked
Warringham.
Eyes, at your service. Do you wan
to buy my little farm? I've no use 70
it this year I'm preparing battalion
for active service"
NO" replied Warringham. 81 dom
think l do. Your two grandfather
who fought in the war between th
states, your two manly grandmothers
your father and four uncles VIII,
fought in Cuba, have produced that II
Il you which merits emulation. / dom
see why I, man. should be raising
cabbages while you, woman, are pre-
pairing for war Pm going back hom
and pack my grip for Plattsburg o
some other training camp and leay'
the cabbages to the superannuated meI
and boys"
Now you talk like Jim dandy"
But there's one thing want you t,
promise me-
What's that?"
Promise me, major, that il com,
back from the war alive you'll MARI.
me-"
well, seeing there's only one chanc
in three of your coming back alive, II
do it. Put it therer'
She gave him her hand, he becam'
III an officer in the army, and others rails