American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-09-18

she 80 longed to see, the cloud
Of dust which should mark the prog
Of a large body Of horsemen.
The little expeditionary force had
moved 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
p~reoccupation Of every faculty i'm
posed by that most difficult task
known to a%viators, 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
plane, she saw a group Of some half a
dozen moving toward her from a car.
Donald was one Of these; the others
We're all men In the field uniforms Of
the regular army Of the United States.
She Identified one 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 lei 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
we'll as the skill of her corps Of air
men.
Il have seen a great deal Of wonder
full flying" he said, "but what 1 see
going on here surpasses anything that
has come under my observation, fol
snap and precision-comes near Il
what I have heard Of the work of the
French and English flying corps.
could wish" he added, a trace visit
fully, yet with a perceptible twinkle
in his eyes as they held Patria's, IN.
own command were as well off
my men and my machines" Patrii
told him, "are always at the service o
my country"
"In event Of need. then, I shall no
hesitate to call upon you"
"You need not. I am doing"-Ps
tria hesitated briefly yet this officia
visit proved that the secret of he
preparations had leaked out-"wha
I am doing solely as a patriot and
soldiers daughter"
at is because you have proved you
self to be that-a worthy daughter {
my own comrade," the general salt
that I have ventured to make tn
unlimited call. l would be glad
you could give me a few moments
your time to discuss a question of puI
lie policy"
There was no way to escape. P
= tria bowed gracefully to the inevitabl
"If you will be good enough to a
company me to my home" she sal
1--WE can find there a quiet place
/ which to talk. And I shall be honor'
if you and your staff will be Il
guests for luncheon"
The invitation was eagerly accepte
2 and the party motored back to Il
hacienda.
There. while luncheon was bell
prepared. Patria abandoned all effO
at concealment and, conducting d
general to the library, laid before hi
l. "a complete exposition of all her plai
: and preparations to repel an invasic
: emitting no material detail.
mot my biplanes alone" she CO
cluded. "but the rest of the gear
have gathered together here-and t
men trained to manipulate it-are
! my country's call"
!, The general Strengthened up fri
!, the typographical map owe which
h had been bending. There was admit
ton and something more in his rega,
? "You are a very remarkable you
a woman, if you will permit me TO S
II so. Miss Claiming. 1 am only sol
n that there are not more women
men-like you In this land. If th'
- were"
The wistful look possessed his e,
= again, but he shook that humOr of.
l.