The Monticellonian., 1917-04-26

and met everybody who was anybody
in that cosmopolitan rendezvous.
Adams went into the back room,
bought drink at the bar. carried 1t
over to one of the little green tables
hedged In between the barrels and
cases and deposited his valise on the
floor.
He appeared to be browsing, but
was in fact listening to the hum of
gossip and scrutinizing every face.
Presently Toxic appeared with high
ball and sat down in one of the unoc-
cupied chairs at the same table, fixing
his eyes upon Adams. Adams never
blinked. He acted as though he had
never seen Toxic before. Adams took
a long sip; likewise Toxic. Yet no
word passed between them.
The topic of conversation among the
frequenters mainly concerned Ralph
Payne, the effect onsworld politics of
the assassination of the Granadian
ambassador; the sudden maneuvers of
the Atlantic squadron with decks
trimmed toward the Caribbean; what
all this Canal plot" newspaper talk
was about anyhow to an incompre-
hensible people, and whether or not 1t
was true that the president had or
dered the chief of the army staff to
prepare for mobilizing million volun-
teers on an emergency call to arms.
Behind it all, war was the theme
and our condition of national unpre-
paredness for it.
'.Bosh !" exclaimed a Western farm
er to his congressman, warming up in
the Schumacher atmosphere "War?
How can we go to war with the coun-
try short of men as it is-a million,
they sayi The farms won't yield up
any volunteers that's sure-not with
wheat at two dollars a bushel, no
stree |"
The congressman smiled indulgent-
~. Don't forget when you go
back home, Lew, to tell the railroad
boys that I'm for the eight-hour work
ing day. 1t ought to re-elect me, eh?"
The constituent shut one eye and
screwed his face. "Waal, I'm not
nutty on this short working-day prop
osition-not with wheat at two dollars
bushel and help scarce. Still we
got to keep the trains moving, with
all this here prosperity in the country
Gosh! Bill, the country mustn't go to
war. We've simply got to keep the
wheels of industry hummin'. The
way for you fellers down here to get
reelected is to keep on keepin' us out
of WARMTH wheat at two dollars
bushel. Let those that want to fight
go over on the other side, sayi'
AT the other end of the bar stately,
gray-haired gentleman was speaking
to an attentive audience. "Antietam,
sub, Antietam," corrected he politely
to statement that had been made
lie held up an empty coat sleeve. But
| want to voice these sentiments, sub
Just as l fought for the lost cause of
the South, so would l again fight to
uphold the independence of this unit
ed nation"
dollars bushel," trai1ed the insistent
voice of the Western farmer
E. l feah the gov
eminent, sub. is sleeping-I regret to
say it, sub, about this noble land" 1t
was the one-armed colonels accents.
you, gentlemen, must not misunder-
stand me, but l feah that while we
are maintaining the fighting machine
of Europe, our own is getting very
rusty. The government and the army
remind me sadly of old Mother Hub
bard and her dawg. You-all know
what l mean, subj
When she got there,
The cupboard was bare
"Where are our soldiers? Where is
our equipment Where are our sup
plies? You-all must agree that al
though we are preparing Eu-
rope :"
=. at two dollars
bushel
we are unpreparing
ourselves to resist her If she should
turn against us. l feah that our ma
tional pride is being sacrificed to ma
tional greed for money. l hope, sub,
/ am mistaken. Thank you, suh," he
interpolated with a smile, ''the same
with little more sugar and lemon
peel. Now take our National Pre-
paredness committeeman has it
done, who knows :"
I'D like to b-butt in here minute"
interrupted an apologizing newcomer
who had attached himself to the
group.
1t was Adams. Toxic at the little
green table was watching him with
gimletlike eyes, not little astonished.
II want to ask t-this highly eddy
Gated gentleman a q-question," Adams
explained to the curious bystanders,