Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-08-24

ana met everybody VINO was anybody
In that cosmopolitan rendezvous.
Adams went into the back room.
bought a drink at the bar, carried II
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 a 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
q long sip; likewise Toxic. Yet no
word passed between them.
The topic Of conversation among the
f~requenters mainly concerned Ralph
Payne, the effect on world politics Of
the assassination Of the Granular
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 it
was true that the president had or
dered the chief Of the army staff to
prepare for mObilizing a million volun-
teers on an emergency call to arms.
Behind 1t all, war was the theme
and Il condition Of national unpre-
paredness for 1t.
"BOsh! J" exclaimed a Western farm
er to his congressman, warming up in
the Schumacher atmosphere. "War?
How can we go TO war with the
try short Of men as it is-a million,
they sayl 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-
ly. Don't forget when you go
back home, Lew, to tell TIE railroad
boys that I'm for the eight-hour work
ing day. It ought to r~e-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
a 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 Il
bushel. Let those that want to fight
go over on the other side, l sayl"
At the other end of the bar a stately,
gray-haired gentleman was speaking
to an attentive audience. "Antietam,
sub, A%ntletam," corrected he politely
to a statement that had been made.
He held up an empty coat sleeve. But
l 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"
with wheat at two
dollars n bnshel," trailed the inslstent
voice of the Western farmer.
" / feah the gov
eminent, sub, is sleeping regret to
say 1t, sub, about this noble land" 1t
IA the One-armed ~cOlonel's accents.
you, gentlemen, nus 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, sub:
When she got there,
The cupboard was bare
"Whcre are our soldiers? Where is
our equipment Where are our sup
plies? You-all must agree that al
though we are preparing Eu-
rope
$3.50. at two dollars a
bushel ;"
we are u"npreparing
ourselves to resist her If she should
turn against rs. l feah that our ma
tiOnal pride is being sacrificed to ma
tlOnal greed for money. l hope, sub,
] am mistaken. Thank you, sub" he
interpOlated with a smile, "the same
with n little more sugar and lemon
peel. Now take u National Pre-
paredness committeeman has it
done, who knows . ="
I'D like to b-butt in here a minute"
interrupted an a~pologizing newcomer
who had attached himself TO the
group.
1t was Adams. Toxic at the little
green table was watching him with
gimletllke eyes, not Il little astOnished.
81 want to ask t-thls highly eddy
Gated gentleman a q-question," Adams
explained to the curious %bystanders,