The Arvada enterprise., 1917-10-11

"No matter. I must not criticize
what I must not criticize. Further
more, 1t is my duty to whisper in your
ear a word of advice"
IF you please" said Patria simply
-surmising what was coming.
Yet the general hesitated.
"You understand" he said, trace
embarrassed, II am acting under In
struction."
II quite understand"
"Then I must tell you-frankly-
that you are coming perilously near
to usurping Z power which the Con-
stitution vests with congress alone.
1.-THE right to raise and maintain .
standing army" Patria added.
Precisely. II that is not what you
are doing-on small scale, but none
the less In an admirably emcent way
IL have misunderstood all you have
shown and told me here today"
"Perhaps," Patria agreed, smiling.
"And yet you will find, upon investi-
CATION, that every man In my employ.
aside from the ranch hands and others
who have definitely peaceable labors
to perform, is carried on my pay rolls
as watchmanI"
"An army Of watchmenw
Again the eyes Of the general twin
kled.
"Precisely. The Constitution does
not prescribe the citizens right to
protect his own property, believe,
by employing men and arms to guard
1t. That is all that I am doing here
on my lands. have my property
and my people to safeguard, and I
mean to do It"
No further reference was made to
the object of the visitation, but the un-
Outstanding was implicit that a report
must be made to Washington and that
Washington would then take such &C
ton rs 1t might see at.
Noon-and still no word from Bess
Morgan or the party which had ridden
forth to rescue her.
But Patria betrayed no inklIng Of
the anxiety which gnawed at her mind.
To confess that she was waiting the
outcome Of an armed invasion of a
nominally friendly land which she, Pa
tria Charming, had authorized! Even
the favor her patriotic spirit had found
In the esteem Of her guests could hard
" mitigate the disaster to her plans
which must follow any such discov-
cry.
And It was nearly two o'clock before
she was finally rid Of them.
With heartfelt gratitude she saw the
dust Of their wheels drift away down
the road-then turned and Jumped
into her own motor car and had It
moving back toward the aviation field
almost before Donald could take his
place beside her.
One of her niers was making land
ing as Patria alighted at the field.
He had nothing to report.
Again clambering into the pilots
seat of her own particular biplane.
Patria committed her fate to the ad-
venture Of the air lanes.
For q little she climbed steadily,
but not for long; content to leave the
greater range of observation to those
on the higher levels, with their power
full glasses, she quartered the land be-
You'd the border at an elevation bare
~ sufficient to escape the eddies and
currents that made navigation inter
esting II not devoid Of danger abovs
the submits Of the lowland hills.
Here. comparatively close to the
ground, she might be able to pick up
Indications invisible to the airmen %
far above her.
And 10. In the end, 1t proved.
She had been flying q little more
than an hour-was returning from q
wide circuit through the south toward
her starting point. OF sudden she
was conscious that the monotOnoui
drone Of the motor behind her was be.
ing punctuated-one cylinder was be
ginning to miss IRE.
Patria began to foresee that she
} might be obliged to make q landing
!: south Of the border. She searched
the landscape that swan beneath her
J anxious eyes.
Then she saw motor-car abruptly
; sweep out Of narrow gulley at some
distance of to the right, making &
, furious pace northward. The mer
who occupied It wore khaki; for an
instant she thought them soldiers In
American unifOrms. Then she saw
} that they were men Of an average
stature smaller than that Of Ameri
J can troops. They were standing uT
In the tonncau and firing pistols bach