The Benson signal., 1917-04-07

nave lOSC much ana suffered much.
Day by day have seen the losses of
those about me increasing. am fifty
eight years old, and peace would give
me back my two sons. There are so
many like me-"
Madame" the soldier answered.
and this time he seemed to include
me in the argument-'peace will not
give back to the many hundreds of
thousands of French mothers the sons
and husbands they have lost. Peace
would only dishonor their memories,
would bring the cruelest of all bitter
ness into their lives. Look you, they
fought for their homes and their
womankind, they fought for sacred
cause, they fought for others besides
themselves. See how it is today with
those others! Belgium! Can one
speak Of it 1t is Belgium who shall
make peace when it comes. Who has
better right? What will she ask
for, I wonder? Fifty thousand Ger
man men and women to make slaves
of them? The maidenhood of Ger
many to debauch? No, they are not
Boches. But strict justice would give
them all that, and MORE"
Madame shook her head. She, too,
was moved.
zone must forget" she muttered. 81
had niece myself at Lille-but one
must not speak Of those horrors. God
alone can punish such crimes"
The Poilu rolled another cigarette
viciously.
Monsieur" he said, glancing across
at me, II appeal to you. You are Eng
lish, are you not?"
II am English" I told him; "but
with your permission / will be silent.
Even our friends call us a somewhat
obstinate nation. They say that we
find difficulty in seeing any side Of
these great issues save our own. Let
me hear you speak more of the peace"
The Poilu lit his cigarette. Madame
leaned forward.
"There Is the Trap"
"Listen," she intervened 81 have
heard it said that he"Boches now are
willing to restore all Belgium, that
they will give back the whole of their
conquered territory"
live leave their military machine,
their great engine of tyranny, autOc-
racy, aggression and destruction, with
all the power in it that made them
begin the war;" the Poilu interrupted
vigorously. "Ah, madame, there is the
trap. We trusted once to German
treaties and German faith. See how
they regarded them! Treaties! It
was Germany who dismissed them with
the immortal phrase, Mere scraps of
paper! Premises! Listen, madame.
their parliament and he pleaded guilty
to great broken faith. Necessity, he
declared, demanded it. And tell you
this, when necessity, which with them
means German ambition, demands
anything, then German promise and
a German treaty are worth just snap
of the fingers-no more. That Is why
I say-I and those others who have
lived and fought through these desc
late years-that with an uncOnQuered
Germany-there can be no peace"
One Who Had Thought Much.
'My son." the old lady declared,
looking at him with interest, "you
speak like one who has thought much. "
The Poilu glanced down at his mud
stained clothes.
a%nSc 01n nrs1x hnf
the war;" he said grimly. "What I am
now God only knows; but up there in
the front it is not all fighting. There
are long, lonely hours when the rain
works, hours of solitude when one
sees the truth"
Madame sighed.
'It is not often," she confessed,
"that I read the journals. My eye
sight Is failing, and my daughter
we'll, we will not speak Of her. l lost
her. Therefore it is a new thing for
me to talk to one like yourself. Re-
member now, If you please, that !
speak only in the language of the viii
lage. They say-I have heard it said
that Germany hungers for peace ;
that therefore it is better for us to
give peace now and so spare needless
suffering"
A little cloud of smoke surrounded
the soldiers head. His clinched fist
struck the knapsack by his side. His
eyes-hot and red they were with IA
| tigue-fashed.
Forty Years Of Preparation.
''They talk like cattle, madame" he
declared vigorously. "Where are Ger
many's conquests? Belgium, with odds
against her Of ten to one in men and
fifty to one in artillery Montenegro,
a mountain tribe! Serbia? Well, 1t
took them eighteen months and cost
them a good many army corps to
drive the Serbians from their country,
and the end of them is not yet ROu-
mania? Victims Of a foolish cam
paign, if you will, but even then over
powered with the war machine which
it has taken Germany thirty-five years