Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-07-23
CHAPTER XIV
"Carry On"

ETEh rev uellBntIui Gays IN London
"A palroy walked down Whitehall one
Ana morning to call at the War Office for
1rders. Irene went with him. He ex-
sected to be packed off to France that very
evening, so the two meant making the ut
most of the fast-speeding hours. The In
tsil,gence Department had assimilated all
the information Dalroy could give. had
found It good. and had complimented him.
As a Bengal Lancer. whose regiment was
presumably in India, he would probably be
attached to some cavalry unit Of the ex-
peditionary force; from being hunted
outlaw, with a price on his head, he would
be quietly absorbed by the military ma
chine. Very smart he looked In his khaki
and brown leather; Irene, who one short
week earlier deemed sabots en- CUR the
height Of luxury, was dressed de rigueur for
luncheon at the Savoy.
Many eyes followed them as they crossed
Trafalgar Square and lodged the traffic
Aowlng around the base Of King Charless
statue. An alert recruiting sergeant
elinching the argument. pointed out the
tall, well-groomed officer to a lanky youth
whose soul was almost afire with martial
decision.
There yare," he said, with emphatic
thumb jerk, that's wot the British army
will make of you in a couple of months.
An just twig the sort O. girl you can sort
cut of the bunch. Cock yer eye at that,
will your
Thus. all unconsciously, Irene started the
great adventure for one Of Kitchener's first
Aalfmillon
She was not kept waiting many minutes
p an ante-room. Dalroy reappeared. sml.
ing mysteriously, yet, as Irene quickly saw,
not quite SO content with life as when he
entered those magic portals, wherein a man
wrestles with an algebraical formula before
10 finds the department he wants.
we'll" she inquired, having picked
your brains, are they going to court-martial
you Tor being absent without leave?"
Il cross tonight" he said, leading her
@ward the Horse Guards Parade. "It's
Belgium, not France. I'm on the staff. My
appointment will appear in the gazette to-
morrow. That's fine, but I'd rather"
Irene stopped. almost in the middle Of the
road.
"And you'll wear a cap with a red band
and golden lion, and those ducky little
red tabs on the collar! Come at once, and
buy them! / refuse to lunch with you 9TH
9wise"
"A man must not wear the staff insignia
until he is gaZetted." he reminded her.
OH She was pathetically disappointed.
But, In my case" he went on, "I am
lpecifcally ordered to travel in staff uni.
trm, so as leave London at o'clocl-"
"You can certainly lunch in all your
elory." she vowed There's an empty
taxi!'
stair and thus become even more admired
by Irene, II there is degree SURPRISING that
which is already superlative but the fly In
me ointment OF Dalroy's new career lay In
the fact that the battle Of the Aisne was
Just beginning, and every British heart
hpobbed- with the hope that the Teuton
hordes might be chased back to the frontier
as speedily as they had rushed on Paris
palroy himself, an experienced soldier,
though he had watched those grim columns
pouring through the valley of the Meuse,
Yielded momentarily to the vision splendid.
He longed to be there. taking part in the
drive. Instead he was being sent to Bel
gium, some shrewd head in the War Office
having decided that his linguistic powers.
Joined to recent first-hand knowledge Of
local conditions, would be far more profit
ably employed In Flanders than as a
squadron leader in France.
Thus when that day of mellow autumn
mad sped all too swiftly, and he had said
his last good-by to Irene, 1t was to Dover
he went, being ferried thence to Ostend in
destroyer.
In those early weeks of the war all ENG
land was agog with the belief that Antwerp
would prove ranking thorn in the ribs
OF the Germans, while men In high places
cherished the delusion that a flank attack
was possible along the ostend-Bruges-Brus
sells line.
But Dalroy was an eminently sane per-
son. Two hours of clear thinking In the
train established his poise. When the lieu
tenant commander in charge or the oe-
stroyer took him below in mid-Channel FOR
smoke and drink and the talk turned on
strategy, the soldier dspelled an allurins
: mirage with a breath of common sense.
The scheme is nothing short of rank
lunacy." he said. I'VE haven't the men,
France can spare none of hers, and Belgium
must be crushed when the big battaiions
meet. Germany has at least three millions
IL - Arta bao
py a miracle. BY some other miracle we
may check the onrush in France but, II
We start dividing our forces even heaven
won't help u.s."
Surely you'll admit that We should
sssrensthen the defense of Antwerp" argued
Il think 1t impracticable. Liege only held
out until the new siege howitzers arrived.
Nar',r fell at once. Why should we expect
FH.y be impregnable?"
- Fl. :, deemed the army pessimlstlc,
o1 ---actly a month later, the heutenah'
Commander remembered that conversation
and remarked to a friend that about tne
middle Of September he took to Ostend
enap on the STAFF VINO seemed TO KNOW
II is now a matter of historical fact when
Won Kluck and Sir John French began tneir
famous race to the north, the Belgian army
only escaped from Antwerp by the skin OF
ns teeth. The city itself was occupied py
.ne Germans on october o, Bruges was en.
Tered on the 18th. Won Bessler's army my
reached the coast on the 18th, and the
hritfsh and Belgians were attacked on 'he
nne of the User next day.
s Thus. fate decreed that Dalroy shoulu
wHness the beginning and the eng OF uei
many's shameless outrage on peace,ui an an
peace-loving country. On August ., lsi.,
King Albert ruled over the most prosperous
Snd contented small kingdom II Europ.,
n within eleven weeks he had become, as
1miie cammaerts finely puts IL, iora VI
hundred fields and a,few spires
With the retreat Of the Belgian army 70,
xerd Dupkirk. and the return to Ensianu l,,
such portion of the ill-fated naval ois.- ~.
la ~ was not interned In Holland: M
|rSx ~ or1S - ou1ht q have mscs