The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1918-07-26
letter IN the +,
MORNING MAIL
How Mrs. Lane Finally Realized
That Thousands of Other
Mothers Sons Are at War
Scared Battle Front.
BY MACMILLAN FOSTER
OF the viuilantes.

VI INC VJ0tianteo.
Mathematics teach us that / from 1
leaves nothing. and there Is also the
we'll known biological theorem that
you cannot get blood from a turnip.
1t Is also assumed, Sir Isaac Newton
having demonstrated the law, that
what goes up Is bound to come down,
but this Is only abstract Mrs. Lane
probably would have denied it.
The fiat rent, previously $1,000 q
year, now was $1,4OO, and it showed no
signs whatever Of coming down. The
same condition applied also to her
children's shoes. The shoes now cost
81, whereas they formerly had cost 81.
But this was merely a detail. A SINH
lar phenomenon occurred as to beef.
steaks, potatoes, butter, fish and the
81 other varieties Of domestic essen
tials. All had gone up; none had
come down. About the only thing sta
Bile In Mrs. Lanes cosmos was Mr..
Lanes yearly income. This was $1,000
a year.. Already Mrs. Lane had given
up n maid. The war literally was at
her door. True, Mrs. Lane had no son,
no brother-no kin Of any kind-in the
war, but the war still was at her door.
Hard to Make Ends Meet.
Give money for the war? What do
Eyou think she was doing. anyway?
She was giving every cent she had,
trying to make both ends meet in her
household. 1t hurt, though. Mrs.
Lane was a. kindly, warm hearted wo-
( man. and she would have liked to give.
| The war was dreadful! 1t was so
dreadful she'd stopped reading about it
But one must read letters. One
| must do that when q friend takes the
| trouble to write them.
The letter came in the morning mail.
| Mrs. Lane read it. then she read 1t
again. Afterward she sat there alb
sorbed, silent, rigid. The color had crept
out of her face, and her breath came
swiftly from between her parted lips.
%" haze just rome back from tho
conteen." It read. "Such an after.
xooni A troinload of seriously
s0ounded' to be fed at once. WhicA
u trying, "a ome has to climb into
all the carriages, One after the 9th
e.. We begin scSth the men Uh0
ore UeU enough to SIT up and han-
die their cups. and those Who are
too III even to ut their heads, Of
course, voc haze to ut and feed
Ourselves. Feeding the ones soith
bod foce bounds r the hardest.
I con stand ordinary so0&nds Of
blood, but s0hen q m0n ought to
have q nose and mouth and oil 10
hos ts-W0Ai-N takes al yowr
courage to get through q feeding.
I managed to get holt q pint Of
milk and q bedtew egg and some
brandy doson the throat of q boy Of
tpenty soho had no mouth left, 0n6
I hdd to clean Il betsCeen every
moNthfwL. He had had no food for
fifteen hoxrs aHd GOA 90 thirsty
thot he +Oas nearly i~sone. I Ae1
ks Mead o0ainst me-, and I goSgod
al the time, bWt I jwst kept think.
tw0, 'Ewppose e so0s my BOY o
eeedcd q drink -ond therS soos no
one to 0ire e 30 Nina So I sceHs
through soitA Il, and he finally soent
TO slsep. Oh, KartAa, HartAs Lane,
voc need evevytAIn0-oU yov and
tAe rest can sendr
IL Lawrence Had Gene g War. 4
One O'Clock struck. Mrs. Lane sttn
| sat with the letter clutched In her
hand. "What's for dinner7" asked Han
nah. the maid. Mr.. Lane hardly heard
her. She was still sitting there when
Olivia floundered In. Olivia was four
teen. the conscious age. Mother" she
said fretfully, II can't 60 to dancing
school again in brown gloves when all
the other girls have white ones" The
plant reminded Mrs. Lane that Law
renee at boarding school had written
that morning about his socks. He had
only W. pairs Of silk ones left. "And.
| mother" said Olivia, continuing But
what Olivia said Mrs. Lane didn't hear.
She had dropped her head on the table
and unaccountably was weeping. "Just
suppose it was my bOy-mine" she
was sobbing.
"Why mother l" calculated Olivia.
She hurried toward her mother.
sWhat is it, mother? You're acting just
rs though Lawrence had gone to warT"
Mrs. Lane looked up, the tears
streaking down her face.
"That's just what Is the matter with
mel I should be acting as II Lawrence
were there. And SO should you! II
Willie were like these, the boys there"
she pointed to the letter that had slip
ped from her lap to the foor-'H he
were, like them. In need. dying, want
ing eggs. milk, brandy. to keep him
alive. would You be buying white
gloves? And would we think what other
people wear or how they live or wheth-
Or we had only a servant now3 4 my
boy was over there. ifsmy son were0
But other women's. sbns are, over
there. Mrs. Lane had at last realized
this. The tears we're rolling down hsr
cheeka.
- M 80 -~ - :
s