Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1918-05-22
letter IN TIL:
E1()RNIf0!((G Mail.
How Mrs. Lane Finally Realized
That Thousands of Otter
Mothers Sons Are at Na'
Scared Battle Front.
BY AxlEtL!AN FOSTER
Of the ViuilantaS.

Mathematics teach us that | from
leaves nothing, and there Is also tli
we'll known biological theOrem thu
YOU cannot get blood from II turinG
4 is also assumed, Sir Isaac Newtn
Iaving demonstrated the law. tlh'
What goes up Is bound to come dow
ut this Is only abstract. Mrs Ian
.ro,ably would have denied 1t.
The fiat rent, previously $1,20u
ear, now was s1,400, and It showed Ii
igns whatever Of coming down T!s
anne condition applied also TO he
hilhren's shoes. The shoes now cos
I. whereas they formerly had cost :
'ut this was merely detail. 4 sim
IT phenomenon occurred as to Eeri
eaks, potatoes, butter, fish and H.
Z other varieties of domestic ess,:i
,uls. All had gone up; none ha
One down. About the only thing 81,
lie In Mrs Lanes COSMOS was NJ
anes yearly income. This was $40
, year. Already Mrs. Lane had Civ
y one maid. The war literally VIII -
Ter door. True, Mrs. Lane had no So.
10 brother-no kin of any .kind--in t..
"ur, but the war still was et hsr door
7tsaed to Mako En5s Meet.
Give money for the WARP Whit i
,Ou think she was doing, anywa
he was giving every cent she h"''
.rying TO make both ends meet In
household. It hurt, though VI
Lame was q kindly, warm hearted
tlan, and she would have liked 10 =i'
rhe war was dreadful II WAS y
lreadful she'd stopped reading uhoIH g.
But one. must read letters. u:
must do that when friend takes e.
.rouble to write them.
The letter came in the morning ma
Mrs. Lane read It, then she read :
lsaln. Afterward she sat there al
;orbed, silent, rigid. The color had Gre.
ut of her face, and her breath can.
swiftly from between her parted lips.
u haze Just come back from the
oHlteen," II read. "Such an aitrr-
noon! A trGtnlOdd OF seriously
pounde6 TO be fed at once, rhfrh
Is trying, as one has 10 climb into
OIL the carriages, one after The nth
CT. We begin s1ith The mrH mho
are WeU enough to SIT up and haE-
die their cups, and those mh0 arc
r. too i'll eUen to lift then heHts, ~
course, s1e haze to lift ard ierd
ourselves. Feeding the Oncs NTH
bad face toounds are the. hGrdPSt.
con stand ordinary wouads Of
blood, but ,ohen man ought TO
haze nose and mouth and al he
has is-ugh-it takes all yoRr
courage to get Through q fcediH9.
I managed to get haV a pint NJ
milk and a beaten egg and SONS
brandy doaoas the throat Of boy nj
ttoenty apho had no mouth left. an!
I had to clean 1t betpcea ercrg
mOutIJut. He had had no food for
fifteen hours and a0Gs so thirsty
that he p1as nearly insane. ! hChl
his head against me, and I g0ygcd
all the time, but Just Kept thinh-
ing, Suppose II aodS my ~ tcho
needed drink and there toas no
one to giue 1t TO him So L trent
through toitb 1t, and he fndllB rcfrs
to sleep. Oh, Martha. Martha Lane,
ue need euerything-aH you and
the rest can send"
Lawrence Had Gone to War.
One o'clock struck. Mrs. Lane still
sat with the letter clutched In he
hand. whats for dinner?" asked Han
nah, the maid. Mrs. Lane hardly hcar'
her. She was still sitting there whcI
Olivia fioundered in. Olivia was -four
teen, the conscious age. "Mother," sh
said fretfully, 81 can't go TO danrin
school again in brown gloves when al
the other girls have white ones Tn
plaint reminded Mrs. Lane that Law
renee at boarding school had writiri
that morning about his socks. He ltat
only two pairs of silk ones left. "An,i
mother" said Olivia. continuing Bu
what Olivia said Mrs. Lane didn't hear
She had dropped her head on the ta''l
nnd unaccountably was weeping. jus
suppose Ii was my boy--mine!" sh
was sobbing.
"Why, motherr calculated Olivia.
She hurried toward her mother
what is It, mother2 You're arring InS
as though Lawrence had gene 10 war :
Mrs Lane looked up tho tear
sTeaking down her face.
That's just what is the matter will
me | should be acting as if Lawrence
were there. And so should you!
Willie were like these, the boys there.
she pointed to the letter that bad slip
ped from her lap to the ii0or--"if h
were, like them, in need, dying, wan!
Ing eggs, milk, brandy, to keep hiu
alive, would you be buying whit
gloves7 And would we think what othe
people wear or how they live or wheth
erwe had only one servant nOwi II m.
boy was over there, If my son were"
But other womeI's sons are owe
there. Mrs. Lane had at last realized
this The tears were rolling down he
cheeks,