The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-11-30

hung himself into his fathers chair
dejectedly.
ooh mother" he broke out al
most fiercely, II wish l could do
something to help win the war"
Il know, Jimmie" answered Mrs.
Gray, as she looked up from the
trench sock she was finishing. 81
do too"
II don't see why l wasn't a Bel
gian, or French boy, or l don't
see why / can't be a man, or any
thing besides a just common Amer
lean stuck way off here where you
don't even hear a gun. l don't see
why l have to be just ten years old
and not good for anything"
II know, Jimmie, I know. That's
just the way l feel, too, many
times" His mother laid her sew
Ing down on the table and spoke
with a feeling that Jimmie rarely
had seen his mother show.
"Yon have been reading about
that French boy whom the Ger
mans caught and were questioning,
haven't you? l know, Jimmie. And
when You read how he kept refus-
ing to tell where the soldiers were,
you couldn't help but feel how you
would look them full in their faces
with all the pride of your ancestors
as you kept silent. And even when
they stood YOU up against the wall
ready to shoot, it would make no
difference. oh. I know, Jimmie.
And then when, from behind. one
shot rang out, followed by another
and another, and our boys rushed
in taking the enemy prisoner, you
know just how you would have
stood a little to one side, waiting;
and how, when they discovered you
and crowded around you asking all
about it, You know just how you
would have laughed as you told
them.
And then, Jimmie, you know
how you would have felt when you
were called out before the long
rows OF troops and the little badge
OF honor was pinned on you, don't
syou?"
WELL yes" admitted Jimmie.
"and it makes me sick when you're
crazy mad to do something. to have
people stand up and preach about
buying thrift stamp or hoeing up
a plato. as If that was anything.
l wish l could get out and die or
something, an then I'd feel better. I"
1T almost burns inside you,
doesn't it. Jimmie? know, it does
in me, too. Sometimes when
think about your father being over
there, with us back here at home,
where everything is comfortable
and peaceful, 1t is almost more
than I can bear. Jimmie. When !
think about those little French and
Belgian children who have lost SO
much, 1t makes my very fingers
Jingle, Jimmie, to hold them close
to me and ten the fairy stories, to
tuck them In their little beds, long
rows Of them, and while they were
asleep to mend their clothes and
talk over little surprises for them
with other Red Cross workers.
Sometimes, Jimmie. almost
wiah that /, too, could be oaesto 80
out on the battIefields under fire
aAd bring aid to those who had
fallen. and 20 to give myself 70 the
great caase as your father has
done. 0 r sometimes I And myself
wondering how things might have
been, II only We had lived in
northern France. Why, we would
have shared all we had with our
soldiers, and endured everything
without q word. II only We had been
in those circumstances, wouldn't
we, Ummie!"
Jimmie nodded silently.
But Jimmie" she continued,
more earnestly than before. II be-
Aeve God has given us q more dit.
ficult task even than those heroic
people of France and Belgium. He
has given 70 vs. the task Of proving
to the world That our cause IL just,
and that we are worthy Of all that
those brave soldiers are fighting
for. They are lighting for peace
in America We have peace. They