Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-02-19
THE TRUTH ABOUT BELGIUM
BRAND WEITIOCK
~ an evening late in the month OF
May. 1914, we were dining al the
- German legation We had arisen

NNau evening late in the month Of
May, 1914, we were dining al the
German legation We had arisen
from the long table and gone up TO the
salons and as we stood about waiting
for the coffee found myself beside Mr.
Won I3elow-Ssileskl. VINO said 70 me with
4 sigh:
'sWeu. thank God. it's over now"
He spoke no doubt in the sense OF
intimacy that was somehOY ours be
cause we had come at about the same
time 10 Brussels where We knew no one,
not even each other; the fact was some
what a bond, the only one. between US
I could quite understand the relief he
felt the relief OF the host who has
done his duty: had the same sensation
myself in my capacity OF guest
Yes" I said. It's over at last
We can be tourists now he went on.
go where We please, do what we
please
',Where are you going I asked
"oh. don't know, anywhere. to be
l free. to get away. Take a trip some
where And you
TO the country"
And I thought OF Bots Eleuri, waiting
for me there that night, in the dismal
rain that made the Quarter Leopold so
dreary and emphasized that expression
of vague sadness IL always wears, even
Etsre houses Ny heart was lighter Tor
an instant in the thought Of the ooun-
try. the noble forest. RsNenStein. Win
les roff links and the red roofs of lit
tie Tervueren-
while my thoughts played with the
pleasant antfcipatiOns Of vacation. my
colleague left me standing there 10
greet a, dog. a German dachshund that
.5ust then came wriggling into the sa-
20 h.
comuany as the company was 70 have
a. come: there is perhaps nothing a.
efficient as a dog even one OF those
dachshunds. 70 entertain the guests OF
a formal dinner. The dog was gamool-
ing about and writhing ecstaucally on
ne floor, humping II with It's tail, ana
the guests exclaimed over it and spoke
10 IL in French, though doubtless Ger
nan was the only language 1t under
stood. apd battered il with endearins
epfthets-
on. lie gentn petit tou-toul ouei
amour de chfeni Quill est charmant-
r'e<t-ce pas2 lei. fon vieu.
,foA. the pretty little bow-wow, What
a love OF a dog, How charming he Is
isn't he2 Come here old fehoT)'
The dog accepted all their compn-
r,ents with a dogs frank love OF fiat
terv. the salon was eniivened with
tzIk. with ordinations. with laughter
me footnen were serving the coffee
and the cigarettes. sDd. able again TO
Reave his guests, Mr.. Won Below came
hack to me We were standing by a
table in the corner Of the room and from
among the objets dart, the various
t-i1tets the signed photographs in sill
yer frames. with which it was loaded.
he drew forward a silver bowl that he
used as a cendrier lash receiver). AS
dropped the ash OF my cigarette into
II noticed that IL was pierced on one
side near the rim by q perfectly round
hole the Jagged edges Of which were
thrust inward; plainly bullet hole'
doubtless il had history ! asked him
Yes. a bullet hole" he said. IN
China il stood on my desk, and one day
during the riots a bullet came through
the window and went right through IL.
Several Of the guests pressed up 10
see. such a bowl with its jagged bullet
hole and a history was an excellent sub
feet for conversation; the German min
lister had to recount the circumstances
several times
II have never had q post" he said.
swhere there has not been trouble; in
Turkey Il was the revolution. in China tt
was the Boxers: am a bird of I'D omen
(-Je suis un oiseau de msuvafs au-
gwe-)
he laughed. standing there very erect
and tAn and distinguished with his
pointed black moustache, raising his
cigarette deIicately TO his lips with a
wide and elegant gesture while the
lRuests purred about, examined the sill
yer bowl thrust their fingers into the
bullet hole
But now he went on. I have the
most tranquil post in Europe; nothing
can happen in Brussels
And we all fell 20 celebrating the
peace, the calm, the repose OF the love
-rez4. the most charming city in Eu-
rope
think Ne an felt the relief that the
end OF the season brought US, for Mr.
Won Bellows was the last Of the long
.~erSes of dinners and formal functions
Of the winter. There were only few
more moments to be got over; then the
4oosmen would wheel in the service OF
aShe tea, and dIscreetly whisper Ia vol
6rre est zvancee'' Cthe carriage IS call
ed and We could go. And then
Bots F7euri, and the links at Raven
stein and the long Ms Of the novel
had 50 long wished to vrftsl
went over 20 where Prince Kouda-
chef. our Russian colleague, was stand
ing by = great red curtain at the en-
trance to the adjofniu= salon. peering
with that sharp. CySi-Z' Ut at a
fv0-ld that had stripped mis- last
Hfkyrzfon- IL u-.c ALWAYS laSITre 10