The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1918-03-07

no umbrella of his own, naturally, and
instead of taking hers from him, the
girl asked whether he would not hold
the umbrella over himself, too. They
walked along, the fog and rain shielded
them from the gaze of townsfolk, who
would surely have been surprised to
see soldier walking with one of the
nice girls Of the town.
Again on a rainy day, when Tom
and the girl had been reading till clos
ing time, they walked down the street
together under the girls umbrella.
| Don't you ever grow tired Of sit
ting there, pouring over those boOksT
Tom asked. He himself was frankly
weary Of it. He came there now only
for the sake of the smile that he
knew the girl would give him.
yes, do" she said land very dis
cOuraged. You see. I'm looking for
| soldier"
Tom caught his breath and laughed
The girl laughed back and looked teas
ingly into his eyes.
Not the kind of soldier you think
| mean she said. I'm looking for
| Revolutionary soldier. You see, our
family are newcomers here. We've
been here only since my grand
father was young man. Most Of the
best people in town have always lived
here; that is, since colonial times. I'm
so anxious to belong TO the Patriots
society," she went on TO explain; but
to do that / must prove descent from
an ancestor who fought In the Rey0lu
| ton. I've been searching through the
old records and family histories, and
| thought I'd find one sure; butt
wouldn't let any of the people here
know i'll don't believe any Of my
ancestors did fight in the Revolution.
You don't know how much it means to
me TO find that soldier. Those people
are so patriotic that they think more
of having Revolutionary ancestors than
Of having money or prominence"
Tom Strengthened himself up under
the umbrella. "Do you mean to tell
me that those people would think all
that OF some remote. forgotten soldier
of rs, when they have soldiers Of 1918
real, flcsh-and-blood, lonesome,
heart-sick fellows-right out there on
their own bridge; that they"
81 know" said the girl almost In
whisper They haven't done a thing
for you boys, but''-this more cheer
fully-"they're talking Of having
special series Of prayer meetings for
you"
Tom stood stIll and held the girl
under the umbrella by the arm, and
looked at her in the rain.
you can't be like them. Honestly.
YOU must understand you must know.
that men that have been used to
human sort Of time-dances and harm
less fun with nice girls and just lit
tie show Of human concern once In
whllc-arent going TO be satisfied with
that. If the boys of 20 came back yO'.
wouldn't treat them that way. But
these people would. They wouldn't
know they were patriots If they saw
them. and they would warn their
daughters not to speak to them In the
streets. But you're not blue-blood;
: tell me you're not blue -blOoied." he
| commanded.
They began to walk again. The girl
was laughing a little nervouSly
"NO, I'm not-that's the trouble. I
wanted to find that I was. but | can't
/ find any Revolutionary ancestor. and So
can't be blue-blooded. That's the
| test"
There was a silence as they walked
on in the rain. Then the girl touched
the arm of the soldier at her side
/ ever so lightly.
"WOuld you care to drop In for sup
per Mt our house?' she asked. Mother
would be 50 glad. III tell her could
not find the soldier of '76. but that
have found patriot Of 1918 | know
mother will like you better, Mother is
| really very human"
Ten days later something happened
! in the town by the bridge that sur
1 prised everyone. A dance was given
at the home of one Of the leading clti-
ZenS-not one of the very oldest fam
lilies, but still one highly respectable
and Conservatlve-and the guests Of
honor were dozen or so men in khaki
who lived In tent on the bridge. All
/ the pretty girls were invited and
enough other men TO make couples
equal. II was an early dance, with a
late supper following, and at the sup
per the leading judge made little
speech about the importance of ap-
preciating the work Of ''our own Ameri-
can patriots right in our midst" in
stead of thinking so much about the
patriots who had long gone to rest in
the old burying ground.
A toast, drunk off In grape juice
punch, was proposed to "the little tent
on the bridge and weekly dancing
class was organized, with the soldier
boys as honorary members, which
meant that they would be exempt from
dues. And just as the supper was over
and the guests were going back into
the drawing room for one last dance
"Home, Sweet Home" before they all
left-something else happened.
The daughter of the house-one OF