Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1918-09-11
VOLUNTEER RESERVES
= Bv KATHERINE THAYER HODGES

| mat DOrOtny'S Sp1rltS were uOt ny
!! to concert pitch was plainly evident as
she picked her way in the late after
noon through the crowded city streets.
"It is not question of To be or not
to be- a Liberty Bond-holder, as Mr..
Young said" she declared with toss
of her pretty head. There Is no Ques-
ton about it. l cannot buy even a
fifty dollar Liberty Bond, and that
ends it,
The innocent but disturbing ele-
ment which was responsible for this
Outburst was a little pastebOard box
which Dorothy's employer had hand
ed to her only a few minutes before,
with the result that conscience was
strings. She really wanted to do
something to help the boys lover
there, but how could she? she argued.
Yet every time she heard the aggre-
waiting hollow thud of the empty box
as it swung in the silk bag on her arm,
she thought of an old but dainty white
silk stocking tucked away back In her
bureau drawer with three crisp ten
dollar bills in its toe.
When two years before Dorothy had
secured position which meant a desk
and a swivel chair in large Office, 1t
seemed as if she had reached the pin
nacle of success as business woman,
but she soon found that eighteen dol
lars a week did not 60 very far. In
deed, for months the height of her
ambition had been to save enough
money for a new blue suit for fall,
and she thought of 1t every time her
eye caught sight of the bright new
ring on her fnger-blue would look
so nice beside Rays khaki. She had
pinched and squeezed every dime IN
til the eagle fairly squawked-and
now the goal was SO near-oh, she just
couldn't give it up! No, anything but
that!
Extra! Extra! American Army
in Great Smash! Extra!" cried the
newsboys up and down the street.
Dorothy shuddered as the words
were suddenly visualized and she saw
on the battlefelds of France our boys,
fighting for love of justice and human
ity. How could they nobly bear their
part in the terrible conflict, were it
not for the remembrance of the be-
loved home land,-their confidence
that all loyal Americans are with them
in the saving and giving which will
win the war.
II might just as well face this thing
first as last, for it begins to look as If
it really were question" the girl de-
clared aloud as, reaching her room,
she threw her hat and gloves onto the
table and herself into chair by the
open Enthusiastically Bolton, are
you a Stacker, or are you not?" was
her indignant demand.
Instantly the rockers of the little
wicker chair squeaked. "You are! You
are! You are!"
"You saucy thing" laughed Doro
thy; "but I'm afraid you're speaking
the TRUTH she added ruefully. She
reached for her bag, drew out the lit
tie pasteboard box, and turned it over
slowly. RED, white and blue" she
murmured softly, 1.-THE colors Of our
beloved country,-somehow they mean
more than they ever did before"
Then the words "Woman's Liberty
Loan Committee of New England"
caught her eye. Surely women were
coming into their own in this work,
she thought. Though they may not
go into the trenches and fight, they
can work and save and give as well
as the men.
For a few moments Dorothy sat
very still, looking out over the tops of
the buildings with their smoking
chimneys, past the tall elm trees on
Boston Common, until her eyes rested
on the gilded dome of the Capitol on
Beacon Hill. To her awakening
rejecting the principles of pure de-
mocracy and liberty for which our
government stands.
Suddenly she started from her chair,
and a look of dismay crossed the
pretty face.
"Sacrifice!" she exclaimed, What
have 1 been thinking about! OF
course it isn't a sacrifice to wear our
old clothes; it's just a great and glo-
rious opportunity to do our bit. Why,
I'd be ashamed to look Ray in the face
if l could be SO selfish when he is Of
fering his life. Fifty dollars seems a
good deal, but the thirty l have will
be a good start toward it, and the rest
will be only trife at a time" Glanc-
ing once more at the little box, she
begun to hum the lines that met her
eye:
First nickel, then dime,
Save the pennies every time;-"
Dorothy stopped suddenly as new
thought came to her "Why, it isn't &C
tually giving the money after ALL" she
said to herself. 'it's just letting Uncle
Sam have the use Of what we save, and
In time We'll have it all back with inter-
est. Like all really good things it
works both ways, and after the war is
over can have two suits from what I
save. And maybe, yes maybe" she
added, ''the furnishing of a home for
two. That can be my bit while Ray
is doing his in France-and now for
look at the old clothes"
TAP, tap" sounded on Dorothy's
door few minutes later, and her
chum Marion from the. next floor.
armed with her knitting and how of
fudge, came in and f1ounced down in
the little wicker chair.
What in the world are you doing
with all those clothes, Dot? Not pack
ing for home yet, are your"
Dorothy laughed gaily mo, oh no;
just taking stock, as you saleswomen
call it: You see I'm getting very bus
inesslike.'
Altogether too much so for my lin