Mountain advocate., 1919-04-25

COrNiN WIS LJt DDthel' q q, roo
I'll the l-ai 19- ~ 80
Dillon scnt n representative TO sey
him.
The town was going IN fai' The re'.
rescntative said; II would not sub.
scribe its quota Not very much more
than half the amount had been sub.
scrihod, and today was the last day
Falltown would be disgraced. II was
upon such men as Corwin that the
comm ttec depended to save Falltown
from the disgrace Of failure.
That's up to the Committee" said
. Corwin, evenly. 81 have done all
can, and | shln't subscribe another
dollar"
The mans persistence angered him
brought a reckless wrath into his
heart.
This campaign was doomed to fail.
ure from the beginning!" he declared.
ITS n fool war, and is being con.
Quoted by a lot of incompetent min.
compOops, If thcy wanted the thing
to succeed, why didn't they appoint a
live wire instead of Dillon?"
might be-" gravely admitted the man;
but we are not doing this thing for
Dillon. Mr. Corwin; we are working
for the interests Of the brave boys chat
are going overscas-we are doing il
for humanity"
Corwin felt like telling the man that
the whole idea Of war was wrong; he
fn % ha
President and the war cabinet and Of
the heads of all departments clear
down to the members Of the district,
county and township committees. But
somehow, lie had feeling that to
have expressed himself thus would
seem puerile-if his words would not
create in the mans mind an impress.
sion Of absolute disloyalty. Those bit
ter, savage and resentful thoughts
that seethed through Corwin's mind
would not sound well when expressed
Verbally. They were stealthy, trea.
sonable and venomous thoughts-and
they had almost wrecked tho slight
structure of patriotism which Corwin
had erected that day when leaning
against the corner column Of the Mer-
chants Bank he had made the mental
fight to Europe.
He dismissed the representative
with a curt:
Nothing doing"
But a little later. when he turned
and saw Molly watching him with a
straight, level, scornful gaze, he
flushed to the roots of his hair.
And during the remainder OF the
day Molly did not speak TO him eX'
cept to answer question. Even then
her voice was curt and cold; and
Corwin looked twice at her after she
spoke.
She made the day miserable fer
him, and when he left the Office for
home that night there was scowl on
his face and wrath in his heart.
He was glad the next morning
when he found that Falltown had not
gone over the top" He found HIM
self wishing that other districts had
failed also; for a general failure
would have meant that the war was
not popular, and Congress and the
lGSAutul uuu DtCl lCpuhCus
Molly did not speak to him that
morning.
CHAPTER v
IRON Gary Miller-who had begun
i Fin strictest confidence" TO criti.
CHE the system Of financing the war
Corwin learned that the Government,
early in the summer, had begun to
issue certificates of Indebtedness to
the banks throughout the country.
This, Miller said, was an assurance
that another loan was soon to be
fioated.
"They raised the first by the skin
of their teeth" declared Miller;
they won't find it so easy to noat a
second loan, The country can't
stand it--bu7iness will crack under
the stra'n-it's too big a drain on
the coultry's resources"
Mllcrs prediction. however. was a
rath + iLlr,Irate one, for the Second
Loan vas Coated with greater facility
than the first But again Falltown
failed o ubscTbe its quota.
Dil'Qa, th0ugh, was retained, and
bec1us Dillon stayed Corwin felt as
though cor conc had offered him a
person aTront In every letter
D.l!ca wrote hin'-aHd in Dlllon's
manner when the two men meteor.
win thought he detected sarcasm and
innuento. Eut for that matter Cor.
win IT, )ugbt he detected those things
in the voices Of an his friends; their 4,
casual glsnces at him seemed TO be
full of speculation and c9ntemDt. 1