The Washington herald., 1919-09-24
The Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse
By BLASCO IBANEZ
(condensation BY Alice G. Higgins Boston Athenaeum)

around man. and I am going TO re-
ward you. From this day ! shall
speak to you as l do TO my family"
Desnoyers soon married Louisa, IA.
dariaga's elder daughter. whiIs q
young German, Kari Hartrott, a re-
cent arrival at the ranch. married
Elena. her younger sister. Seated un-
der the awning on summer nights the
ranchman surveyed his family around
him with a sort OF patriarchaI ecs-
tacy.
Just think of II. Frenchy," he said,
"I am Spanish. you French. Kari. Ger
man. my daughters Argentinians. the
cook Russian. his assistant Greek, the
stable boy English. the kitchen serv-
ants natives, Galicisns, or Italians, and
among the poems are many castles and
laws . And yet all live in peace
In Europe. we would have probably
been in a grand fight by this time. but
here we are all friends"
Julio. the son OF Desnoyers. was the
favorite grandchild OF Madariaga. An.
the fine cowboy, What a pretty fel-
low you are" he would say. Have .
good time. for grandpa Is always here
with his money" T.
One evening the Patrons horse came
slowly home without its rider. The
old man had fallen on the highway,
and when they found him he was dead
The Hartretts moved to Berlin at
once and the Desnoyers went to Paris,
each household in possession of an
enormous fortune, Besides establish
ing his family in an ostentatious house
in Paris. Desnoyers bought a castle,
Villeblanche-sur-M Marne, a mixture OF
palace and fortress. where he could
put his rapidly accommodating pur-
chases Of paintings. furniture, statues
all those things which he carried
away from the auctions which IL had
now become his habit to frequent.
The only disappointment in Des-
noyers' new life came from his chill
dren-his daughter Chichi because
OF her independence and Julio be-
cause OF his aimless existence. Julio
has had to make a trip to South
America in order to realize on a
bequest from his grandfather so
that he might marry the fascinat-
ing and frivolous Marguerite Lau-
ricr, with whom he had become in
Gatuated.
Suddenly the cloud OF war cast
its shadow over this family The
self-sufficient DR.. Julius Won Har-
trOtt said to his cousin, War will
be declared tomorrow or the day
after. Nothing can prevent il now.
1t is necessary for the welfare of
humanity"
On the eve Of mobilization Tcher-
non. a friend Of Julio's, had a vis-
ion in which he saw the Apocalyptic
Beast rising out of the sea. Four
terrible horsemen preceded the ap-
pearance OF the monstef. and these
scourges of the earth, Conquest,
War. Famine and Death. were be-
ginning their mad. desolating
course over the heads OF terrified
humanity.
Julio, being an Argentinian, was
exempt from military service, and
had hoped to continue his life as
though nothing were happening.
His inamorata,, however, from a wo-
man infatuated with dress, was
gradually transformed By her de-
sire to serve The war had made
her ponder much on the values Of
life. and her sense OF duty to the
husband who she SO greatly
wronged sent her back to his side
when she heard that he had been
severely wounded. To Julio she
said, You must leave me :.
Life Is not what we thought 1t. Had
1t not been for the war We might,
perhaps. have realized our dream,
but now! For the remain
der OF my life, shall carry the
heaviest burden. and yet at the
same time, it will be sweet, since
the more 1t weighs me down the
greater will my atonement be-"
The vanquished lover said good
by to Love and Happiness, but this
repulse gave him a new impetus to
I'LL the vacuum of his empty ex-
istence. /
When Paris was threatened and
refugees told of the wholesale sack
ings of their homes, Don Marcelo
began to fear for his castle, and
went to Villeblanche. arriving in
time to witness the discouraged ex-
haustion of the French army's re-
treat. Closely following were the
invading Germans shouting joy
ously, Mach Paris"
Villeblanche became the camping
ground for a regiment ahd its be-
wildered proprietor was subjected to
innumerable indignities. saw his most
choice possessions o0ted-and was the
powerless witness to the murder of
prominent civilians of the village. A
young officer arrived and introduced
himself as Capt. Otto Won Hartrott.
He explained with true German cal
lousness the ruin and plunder of his
uncle's castle by saying to him, 1T
Is war We have, to be very
ruthless. that II may not last long.
True kindness consists in being cruel
because then the terrorrstricken en-
emy gives In sooner, and so the
world suffers less
For four days Don Marcelo lived
through period of stupefaction
FLASHED by tnet most horrible visions.
The village was reduced to q mass
Of ruins before his eyes. and his
household suffered unspsakably from
the bestiaiity Of the carousing ON
cars. 4 war hospital was established