Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-01-23
CHAPTER !.

Il
sponded pretty promptly to the rally
Ing call. After that and with the
cataciysmic suddenness which marked
all changes Of military status on the
western 'front.' he became, one frosty
morning. a Case, and got himself
roughly classified land tenderiy han
dled) as a Stretcher Case. q Grand
Blesse, and. Ia consequence. a proper
temporary inmate Of q field hospital
on the Belgian plains
There, he was unoficially known as
Joyeaux. or Joyous One; not because
he displayed a very buoyant DISPOSE
tion-far from itl-but because he be-
longed to the Foreign legion; and In
the course OF another day or two he
| was routine-ticketed as an Evacue,
and provided with a lukewarm hot
water bottle and couple OF evil
smelling cigarettes to console him on
the road to the base hospital at Neu-
| lily.
AT Neuilly he became. for the first
time since his enlistment, an lndlvid-
| uai. and at the very outset he was dis
tinGulshed by certain qualities which
had passed unnoticed In the frying pan
and fire of the trenches. For one
thing. he WAS obviously immune to
| kindness; and for another, he was ap.
psrently immune to hope. He was
man OF lnveterste silence; not the
grim silence Of fortitude In suffering
(which is altogether too common vlr-
| pecial merritt, but rather the logged
reticence of black moods and chronic
! bitterness. To be sure. speech was
physically difficult to him. but other
men with similar misfortunes spoke
! blessings with their eyes, and gave
| back gratitude In voiceless nurmurs.
Not so the Joyous One. From the day
| Of his arrival he demanded nothing,
| desired nothing, but to brood sullenly
! aloof and so, when he became an In
| jividual, he also became mystery to
/ the nursing staff. II was rumored that
he was an implacable woman hater,
| and there seemed to be something In
| It
| Regardless Of the care Of the Amer.
lean nurses (all hoveringly attentive
to one Of their own nation who had
/ fought for Franco his spirit remained
abysmal and clouded In gloom. Only
twice. in the initial month Of his con-
fnement, did he betray the weakness
Of an ordinary emotion; on each occa-
sion q Rold-laced general had come to
salute, In the name Of the republic, one
of the Individuals neighbors, and to
deliver a bit Of bronze which dancled
from a ribbon striped red and green.
It was said land doubted by those who
hadn't seen it) that at these ceremo-
MES the Individual had grown fever
ish. and let tears come to his eyes, but
subsequently he had relapsed into
! still greater depths Of stoictsm than
before; his own bed-jacket was limo
cent Of cross or medal, and his depres-
sion was apparent. and acute. The
nurses, arguing that perhaps his pride
was wounded as seriously as his flesh,
offered quick coincidence and got them
selves rebuffed with shrugs Of the In
dividuals shoulders. and inArttculate
sounds which had all the earmarks OF
suppressed profanity. He didn't even
soften when Pierre Dutout, hard-hit
territorial In the next bed. sQuandered
a days supply Of energy to lean across
and whisper alphabetically to him
"Old man Vieux espece de chou1.
croute -. ! know how II Is
and I haven't got any friends either
| want you to take my Croix dc
Guerre. :. When 90 nowhere"
Even when speech returned to the
Individual he was man OF curt re
sponses and singing monosyllables-
q problem to the surgeons, a problem
to the nurses and (if the expression ir
his eyes meant anyth!ng). an over
wheIming problem to himself. 1t ap
peared that, after all. it wasn't simply
women that he hated-it was the uni
verse.
His military book implied that hi
had no parents, no close relations, nc
friends to notify, no fixed abode. HI
received no visitors, no letters, NJ
packages freighted with magical de
light. But to those who pitied him II
all his loneliness he was utterly con
temptuous; he even went so far as Il
FLIP sidelong to the floor q religioui
post card rendered him by devou
and sentimental passer-by. and he dit
It In her presence, unashamed. Later
when a smiling orderly picked up tina
post card and tucked 1t under his Pill
low he was no less contemptuous II
permitting 1t to remain. But the ont
stupendous fact which, more than al
else combined, made him an object o
bewlldered curiosity was this-that o
the scores and scores OF men witt
head-wounds VINO were reborn Mt Neu
lily that spring and summer. he wa
the only one who had never asked TO
mirror.
This, of itself, wouldn't have beel
astonishing as long as he delayed !
the preliminary stages Of recovery. 70
now and then man with head-wound
proves to be representative; but
the second stage 1t WAS remarkable
and In the third stage 1t was uniqu
The stan held II to be extraordinar
from a social a. well a. from . patl
illogical viewpoint. thas man - te
ribly disfigured should hare ne inte
est-not even ! morbid interest,"
his own appsarancs. And # WASH
that the individual was simply fndi
feNeet 70 the mirror; On the coatfar'
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