The Washington herald., 1921-04-10
By Vicente Blasco Hanez
1ooo1Soosos
) sxade1 ali lenr az.

y SS8OS~
from her. and Who svsas1 all lens ais.
cussions, about the matter
He received many wounds they told
the old lady. ne narrowly escaped death. :
madame. The Important thing is 10 save
his life"
One morning odstte vas sudeenly
awakened BY some unexpectec Occurrences
which had stirred the household ebs
jumped out Of bed. raised q window blind
and saw Q Red Cross .ambulsnes standing
outside e-palaee. The glass canopy
ever the steps leading to ths kouss OBJ.
structed the view somewhat. but she
could make out . group OF men slowly
ascending the front stairs. csrrytns with
q certain care q bundle wrapped IN
blankets. as II IL were q fragile piece Of
furniture Her heart Iesped- Her in
stinct was unsrrins. Maurfeel II vas
her husband coming home 81 last. II
could not be anything elseI
Scarcely dressed and unaware Of the
scantiness and disorder Of her attire. shs
ran downstairs and rushed into one Of
the rooms on the ground floor. An thu
servants. nervous and excited. tried to
stop her. The oldest ones, with an In
explicable lack of respect had even at
tempted TO intercept her. blocking the
way 10 the door. but odstte. brushing
them aside with . strength which she
had never suspected having. catered tia
room
She reeoEnized at once the achinr
head resting on the sofa. propped up
with cushionk II was he, but horribly
diBnsured. his cheeks furroved By the
years seemed % have passed over his
face in the course Of . few months. His
hair had turned completely white. But
IL was heI II was hei She noticed that.
OF his two eyes. only one vss left An
effort had been made TO conceal the loss
with . black bsndaGe which covered the
outline Of the empty socket and filled
the shattered cavity Then she saw his
breast and the blue cloth Of an officers
coat, and over the old. faded blue, the
red ribbon of the Legion or Honor. And
when she got to this point in her
rapid examination odette reeled as IL
she had been Unexpectedly dealt an over
whelnine blow. She shrfeked
The wounded man ended there! He
had no arms and no legs. He was q
mere trunk. mirseulousIy preserved by
the wonderful work OF modern surgery:
a mutiIated shred Of human heSh with q
living head.
'odette! odette!" mumbIed the black
ish mouth as IL implorinE forgiveness
for its own misfortune.
But odette had nsd. pushing aside the
servants who Gro o~ded around the door
and she was now running through the
rooms Of the upper hoors. utterly besid.
herself. tearing her disheveItd hair and
shrieking like the furies in q Greek
furniture. crazy with fear. horror. and
tragedy. striking the walls. upsetting IN.
furniture, crazy with fear horror ana
losthing. She had dreamed OF taking
care of a wounded man. a wounded man
like the others. with q semblanee Of hu-
msnity left in his misfortune: but this
cruel blow Of destiny exceeded the limits
OF the imaginable, Il went far beyond
the uttermost bounds Of ill-fate- And-
that monster was her husband! And
she had 20 remain near him for the rest
of her life!
The woman's cries as she wandered
from one room TO another filled the up
per stories OF the house and resoundee
below like the echoes OF hopeless. in
terminable despair
'odette! odetteE' continued TO moan
the humble and distressed voice amidst
the cushions on the sofa.
The only eye OF the wounded man be-
gan TO all with tears. Every one fed
from his sight Even the servants sur
veyed him from a respectful distance.
each one trying to hide behind his fell
lows, aching to run away, and, at the
same time, stretching his neck TO catch
another glimpse, moved by alternating
impulses of curiosity and losthinE. They
avoided all contact with him, as il be
were some repulsive. gelstinous sub
stance. He had thought he was still
human being; but no; he was q sort OF
cuttlehsh with its arms broken of, q
shspeless thing cast up by the horrible
whirlpool of war. now sadly noating on
the sea OF life.
He who was worth millions. he who
had loved life 50 dearly; he who vas
born with everything that makes life
worth living. wealth, strength. comeli-
ness was now left forever on the margin
of life.
His misfortune had created . vacuum
around the remains Of his person. Even
hk fsvorite dog whined at a certain dis
tance- The faithful animal had recog-
nized him at once. as the dog OF Ithaca
had recognized the adventurous Ulysses
when he returned in Disguise. The dog
had sought in vain his masters hand TO
lick il as he had done in times past!
Then he had sought his feet but these
too, were gone. The wretched animal
had advanced and retreated. seized al
tcrnsteIy by violent instincts OF loyalty
and fright.
All" the poor Maurice thought, 1t
will be like this forever"
Why was he alive: Why couldn't hs
die:
Through the staircase which eomns-
nicsted, with the upper part OF the house
the walls of the fugitive woman were
still heard She didn't want TO see khe