The St. Johns herald., 1922-11-02
CHAPTER XVI.
10

That thunder in the soil, at first too deep within 1t to be audible, had come to the surface now and gradually be- came heard as the thunder of million feet upon the training grounds. The Bugies rang sharper; the drums ana hfes of town and village and country side were the drums and flies of war that, came closer and closer to every hearth between the two oceans.
 All the old symbols became symbols bright and new, as if no one had ever seen them before. America" was like new word, and the song "America" was like a new song. All the dusty blatancles of Orating candidates, seek ing to rouse bored auditors with "the cid flag; all the mechanical patrioticS of school and church and club; all these time-wOrn, daccid things leaped suddenly into living color. The flag became brilliant and strange to see strange with a meaning that seemed oew, meaning long known, yet never known till now.
 And so hearts that thought they knew themselves came upon ambushes of emotion and hidden indwellings of spirit not guessed before. Dora YO- cum, listening to the "Star-Spangled Banner" sung by children of immi- grants to an Out-Of-tune old piano in mission clubrOOm, in Chicago, found herself crying with a soul-shaking heartiness in way different from Oth- CT ways that she had cried. Among the many things she thought of then was this: That the banner the chil- dren were singing about was In dan ger. The great country, almost con- ttnent, had always seemed so untOuch- able. so safe and sure; she had never been able to conceive of a hostile power mighty enough to shake or even jar 1t And since so great and funda- mental thing could not be injured, a war for it's defense had appeared to be, in her eyes. not only wicked but ridiculous. At last, less and less vaguely, she had come to comprehend something of the colossal German threat, and the shadow that touched this bright banner If which the immi- grants children piped so briskly in the mission clubrOOm.
 She began to understand, though sine could not have told just why. or how. or at what moment understand ing reached her. She began to under stand that her country, threatened to the life, had flung its line those thou sands of miles across the sea to stand and hold Hindenburg and LudendOrf and all their kaisers, kings, dukes and crown princes, their Krupp and SkOda mOnstrOus engines, and their mons. trOus other engines of men made into armies. Through the long haze of miSted sea-miIes and the smoke of iand-miles she perceived that brown line of ours, and knew 1t stood there that Freedom. and the Nation itself might not perish from the earth.
 And so. a week later, she went home and came nervOusly to Ramsey's moth CT and found how to direct the letter she wanted to write. He was in France
 As the old phrase wenty she poured cut her heart. It seems to apply to her letter.
 She wrote:
 Don't misunderstand me. I felt that my bitter speech to you had driven you te take the step you did. I felt that I had sent you to be killed, and that I ought to be killed for doing it, but I knew that you had other motives. too. I knew. of course that you thought of the country more than you did of me, or of any mad thing I could say-but [ thought that what said might have been the prompting thing, the word that threw you into it so hastily and before you were ready, perhaps. I dreaded to bear that terrible responsi- blIlty. I hope you understand.
 My great mistake has been-I thought I was so 1ogical'-it's been In my starting everything with a thought I'd never proven: that war is the worst thing, and all other evils were lesser. I was wrong. was wrong. because war isn't the worst evil. Slavery Is a worse evil, and now want to tell you I have come to see that you are making war on those that make slavery. Yes, you ere fighting those that make both war and slavery. and you are right, and I humbly rev. erence and honor all of you who are in this right war. l have come home Co work in the Red Cross here; work there all day, and all day I keep say ing to myself-but really mean to you ITS what pray, and oh, how pray H: God be with you and grant you she victOryP For you must win and EOu will win
 Forgive me, oh, please-and if you will could you write to mel 1 know IL.