St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1922-04-15
CT APTER XVI.

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
bugles rang sharper; the drums and
flies Of town and village and country
side were the drums and flies Of q
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 .4em before. America" was like a
new word, and the song america"
was like new song. All the dusty
blatancies Of Grating candidates, seek
ing to rouse bored auditors with s'the
old flag; all the mechanical patriotics
Of school and church and club; all
these time-worn, flaccld things leaped
suddenly into living color. The flag
became brilliant and strange to see
strange with meaning that seemed
new, 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 70
cum, listening to the "Star-Spangled
Banner sung by children Of immi-
grants to an out-of-tune old piano in
a mission clubroom, In Chicago, found
herself crying with soul-shaking
heartiness in way different from 9TH
er ways that she had cried. Among
the many things she thought of then
was this: That the banner the chill
dren were singing about was in dan
ger. The great country, almost con-
tinent, had always seemed so untouch-
able so safe and sure; she had never
been able to conceive OF hostile
power mighty enough to shake or even
jar it. And since so great and funda-
mental thing could not be injured, a
war for its 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 Of which, the immi-
grants children piped SO briskly in the
mission clubloom.
She began to understand, though
,he c,,,;h moi have tod lust 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 Ludendorf1
and all their kaisers, kings, dukes ana
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-miles and the smoke OF
land-mlles she perceived that brown
tine of ours and knew it 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 Ramseys moth
er and found how to direct the letter
she wanted to write. He was In France.
AS the old phrase went, she poured
out her heart. It seems to apply TO her
letter.
She wrote:
Don't misunderstood me. felt that
my bitter speech to you had driven you
to take the step you did. ! felt that l
had sent YOU to be killed. and that
ought to be killed for doing It, but
knew that you had other motives, TOO.
I knew, oi course. that you thought OF
the country more than you did OF me-