Evening star., 1923-11-11

out of life by flivver, as
= you would swat fly.
His wife, who was also his gal
liant pal, knelt by to help him say
goodbye to this world-which may
also have been his entrance to an
other, but anyway
Running true to habit, the soldier
who had dearly loved his fun-times
with friend wife, voiced last words in
whimsical disregard of the inscrut-
able Commander who stood by to
muster him out-and the poor kneel-
ing thing answered to his humor-
women are as brave as that.
Don't try to be too good when
TT gone-I don't want you to be
such a high-up angel that 1 cant
chum in with YOU"
I'll just be good enough. buddie-
boy
I'm going to stand guard till you
come-and don't wear a long, white
gown; 1 might lose yoa In the crowd.
I'll wear-Tll wear my old camp
ing knickers."
A boyish grin touched lips and
glazing eyes and then, by the al
chemy of death, was transmitted into
the expression that no earth-pen can:
describe, except to call it light:
that was never on land or sea:
Wherever a soldiers west" may
be located, he had gone there.
And she had sent him away with
smile.
CHE was a most sensible tourist
~ fiat heels and no frills-. Ana
she had led her flock of other tour
10 md
til they came to B street where she
stopped to gasp loquacious dismay.
Well, this Is the first l ever knew
os ! graveyard across the street from
Congress,-Put it down, Maud"
Maud made a note of it with rush
that would have amazed Capt. Cutie
and then added, on her own hook,
that she didn't wonder congressman
were always dying off.
of course Come on girls, we
can't miss that lunch-though I'd
like to stay for the funeral"
Tourists seldom have time to get
at the foundations of things. There
fore this one flock took no heed OF
the building going up alongside. All
they had eyes for were lot Of
tombstones and great mound of
raw earth that suggested fresh
opened grave-which, after all, was
that some of the earth dug for: the
building had been piled on the marble
yard.
Foolish mistake? Maybe. But not
unusual. Merely the way history is
made-from Herodotus to the" last
conflicting version of the world war.
X X X X
n MAN was selling pencils on the
"A street. Maybe he had no right
to be doing it, but, anyhow: a man
was selling pencils on the street.
And as he sat on the bricks in the
near-dusk another man came along.
Architecturally, he was a bag-win-
dow man, with a comfortable, fat
face that bespoke good and gone
gave promise of more good dinners
to come.
You don't have to be a saint to
hStp ~nt the needs Of the poor. every
day frumanity will suffice so. the
man in his buttoned-up overcoat-a
big, ulstery coat with a newspaper
crammed in a pocket-paused Ito con-
slider his brother of the bricks.
What in blank are you sitting on
the ground for! Don't you know you
will catch your death?"
The pencil man answered that he
had bullet in his thigh and it had
to be rested now and then;
II see-In the war, eh?"
from start to finish.-z
And peddling pencilsi-shows what
sort of government we've got. Pen
sion?
mot yet, but hoping. :"
why don't you work at something
better than this?'
Nothing doing Not strong enough
any more 20 handle rough work and
no training for collar stuff.'s
TOO bad. If the government did
the right thing by you fellows you
would have your bonus anl every
thing. Here you go and save this
country and all the thanks you get
out of it is a handful of tpencils-
unless, huh. huh. you are like the
chaps I read Of in the papers, with
good bank account salted down and
your Limousine waiting around the
corner to take you to your
News to me. So far as 4 can see
with the naked eye. I've got 49 cents
to stave off starvation for two Of U.S."
And this government feeding Eu-
rope. Here son" and the man
went into his pocket
Put this newspaper under you. 1t
will take off some of the Chilli
And the samaritan passed on. You
remember there were two in, the Bible.