The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1924-01-26
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k) "BILACK 0xEN;tA
h GERTRUDE RTHERION -
Published with Associated First National
version produced by Frank
Lloyd with corinne Grfnh as Countess Zattiany.
Copyright by Gertrude Atherton
v GERTRUDE ATHERTON

God knew what. Their ego had
been slapped in the face and com.
pressed into a mould; they were
subconsciously trying to rebuild 1t
to its original proportions by feel
ing older than their fathers and
showering their awful contempt
upon those ancient and despicable
ioadstones, loyalty" and patriot
ISM" Writers who had remained ,
safely at home had taken the cue
and become mildly pacifist. 1t
sounded intellectual and it certain.
ly was the fashion.
Clavering, whose ancestors had
fought in every war in American
history. had enlisted in 1917 with
neither sentimentalism. enthusi.
asm. nor resentment. 1t was idle
to vent ones wrath and contempt
upon statesmen who could not set.
tie their Quarrels with their brains,
for the centuries that stood be.
tween the present and utter bar.
barism were too few to have &C.
complished more than the initial
stages OF q true civilization. No
doubt q thousand years hence
these stages would appear as rudi.
mentary as the age Of the Neander.
thals had seemed to the twentieth
century. And as man made prog.
ress so did he rarely outstrip III
So far he had done less for him.
self than for what passed for prog.
ress and the higher civilization.
Naturally enough, when the Frank.
enstein monster heaved itself erect
and began to run amok with seven.
leagued boots, all the pigmies
could do was to revert Historically
to Neanderthal methods and use
the limited amount OF brains the
intervening centuries had given
them, to scheme for victory. A
thousand years hence the Franken.
stein might be buried and mans
brain gigantic. Then and then
only would civilization be perfect.
ed. and the savagery and asininity
OF war q blot on the history OF his
race to which no man cared to re.
fer. But that was a long way of.
When a mans country was in dan,
ger there was nothing to do but
fight. Noblesse oblige. And fight
without growing and whining:
Clavering had liked army disci,
pine, sitting in filthy trenches.
wounds. hospitals, and killing his
fellow men as little as any decent
man; but what had these surly
grumblers expected? TO figh
when they felt like It, sleep in
feather beds and shoot at targets!
Disillusionment! Patriotism muir.
dered by Truth! One would
think they were lighting the first
war in history.
1t was not the war they took %.
riously. but themselves.
Like other men of his class and
traditions. Clavering had emerged
from the war hoping it would be
the last of his time, but with his
ego unbruised, his point of view Of
life in general undistorted, and a
quick Punishment OF "hideous
memories" (His chief surviving
memory was hideous boredon.)
One more war had gone into his.
tory. That he had taken an in.
fni%aoiu, al nor% IN ~ fpckoo5 10
reading an account of 1t by some
accomplished historian was merely
the accident of his years. AS farA
as he could see he was precisely
the man he was before he was sent
to France. and he had only unmiti-
gated contempt for these "war re.
actions" in men sound in limb and
with no arrangement OF the duct.
less glands.
As for the women. when they
began to talk their intellectual
paciflcism. he told them that
their new doctrine of nonresist-
ance became them Ill. but as even
the most advanced were still wom-
en-. consistency was not to be ex.
pected-nor desired. Their pa.
cificism, however. when not mere
affectation-servility TO- the fash.
ion Of the moment-was due to an
obscure fear OF seeing the world
depopulated Of men. or Of repress.
ed religious instinct. or apology
for being females and unable to
fight. He was extremely rude.
And now this Internal woman
had completely thrown him of his
balance. He could think Of moth
ing else. His work had been de.
plorable-the. last week at all
events-and although e. month
since nothing would have given
him more exquisite satisfaction
than to write a paper on the au.
thentic drama. he would now be
quite Indifferent II censorship had
closed every theatre on Broadway.
Such an ass. such q cursed ass had
he become In one short month.
He had tramped half the nights
and a good part OF every day try.
Ing to interest himself by the way.
side and clear his brain. He might
as well have sat by his IRE and
read q pifiing novel. }
Nevertheless. until Cora Dwight
had brought her detached analyti.
cal faculty to bear on his case, he
had not admitted to himself that
he was in love: with the woman.
He had chosen to believe that. be-
ing unique and compact Of mys.
terry. she had hypnotized his inter.
est and awakened all the latent
chiYalrY of his nafnra-aoma fhine