Evening star., 1926-10-03

SELF and exposed herself continually.
But she carried It home with her and
little Mircea. the darling baby OF the
palace, was the victim. The smallest
and the most helpless. she had TO
stand by to see him stricken before
her eyes. and to know it was by her
hand that the blow had fallen. Then.
when they had just buried him. be
fore there was even time to mark the
stone that covered him. the enemy
was at the gates. and the royal fam
lily was forced to leave the small
grave behind them and join tho mob
of refugees that was fleeing before
the guns.
RUT Marie. the mother. kept her
~ agony in fer own heart. Where
so many mothers were Childiess. who
was she to weep? Instead, at Jassy.
she flung herself with renewed labor
into the struggle against disease and
death. In addition I" her other ef-
forts. she wrote the fir:t chapters Of
1.-THE Country That ! Love" and It
was published one chapter at q time
in the newspapers, and then as "The
Queens Little Book" on war paper,
it went about among the hospitals
and the homes. 1t told very SIMPLY.
of the different parts Of the country
then in hands Of the enemy, as Marie
herself had seen them ON her long
rides in time of peace. But it brought
new courage and new hope to hearts
that were hungry for their own
places. II think" says Marie. "that
few queens have had the privilege 30
get so near their people"
According to NJ. Andrei Popovici.
attache at the Rumanian legation
here. 100000 civilians We're wiped out
| in the epidemic and $50 goo soldiers
| died from either disease or battle.
SiXty-five per cent of all the Rumanian
| doctors were victims. In all. 10 per
cent of the population perisheG-ard
if that had been here in America. If
we had suffered q. similar loss in pro
! portion. we should have had II on0.-
| 900 deaths.
Through all the terror and final
humiliation of defeat and the treaty
at Bucharest of March. 1918 she car
ried on. She shared with Ferdinand
| his refusal to sign that treaty which
gave Rumania. bound hand and foot.
| into Germany's keeping, under un-
believably harsh terms. And she
| shared equally in Rumania's joy I'm
| re-enterinS the war on November )
and in sweeping with the resistless
|
went back with the King into the
capital after it's evacuation, back to
the quiet grave that. with it's small
strength. had guarded the house of
| its fathers in her absence. alone.
Nearly all of her books have been
published since that time. and the
i returns from many of them have gone
| into the Red Cross funds.
| Probably one of the most significant
| instances of the way in which the
| Rumanian people feel toward her
came in the aftcr-War period. In one
| of her horseback rambles with her
! older children. she came across Il
| lonely. ancient little castle in the hills
1t was a most delightful. eerie nook.
undisturhed in it's dust and ruin and
very old Marie loved IT, and so did
the children. She spoke with enthu-
siasm of it to the men of the province
| that she met. y few days later. at
the palace in Bucharest a delegation
presented itself to her majesty, with
many formidable documents for her
to sign. When the ceremony was at
an end tIarie was sole mistress Of
| Castle Bran! 1t has since become
her special refuge from the cares of
| the court, and she has put il into
order with the greatest care possible
! keeping in every way the ancient ap-
pOintments intact.
The path that has had to he trav-
eled since 1918 has not always been
an easy one. The dream of genera
kOns has been realized, and Rumania
Has gathered back TO her nearly all of
her lost children. But peace has been
slow i'll coming and has been filed
with harassing problems When
Marie reaches America she will un-
doubtedly be the gracious and charm
ing woman, witty and brilliant, as
we'll rs the royal guest, and her stay
at the legation here in Washington
will be filled with eVentful occasions.
But the thing she cares most about
she will achieve throughout the length
and breadth of the land. She wants
friends for her country.
l Copyright. 1920