Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-25


lifted his hand, twiddling it toward her turned
red face. Her lip was dropping, she wore q
scared expression. He gave her a wan smile,
and turned back into the house. Too bad!
r uMORSl Soames would never have be-
lieved that people could be such fools. Take,
for instance, his meeting with the village
schoolmistress.
Have you heard the terrible news, Mr..
Forsyte?"
moi what's that?"
"Ohi there's been a dreadful battle at sea.
We've lost six battleships Isn't it awful?"
who told you that?'
TITS all over the village. Six stips-isn't It
terrible?"
what did the Germans Ioses'
"Twelve!"
Soanaes almost jumped.
Twelve! Then the wars over. what do you
nean-terribie- it's the best news we
could havei'
"Oh, but six of our own ships-it,s awful"
"War il awful" said Soames. "8ut IL this
is true" He made for the post Office. It
was not true, Of course Nothing was true.
Not even his own suspicious. But what were
you to think when the air was full Of spy
stories. And then the authorities told you
nothing: dumb as oysters; as If that were the
way to treat an Englshman-it only made him
fancy things. And there was Mons They
couldn't even let you know about the army, ex-
cept that it was heroic, and had killed o lot OF
Germans, and was marching backward to put
the finishing Touch to them. That was shout
all one heard, till suddenly one found ID was
touch and 60 whether Paris could be saved.
And then came the news OF the BATTLE Of the
Marine, and he could breathe again
People were saying it was the beginning Of
the end, and the alies-he himself had always
called is allies-and why not2-would soon be
In Germany now. And then, forsooth, they
Of warfare which was to last four years, pro-
duced but moderate premonition in his mind.
There was a certain relief in the immobility of
Things after the excitement of Mons and the
Marine.
Presently ne took FIeur down to her school
In the west; and rot much too early, for the
Zeppeiins became busy soon after. From q
window in his club he saw one Of them burst
into flames. He saic nothing and was glad
of it afterward-some Of his fellow members
had shown their feelings, and those not all they
should be. There was provocation, no doubt;
but, after all, the crew were being burned alive.
Generally speaking, while the war dragged on,
the reality Of it was kept from kim mast efti-
GENTLY not only by the government, but by .
sort Of barrage put W by himself from within
himself. There the thing was, and what was
the use Of making riore of it than he bad to?
Early in 1915, owing to depletion Of the Of
flee staff, he had gone back into harness at
Cuthcott Kingson & Forsyte's. He worked
there, harder than he had ever worked. In
view OF national ailxieties the legal issues he
was dealing with often seemed to him petty"
but he dealt with them conscientiously; they
took him mind OF, and incidentally gave him
more money to invest in War Loan. After the
second battle of Ypres, he had contributed an
ambulance, and had the exquisite discomfort Of
seeing his name In the papers.
In these ways nearly two years passed before
I'm his paper that June morning he read the
first ofacial account of the Battle Of Jutland
Taking the journal in his hand so that no one
else should see 1t till he himself had recovered,
he walked hlindiy toward the river There was
q sinking sensation in the pit Of his stomach
Standing there bare-headed in the sunshine
and the peace OF leaves and water, with birds
to get hold of himself. Almost sense OF panic
he had. A real battle at last, and all those
losses! Under a poplar tree he read the account
again. The sting war in the head of it; the tail
was all right! Why couldn't they have reversed
the order and begur with the fact that the
Germans had run for home? What had pos
sessed them to make him feel so bad? It was
a victory even il we had lost all those ships
A laundering lot-making the worst of it like
that! 1t was like being shot by your own SIDE
Tell the truth--yes; but not SO as to give you a
stomach ache where there was no need for it.
He went back to breakfast with his jaw set.
There's been big battle at sea- he said to
Annette; 1--WE lost lot Of ships but the Ger
mans cut and ran for it, shouldn't be sur
prised If they never come out again.. Thus
out OF instructive perversity did he foretell the
future. Further reports confirmed his resent
ment with the authorities for making him suffer
like that. What on earth had they been about
They kept all sorts of things from you and
then when they had good news, blurted it out
as If it were disaster.
The death OF Kitchener few days later,
though lowering to his temperature, had not the
same staggering effect He had done lot for
the country, but in the ebb and flow of world
events even his great figure seemed small.