The Washington times., 1931-11-04

neSlCaClng WneCner 10 eIllOICe
discipline or to humor us. But
he arrives at neither the one
nor the other.
"Mr. Principal" begins Albert
TrosSke, I'VE have not come
here that you should tell us
we did our job well. though un-
Fortunately, as you say, we were
not victorious to that"
The principal winces. and with
him the whole college of mas
ters. Il must request you, at
least in y2ur expressions" he
begins Indignantly.
9" -! I say; ! and
again !" :eiterates Albert.
"That has been our every third
word for years; and it's high
time that you knew it-But you
don't seem to realize how things
stand We are none of your
brave scholars! we are none of
your good schoolboys; we are
soldiers!"
But, gentlemen cries the
Old Man, almost imploringly,
there is misunderstanding
q most painful misunderstand-
ing"
But he does not finish. He
is interrupted by Helmuth
Reinersmann, who carried his
brother back through a bonn
bardment on the User. only to
put him down dead at the dress
ing station.
Killed" he says savagely;
"they were not killed for you
to make speeches about them.
They were our comrades.
Enough! Let's have no more
wind-bagging about it."
The place is in wild con.
fusion. The principal stands
there Mortified and utterly help
less. The college of masters
look like a lot of scandalized
old hens. Only two of the
teachers are calm and they
were soldiers.
The Old Man decides to
humor us at all costs. We are
too many and Willy stands
there too formidably trumpet
ing before him. And who can
say what these undisciplined
fellows may not be doing next;
they may even produce bombs
from their pockets. He beats
the air with his arms as an
archangel his wings. But no
one listens to him.
Tumult Is Lulled
Then suddenly comes lull in
the tumult. Ludwig Breyer has
stepped out to the front. There
is silence. Mr.. Principal" says
Ludwig in a clear voice, you
have seen the war after your
fashion-with flying banners,
martial music and with CLAM.
our. But you saw it only to the
railway station from which we
set off. We do not mean to
blame you. We, too, thought as
you did. But we have seen the
other side since then, and
against that the heroics of 1914
soon wilted to nothing. Yet we
went through with tive went
through with it because there
was something deeper that held
us together. something that
only showed up out there, a re-
sponsibility, perhaps, but at any
rate something of which you
know nothing and about which
there can be no speeches."
Ludwig pauses a moment,
gazing vacantly ahead. He
passes his hand over his fore.
head and continues. I'VE have
not come back to ask a reckon
ing-that would be foolish; no.
body knew then what was COM
ing. But we do require that you
shall not again try to prescribe
what we shall think of these
things. We went out full of en-
thuSiasm-the name of the
Fatherland on our lips-and we
have returned in silence, but
with the thing, the Fatherland,
in our hearts. And now we ask
you to be silent, too. Have done
with fine phrases. They are
not fitting. Nor are they fit
ting to our dead comrades. We
saw them die. And the mem
ory of it is still too near for us
to abide to hear them talked of
as you are talking. They died
for more than that"
Now everywhere it is quiet.
The principal has his hands
claSped together. But Breyer,"
he says gently-"-I did not
mean it So
What They Want