Evening star., 1939-01-16
BY H. G.. WELLS.
ruApTTp YYyur
Armies in Liquidation

Armies In Liquidation.
The airf1eld behind the front lines
Of the Authoritarian Army was al
ready deserted, and the shell-torn
area beyond seemed equally aban-
doned, except for the World Police
who were dropping down out of the
air, making their more or less dex-
terious landings, and coming to-
gether into little groups. Further
to the northwest and slanting away
westward lay the broken country OF
the trenches and couple of ruined
villages, and still remoter. flame
shot masses of smoke rose from the
allied headquarters against a clear
golden sunset.
The bombing planes had zoomed
up overhead and vanished in the
eastward sky. They swept round in
great curve and went straight
back to Stockholm, leaving every
thing to Rud. Bellacourt knew he
could not stomach the sight of his
handiwork. The thought of Guer-
MICA proved to be no consolation to
him. But from Stockholm he sent
on his planes from America as they
came to hand, and put them at the
services of the World Police. They
spiraled down out of the twilight
and dropped more and more para
chutists.
Populous Desolation.
Rud and Olders advanced across
k1,ot NOV torr, 1ordccono or5 a. tIo1,
did so the descending men of the
World Police converged upon them
and fell in as a sort of guard A
rabble of soldiers joined them. A
huge cat bolted out of a shell hole
and then another. THE cats eat
the rats and the rats eat u.s." sang
one of the totalitarian soldiers.
Mems heads and shoulders came up
out of the ground watchfully. They
decided to Chamber out. An increas-
Ing number of men emerged from
the trenches and dugouts ahead.
The desolation became populous.
whats German for fraterniza-
Ation?" demanded Rud.
TRY verbruderung, said Olders.
It semed right.
Then the men began to realize
that this determined looking little
gnome who had come to them out
OF the air was Rud, the World Di-
rector, the Voice of the Common
Man. The Soldiers and Workers
Committee came to him as matter
of course. ...-..
/. Fraternization, they discovered,
had already gone far since the order
to cease fire had released the pent-
up good will Of the common soldiers.
There had been a confused struggle
on the Democratic side, which were
mostly English in this sector, to
maintain discipline and keep up the
attitude Of victorious army. Pro-
testing officers had ordered the men
back to their trenches and -four
ished revolvers. But where the men
persisted they had usually decided
not to shoot. This was the state
of affairs along most of the front.
There were very few American or
British officers murdered. There
were more on the opposite side, espe-
cially among the Bavarians mad
Prussians. If Rud ever had any
doubts of the effective permeation
of the common sense propaganda,
his reception on either side Of that
deliuuescent war front would have
dispelled them.
In State of Questioning.
No one seemed to question his au-
shortly and the droning Of Bella
courts planes overhead indorsed it
The bombing of the central group
of buildings had left the entire army
In a state of dismayed interrogation
It was, as Rud had foreseen, stunned
An army is a vast organization
trained to take orders; for an hour
Of agonizing paralysis there was no
one at all to give it orders and then
Rud and Olders appeared, with an
escort of world police, confident and
assured, under the aegis Of the
planes. The decapitated host crys-
tallized about its new head, fell
. naturally into postures of obedi-
ence. Here was order anyhow. And
orders. Life seemed to have become
rational again. officials came to
Rud, saluted, reported their func-
tions and were given directions.
Rud had the word passed. Main
tain discipline. All is as it should be
Reedly wanted to make himself die
tator of the world. He had pre-
pared a coup d'etat and he has
been killed. Every man to his quar-
ters ="
The PROSTATE routines OF life
stood up again.
Tomorrow" he said to Olders
I'VE shall have them playing foot
ball"
Tale of the Dead.
Rud had never been to a shoot,
but he must have seen picture OF
one IN some illustrated paper, and
the scene amidst the smoking ruins
of the general headquarters re-
minded him grotesquely Of the game
spread out at the end of the days
sport. The twilight was deepening
into night and a miscellany of lights,
electric lights of all sorts, oil lamps
and the burst of flame from the
wreckage added strange shadows to
the orderly accumulation of bodies
outside the ruins. Reedly had been
found, Rogers, Grossberg and a score
of others.
Rud looked at the scorched and
tattered bodies before him.
II hate to see them. But. It
ctNa,1I