The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1942-12-21

and angry as the pastor had ever
seen il.
what do you want?" the cap
tain roared at Aalesen. The pas
tor was staring at his violent,
unnatural face.
IL came to request the funeral.
1t is for the old sohoolmaster.
Herr Kapitan. He has been in
my house, and died last night: If
/ might suggest, he WAS very
popular in the village, and :"
$50? What's that 70 me?" And
suddenly the captain stormed
out from behind his desk, shak-
ing his fist at the pastor. What
business have you with funer-
als?" he cried. What do you
know about dying? Have you
read the Fuehrer's speech? Have
you heard what German troops
are doing? Dying against those
fiends in the Russian mud
for you for all Europe"
Herr Kapitan," the pastor in
terrupted.
You talk" the captain shout
ed. you r.ake plots and speech
es. You Sneak about for those
Russian murderers and the de-
generate English" His voice
screamed out, louder and louder.
"But we are pouring out Ger
man blood SO that you can live.
And we are invincible." He
pounded his fist on the desk,
smashing it down on every
word. Let them spend their bill
lions. We have machines. Every
hour of the day we have eighty
million hours of German labor.
Do you know what you can do
in eighty million hours?"
Herr Kapitan.
mo" With an effort, KONG
controlled himself and went
back to his seat. Il forbid it. Or
derly," he cried. 'I'll have any
man shot who goes into the
church today" Louder, Order
ly. AS far as your school teacher
is concerned, I threw him out of
here once before orderly,
damn it," he cried at the top of
his lungs. For all of me you
can throw him into the sea-"
Outdoors the spruce boughs
blowed against the window. 1t
must be bitter cold. No coats or
blankets for those down in the
village. Soon, when these troops
stripped the town bare and went
to join those who had gone be-
fore across Sweden and
Finland to fight the Soviets
there would be nothing left, not
even food.
The soldiers grew louder, lis
tcning to news bulletins in the
restaurant, tramping down from
the upper hall. Determinedly
Gerd got a ledger out of her
desk drawer and began to work.
The first bell for supper
sounded. Outside, the radio was
turned off, and she heard the
babble of dozens of mems voices.
More boots came down the
stairs; the front door opened and
then slammed shut again.
She heard the second bell. It
buzzed through all the rooms
and corridors. There was a
scraping of chairs, and the voic-
e hushed. The captains door
opened, and scores of hobnailed
boots clicked as the men saluted.
An order snapped out. The
chairs scraped again, and the
n.urmur of voices picked up, but
in a lower key. Gerd went to
IT, kitchen door on the far side
of her office and ordered them
to bring supper into her on a
tray.
Sc ate alone, listening to the
clatter of knives and forks in the
next room. When she was done,
the cook came and cleared her
plate away. The radio played
d. zee music in the next room,
and it seemed to her that all her
life had been like this night,
lonely and cut off. She got out
her books and went seriously %
work. Page after page red
ard black lines and close-knit
figures The wind blew
harder at the house and started
the doors and windows rafting.
1t must have been about 10 o.
cloch when the noise in the next
room lapsed suddenly into 81
lence, and lifting her head to
listen, all at once she heard from
out of doors a faint, distant
rumbling like thunder. A mo-
ment more it was still; then in
the restaurant there was a quick
cOnu,ofiop eoIdior cried ont.