The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1945-11-15
CHAPTER TX

And her son-who was seventeen
and who did not look at all like Ar
thur, since he bore no more rela-
tionship to Arthur than to the police
man on the corner-her son would
ask her, with the same cool logic,
do you want me to believe it this
timer"
How strange it would be If she
should try to tell them anything
about Arthur. With what incompre-
hension they would hear her. Her
children knew-that is, if anybody
had asked them, they could have an
swered after a moments reflection
that their father was their moth
er's second husband She was not
sure they had ever been told their
mothers first husband had lost his
life in that war they were laughing
at. If they had ever heard this,
evidently they had forgotten about
it. How fantastic it would seem to
them If she broke now into their
jolly chatter to say, "I know all
about that war you find so absurd,
and that sentimental nonsense that
sent men out to die. I loved man
who died for it,"
They would be shocked into un-
comfortable silence Or they might,
as they had a right to do, stare at
her and ask, For what?"
This she could answer, for they
had told her themselves. He had
died for the generation of her own
children, to give them the right
not to believe in anything. They had
told her, as clearly as they could
tell her, the futility of his sacrifice.
She remembered what he had said
to her. "If we win this war, you'll
have your children. If we don't, you
won't want them" Her children
could answer her now, but as she
stood within sound of their healthy,
laughter laden voices, Elizabeth
knew that she could not answer
them.
Indoors the children came across
some new monstrosity and broke
into laughter again. Cherry finally
gasped, Il tell you, my ribs hurt.
| haven't had so much fun for
ages"
"Oh boy" exclaimed Fudge,
heres another of these things. To
day, filed with hope and trust, we
proudly look upon our great army
and our noble allies. Through their
sacrifices we are moving toward the
victory that will bring triumphant
peace to all the world. Bring this
glorious day nearer! Work for VIC
tory as you never worked before!
America is destined to be-"
the prize sucker of all time"
Dick finished the sentence for him,
with sudden disgust. did you ever
hear such tripe? Couldn't you throw
up?"
"Well-we really ought not to
laugh" Julia admitted. 1.-The poor
things, they took it so seriously"
If we don't laugh" said Dick,
wei all sit down and cry. We've
got the mess they made"
"Oh Dick" Julia admonished him,
but really, this war is differentl"
Different? Tell that to the Ma
rines. Sure, the Marines who got
stuck on Wake Island with a lot
of popguns because the Japs were
such good customers and they might
have got their feelings hurt if we'd
fortified it,
We're swell bunch of suckers,
aren't we?" said Cherry. ITO get
ourselves born in these timesl"
well, we couldn't help it," Dick
remarked. But guess nobody who
had anything to say about it would
have picked out the twentieth CEN
tury, any of it,
Cherry gave low ironic chuckle.
They'll have an easy time re-
membering the twentieth century
when they study it in the history
books. A pre-war period, a war,
an inter-war period, another war, a
| postwar period
Don't say postwar too soon, you
wishful thinker" Fudge admonished
her lazily. How do you know il
won't be just the second inter-war
| period?n