Show t r s jn Tto L T nr TT TT BRIDE OF BATTLE A Romance of the American Army Fighting on the Battlefields of France I By VICTOR ROUSSEAU I I. I rI 1 1 Copyright by W W. G. G Chapman i 1 t WALLACE HAS AN UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER WITH MAJOR j KELLERMAN 1 I I f Synopsis Mark Wallace U. U S. S A. A Is ts wounded at the battle of Santiago o. o While wandering alone ln the Jungle he lie comes across a dead man In n a hut outside of which a little tittle girl is playing When he Is IsI I i rescued he takes lakes the girl to the hospital and announces his Intention of i adopting her Ills His commanding officer Major Howard tells him that the a n traitor who sold department secrets to toan dead man was Hampton L L- L an nn International pang gang in Washington and was detected b by himself and j man Keller an nn In hi the same Howard pleads to be allowed j to send the child home to his Wife fe fc and aud they agree that she he shall never know her fathers father's shame Several Severn years ears later Inter Wallace visits Eleanor at a young ladles' ladles hoarding boarding school She gives him 1 a pleasant shock b by declaring that when she Is eighteen she intends to marr marry him More rore years years pass pass and Wallace remains In In the West est t J At the outbreak of or the European war Colonel Howard calls alls Wallace to a staff post Pst In Washing Washing- I ton He lIe fin finds s Eleanor th there re also Kellerman in whom he lie discerns an au antagonist CHAPTER V V Continued I 5 Schoolgirls can judge character as nS wen well as ns grownups grown And so so you think you rou know me and andI I nn and and youre you're not altogether disappointed disappoint disappoint- r ed 1 asked Mark Marie smiling at nt last Im not disappointed In you at all alJ If yo you arent aren't in me mc Dear Uncle Mark people d dont don't rit really y change change ne never never Only they learn to adapt themselves them them- selves to their environments You are arc just the tIie same as ever just ever just the quiet sensitive chivalrous Uncle Mark Ive I've nh a always s dreamed of 4 f Well ell sai said Mark I see that there are hop hopes s that I shail shall regain the little ward whom whon Ive I've always thought about And of c course urse I ought to have haye reflected re re- re- re d that your our environment has been beener er very different from the thi onCI c could could- uld have given you ou I 1 wish Ish Id I'd been with you Uncle Mark she answered impulsively Why didn't you you keep me when you had your chance if you ou wanted me Oh dear Uncle Mark 1 that was was' so like too too giving giving up p to oU others rs And you never sent me that photograph 1 Ive never had one taken since ElBut El- El fe k t eanor But Iv Ive I've got you yourself now d sal said the So mustn't t A you give mo tue J t y up any more no matter nater who seems to 1 a tl i better r claim on me Will wm you promise me that Mark knew now for certain that he lie had found his own I promise he answered Because you know Ive I've been very happy with Colonel and Mrs Irs Howard Boward But this Isn't the best and biggest part I- I of me that you see here If I could i have ha had my rny wa way Id I'd rather have been i i living a more useful life somewhere somewhere- 1 somewhere where I quite so many things that I want Colonel Howard gives me everything he thinks I want But you But you see Uncle Mark something Is missing You remember what we talked over about over about m my being i the regimental regimen tal mascot 2 if f Mark nodded watching her face closely closely- r Well Vell all aU r- r that's over and gone There isn't an any regiment now any any- way All AH the thc old people have gone out l' l L'- L' of It And we were three years rears in San 1 Francisco you OU know And And oh Oh Uncle J Mark I wish we could have those days s 1 again when I 1 used to dream about my father an and and and-and- and and andI I II know my m dear said ald Mark Ive always s secretly hoped that I hould know some day But Ive I've al nl- most stopped hoping except for one tiling thing that Ive I've nev never never- r told anybody Y You Yoji ou remember I what I said to yo you u ud d about a man watching me t 4 He ne lIe doesn't watch you now Eleanor Elc El EI- canon 1 lit c eanor She nodded He has conie come back I she answered lies ol older er and grayer but he hes he's s the same man Ive I've seen him lila I here bere In Washington And Ive I've never neve r dared to speak of it even to Colonel Colon l i Howard but I know its it's not ot a delusion I Uncle le Mark J And you think he has bas some connection connection tion with your r father father Eleanor asked aske d Mark J L LI I dont don't know what to fo think What Wini t t 7 do think Uncle Mark asked you t tit the le lerl e girl rl i I think my dear- dear said Mark deliberately dellb- dellb that it Isn't the same mut mun 1 It stands to reason it Jt cant can't be Wl Wh Why y p- p should he watched et you ou nil all these years and never ne never spoken to you you- yoUN o N No Eleanor I think youve you've ou oue e had Imd this Id fd so long that you have bave misinterpreted I 1 I mean I 1 I know kno what what- you mean Uncle Unc IC Mark Well Wall It doesn't matter An And ci J now 31 3 go back to tn Mrs 1 IIo Howard vard dJ d. d or th thy y wI will 1 be wondering what has is t become of ofine me mc nut But weve we've picked u r up ip S our mer memories cri s haven't haveIt we Anti And nd 11 Ill I'll 11 see a lot of you yoi U cl Mark before ra IOU jou go to the war CHAPTER VI But Dut Mark refused Colonel Howard Howard's s 's Invitation to become his guest an and iii avoided tile house bouse In Massachusetts ts circle as us much as he could with d de- de e- e r ncy He was courageous enough to his reasons reasons reasons' and he did dItl not ii ot conceal the result fr from m himself He wanted EMnor Ee with all aU the pent pent- per utHe ut- ut tip ip J of ot bf the denied yean In Jn tI the thedo e do dc deit UK HI love was wa the strongest t pa passion pasIon slon that he lie had ever er felt and yet strangely for a man of his years it hadin had hadin i in n it Jt much more of the time paternal clement clement doment cle do- ment th than n of th time the lover lo All AU his life l he ie had been heen almost his only sister ister s r was ns dead he wanted Eleanors Eleanor's presence Eleanor with him to o see sec h her er ever every day dar whether as ns wife or d Yet he lie brave bra daughter aughter was as enough t to o acknowledge that this love loyc selfless tI In I n a m measure threatened to become a c consuming passion if Jf he ho did ad ld not hold h himself rigidly in check He lIe the mId middle aged lc captain and E Eleanor leanor with her station her prospects pros pros- p eeLs and her beauty beauty it it It was an nn impossible im Im- mi- mi I possible dream or r one that would woul ruin t the he girls girl's life life life-if if in some wild moment j bhe he hie made it truth lIe He hind had his reward in Eleanors Eleanor's increasing in In- int c creasi creasing g restraint her quite visible In- In d They had fallen apart again agnin after fter a that single meeting It was a p poor reward but the sort that Mark had h ad received all aU his life from fortune But nu there were lonel lonely nights when li life Ufe fe seemed unbearable and he lie had to e exert all nU his will power to keep hImself himself him hIm- se self lf in check Mark had rented a little lite lit lit- ti tle e furnished apartment In the time Northwest North North- w west est est- section off oft Pennsylvania avenue a an and nd he lie ha had found the desert more com corn p c. One night he f felt lt at the end of his p powers That was after a grilling day dayn i in n the war office one of those days das t that hat sometimes come In Washington t toward oward the middle of September when whenever e ever everything thing Is as sticky as the asphalt s sidewalks It had bad been a day of evil portent be be- sides ides s Colonel Howard who had s seemed of late to reflect Eleanors Eleanor's c coolness in some meas measure rc had greeted h him im with a wr wry face when he came InThe inThe inThe in The devils devil's to pay pay- Mark he lie said Draw up your chair Theres There's a leakage leakage leak leak- a age ge In the department What 2 cried Mark Things are getting known known for for instance instance in in- stance our dealings with the shipping people They've found the exact number number num num- ber of ships ship weve we've requisitioned You know now whom I mean by they Mark nodded The cosmopolitan Influences influences in In- In in- Washington whose ramifications ramifications extended to the ends of the I earth or at least across the Atlantic were busy in iii every drawing room ex ex- news the tiniest and least reliable re re- re- re liable of which was not despised since mun many marty such single items make up a 11 co herent story r The liThe Brigadiers Brigadier's wild about It continued continued con con- the thc Colonel pulling at his mus mus- tache And it seems impossible to detect how hov the leakage ge occurred It must have been through the shipping companies of course yet et they couldn't have pieced the thing t together gether without concerted action which Is Js out of the question Lets Let's g go through the pa pa- pers They Tiley opened the safe safe and went through them one by by one but nothing was missing Damn it I I growled Colonel Howard Ive been heen through this before Mark MarkOU you OU you know that In that case there I was vas a n traitor at nt work We Ve found him i In this case there can cnn tie fee none at least I in ln the war q department And rye Ive told I the tho Brigadier Ill I'll answer with my place I for tor discovering where the leak lies lles He lie closed the safe sate and strode off ocr into in in- to Kellerman's room to return with Kellerman looking angrier than be be- fore What are we we going to do Kellerman Kellerman Keller Keller- man 1 he hc asked Kellerman pursed out IiI his lips Ups Well VeIl Colonel you yop know as much about it lt as any uny of us he answered Theres always al nil- al- al ways been two of us present night and L morning when the papers were trans trims Ill I'll vouch fcc you ou Wallace will I presume vouch ouch f for r me nn and you ou I presume will vouch for Wallace The sinister look on hI his face affected affect affect- ed Mark lark more disagreeably than ever Mark lark felt nettled though the words word had been fair I If theres there's been a leak he said it lt seems to me Its It's up to the Brigadier to discover it Its It's outside It Isn't our business to locate It Were We're doing our part what part what more C can cn n we do Come Come along along and tell the Brigadier t. t that suggested Howard Mark nothing loath accompanied I him t to U the Generals General's room But the tin i Brigadier adler was more furious than Howard How How- ard I dont don't know how it happened Colonel Colonel Col Col- onel nn and I dont don't core care carol I he cried crIe thumping the time table No great reat harm marm has be been n done so far and of course none of the d departmental clerks cnn can be he suspected But its it's got gol to ie stop stol an and weve we've got to find out how it originated It was its us on that night that lint Mark felt at nt the end of oC his powers It was early he had dined and was sitting bitting disconsolately in his apartment nothing seemed of oC any value to him him at at that moment and his thoughts were ranging round their eternal subject Had It been necessary that he lie should have e treated Mrs Howard and ELeanor Eleanor El El- eanor canor boorishly to protect himself lie tie put on his Imis lint hat and antl went vent out meaning to pa pay them a visit or nt at least to walk toward their house while making his decision He lie had Imad not decided de de- clde by hy the time time he reached d Massachusetts Massachusetts Massa Massa- c circle and antl as he lie stopped in d doubt he lie saw sa san a n man across the time road s staring up at the house Of n ki a sudden Eleanors Eleanor's story recurred t to o his mind with vivid force The man was obviously w watching the house nn antie anti and he h e meant to stay there But as Mark started toward hire him t the ime man seemed to take fear and s shambled away aWa- Something in his gait b brought rought back to Marks Mark's mind the recollection recollection l lection of the man whom he lie had seen o outside the Misses Harpers Harpers' school And he began to follow him It was wasa a role that he had hud never played ed before b but ut justified in his mind by the necessity s sit sity of discovering the fellows fellow's t ty y Without nn any very clear intention in ii i his mind how he lie was to accomplish t this his Mark made his way after the so soil soli t tary ary figure J keeping well behind it It soon became clear clear- that thi the man a although he lie looked hooked like a n tramp had a ad definite d objective Mark pursued him t toward oward Pennsylvania avenue until he ho heI I d discovered that he ho was nearing the le least ast desirable par part t of Washington w whose location so near the time residence o of chief the chief executive has always been t the he wonder and scan scandal ai of visitors He was in one of those streets that st start art bravely in the city and debouch Into i nto the lying low land in t. t that at I I. I J c-J 1 J- J j j f 3 You Know as Much About It as We Ve Do 41 diate and hardly r reclaimed l d regi region n bd dering the Potomac The he houses hc here were wore old many vacant e tumble down down and am and for the most standing standing each each in a little garden pa par parI Mark was j beginning to think ot o of tackling the fugitive who unconscious I 1 of w was s about fifty arty I paces paces' front of him when suddenly In the turned In lu at the na InaI tiny the tiny garden of or an iiii deserted ap house and nt at the a door i t knocked d which was vas opened Immediately almost Mark Mai-k heard a 0 subdued i then scream and the mans man's voice in inthe tion angry lie He I i wn was talking to the woman had opened th the door who She about five and look her face distinctly thIrty years of age f visIble ag light In the hull hall the was weH-b weH bred well attractive e She It if n i seem seemed d On one of or those cosmopolitans who frequent tal Mark was still n the cn uncertain uncertain- her house hOUGO r. r was one or U those se that r are arc Still sUll by the origInal occupied In this districT owners or was the of oC one of hung bUng ga necessity along the that flourish oj i earlier alphabet avenues ot of th tb The man seemed her his ge tures to be Pleading WId tie tic He looked were growing fran about nv years and of ot age his hI face fort with struck a n certain MarJi o odd d he had familiarity never seen him though and bore closely before traces ot of eIther by dissolute breeding a fortune or by mi 1 t 4 t U I The wom woman n answered him In tones anger angel and made a gesture of of f t quick dismissal The man held his ground doggedlY th the tho voices became angrier No I No I tell teU you I l the woman cried 1 ilont dont know who y you u are arii I Will you OU go 2 Suddenly a man came along ilm tl i passage passage behind hel her carrying a walk walk- with a n heavy henvy handle He lIt ing ins cane raised it Jt and anti brought It crashing down ori on the flie others other's heath hear The man fell to the ground evident evident- Iy ly half stunned by the blow Time The man with the cane raised It Jt and 1 brought ht it down clown again and again upon the time others other's head hend and face In a 0 a succession of sIckening sIck sIck- nig ening crushes crashes Mark ran to the Ule garden gorden gate The Time Theman man with the stick sUck paused raised his he head d and looked looke it him Mark recognized d Kellerman As Kellerman In Int t turn rn |