Show INGS WITHOUT COUNTRY II I I KING ALtiERT THE AldERT-THE THE BELGIAN I 1 THERE THERE is a portion of ot the allied anted I 1 THERE line of battle that is sacred Consecrated Con Con- JL by the hot blood of con I suffering suffering suffering suf suf- fering Belgian infantry is that tin tiny strip of at Flemish soil between Ypres and the sea It is here on a I barren strip of sand that the stern wall of Belgian steel mothers the last pitiful remnant of the ward of the Christian nations nations brave brave Belgium I The sinister Hun saps and surges ever against a la last t desperate Indomitable indomitable indomitable table defense J A defense a living I pulsing vibrant protection that eats absorbs and welcomes the German steel I that the enemy enemy- may not I desecrate the thelast last brave galaxy of ot Belgian Belgian Bel Bel- gian homes Somewhere in Flanders lost in that heroic line of life the king of all the Belgians is fighting With the courage courage courage cour cour- age of a Roland the brave blond king l keeps his face tace toward the enemy in king the I defense of ot this the last of his kingdom Sad blue eyes striking blond hair and six feet teet of at solid muscle distinguish the theman theman I man from tram hi his officers No regalia no display but do dominating magnetism I of this romantic king mark him out asa as asa a 0 man a complete man man and and every I inch a king Through every heart rending spirit spirit- phase of the great retreat King suffered with his men It was the unc unconquerable spirit and unquenchable unquenchable unquenchable un un- quenchable fire in this rulers ruler's brilliant brilliant brilliant bril bril- mind that e spirited th the astounding astounding astounding astound astound- ing defense of the royal fortresses of Liege Namur and Antwerp Twice did the cold gray Belgian turrets sweep j I Iback back the Huns Hun's massed attacks while I all Belgium Indeed the nations of at the w wj world felt the repercussion of a II I so 80 sublime and wonderful that we wondered if it these these- Belgian regiments were formed of demigods And then came the when the unreachable engines destroyed from a distance the Belgian defense Great tons of Hun explosives blew the cement cones bodily from their emplacements emplacements emplacements em em- placements and the sullen gray backs prepared to advance As the Hun rolled on to the forts at Namur Albert of ot the Belgians was found one night by his staff his staff in a II small thicket by the side of a military road Torrents ofrain of ofrain ofrain rain were falling and the heavens were splitting In anguish The king was on his knees praying to his God The Tho intermittent flashes of the lightning illuminated a scene of wraith like splendor From that night on the Belgian Belgian Bel- Bel gian Elan king has not been seen to smile Every foot of the grand army's retreat re retreat re- re treat cost Albert unutterable anguish As the months of hell flashed past and Britannia struck like a falcon at the German flank on the Marne Mama the king decided to stand at Ypres There were only sand dunes but it was as holy Belgium and the army prepared to cast its last measure of at devotion to Albert and the motherland They stood With the king the kind of a king who could bend an inch bar of iron a little lady always alwa's Journeyed When all his world was converted to a living In Inferno Inferno inferno In- In ferno it was his queen who comforted him She had been the Princess of at the royal house of at Bavaria Bavaria Bavaria Ba Ba- varia of pure blood Their marriage in 1900 has always been reckoned as the most successful love match among the royal houses of Europe Eu Eu- rope It would Indeed be difficult to imagine the oung young King Albert ac accepting accepting accepting ac- ac the dictates of state counselors ii Vi an affaire damour After Nieuport the Belgian armies annies were wearily stumbling along alonga a battered military road It was midday midday midday mid mid- day and the sun glinted stinted on the royal standard on one side Ride of at the road Inthe fn In the grass a man caked with mud muel and I grime was dead in tho the sleep of at ex ex- It was King Albert and Albert and I his men suffering as they were wept as they saw their king lying thus They made blundering attempts to keep their equipment from rattling and endeavored endeavored endeavored I ored to preserve a silence so as not to 1 awake him The king has been twice wounded Americas America's s generous g response to Bel- Bel slums Blum's need touched him deeply deeply letter of thanks to the America Ameri a came from a grateful heart There Is character er in the this ku kIf kuthe the Belgians His kingdom coi coi l an affable love from everyl I subject and a dreary strip o offs tween Ypres and the sea se sea |