Show TH afa av c mazi j P FREDERICK frderick PALMER iu loso lose our tempo tempe ab t a staff courell inmost Is moat unbecoming Turcas would have kept his it hit bit la in the back by a 10 Q in my own defense and for your ald aid t fool automobilist ho 4 now recovered his lie he was again the superman in command it la Is for you and not for us u to locate local the leak yes for or youl you he laid aid that is all on the subject for the he present he added in a tons tone of mixed pity and contempt which left bouchard treed freed from the stare of his collea suea aes ues and in the miserable company of his humiliation all on the subject for the present presen tl when it was taken up again his suo sue cessor would he be in charge he the indefatigable the over lc tence tenee with medieval partisan fervor who loathed in secret machines like turcas was the first man of the stal to so go for in 4 1 l competency and Is the key point was buying yes agreed 1 areas so bo we a concentrate to break through there continued while we engage the abo whole hole line fiercely enough to make the enemy uncertain where the crucial attack Is to be made gut but general it if there Is any place that Is naturally strong that turcas began the one place w N here they are cond conal dent that we me wont mont attack interrupted lie ile resented the staff a professional respect tor for turcas after a silence and a survey of the faces face around he added with ith sententious effect and I 1 was man right about Bor dirl to this argument there could be no ailsa answer or tho the one stroke of generalship by the cras grafl who nho otherwise hod succeeded uc c 0 c ed alone through repeated mass attacks hid biln We hypothesis that had gained dorair in a single 1 assault egut Eng adir it Is said turea turca e with the lie loyalty of the subordinate who bo makes a suler superiors lor a conviction hla his own m the tha better to carry it out hazily roue bard bad heard the talk while lie he was aas lucking looking at and seeing him blin not at the lead head of the council bablo but in the arbor la in eager appeal to marta 1 I shall find I 1 shall find outa was drumming in hla his temples chea the council rose and without a woid or a backward bick ward ard glance he N waa as the first to leave the room when douchard returned to hla big desk he 6 guessed sed tile the contents of the note awaiting him but lie he took a long time to rend read its ita stereotyped expressions in transferring him to pt duty well to tho the rear of the army then he pulled himself together arid and settled down to arrange routine details for hla his departure while hile the rest of the staff was immersed in the activity of tho the preparations for the attack on lie ile knew that he could not sloop deep if he lay down don so 80 he spent the lie night at work in the morning his successor a young man whom he be himself had chosen and trained colonel bellint bellini appeared and the fallen man received 09 te rising man with forced official courtesy in my own defense and for your sid aid he said 1 I show you a copy of what I 1 have just written to general A brief note not it was wa in farewell beginning with conventional thanks thank for a confidence in the past 1 I am punished for being right it I 1 concluded it Is my belief that miss calland sends send news down to tre tie enemy ml end thu thai she draws it from you without your consciousness of the tact fact I 1 tell you honestly J po what bat you will with melt took moro mom courage than any set act of tola hu 1116 LU li las tho the loal bouchard to date dare such luch candor to a superior seeing the patchy yellow bloodless blo odier face ace drawn in sub stiff lines and the abysmal tare stare of the deep set eyes eye in their bony recesses ceree re bellini bellian was wai wept swept with a wave ave of sympathy thank you douchard Boue bard youve been very finel fine said aid bellini as an be grasped boucharde Bouc hards hand band which was waa ley icy cold my duty my duty in the hope that we shall kill two browns browna for every gray cray ho bo has baa fallen that ws we shall ahall yet mee ee them starved and besieged and crying for mercy in their capital replied bouchard Bouc bard ile he saluted with a dismal urgent formality and talked stalked out of the room with the tread of the chest of Ilam II amleta lets father the strange impression that this farewell left with bellini still lingered when a few moments later wetterling summoned ed him not alone the diffidence of a new member of the staff going into the presence accounted for the stir in his temples as a be waited till some papers papera were signed ignec before he be had bad We attention then Wester lItS picked up bouchard Bouc bard a note and shook chock hla his head bead sadly badly poor Douchard 1 you call caa ee for yourself and he be handed banded the tote dote to bellini 1 I should hould have hare realized allied re ear iler her that it was a came caie for the doctor and not for reprimand madl mad poor lie he the ability abili I 1 or the resiliency of mind for his bia talk tack as I 1 hope you have bare colonel 11 1 I hope so 10 air replied Rel bellant lint ive no bo doubt you have said wow torling you are my chol col CHAPTER A change chance of ef plan that day and the next Weater West ertler Hag had no time tor for trolling strolling to in the gar den his HI only exercise was IL a low few periods period of pacing on the veranda BB as tirelessly industrious as a eyer ever developed an increasingly quiet insistence to leave the responsibility a of de about everything of importance to a chief who was waa becoming increasingly arbitrary the attack on OB engs dir being the jewel of Wester lIBS 2 own planning he was dis inclined to risk success by delegating authority which also alio meant sharing the glory of victory boucharde Bouc hards note though officially ally dis missed as a matter of pathology would not accept dismissal privately in flashes of distinctness it recurred to him between reports of the be progress of preparations and directions direction an aa to dispositions at dusk of the second day when all the guns guna and troops had their places for the final movement under cover of darkness and lie he rose frow his desk th ething ihling that had edged its way into a crowded mind took possession of the promises premises that strategy and tactics had vacated it passed under the same analysis as an his work his overweening pride to ao sensitive to the suspicion of a conviction that he had bad been tooled fooled put his bis relations with marta in logical review lie he had fallen in love la in the midst of war A cool and intense impatience pos messed him to study her in the light of his new skepticism when turning the path of the clr terrace he be saw law her watching the sunset over the crest of the range she was standing quite eutte artill a slim toft soft shadow between him and the tbell 11 ht bt which gilded her figure and quarter profile old did sho she expect him he be wondered was she posing at that instant for his benefit when sho ab turned her face in the shadow the glow of the sunset seemed to remain in her eyes otherwise without expression ion yet able to detect something unusual under externals ill as they exchanged commonplaces commonplace of greeting well theres a change in a our official family we have lost bouchard Bouc bard transferred to another said marta noted that though he be gave the news a casual turn hl his scrutiny sharpened Is that so I 1 cant say may that my mother bother and I 1 shall lie be sorry she to re marked ile he was always glaring at us u as an it if he wished us tie out of sight might indeed it if ho he had bad hla his way I 1 think he ha would leave have made us prisoners of war he a woman hater she concluded halt la jim irritation half la amusement amui ement lie he had that reputation said aid wee we 1 terling what do you think led to his departure T he continued 1 I confess I 1 cannot goessl said aid marta with a look at the sunset glow as it if she 4 the he low ims of a ula otto of it there bas baa been beba a leak isak of informs tift to the Brown sl be 1114 announced there hast baat and he be was intelligence off officer leor her 1110 she asked turning to her ber curiosity apparently aroused as a metter matter of tour cour tesy to hla his own owa interest la in the sub eject who do you yea think be accused accuse dl f why you he added with a peculiar laugh she noted the peculiarity of ef the laugh discriminatingly ohl her eyes y opened wide in wonder only wonder at first thou as comprehension took the place of wonder they grow grew sympathetic that explains explain al she ercla id d ins ilia hate rul full glances were nvere those of delusion ile H was wa going mad you mean meant yes yea sold bald 1 that that would explain it I 1 1 I 1 have been told that when people go CO mad they always ascribe every in jury done to them to the person who happens to have excited their dislike ph he muted which seems to have been the raso rase here assented tte a dm did not biow what ahat elbe to say ills pride was as its natural confidence onn dence in fit the infallibility of his judgment of human beings lie he was nas seeing his bis BUS as ridiculous enough to convict him of a brain as disordered as aa bouchard boucharde Bouc harda a marta was thinking that she ehe had been skating on oil very thin tee ice and that she must go on oil till she broke through was mas on an cal axi lla ila ration bout it that she eho could not to le slat the exhilaration of risk and tho the control of her faculties prompted by a purpose hypnotically compelling both were silent client elie ehe matching the sky baky be in and cusper iBe the acce went ent violet and the tha gadows over the range deepened the guns and the troops wait with darkness dark nesa the music begins ha said aid slowly wilh ith a start of stern fervor the music the tha ile ho calli it crus lc ran through maitis mind mockingly but cho did not open her lips they wait ready every detail ar ranged he continued proudly the sky merged into the sl el adois of the landscape that spread and thickened into liPic kness out of the drawn curtains of night broke an u asly ly flash and farther up the elope spread the explosive circle of kloht of a bursting shell hell the mi signal gnall he exclaimed right and left the blasts spread along alone the gray lines and right and left on the instant the browns sent their blasts blast in reply countless tongues of flame seemed to burst from countless craters and tho the range to rock in a torment of crashes la in the inter space apace between the ugly say age gusts from the gray gun mouths which sent cent their shel s from the midst of 0 exploding brown shells swept the tha i beams of the drown brown search lights th thear ear rays raya loet boet like sunlight in the th vor tor tex of an open furnace door exclaimed Wea wetterling terling in a sweep of emotion at the sight eight that had been born of his big command rive thousand guns 4 on a our side elde clone t the world has no never top seen been the equal of this marta looked away amay from the range rang to his big face verv distinct in the garish illumination it was as the face of a maestro of war seeing all his bis rehear mail cals and all his labors come true in symphonic gratification to the eyo ayi and ear the face of a man of trained mind the product of civilization with the elation of a party leader on the floor of a parliament in a cristo crisis soon bowl now I 1 said and looked at his watch match shortly in the direction of Eng adir to the rear of tho the steady flashes broke forth line after line of flashes as the long range batteries x which so far hid been silent allent joined thedr mightier voices to the chorus making a c con onon unious leaping burst of explosions over the crown positions which mer were the real object of the attack the moment ive ahod for exclaimed NN esterling our infantry la 13 starting up the apron of e held back the f fire ire of the heavy guns concentrated lot for tho purpose of r aup up rm were kooring their isdo abts to porting the men with an three hundred heavy guns guna pouring la in their shells on a space 0 of two acres acress 1 we re tearing their re doubts tg t pieces I 1 they call t see to fire I 1 they cant live under in the crater of a volcano Tol cano anol when rhea our infantry is ie on the edze of the wreckage the guns guna cease our infantry crowd in crowd into the house that built lie he 11 find that numbers lount that the fower of modern gunfire will open the way for infantry in masses to take and hold vital tactical positional and no no their fire in reply to la not as a etrone an aa I 1 expected because they are letting you int it will ill be strong enough in due season 1 thought marta la in the uncontrollable triumph of antagonism five against three was in hla his tone and in every line of his features its hard bard for a soldier to leave a bight like this but the real news newa will mill be 30 aA awaiting alting me at my desk he concluded adding as he be turned away its ita fireworks worth seeing and it you ou remain here I 1 will return to tell ou the results turning her back to the range for the moment she saw the twinkle of the lights of the town and the threads of light of the trains ard the sweep 11 we ep of the lights of the railroad on the plain while in the fore ground every window of the house was colazo cb lazo like some factory ou on a busy night shift bho bhe could hear the click of the telegraph instruments already le porting the details of the action as aa cheerfully as crickets keta in their peaceful surroundings then out ut of the shadows reap feared ahe apron of Is in oural he c culled thanks to youl you I 1 he added nith pointed emphasis back in the house he had received congratulations with a nod as if success were i matter of course before her ex ul tation unbent stiffness and he be was hoai bely triumphant and eager it a plain sailing now he be went merit on A omak in the main linet linel we have aly to drive homo home the wedge and hen and theall he concluded she felt him close his breath on ler cheek Pe peace acel she hastened to say aay draw ug ng back instinctively and rhonl the irony of the words worda a the light of her knowledge was jointed by a terrific renewal reneal of the aunders ii and the flashes far up on tho the ange and she ebe could not resist ro re dicing in her heart beart that s the brownest Drown sl st exclaimed in surprise the volume of fire increased with he be rest of the frontier in darkness he section was an isolated isol aled J laze in its light she saw his bis tea deac ures without lithot wi alarm but hardening in dogged intensity au awakened wakened to what they have losif they have been rushing up to re erves and are making a counter attack we must hold what we have lined dined no matter what the cost I 1 his last sentence was spoken over orr tile his shoulder as he started tor for the louse without changing her position eardly turning her head bead she watched antil the firing began to lessen rap MY then she ehe heard his bis step she rose roee to face him summoning eum moning back he spirit of the actress this Is in better yet I 1 came to tell on oi that the counter counterattack attak fai failed ledi he be as an he be saw her appear from the shelter of the arbor she wondered ond cred it if the were going to fall but the post of the brollia us iia reach she caught hold of it to steady herself failed ahe killing it must have been terrible her mind at last made her ber ex claim to cover her tardiness of to re to ills his mood you thought of that aa ahyou you should as I 1 dol do he be said ile he took her hands bands in his bis pulsing warm arm with the flowing red of his hia strength she let them remain lifelessly as it if she had bad not the will mill to take them away the |