| Show THE MEANING OF OLD GLORY 11 my country itis of thee ralph hummed bummed in the pause that followed his L announcement my country It nt interrupted edith hotly oh ralph what have you to do with this silly old war I 1 cant let you SO W but my dear girl its it a crusade its hysteria its jingoism its a play to the gallery those are phrases when a mans country calls for him and there is no reason he go there is a reason when he is engaged to be married to such a nice girl her tone had grown pathetic 1 I suppose im t horrid but I 1 dont love my country one LA thousandth part as much as I 1 love you tn in the civil warthe women always said go ck my boy id be the last to keep you with a smile on their lips and were dreadfully noble about it maybe weve degenerate dor maybe its just tine I 1 dont love honor more or anything else I 1 love you well ive been good to you too and ones country is such a far off abstract thing oh I 1 know I 1 am not ap aps pe axing well the way to be truly p admirable is to wish you had three thre e A T that you could give them W an all tor for your country I 1 am small and fA elfish and I 1 dont blame you if you are X dis disgusted sted with we I 1 deserve it you jar cam break with me altogether and I 1 wont it make a move to keep you 11 and 1 in proof of this she clasped both arms 5 tightly around his neck ralph looked his affection evidently sur rived ived I ved the confession axy ill tell you he said presently ef Walk alk down to the recruiting office b th me any way then if you still this way I 1 will put off enlisting j antu the next call for volunteers will that do edith reflected that the government t not need a second supply and it greed ed k 1 I 1 know how I 1 ought to feel about 11 she said later a little wistfully VL cant appreciate patriotism I 1 know beautiful and splendid it is only gc just cant feel it and ive got to be honest est p phe e 0 treet street in front of the recruiting ce was solid with men while women children fringed the edges of the d every one who went in the and everyone who came out was red d and commented on with the VIA al J irony in which the ame american 41 can ies his enthusiasm wear ear your colors lady only ten fawks all silk shrieked a small vendor ing his tray of badges under s eyes elleo no she exclaimed impatiently sorry ry I 1 aint got no spanish colors seu ABU ye if ye dont like these he with cheerful impertinence ith th pretended not to hear but she ed d more tb than an she would have con i at the thrust you may deny patriotism yourself but you dont to have street boys deny it for y double cheer went up for a young it footer who passed blushing through door that led to glory and awo ei turned to edith with a beaming wt it just beautiful she cried acle sam dont have to speak moren when he wants his boys they tall over to help him i but war is so dreadful returned ith with a sudden longing to have ae one else on her side ralph was ang with a knot of men well eal rd id as ae soon end by a bullet as bacteria teria said the woman stoutly 9 this way youve done something y its marching down the front steps a little early instead of sneak i ing out by the back stoop later oh but if you had people belonging to you going you feel that way edith spoke h half alf imploringly seeded evory every one seemed to be against her lord love you two sons and a brother was the brisk answer the girl turned away metaphorically pressing her fingers in her ears she cant care as I 1 do she said to herself any way I 1 might let my sons go but ralph her eyes filled with sudden tears and she caught her breath sharply as a roar of good boy billy saluted a fresh recruit the young fellow flushed and triumphant made his way through the crowd to an older man who was watching him sourly they took you did they was his greeting the younger nodded well you know what I 1 think of you going off to fight for a lot of measly biggers nig gers what do you get for it thirteen dollars a month and yellow fever the boys boya face darkened but he made no answer as they walked away edith laid her fingers on ralphs arm you like to hit him she said how could he wet blanket the poor fellow so no one has a right she checked herself guiltily w with ith a quick glance at ralphs face if he saw raw any inconsistency in her words he was too wise to betray it well well edith down here to enlist said a voice behind her oh captain dont she exclaimed turning to an elderly man of military outlines im all against it I 1 think its wicked Ewry EAry body is patriotic but me yet surely some of them must feel as I 1 do im all at sea I 1 cant let ralph 11 go 90 you cant help it my child A mans country is a rival that will cut out his sweetheart every time if hes worth his salt catch the fire and then be glad of it I 1 go through it all in 61 but I 1 dont want the fire I 1 dont believe in the war said edith desperately neither do I 1 but im going if take me ive just about one fight left in me and I 1 want to have it out the words spoken with a laugh thrilled edith in spite of herself she took her fingers out of her ears for the first time since ralph had made his announcement no 1 I dont see how you can fight for a cause unless your heart is in it I 1 she said but there was no conviction in her voice if your country wants you ne never mind why dont sit at home and tell her she ought not to have run herself into that fix pitch in and pull her out and then scold her if you like youve a right to your opinion but she has a right to your fist the elderly soldier glowed with enthusiasm and the men around clapped their approval edith lifted her head and drew a deep breath her heart was beating excitedly cit edly A movement in the crowd made maae her look up A window high above them had been opened and from it was thrust a flag not the brand new glaring stars and stripes such as decorated the office below but a soiled and faded emblem ragged on the edges darkly stained and slit silt with black edged wounds As it shook itself out above their heads the harsh reality of war against the brilliant ideal of its untried fellow below a momentary momet tary hush fell on the crowd then the hats came off and the feeling that had 1 welled up broke out in the shout that thrills as rid no other human sound can the shout that means our country the significant odor of powder and the call of fifes cifes seemed to vibrate fro from m the torn folds as old glory swung itself free and streamed above their heads in its tattered edith caught ralph by the arm hd her face uplifted and knew that something had been born within her which nothing could conquer or kill up went the voices as the hats had gone glory glory hallelujah echoing down the city street ralph and edith shouting with the rest the song left them looking straight into each others eyes A flippant voice jarred against their ears what a lot of fuss over an old rag it was foolish girl bravado but edith wheeled upon the speaker like an insulted goddess of liberty you dont deserve to have a country she said with blazina eyes that rag is worth a million human beings its greater than any city or all of them put together it means the nal nation L then she turned to the man beside her go and enlist ralph I 1 lavt want you to be among the first she sald said BE GENTLEMEN AND PATRIOTS laramie boomerang A big demonstration was made in honor of the torrey cavalry yesterday at cheyenne preparatory to leaving tomorrow tor for jacksonville fla the regiment marched mounted to cheyenne it passed in review through the thlu principal streets which were crowded with people peaple the route was by the camp ot of the alger light artillery which was waa formed in front of its quarters to salute the regiment as it passed the review ended at the state capital the he regiment returning from there to the post the precision in march and aie oi fine appearance of the regiment excited enthusiastic applause throughout th review at the post the teen men were dismounted and formed on foot in a hollow square in the center of which all the commissioned officers ot of the regiment were assembled major thomas wilhelm U S A then I 1 presented colonel torrey with haw hi shoulder straps as colonel of the regiment col torrey in turn presented each officer of the regiment with the straps of his grade grad making brief speech ot erf presentation As each officer wasl present with his straps the men of his troop cheered vigorously at biet atoe close of the ceremony colonel torrey said to his bis men A certain class of misguided people expect to see us reach the east with ath long hair anaf and riding spotted horses they will be surprised to see one of a the finest regiments mente that any army cm can boast we are going aan acroca the entire country and then to porto atoot on the journey dont let one incident ac accor ur of which you will be ashamed be gentlemen and patriots I 1 hav confidence in every man and want fa aw to justify it those who failed to witness march through the city of col lf sorrel tey and of his of officers ficere and rhin men TU tuesday afternoon certainly missed a treat for the affair was one of the most R eventful in the history of tre tm city T thae eight of handsome men well ell uniformed and mounted upon spirited horses is one not hot often witnessed in ilk this country 1 c 1 about 3 ool col torrey riding fit at the head of one of the bravest and most gallant military organization ever brought together in the wet t marched down ferguson street ancl and through the principal streets of the otty city large crowds of people lined tle th streets and the boys in blue were loual ly cheered all along the line the faithful algers were drawn up in lina at the armory and saluted the cavalry men as they passed by on their oa well groomed horses I 1 I 1 I 1 A the line of horsemen was over a mile in length and it required fully forty t five minutes for the co command litand to through the city on every corner cheer after cheer was waa givin given tor cm torrey and his hia rough riders |
