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Show BelgiumSketclies i Z Refugee By Katbarine.Evcttoa Robot! . (Cp?rlht, 1M0, WMtein Nawipkiwr Union) I Mathilda Van Striiclen tucked tho . blanket about her (luce sleeping, children chil-dren nnd, for a nn'iient, regarded tho 1 touseled Jlttlc hfuils. Maybe If the ' liPilcfotliM hid been clean, she would I have noticed how dirty the children's I fact's wereiand wanned them.t Hut she i only pulled thij soiled blanket up to the emnlf, jtrluiy chins and left dirt, tho (unionize J of nil things, until--turfietl Acrosrllic. room was nnotlier cot, .Its coverings, henped In the midst of It as they had been left In tho morning. She sturted toward It, .stopped halfway, then pushing sa'nle uewspapprs from n chair, not down and' dully regarded her husband, llo was writing at a small table, the ftpp of ,whlch. wns, elrar.'ar for pile of nrttly Written pages., Te fllckerins . lljiht from 'the lamp oq the duttered dinner table. n)r hlm'rmiilmnlr.rd The s1;rpnf( pf hU atju '.lejfpitbnsn'.nd 4'ind trie 'sfrSW "flw. hU ye?-'Mu ye?-'Mu hlldt'i jaav felloWeA" the ulofe-mrut.of ulofe-mrut.of Hin pet) In-hla Inne klendcr 'fllf.ew. , . . ' ' i "I don't Wee why jew c' 11 T)th t',itt.,wr:riURj At-hv ' A'oo'll uctcr eet' i njiwbfrv -vwlthl It -now. Ttie war t.vTfed ejery cliuucy an.sbudy had ui 'everything.'' "J ' ri ."No, 'not 'rvnry'tMliig." "llicn at he looked ip, the, light in liln fncoiclnfid. d." '"It spoiled. Just about eTcrythlnp, though," he admitted. ' "Mathilda, can't, you clean things ' up a little around hore Sqinchow It wouldn't seem so crowded If everything weren't so strewn about', nnd dirty." Mnthlidn pushed her hair out of 'ber eyes. "I s'pofic I could, but why bother! Cook, eat, sleep In ono mom anyway1. It Just gets niUnsod up again. We used to Ik someone rhcn j'ou were lecturing in the, college. Now the coliege Is gorie, the towii Is gone, you're Just a refugee like a lot df other llelglans, only you don't kndw how 'to dig so well.' We used to hn,ve a nice house,- now we Intve n shrtuk, What's the use- of trying' to" do anything, any-thing, anyway? I don't care." Mur Why Interest In Everything Had Been Lost. , . , voice dragged through the sentences as she dragged through each day. Indifferently, In-differently, without any particular feeling. "Hut It's our own sback-j-nt I1"1"' we nren't living In n regular refugee's home. -And ns won na the' town .builds up, It will need n mrliool, and uiiiybo I can get the work I know how to do.' Of course, there's' Verlieek nrat door, lie nscd to) teach, too, hut the people here know inn better than they Jo him." Ill) paused. "Oh-huh." Ills wife shook out the bcdchithcH nnd.crnwlcd under them. Andre turned buck to his writing but the clear thoughts would not come'. They wen stained bv the touch t?T7RvliiF S &&fy I Entrance to Their Home, of his surroundings. He put the papers pa-pers In n tint box In the drawer of his table nnd sat looking Into tmnce. No. ho d'dn't Imagine bo could ever do anything with his book. That wnKn't why he workitl on It each evening. eve-ning. It was only bemuse there was consolation In filling tnu clean white pages with thoughts ho could no longer long-er Mieak nlniid. Only to Mathilda could he vrer.liB.Te1, told them and now ; y '; '.?H '. . , i i L welt, she would Just look the other j , way nnd answer an uncomprehending hi "uhhuh" that stabbed him to si- lence. V'hnt had hapicncd lo her? I With their money, not only her self-respect self-respect but her whole self hml gone. Why couldn't she keep their little hotmo tidy? Why wouldn't sho keep Ills children clean? Iconic wns eight and the twins six. They were old enough to know how lo behnvo lo people. Why wouldn't she tench them? Toor littte youngsters huddled hud-dled together In that dirty bed 1 He roso and went to the window, There was a tight In Vcrbcek's cot-tago. cot-tago. Suddenly his mind pictured the Interior. ' ills home should be like Hint. They had exactly the same , things bat their (ll.shes Rhone on tbc B cupboard shelves, their betis were at ;H wnyg made when he called, nnd the i7 J clittdrcn had excellent mnnncrs. They r were well washed, tool ' They looked healthier and happier than his little ones. Was tho difference his fault? Surely not he and Vcrbcek were In ' the same positions they did the Mime Iblngs. t Hut Madame Vcrbeek did not orfy "why' bother." If was true she worked all day long to keep things eolng and make end" meet. She did It bewuiee she had not lost her prjlde .and If was llm work that kept 'her' from losing Wrself. Mnthll-dn, Mnthll-dn, but ha mnsi not th'k fhnt way. He bfjcaii to prepare for bed. Thonjh tjif lamp was tMjfnlpg ?ow, e could still' w (il,s wife a. she lay, 'ajli'fp.. She liid'heen pretty1 idee, but tiow svaieherr her frfe hd .changed, thi skin wan fallow, the cipreaeleu (ilffrrenf that was It theespfe,ssVn-IShe' theespfe,ssVn-IShe' had rietitaked llown her hair; wspj pf Jt'wadca, ragjteti frlDgeabaut ber fprefinidi unU necJ;.! , Ilnlrplna iStucK nut' n't grotesque nngles. - He if (shdd 'she vtould bnisli It ha she; nsed 1 tt'di. Th.e pq,d--he turned otittlie . I lamp mid finished undrrftslng In the. Mil drtr'k and fool: 'hii "place Wide her.. It 'J, was easier, so. f ' 'r 'EjB It wn,s townrd dnsk one eycnlag Vi after he Jind coim; homo from work Wm ' iliat Lebnio nnsverej 'a rap nt'th'o' W, dnpr. ."Yes, he's here," she said; hold- , -lng htj door hnlf shut, . '"Who is It? Ask" them In." commanded com-manded Andrei nnd hurried across tho .rnoro. r He gave the priest his chair. Mathilda Ma-thilda removed some dishes from the ' .otlfer one, rlp6tl It with her upron, and. gave lt-to Monsieur Kainenit. The third jimn sat gingerly .upon tho edge , of th. bed. "TV'vp come t6 nsk you ' to .ask '' bis gassed roamed. about the littered mom and he paused. I The priest's kindly voire began. 9 yes we've come ll school Is to be' fa established here. Snme ono must take j charge of It. We thought you might. t We're going to get several' 'candidates 1 and one will be selected." "Yes, yci, that Is It." Monsieur Ha- lj mean took np the speech. "We thought you might like to bo n candidate" Andre van Straclen, thanking thein, had assured them thnt ,he was nnxlqus 4 to be considered, 'and they had' care- T fully rondo their way to the door. Out $ In the rond they stopped to tnllc One 3 of them Indicated the neighboring f&n house. Tho others nodded slqwly nnd r they went to call on ICarcI Verbeek. It was then that, Andro rcnllzctl. Their hesitation after they had entered his house, their stnmmcrlng embar- M rassinent nnd exrhango of glnna-s. their IndecUlon mid their consultutlon In the rond nfter they had left nil" incant ono thing, fhcre hodi been no xj Idea of candidates; they had Intended to give him the position till they snv how ho lived, how his house was kept Then they hnd taken, tho kindest wn ' out of the situation. ' Ho was not surprised to hear tin next day thnt Verbeek was appointed i but, for a long time, ho could not mnfci i himself go home. When ho llnnlly did I "iin his door It was very late. Ma thllda was asleep. Ho awakened her. "Verbcelc was elected," "Uh-lnih." She closed her eyes; M ngnln, nppnrcntly unlntereslcd. "Po yon know why?" demanded Andre nlinnst fiercely. "It woh be-canso be-canso " r.ut she hnd gone back to fc. Bleep she hnd not cared. j lie stood sillily, staring down nt her. jM his fists clenrbed till the knuckles M were white, his teeth set. Ho hnled the Injustice nf circumstance; de , hnted this squalid room; ho hated his Then something In him let go nnd. Instead of hate, n wave of pliy ' mid tenderness for her ns she used to I Im swept through him, He relaxed nnd. as he sat down nt h!tt table and took out the clean, white sbeels nf paper, ho looked over at Ills wife. Ills dark eyes weru full of compnsslim, "After all." ho thought, "sho Isn't to blame mid it must be dreadful, terrU' bIevto have lost nne'a eelf," And he began to .write,! 'l ,. ... 'jA. '.'..'. 1 |
