Show spoke only the mother tongue by BEATRICE A V T I 1 copyright p PETRONI who was 1 n soldier in a heavy tunic tank company of the united states army wanted his pretty young wife maria to learn to speak english ile he warned her that the time would come when nhen she would be very sorry slie she could not one lay day narla maria tind her little boy deppo beppo set out to pick blackberries in the woods near the army post they left the dusty road and penetrated the warm shady forest maria had found a thicket of berry bushes and was picking industriously ex exerting orting beppo to to do the same L leppo beppo would went put a am few of the glossy blackberries into lit hiis pail then be diverted by a little red lizard or a purple flower like an orchid or a grent great tun tain oak hall that went pout pouf I 1 between ills his fingers and turned dust after a vaille lie he grew tired and wandered off with his little bucket Blar marias lits pail wai nearly full when lien she a familiar and terrifying noise in the woods about her a crashing like prehistoric monsters in battle Ecil tio I 1 she called in terror but he be was nowhere tr b bi seen the crashing came nearer cutting th through the sweet smell of the wood came the acrid smell of gasoline the tanks beside them slowly walked a group of officers inspecting the havoc the iron monster 4 had wrecked wreaked wre aked A tank headed straight for marla maria then slued blued about another came behind it and another tin tho woods were full of them marias frantic call for beppo was lost in their din she sh shrieked wildly in italian for the officers to save her baby but none of them understood der stood her one of the young lieutenants took her by the arm nod and tried to soothe her there was a visiting general in the group they were trying try ing to impress tier her awful cries simply must not reach his ears suddenly on the ground that the tanks had just passed oer marla maria saw a bright object it was little pail flattened she he swayed from side to side in angui anguish ab at length the party cattle came to a clearing in the woods where the tanks were quietly in a row like well fed beasts n tle center of the clearing was a great log hurdle six feet high one of the tanks left the row and started towards it maria lapsed into an anguished silence and watched the huga hug tank laboriously began the climb nosing upward and making horrible noises at the apex of the pile it paused its forty tone ions making the hurdle crack and goan g oan then it found the center of its balance and began to seesaw precariously suddenly from a crevice in the bottom of the log hurdle appeared a daik curly head bead and a pair of brown sleepy eyes Bep beppo pol 1 screamed marla maria the men gasped and stood still in it a flash the gray haired general the mighty one from whom they had bad striven to keep all annoyance darted forward and in ills his spotless beautiful uniform and russet blots knelt and slowly extracted extrac tco tea the bewildered beppo from the logs while overhead the huge tank seesawed its forty tons without a backward glance the general carried the fat little B beppo c apo directly to 11 maria larla 1 I imagine this child Is yours madam he said quietly maria burst into a eulogy of the general in the most passionate and vivid italian at her command then she stopped ile he could not understand a word of it if swiftly slie she picked up one of his gloved hands and kissed it then she snatched up the naughty beppo and radin ran in the direction of home when the father came home they had no berries to give ghe him but he seem to mind he be was so plated with the events of the day they picked me to do a special stunt for a visiting general he told maria pridefully the old stunt of teetering a tank on a hurdle you exclaimed maria in horror great heavens lie ile had biad been the one to nearly kill his own child unknowingly shut up tip in the iron monster while she pleading in a language no one could inder understand stand was powerless to stop him ap f she looked away for a moment while her eyes filled with nith tears then she faced him and said passionately guidel teach me to speak english 1 |