. They are too far away from realities. But I
was six months in France. I've seen the ruined villages, thousands of
refugees--and I've met the Huns at the front. I _know_ I've seen the
realities. In regard to this war I can only feel. You've got to go over
there and see for yourself before you realize. You _can_ understand
this--that but for you and your power over me I'd be a worn-out,
emotionally _burnt_ out man. But through you I seem to be reborn. Still,
I shall hate Germans all my life, and in the after-life, what ever that
may be. I could give you a thousand reasons. One ought to suffice.
You've read, of course, about the regiment of Frenchmen called Blue
Devils. I met some of them--got friendly with them. They are
great--beyond words to tell! One of them told me that when his regiment
drove the Huns out of his own village he had found his mother
disemboweled, his wife violated and murdered, his sister left a maimed
thing to become the mother of a Hun, his daughter carried off, and his
little son crippled for life! ... These are cold facts. As long as I
live I will never forget the face of that Frenchman when he told me. Had
he cause to hate the Huns? Have I?... I saw all that in the faces of
those Huns who would have killed me if they could."

Lenore covered her face with her hands. "Oh--horrible! ... Is there
nothing--no hope--only...?" She faltered and broke down.

"Lenore, because there's hate does not prove there's nothing left....
Listen. The last fight I had was with a boy. I didn't know it when we
met. I was rushing, head down, bayonet low. I saw only his body, his
blade that clashed with mine. To me his weapon felt like a toy in the
hands of a child. I swept it aside--and lunged. He screamed '_Kamarad_!'
before the blade reached him. Too late! I ran him through. Then I
looked. A boy of nineteen! He never ought to have been forced to meet
me. It was murder. I saw him die on my bayonet. I saw him slide off it
and stretch out.... I did not hate _him_ then. I'd have given my life
for his. I hated what he represented.... That moment was the end of me
as a soldier. If I had not been in range of the exploding shell that
downed me I would have dropped my rifle and have stood strengthless
before the next Hun.... So you see, though I killed them, and though I
hate now, there's something--something strange and inexplicable."

"That something is the divine in you. It is God!... Oh, believe it, my
husband!" cried Le