"Wall, I rayther guess you'll have to scare it up! I'll search the house." "Search away," I blithely requested him. "Search away, and I'll call the provost guard to help you!"
He turned and marched out. At the door he sent me a Parthian arrow.
"Wall! You've got a damned tongue in yer head ef you ain't got no whiskey."
I repeat this story because my husband has always considered it a good one—too good to be forgotten!
The time now came when I must draw rations for my family. I could not do this by proxy. I was required to present my request in person. As I walked through the streets in early morning, I thought I had never known a lovelier day. How could nature spread her canopy of blossoming magnolia and locust as if nothing had happened? How could the vine over the doorway of my old home load itself with snowy roses, how could the birds sing, how could the sun rise, as if such things as these could ever again gladden our broken hearts?
My dear little sons understood they were to escort me everywhere, so we presented ourselves together at the desk of the government official and announced our errand.
"Have you taken the oath of allegiance, madam?" inquired that gentleman.
"No, sir." I was quite prepared to take the oath.
The young officer looked at me seriously for a moment, and said, as he wrote out the order:—
"Neither will I require it of you, madam!"