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Red Cross Girls in Belgium

<h2>CHAPTER XV Powerless</h2> "But it is too dreadful for us to be able to do nothing," Barbara commented. She looked dispirited and blinked resolutely at a small pocket handkerchief which lay folded in her lap. However, she had made up her mind not to cry, no matter what happened. After all, she was a woman and not a child, and Eugenia would consider tears a most ineffective method of assistance. She had come to Dick's apartment with every idea of being brave and had started off in that spirit. Then Dick's interrupted confession had been a trifle upsetting. Moreover, she had hoped that Dick or one of the girls would have good news to tell about Eugenia, or at least be able to make a comforting suggestion. While she was thinking this, Nona Davis got up and began walking up and down the length of the room. [Pg 186] "The situation is abominable!" she exclaimed. "To think of a splendid person like Eugenia, who is so needed, shut up in a German prison! Besides, she is an American girl! It simply makes my blood boil. I wish for a short time I were a man." Nona's cheeks were a deep rose and her golden brown eyes were almost black from emotion. Barbara thought she looked charming. But Dick smiled upon the excited girl rather condescendingly. "Do come and sit down, please, Nona. I know it is your southern blood that makes you long to fight. But this isn't the time for it. After all, I am a man and I haven't been able to rescue Eugenia. Of course, you would be a more effective man than I can ever hope to be. But today let us try to face the situation quietly. It is the only way we can hope to accomplish anything." In order to take the edge off his words Dick smiled. Also he thrust a chair nearer his guest. Barbara thought the[Pg 187] other girl sat down somewhat meekly. Never could she have taken a snubbing so gracefully. But then there was no disputing that Nona had the sweeter disposition. Then Dick reseated himself by the tea table. After taking several papers out of his pocket he again looked over toward Barbara. "I wish you would repeat to me, word for word, as nearly as you can, just what statement Eugenia made to you when you were allowed to see her in prison," he demanded. His matter-of-fact tone and present cold manner entirely drove away Barbara's weak leaning toward tears. "It was some time ago, but I'll try and repeat what Gene said exactly as possible. She said we were not to be angry or embittered over her imprisonment, because she had defied the German authorities. She declared they had a perfect right to arrest her. For she had been hiding a Belgian soldier who would have been shot as a spy if he had been discovered. It[Pg 188] was almost a miracle how he managed to escape. But they had been warned by a friend in Brussels a few days before, that their house was at last suspected. Actually Madame Carton and Colonel Carton both got away on the very day the German officers came for them. Eugenia would not tell how they managed their escape. She said that wasn't my business, nor any one else's." As she repeated this speech, Barbara looked so surprisingly firm that Dick had to swallow a smile. Unconsciously Barbara was behaving like a phonograph record in reproducing the exact tones of the original speaker. "But if Eugenia understood what she would have to face, whatever made her do such a mad thing? This Colonel Carton was absolutely nothing to her. When he returned to Brussels he took his own risk. It is natural that the Germans in command here in Belgium should be enraged. He probably carried back much valuable information to the Allies. Goodness only knows how he ever succeeded[Pg 189] in getting here, much less getting away!" Dick protested, speaking as much to himself as his audience. Then he pounded the table with his one good hand in his agitation. "Eugenia was out of her senses. What excuse did she have for saving the man and his family? She is an American and is a guest of the country. She had no right to aid Germany's enemies. Besides, you girls always said that Eugenia was the one of you who insisted that you remain absolutely neutral." With this final statement Dick gazed reproachfully from one to the other of his audience. Every day since Eugenia's arrest he had gone about Brussels seeking assistance and advice. He had seen the American Minister, the American Consul and nearly every member of the Belgian Relief Committee. But in each case his answer had been the same. Whatever was possible would be done to effect Eugenia's release. But without doubt her behavior had placed her in a difficult position. [Pg 190] But Dick had not been alone in his pilgrimages. Mildred, Nona and Barbara had been equally energetic. There was no person in authority in Brussels possible to see whom they had not interviewed. But Eugenia was still in prison and liable to remain there. However, she had not yet appeared for trial before the German Military Court. Her friends were doing their best to have her set free before this time came. For once her sentence was declared, it would be more difficult to secure her pardon. Eugenia insisted that there was nothing to do but plead guilty. And this might mean months or years of imprisonment! The three girls became more unhappy under Dick's reasoning. It was so perfectly true that there seemed nothing for them to say. Nevertheless, Barbara flushed indignantly. Dick always inspired her with a desire for argument. Moreover, when it came to a point of defending Eugenia, she would perish gladly in her cause. "I realize that Eugenia's conduct does[Pg 191] seem foolish. Perhaps it was worse than that; perhaps she was wicked to do as she did," Barbara added, no longer looking down at her handkerchief, but directly at Dick Thornton. Eugenia, she appreciated, would not require to be absolved before the other girls. "Just the same, I think there was something beautiful and inspiring in Gene's act. She hasn't asked us to worry over her. She has declared all along that she was willing to take what was coming to her," Barbara murmured, falling into slang with entire good faith. "Her only defense is that both Colonel Carton and Jan were desperately ill when Madame Carton made the appeal to her. If she had not gone to the house in the woods to take care of them, they must have been found out. Then without a doubt Colonel Carton and perhaps Madame Carton would have been hung as spies." An uncomfortable lump was beginning to form in Barbara's throat. For at the instant it seemed to her that Dick Thornton represented the whole tribunal of [Pg 192]masculine wisdom and justice arrayed against a woman's sentiment. How was she to make him see Eugenia's point of view? In spite of her best efforts Barbara's eyes were filling with tears and her voice shaking. "Gene says she never thought things out in detail, although she fully realized the risk she was running. All she decided was that Jan and his little sister should not be made orphans if she could help it. She says that ever since she put her foot in Belgium the cry of the children has been ringing in her ears. What had they to do with this war and its horrors? If she could aid them in the smallest possible way, this was her work and her mission. 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these little ones, ye have done it unto me,'" Barbara whispered, and then was unable to continue. But Mildred had risen and was standing by her side as if she were a new witness for the defense. "I have written father the whole story,[Pg 193] everything Eugenia has done in connection with this entire case," Mildred explained quietly. "And I have asked him to go to Washington and see the Secretary of State and the President if he thinks necessary. As soon as my letter arrived he answered it immediately, promising to do what I asked. Then he told me to see Eugenia and if it were possible to present his regards to her and to tell her to be of good courage. Of course, he could not write all he meant, as his letter might be censored, but I think I understood father's point of view pretty well." Because Mildred Thornton did not talk a great deal, what she said was usually respected. Even Dick looked somewhat subdued. "What do you suppose father really did mean, then, Mill?" he queried. "I confess I am so troubled and so harassed over this business of Eugenia that I am of little account. I keep regretting that she ever got herself and all of us into such unnecessary sorrow." Mildred went over and laid her hands[Pg 194] on Dick's hair, which had again become rumpled through his agitation. "I don't believe father thinks Eugenia's action was entirely unnecessary, Dick, even if we must all suffer with her," Mildred argued. "Perhaps Eugenia only did what any one of us would have done under the same circumstances, if we had possessed her courage and good sense. The Belgians were perfectly innocent of offense in this war. Colonel Carton was risking his life and his honor. If Eugenia could help him or his family——" "Be quiet." It was Nona's voice that spoke, although under her breath. At the same instant she held up a warning finger. There were persons passing in the hall outside their door. One could hear their footsteps distinctly. Almost at once Nona got up and approached the tea table. "Let us have tea, won't you, please, Dick?" she begged. "We are all tired and hungry and thirsty. Besides, we are discouraged." She said this even more softly, although the sounds in the hall had[Pg 195] ceased. Doubtless the passersby were only other dwellers in the house. Dick sighed with relief and gratitude. "What a satisfying person you are, Nona! It would have been better, however, if you had made this suggestion half an hour ago." Then he turned again toward Mildred and Barbara. "Please don't think I can't see that there was something fine and quixotic in Eugenia's conduct, even if I wish she had chosen differently," he added. "Truth is, I have taken the situation more seriously than ever today because I have had bad news." Nona Davis had lifted the teapot in her hand to pour out the tea, but at these words she set it down hastily. Mildred merely took a firmer hold on Barbara's shoulder. "What is it, Dick?" she demanded. This time Dick got up and floundered about impatiently. "Oh, it may be nothing and perhaps I should not have spoken of it. But the truth is, Eugenia is ill. One of the [Pg 196]physicians at the prison was considerate enough to let me know. He does not think the trouble serious and says Eugenia insists she will be all right in a few days. Just the same, Eugenia has been through a lot. I don't want to be a croaker, but there was the strain of the long nursing of Captain Castaigne and then this business. One of you girls must go to her as soon as I can get you permission, if I ever can get it. Which one of you shall it be?" From the depth of her big chair Barbara answered in a somewhat weary but steadfast voice: "There is no question; Eugenia and I have meant everything to each other lately, and——" "There is a question, Barbara, and you must be sensible. In looking after Eugenia's house you are doing everything you have strength for. I am sure you can't weigh a hundred pounds these days! Ever since we came to Belgium, it seems to me you have been growing tinier. After a while you may blow away," Mildred declared. [Pg 197] Then she marched over and, removing the teapot from Nona's hand, began pouring out the tea in a quiet and comforting fashion. "Of course, Eugenia is not well after a month of being in prison. Why should any one of us expect her to be?" she announced. "Here, Dick, please pass this cup to Barbara and your muffins. The poor child looks utterly fagged! We ought to have thought that she has come all the way in from the country and has probably been up since daylight. She is a very little woman to live in a shoe." Gratefully and without further protest Barbara drank her tea. She was more tired than she had dreamed and glad to be taken care of for even a short a time. How happy she was to have gotten over her former antagonism toward her friends. What right had she to be jealous and miserable because a beautiful experience had come to Nona and Dick? They were both her good friends. At this moment Dick was whispering something to Nona, while she smiled up[Pg 198] toward him. There was no mistaking the expression in her eyes, Barbara felt convinced. Later on she would congratulate them, but not this afternoon; she was too tired. Perhaps Nona became conscious of the other girl's gaze, for she drew away from her companion. "By the way, Barbara," she exclaimed, "there is something I have wished to tell you for several days! Weeks ago when you told me you had discovered Lieutenant Hume a prisoner in Brussels, I wrote him a note. It must have taken ages for my letter to get to him. Anyhow, I received three or four lines from him the other day. I suppose it was all he was permitted to write. But he thanked me and said he was getting on pretty comfortably. Certainly I could not but admire his courage." Dick Thornton frowned. "You don't mean, Nona, that you wrote a letter to Lieutenant Hume in prison without his asking you. I didn't suppose you knew him sufficiently well." But before Barbara could confess that[Pg 199] the suggestion had come from her, Mildred Thornton interposed. "Don't be absurd, Dick. You are taking everything in a gloomy fashion this afternoon. I should have written Lieutenant Hume myself if Nona had not. He is in hard luck, when a single line from the outside world is cheering. We must go now. Please do your best to get me permission to visit Eugenia. In the meantime I shall see what I can do. Sorry we had to have such a dismal party tea. Hope for better news next time." <hr /> [Pg 200] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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