usiness man and I should only have been a nuisance."

In the impetuous fashion which had always been characteristic of her
girlhood as Polly O'Neill and which she had never lost, Mrs. Burton
turned around.

"Yes, it is hard. Women are not soldiers at heart, in spite of those
thrilling Russian women and their great 'Battalion of Death.' We are not
intended for the actual fighting and can only do our work behind the
lines until the world is purified forever from the scourge of war. But
you have your son to take your place."

For a few moments Mr. Morris made no reply. Then he replied slowly in a
tone of hesitation and of embarrassment:

"I wonder if you will allow me to make a confidant of you? I am in great
trouble, Mrs. Burton, and although we were strangers before this evening
I know your life must have taught you to understand human nature. My son
does not wish to enter the war. I tried to persuade him to volunteer. He
refused. Now the draft has come and his number has been called, he is
still making every effort to escape military service, pleading exemption
upon entirely unnecessary grounds. The fact is inexplicable to me. When
my son was born my wife and I were no longer young and she died a short
time after. Felipe has grown up here with me, with his friends and his
flowers and his music, to which he is sincerely devoted, and nothing has
ever been required of him. I knew he was indolent and selfish perhaps,
but until the United States entered the war I failed to appreciate that
Felipe was not a man. Another circumstance which has added to our
difficulty, instead of clearing it away, is that Felipe and I have
recently inherited a large sum of money. Until recently, as our home
must have revealed to you, we have been poor and not very industrious.
Now our inheritance has made my son more than ever eager for a life of
ease and pleasure. He has been planning to fix up the old place until it
looks as it did many years ago. He wishes also to study singing, as he
has a really beautiful voice, and has been talking of going to Spain,
now that the other European countries are at present out of the
question. You can see I scarcely know what to do. Felipe's exemption
claim is almost sure to be denied, and yet I cannot discuss the matter
with our friends and neighbors. I do not wish to prejudice them against
my boy. What is it I can do, Mrs. Burton, when I confess to you that I
appear to have no influence with my son upon t