of her? A wee tot, whose
sobbing should have been stilled by tender arms--did she understand the
caress of steel? And the other two, whose minds had been snapped by
horrors and privations--did their locked-in souls realize these things
to be the result of military necessity?--or a nation's degeneracy!

Yet what could he expect from a people whose idol in philosophy, their
pampered Nietschke, teaches and writes: "Morality is a symptom of
decadence! There is no right other than that of theft, usurpation and
violence!" It is in his book for all to read! What hope of an army, or
hope of mercy from it, whose Kaiser confesses himself to be a liar or a
lunatic by proclaiming: "The spirit of God has descended upon Me because
I am the German Emperor! I am the instrument of the Most High. I am His
sword, His representative on earth. Woe and death to those who oppose
My will! Death to the infidel who denies My mission! Let all the enemies
of the German nation perish. God demands their destruction--God, who by
My mouth summons you to carry out His decrees!"[3]

[Footnote 3: From the Kaiser's proclamation to his army, Sept. 13,
1914.]

As Jeb recalled these utterances, their blasphemy made him cringe. He
wrapped the little broken body tighter in his arms. Was she, then, what
she was by a loving God's decree? He kissed her hair and groaned in
righteous anger. Did that Outcast Emperor dare call himself the
representative of God on earth, and thereupon urge his menials to do
evil for the sake of evil, destroy for destruction's sake, pillage for
the bestial love of it, outrage the life, honor and liberty of the
helpless, leaving a wide trail that everywhere led to the most loathsome
crimes?--did "the spirit of God descend upon" this vampire, and call him
"chosen"?

Jeb found himself trembling in every muscle as a deep rage at these
blasphemies spread throughout his frame. As tropic storms strike
languid forests, swaying, threshing, rending trees this way and that, so
a mighty rush of fury swept him. Slowly at first, then faster, the
almost forgotten taper flame of manliness that flickered on the altar of
his inmost being leaped higher, until it blazed as a consuming fire. The
eyes of his soul were open; the strength of his soul grasped the sword
of Humanity to strike for this child, and the thousands like her, whose
injury was irreparable, who had been blasted, damned, by the ego-mania
of accursed hypocrites!

"Oh, little one," he