Long she sat there, staring out into the night. And the change in the
aspect of the broad spaces, now dark and impenetrable and mysterious,
seemed like the change in the knowledge of herself. Once she had
flattered herself that she was an inch of crystal water; now she seemed
a complex, aloof, and contrary creature, almost on the verge of
tumultuous emotions.

She said her prayers that night, a girlish habit resumed since her
brother had declared his intention of enlisting in the army. And to that
old prayer, which her mother had prayed before her, she added an appeal
of her own. Strange that young Dorn's face should flash out of gloom! It
was there, and her brother's was fading.

"I wonder--will he and Jim--meet over there--on the battle-field!" she
whispered. She hoped they would. Like tigers those boys would fight the
Germans. Her heart beat high. Then a cold wind seemed to blow over her.
It had a sickening weight. If that icy and somber wind could have been
traced to its source, then the mystery of life would have been clear.
But that source was the cause of war, as its effect was the horror of
women. A hideous and monstrous thing existed out there in the darkness.
Lenore passionately loved her brother, and this black thing had taken
him away. Why could not women, who suffered most, have some word in the
regulation of events? If women could help govern the world there would
be no wars.

At last encroaching drowsiness dulled the poignancy of her feelings and
she sank to sleep.

CHAPTER VI

Singing of birds at her window awakened Lenore. The dawn streamed in
bright and sweetly fragrant. The wheat-fields seemed a rosy gold, and
all that open slope called to her thrillingly of the beauty of the world
and the happiness of youth. It was not possible to be morbid at dawn. "I
hear! I hear!" she whispered. "From a thousand slopes far and wide!"

At the breakfast-table, when there came opportunity, she looked up
serenely and said, "Father, on second thought I will go the Bend, thank
you!"

Anderson laid down his knife and fork and his eyes opened wide in
surprise. "Changed your mind!" he exclaimed.

"That's a privilege I have, you know," she replied, calmly.

Mrs. Anderson appeared more anxious than surprised. "Daughter, don't go.
That will be a fearful ride."

"Hum! Sure glad to have you, lass," added Anderson, with his keen eyes
on her.

"Let me go, too," begged Rose.

Kathleen was solemnly gazing at L