Of course, she's a born manager--everyone knows that. She's
very fond of managing, too--and people like that are very necessary I
admit. So don't look at me as if I'd said something perfectly dreadful,
Betty, please. I'm quite willing to agree that Rilla Blythe is the
embodiment of all the virtues, if that will please you. And no doubt it
is a virtue to be quite unmoved by things that would crush most people."
Some of Irene's remarks were reported to Rilla; but they did not hurt
her as they would once have done. They didn't matter, that was all. Life
was too big to leave room for pettiness. She had a pact to keep and a
work to do; and through the long hard days and weeks of that disastrous
autumn she was faithful to her task. The war news was consistently bad,
for Germany marched from victory to victory over poor Rumania.
"Foreigners--foreigners," Susan muttered dubiously. "Russians or
Rumanians or whatever they may be, they are foreigners and you cannot
tie to them. But after Verdun I shall not give up hope. And can you tell
me, Mrs. Dr. dear, if the Dobruja is a river or a mountain range, or a
condition of the atmosphere?"
The Presidential election in the United States came off in November, and
Susan was red-hot over that--and quite apologetic for her excitement.
"I never thought I would live to see the day when I would be interested
in a Yankee election, Mrs.
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