"We do all honor in this land of ours to the brave men who have risked their lives for their country; the soldier's claim to a nation's gratitude is sung everywhere,--sometimes not over-modestly. In Washington we talk of it not in empty words, but in marble, stone, and bronze. We build our Soldiers' Home for the disabled veterans; we employ armies of men for the disbursement of the millions we pour willingly at their feet; when we can do no more we lay them to rest in our beautiful city of the dead and deck their graves with laurel. Is this all? Nay, we have made the Nation's capital a monumental city, raising memorials on every hand 'lest we forget.' And we do well to honor them. "But after all, how long does a battle last or a war, even though it be a fratricidal conflict kept up until the flower of the land is cut down and the rivers run red with blood? Not long. Not long as God counts time. But oh, my friends, there is somewhere a brave woman fighting the battle of maternity in every minute of time, and has been since the world began, and they always _have_ met it and always _will_ meet it gallantly and gladly. They have not marched into battle with the pomp and panoply of war--with flags flying, drums beating, and the cheers of comrades in their ears. Their fight has been single-handed, in the stillness of the night watches and in the darkened chamber. But _never a soldier among them but has known that she faced death_. "And this great army of mothers all over the world, in all the ages past and to come, ask no pensions, crave no honors, expect not even to have written over their modest tombs, 'Here lies one who has fought a good fight.' All they ask is the same rights to children, property, and persons that their husbands and fathers have always enjoyed." When the lecture was over Margaret went straight to the speaker. "I am one the law has touched," she said. "Let me help." CHAPTER XXXII MARGARET ENLISTS The next day was the time for Margaret's visit to Philip. Not once in all these months had she failed him. Not once had the dawn of that day come without bringing first of all to her mind the thought, "To-day I shall see him." This morning, however, her waking thought was not of her child, but of the cause which she longed so passionately to help. She had made an engagement the night before to meet Mrs. Greuze at her rooms at ten. She would postpone her visit to Elmhurst till afternoon. "That's the way it goes," remarked Mrs. Pennybacker caustically as Margaret, dressed for the street, announced this plan. "As soon as the poison of public life gets into a woman's veins, it appears first of all in her neglect of her children. At least that's what they say." "I am not neglecting my child," Margaret declared indignantly. "I am only trying to find out what I can do to help him. I never had Philip's good more at heart than I have this minute."