"Celia," I said, "this is wonderful."
It really was wonderful. For the first time in its life my pianola
refused to play "The Charge of the Uhlans." It had played it a hundred
times while we were at peace with Germany, but when we were at
war--no!
We had to have a farewell piece. I put in a waltz, and it played it
perfectly. Then we said good-bye to our pianola, feeling a reverence
for it which we had never felt before.
* * * * *
You don't believe this? Yet you promised you would ... and I still
assure you that it is true. But I admit that the truth is sometimes
hard to believe, and the first six persons to whom I told the story
assured me frankly that I was a liar. If one is to be called a liar,
one may as well make an effort to deserve the name. I made an effort,
therefore, with the seventh person.
"I put in 'The Charge of the Uhlans,'" I said, "and it played 'God
Save the King.'"
Unfortunately he was a very patriotic man indeed, and he believed it.
So that is how the story is now going about. But you who read this
know the real truth of the matter.