,illustration3 ,,the ,,cornhill ,,magazine ,no4 #bdg ,,new ,,series ,price ,,one ,,shilling ,net ,no4 #fhe ,,january #aiag4 ,,london3 ,,smith1 ,,elder1 ,,co41 #ae ,,waterloo ,,place4 ,all rights1 including the right of publishing ,translations of ,articles in the ,magazine are reserved4 ,,registered ,,for ,,transmission ,,to ,,canada ,,and ,,newfoundland ,,by ,,magazine ,,post4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,by ,,special ,illustration ,,appointment ,,artists' ,,colourmen ,,to ,,their ,,majesties ,,the ,,king ,,and ,,queen ,,and ,,to ,h4,m4 ,,queen ,,alexandra4 ,,winsor ,,newton1 ,,limited1 ,,manufacturers ,,of ,,artists' ,,oil ,,and ,,water ,,colours of the ,,finest ,,quality4 ,,the #8,,scholars'' ,,box of ,,artists' ,,moist ,,water ,,colours4 ,designed to provide an inexpensive box of ,artists' ,colours with a range of tint and covering power approximately equal to the ordinary ,students' ,box4 #8,in developing the faculty of observation in children1 ,drawing and ,colour ,work is most essential4 ,the ,drawing and ,colour materials should always be of good quality1 and suitable for the purpose for which they are intended4' ,scholars' ,box of ,artists' ,water ,colours ,price #cs4 net4 ,containing #h ,pans and #b ,brushes4 ,refills for ,scholars' ,box ,series #a1 #bs4 #f;d42 ,series #b1 #ds42 ,series #c1 #fs42 ,series #d1 #hs4 per doz4 net4 ,offices ,,rathbone ,,place1 ,,london1 ,w4 99 99 99 99 99 ,illustration ,,unlike ,,the ,,ordinary ,,so-,,called #8,,pick-,,me-,,ups' ,,kola ,,tonic ,,is ,a ,,delicious ,,drink ,,which ,,can ,,be ,,taken ,,as ,a ,,liqueur ,,or ,,mixed ,,with ,,water ,,as ,a ,,beverage ,,kola ,,liqueur ,tonic4 ,stimulating4 ,non-,alcoholic4 ,the ,times says3 #8,it is an excellent nerve tonic1 and is especially good for keeping the brain clear and active4' ,kola is estimated to be five times as sustaining as ,cocoa1 and also possesses the stimulating properties of ,tea4 ,this nerve stimulant and food1 although little known in ,europe1 finds a ready sale in tropical countries where its value as a remedy against enervating climatic conditions has been well recognised for the past #be years4 ,send postcard for ,price ,list and name of nearest ,agent to ,,the ,,pure ,,water ,,co41 ,ltd41 ,,queen',s ,,road1 ,,battersea ,,park1 ,,london1 ,s4,w4 ,,the ,,cornhill ,,magazine4 ,,january #aiag4 ,,unconquered3 ,,an ,,episode ,,of #aiad4 ,,by ,,maud ,,diver4 ,copyright1 #aiag1 by ,mrs4 ,diver1 in the ,united ,states of ,america4 #8,the stars are threshed and the souls are threshed from their husks4' ,,blake4 ,,chapter ,i4 #8,whom does love concern save the lover and the beloved8 ,yet its impact deluges a thousand shores4' ,e4 ,m4 ,,forster4 ,sir ,mark ,forsyth pushed back his chair1 left the dinner-table1 and strolled over to the bay window4 ,he drew out his cigarette-case1 but apparently forgot to open it4 ,he stood there1 looking out across the garden1 that merged into rocky spaces of heather and bracken1 and culminated in an abrupt descent to the loch4 ,low above the darkening hills the sunset splendour flamed along the horizon1 and all the waters beneath were alight with the transient glory4 ,but the man's face wore the abstracted air of one who dwells upon an inner vision4 ,though the subdued flow of talk behind him entered his ears1 it did not seem to reach his brain4 #8,bobs1' his devoted ,irish terrier1 crept out from under the table and1 joining his master1 made sundry infallible bids for attention1 without success4 ,presently alluring whiffs of cigarette smoke1 intruding on his dreams1 reminded ,sir ,mark of the unopened case in his hand4 #8,i vote for coffee on the terrace1 ,mother1' he said1 turning his eyes from the glory without to the dimness of the unlighted dining room4 #8,then we'll have the boats out4 ,there's going to be an afterglow and a half presently4' #8,i told ,grant about the coffee two minutes ago1 dear1' ,lady ,forsyth answered1 smiling2 but her eyes dwelt a little anxiously on the silhouetted view of her son's profile1 as he set a match to his cigarette4 ,the straight1 outstanding nose and square chin vividly recalled his dead father4 ,but the imaginative brow was of her bestowing1 and a splash of light on his hair showed the reddish chestnut tint of her own people3 the tint she loved4 #8,come along1 children1' she added1 including in that category four out of her five guests--two girls1 unrelated to herself1 ,ralph ,melrose1 a ,gurkha subaltern1 and ,maurice ,lenox1 an artist friend of ,mark's4 ,keith ,macnair1 professor of philosophy--his rugged face lined with thought1 his dark hair lightly frosted at the temples--was the only genuine grown-up of her small house-party4 ,a connection of her own1 and devoted to both mother and son1 he was so evenly placed between them in the matter of age that he could play elder brother to ,mark or younger brother to ,lady ,forsyth as occasion required4 ,and1 whenever professional claims permitted1 occasion usually did require his presence1 in some capacity1 either at ,wynchcombe ,friars or ,inveraig4 ,between times1 he lived and lectured and wrote philosophical books in ,edinburgh1 having been a ,fellow of the ,university since his graduate days3 and never1 if he could help it1 did he fail to spend most of the long vacation at ,inveraig4 ,when the party rose from the table he joined ,mark in the window3 and as the two girls stood back to let ,lady ,forsyth pass out1 she slipped an arm round each4 ,her love of youth and young things seemed to deepen with her own advancing years4 ,but she had her preferences2 and it was the arm round ,sheila ,melrose that tightened as they passed through the long drawing-room to the terrace1 where coffee was set upon a low stone table in full view of the illumined lake and sky4 #8,it's splendid to have you safe back again1 child1' she said1 releasing ,monica ,videlle and drawing ,sheila down to the seat beside her4 #8,india's monopolised you quite long enough4 ,there's some mysterious magnetism about that country4 ,people seem to catch it like a disease4 ,and ,i was getting alarmed lest you might succumb to the infection4' ,miss ,melrose smiled thoughtfully at the sunset4 #8,i'm not sure that ,i haven't succumbed already6' she said in her low1 clear-cut voice4 #8,i have vague tempting dreams of going back with ,ralph when his furlough is up2 or with ,mona1 to help doctor her ,indian women4 ,but probably they'll never materialise' #8,more than probably1 if ,i have any say in the matter6' ,lady ,forsyth spoke lightly1 but under the lightness lurked a note of decision4 ,she had her own private dreams concerning this girl with the softly shining eyes under level brows1 and the softly resolute lips that never seemed quite to leave off smiling even in repose4 ,at mention of ,india ,miss ,videlle's thoughtful face came suddenly to life4 #8,it would be just lovely for me1' she said4 #8,too good to be true6' #8,never mind1 ,miss ,videlle1' ,maurice consoled her almost tenderly4 #8,this ripping evening's not too good to be true4 ,and ,i can put you up to some tips for squaring ,lady ,forsyth--in strict confidence of course6' ,he bent towards her with a slightly theatrical offer of his arm1 and they moved off to a seat near the ivy-covered wall1 looking towards the distant rapids4 ,lady ,forsyth glanced after them with a passing twinge of concern4 ,the girl--a fairly recent acquisition of ,sheila's--was shy and clever1 with a streak of dark blood in her veins4 ,she had done brilliantly at ,oxford1 and was now qualified to take up the medical work in ,india on which she had set her heart4 ,sheila had acquired her while going through a course of massage and magnetic healing1 for which she showed so distinct a gift that she had serious thoughts of taking it up in earnest4 ,a vague idea of going out with ,monica had been simmering in her brain for the past week2 but she had not spoken of it till to-night4 #8,wonder what's come to old ,mark1' mused ,ralph pensively1 stirring his coffee4 #8,thought this picnic arrangement was all for his benefit' #8,rather so6' ,mark's voice answered him1 as he and ,macnair strolled round the corner of the house4 #8,hurry up with the coffee1 ,mums4 ,i love dabbling my oars in the sunset4 ,lenox1 old chap1 you two might go on ahead and give the word4' ,they went on readily enough2 and the rest soon followed them through the wilder spaces of the garden1 down rocky steps to the bay1 where sand and rough grass shelved gently to the water's edge4 ,here they found two boats already afloat1 with ,maurice and ,monica--she was commonly called ,mona--established in one of them4 ,lady ,forsyth1 nothing if not prompt1 privately consigned ,ralph to that boat1 ,mark and ,keith to her own4 ,it was a heavenly evening1 and she thanked goodness they were going to have it to themselves3 quite a rare event since ,maurice ,lenox had discovered that superfluous ,miss ,alison4 #8,coming to row stroke for us8' she asked as ,mark handed her in4 ,he shook his head1 smiling down at her4 #8,that's to be ,keith's privilege6 ,i'm for the other boat4' ,but neither his smile nor the light pressure of her arm could atone for the refusal4 #8,pointed and purposeless1' she denounced it mentally2 but within a very few moments his purpose was revealed4 #8,down stream a bit first1 ,keith1' he called out1 as he pushed off his own boat and sprang lightly in4 #8,i want to run up to the village4 ,miss ,alison and her friend might like to join us4' ,so they rowed down stream at his command3 and for ,lady ,forsyth the pleasure of the outing was gone2 the peace and beauty of the evening spoilt by fierce resentment against these intrusive strangers who had no authorised position in the scheme of things4 ,and her natural vexation was intensified by concern for ,sheila3 though whether the girl took ,mark's sudden and strange defection seriously it was impossible to tell4 ,she wore that smiling1 friendly graciousness of hers like a bright veil1 that seemed to baffle attempts at intimacy1 while it enhanced her charm4 ,even with ,lady ,forsyth1 who loved her as a daughter1 she had her reserves1 notably on matters nearest her heart4 #8,after all1 she knows the real ,mark almost as well as ,i do1' ,mark's mother reflected by way of consolation4 #8,and she's wiser than ,i am1 in many ways1 though she is nearly thirty years younger4 ,i'm probably racing on miles too fast4 ,he's barely known the girl a fortnight4 ,he couldn't be so crazy,all the same1 he's no business to--it's distracting6' she concluded1 her irritation flaming up again at sight of the two figures that were now approaching the shore1 escorted by ,mark4 ,miss ,alison1 the taller one1 had unquestionably height and grace to recommend her4 ,mark1 who stood six feet in his socks1 could barely give her a couple of inches2 and the languid deliberation of her movements had1 on ,lady ,forsyth1 the same maddening effect as a drawl in speech4 ,her own brain and body were too quick1 in the original sense of the word1 not to make her a trifle intolerant towards the #8half-alive'2 and1 rightly or wrongly1 ,miss ,alison was apt to produce that impression even on her admirers1 though no doubt they expressed it differently4 ,personal prejudice apart1 ,lady ,forsyth preferred the girl's companion1 ,miss ,o',neill1 in spite of her wrong-headed zeal for the ,suffrage and ,home ,rule4 ,had ,bel ,alison been out in search of a foil1 she could have discovered none better than this big-hearted1 fanatical woman of five-and-thirty1 shortish and squarely built1 with an upward nose1 an ugly1 humorous mouth1 and a quantity of rough brown hair in a chronic state of untidiness4 ,lady ,forsyth gathered that she was an active philanthropist1 and that the incongruous pair shared a flat somewhere in ,earl's ,court4 ,to outward seeming they had certainly nothing beyond the same address in common4 ,if ,bel's movements were over-deliberate1 ,miss ,o',neill's were apt to be sudden2 and she strode into the boat with the decision of one given to putting her foot down to some purpose4 #8,steady on6 ,you evidently don't do things by halves6' ,sir ,mark remonstrated1 laughing1 and consigning her to a cushion in the bows4 ,bel had already usurped ,maurice's seat astern1 and ,mark rowed stroke--this time without need of invitation4 ,then they turned about and moved slowly up the loch1 dabbling their oars in the sunset fires and shivering the purple shadows of the hills4 ,and if for ,helen ,forsyth the pleasure of the evening was over1 for ,mark it had but just begun4 ,and she knew it4 ,therein lay the sting4 ,though #8the boy' was now very much a man1 she could honestly have said1 two weeks ago1 that nothing beyond minor differences and mutual flashes of temper had marred the deep essential unity of their relation--a unity the more inestimably precious since he was now all she had left of her nearest and dearest on earth4 ,husband1 daughter and younger son had all passed on before her into the ,silence1 and of her own people one brother alone remained4 ,at the moment he was ,governor of ,new ,zealand1 and seemed disposed to stay on there indefinitely when his term of office expired4 ,the ,empire1 he wrote1 was a saner1 sweeter1 more spacious place of abode than twentieth-century ,england1 which seemed temporarily given over to the cheap-jack1 the specialist1 and the party politician4 ,and she--while loving every foot of her husband's country and her own--understood too well the frequent disappointment of those who came1 on rare and hardly earned leave1 from the ends of the earth and failed to find1 in picture-palaces and music-halls1 in the jargon of ,futurists and demagogues1 the ,england of their dreams4 ,for this cause1 her sole remaining brother had become little more than a memory and a monthly letter4 ,yet could she never account herself a lonely woman1 while she had ,keith for friend and mentor1 ,mark for son1 and ,sheila for--more than possible--daughter4 ,what business had this unknown girl to step into their charmed circle and unsettle the very foundation of things8 ,never1 till to-night1 had it seemed possible to ,mark's mother that she could arrive at dreading the fulfilment of his heart's desire4 ,yet that was what it amounted to4 ,dread lurked behind her surface irritation4 ,the touch of second sight in her composition made her vaguely conscious of danger in the air4 ,small wonder if she anathematised ,maurice ,lenox for his knack of picking up promiscuous strangers1 and1 in this case1 aggravating his offence by failing to appropriate his own discovery4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,quand on vous voit1 on vous aime2 quand on vous aime1 o vous voit-on8 ,for a while the two boats kept in touch1 so that talk passed easily between them4 ,miss ,alison spoke little4 ,silence rather became the fair pensive quality of her charm--and probably she knew it4 ,the uncharitable supposition was ,lady ,forsyth's3 and she was fain to confess that pensiveness and silence harmonised well with the fine1 straight nose1 the mass of dull gold hair1 and eyes of that transparent blue which lacks warmth and depth1 yet has a limpid beauty of its own1 especially where the pupils are large and the lashes noticeably long4 ,mark1 too1 had fallen silent3 the worst possible sign4 ,but ,miss ,o',neill atoned for all deficiencies by discoursing vigorously to ,maurice's swaying shoulders1 upon the latest developments of the suffrage campaign4 ,maurice1 equal to any emergency1 had no difficulty in airing his own views on the subject--as it were1 through the back of his head--to one who had hammered shop windows with her own hand1 though she graciously drew the line at firing churches and wrecking trains4 ,yet she was a woman of generous and1 at times1 noble impulses4 ,the greater part of her small annuity was lavished on a very personal form of rescue work--and on ,bel4 #8,it's rank injustice1 say what you please1' she declared in her strong1 vibrant tones1 #8to imprison and torture poor misguided girls who have the courage of the faith that's in them4 ,the real blame lies on the heads of those who've driven us to extremes4' #8,that sounds very fine1 ,miss ,o',neill1 but ,i'm afraid it won't hold water1' ,macnair put in quietly from the other boat4 #8,it has been the standing excuse of fanatics and--dare ,i add8--criminals all down the ages4 ,your latest forms of argument will simply harden and justify opposition to a cause that is not without certain elements of justice and right4' ,his pleasant voice had the clear1 leisured enunciation of the scholar1 a quality peculiarly exasperating to the red-hot enthusiast whose thoughts are1 in the main1 emotions intellectually expressed4 #8,justice and right indeed6' ,miss ,o',neill fairly hurled the words at him4 #8,that's all we're asking1 isn't it8 ,and precisely what we'll never be getting under a man-made ,government and man-made laws4' ,macnair smiled and shrugged his shoulders4 ,he had no mind to let argument and recrimination desecrate the peace and glowing beauty of a ,highland summer evening2 and with practised ease he slid into the calmer waters of generalisation1 as much in the hope of weaning ,lady ,forsyth from troubled thoughts as for the pleasure of expressing his own4 #8,the truth is1' he said1 resting on his oars1 while the boats drifted into a luminous bay1 #8every age1 like every country1 has its moral microbe2 and the microbe of this one is 8,down with everything02 8,can't2 won't2 shan't2 don't2 ,pass it along the line10 that's about the tune of it1 in all ranks4 ,kipling may or may not be a classic poet1 but his 8,commissariat ,camels0 put the present-day spirit into a nutshell4 ,for nearly a hundred years the world has been fed on a steady diet of revolt2 and now we have the climax1 distaste for duties and clamour for rights4 ,the fine1 brave old wisdom of acceptance is altogether out of court' ,mark1 withdrawing his gaze from ,miss ,alison's profile1 treated him to a smile of amused approval4 #8,why this sudden access of eloquence1 old man8' he asked2 and ,keith deliberately winked over his shoulder4 #8,miss ,o',neill there's to blame2 and the modern world does seem rather egregiously modern when one's been living for months in a backwater with ,pindar for company4' #8,oh ,keith1 have you really found time for your promised translation of the 8,odes08' ,lady ,forsyth--herself a translator of some distinction--leaned eagerly forward4 #8,i've been making time for a few of them1' he answered1 pleased with the success of his diversion1 #8by neglecting my ,bergson book4' #8,have you got them here8' #8,yes4 ,they're in type1 awaiting your consideration6' #8,good4 ,you'll publish them1 of course4' ,he shook his head4 #8,not even to please you6 ,i've simply been enjoying myself1 exploring a little deeper into the heart of an old friend2 one who could look life in the face without feeling convinced that he personally could have made a better job of it4 ,one suspects even our poets1 these days1 of being propagandists in disguise4 ,pindar is as sublime and as useless as a snow-peak2 and one can no more convey the essence of him in ,english than one could convey the scent of a rose in ,parliamentary language6 ,yet one is fool enough to try4' ,sheila1 who had been listening with her quiet intentness1 remarked softly1 #8,why don't we all learn ,greek8' #8,because the humanities are out of court in an age of scientific materialism4 ,wasn't there a promise1 once1 that ,i should teach you8' ,the girl flushed with pleasure4 #8,i thought you'd forgotten4' #8,and ,i thought ,miss ,videlle had persuaded you to give up everything for this massage you're so keen about4' ,their talk took a more personal tone1 and ,lady ,forsyth's attention strayed again towards the other boat4 ,it had drifted a little farther off1 and a change of seats was in progress between ,mark and ,miss ,videlle4 ,one moment his tall figure loomed against the dying splendour2 the next1 he sank cautiously down beside ,miss ,alison1 who vouchsafed him a side-long glance of welcome4 #8,we're moving on a bit1 ,mother1' he sang out1 seeing her face turned in their direction4 ,they moved on accordingly3 and it did not occur to ,lady ,forsyth that ,miss ,o',neill1 sitting alone in the bows1 obscured from vision of the disturbing pair1 was in much the same mood as herself4 ,lonely1 passionate1 and emotional1 her thwarted womanhood had found in ,bel ,alison an object on which she could lavish at once the protective tenderness of a mother and the devoted service of a man4 ,unhappily1 this last included a consuming jealousy of those who had a better natural right to the girl than herself4 ,diligently and skilfully1 therefore1 she had scattered seeds of prejudice against the unjust half of creation--which1 by the way1 she very much appreciated in units1 while denouncing it in the mass4 ,by way of a more positive deterrent1 her slender means were taxed to the utmost that ,bel might have cushions and flowers and curtains to suit her fastidious taste4 ,no one1 least of all ,miss ,alison1 suspected the extent of her secret shifts and sacrifices4 ,and1 intermittently1 she had her reward4 ,but no skill in self-deception could blind her to the fact that her lavish devotion was as dust in the balance against the passing attentions of a baronet1 lord of two estates1 and a fine-looking fellow to boot4 ,to-night the conviction rankled with peculiar keenness by reason of her suppressed irritation with ,macnair4 #8,shirking the issue4 ,just like a man6' she soliloquised wrathfully4 #8,and dragging in his own trumpery translations by the heels4 ,the conceit of the creatures6 ,and the folly of them4 ,wasting good abilities over the vapourings of a musty old ,greek poet4 ,blind as a bat1 or simply not caring a snap that the world's crammed with evils crying out to be reformed4 ,let them cry1 so long as he can scribble in peace4444' ,at this point her somewhat chaotic thoughts were interrupted by music from the other end of the boat4 ,mark was singing ,wallace's lullaby1 #8,son of ,mine'2 half crooning it1 at first1 for the benefit of ,miss ,alison1 who did not know it4 ,but as the strong swing of the melody took hold of him1 he let out his voice to the full--a true1 clear baritone2 music in its every cadence2 and something more than music1 for those who had ears to hear4 ,harry1 raging inwardly1 heard1 and understood very well that the days of her own dominion were numbered4 ,lady ,forsyth understood equally well2 but she had passed beyond the raging mood4 ,the song was an old favourite2 every note of it laden with associations2 and in spite of herself tears started to her eyes4 ,as for ,mark1 others might understand or not as they pleased4 ,he was singing to an audience of one2 to the girl who sat beside him1 her uncovered head lifted and half turned away toward the dark sweeping curves of the hills4 ,when the murmur of applause died down she turned to him with the slow lift of her lashes that1 conscious or no1 thrilled him afresh at each repetition4 #8,i didn't know you could sing like that1' she said softly4 #8,i can't always1' he answered1 flushing under her implied praise4 #8,sometimes--it just takes hold of me4 ,don't you sing yourself8 ,i'm sure you've got music in you4' ,she suppressed a small sigh4 #8,oh yes4 ,it's one of my poor little half-fledged talents2 useless for want of proper development4 ,my elder sister's the clever one1 and she got all the chances4 ,she found me convenient sometimes for duets4' #8,duets8 ,good4 ,i know plenty4 ,let's have a try4 ,what was her line8' #8,classical4 ,mostly ,german4' ,mark was silent a moment1 raking his memory4 ,then he had an inspiration4 #8,mendelssohn's 8,i would that the love04448 ,wasn't that the sort of thing8' #8,yes4 ,very much so4' #8,right6 ,we'll give them a treat4 ,you take the air4' ,she shook her head4 #8,you're going much too fast4 ,i never said ,i'd sing2 and--,i've rather forgotten the words4' #8,you won't slip out of it that way6' he told her2 and leaning close he crooned under his breath3 #88,i would that the love ,i bear thee1 ,my lips in one word could say2 ,that soft word0' #8,oh yes1 ,i remember now1' she cut him short rather abruptly2 but a faint colour showed in her cheeks and this time she did not lift her lashes4 #8,very pretty1 but drenched with sentiment4 ,that's the worst of ,german songs4' #8,well1 you can't beat the music of 'em1' he persisted1 rebuffed a little by her tone1 and hoping it was assumed for the benefit of ,miss ,videlle1 who was most vexatiously in the way4 #8,i'm set on it anyhow4 ,are you ready8' ,taking her smile for consent he moved one hand1 beating time in the air2 then1 without preliminary1 their united voices took up the song4 ,bel's1 though sweet and true within its range1 proved too slight an organ to stand the open-air test1 and ,mark had need to moderate his full-toned alto accordingly1 thereby giving an added effect of tenderness to words and music already sufficiently expressive4 ,and again ,lady ,forsyth--a most unwilling listener--understood everything far too well4 ,deliberately she hardened herself against the appeal of the music4 ,for this time she was simply angry--angry as she had never yet been with her son2 though1 needless to say1 she attributed his egregious behaviour entirely to ,miss ,alison4 #8,how can he8 ,how dare he6' was the cry of her pained heart4 #8,so unlike him4 ,an insult to ,sheila4 ,flinging his folly in her face4' ,but ,sheila was drawing her finger-tips lightly through the water1 watching the effect with that shadowy smile of hers1 and to all appearances simply enjoying the song4 ,almost ,lady ,forsyth found herself hoping that it was so4 ,in any case1 she was thankful when the #8exhibition' ended1 and ,maurice's cheerful voice was heard calling out3 #8,your turn1 ,miss ,videlle6 ,can't you give us a music-hall masterpiece by way of diversion8' ,but ,miss ,videlle disowned all knowledge of masterpieces1 music-hall or otherwise1 and ,maurice himself came nobly to the rescue4 #8,i'm not up to ,mark's style2 but ,i'm top-hole at genuine ,harry ,lauders1' he volunteered with becoming modesty4 #8,and as you're all so pressing1 it would be ungracious to hide my light under a bushel4' #8,good egg6' sang out ,ralph from the second boat4 #8,give us 8,roamin' in the ,gloamin'40' ,and ,maurice1 with a deliberate wink at ,mark over ,miss ,videlle's shoulder1 proceeded to give it for all he was worth1 in the broadest of broad ,scotch4 ,but ,mark was in no mood to see the joke of a performance that sounded far too like a travesty of his own chosen love-song4 #88,i kissed her-r twice and ,i asked her-r once if she would be my br-ride10' sang ,maurice with insolent gusto1 burring his r's like a policeman's rattle2 and ,mark simply wanted to kick him into the loch4 ,lady ,forsyth1 on the other hand1 was privately blessing the boy's foolery1 that seemed to clear the air and sent the boats skimming homeward to the swing of chorus on chorus2 only her son's voice being conspicuous by its absence4 ,keith's boat was leading now2 and without turning round deliberately she could see nothing of the two who haunted her mind4 ,this was perhaps fortunate2 for ,mark's arm lay along the back of the seat1 his shoulder was within three inches of ,bel's2 and under cover of the music they had picked up the dropped thread of their talk in lowered tones that imparted a tender significance to the simplest remark4 #8,i don't call your singing a half-fledged talent1' he said with a faint stress on the pronoun4 #8,you've the gift1 anyway4 ,why not make more of it--study1 practise8' ,she smiled and lifted her shoulders4 #8,i've tried1 but ,i couldn't keep it up4 ,laziness1 perhaps2 ,i don't know4 ,vanity1 perhaps1 a little4 ,i either want to do things splendidly or else--,i can't be bothered4 ,i need someone to spur me1 to encourage me4' #8,well1 ,i should have thought ,miss ,o',neill' #8,harry8 ,oh yes1 she'd lie down and let me walk over her if ,i wanted to4 ,but she's swamped in 8the ,cause0 and philanthropic work4 ,as for my talents1 when ,i wanted the helping hand it wasn't there2 and now--it's too late4 ,i've dabbled first in one thing and then in another1 and frittered away what little ambition ,i ever had4' ,the emotionless quiet of her tone suggested a noble resignation to the general obstructiveness of life2 a resignation that1 to the man's strenuous spirit1 seemed alike pathetic and premature4 #8,why1 you're only on the threshold of things1' he rebuked her gently4 #8,what are the talents you've dabbled in8 ,do tell me4' #8,oh1 ,i've written a little and acted a little4 ,i wanted badly to take that up in earnest4 ,heavens6 ,wasn't there a row6 ,so ,i fell back on the writing4 ,verses1 chiefly4' #8,have they appeared1 any of them8' #8,a few4 ,here and there4 ,i was vain enough once to have a booklet printed out of my allowance4 ,then there was a worse row than ever4' #8,but why8' #8,well--they weren't exactly of the pretty-pretty order4 ,and my father's a clergyman3 that kind of clergyman4' #8,i see4' ,he saw her1 in fact1 a creature of fine sensibilities1 striving for self-expression1 thwarted1 discouraged1 and misprized by those who should have been her natural helpers1 and his heart went out to her the more4 #8,may ,i' he hesitated4 #8,miss ,alison1 won't you let me see some of your verses8' #8,no4 ,not for the world4' ,she flushed suddenly and her voice had a tremor in it4 ,it was the first time he had seen her really perturbed4 #8,i'm sorry1' he began3 but she was mistress of herself in a moment and turned the matter off with a laugh4 #8,we're both making mountains out of molehills6 ,the verses were wretched poor stuff1 most of them4 ,father was quite right to condemn them2 but he went the wrong way about it4 ,he usually does4 ,they were just the outcome of--an influence3 a passing phase4 ,i hated them myself--afterwards4 ,one does go through phases1 doesn't one8 ,at least ,i do4 ,it's rather interesting4 ,saves one from the bottomless pit of boredom1 the only thing we're really afraid of nowadays4' ,she made the statement in all seriousness4 #8,but--looking back--one sometimes wonders how much that other girl was really me8' ,he did not answer at once2 partly because he was trying not to be aware that while she spoke there had blown through him a chill breeze of doubt3 an unwelcome reminder that after all he knew nothing as yet of her life1 her antecedents1 or--if it came to that--of herself4 ,he only knew that almost from the first moment of contact she had put a spell upon him that he had neither the power nor the will to resist4 #8,do ,i seem to be talking utter nonsense8' she asked suddenly in a changed voice2 and doubt fled like a wraith at sunrise4 #8,rather not4 ,i was only hoping--that this is the real you4 ,i'm not simply a phase--am ,i8--like all the rest8' ,at that she turned to him with the lazy uplift of her lashes1 and the astonishing blue of her eyes flashed on him like a light4 #8,isn't it--rather too soon to tell8' #8,is it8' he challenged her boldly1 and exulted to see the blood rise in her cheeks4 ,more than that he could not achieve4 ,for another ,lauder chorus had just died down and they were nearing the shore4 #8,look here1' he said1 low and rapidly4 #8,i am off up the loch to-morrow in my little steam yacht--fishing4 ,come along too--will you8' ,she gave him a reproachful look4 #8,i can't4 ,you know ,i can't4' #8,oh1 well1 bring your police dog along if you must2 and ,i'll get ,lenox to make a square4 ,will that do8' #8,yes4 ,i'll ask ,harry4 ,if it is like to-day--it'll be lovely4' #8,better than to-day1 ,i hope1' he muttered1 wondering very much if he could wait till then1 and cursing the wire entanglements of convention4 #8,i'm going to see you home1' he announced as he handed her out of the boat1 and repeated his intention when all the party was ashore4 #8,good night1 ,mums1' he added1 laying a hand on his mother's shoulder4 #8,lenox is coming along with me4 ,leave things open for us1 will you8' #8,very well1 dear2 don't be too late1' she said1 looking up at him2 but between the gathering dusk and his own preoccupation he missed the mute appeal of her eyes4 ,during the short walk back to the village1 ,miss ,o',neill took complete command of affairs4 ,having at last recovered her treasure1 she slipped a retaining hand through ,bel's arm1 and never a chance had ,mark of another intimate word4 ,she graciously fell in with the morrow's plan1 however2 and afterwards1 as the men strolled back1 smoking1 to ,inveraig1 ,maurice was frankly informed what would be expected of him on the occasion4 ,mark betrayed his repressed excitability by speaking rather more rapidly and abruptly than usual4 #8,i'm running this show altogether--you understand8 ,we're not going off on a blooming picnic to play consequences4 ,no nonsense1 mind4 ,and no ,harry ,lauder--confound you6 ,all you and ,miss ,o',neill are required to do is to make yourselves scarce4 ,fact is1 you're only there because ,i couldn't get--,miss ,alison to come alone4' ,maurice smiled broadly4 #8,i gathered as much4 ,but ,i say1 ,forsyth1' he hesitated and took a pull at his pipe1 #8do you really mean business8' #8,rather so4 ,what kind of a cad d'you take me for8' snapped ,mark1 whose temper was quick at the best of times4 #8,think ,i'd play the fool with a girl like that8' #8,sorry1 old chap4 ,didn't intend to rile you4 ,only1 to a mere outsider1 it seems just a trifle precipitate4 ,besides--one naturally thought' #8,oh1 dry up4 ,nobody asked you to think4' ,there was pain as well as anger in ,mark's tone4 ,he knew very well what ,maurice thought--what others were likely to think3 and although ,lady ,forsyth did not guess it1 his sensitiveness on ,sheila's account almost equalled her own4 ,it hurt him horribly that by any act of his he should seem to cast even the slightest slur on her4 ,and he saw no reason4 ,for years they had been like brother and sister4 ,certainly1 since her return from ,india he had caught himself wondering ,but before wonder could crystallise into belief1 ,bel had arisen in her moonlight beauty and all the stars of heaven had suffered eclipse4 ,come to think of it1 he owed young ,lenox a debt he could never repay2 and for the rest of the way he made royal atonement for his flash of temper4 #8,good night1 old chap1' he said when they reached the house4 #8,i'm not turning in just yet4' ,and for more than half an hour he paced the terrace1 wondering1 hoping1 dreaming2 while his mother lay awake in her bedroom above1 both windows flung wide1 listening to the restless sound of his footsteps2 wondering also2 and scarcely daring to hope that he had already spoken and been refused4 ,not until she heard him come in1 at last1 and shut the door of his room1 did she let her tired body have its way and fall into a troubled sleep4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 #8,you know not the limit of this kingdom1 still you are its queen4' ,,rabindranath ,,tagore4 ,miss ,o',neill1 as might be supposed1 proved no easy subject for diplomatic manipulation4 ,long before they had made an end of their picnic-lunch1 in a glen of rocks and birches and purple cushions of heather1 she had effectually given ,mr4 ,lenox to understand that she was neither to be deceived nor coerced by his tactful attempts to detach her from the other two4 ,years of pushing and shouldering through obstacles1 in the ,suffrage campaign1 had so far blunted her finer sensibilities that she could smilingly hold her ground even among those who obviously wished her elsewhere3 and she held it to-day1 till ,mark lost patience and frankly took the bull by the horns4 #8,i say1 ,miss ,o',neill1 you might take pity on ,lenox and honour him with your company up the glen1' he said2 and beneath his engaging tone there lurked a faint note of command4 #8,he's no fisherman1 and he can't keep himself to himself for ten minutes on end4 ,so you see1 it would be a real act of charity to remove him4' #8,yes1 ,sir ,mark1 ,i can see that without spectacles1' answered the redoubtable ,harry1 challenging him with her greenish-brown eyes4 #8,good business6' ,sir ,mark retorted unabashed4 #8,when you reach the high moor you'll be rewarded by a view that's worth some climbing to see4 ,of course1 if ,miss ,alison would prefer to go with you' #8,miss ,alison's far too comfortable where she is1 thanks6' ,bel interposed with her deliberate drawl4 ,she had settled herself on a low rock and sat dreamily watching the river1 elbows on knees1 chin cradled in her hands4 ,without changing her attitude1 she glanced up at ,sir ,mark and her smile seemed to link them in completest understanding4 #8,if the necessity for silence becomes too overpowering ,i can always go to sleep4 ,i'll be as good as gold1 ,harry dear' ,she shifted her gaze to ,miss ,o',neill's resolute1 rebellious face4 #8,and ,i think ,sir ,mark can be trusted not to let me fall into the river6' ,the upward jerk of ,harry's head implied wholesale distrust of the species2 but finding herself cornered she surrendered at discretion4 #8,well1 ,mr4 ,lenox1' she said1 #8since it's a case of obeying orders1 we must make the best of each other4 ,this way1 ,i suppose8' ,she strode on before him up the narrow1 stony path2 and ,maurice1 with an abortive grin at ,mark1 followed in her wake4 ,keeping well ahead of him1 she toiled on indomitably till trees were dwarfed to bushes and the primeval splendour of the high moors came suddenly into view4 ,before them1 and upon either hand1 the heather and the heavens were all4 ,it was as if they stood upon the shore of an amethystine sea1 studded with islands of granite and juniper1 and shadowed only by slow-moving continents of cloud4 ,for ,maurice1 with the blood of ,eldred and ,quita ,lenox in his veins1 such a vision was among the rare things that could smite him to silence4 ,he drew a great breath and stood very still1 his young1 expressive face glorified1 passingly1 by the artist's pure joy in colour1 and the ,scot's love of the land4 ,miss ,o',neill1 a townswoman by taste and habit1 would have preferred a throng of human faces1 any day1 to the sublime emptiness around them4 ,hot1 breathless1 and in a ferment of anxiety1 she sank gratefully on to the nearest rock and looked up at her companion2 but the light on his face checked her ever-ready tongue4 ,she liked the boy4 ,he was more than #8a mere he-thing1' and that streak of the woman in him appealed strongly to the masculine strain in herself4 ,but protracted silence irked her2 and very soon anxiety goaded her into speech4 #8,mr4 ,lenox1 how long have you known ,sir ,mark ,forsyth8 ,are you acquaintances or friends8' ,maurice considered that point without removing his eyes from the heather4 #8,rather more than acquaintances1 ,i should say1 and on the way to becoming friends4 ,i've known him two years on and off4 ,but ,i've never yet been to ,wynchcombe ,friars1 his ,hampshire place4 ,he's crazy about it4 ,they say you never know the real ,forsyth till you've seen him there4 ,i'm going there this autumn1 to be converted from ,futurism and ,experimental ,art in general6 ,at least that's his notion4 ,he's a splendid chap4 ,chock-full of ideas4 ,a bit reactionary1 some of them4 ,he's dead against what we should call industrial progress1 and what he calls sacrificing the man to the machine4 ,they've got a great scheme on1 he and his mother and ,macnair1 for joining up all the scattered attempts at reviving handicrafts and guilds' #8,oh1 bother their crafts and guilds6' ,miss ,o',neill broke in with scant ceremony4 #8,sheer fads6 ,result of riches and idleness4 ,i want to know is he the kind of man to take up a girl violently--you see how it's been--just to pass the time8' #8,no6' ,maurice rapped out the negative with unusual vehemence4 #8,as a matter of fact1 ,i believe he intends to offer her his heart and his title and all his worldly goods before we get back to them4' ,miss ,o',neill started visibly4 #8,what--on a fortnight's acquaintance8' #8,yes4 ,a trifle steep1 isn't it8 ,and1 for a man in his position1 a wife's a rather important item4' #8,something more than an amiable housekeeper--is that your meaning8' ,miss ,o',neill rounded on him1 a flash of temper in her eyes4 #8,i thought better of you1 ,mr4 ,lenox4 ,but you're all alike in the grain4 ,a man in ,sir ,mark's position must have a beautiful figure-head for his dinner-table3 a graceful1 accommodating doll1 that he can hang with jewels and silks and satins4 ,but my ,bel's no doll-woman1 for all her soft manners and sweet temper4 ,no doubt he flatters himself that1 in a fortnight1 he's read her from cover to cover3 and he'll be telling her1 sure as fate1 that he's the one man on earth to make her happy1 and think he's paying her the compliment of her life into the bargain6' ,good-natured ,maurice began to feel that ,forsyth had been a trifle inconsiderate1 saddling him with a virago whom he was quite at a loss how to appease4 #8,well--compliment or no1 she's free to refuse him1' he remarked soothingly2 #8and after all1 it's the natural thing4' ,miss ,o',neill pounced on the words almost before they were out4 #8,of course it's the natural thing for a man like ,sir ,mark--spoilt by his mother1 one can see with half an eye--to snatch at a beautiful woman4 ,and where does a girl's freedom come in when a man dazzles her brain with extravagant lover's talk8 ,besides--he's rich4 ,she's poor4 ,it almost amounts to bribery4 ,i hate the whole thing4 ,i came away for her sake1 to give her a chance of knowing him better1 just in case,but if it's true1 what you say1 ,i shall go straight down again' ,she sprang up from her rock and faced about2 but ,lenox1 smilingly1 determined1 stood astride across the narrow path4 #8,excuse me1 ,miss ,o',neill1 not if ,i can prevent it1' he said4 #8,forsyth's going to have his chance fair and square4 ,of course if you're game for a free fight--well1 come on6' ,for a second she looked him up and down1 a sudden flicker of humour in her eyes4 #8,i tackled a policeman once4 ,a bigger fellow than you4 ,and he was very glad to get rid of me4' #8,i can well believe it1' ,maurice answered with becoming gravity4 #8,but look here1 just consider1 what earthly good would you do by deferring the inevitable--say1 twenty-four hours--and probably annoying ,miss ,alison into the bargain8' ,the last shot told4 ,harry let out her breath in a great sigh4 #8,life's a bewildering business1' she mused aloud4 ,but common sense told her he spoke truth2 and she liked him none the less for backing up his friend4 #8,very well1 ,mr4 ,lenox1 ,i give it up4 ,you evidently have instructions from head-quarters1 and ,i'll stay here till you give the word4 ,but scenery bores me stiff2 so please make yourself as interesting as you know how4' #8,right you are1' said ,maurice2 and indicating her deserted rock he flung himself on the heather at her feet in such a position that her prosaic figure in its knitted coat and rough skirt should not intrude upon his vision of the landscape4 ,then he proceeded1 in his fluent fashion1 to enlarge on the subject uppermost in his mind--,sir ,mark's queer conviction that a wide-spread revival of handicrafts and guilds would go far to solve the strike problem by restoring the creative sense in labour and renewing the broken link between art and life ,for ,sir ,mark himself1 at that moment1 life held only one purpose1 one achievement worthy of serious consideration--the linking of his own destiny with that of the girl who seemed capable of maintaining indefinitely her graceful pose of contemplation4 ,it was a pose that revealed to admirable advantage the long lines of her figure and the beauty of her small head with its close-fitting coils of hair4 ,her discarded hat lay on the heather at her feet4 ,close to her chosen rock sprang a young birch1 its supple grace a reflection of her own2 its drooping plumes1 stirred by the breeze1 dappling her blue dress with tiny restless shadows4 ,was it some day-dream that so held her1 ,mark wondered1 or pure consideration for the trout that he had presumably come out to catch8 ,either way1 her silence and abstraction had the effect of so intensifying his own emotion that speech seemed desecration4 ,besides--he had spoken already4 ,could there really be any need to tell her again how swiftly and strangely she had swept him from his moorings1 so that life held nothing1 momentarily1 but his glorified vision of herself8 ,last night the sound of her voice1 echoing his own confession1 had silenced1 for good1 the whispers of prudence that strove to curb his impetuous spirit1 counselling delay4 ,if only that confounded ,miss ,o',neill had given him a chance while the glamour was on them both1 the whole thing might have seemed less egregiously precipitate4 ,now that he had schemed for half an hour's privacy2 now that she sat there1 only a few yards away1 seemingly unaware of his existence1 a shiver of uncertainty chilled him4 ,a fortnight ago to-day1 while he and ,maurice were rambling in search of subjects1 he had beheld her for the first time4 ,for him that fortnight was an indefinable age4 ,for her it might simply be fourteen days ,but this sort of havering would never do4 ,he was a strong man1 not unschooled in suffering1 but little used to be thwarted in his desire4 ,and he did not seriously expect to be thwarted now4 ,deliberately he laid aside his fishing tackle1 and leaning on one elbow looked up at the girl1 whose rock was set a little higher along the sloping bank of the stream4 ,for a few seconds he took his fill of her1 from the coronet of her hair to the seductive curves of her mouth and chin that made such tender atonement for the cool directness of her eyes4 ,still she did not move2 but her lips parted in a small sigh1 and the spell was broken4 ,mark rose and planted himself before her4 #8,miss ,alison1' he began--and could get no further4 #8,well8' she asked with that distracting lift of her lashes4 #8,is the precious tackle out of gear8' ,her coolness almost angered him and gave him sudden command of his tongue4 #8,tackle8 ,d'you really suppose ,i came out here to catch trout8' #8,you said so last night4 ,and you seemed to be making elaborate arrangements' #8,so ,i was--to get half an hour alone with you1' he announced bluntly1 and saw the ghost of a blush creep up under her skin4 ,he wanted simply to take her in his arms without more ado4 ,instead1 he sat down close to the rock1 plunged his hands in the heather1 and leaned towards her4 #8,i was trying to tell you last night4 ,didn't you understand8' #8,n-no4 ,i thought the music and--the sentiment had rather carried you away4' #8,it was you who carried me away4 ,the music was a kind of safety-valve1 that's all4' ,he leaned still nearer4 #8,bel--is there a ghost of a chance for me8 ,is it sheer conceit and impertinence on my part to ask--so soon8' #8,no--oh no4' ,and suddenly she covered her face as if the intensity of his gaze affected her like strong sunlight4 ,he was silent a moment1 watching her and crushing the heather in his strong fingers4 ,then1 very gently1 he laid a hand on her knee4 #8,what is it8 ,tell me4 ,i must know4' ,at that she dropped her hands4 ,by chance or design1 one of them fell on his own and rested there4 ,the light contact sent electric thrills up his arm4 #8,that's just it1' she said with her slow smile4 #8,you must know4 ,but we neither of us do--yet4 ,it's been a wonderful fortnight4 ,and if ,i haven't travelled quite so fast or so far as you1 that doesn't mean' #8,of course it doesn't4 ,i'm not such a conceited ass as to suppose you could fall in love with me at sight4 ,but now ,i've spoken--isn't there any response8' #8,haven't you felt any8' she asked lightly1 and the hand that rested on his moved in a just perceptible caress4 #8,for ,god's sake don't play with me6' he broke out1 half angry again4 #8,i'm in deadly earnest4' #8,i know4 ,that's just why one of us must try to keep a cool head4' #8,nonsense6 ,you're simply fencing4 ,and you haven't answered my question4' #8,i'm trying to4 ,but ,i'm half afraid 444 to let myself go4 ,no--don't6' ,she warded him off with a gesture1 but deliberately replaced her hand over his4 #8,it's too sudden altogether4 ,wouldn't it be wiser--for both of us--to wait a little8 ,you don't really know me one bit4' ,he bowed his head and kissed the fingers that covered his own4 #8,i know ,i love you1' he said simply1 his deep voice low and controlled4 #8,and if you can say the same1 that's enough for me4 ,the rest will be an enchanted voyage of discovery4' #8,voyages of discovery are rather risky things1' she reminded him4 #8,and sometimes--they end in smoke4 ,you see1 you're not just anyone4 ,i'm outside your world2 and--your mother doesn't like me4' #8,nonsense1' he said again1 with less conviction than before4 #8,it isn't4 ,i'm sure she wants you to marry ,miss ,melrose4 ,and ,i thought at first--you seem very intimate4' #8,naturally4 ,our intimacy began when she was eight and ,i was twelve4' ,he spoke looking out across the stream4 ,something in him winced at her allusion to ,sheila in that connection4 ,but it was only fair on her to explain things2 and he forced himself to proceed4 #8,her people are our nearest neighbours in ,hampshire4 ,her mother's the sort of person who subsists chiefly on fads and philanthropy--the kind of philanthropy that makes you abominate charity and all its works4 ,when we lost 444 ,ailsa1 my little sister1 ,mother sort of annexed ,sheila1 unofficially4 ,but that doesn't imply--that she expects me to do likewise4 ,we're devoted to her--both of us4 ,she's a splendid little person2' he turned now and spoke with greater naturalness and warmth4 #8,not very easy to know4 ,but real1 right through4 ,you're bound to love her4 ,there--are you satisfied8' ,without warning he slipped an arm round her4 #8,will you give me my answer now8' ,he felt her yield under pressure of his hand3 then1 with a sudden enchanting simplicity1 she lifted her face to his ,presently she sighed2 pushed him from her a little and looked steadily into his eyes--blue1 like her own1 but a deeper1 tenderer shade1 shot through with fine radiations of orange4 ,hers seemed still to hold a question4 ,his were purely exultant4 #8,darling1 we've done it now1' he said under his breath4 #8,yes4 ,i suppose--we have1' she answered in the same key4 #8,suppose8 ,you're not going back on things1 after that4 ,next question is--when will you marry me8 ,next week8' ,her flush1 that had died down1 mounted again1 clear carmine1 beautiful to see4 #8,oh1 ,mark6 ,give me a few minutes to realise it all4 ,you're so impatient4 ,such a boy4 ,you make me feel 444 ages old' #8,look here1 ,i can't have you talking that sort of rot1' he protested2 incorrigibly blunt1 even in love4 #8,it's morbid sentimentalism4 ,you see1 ,i'm the son of a mother who doesn't know how to feel old at fifty4 8,boy10 indeed6 ,you're a mere child yourself--the dearest in creation4' #8,no--no4 ,i'm not a child4' ,her emphatic protest rang true4 #8,perhaps your mother has kept the bloom on life4 ,mine has never had any bloom on it1 worth mentioning4 ,i was reared in a groove2 a very virtuous groove2 and 444 ,i didn't fit4 ,i wanted to feel and know and live2 to be something more than a vegetable in a ,wiltshire village4 ,i knew ,i had talents of sorts2 and ,i felt1 if ,i could only get away and have a fair chance1 ,i might achieve something worth doing1 or1 at least 444 meet a man worth marrying4' ,she spoke looking away from him across the sun-splashed water4 #8,the only brother ,i cared about went off to the ends of the earth before he was twenty4 ,if ,i'd been old enough to go with him1 ,i wouldn't be here now6' #8,poor darling6' ,he tightened his hold of her4 #8,dreadful calamity--isn't it8--to be here now6 ,but didn't your mother understand you--help you8' #8,poor little mother4 ,she did her best4 ,my unconventional streak comes from her side4 ,but she's a very tame edition2 watered down by an early marriage with father1 who's as conventional as a high road1 but unfortunately not as broad6 ,privately1 ,i think she was half proud of me and half terrified of what ,i might do next1 like the hen in ,hans ,andersen4 ,it was father's pharisaical attitude towards my mild vagaries that made me worse1 till at last ,i kicked clean over the traces1 demanded a reasonable allowance 7to my amazement1 ,i got it71 and went off to ,london1 to take the world by storm6' #8,to ,miss ,o',neill8' ,mark queried1 a faint anxiety in his tone4 #8,oh no4 ,harry's a fairly recent phase4 ,i boarded with a friendly family in the second-rate theatrical line4 ,that was my chosen road to achievement4 ,but it didn't come off--worse luck6' #8,nor the man worth marrying8' ,her eyes lingered in his4 #8,not to any great extent6 ,they were rather a mixed lot4 ,and everything seemed in league against me4 ,i made no headway anywhere4 ,still--it was experience4 ,it was life4 ,one was too busy1 either hoping or despairing1 to be dull4 ,each new phase seemed to be the discovery of a new kingdom1 till you found--you hadn't the key4 ,there was the writing phase1 the acting phase1 the ,american phase' #8,america8 ,why on earth8' #8,oh1 ,i don't know4 ,the chance came4 ,and the notion attracted me4 ,a bigger1 fresher world2 experience' #8,you seem mighty keen on experience1' ,mark struck in4 #8,d'you mean knowledge--or simply new sensations8' ,she hesitated4 #8,after all--new sensations are a form of knowledge4 ,the most interesting on earth4 ,i'd go almost anywhere to discover the feel of things' ,she stopped short1 and ,mark frowned into vacancy4 ,for the first time he caught himself wondering how old was she4 #8,i should say better be an ignoramus than a mere connoisseur in sensations1' he remarked quietly4 #8,but perhaps ,i missed your meaning8' #8,perhaps there wasn't any meaning to miss6 ,i was talking--rather at random4' ,then very lightly she leaned her head against his4 #8,mark--dearest1 don't look like that4' #8,well1 you mustn't talk like that1' he said with decision4 #8,how long were you in ,america8' #8,eighteen months4 ,not very pleasant always4 ,but it did me no end of good4 ,i even went home for a time1 full of fine resolves4 ,but the poor things soon shrivelled up in father's atmosphere4 ,then--it was ,harry to the rescue4' #8,and now it's ,mark6' ,with sudden fervour he caught her to him4 #8,no more 8phases0 after this1 my ,bel4 ,you shall have your freedom and your chance4 ,i'll make up to you1 all ,i can1 for the bad years4 ,mother will love you' ,bel shook her head4 #8,she doesn't like me4' #8,darling1 she doesn't know you4 ,mother may have her cranks and prejudices4 ,but if there's one woman on earth she can be trusted to love--it's my wife4 ,i'll take you to her to-night4' #8,no--no4 ,to-morrow4 ,to-night--there's ,harry4 ,it'll be a blow4 ,you see1 when ,i first came to her1 ,i was so sick--with everything1 ,i swore ,i'd never marry4 ,she's jealous already--' #8,poor soul6' ,mark said tenderly4 #8,but ,i'm jealous too4 ,i can't share you with ,miss ,o',neill4 ,if it comes to a tug1 you'll have to choose between us4' #8,i have chosen4' ,she spoke with genuine fervour2 and leaning against him1 she closed her eyes4 ,so seen1 her face looked years younger and of a saint-like purity4 ,doubts and qualms seemed sacrilege4 ,without a word he kissed her lowered lids1 and found1 to his surprise1 that her lashes were wet4 7,to be continued47 ,,the ,,battlefields ,,of ,,the ,,ourcq4 ,,by ,,edmund ,,gosse1 ,c4,b4 ,in the midst of the delicious ,ile de ,france there lies an open piece of country roughly bounded by three rivers--the ,marne1 the ,ourcq1 and the ,nonette4 ,it is a high plateau1 with rolling hills and winding valleys1 fertile and smiling4 ,it forms the northern extremity of the famous district of ,brie1 richly productive1 the kitchen-garden of ,paris1 which lies to the west of it--surprisingly1 alarmingly near4 ,this is the battlefield of the ,marne1 or more exactly of the ,ourcq1 and was the scene1 in ,september #aiad1 of what will probably be looked upon in history as one of the most portentous1 and most obscurely enthralling1 of the combats of the world4 ,at the courteous invitation of the ,french ,government1 and under the charge of a distinguished staff-officer1 ,captain ,gabriel ,puaux1 ,i paid a visit to these battlefields towards the end of last ,september4 ,it was a pilgrimage wholly objective and sentimental1 for ,i have no pretensions of any kind to a knowledge of the arts of war4 ,i can but give a visual impression of what the scenes looked like two years after the stupendous event4 ,we proceeded in a ,war ,office car almost directly east from the gates of ,paris1 along the great high road towards ,strasburg4 ,we reached in some seventeen miles the point1 at ,claye-,souilly1 which marks the extreme advance of the ,german armies4 ,their outposts came within sight of the village of ,claye1 where they found the ,french awaiting them1 but they did not cross the bridge over the ,ourcq canal4 ,it overwhelms the imagination to realise1 on the spot1 how close the ,germans were to the zone of ,paris on this #eth of ,september #aiad4 ,civilisation1 as observed by the angels in ,mr4 ,hardy's drama1 might well then seem to hang by a single thread over the abyss4 ,at this moment1 as ,mr4 ,belloc says1 #8at the maximum of its developed energy1 at the highest degree of its momentum1' the horrible ,german machine was first checked and then put out of gear by the splendid genius of the ,french ,higher ,command4 ,we were eager to see the places where ,france earned for herself this endless meed of glory4 ,soon after passing ,claye we left the high road1 and turned north into a labyrinth of byways4 ,the weather was superb2 it was one of those blue days of late ,september1 which are apt to collect to themselves all the best beauty of the year in ,france4 ,from dawn to sunset not a cloud rose in the sky2 there reigned a soft continual radiance in which the colour of every object took peculiar intensity4 ,the first hamlet we reached1 ,charny1 brought us to the only disappointment of our day2 for we failed1 after much inquiry1 to find the place of death1 or even of burial1 of the poet ,charles ,pguy1 who has been the intellectual mascot of this war to ,france4 ,his gallant death opened the battle of the ,marne4 ,under the shelter of a slope1 he and his men fought until they were driven into the open4 ,the officer who led them1 and his lieutenant1 were soon killed2 ,pguy then had no sooner taken the command than a ball struck him full in the forehead4 ,his death marked the moment of transition between ,france in danger and ,france redeemed4 ,we endeavoured to follow his track1 and we drove through ,villeroy1 where there is little or nothing left to see4 ,the rustic calm of these grey hamlets is unbroken1 and at first all that tells us of the tragedy is the appearance from this point onwards of the flags which mark where the ,french soldiers lie4 ,the dominant feature of these rural battlefields1 as we saw them in the full upland sunshine on that long splendid ,september day1 was the scattered profusion of little tricolor flags4 ,a long blue horizon1 broken by golden haystacks against the sky1 gave a general tone of greyness to the earth1 which1 green with oats1 livid with beetroot1 brown with parched lucerne1 rolled beneath that vast expanse4 ,in the midst of this harmony of tender hues there stood out sharply the hard red1 white1 and blue of the little flags1 planted now solitary and now in clusters1 without arrangement or system--the bright flags flapping and fluttering in the wind as far as the eye could reach1 like charming indigenous flowers1 like brilliant ixias on some pale ,south ,african veldt2 and each marking the spot where a hero fell4 ,at first1 a stick with a kpi on the top of it1 or even a cravat or a medal1 had to serve for a provisional mark1 but now the little splendid flag seems to be a permanent memorial4 ,it leaps from a corner of the beetroot field1 from a slope of the harvest1 from the turn of an apple-orchard1 from the edge of the road1 and in its singleness and in its multitude alike1 it marks this district of the ,brie a holy land for ever4 ,but this is to anticipate a little4 ,we passed north through ,iverny1 where there was a great deal of fighting1 and then eastwards1 skirting ,montyon1 where the ,germans1 pressed hard in their retreat1 threw nine hundred bombs into a duckpond4 ,it was only in the neighbourhood of the graceful hill of ,montyon that the flags began to be noticed4 ,in ,montyon we observed the first ruined cottage2 but it is at ,barcy1 the next hamlet to the north-east1 that the vestiges of war begin to be numerous4 ,barcy was the centre of the enemy's line on ,september #f1 and this village has not made much effort to recover from its heavy devastation4 ,these little communes of the ,ile de ,france possess nothing of the architectural charm which gives so exquisite and tender a beauty to many a village of ,southern ,england1 but most of them have a single feature1 the church4 ,in the case of ,barcy1 the broad village street forms an avenue closed1 at its northern end1 by the graceful parish church1 with its short pointed spire4 ,this building is violently injured by the bombardment1 and looks as though some monster had bitten large pieces out of it2 while no attempt has yet been made to restore it4 ,other buildings at ,barcy have been patched or mended4 ,it is probable that this work of restoration has been delayed by the uncertainty which has prevailed as to the part which the ,state was prepared to take in this rehabilitation4 ,only ten days after my visit the ,french ,government1 for the first time1 assumed the full responsibility for the rebuilding of private property destroyed in the war1 and now1 therefore1 so soon as labour is forthcoming1 the work may be expected to go merrily forward4 ,what is involved is so enormous that the imagination fails to follow the course which it must take4 ,up to the present time it has been left to private enterprise1 and as regards these villages of the ,marne and ,ourcq1 except where the owner has been in a hurry to resume his normal life1 the bombarded villages have been left in a deplorable disarray4 ,on the open down above ,barcy1 and quite close to the road1 a peasant was loading a hay-cart with the help of two sullen-looking men in rough white clothes4 ,these were ,german prisoners1 and we were moved by curiosity to stop and talk to the peasant4 ,he1 from his half-built rick1 replied with stolidity to our questions4 #8,he had no complaints to make of the prisoners1' he said2 #8that one'1 indicating a burly captive1 #8really works quite well4' #8,had they learned to speak ,french8' we asked4 #8,oh no6' #8,how1 then1 did the work get on8' #8,ah1' said the master1 #8we show them what they have to do1 and they point at what they want4' ,during this1 and more1 conversation the prisoners pursued their slow labour1 not glancing at us or taking more notice than cattle would4 ,strange it seemed1 and almost inhuman1 that these ,germans should have lived two years in this sequestered ,french village and that neither on the one side nor on the other should there have been the smallest approximation of language4 ,the peasant #8had no complaints to make1' and that was the sum of their relations4 ,it was beyond ,barcy that the bright flags began to be abundant4 ,the eye had no longer any need to seek for them2 the garden of death was now lavish of its bouquets of flowers4 ,they were difficult to distinguish among the beetroot1 easy among the oats1 insistent on the grey expanse of stubble4 ,soon after leaving ,barcy1 at the corner where the road turns abruptly south1 there is a great cluster of them1 and1 always at a little distance off1 the plain black crosses which mark the spots where ,germans are buried4 ,presently we paused to examine the great monument raised to the memory of officers and men who fell in the battle of the ,ourcq4 ,it is garish in colour1 and too much adorned with symbols in silvered cardboard and wreaths of arsenical green4 ,no doubt it is provisional2 a memorial in severer taste will ultimately testify to the riper genius of ,france4 ,we descend to ,chambry1 another tiny village of ,brie1 and here we meet with a feature of poignant importance4 ,in the great #8push1' the retiring ,germans occupied the cemetery of ,chambry1 a walled enclosure at the summit of the village2 this was a position of great strength1 commanding the countryside in every direction4 ,the ,germans used this cemetery as a citadel1 and the holes which they made for their guns in the wall1 and the breaches in the parapet1 are still untouched4 ,as their army retired the enemy were obliged to withdraw from this position1 and there was a violent struggle1 in the course of which the ,french regained the enclosure1 and used it in their turn4 ,they fired with full effect from behind the granite tombstones4 ,after the battle the whole cemetery was a scene of ruin and confusion1 but of this nothing remains now1 except the gun-holes and breaches in the wall1 which have not been repaired4 ,all the monuments of the dead1 on the other hand1 have been replaced with extreme piety1 and1 the cemetery not having been nearly full before1 its free spaces have been used to hold the tombs of officers and men who fell in the battle4 ,i noted1 among many of pathetic interest1 the stone erected in memory of ,lieut4 ,quiliquini1 who brought his ,tunisian troops1 the #hth ,tirailleurs1 from ,sfax4 ,there seemed something which moved the fancy sorrowfully in the idea of these loyal ,africans who fell to ward off the barbarians' blow at ,paris4 ,outside the cemetery local patriotism has fitted up1 in a barn1 a sort of rough museum of objects found on the battlefields4 ,no doubt this will be a great attraction when once the tourist reassembles in his myriads4 ,at present the solitude is broken only by occasional privileged mourners1 #8briss d'motion et de tristesse4' ,proceeding south1 we were soon out of the battlefield of the ,ourcq1 the frontier being marked at ,penchard by another rather garish monument to the fallen officers4 ,this is the place where three thousand ,morocco troops dashed with memorable fury of attack up the ,penchard hill4 ,at this point the road turns1 revealing1 far below1 to the left1 the clustered houses of ,meaux1 with its cathedral1 seated in a rich glade across a curve of the silver ,marne4 ,the first stage of our pilgrimage was over1 and we paused an hour in the exquisite city of which ,bossuet was the ,eagle-bishop4 ,meaux is celebrated for the miracle which snatched it from the very jaws of the dog1 and prevented it from becoming another ,arras1 another ,reims4 ,the catastrophe seemed inevitable1 when at six o'clock on ,september #e a patrol of ,uhlans appeared in the city4 ,all day long they were close to ,meaux1 the population of which had given themselves up for lost three days before4 ,the bombardment of the cathedral actually began1 but1 as by the direct interposition of ,god1 no shell touched the building1 and then1 under the pressure of the ,english army1 the ,germans retired altogether4 ,the situation of ,meaux1 with its row of great seventeenth-century mills on a stone bridge spanning the river--mills which still produce immense quantities of flour for ,paris--is as picturesque as that of any provincial city in ,france1 and on the occasion of our recent visit1 with its brimming river1 its ancient russet mills1 its noble church1 all bathed in the liquid gold of ,september1 it seemed lovelier than ever before4 ,the only sign of disturbance is the modern bridge1 which the ,english blew up for strategical purposes1 without hurting the old town in any respect4 ,in leaving ,meaux to return to the battlefields we took a northward road almost parallel with that by which we had entered1 but somewhat to the east of it1 thus crossing the battlefields at a point a couple of miles farther on in the ,german retreat4 ,there is little to see close to ,meaux1 but presently the graves begin1 many of them gay with dahlias and chrysanthemums4 ,we descended to the village of ,varreddes1 which takes a prominent place in the chronicle of the fighting4 ,the struggle here was very heavy4 ,varreddes is a rather large village1 built a little distance to the south of the canal of the ,ourcq1 which makes at this place a great bend1 surrounding the village on three sides1 while the ,marne nearly isolates it on the fourth4 ,hence it was held by the enemy with determination as long as possible4 ,at ,varreddes the ,germans did dreadful things4 ,they ordered the population of the village to leave it at once1 and a group of seventeen very old men1 who were too infirm to move quickly1 they set up against a wall and shot in cold blood4 ,the priest1 a venerable man of seventy-six years1 they seized as a hostage1 and killed in their retreat4 ,many bright new roofs and walls testify in the village of ,varreddes to the enterprise of the inhabitants1 who have ventured to rebuild their ruined houses4 ,the church1 which has some good thirteenth-century features1 seems to be intact4 ,and yet it is precisely at ,varreddes that the scheme of the battle1 as it swept from west to east1 is most intelligible to a civilian4 ,the intensity of the fighting is proved by the profusion of graves1 whose flags glitter and shimmer1 with their petals of red1 white1 and blue1 in every direction4 ,farther on1 above ,etrpilly1 a large turfed reservoir1 perched on a hillock1 forms a landmark1 from which the eye explores in every direction the rolling country1 intersected by scarcely visible glens or trenches1 through which the rivers wind4 ,on the summit of this commanding height we found a curious monument1 which called for an explanation which no one seemed competent to give4 ,it consists of a metal shield of brilliant vermilion and azure1 surmounted by seven flags--one of them the ,american flag--and addressed in large letters1 #8,les ,prisonniers de ,guerre aux ,hros de la ,marne4' ,what prisoners these were we asked one another in vain4 ,but it made our hearts1 with a touch of added mystery1 thrill in fresh response to those myriads of memorial flowers that twinkled and sparkled on the circle of brown fields around us4 ,there is one object of horror that attracts attention here4 ,it was a great barn or hangar1 in which the bodies of the fallen ,germans were heaped up after the battle1 and then burned by their comrades4 ,it is now nothing but a huge skeleton of twisted iron1 grimacing at the sky4 ,between ,varreddes and ,etrpilly1 as we prepare to cross the ,ourcq1 we pass a little tavern at the left-hand side of the road1 which carries on a newly painted sign the name #8 l',obus4' ,the excuse for this is that on its gable-end1 close to a window1 it displays an unexploded ,german shell1 rusty and red1 which half penetrated the wall and stuck there1 without bursting4 ,similar bombs are already pointed out as curiosities in tree-trunks1 and will doubtless be much exploited when tourists begin to be admitted4 ,on the east from ,varreddes we had seen1 through a screen of trees1 the ,marne below us1 and the great bridge at ,germigny-l',evque1 which the ,germans blew up behind them in their final retreat4 ,we are now in the very midst of the worst slaughter of ,september #f and #g1 #aiad1 but it is very curious to see how little sign of it is left in the countryside4 ,occasional remnants of barbed wire1 and here and there the trenches of defence1 might easily be overlooked by a hasty traveller4 ,he will more readily notice that here are orchards1 starred with the rose-colour of ripening apples2 there feathery boskage of acacias delicately green2 here we run between violently contrasted fields1 with the sulphur of mustard on one side1 the purple of beetroot on the other2 there the oat-harvest descends to little copses of chestnut and beech1 that brood over some unseen rivulet4 ,everywhere the peace of uniform rustic experience1 unaltered through the sober centuries1 would seem stamped upon the landscape1 if the little occasional groups of flapping tricolors were not there to remind us that only two brief years ago the question whether ,european liberty should or should not be overwhelmed for ever was fought out here with unsurpassable fury and tenacity4 ,the winding walled hamlet of ,etrpilly is bright with the sunshine on its new orange and velvet-brown roofs1 by which the damage done by the ,german shells is concealed4 ,this is not the case with the little village of ,vincy-,manuvres1 through which we pass next on our northward course4 ,vincy was heavily shelled on ,september #g1 and still presents an appearance of dismal dilapidation4 ,without doubt1 this is a matter which depends on the enterprise or wealth of individual proprietors1 and it will be curious to see what immediate effect the decision of the ,government to repair all private property at the cost of the ,state will have in these remote communes4 ,it was on ,september #i1 #aiad1 that the ,german army made a final stand on the wooded height between ,vincy-,manuvres and ,acy-en-,multien1 from which they were dislodged next day by the army of ,manoury4 ,this was the third and conclusive stage of the great struggle1 in the course of which the sixth ,french army pushed back the half-encircling corps of ,kluck's reinforcements1 and here we felt it necessary to bear in mind1 as much as the peaceful uniformity of the landscape would permit1 the great double line of attack and retreat which we had now twice traversed4 ,we sped on north1 and were now no longer in the department of the ,seine-et-,marne1 but in that of the ,oise4 ,no place was more prominent in the battle than ,acy-en-,multien1 which we now approached4 ,this must have been1 and indeed still is1 much the most attractive and picturesque of the villages which the battle of the ,ourcq has immortalised4 ,acy lies in a wooded dimple of the high plateau1 and it is scattered broadly over its site1 more like an ,english than a ,french township4 ,when it is considered with what violence the ,germans were hunted out of ,acy1 it is surprising how few marks of their presence are left4 ,one large house1 of chteau pretensions1 is a complete wreck1 having been bombed out of existence by ,german shells1 but the beautiful and curious church1 with its twelfth-century octagonal tower and its rudiments of earliest ,gothic ornament1 is1 so far as the eye can judge1 intact4 ,at ,acy a prodigious number of ,french soldiers are buried in a vast cemetery1 which seems to have been improvised for the occasion4 ,the piety of relatives and friends keeps these graves so lavishly covered with nosegays that the cemetery looks like a flower-garden4 ,the epitaphs and sentiments on the tombstones are poignant1 and we lingered long and with great emotion in this sacred melancholy place4 ,i was particularly struck by one inscription--that on the tombstone of a certain ,charles ,schulz1 who died as a corporal1 leading on his men4 ,he had been1 till the war broke out1 a ,protestant pastor1 but in what locality the epitaph does not say4 ,the text chosen for his place of burial--#8il tint ferme1 parcequ'il voyait celui qui est invisible'--may well have been the echo of his own sentiments when he exchanged his ministry for the terrible duty of fighting for his fatherland4 ,by his name1 he was doubtless an ,alsatian1 and curiosity was eager to know more of this ,protestant pastor-corporal who sleeps in the pretty cemetery of ,acy-en-,multien4 ,in leaving ,acy1 our motor lost its way up a lane that led only to a farmyard4 ,by this happy chance1 in our descent or retreat1 we enjoyed an exquisite view of the village1 nestled in its grove of chestnuts around the spire of its rather fantastic church--a view which in other conditions we should have missed1 since these villages1 sunken in folds of the upland1 have a strange faculty for making themselves invisible at a little distance4 ,recovering our route1 we continued northward1 over the high rounded plateau of the ,multien1 which is the local name for this part of the department of the ,oise4 ,the character of the landscape now changes1 and becomes very ,english4 ,proceeding from ,acy to ,nanteuil-le-,hardouin is like traversing the high parts of ,gloucestershire2 the lie of the land exactly resembles that of the ,cotswolds1 and ,i could easily have persuaded myself that we were driving from ,stow-in-the-,wold to ,burford4 ,it is obvious that this rolling country1 here entirely deprived of streams and glens1 offers an extraordinary opportunity for the evolutions of troops1 but remarkably little shelter for them4 ,nanteuil1 a gloomy village1 almost a town1 with winding narrow streets1 severely grey1 and a great church which towers over the wayfarer1 marks the limit of the battle north-eastwards4 ,although there was a good deal of fighting around ,nanteuil1 it shows1 so far as we could perceive1 no trace of injury1 even on the picturesque faade of the church4 ,we left it to enter a long avenue of oaks1 and there was no mark of any kind to indicate where the battle ended4 ,my companion humorously remarked that it was the duty of the ,government to put up a poteau with the inscription1 #8,ici finit le champ de bataille de l',ourcq'6 ,but in the absence of such a guide-post to aid the imagination of the traveller there was nothing in the rolling agricultural landscape1 from which the little flowery flags had now disappeared1 to indicate that here there had been any disturbance of the peace of the world4 ,at this point1 therefore1 a picture of the battlefields of the ,ourcq as they now exist should end4 ,but an impression was awaiting us at the threshold of the very next village1 ,baron1 which was perhaps the most poignant and certainly the most extraordinary of our whole day4 ,as we motored along we noticed1 just before reaching ,baron1 a high wall on the left hand containing a marble plaque1 with an inscription in gold letters4 ,curiosity prompted us to stop and read this inscription1 which stated that in the house behind this wall the musical composer1 ,albric ,magnard1 was shot and burned on ,wednesday1 ,september #c1 #aiad4 ,a funereal poem by ,m4 ,edmond ,rostand described how ,celui-l1 qui1 rebelle toute trahison1 had lived there1 died to preserve the honour of his art4 ,we were therefore close to the scene of a horrible crime1 which the magnitude of the events that closely followed it has somewhat obscured in memory4 ,albric ,magnard1 the author of #8,guercur' and other operas1 born on ,june #i1 #ahfe1 was one of the most eminent and successful musicians of ,france4 ,he had for many years possessed a country-seat at ,baron1 where he had built a little chteau1 ,le ,manoir des ,fontaines1 in which he had brought together a collection of musical instruments and books which was famous4 ,we were reading the inscription on the wall1 when a door in the latter opened and a sad woman appeared1 asking us if we would like to see the place where ,monsieur ,magnard died4 ,she led us through a pergola of climbing plants to a point where we suddenly saw before us what resembled a scene in some opera--a garden blazing with begonias and ,african marigolds1 surrounded on three sides by a graceful balustrade1 and velvety with green sward4 ,below the balustrade a little park1 beautifully kept1 testified to the elegant taste of the proprietor4 ,but in the midst of this brilliance and neatness the livid shell of the house itself stood untouched since the disaster1 producing in the midst of the bright parterres and trim lawns an extraordinary effect of sinister and ironic horror4 ,it was like seeing a skeleton in a ball-dress1 or a wreath of roses round a skull4 ,the good woman1 who herself had lost in the fighting her two sons1 described to us the murder4 ,a troop of ,germans was marching down the road and1 attracted by something in the ,manoir des ,fontaines1 they had insisted on being admitted by the door at which we entered4 ,m4 ,magnard was in his bath-room1 at the back of the house4 ,he is believed to have appeared at the window1 and a ,german soldier immediately shot him dead4 ,they then set fire to the house1 and they watched it till the half-calcined body of the composer fell through the rafters on to the floor of the room below4 ,meanwhile1 they took his son and tied him1 facing the scene of his father's murder1 to the trunk of a tree in the garden1 and prepared to shoot him4 ,but three peasants out of the village of ,baron swore that he was not the son of ,m4 ,magnard1 but of the gardener2 and so1 when their work was done1 the ,germans went off1 leaving the boy alive1 to be released by the villagers4 ,the exact conditions under which the famous composer was killed are mysterious1 and are likely to remain so1 since no ,french eye witnessed the actual commission of the crime4 ,it is possible that he offered1 or appeared likely to offer1 some resistance to the aggressors4 ,m4 ,rostand's verses suggest that1 in the version of the event which reached him1 ,magnard was attempting #8to preserve the honour of his art4' ,whether he obeyed an instinct of self-preservation1 or whether he fell a passive victim1 matters very little4 ,the incident in any case illustrates that ,teutonic spirit of anarchism which ,viscount ,grey has stigmatised as a menace to the future of civilisation4 ,,two ,,monuments ,,in ,,westminster ,,abbey4 ,,by ,,sir ,,charles ,p4 ,,lucas1 ,k4,c4,b41 ,k4,c4,m4,g4 ,in ,westminster ,abbey1 towards the western end of the nave1 on the northern side1 stands a monument of rather special interest at the present day1 upon which there is this inscription3 #8,the ,province of ,massachusets ,bay in ,new ,england1 by an order of the great and general ,court bearing date ,feb4 #ast1 #agei1 caused this monument to be erected to the memory of ,george ,augustus ,lord ,viscount ,howe1 ,brigadier ,general of ,his ,majesty's forces in ,america1 who was slain ,july the #fth1 #ageh1 on the march to ,ticonderoga1 in the #cdth year of his age3 in testimony of the sense they had of his services and military virtues1 and of the affection their officers and soldiers bore to his command4 ,he lived respected and beloved1 the public regretted his loss1 to his family it is irreparable4' ,dean ,stanley1 in his #8,historical ,memorials of ,westminster ,abbey' 7#ahfi ed471 makes the following reference to this monument1 which apparently stood1 at the date when he wrote1 in the south aisle of the nave3 #8,massachusetts and ,ticonderoga1 not yet divided from us1 appear on the monument in the ,south aisle of the ,nave erected to ,viscount ,howe1 the unsuccessful elder brother of the famous ,admiral4' ,it is difficult to understand why the ,dean used the curiously infelicitous term #8unsuccessful' in this case4 ,the word might have been applied with some accuracy to the younger soldier brother1 ,sir ,william ,howe1 most successful in his early military career1 but not so in the ,war of ,american ,independence1 though even in that war he was a constant winner of battles2 but unless to die young is1 on the principle of the survival of the fittest1 to be considered a mark of failure1 no word could be more inappropriate to a man whose life1 according to the notice of him in the ,annual ,register for #ageh1 presumably written by ,edmund ,burke1 #8was long enough for his honour1 but not for his country4' ,he was the eldest of three brothers4 ,the second was the famous ,admiral1 #8,black ,dick1' the hero of #8,the ,glorious ,first of ,june1' which we recalled on the occasion of the late great sea-fight in the ,north ,sea4 ,the third was the general already mentioned4 ,they were a notable trio1 but the eldest1 the shortest lived1 the #8unsuccessful' one of the three1 had in him the promise of greatness of the rarest kind4 ,it would be difficult to pick out any man whose death called forth such a consensus of eulogy4 ,possibly he was felix opportunitate mortis4 ,possibly the same might be said of his friend ,wolfe1 who was killed in his thirty-third year1 as ,howe in his thirty-fourth4 ,but assuredly1 had these two men lived on1 there would have been a different story to tell of ,england and ,america4 ,dean ,stanley writes of ,wolfe's friendship for ,lord ,howe the ,admiral1 quoting ,horace ,walpole's words1 that they were #8friends to each other as cannon to gunpowder'2 but ,wolfe's friendship for the #8unsuccessful' brother must have been as great2 his admiration for him at any rate was unbounded4 ,wolfe was no great respecter of persons2 he was somewhat impatient and critical of other commanders1 but--#8,if my ,lord ,howe had lived1 ,i should have been very happy to have received his orders4' ,in ,wolfe's eyes ,howe was #8the very best officer in the ,king's service1' #8the noblest ,englishman that has appeared in my time4' ,and so said they all3 there was no dissentient voice1 no whisper of criticism1 no trace of jealousy4 ,general ,abercromby1 to whom ,howe was second in command1 in reporting his death1 wrote1 #8,he was1 very deservedly1 universally beloved and respected throughout the whole army4' ,pitt's testimony ran that #8he was by the universal voice of army and people a character of ancient times1 a complete model of military virtue in all its branches4' ,robert ,rogers1 the bold leader of the ,rangers1 in whose company ,howe learnt the art of ,north ,american bush fighting1 wrote of him as a #8noble and brave officer1' #8universally beloved by both officers and soldiers of the army'2 while the members of the ,massachusetts ,house of ,assembly1 no great lovers of the redcoats from home1 and close-fisted enough in ordinary dealings1 voted #bej for a monument to the ,englishman1 whose character had impressed them all1 and whose person their soldiers dearly loved4 ,howe had been made colonel of the lately raised ,royal ,americans1 the ancestors of the #fjth ,rifles1 the famous ,king's ,royal ,rifle ,corps4 ,shortly afterwards he was transferred to the command of the #eeth ,regiment4 ,pitt then appointed him to be brigadier to ,general ,abercromby1 who1 in #ageh1 was placed in chief command of the ,central ,advance on ,canada1 along the line of ,lake ,george and ,lake ,champlain4 ,abercromby neither was1 nor had the reputation of being1 a first-rate general1 and ,lord ,chesterfield was no doubt roughly accurate when he wrote1 #8,abercromby is to be the sedentary and not the acting commander4' ,the inspiration and the motive force were to come from ,howe4 ,early in ,july #ageh the army1 consisting of over #fjjj regulars and some #ijjj provincials1 was carried on bateaux and whaleboats to the northern end of ,lake ,george1 where1 near the outlet of that lake into ,lake ,champlain1 stood the immediate objective1 the ,french fort of ,ticonderoga4 ,the force was landed1 an advance was made through dense forest and scrub1 ,lord ,howe with a party of ,rangers was leading the principal column1 they stumbled across a ,french reconnoitring party1 there was a skirmish1 and ,howe was killed4 #8,the ,french lost above three hundred men1 and we1 though successful1 lost as much as it was possible to lose in one4' ,that is one of the many comments made upon the incident1 all on the same note4 ,here is another3 #8,in ,lord ,howe the soul of ,general ,abercromby's army seemed to expire4' ,two days later ,abercromby ordered a headlong1 blundering assault upon the works of the fort1 which ended in terrible losses and complete repulse4 ,in his dispatch of ,august #bf1 #aiae1 reporting upon the operations at the ,dardanelles up to that date1 ,sir ,ian ,hamilton wrote3 #8,lieutenant-,general ,sir ,w4 ,r4 ,birdwood has been the soul of ,anzac4 ,not for one single day has he ever quitted his post4 ,cheery and full of human sympathy1 he has spent many hours of each twenty-four inspiring the defenders of the front trenches1 and if he does not know every soldier in his force1 at least every soldier in the force believes he is known to his chief4' ,here we have something like a modern counterpart1 happily still with us1 of ,lord ,howe4 ,it is at once the glory of the ,british ,empire1 and its chief source of strength1 that it contains within it so many diverse elements1 all co-operating for the common weal1 all owing free and willing allegiance to one sovereign4 ,many races combine to make the great community which we call by the strangely inaccurate term of ,empire2 and the ,british race itself1 in the process of transplantation1 has developed different types in differing lands1 climates1 and surroundings4 ,the home ,briton1 born and bred within the four seas of the ,united ,kingdom1 necessarily differs somewhat in character and physique from the ,briton of the ,canadian prairies or the ,australian backblocks4 ,the ,canadian ,briton again differs from the ,australasian or ,south ,african1 while among ,australasians the ,australian is of one type1 the ,new ,zealander of another4 ,all supplement each other2 all contribute to the common stock some ingredient which the others have not1 and the sum total is greater and richer than if the units of which it is composed were all alike and uniform4 ,on the other hand1 diversities demand wise handling1 or they may become a source not of strength1 but of weakness4 ,it is as easy to drift farther apart as to come closer1 to exaggerate differences as to minimise them4 ,every citizen of the ,empire is a missionary of the ,empire1 for by the individual citizens the types are judged4 ,the home ,briton who visits ,australia leaves behind him a good or bad taste for ,england among the ,australians with whom he has been brought into contact4 ,the ,australian who comes to the ,old ,country gives to ,australia among the people of the ,old ,country a better or a worse name4 ,but of necessity the leaders are most potent in mission work1 and among the leaders those who lead armed men on active service2 who are in touch with them day by day in the camp1 on the march1 in the trenches or on the open battlefield2 on whom it devolves to enforce discipline1 and with whom it rests whether or not discipline means friction4 ,it is impossible to measure the amount of lasting good which is wrought when overseas soldiers associate tact and sympathy with home leadership or1 on the other hand1 the mischief which results from want of personal assimilation4 ,it is not by any means military capacity alone that makes the soul of an ,empire army4 ,we are all beginning to know each other1 to value each other1 to make allowances for each other1 to an extent which was impossible before steamers multiplied the coming and going of men1 and turned uncertain and spasmodic into regular and assured communication4 ,doubts can be at once set at rest and misapprehensions promptly removed by the use of the submarine cable4 ,moreover1 this familiarising process1 and the annihilation of distance1 is a progressive matter4 ,every year leaves us rather closer to one another than we were the year before4 ,if1 even under these favourable modern conditions1 the personal element still plays a most important part1 it was all-important in the middle years of the eighteenth century4 ,in the ,seven ,years' ,war1 when1 in the words of ,frederick the ,great1 ,england1 having been long in labour1 had at length brought forth a man1 that man1 ,william ,pitt1 set himself to fight ,france in ,america1 and sent out what were for the time comparatively large armies to conquer ,canada4 ,he called upon the ,british ,north ,american colonies to co-operate and raise their levies2 and inasmuch as his appeal was made in wise and tactful terms1 and the colonies realised that for once ,england would not leave them in the lurch1 they1 or some of them1 answered to the call with patriotism and goodwill4 ,thus regular soldiers from ,england1 in greater numbers than ever before1 came among the colonists1 and provincial regiments were raised to march and fight side by side with the troops of the line4 ,then was seen and felt in its fullest extent the difference between the home ,briton and his brother beyond the seas1 at a time when the divergence was most pronounced4 ,the regulars were very regular1 the ,provincials were very provincial2 from a military point of view the two bodies of men were at opposite poles4 ,the ,provincials knew nothing of training or discipline2 they were nondescript1 temporary soldiers of small democracies2 they were farmers enlisted for the campaign1 their term of service in any case not exceeding one year3 few had uniforms1 some brought guns with them1 some had none to bring3 the officers were in effect chosen by the men4 ,the troops of the line1 on the other hand1 imported into the backwoods of ,north ,america the stiffness and rigidity of ,european dress1 discipline1 and tactics in the eighteenth century1 and between the officers and soldiers there was a great gulf fixed1 as between the ranks of society in ,europe4 ,it was but natural that these officers should regard the provincial soldiery with disdain1 and that a corresponding resentment should be felt in the provincial ranks4 ,some of the greatest soldiers of the day were not exempt from this partisan feeling4 ,after the disaster to ,braddock's force in #agee1 ,washington1 who had been present on the field and who contrasted the conduct of the ,virginians in the fight with that of the regulars1 wrote in the bitterest terms of the latter4 ,wolfe1 on the other hand1 had1 in #ageh1 no words strong enough to express his disgust at the shortcomings of the ,american soldiers4 #8,the ,americans are in general the dirtiest1 most contemptible cowardly dogs that you can conceive4' ,if these were the views of the foremost men of the day in the colonial levies and in the regular army respectively1 it must be presumed that the lesser men felt at least as strongly4 ,mrs4 ,grant1 the authoress of #8,memoirs of an ,american ,lady1' a book which was published at ,new ,york1 in #ahji1 speaks of the #8secret contempt' with which #8many officers justly esteemed1 possessed of capacity1 learning1 and much knowledge1 both of the usages of the world and the art of war 444 regarded the blunt simplicity and plain appearance of the settlers'2 and among the officers who came out from ,england there must have been a large proportion whose contempt was not unspoken or unnoticed4 ,it was not merely a case of friction between the professional soldier and the amateur1 the one looking down upon the other1 and the other resenting the airs of the superior person4 ,the mischief was deeper seated4 ,the northern colonies of ,british ,america were cradled in centrifugal traditions3 a large proportion of the first colonists had come out to be rid of the ,home ,government1 its discipline and its control4 ,puritanism was the dominant religious and political creed2 and the surroundings1 except at a few town centres1 were of a stern and simple kind4 ,among men and women born and reared on these lines1 and into their family circles1 came regimental officers from ,england1 many1 if not most1 of whom had been bred in the ways of fashionable ,english ,society1 which1 in the middle of the eighteenth century1 was not1 to say the least of it1 characterised by high tone or scrupulous refinement4 ,the settlers in the ,new ,world1 by the mere fact of their removal out of the ,old ,world into the wilderness1 had preserved for themselves and their descendants the old-time feeling and modes of thought in the ,old ,world1 and to them the new leaven from an up-to-date ,old ,world was a leaven of unrighteousness4 ,mrs4 ,grant was the daughter of an officer in the #eeth ,regiment1 ,howe's own regiment1 but she had spent her childhood in the ,american atmosphere1 and had been mainly brought up in a ,dutch family4 ,consequently she tells us that she was #8a little ashamed of having a military father1' and writes of #8the scarlet coat1 which ,i had been taught to consider as the symbol of wickedness4' ,it was to some extent as though ,cavaliers and ,roundheads had come to life again1 and were jostling one another1 while fighting under the same flag and for the same cause1 as a prelude to once more springing at each other's throats4 ,at this time and place a man of the type of ,lord ,howe was an almost priceless asset to the cause of ,imperial ,unity--a cause which can never stand still1 but either declines or goes forward1 and goes forward only through intelligent appreciation of existing conditions and active sympathy with living men4 ,of high social standing in ,england1 and acknowledged military reputation1 he set himself1 by precept and still more by personal example1 to the work of assimilation4 #8,this gallant man1' says the ,annual ,register for #ageh1 #8from the moment he landed in ,america1 had wisely conformed and made his regiment conform to the kind of service which the country required4 ,he did not suffer any under him to encumber themselves with superfluous baggage2 he himself set the example and fared like a common soldier4 ,the first to encounter danger1 to endure hunger1 to support fatigue2 rigid in his discipline but easy in his manners1 his officers and soldiers readily obeyed the commander1 because they loved the man4' ,wolfe wrote of him as a man #8whom nature has formed for the war of this country1' and ,mrs4 ,grant1 that he was #8above the pedantry of holding up standards of military rules1 where it was impossible to enforce them1 and the narrow spirit of preferring the modes of his own country to those proved by experience to suit that in which he was to act4' ,she christens him #8,this young ,lycurgus of the camp4' ,under ,howe everything was literally cut down to meet the exigencies of ,american warfare4 ,gold and scarlet was laid aside3 baggage was reduced to a minimum3 the muskets were shortened3 their barrels were darkened3 the skirts of the long regimental coats were cut off3 ,indian leggings were brought into use4 ,wolfe writes in ,may #ageh1 #8,our clothes1 our arms1 our accoutrements1 nay even our shoes and stockings are all improper for this country4 ,lord ,howe is so well convinced of it that he has taken away all the men's breeches4' ,a ,french writer tells us that the officers and men were only allowed one shirt apiece4 #8,lord ,h4 set the example1 by himself washing his own dirty shirt1 and drying it in the sun1 while he in the meantime wore nothing but his coat4' ,and here is the unkindest cut of all--in ,mrs4 ,grant's words3 #8,the greatest privation to the young and vain yet remained4 ,hair well dressed1 and in great quantity1 was then considered as the greatest possible ornament1 which those who had it took the utmost care to display to advantage1 and to wear in a bag or queue1 whichever they fancied4 ,lord ,howe's was fine and very abundant2 he1 however1 cropped it and ordered every one else to do the same4' ,in all things the commander set the example3 he never asked his officers or men to do anything or to give up anything which he did not do or give up himself4 ,thus his regiment of regulars was set in order for backwood fighting and1 what was more1 it was attuned to the ways of the land and of the people of the land4 #8,they were ever after considered as an example to the whole ,american ,army4' ,mrs4 ,grant tells a story1 which ,francis ,parkman has repeated in his delightful #8,montcalm and ,wolfe1' of ,lord ,howe giving a dinner to his officers in his tent4 ,the furniture consisted of logs of wood and bearskins1 #8and presently the servants set down a large dish of pork and pease4' ,howe pulled a sheath with a knife and fork in it out of his pocket1 and proceeded to carve the meat4 ,the officers #8sat in a kind of awkward suspense' for want of knives and forks1 until ,howe1 after expressing surprise that they did not possess #8portable implements' of the kind1 #8finally relieved them from their embarrassment1 by distributing to each a case the same as his own1 which he had provided for that purpose4' ,the real point of the story is that1 if ,howe had been an ordinary man1 his dinner would probably have been resented by the officers as an impertinent practical joke4 ,but he was not an ordinary man2 among his officers and soldiers he was like ,king ,david3 #8,whatsoever the king did pleased all the people4' ,albany in ,new ,york ,state was always the base for expeditions against ,canada1 by the central route1 which lay along the line of water communication4 ,in war time through ,albany regiments came and went1 and in and around it they congregated and encamped4 ,albany was pre-eminently a centre for the old ,new ,york families of ,dutch descent4 ,on the upper waters of the ,hudson and the lower reaches of the ,mohawk ,river1 which joins the ,hudson a little above ,albany1 were the estates of the #8patroons' of the ,dutch rgime1 and here their descendants lived and thrived4 ,mrs4 ,grant1 in her ,memoirs1 tells of the lives and surroundings of one of the foremost of these families1 the ,schuylers1 whose homes were in ,albany and to the north of it in the district known as #8,the ,flats4' ,in her book an old ,mrs4 ,schuyler 7#8,aunt ,schuyler'7 is the central figure1 as she was in the year #ageh the central figure of the ,schuyler clan4 ,the book tells of ,lord ,howe's intimacy with the family1 though he never took up his quarters with them1 for he #8always lay in his tent with the regiment which he commanded'2 how the old lady loved him almost as a son1 how sadly and affectionately she sped him on his last advance1 and her grief when the news came that he was killed4 #8,aunt ,schuyler 444 had the utmost esteem for him1 and the greatest hope that he would at some future period redress all those evils that had formerly impeded the service2 and perhaps plant the ,british standard on the walls of ,quebec4' ,we have drawn for us the contrast between the good and bad type of officer1 the gentleman and the bully1 though both may be efficient fighting men4 ,returning to his friends on one occasion1 ,howe found to his great indignation that in his absence ,captain ,charles ,lee had come through and1 #8as if he were in a conquered country1' commandeered the loyal old lady's stock and property1 without having the necessary warrants for his high-handed proceedings4 ,lee's next visit was after the fight at ,ticonderoga1 when he was brought back a wounded man to be nursed by those whom he had browbeaten and robbed4 ,he was a king's officer2 but it is difficult to deduce from his case the moral that conduct such as his brought on the ,revolution1 seeing that he became a general in the ,revolutionary army1 of great though somewhat dubious reputation4 ,in #ageg and #ageh ,lord ,howe was winning the love and esteem of all who came into contact with him in ,america4 ,in #agei the ,assembly of ,massachusetts voted the monument to his memory4 ,in #agfe the men of ,boston were rioting against the ,stamp ,act1 and in #aggc throwing cargoes of tea into ,boston harbour4 ,in #agge came open war with the ,mother ,country and the fight of ,bunker ,hill4 ,at ,bunker ,hill hardest of hard fighters among the ,americans was ,israel ,putnam3 he had been by ,howe's side when the latter was killed4 ,the night before his death ,howe had been in company with ,john ,stark1 noted among the ,new ,hampshire ,rangers who followed ,robert ,rogers4 ,it was ,stark who1 in #aggg1 planned and won the fight at ,bennington1 which was the beginning of the end of ,burgoyne's army4 ,a young member of the ,schuyler group1 who had taken ,howe to their hearts1 was ,philip ,schuyler1 afterwards one of the best known and most trusted of the ,revolutionary leaders4 ,probably ,england and ,america had drifted too far apart at the time of the ,seven ,years' ,war for any human influence to bring them wholly into line again4 ,yet1 had ,howes been multiplied and ,english statesmen and commanders been modelled on his lines1 the parting might well have been postponed and been less bitter when it came4 ,he stands out in history as one who in his day did all that man could do to bring the ,colonies and the ,mother ,country closer together2 and he is a type of the ,englishmen who are still wanted to-day1 and who happily are not wanting1 as shown by the love and confidence borne towards ,sir ,william ,birdwood by the splendid fighting men from the ,southern ,seas1 whom he led to less and yet to more than victory4 ,just over a year from the date of ,lord ,howe's death and ,abercromby's repulse at ,ticonderoga1 a much abler general than ,abercromby1 ,jeffrey ,amherst1 marched once more against the fort4 ,the ,french abandoned their entrenchments in front of it1 of which ,amherst promptly took possession2 and a rearguard1 left to hold the fort itself1 after two or three days' artillery fire1 blew it up and left the ruins to be occupied by ,amherst's army4 ,as the death of ,lord ,howe had immediately preceded ,abercromby's attack1 so a day before the second enterprise ended successfully1 another officer1 well known in the army and in ,english ,society1 though not comparable with ,lord ,howe1 was killed4 ,an entry in ,knox's ,historical ,journal runs3 #8,the ,honourable ,colonel ,townshend was picked off to-day in the trenches by a cannon shot2 he is very deservedly lamented by the ,general and the army'2 a later entry mentions that his body was taken to ,albany for burial4 ,on the south side of the nave of ,westminster ,abbey1 much farther up towards the ,chancel than the place where the monument to ,lord ,howe stands1 will be found a monument-- #8erected by a disconsolate parent1 ,the ,lady ,viscountess ,townshend1 to the memory of her fifth son1 ,the ,honble4 ,lt4-,colonel ,roger ,townshend1 who was killed by a cannon ball on the #beth of ,july #agei in the #bhth year of his age1 as he was reconnoitring the ,french lines at ,ticonderagoe in ,north ,america 444 tho' premature his death1 his life was glorious1 enrolling him with the names of those immortal statesmen and commanders whose wisdom and intrepidity in the cause of this comprehensive and successful war have extended the commerce1 enlarged the ,dominion1 and upheld the ,majesty of these ,kingdoms beyond the idea of any former age4' ,the monument is an elaborate one1 and the eulogy is obviously exaggerated4 ,horace ,walpole would evidently have had it otherwise4 ,in his #8,short ,notes of ,my ,life' he tells us1 #8,i gave my ,lady ,townshend an epitaph and design for a tomb for her youngest son1 killed at ,ticonderoga2 neither was used4' ,he also gives us to understand that the mother was not so disconsolate as the monument asserts3 #8,my ,lady ,townshend1 who has not learning enough to copy a ,spartan mother1 has lost her youngest son4 ,i saw her this morning--her affectation is on t'other side2 she affects grief--but not so much for the son she has lost1 as for t'other that she may lose4' ,and again1 #8,poor ,roger1 for whom she is not concerned1 has given her a hint that her hero ,george may be mortal too4' ,whatever may have been the mother's preferences1 the two brothers loved each other dearly4 ,a few weeks before he was killed1 ,roger ,townshend wrote to ,george ,townshend's wife to tell her of her husband's safe arrival at ,halifax from ,england in the best of health1 and how he had sent him supplies of fresh vegetables to make up for the long sea-voyage4 ,the letter continues3 #8,my opinion of ,general ,amherst as an honest good man1 and my attachment to him as a soldier ,i thought would never allow me to wish that ,i might serve under any other person in ,america1 but the tie of brother and friend united is too powerful1 and ,i confess nothing ever gave me more real concern than not being employed on the same expedition4' ,in turn we have ,george ,townshend writing sadly before the fall of ,quebec of the news of his brother's death2 and after ,quebec had fallen1 on the eve of his return to ,england1 he writes to ,amherst3 #8,i hear ,i have got ,barrington's regiment4 ,alas1 what a ,bouquet this had been a year or two hence for poor ,roger4 ,i assure you ,i return thoroughly wounded from ,america4 ,i loved him sincerely4' ,george ,townshend1 the eldest son1 whom ,walpole clearly did not love1 was ,wolfe's well-known brigadier1 to whom ,quebec capitulated1 and around whom so much controversy gathered4 ,he ended as a ,marquess and a ,field-,marshal1 and there is no reason to doubt that he was a competent soldier4 ,so also evidently was the younger brother4 ,amherst appointed him to be one of the two ,deputy ,adjutant-,generals of his army1 his own brother1 ,colonel ,amherst1 being the other4 ,we read of him in connection with the training of the ,provincial regiments1 and as commanding a detachment of ,rangers sent to reconnoitre along ,lake ,george4 ,amherst wrote to ,wolfe that he had intended to send him home with dispatches after the fall of ,ticonderoga1 that his loss #8marred the enjoyment ,i should otherwise have had in the reduction of the place4' ,we may set him down as one of the might-have-beens1 and ,dean ,stanley would presumably have classed him as the unsuccessful brother4 ,if he had marked military ability1 it has assuredly remained in the family2 for those who read the epitaph upon his monument in ,westminster ,abbey1 with its reference to a comprehensive war and upholding the majesty of these kingdoms1 will carry their thoughts across the seas from ,north ,america to ,mesopotamia1 from ,ticonderoga to ,kut4#a ,,footnotes #a ,all who are interested in the personalities of the ,seven ,years' ,war1 as far as ,north ,america was concerned1 owe a deep debt of gratitude to ,dr4 ,doughty1 the ,government ,archivist of the ,dominion of ,canada1 for the immense amount of material which he has collected and made accessible in #8,the ,siege of ,quebec' 7,doughty and ,parmelee71 and in his edition1 for the ,champlain ,society1 of ,knox's ,historical ,journal4 ,,the ,,old ,,contemptibles3 ,,the ,,first ,,christmas4 ,,by ,,boyd ,,cable4 ,the ,divisional ,ammunition and ,supply ,column had done a long march on the ,christmas ,eve4 ,it was not so much that the distance was long in measured kilometres1 but from a point of time1 of dragging weariness1 of bad roads1 of cold and wet and discomfort it was prolonged to a heart-breaking length4 ,the column had taken the road at daybreak1 and this meant that the men had to be on parade a full quarter-hour before1 had to turn out of their uncomfortable billets and sleeping-places an hour and a half before the time to parade4 ,in that time they had to pack their kits 7a quick enough and simple job1 to be sure71 put on their wet boots1 water and feed their horses1 eat a biscuit-and-cheese breakfast1 scramble for a #8lick and a promise' sort of wash1 harness up their teams1 pack picketing gear and odd stores on the wagons and sheet them over1 have themselves and everything belonging to them packed and harnessed and standing ready to turn out promptly to the shout of #8,hook in4' ,they were all ready1 and with a nicely-timed handful of seconds to spare1 when the word came1 because the practice that makes perfect had been their regular routine for a good many months past1 and there had been plenty of times when they had been obliged to do the same routine in very much less than this present leisured hour and a half4 ,it was raining when the wagons turned out1 formed up on the road1 and1 dropping into place unit by unit1 rolled steadily off on the march4 ,the rain was taken quite philosophically and as a matter of course1 as indeed it had come to be by now and any time for a month past4 ,there were a good many even by then who had wondered where all the rain could come from1 and held a firm opinion that it must cease very soon1 on the reasonable assumption that no rain supply is inexhaustible and that the past month must have #8pretty well emptied the watering-pot4' ,they were to learn for another solid three months almost without a break what the ,flanders watering-pot can supply when it really sets about the job in earnest1 and it was to come to be a standing joke and boast of the first ,expeditionaries that you could always tell one of the men who went through that first winter in ,france because an examination of his toes would show him to be web-footed4 ,but at the end of ,december the wet had not been accepted as such a permanent feature of life as it was to become1 and there were plenty of men in the column who1 as they marched out that ,christmas ,eve1 looked up at the sky and round the grey horizon and tried to find1 or persuade themselves and each other they could see1 a spot where it was #8lifting4' ,but it did not lift1 and before long the men's damp clothes1 half dried by body heat in sleeping in them1 had become soaked and saturated through again4 ,it was cold too1 and fingers gripped about the wet reins of their pairs of horses grew numbed and stiff1 were periodically revived with much blowing of warm breath--the only item of warmth left about a man--into cupped hands1 and arm beating and flapping4 ,the roads were heavy1 rutted and inches deep in stiff mud1 flooded in parts by the overflow from brimming-over ditches4 ,the march was bad enough in its early stages2 it became acute in its discomfort as the day wore on1 and men and horses grew tired and more tired4 ,by far the worst feature was the constant series of halts4 ,the road taken by the column was filled for miles with a slow-crawling and packed procession of horses and wagons4 ,the slightest check at the head of the procession meant a stop to all the rest1 and because each wagon took a fraction of time longer than the one ahead to see its predecessor started and to get under way itself1 what to a wagon in the front ranks was no more than a slowing to avoid running into the wagon ahead was easily translated a few teams back into a pull-up and immediate move on1 and further back the line to a longer and longer interval of halt4 ,so that in the middle and rear of the line there were frequent halts of a minute1 two1 three1 and up to ten minutes4 ,and if a wagon driving through an extra soft portion of road was caught and held beyond the immediate strength of the tired team to pull out1 the halt might spin out into anything up to fifteen minutes4 ,several times during the day there were hour-long halts at cross- or fork-roads1 while cross streams of traffic passed clear or entering streams were shuffled in4 ,towards mid-day exasperated officers strove to avail themselves of the frequent halts to water and feed4 ,buckets would be unhooked from their places under the wagons1 and the drivers1 leaning out and scooping the water up from the ditches1 would perhaps get so far in the watering performance when there would be a hurried order to #8,get mounted1' the buckets would be emptied1 the drivers hurriedly remount and move on again--to halt again perhaps within a hundred yards4 ,no officer dare halt or hold his section of the column to complete his watering and feeding because the orders were imperative to press on and avoid halting the whole4 ,a halt to feed was actually made about #b ,p4,m4 when it was plain that there was no hope of getting the column in1 as had been intended1 by the early afternoon2 but the halt was so short that there could be no attempt to cook food or make a hot drink for the men4 ,they ate cold bully beef and biscuit while the horses fed1 and finished their meal in the saddle when the horses moved again4 ,during the afternoon it grew steadily colder1 and the rain drizzled on without ceasing4 ,the road ran parallel now with the firing line1 and as the darkness fell the horizon was lit continually with rising and falling belts of light from the trench flares1 while the guns flashed quick leaping and vanishing gusts of vivid light1 rolled and grumbled and roared incessantly4 ,the rattle and splutter of rifle fire swelled to what one might have thought an alarming nearness when the road twisted in towards the firing line1 or a falling away of the ground or change in the wind allowed the sound to carry better1 dropped away again to no more than a distant crackle as a belt of wood shut it off or the road ran wide out from the battle line4 ,but of all these things the men on the road were heedless4 ,they were concerned only with the slowness of the journey1 the wish for it to end1 the approach of dark long before it could be completed4 ,the column carried no lights1 and as the night shut down the road under the horses' feet became almost invisible to the eyes of the drivers sitting on their horses or box seats4 ,each lead driver had to be content to follow close on the tracks of the wagon in front of him1 to hold his tired horses up when they stumbled1 to halt them quickly when the wagon ahead halted1 to move them on again instantly on the other vehicle starting4 ,every man kept his eyes carefully away from the dancing lights on the horizon1 because watching them for a few seconds meant a temporary total blindness and the vanishing of the road beneath them when they came to look down1 and this driving in the dark was quite bad enough without that4 ,the inevitable happened at last4 ,a team driven too close to the road-side brought its wagon wheels within a foot of the ditch1 just at a part1 unfortunately1 where the road-edge sloped sharply to the steep side of the ditch4 ,the #8long-rein driver' perched on the box called a sharp word of warning and swung his wheelers to the left1 felt the wagon beneath him skid sideways1 lurch suddenly1 sink sharply #8by the stern' and halt abruptly4 ,the driver of the next team saw what had happened1 shouted to the other drivers behind him1 wrenched his horses' heads clear of the bogged wagon and tried to pull up4 ,but the horses1 jerked from their sleepy plodding1 swerved1 plunged1 slithered wildly on the wet road2 the wagon wheels1 gripped fast by the sharp thrust of the brake1 failed to bite on the slippery surface1 skidded forward1 butted the wheelers heavily1 slewed1 slithered again and brought up with a splintering jar and a rear wheel fast locked in the wheel of the bogged wagon4 ,the near wheeler of the second team1 floundering and splashing and scrambling wildly for foothold1 caught the bump of the wagon1 fell1 and slid wholesale into the ditch4 ,the road was completely and effectually blocked4 ,now the ditches in this part of ,flanders are anything from about three to six feet deep1 and their sides are cut down as straight and smooth as a wall2 in winter they are full to the brim with ice-cold water1 and their bottom is an unplumbed depth of mud of the consistency of molasses and the tenacity of fish glue4 ,from all of which you will understand and appreciate the difficulty of rescuing the trapped wagon and horse1 although you will never1 unless you have experienced it1 understand the wetness1 the cold1 the exasperating stupidity of the horse1 the monumental bulk and weight and the passive resistance of a wet and mud-plastered wagon1 the bitter unpleasantness of the whole job4 ,actually1 although this may appear surprising1 the salving of the horse was a greater difficulty than the restoration of the wagon to the road4 ,the wagon had to be unloaded1 it is true1 but after that a plank pushed sloping down under the wheel1 a swarm of men clustering and clutching on the wheels and tailing on a couple of drag-ropes1 brought the concern out with a rush4 ,then the team was hooked in again and the wagon rolled off1 and with a chorus of cries1 of scuffling hoofs1 of grinding wheels1 the column halted behind the stalled wagons came to life and rumbled on their way4 ,the horse made a longer and more temper-raising job4 ,driver ,jim ,ruff1 of the ,a4,s4,c41 had always had an inordinate pride in his wheelers1 a liking for them that in connection with a human would have been called love1 a belief in their intelligence that was beyond doubt4 ,but that night his pride had a muddy fall1 his love a cooling off into annoyance1 his belief a staggering blow4 #8,golly1' the ditched near-wheeler1 displayed a stupidity that1 as ,driver ,ruff assured her1 would have disgraced #8a mongrel mule1' an indifference to helping herself1 and a calm resignation and acceptance of her fate that respectively1 and again in the words of ,driver ,ruff1 #8was more like a oyster than a 'orse' and #8might do for a bloomin' padre1 but wasn't no use in the ,a4,s4,c4' ,driver ,ruff1 at the first crash of catastrophe1 had flung down off his perch and was round at his wheelers' heads in a flash1 unhooking #8,wog1' lying quietly on his side in the road and waiting for assistance and instructions1 and adjuring the struggling #8,golly' to keep quiet an' not make a fool of herself4 #8,golly' took the advice so completely that1 having quietened1 she refused--although the mud clamped about her legs may have had something to do with it--to move a limb thereafter4 ,at first ,ruff and the other drivers called to assist tried to persuade her to get her fore-feet on the bank1 then by passing a drag-rope round her fore-legs tried to pull them from under her and up on to firm ground4 ,the only result was to upset her balance and set her slowly sinking sideways until her body was completely covered and only her neck and head were above water4 ,it began to look as if the horse must drown in a four- or five-foot ditch4 ,meantime the wagon was man-handled along and into the side of the road and the stream of vehicles resumed their interrupted march1 rumbling past a busy rescue party grouped at the ditch-side1 working in the light of a couple of lanterns with picks and spades and drag-ropes1 to extricate the sunken #8,golly4' ,at last a shelving cut was made in the bank of the ditch1 and ,driver ,ruff1 already three parts soaked with splashings and fumblings to fix a rope correctly about his horse1 completed the job and the soaking by plunging boldly into the ditch and passing a couple of ropes under the mare's body4 ,a string of men tailed on to the ropes1 and at the word from an ,a4,s4,c4 officer who had taken charge of the proceedings threw their weight into a regular tug-of-war heave1 and hauled the animal out bodily on to the shelving bank1 up it1 and on to the road4 ,it was after ten o'clock before the wheelers were hooked in and the wagon swung into the traffic procession1 with ,driver ,ruff soaked and shivering on the box4 ,in ten minutes he had to pull up again for another block somewhere in the darkness ahead4 ,he climbed down and stamped to and fro for full thirty minutes4 ,then he went and rummaged out a couple of box-lids he had been saving in his wagon for firewood1 and1 always keeping a wary ear turned to the road for the sound of callings and crunching wheels that would tell him the transport was on the move again1 jumped the ditch1 hunted in the darkness of a patch of wood1 and managed to collect a small armful of twigs and branches4 ,he split his dry wood1 built it up and lit it1 his fingers so numbed and shaking that he could scarcely fumble out a match4 ,under the shelter of his cap--it was still drizzling fine rain--he managed to get a brisk flame going1 and when he had it burning strong and bright piled his twigs and branches on it4 ,the wood hissed and sputtered1 but caught at last1 and tongues of flame began to crackle up1 throwing a cheerful radiance on the wet faces and forms of the men who quickly crowded round and a most grateful glow of life-giving warmth on ,driver ,ruff1 crouched with chattering teeth and blue lips close over the blaze4 ,but before the fire had even completely caught there came a distant shout1 repeated along and down the line1 #8,get mounted--get mounted1' and the sound1 far off at first but rapidly coming nearer and nearer1 of tramping hoof-beats1 scrunching wheels1 and the rumble of moving wagons4 ,the men about the fire scattered and ran to their horses1 and ,ruff had no choice but to leave his precious fire and run with them4 ,the procession started1 wagon after wagon--and within two hundred yards halted again4 ,the disgusted ,ruff had the mortification of seeing his fire blazing up strongly and cheerfully and immediately surrounded by a fresh crowd of the nearest men4 ,it was too far to go back1 since the move might come again any minute1 and anyhow ,ruff guessed the difficulty he would have in forcing a way to the front of the dense ring about his own fire4 ,he tried to wrap his wet coat closer about him1 and sat huddled and shivering on his seat for another half-hour before the way was clear and the wagons crawled on again4 ,it was nearly midnight when he dragged wearily into camp4 ,he took his horses' bits out1 slacked their girths1 gave them generous feeds1 and when their nosebags were empty hung a net full of hay to the point of the wagon-pole1 and then went to the cook-house1 where he was given a mess-tin of soup and meat and a mug of hot tea4 ,these things finished to the last bite and drop1 he1 by special and gracious favour of the cook1 took off his soaking boots and hung his wet jacket before the embers of the fire1 sat himself beside it1 and dropped instantly into deep sleep4 ,this1 be it noted1 was the only sleep he had been able to have for some thirty-six hours4 ,the night before the column marched he had been out with his wagon drawing rations from #8,refilling ,point1' had been from #f ,p4,m4 on the road1 waiting his turn for loading1 moving up a wagon's length at a time to the loading-place1 where1 under the light of a couple of lanterns1 men were hacking up cheeses1 dismembering sides of bacon1 trundling out boxes of bully and biscuits and tins of tea and sugar4 ,driver ,ruff had pulled out as soon as his wagon was loaded1 waited for the others to complete their loading1 moved on to rejoin his unit with them4 ,delays and checks on a road already1 even at that early hour1 astir with traffic1 had prevented their reaching the camping-ground until about a couple of hours before the hour fixed to turn out on the march1 and that brief time had been fully occupied by ,ruff1 first in watering and feeding and rubbing down his horses1 and then in getting his own breakfast1 packing his kit for the road1 and harnessing up again4 ,now1 as may be imagined1 he slept heavily1 sitting huddled over the half-dead fire1 on this his second night out of bed1 after a day of wearying and strenuous work--and in case that be not properly understood it may be remarked that sitting on the hard wooden seat of a jolting wagon1 bumping and jarring over a rough road1 holding a pair of #8heavy draught' horses and steering them with a constantly needed care1 hauling them up every few minutes1 all these things are actually tiring hard physical work4 ,but he only slept for half an hour4 ,at the end of that time he was shaken roughly awake and told to get a move on1 and to fall in outside the lines before hooking in his horses4 ,he rose stiffly1 sore in every joint and aching in every limb as if he had been beaten and bruised with a club4 ,the fire was dead and he was chilled to the marrow with the cold that had struck in from his wet clothes1 with the more miserable cold that comes out of late and insufficient sleep4 ,he shook like a man in the ague1 and his teeth chattered as he thrust his arms into the clammy dampness and coldness of his jacket's clinging sleeves4 ,putting on his boots was sheer torture4 ,they were icy cold1 and the wet leather was stiff and hard as a board4 ,altogether he was just about as miserable1 cold1 and uncomfortable as a man can be1 as he hobbled stiffly from the cook-house into the bitter rawness of the winter morning4 ,as he went out one of the cooks came in and commenced to make up the fire1 and it suddenly struck ,driver ,ruff what a magnificent and enviable job a cook had1 always messing about with a warm fire and hot water and other of the pleasantest things in life4 ,the cook1 roused from a warm straw bed in the cold of one o'clock to light a fire with damp wood1 probably held a different opinion of the pleasures of his office4 ,ruff had three minutes with his horses before the #8,fall in' was called4 ,they whickered and nuzzled at him1 each jealously pushing the other's head aside as he spoke to them and rubbed their noses and pulled their ears4 #8,after all1 ,golly1' he said1 #8a cook don't have horses2 eh1 ,wog8' and at that thought the cook's job lost its savour and a gleam of content warmed the driver's soul4 ,a figure suddenly appeared in the shape of lamp-illumined breeches and boots and a blot of shadow above them1 and his sergeant spoke briskly3 #8,hullo1 ,ruff4 ,merry ,christmas4' #8,lumme6' said ,driver ,ruff4 #8,if ,i hadn't clean forgot--same to you1 sergeant4' #8,an' may we see the next at 'ome1' said the sergeant4 #8,now what about this pair o' yours8 ,had a stiffish day yesterday1 didn't they8' ,ruff told him briefly but pungently the sort of day they had had and the work they had done4 ,he was so eloquent on their behalf--quite omitting any mention of his own sorrows--that the sergeant promised to manage it somehow that they'd get a light wagon-load that day and the other wagons share the balance4 ,driver ,ruff began to feel the world not so bad a place after all1 and even the briefly outlined programme of the day's work to begin at once and keep on till evening did not cast him down4 #8,they'll do it easy with a light load1' he said cheerfully4 ,the #8,fall in' was called1 and wondering rather at this unusual item of the morning's work1 the men fell in at the end of the horse lines1 standing in an ankle-deep porridge of mud4 ,their officer addressed them shortly1 an ,n4,c4,o4 beside him with a lantern1 and another with a handful of envelopes and a bundle of cardboard boxes4 ,the wagons1 said the officer1 would go to ,refilling ,point1 load1 march together from there and rejoin the ,division at their new camp1 separate there1 and each take their rations to their own units4 ,and because he might not see them together again that day he had paraded them then to wish them a happy ,christmas and good luck1 and to give them a little present that had been sent out to every man in the ,expeditionary ,force4 ,one by one the men received a photograph of the ,king and ,queen with a message written on the back1 and a brass tobacco-box containing tobacco and cigarettes and the ,christmas wishes of ,princess ,mary4 #8,bloomin' 'andsome1' said one driver admiringly4 #8,i'm goin' to send mine 'ome to be kep' for me4 ,there'll be bags o' new troops out 'ere in the spring1 but we'll allus 'ave these to show we was out wi' the first crush4' #8,my dad's got 'is ,queen's chocolate box yet that she gave the first lot out in ,s'th ,africa1' said ,driver ,ruff4 #8,i'll be upsides with 'im now4' #8,i been thinkin' this week past1' said a third1 #8that ,i never knew anythin' less like ,christmas comin'4 ,it seems more like it now somehow4' ,and so #8somehow' it did4 ,one might hardly expect a handful of men1 turned out in the raw cold small hours of a winter morning1 standing in mud over their boots1 with a long weary day's work and a bare half night's uncomfortable sleep behind them1 and another wet and weary day ahead1 to rise with any enthusiasm to a call for #8three cheers for the ,king and ,queen4' ,but they did it1 the #8,h'ray' leaping eagerly and cheerfully close on the last sound of the word1 of the officer's #8,hip-hip-hip4' ,and ,driver ,ruff's was the first and loudest and gayest voice of the lot4 ,,into ,,germany ,,on ,,the ,,eve ,,of ,,war4 ,,by ,w4 ,e4 ,,de ,b4 ,,whittaker4 ,early in #aiad there had been various schemes in being with the object of crossing the ,atlantic by aeroplane under the terms of a prize offered by a ,london print4 ,two alone of these were in any way practicable1 one by an ,english retired naval officer on an aeroplane provided at the expense of an ,american millionaire1 and the other by the late ,mr4 ,gustav ,hamel1 who was to have flown from ,newfoundland on an ,english aeroplane1 and who would have been financed by ,english money4 ,mr4 ,hamel was drowned in the ,english ,channel on ,may #bc1 when the arrangements for the great flight were in a very advanced stage4 ,a few weeks later ,mr4 ,h4 ,s4 ,keating came forward and made private arrangements to take over part of the organisation which had been brought together earlier in the year4 ,he intended himself to make the proposed attempt to fly from ,newfoundland to ,ireland at his own expense4 ,this personal assumption of the burden of the entire cost made the attempt one of pure sport without any hope of gain1 as the expenditure must of necessity very greatly exceed the amount of the prize offered4 ,harry ,sheehy ,keating1 an ,irishman by birth1 a one-time subaltern in the ,grenadier ,guards1 had spent a year or two in the ,united ,states and in ,mexico1 during which period he had become an aviator4 ,of an adventurous disposition1 he welcomed any form of sport or daring that would relieve the monotony of existence--before the war4 ,the selection of an aeroplane on which to make the ,atlantic flight was a matter of no little difficulty4 ,we heard that on ,july #aj ,herr ,boehm had flown at ,johannisthal on an ,albatross biplane for twenty-four hours twelve minutes without once alighting4 ,we decided therefore that we would go to ,berlin and see what the ,albatross ,company could do for us4 ,as we had neither of us travelled in ,holland or ,germany we determined to motor from the ,hook of ,holland to ,berlin and back4 ,the threat of war which by now filled all the ,london news sheets we did not believe4 #8,wolf' had been cried so often4 ,the ,sarajevo murder and its immediate results would drift into history in company with ,fashoda and ,agadir and no blood at all would be spilt4 ,an accident detained us on the way to ,harwich1 so that we missed ,saturday and ,sunday's boats1 and only landed at the ,hook in the very early morning of ,tuesday1 ,july #bg1 and at once entered into a fog of mystery which did not lift entirely until we reached the ,hague on our return journey on ,august #e4 ,we neither of us knew a word of the language of either country which we were to visit1 and the daily papers contained what were to us merely cabalistic symbols4 ,we crossed the ,german frontier a mile or two beyond ,oldenzaal and by dinner time we had reached ,rheine4 ,here the weather changed4 ,the sun disappeared and a depressing soft rain began to fall4 ,we dined uncomfortably and wondered a little irritably why the ,german people should be so excited4 ,we knew no reason4 ,anxious to reach ,berlin with as little delay as possible we left ,rheine after dinner and drove through the darkness and pouring rain and appalling roads towards ,osnabruck4 ,we had no windscreen and the hood therefore became valueless4 ,keating with characteristic determination drove while ,i crouched in the bottom of the car4 ,both of us were drenched by the time we reached the ,kaiserhof ,hotel at ,osnabruck and the car was in a pitiful state4 ,we felt that ,germany was giving us no adequate welcome4 ,our host1 a man of charming manners1 told us that the mobilisation orders were about to be issued1 and that shortly the deceitful ,russian would be taught a lesson of value4 ,we were asked1 a little eagerly1 if ,england would assist1 and those who listened were obviously disappointed when we said we thought she would not interfere4 ,in the morning1 as it still rained1 we bought a large sheet of celluloid as a substitute for the long-broken windscreen4 ,at a later date we bitterly regretted ever having seen or heard of this celluloid4 ,as the rain still fell we did not leave until the late afternoon1 and therefore did not get further than ,minden when night fell4 ,both of us were angry1 chiefly owing to ,keating's total inability to read a route in a ,continental ,guide1 which was1 in any case1 quite inaccurate4 ,here at ,minden1 where our ancestors had fought as allies with the ,germans in the year of victory1 #agei1 there were unmistakable signs of approaching war4 ,the hotel 7,stadt ,london7 was packed with officers and their families eating a fond farewell lest on the morrow the worst might come4 ,dinner passed to the clicking of heels and an orgy of ceremonial salutes by officers who were about to bid good-bye to #8review-order' for years to come4 ,in the streets the tramp of the troops1 the clatter of horses' hoofs1 and the rumble of iron-shod wheels continued throughout the night4 ,while here we learnt that ,austria had on the day before declared war on ,serbia1 and that soon the ,emperor's eagles would end all ,balkan troubles for all time4 ,on ,thursday the weather cleared and the sun shone4 ,we passed through ,hanover1 where we bought tiny silk flags of the ,german ,states with some faint idea of showing the people that we did not really dislike them4 ,in ,brunswick we ate sandwiches and drank very dark beer from huge china mugs while we sat in an old oak-panelled hall with a high roof also of oak4 ,the bridge-keepers in ,magdeburg took toll of us as we passed through during the early afternoon in high hopes of reaching the capital early in the evening4 ,the road improved still more and there was but little traffic to detain us4 ,for long stretches our speed never dropped much below sixty miles an hour4 ,the gods seemed to be smiling4 ,we forgot the worries induced by the bad maps and the ,german food and became for a space almost happy4 ,when ten miles from ,brandenburg ,i tried to pass a large cart on the proper side and promptly ran into it1 with disastrous results to one of our front wheels and to both head lamps4 ,after changing the wheel we managed to proceed1 only to find when six miles from ,potsdam and three miles from the nearest garage that we had no more petrol4 ,at the same time a tyre gently subsided and our troubles were complete4 ,at this point our very frayed tempers collapsed entirely and we each accused the other of being responsible for the existence of ,germany and all its ills6 ,mercifully all troubles come to an end in time and we reached ,potsdam before ten o'clock4 ,the ,hotel ,stadt ,knigsberg where we stayed was also full of officers and those dependent on them4 ,a curious note of suppressed excitement was obvious to strangers like ourselves1 though at the time we were quite unable to account for it4 ,serbia was surely too small to affect the ,german officer caste to such an extent4 ,the next day1 ,july #ca1 a ,friday1 we left the car under repair at a garage in ,potsdam and went by train to ,johannisthal through ,berlin4 ,we saw the directors of two leading ,german aeronautical firms--the ,albatross and the ,l4,v4,g4--only to find that in neither case could they undertake any work of the nature we desired1 as they were far too busy supplying aircraft to the ,german and ,austrian ,governments4 ,they would1 they said1 require at least six months in which to complete any order4 ,we1 on the other hand1 had only six weeks to spare4 ,the ,albatross ,company asked us to call again on the following day in order that we might again meet the board of directors4 ,as nothing more could be done during the day we paid a mark apiece and went into the public part of the aerodrome4 ,no military guard was to be seen save over the great ,zeppelin shed1 which was empty1 its usual tenant having flown to ,posen the day before4 ,while we waited we saw eleven ,albatross biplanes leave for ,austria by air1 piloted by ,austrian officers1 each accompanied by a mechanic4 ,the presence of very obvious organisation and the entire absence of any excitement or confusion impressed us both4 ,clearly ,german aeronautics had left the purely experimental stage1 and the aeroplane had become as much a part of military life as had the motor-car years before4 ,the method of construction and the degree of finish of each machine showed the existence of a settled industry4 ,while until the beginning of the war the average ,english aeroplane had the appearance of being the only one of its type1 a step in a series of experiments1 the ,german aeroplane of the time was as finished and complete as if it were one of a batch of a thousand4 ,all that was practically possible at that date was to be found on these ,german machines which were so soon to test their prowess against the ,english4 ,during dinner at ,potsdam the head waiter stood in the middle of the room and recited1 amidst general enthusiasm1 the speech the ,kaiser had delivered from the balcony of his palace in ,berlin during the afternoon4 ,true patriotism was shown4 ,the day had come and the training and hopes of a century were to be put to the test at last4 ,after dinner we walked through the crowded streets and watched the excited people snatch the single news sheets from the newsboys as they passed along4 ,great masses of enthusiastic youth rushed along the streets singing national songs1 of which #8,deutschland ber ,alles' was the most popular4 ,the beautiful strains of the ,austrian ,national ,anthem were often heard4 ,every officer who appeared from any direction was cheered loudly1 and even the police were not unpopular on this night of nights4 ,we1 though we were obvious foreigners and quite possible ,englishmen1 were not molested in any way4 ,long after we had gone to bed the noise continued without intermission1 until even ,keating lost some of his joyous enthusiasm for war in his greater and more immediate desire for sleep4 ,shortly before noon on ,saturday1 ,august #a1 we again went to ,johannisthal1 this time by car4 ,we arrived at the aerodrome at about half-past one o'clock and decided that1 as our interview with the directors of the ,albatross ,company was sure to be short1 we would have lunch on the way back to ,berlin4 ,it was a foolish decision1 as after events will show4 ,we found sentries at every entrance to the ground4 ,by the small door leading into the garden in front of the ,albatross offices stood a ,german soldier in the service dress of a regiment of the line4 ,as we passed in he said something long in ,german and seemed to wish to prevent our entry4 ,keating smiled1 which is not usual when one deals with ,german soldiers on duty1 and the sentry was too surprised to stop us4 ,once inside we were met by the works manager1 a ,herr ,huttney1 who had learnt ,english in the ,united ,states of ,america when acquiring merit in his early youth4 ,he took us before several of the directors of the company and we again talked of the purchase of an aeroplane4 ,there was an atmosphere of restraint and suspicion which1 in the light of later knowledge1 was not unnatural4 ,now we were told that no machine at all could be sold to us for many months1 as the army required them all2 #8even1' they said1 #8,austria will not be allowed to purchase more4' ,keating offered to buy an ,albatross which we knew to be in ,england4 ,in reply we were shown a telegram from ,london saying that aeroplane had just been commandeered by the ,admiralty6 ,this incident was the first to bring home to us the possibility of ,great ,britain joining in the new war4 ,there was an unwieldiness about the conversation that showed us they did not desire to do business with us1 and so after farewells we were conducted outside the boundaries of the grounds by the works' manager4 ,here to our amazement1 and at the time amusement1 we found two soldiers1 fully armed and rationed1 standing by the car4 ,when ,i tried to start the engine1 ,i was pressed back gently by rifle and bayonet4 ,herr ,huttney asked for reasons and was told1 or so he said1 that an officer had been sent for and until his arrival we could not leave4 ,so1 resignedly and hungrily1 for it was by now four o'clock and we had had no lunch1 we sat in the car with ,herr ,huttney as company4 ,he1 too1 was not permitted to leave1 if his own statement was to be believed4 ,for nearly two hours we sat here waiting for the officer who did not come4 ,at six o'clock we were moved1 under instructions from an ,n4,c4,o41 to an open-air guard-room by the ,zeppelin shed and just inside the aerodrome fence4 ,here our wait continued1 relieved a little by some lager beer and leberwurst sandwiches1 brought by the kindness of one of our guard4 ,at dusk we were taken by two policemen in plain clothes before the officer commanding the aerodrome1 who had an extemporised orderly room in the smaller dirigible shed4 ,with him were several subalterns of infantry and of the flying section of the service4 ,none of the officers in the room admitted to any knowledge of ,english or ,french1 and so ,herr ,huttney1 who was still in semi-arrest with us1 had perforce to translate all that was said on either side4 ,a little later1 while ,keating was being cross-examined1 ,i asked1 quite without malice1 the officer nearest me whether he knew ,london4 ,before he had had time to remember whether he knew ,english or not he had answered clearly that ,piccadilly ,circus he did not know but ,london it was so dull6 ,after this slip he made no further secret of his knowledge of ,english and talked freely4 ,the commandant1 after asking our business and being told the truth1 was clearly sceptical4 ,finally1 as he could get nothing from us but what was true1 he handed us over to the care of the two policemen4 ,we were ordered to proceed to the ,central ,police ,office in ,berlin1 and into our car1 designed by the makers as a three-seater1 we crowded ,herr ,huttney1 the two policemen1 and ourselves4 ,keating drove1 and an hour later we found ourselves in a long dismal corridor three storeys up in ,berlin's ,scotland ,yard4 ,i was in the last stage of depression1 as ,herr ,huttney had just told us that he feared we should not get less than five years' detention as potential spies4 ,in addition we were hungry and cold4 ,after a short wait we were taken before a civilian official who1 with the utmost courtesy1 cross-examined us4 ,we were searched and all our belongings from my ,german word-books to the remnants of a sandwich were laid solemnly on the table4 ,some tiny films ,i had were developed rapidly somewhere in the building4 ,after an anxious examination1 lasting perhaps half an hour and which was conducted in a language of which we did not know a word1 we were released with the advice to leave ,berlin with as little delay as possible4 ,as we left the room the senior official said that he hoped our respective countries would remain friendly for the salvation of the entire world4 ,we stayed the night at a quiet hotel in a street parallel to the ,unter den ,linden and persuaded ,herr ,huttney to dine with us4 ,he was obviously ill at ease and left us as soon as could be done with courtesy4 ,even our experience of the afternoon had not brought home to us any real understanding of the true situation4 ,we still thought that we had been arrested as a matter of ,german habit1 and that all would be well in a week or so when the dangers of war had again passed by4 ,our ,german guest was clearly1 though we did not know it at the time1 unwilling to be seen in public with us4 ,he left1 and weeks later we heard as a matter of rumour that he had met his death at the hands of the authorities under suspicion of giving assistance to enemy spies6 ,it may not be so or we may not have been the spies in question4 ,one hopes not4 ,at the ,embassy we managed to borrow some money from the military attach and were given a passport on which1 unfortunately1 both our names were entered4 ,we were told that if we wished for freedom we had better endeavour to leave ,germany at once4 ,when we said we intended to motor to the ,dutch frontier some doubt was shown as to whether we should be permitted to travel far4 ,nobody doubted for a moment what the end would be4 ,war must come and ,england would be in it4 ,at eleven o'clock we went to a garage and filled the car with everything necessary for a non-stop journey to ,holland1 as we realised that a stoppage on the road would probably become permanent4 ,the chief trouble was petrol1 as an order restricting the sale was expected at any moment4 ,consequently1 while ,keating talked to the old caretaker by means of my phrase-book1 ,i collected petrol cans and put them under the dickey seat4 ,then1 in order that the car might not be seized1 we drove away from the garage and left the car outside the hotel for the rest of the night4 ,everybody1 including the police1 was so excited that no complaint was made4 ,this settled1 we went into a large restaurant organised on ,american lines1 where one paid a fixed sum on entering and then helped oneself to any of dozens of different small dishes arranged on stands4 ,this place was thronged with people1 who1 with ,teutonic thoroughness1 did not permit their excitement of the moment to interfere with their meals4 ,at first we were shy of speech1 fearing our ,english tongue would cause trouble4 ,after a space we began to talk and then1 to our amazement1 a man at the same table asked if we were ,english and1 hearing the truth1 promptly became embarrassingly pleasant and insisted on drinking our national health in dark lager4 ,others to whom we spoke also showed signs of pleasure and for a moment or two we were popular4 ,then for the first time we learnt how keen the ,german people were at that time on an effective naval and military alliance with ,england4 ,from day to day on our way to the coast we were to find this the general feeling4 ,we left the hotel at five on the morning of ,sunday1 ,august #b1 and drove out of ,berlin by the ,unter den ,linden4 ,the weather was perfect1 and with consequent optimism we hoped to reach ,holland before nightfall4 ,no stop was to be made until the ,dutch frontier had been passed4 ,in ,potsdam1 as we passed through1 all was calm4 ,patriotism is very tiring4 ,the streets were deserted and we drove through without notice4 ,all went well with us4 ,the sun was shining and the road1 at this stage of the journey1 was good4 ,the next forty kilometres passed at the rate of one a minute and before seven o'clock we were in ,brandenburg4 ,here ill-fortune again caught us up4 ,as we crossed the bridge over the ,havel a tyre burst4 ,we had no spare inner tube and so ,keating went to a garage near by in order to get replacements4 ,his speech revealed him a foreigner1 the news spread rapidly and by the time he returned to the car a large crowd had assembled round us4 ,at first we thought their interest to be mere curiosity1 but we soon saw that it was underlain by suspicion4 ,to avoid them1 and in order to change tyres quickly1 we drove the car into a narrow courtyard near by and began work4 ,the crowd increased and showed signs of following us into the yard4 ,at this point we closed the yard gates1 which were of iron scroll work covered with plate glass through which our movements could be watched4 ,the mob still increased and its attitude was threatening4 ,a man whose house abutted on the yard1 anxious as to the safety of his property1 sent for the police4 ,shortly afterwards a sergeant arrived who1 luckily1 spoke ,english according to ,american practice4 ,he had1 he told us immediately on arrival1 been in ,san ,francisco during the earthquake1 hence his knowledge of our language4 ,from him we learnt that the crowd in the road believed us to be ,russian spies and were taking measures to prevent our escape4 ,at our request he sent for an officer1 to whom we explained our position4 ,though the latter showed no signs of enthusiasm he believed our statement after examining our passport and driving licence4 ,he then left1 telling his sergeant to see us out of the town as soon as we were ready4 ,after the police interview the crowd melted away and we suffered no further inconvenience4 ,by this time we were hungry and asked our friend the sergeant if he could buy us food4 ,a boy was sent for sausage sandwiches and beer4 ,we drank with the sergeant to the health of ,great ,britain and ,germany and to the confusion of the rest of the world4 ,it is easy to admire a nation when one is at its mercy4 ,it is easier still when one realises the magnificent patriotism and unity of purpose of that same nation4 ,when1 the tyre fitted1 it was time to leave1 we endeavoured to pay the small boy for the food he had brought1 only to be stopped by the sergeant1 who said we were his guests and that he would not like us to leave with a bad opinion of his country6 ,firm friends1 we left that sergeant with deep regret1 as by now we knew our passage through the country was not to be pleasant4 ,at ,magdeburg we were stopped by the ,customs after crossing the bridge over the ,elbe4 ,we were made in full glare of the public eye to demonstrate the innocence and inadequacy of our wardrobe4 ,here1 too1 the roll of celluloid bought at ,osnabruck came under suspicion4 ,the police argued that it could have no possible use on the car and that it must be part of a photographic apparatus1 the rest of which we were wilfully concealing4 ,after ,keating's wonderful use of my incomprehensible phrase-book and many vivid gesticulations from myself1 the police pretended they understood and reluctantly let us travel onwards4 ,from this place onwards our trouble intensified4 ,so long as we continued to move and showed no hesitation all was well1 but no sooner did we stop to examine a signpost at cross roads than we would be surrounded by an excited mob of men and women armed to the teeth with muskets that appeared to date from ,waterloo and with spades1 picks1 and pitchforks of a later date but of no less sanguinary appearance4 ,it was nervous work endeavouring to explain ourselves to the local interpreter1 probably the parish priest1 while any moment the varied contents of any of these guns might shatter such brains as worry had left us4 ,from ,hanover onwards we were stopped at practically every village by patrols of the type described above4 ,that these posts were installed officially was obvious from the attempt at a uniform worn by most of these men4 ,at each place our papers were examined laboriously by the padre or the leading shopkeeper1 in each case without much enlightenment1 for in accordance with ,british insularity our passport was entirely in ,english4 ,from these causes our average speed dropped to eight miles an hour1 and our nerves began to show signs of weariness4 ,one never knew from one moment to another when we might be detained and possibly killed in a fit of misplaced enthusiasm4 ,we had heard1 how ,i cannot say1 that no motoring was permitted after dark4 ,consequently1 as when darkness fell we had reached ,minden1 we decided to stay the night at the ,hotel ,stadt ,london4 ,this for the second time and under such different conditions4 ,on this day there was doubt whether we should reach home again for years or1 if an easy accident came1 perhaps never4 ,the hotel was crowded with officers1 this time mostly in service kit4 ,the dining-room rang with excited talk as to the future and all were flushed with thoughts of the days to come4 ,as we dined we sent for a police officer1 in order that by reporting ourselves in time we should avoid delay in leaving on the following morning4 ,an officer arrived so speedily that we could not fail to realise that he had been in waiting4 ,we asked if we might leave at dawn4 ,he said courteously that as the ,military ,commandant wished to see us at eight o'clock next day it would not be possible for us to get away before breakfast4 ,with courtesy he refused to drink with us and with courtesy he bowed himself out4 ,he was so pleasant that we felt that our affairs had become more serious during the day4 ,shortly after two o'clock ,i was awakened by the sound of marching and the rumbling of wagons4 ,from that hour onwards until dawn battalion after battalion passed on its way to entrain for some battle front as yet unrevealed to us4 ,shortly after dawn troops ceased to pass for some hours and we were able to sleep again4 ,during the wakeful period we each discovered1 as we found on comparing notes next day1 that a sentry was on duty in the corridor outside our rooms4 ,the next morning we reported to the ,commandant at his office1 taking the car with us in case we got immediate leave to proceed4 ,when we arrived we found the ,commandant engaged and we had to wait in an outer room with a schoolmaster who had been brought in to act as our interpreter4 ,while we sat here admiring a large engraving of the picture of the ,german troops greeting ,admiral ,seymour's seamen in ,china 7#aijj7 hung on the wall over the door to the ,commandant's room1 an old man was brought in by two policemen4 ,he was crying bitterly in the hopeless1 dreary manner of the aged4 ,his sobs were painful to hear and we asked our interpreter who he might be and if we could do anything to assist him4 ,the answer was #8,no1 as he is a ,russian spy who is charged with being concerned in an attempt to dynamite the railway bridge over the river4 ,he will1 it is undoubted1 be shot6' ,the charge may or may not have been true1 but that afternoon the old man was shot after a summary trial4 ,it made ,keating and myself less optimistic as to our chances4 ,after a short wait we were brought before the ,commandant1 who listened to our story with courtesy and with obvious trust4 ,we said nothing about the reason of our visit4 ,the ,commandant was disposed to believe that we were not spies1 and would1 ,i think1 have let us go on our way had not another officer in the room interfered4 ,he asked us rather roughly why at such a disturbed time we came to ,germany4 ,keating then explained that we wished to buy an aeroplane4 ,this revelation altered everything1 and the ,commandant1 after talking earnestly for some minutes with his brother officer1 told us1 none too willingly1 we thought1 to return to our hotel and not to leave it until permission was given4 ,in the meantime he would wire to the ,british ,embassy for confirmation of our story4 ,we now gave up hope1 for we knew it was extremely unlikely that the ,embassy would ever receive the wire4 ,we walked sadly back to the hotel1 leaving the car in the charge of the police officials4 ,regretfully we thought of all the beautiful wars breaking out in every direction in which it was now unlikely we would be able to take part4 ,war is inspiring and attractive to all who have not fought4 ,at the hotel we sat moodily by a large window looking into the street and drank lager beer while we watched battalion after battalion pass on their way to entrain for the front4 ,three days before these men had either been on reserve in civil occupations or had been wearing the picturesque uniforms of peace4 ,very few of them had then known what the service dress was like and none had worn it4 ,now1 in strict accordance with the plans of forty years1 each man in the great striking force was fully equipped for the greatest campaign in history4 ,one point struck us unfavourably1 and this was the painful newness of the boots of yellow undressed leather worn by all4 ,later1 we discovered that this too was a sign of forethought4 ,each man had in his kit the boots worn and made comfortable by him in times of peace1 and the new boots were being worn in these first days that they might be in some manner broken in before action was joined4 ,had the troops worn their old boots they would1 when footsore1 have had no means of getting relief other than taking the boots off and resting their feet4 ,on the other hand1 wearing the new boots first1 weariness was greatly reduced by changing into the older boots4 ,such a matter as this1 small in itself1 may mean the difference between defeat and victory4 ,shortly before lunch a ,lieutenant ,kellerman of a reserve unit of ,garrison ,artillery called to see us4 ,he said that he had been told that two ,englishmen were detained in the town1 and that as he admired the ,english and spoke our language fluently he had come to see what assistance he might be able to render4 ,we were glad to see him4 ,it relieved the monotony1 and also he would be able to translate the mystic newspapers to us4 ,but that was not his mission4 ,he talked of ,england and of ,america4 ,all good ,germans seem to have travelled in ,america either ,north or ,south6 ,it was some little time before we realised that most of his questions were asked with other reasons than that of benevolence4 ,he said that a diary of our travels would be interesting in years to come4 ,surely we had kept one8 ,and photographs1 too1 what pleasure they would give to our friends in ,england when we reached home6 ,but as our visitor would neither drink nor smoke--what honest ,german does not drink and smoke8--with us we did not care to answer his questions quite as simply as he would have wished4 ,after a space he left us and returned no more4 ,he may have meant well1 but in the light of after events it is more probable that he was intended to trap us into some unconsciously guilty admission4 ,at lunch time the ,commandant appeared4 ,he told us that no reply had come from ,berlin and that he feared we should find it difficult to get away4 ,his pleasant face showed that he really felt sorry and that it was not pretence4 ,at his request we lunched with him1 though the conversation was of necessity spasmodic1 since neither party spoke the other's tongue4 ,yet it was a kindly thought1 which counts for much at times of tension4 ,he1 in common with most officers of the garrison1 lunched daily at the ,hotel ,stadt ,london1 and our presence at his table went far to make our position more comfortable4 ,the glances of suspicion from other officers in the room died away1 and we felt less like escaped convicts than we had during the morning4 ,through the kindly offices of a neighbour who spoke ,english the ,commandant asked if we thought ,england would take part in the war4 ,we said that we did not think our country would interfere1 as at that time we imagined the opening war to concern ,france1 ,russia1 and ,germany alone4 ,the ,commandant gravely said that he was not optimistic1 for he did not think that ,england would stand by inactive4 ,war would be bad for both countries4 ,he implied that ,germany had for many years desired an alliance with ,england4 ,united the two nations could sweep the world4 ,this was the view taken by many to whom we spoke during the journey and illustrates in some degree the aims of ,modern ,germany4 ,the picture of an uncivilised world waiting for enlightenment by the ,apostles of ,culture in the form of ,german ,army ,corps is pathetic to us1 but it is1 or was1 doubtless very vivid to sincere ,german officers4 ,at four o'clock we were sent for by the ,commandant1 who said that no news had arrived from ,berlin1 but that on his own responsibility he would allow us to leave the town4 ,he signed a statement saying that we had been examined and were permitted to proceed1 as we thought this might help us on our way4 ,as he shook hands he said1 as our interpreter explained1 #8,travel1 travel1 always travel until the frontier is passed6' ,exasperated by the numerous delays1 and apprehensive that our stay in ,germany might attain some manner of permanency if further hesitation marked our path1 we drove with great speed when on the open road4 ,but rapid progress was not continuous4 ,two days before we had found progress slow owing to civilian patrols in villages and at cross-roads1 but now the vigilance of the ,german people seemed to have doubled4 ,it was necessary to slow down some distance from these posts1 if one desired to avoid over-zealous shots4 ,five miles was perhaps the longest stage over which our journey was uninterrupted4 ,in some villages the people were pleasant and believed our statements1 in others we were received with suspicion that even our signed note from the ,commandant at ,minden did not entirely allay4 ,but nothing worse than mental discomfort came to us until we reached ,oldendorf1 a large village some thirty-five kilometres from ,osnabruck4 ,the road was barricaded half a mile short of the first houses1 and we were held up at this point until the #8,hauptmann' arrived to inspect us4 ,while we waited a tall thin man1 wearing over his ordinary clothes a long blue smock1 apparently a farm labourer by trade1 harangued the crowd feverishly1 gesticulating the while with a pitchfork4 ,he did not seem to like us4 ,keating1 whose spirits were still high1 laughed at him and made matters worse4 ,the oration had no immediate effect1 for when the ,hauptmann1 a little fat man in a bright blue uniform1 had seen us we were permitted to drive on to the village4 ,here1 at the beginning of the main street1 we found another barricade and a larger crowd4 ,as we were about to pass the obstruction the man with the pitchfork arrived on a bicycle in a perfect delirium of rage4 ,he accused us of something inexplicable and the crowd at once dragged us from the car4 ,i was made to walk in state with the village policeman1 who had just appeared1 while ,keating drove the car slowly behind us4 ,an ,english-speaking ,german came with me and explained that we were to be examined by the ,burgomaster at the ,town ,hall4 ,i had almost reached sanctuary1 accompanied by a large and curious crowd1 when the fanatic with the pitchfork again tore up on his bicycle and1 purple with rage1 accused us of1 literally1 #8making plans of citadels and photographing the country4' ,at once the crowd turned against me4 ,there was an ugly rush1 and ,i was as near experiencing the fate of ,de ,witt as ,i shall ever be in this life4 ,before ,i was more than half-throttled the policeman managed to get me into the ,town ,hall1 where ,i could in comparative security listen to the howls of the mob outside4 ,keating1 for some reason--perhaps because he always laughed--escaped the full wrath of the mob1 though his passenger spat at him1 and was brought in safely4 ,the ,burgomaster was charming and1 what mattered far more1 was possessed of infinite discernment4 ,he examined our baggage1 now falling into ruin1 and the car1 in public1 in a gallant attempt to allay suspicion4 ,despite this1 ,i firmly believe that the villagers of ,oldendorf will believe to their dying day that we were two anarchists of ,russian extraction4 ,after an anxious hour we were allowed to drive away4 ,at this village1 the day before1 two ,russians1 disguised in women's clothing1 had been dragged from a car and shot on the spot4 ,we had hoped to reach ,osnabruck before dark1 but it was actually ten o'clock when we finally arrived at the hotel4 ,at the entrance to the town1 which we reached shortly after nine o'clock1 we were taken in charge by a military patrol4 ,but the police alone could give us the necessary permission to travel onwards4 ,so1 attended by a ,n4,c4,o41 we drove to the head police office at ,osnabruck4 ,again we were made to spread our belongings on the floor and explain each scrap of paper4 ,the deadly sheet of celluloid we offered to the police in the hopes of ending the recurrent trouble1 but with no effect4 ,full of suspicion as to its uses though they might be1 yet they would not take it4 ,we were delayed here about twenty minutes before we were given permission to stay at the ,kaiserhof ,hotel for the night and to leave ,osnabruck early on the following morning4 ,as we left the office our car was held up by the passage of several hundred ,russian workmen who had been placed under arrest on the outbreak of war and who were now being taken to an internment camp4 ,dejected and hopeless they moved miserably through a hissing and booing crowd to the prison which was to be their home until peace came again4 ,such is discipline in ,germany that half a dozen policemen sufficed to keep the mob1 ever ready to strike1 at bay4 ,at the ,kaiserhof ,hotel we were greeted with singular charm by the proprietor1 who1 though a possible future enemy1 did not show any suspicion or displeasure4 ,nay1 rather did he go out of his way to make us truly comfortable1 he himself superintending the cooking of our belated dinner4 ,while we ate there sat at a table near by a party of ,german students1 who with much noise sang patriotic verses and cheered lustily the names of national heroes while they steadily drank tankard after tankard of beer4 ,after a space they began to take interest in us4 ,glancing from time to time at our table they talked excitedly of #8,englanders' and1 from the few words we could understand1 of our navy4 ,i was very tired1 and under the impression that they desired to pick a quarrel1 ,i went to bed to escape trouble4 ,keating1 on the other hand1 scenting an immediate if a minor war1 refused to move and did not reach his room until the early hours of the morning4 ,it appears that far from desiring to annoy us they wished us to join them4 ,this ,keating did and a short conversation in ,french followed4 ,the use of this language was quickly banned as unpatriotic and a curious but wonderful version of ,english was substituted4 ,they were under the impression that ,england was about to become ,germany's ally4 ,thus combined the two nations were to dominate the world in the manner indicated to us by several others during our travels4 ,these views1 so soon to fade1 served to create a temporary friendship between ,keating and the students1 which ended shortly before three in the morning with the joint humming of #8,god ,save the ,king1' because1 as they said1 #8without words it is the ,national ,anthem of both the related countries4' ,it was a happy evening1 in that it formed so great a contrast to other nights of the same week4 ,the next morning we left on the last lap of our journey through ,germany rather late1 slightly after eleven o'clock1 owing to the encouraging friendliness of the previous night4 ,this day was ,august #d and in honour of its high destiny was one of sunlit splendour4 ,our innkeeper1 in the smallness of his bill and his obvious readiness to give credit until the end of the war in case our money had run short1 showed that some ,germans are not devoid of the kindlier instincts of humanity4 ,human nature is the same the world over by whatever title the races may be labelled4 ,with usual delays from road patrols we passed slowly through ,lott1 ,westerkappeln1 and ,hveringhausen4 ,in ,ibbenburgen we were held up by a long patriotic procession1 chiefly of children dressed brilliantly in white1 and carrying banners decorated in some cases with religious symbols and in some with the armorial device of ,westphalia4 ,as they walked they sang1 with the softness of childhood1 songs of the countryside4 ,it was pleasant when in the midst of our worries to listen to the beat of childish feet and the echo of childish voices between the lines of high narrow houses of this quiet ,westphalian village4 ,curious incidents1 unimportant in themselves1 remain in one's memory for all time4 ,we had intended to drive out of the country through ,bentheim1 the same route by which we entered4 ,but when the police examined us at ,rheine1 though they showed no desire to detain us1 they told us that we must divert our course through ,burgsteinfurt and leave ,germany by ,gronau1 reaching ,enschede in ,holland4 ,this meant a journey increased by forty miles1 a serious matter under the then existing critical conditions4 ,the first few miles out of ,rheine passed by with surprising ease4 ,then as we passed along a straight stretch of road close to ,ochtrup we were stopped by a patrol standing or rather reeling in front of a public-house4 ,these half-dozen men1 bored with inaction1 had improved the shining hour by drinking beer until all the world seemed changed4 ,they were armed heavily with ancient rifles1 each obviously loaded4 ,our unfortunate belongings were again dragged into view and a hilarious examination followed1 the while two of the more drunken men tried to show their belief that we were good fellows by kissing us both with beery enthusiasm4 ,finally1 we were allowed to go amidst their drunken cheers4 ,we had covered about half a mile when several bullets whistled by1 despatched by our late friends as a further token of their joyous sporting instincts6 ,none hit us and we passed on into ,ochtrup1 where the most amazing incident of all befell us4 ,we were taken into the ,town ,hall and were passed as unsuspicious when1 suddenly1 the manner of our captors changed from smiles to frowns4 ,a chauffeur had arrived who swore that he recognised us as two suspects who had escaped from custody at ,buckedorf1 a village some miles on the ,berlin side of ,minden4 ,nothing could shake him in his accusation and things looked unutterably black for us4 ,tempers are hasty when war is the common occupation1 and sentences of death at the worst are only #8regrettable mistakes' when too much haste has been used4 ,some open packets of cartridges on the table added nothing to the pleasure of our feelings4 ,a woman1 who alone could speak ,english with any fluency1 was brought in to translate and she1 too1 did little to improve our position4 ,from her attitude one supposes she had met incivility in ,england during her visit to our country4 ,suddenly it struck us that perhaps the man had seen us at ,minden1 and as we had a pass from that town all would be well if we could convince him of his mistake4 ,to our joy he at once admitted that he was wrong and we were permitted to leave4 ,on arrival at ,gronau we found that the car must remain in ,germany1 so we drove to the station in order to find out whether trains still ran4 ,here1 to our surprise1 we were again arrested by the ,customs authorities and were hauled before the ,burgomaster and some local councillors4 ,we had as translator a ,german-,american who1 unpleasant in his prosperous appearance1 suggested we should answer the questions in a way prompted by him4 ,this we refused1 as the object of lying did not appear clear to us4 ,it was well1 as later it appeared that one at least of those present could speak ,english with ease4 ,at this stage in the journey appeared one of those amazing coincidences that occur as one passes through life4 ,as our names were given in the course of the written evidence1 an old councillor asked me in ,english if ,i came from ,lancashire4 ,when ,i admitted this he said that forty years before he had been working in that county and during that time he had been befriended by a man of my name4 ,it appeared on a further description that this good ,samaritan was closely related to me6 ,this fortunate incident had1 ,i am sure1 some effect on our position4 ,in the end the ,burgomaster telephoned to the ,g4,o4,c4 at ,munster1 putting our case as favourably as possible1 and describing us as ,americans4 ,permission was given by this higher authority for our release4 ,a local mill owner who had given us every assistance garaged the car1 and undertook to take care of it4 ,thus did we part in a friendly mood4 ,an hour later we entered ,enschede after a long argument with the ,customs officer1 who thought us too dirty to be respectable4 ,next day found us at the ,hague1 where1 in our rags but happy1 we dined at the ,htel des ,indes4 ,here we read the ,times and heard of the declaration of war4 ,that night we crossed to ,harwich4 99 99 99 99 99 ,note4--,keating on arrival in town applied for and was given a commission in the ,royal ,flying ,corps4 ,later he transferred to the ,irish ,guards4 ,on ,january #bj1 #aiae1 he was killed in ,france during bombing practice by the premature explosion of a bomb which he was using for demonstration purposes4 ,so ended a life of enthusiasm4 ,the world lost a very gallant gentleman in ,harry ,sheehy ,keating4 ,yet ,at the door of life1 at the gate of breath ,there are worse things waiting for men than death4 ,,jan ,,issel4 ,in the month of ,august #aiad ,mr4 ,haseldine of ,culme ,house in ,south ,devon was as clearly persuaded as every other patriotic ,briton that we had got to beat the ,germans1 cost what it might1 and what it might chance to cost him individually he well knew1 his only son being an officer in the ,guards4 ,so he was scarcely disposed to sympathise with a man who1 having no less than four sons1 made it a great grievance that the youngest of them was threatening to enlist4 #8,what do you expect me to say to the lad1 ,issel8' he asked of the ruddy1 grey-bearded tenant who had come to beg his aid4 #8,i can't tell him he is wrong if he wants to fight for his country4' #8,aw1 'tidden that1 ,squire1' returned ,farmer ,issel1 shaking his head4 #8,i don't b'lieve as ,jan feels a call to go an' fight no more'n what his brothers du2 but a's that quare an' opinionated us can't make nothin' of un4 ,can't spare un nayther1 with harvest comin' on an' all1 that's the trewth4' ,it was certainly the truth that labour was scarce and that the moment was ill chosen for withdrawing a pair of strong arms from ,bratton ,farm4 ,moreover1 those were the early days of the war1 when it had not yet become apparent that ,england must raise and equip a huge force4 ,therefore1 after some further parley1 ,mr4 ,haseldine promised that he would give young ,john ,issel a word or two of sound advice1 and1 with that end in view1 he suggested to his daughter ,mildred1 a few hours later1 that they should make ,bratton ,farm the object of their customary afternoon ride4 ,it was beautiful1 hot weather1 promising well for the approaching harvest1 and as ,mr4 ,haseldine jogged through the lanes1 on either side of which were broad fields of ripening oats and barley1 he remarked to his companion1 with a laugh and a sigh1 that some people didn't know when they were well off4 ,patriotism was right enough1 and he would be the last to discourage it2 yet before a man decided to plunge into all the trials and miseries of a campaign he ought at least to make sure that his duty did not lie nearer home4 ,and something of that sort was what the ,squire presently said to a slim1 dark-eyed young man who1 turning round at the sound of the horses' hoofs1 raised his arms from the gate over which he had been leaning and touched his hat4 ,jan ,issel listened respectfully1 appeared to be a little troubled1 and had no very definite answer to make4 ,what could be gathered was that his mother had been pressing him hard1 that he did not want to vex her--nor yet nobody else--but that he reckoned he would have to go all the same4 ,oh1 not until after harvest1 for sure2 he had given a promise to that effect and would keep it4 #8,quite right1 my boy1' said ,mr4 ,haseldine1 gathering up his reins4 #8,think it well over2 don't be in a hurry4 ,you may be wanted at the front by-and-by1 and so may your brothers2 we don't any of us know yet what lies before us4 ,but for the present it seems to me that you're more wanted where you are4 ,now1 ,mildred1 if you'll wait here for me1 ,i'll be with you again in a few minutes4 ,i must just see ,issel and tell him about several things that ,i forgot to mention this morning4' ,thus ,miss ,haseldine was left in the company of a youth of whose existence she had hitherto been but vaguely aware1 but whose handsome face and great sad eyes made appeal to her4 ,she began to question him1 and1 either because her pretty face and kindly blue eyes made appeal to him or because of some subtle suggestion of sympathy in her voice1 he spoke with a good deal more ease and openness than he had shown in replying to her father4 ,it was not only the outbreak of war1 he confessed1 that had put it into his head to take up soldiering4 ,many and many a time before had he thought of that way of escape from ,bratton--because it was from ,bratton that he yearned to escape4 ,no1 he hadn't no trouble1 without you could call it trouble to be uneasy in your mind2 only he felt as if he must get away4 #8,i couldn't explain it to you1 miss2 ,i haven't no power o' language4 ,happen ,i'm unrasonable1 as mother says4 ,dick and ,tom and ,bob they don't ask no better'n to plough an' sow an' reap year in1 year out2 but with me 'tis different4 ,reckon as ,i'd go mazed if ,i was to stop home for always4' #8,i know what is the matter with you1' said ,miss ,haseldine1 smiling2 #8you're bored4' ,well1 that might be4 ,the word was not included in ,jan's slender vocabulary1 but perhaps he was capable of the sensation4 ,miss ,haseldine told him that she was and that a vast number of persons were similarly afflicted4 ,the recognised remedy was work2 but1 for obvious reasons1 that was not applicable to his case4 ,how about reading as a diversion8 ,did he ever open a book8 ,this chance shot unexpectedly scored4 ,jan's big brown eyes lightened up as he answered that he loved nothing in the world so much as books to read4 ,unfortunately1 he had exhausted the literature of ,bratton ,farm1 which consisted of the ,bible1 sundry theological works1 #8,pilgrim's ,progress1' an anthology entitled #8,pearls from the ,poets1' and a few dilapidated volumes of the ,family ,herald4 ,miss ,haseldine said she could introduce him to a rather wider circle of writers than that4 #8,come up to the house after dinner this evening and ,i'll lend you all the books you care to carry away4' ,jan was almost as grateful to the young lady as a starving man would have been for a loaf of bread2 yet it was perhaps rather her looks and her voice than her kind offer that compelled his gratitude4 ,hitherto nobody had understood him--which was the less surprising because he had some difficulty in understanding himself--and he had observed a general disposition to treat him with the indulgence accorded to the mentally deficient4 ,but here at last was a beautiful1 beneficent being who not only did not call him a fool but clearly showed1 without actually saying so1 that she entered into his feelings and shared them4 ,he had often seen her before1 in church and elsewhere1 but did not remember ever to have heard her speak4 ,after she and her father had ridden away1 he dropped his elbows upon the gate once more and for some time thought about her dreamily1 with a pleasantly warmed heart1 wondering why he had never before noticed her physical beauty4 ,then he stretched himself and strode off to get the cows in for milking4 ,mildred ,haseldine1 if scarcely beautiful1 was as pretty as golden hair1 forget-me-not blue eyes1 and neat little features could make her4 ,beneficent she might fairly be called1 inasmuch as she was always glad to do a good turn to her neighbours1 and this farm lad1 with his odd craving for mental nourishment and his rebellion against the monotony of agricultural life1 interested her4 ,so as soon as she reached home she laid the library shelves under contribution1 selecting #8,ivanhoe1' ,tennyson's ,poems1 ,carlyle's #8,past and ,present' and ,fitchett's #8,deeds that ,won the ,empire1' as being a sufficiently comprehensive batch to begin with1 and handed the volumes to her maid ,judith1 with instructions that they were to be given to young ,john ,issel1 if he should call for them4 ,she observed that ,judith blushed2 but the circumstance made no impression upon her1 ,judith's blushes being frequent and for the most part devoid of cause4 ,as a matter of fact1 ,judith ,combe had some excuse for exhibiting self-consciousness at the sound of ,jan ,issel's name4 ,not very much1 it is true2 for in her class of life the fact of #8walking out' with a young man on ,sunday afternoons is not held to commit either of the walkers to subsequent matrimony1 and certainly ,jan did not consider himself in any way pledged to ,judy ,combe1 whom he had chosen merely because1 like his brothers and everybody else1 he had to have a female companion of some sort4 ,he liked the gentle1 demure lass1 was indifferently aware that she was nice-looking 7she was in reality decidedly prettier than ,miss ,haseldine71 and even supposed that he might marry her some day4 ,but that1 of course1 would only be if he should stay at ,bratton1 instead of going out into the wide world--a contingency which he never cared to contemplate4 ,an access of shyness led him to ask for ,judith when he went up to the great house that evening2 but he was just a trifle disappointed when she joined him1 bearing the promised armful of literature1 and when he realised that he was not to see his benefactress4 ,nothing1 however1 forbade him to talk about her1 nor did he say much about anybody or anything else during an interview which took place by starlight in the stable-yard4 ,judith1 who was greatly attached to her mistress1 was as laudatory as could be wished1 if not particularly informing4 ,miss ,mildred was always doing kind things2 so ,judith did not think it strange that she should lend books to ,jan ,issel if he wanted them2 though it was perhaps rather strange that he should want them4 ,she timidly intimated as much1 but received no answer4 ,it was1 of course1 impossible to explain to ,judy ,combe what the printed page meant to one who was consumed with curiosity respecting the world in which we dwell and who had no opportunities of coming into contact with a verbal interpreter4 ,it would likewise have been difficult to bring home to her the motives that such a man might have for adopting the profession of arms2 so that subject also was left untouched4 ,for the rest1 ,jan was eager to say good-night1 being still more eager to discover what ,miss ,mildred thought him capable of appreciating4 ,miss ,mildred1 it may be conjectured1 had not given a great deal of thought to the matter2 but she bestowed quite as much pleasure upon her protg as if she had4 ,that night and on several successive nights ,jan sat up1 devouring the volumes by the light of a single candle long after all the other inmates of the farm were asleep4 #8,ivanhoe1' which was pretty plain sailing1 delighted him1 as did also ,fitchett's stirring and admirably related yarns4 ,if he could not always make out what ,tennyson was driving at1 he loved the rhythm and melody of his verse1 just as he loved the sonorous grandeur of certain chapters in ,isaiah and ,ecclesiastes1 the meaning of which was completely hidden from him4 ,in like manner thousands of people derive genuine enjoyment from listening to a symphony1 although they are ignorant of the structure of such compositions and cannot really follow them4 ,but1 oddly enough1 it was with ,carlyle that ,jan was best pleased4 ,the bygone abuses and social anomalies against which #8,past and ,present' thunders naturally said nothing to him1 nor could he trace much connection between them and the chronicle of ,jocelin of ,brakelond4 ,it must also be admitted that he skipped a good many pages4 ,what roused him to enthusiasm was not the writer's theme but his mastery of language and the magnificent1 disdainful carelessness with which he displayed it1 as though feeling himself big enough to be independent of all rules4 ,jan ,issel1 it must be supposed1 possessed the literary sense--which indeed1 like every other artistic sense1 is inborn1 not to be acquired4 ,when he went to ,culme ,house to return the books and beg for more1 he tried1 not over-successfully1 to express to ,miss ,mildred 7who received him this time and took him into the library7 the intensity of his admiration for a philosopher who is commonly considered to be above the heads of the simple4 #8,a girt man1 miss1' he said--#8a powerful man6' #8,oh1 yes1' agreed ,mildred1 surprised and amused1 #8he's--picturesque4 ,hardly at his best in 8,past and ,present10 though4 ,i'll lend you his 8,french ,revolution10 which is much more interesting4' ,most leisured readers require a considerable length of time to assimilate that work2 ,jan1 who had practically no leisure between sunrise and sunset1 got through it in a week4 ,he read it1 as he read most works1 with only a dim comprehension but with great contentment4 ,contentment1 in fact1 was the blessing bestowed upon him by ,miss ,haseldine's happy inspiration2 so that he spoke no more of joining the ,army1 while she was rewarded by the respectful thanks of his parents4 ,from ,jan himself she received something more than thanks and respect4 ,it was1 no doubt1 natural enough that his imagination1 fired by the novels and plays which she prescribed as occasional alternatives to historical study1 should clothe her with the attributes of a heroine of romance4 ,his contentment1 for that matter1 was perhaps as much the outcome of talks with ,miss ,mildred as of communings with authors who by themselves might rather have tended to increase the latent disquietude which they were supposed to have allayed4 ,these talks became frequent during the autumn weeks1 occasion for them being willingly supplied by a young lady who could not help finding ,jan ,issel unusual and interesting4 ,he came out1 every now and then1 with the quaintest1 the most original1 the most poetical remarks1 and if his hearer sometimes had a little inward laugh1 she was very careful not to let her features betray her2 because his sensitiveness was no less manifest than his timid devotion4 ,to inspire devotion--especially when it is timid--is seldom disagreeable to any young lady2 so ,miss ,mildred often overtook ,jan in the lanes or summoned him to the house2 and this was really kind of her1 seeing that she1 who had so much to fill her thoughts just then1 might well have been excused if she had forgotten all about a queer1 dreamy farm lad4 ,for those were the days in which the long battle of the ,aisne was developing1 and although her brother ,frank had thus far escaped death or wounds1 bad news of him and others might come at any moment4 ,in ,jan's thoughts there was not much room for the war and its vicissitudes4 ,there would have been no room in them at all for ,judith ,combe if she had not enjoyed the proverbial privilege of living near the rose1 which entailed the more dubious one of hearing the rose extolled without intermission during those ,sunday walks which at an earlier period had been so largely taciturn4 ,but ,judith was a long-suffering little soul1 and it was only after much hesitation that she ventured to ask3 #8,bain't 'ee gettin' tu fond of her1 ,jan8' ,jan reddened all over his face and neck4 #8,tu fond o' ,miss ,mildred6 ,what be dramin' about then8 ,do 'ee think a dog can get tu fond o' the sun8 ,you'm talkin' proper nonsense1 ,judy4' ,nevertheless1 ,judith's words came to him as a shock and a revelation1 over which he pondered for hours afterwards4 ,at first he was ashamed of his audacity and felt as if he had been guilty of some unpardonable outrage2 but by degrees he arrived at a different view of the matter4 ,what if he did love a human goddess8 ,when all was said1 he could not help it4 ,the veriest cur1 according to his own homely metaphor1 may bask in the sun1 and she could not be displeased by what would certainly never be revealed to her4 ,it was his secret1 which he was surely free to cherish1 without the least shadow of hope1 much as certain sixteenth-century poets cherished a passion for ,queen ,elizabeth1 or said they did4 ,but the fact of being without shadow of hope--as of course he was--did not preclude indulgence in ecstatic visions4 ,his mobile imagination enabled him to see himself earning literary renown 7like the peasant ,robert ,burns1 perhaps71 rising by virtue of the same to a position of admitted equality with the highest in the land and stripping the laurels from his brow to lay them at ,mildred's feet4 ,such things could not come to pass1 and he knew that they could not2 yet he liked to picture them and might plead that his fancies were as harmless as his love4 ,harmless both may have been2 only both contributed to bring about a return of his old restlessness4 ,he was now embarrassed in conversing with ,miss ,mildred2 he could not get rid of a haunting dread that she might suspect his sentiments 7she was perhaps not so far from suspecting them as he thought71 and then how would he ever dare to look her in the face again8 ,more and more evident was it to him that he must leave the farm1 that he would have to go some day and that he had better go soon4 ,added to this1 his brothers were beginning to talk about donning khaki4 ,without saying anything to their father1 they discussed the question amongst themselves and agreed that if #8th' old war' was going to last another year1 as the newspapers said it was1 they could not decently keep out of it4 ,it was impossible for all of them to go1 that was certain2 but one1 or even two1 of them might4 ,the youngest they excluded1 not only because #8mother wouldn't niver part with 'un1' but because he was understood to have been cured of military hankerings4 ,thus it became plain that procrastination would only place fresh obstacles in ,jan's path4 ,it was on a grey morning in ,october that he was accosted by a recruiting sergeant at ,exeter1 whither he had been sent to dispose of some steers1 and there was no need to impress upon him that ,flanders was the right place for a likely young chap without encumbrances4 ,he intimated that that was his own view and asked whether he could have a couple of days #8to wind up like4' ,three1 if he chose1 the pleased sergeant replied2 but he said two would be enough4 ,they might even be excessive1 he thought1 for although old ,mrs4 ,issel was a fond mother1 she had a #8tarrible power o' spache' when aggrieved2 but he could not go off to the wars without taking leave of ,miss ,mildred1 and he wanted to make sure of a farewell audience4 ,more with that end in view than because he recognised any claim that ,miss ,mildred's maid might have upon him1 he marched up to ,culme ,house the same evening and briefly informed ,judith that he had taken the ,king's shilling4 #8,aw1 ma dear soul6' cried the girl1 throwing up her hands in dismay1 #8what iver did 'ee du that vur8' ,it was a thing1 ,jan answered1 that had to be done--a thing that every young man in ,england would be doing before long1 by what he had heard tell4 ,he further attempted to explain why for him in particular it was essential to break fresh ground2 but1 not making much of a success of this and noticing1 moreover1 that ,judith was not listening1 he desisted4 ,judith was crying softly1 and that gave him a pain at his heart4 ,his mother also1 instead of scolding him1 as he had expected her to do1 had wept1 throwing her apron over her head and rocking herself to and fro1 while his father1 after one short1 angry outburst1 had abruptly fallen silent and had walked out of the house with bowed shoulders4 ,it is cruel to have to hurt people like that2 but--what can one do8 ,he did his best to comfort poor little ,judy1 who was afraid #8they pesky ,germans' would kill him--which indeed did not seem unlikely--but who tried to recover a cheerful countenance and assured him that she understood everything4 ,he could not1 of course1 believe that she did1 and would have been quite sorry if she had2 still he was grateful to her for being so brave about it and for readily promising to deliver a message to ,miss ,mildred4 ,he had thought--perhaps half hoped--that ,miss ,mildred would reproach him a little for having so suddenly taken a step from which he had been dissuaded by her2 but when she met him on the morrow she did nothing of the kind4 ,circumstances alter cases2 the country now needed all who were fit to serve2 she assumed that ,jan had been actuated by patriotic motives and had only praise and congratulations for him4 #8,how proud we shall all be of you if you come back with a ,v4,c4 or an officer's commission6' she exclaimed4 #8,nothing is impossible in war time1 you know4' ,jan smiled and shook his head1 but1 he often thought of her words afterwards and made them the nucleus of innumerable day-dreams4 ,what he longed for at the time was some hint of regret on her part1 some intimation that she would miss him a little4 ,however1 she did not seem to think that there was anything to regret1 and it was absurd to suppose that his departure could make any difference to her4 ,why should it8 ,one thing1 at any rate1 she said which was as delightful as it was unforeseen4 #8,you must let me hear from you1 ,john4 ,write often and at great length1 please1 and tell me exactly how everything strikes you4 ,answer8 ,oh1 of course ,i will1 and ,i'll send you socks and mufflers and things1 not to mention books4' ,she added1 after a moment1 #8,i was thinking of giving you something now1 only ,i don't know what you would like to have4' ,jan knew very well what he would like to have3 whether he might dare to ask for it was another question4 ,however1 he was going away and it was probable enough that he would see her no more2 so he screwed up courage to confess that the most welcome gift she could bestow upon him would be something that had belonged to herself--maybe the little silver pencil-case which he had so often seen her use4 ,she presented it to him with a bright smile and with no appearance of thinking him presumptuous4 ,then she frankly shook him by the hand1 wished him the best of luck and left him beside the gate leading up to ,bratton ,farm1 where their colloquy had been held4 ,at the bend of the road she turned to wave him a last farewell and so disappeared into the misty twilight4 ,jan raised the precious pencil-case to his lips1 pushed it into his waistcoat pocket and was happy4 ,he even told himself in so many words that he was happy2 which is an experience of such rarity that those to whom it has once come never quite forget it4 ,jan thought that if he were to be shot the next week1 he would still have had as good a moment as three score years and ten of life could bring him4 ,but of course there was no question of his being shot the next week or for a great many weeks to come4 ,the training process through which he and other recruits had to go might have been tedious if he had not accepted it as an indispensable means towards an end1 and if he had not1 rather unexpectedly1 found a certain pleasure in it4 ,the monotony of drill was at least a novel species of monotony2 his comrades were for the most part cheery1 companionable fellows1 many of whom differed sufficiently from the types hitherto known to him to stimulate his ever alert curiosity2 the sergeant who instructed them in the use of the bayonet had semi-jocular anecdotes of his own experiences to relate which exhibited the grim visage of war as wreathed in smiles4 ,even the very real hardships and discomforts of camp life under persistent1 pitiless rain were made light of by ,jan1 who felt himself developing into an efficient soldier day by day and who indeed was often singled out for commendation4 ,he wrote regularly1 if briefly1 to the old people at the farm1 regretting that there was so little to say2 yet he found plenty to say to ,miss ,mildred4 ,had she not bidden him to write #8at great length'8 ,those carefully composed epistles of his1 which were couched in a queer mixture of dialect and high-flown language and in which words 7culled from the works of some more competent manipulator of them7 were occasionally used in a sense unrecognised by the dictionary1 were not without pathos1 as showing forth a poor mortal brimming over with ideas and impressions and struggling hard to be articulate4 ,let us hope that their recipient so interpreted them4 ,her replies1 at any rate1 laconic though they were1 gave the utmost satisfaction to a worshipper who was duly sensible of her graciousness in deigning to reply at all4 ,what was not very satisfactory to ,jan was that there was no talk of the battalion to which he belonged proceeding to the front4 ,some of the men professed to doubt whether they would ever leave the country2 others had heard that they were to get marching orders in the coming summer2 all were agreed that they would have to make the best of their sodden camp for several months yet4 ,but no such trial of patience awaited ,jan1 who was despatched to ,france with a draft at very short notice early in ,february and who was not long left in his first halting-place some distance behind the fighting line4 ,his impressions of life in the flooded trenches and of what it felt like to be under fire were given with great simplicity1 though not without here and there a graphic touch1 in the letters which he afterwards found time to write to ,mildred4 ,this war1 he said1 was not like any other war that he had ever heard or read of4 ,it had had its glories1 but it did not seem as if it was going to have any more4 ,your enemies were close at hand1 but you couldn't get at them1 nor yet they couldn't get at you4 ,so1 taken as a whole1 it was not exciting4 ,the worst part of it was the awful noise of the guns and the bursting shells1 which he found more trying than the wet and cold and the ugly sights about which he was sure that his correspondent would not wish him to say much4 ,the desolation of the ravaged country1 the wrecked villages and farmhouses1 the homeless peasants1 the poor wandering dogs and cats--he dwelt on these and said that he seemed to be witnessing all the horrors and miseries of war without any of its grand spectacular effects4 7#8,where in the world did he get 8spectacular effects0 from8' ,mildred smilingly wondered when she read this sentence47 #8,and yet1' he went on1 #8it's a singular thing that ,i never felt at peace like ,i do now4 ,i don't know as ,i can make you understand1 ,miss--,i'm so bad at setting my meaning down--but it keeps coming over me that all's as it should be4 ,particular at nights1 when the clouds blow away and ,i can look up at the stars4 ,this planet we live on isn't but a very small speck1 and we1 scrambling about in our trenches1 as it might be so many emmets1 what matter how soon we're gone and forgotten8 ,years and centuries pass and everything is forgotten4 ,so why worry8 ,and then the chaps alongside of me4 ,we don't talk except about common things1 only ,i know they're feeling the same as ,i do1 which draws us together like4 ,maybe it's because of death being always round the corner4 ,do you mind that poem of ,kipling's1 called ,the ,return1 in one of the books you lent me8 ,it's wonderful true what he says 8,so much more near than ,i 'ad known1 ,so much more great than ,i 'ad guessed-- ,and me1 like all the rest1 alone-- ,but reachin' out to all the rest60 ,that's just the way it strikes me1 and somehow it seems to make for peace1 though ,i couldn't say why4' ,if ,jan had probed and analysed the serenity of spirit which he strove to define1 he might have discovered that it arose simply from a sense that he was doing his duty2 but he never quite arrived at that conclusion4 ,what he did conclude--and found humorously puzzling--was that the place into which he had dropped was the right place for him1 that he must always have been meant to be a soldier1 not a poet nor an imaginative writer nor any of the fine things that he would have liked to be1 but just a private in an infantry regiment4 ,well1 even so1 ambition need not be banished1 and his chance of earning what ,miss ,mildred had said would make her proud might come any day4 ,he did1 as the weeks slipped on1 obtain sundry occasions of proving himself a capable fighter2 but the affairs in which he was concerned were not important enough for public record4 ,save for these sporadic attacks upon the enemy1 which for the most part resulted only in the loss of a considerable number of lives1 there was no break in the regular routine of so many days in the trenches1 followed by a period of rest in billets1 whence he despatched his letters1 writing them invariably with the pencil which was his most treasured possession4 ,it was on a cold1 frosty night in spring that two staff officers1 passing along his trench1 halted beside him1 and one of them called out3 #8,hullo6--hanged if it isn't ,john ,issel6 ,well1 ,jan1 'tis a wisht poor job sodgerin'1 sure enough4 ,bain't it now8' ,jan1 standing at the salute1 had a broad smile for the handsome young fellow who accosted him in the dialect of which he had lately been endeavouring to rid himself4 ,he did not know much of ,captain ,haseldine1 but he was proud and pleased to be recognised1 and he made reply that he had nothing to complain about4 ,campaigning1 he added1 was teaching him a lot of new things4 #8,oh1 it's doing that for most of us1' ,frank ,haseldine observed1 laughing4 #8,even for some of our ,generals4' ,he went on talking for a few minutes about home affairs1 remarking in an explanatory parenthesis to his companion1 #8,issel comes from our parish4' ,then he said to ,jan #8,you'll see ,captain ,bernard again one of these days1 ,i hope1 if we all pull through4 ,captain ,bernard is engaged to be married to my sister ,mildred4' ,it was a little like being hit by a bullet--a sudden thump which made your heart stand still1 yet left you erect and with an instant feeling that your first duty was to show no sign of distress4 ,jan showed none1 and presently the two officers moved on1 leaving him free to think what he would beneath his friends the blinking stars4 ,these gave him such comfort as they had it in their power to bestow4 ,they said it did not matter1 because nothing really matters1 and to that view in the abstract he could assent4 ,but to affirm that so long as his little life might last it would not matter that somebody--he had scarcely looked at the man--was going to marry his goddess was quite vain4 ,if the stars had asked whether he had ever imagined that he himself could marry ,miss ,mildred1 he would naturally have answered #8,of course not'2 yet1 however ridiculous and insane it might be1 the truth was that he could not bear the idea of her belonging to anybody else4 ,so what it came to1 and what it had doubtless been bound to come to from the outset1 was that he could not bear conditions which were altogether right1 reasonable and inevitable4 ,jan ,issel was not the first to find himself in that forlorn plight4 ,in extreme cases it has been known to lead to suicide2 in the vast majority it entails submission1 more or less facile1 to the decrees of destiny2 for ,jan it translated itself into a very fervent and genuine hope that the ,germans might wipe him out4 ,he saw now--it may have been illogical1 but that made no difference to the fact--that his visions had been utterly childish1 that he1 an uneducated yokel1 had no future and could have none1 that it would be far better for him to end out there in ,flanders than to be confronted some day with the dire prospect of a return to tilling the ,devon fields and herding the ,devon cattle4 ,this mood1 it is true1 did not endure2 for he became hazily conscious that there was something contemptible in it and that a young1 strong man has no business to wish himself extinguished4 ,nevertheless1 he had more difficulty than usual in composing his next letter to ,mildred1 in which he made no allusion to her engagement1 thinking that it would be bad manners to do so1 since she had not mentioned it to him4 ,at the end he remarked3 #8,we lose men most days1 and maybe my turn will come4 ,it is good to be alive1 because the world is beautiful and wonderful and because of some of the people in it2 but ,i don't think there can be many so happy that they should mind dying1 for ,i can't believe but what death means rest4' ,with such persuasions he was well prepared to face what was in store for him when at length his battalion was told off to join in an engagement on a large scale4 ,they knew very little about it beyond the fact that the ,british forces1 after a rather prolonged spell of inaction1 were about to resume the offensive and that their own special job would be to take a position facing them which was said to have been mined4 ,that it had been mined with success was evidenced towards evening by a series of terrific explosions which seemed simply to annihilate the enemy's defensive works2 but the infantry were held back until a deluge of shell had been poured into the ruins4 ,then ,jan and his comrades got the order to go1 and away they went through the twilight smoke and dust1 meeting with no opposition from the apparently broken foe4 ,the distance that separated them from the first line of hostile trenches was traversed in no time1 and that first line1 or what remained of it1 was occupied with ease2 but in the communication trenches the ,germans made a stand which resulted in hand-to-hand fighting of a really desperate nature4 ,of what was taking place amidst that tumult and welter and in the falling dusk ,jan had only a confused notion2 he supposed he must be performing his share of the task all right1 because somebody sang out1 #8,well done1 ,issel6' ,he was aware of being wounded1 for the warm blood was trickling down his leg and soaking through his putties2 but he felt neither pain nor weakness4 ,finally there came an abrupt lull4 ,the bearded1 grey-coated ,germans had vanished1 and he realised that the next line of trenches had been carried4 ,he realised also1 for the second time in his life1 that he was quite happy4 ,when he fell in1 forming up with the remnants of his shattered battalion1 he heard himself laughing aloud in sheer glee--he was as happy as that6 ,was it a victory8 ,it seemed so2 yet a sudden and violent fusillade1 opening upon them from their left1 caused him to glance interrogatively at his neighbour4 ,the man answered his unspoken query with a muttered #8,enfiladed1 by ,god6' and immediately afterwards fell forward1 groaning and swearing4 ,but no groan came from ,jan ,issel1 whom a bullet struck full in the heart2 so that he dropped and never stirred again--only one amongst thousands who were delivered that night from the complications and bewilderments of a sick world4 ,to fall fighting for ,england in the full tide of life1 to fall1 shot through the heart1 without a pang and in a moment of supreme exaltation is to finish gloriously1 enviably4 ,we all know this and we all say it1 though some of us perhaps may feel that our own hearts are none the less broken for that4 ,however1 it was not to be expected that ,mildred ,haseldine should be broken-hearted when the news came to ,culme ,house4 ,she was much distressed2 still she could not but recognise that there were compensating circumstances1 and she went over at once to ,bratton ,farm to impart some of these to the poor lad's parents4 ,if her condolences were not received in quite as grateful a spirit as they might have been1 she could and did make allowances for the grief-stricken farmer and his wife4 ,old ,issel scarcely listened to what she was saying1 and cut her short by calling out in a loud1 harsh voice3 #8,what did 'a want to go and get hisself killed vur8 ,darn they foul ,germans6 ,yes1 ,miss1 ,i don't doubt but you'm sorry1 but it bain't your sorrow as'll bring my boy back4' ,with that he stumped out of the kitchen1 leaving ,mildred to do what she could with ,mrs4 ,issel1 which was an even more difficult matter4 ,for ,mrs4 ,issel1 dry-eyed and despairing1 had some rather unkind and irrational things to say4 ,when1 for instance1 she was gently told that her visitor had strong personal reasons for sympathising with all to whom the war was bringing anxiety or loss1 it was not very generous to rejoin that the young lady need not fret4 #8,they staff officers don't niver take no hurt1 so ,i've heerd tell4' ,but what was really too unjust to be endured without protest was the assertion that it was ,miss ,mildred more than anybody who had driven ,jan away to distant battlefields by #8putting a passel of foolish notions into his head4' ,in self-defence1 ,mildred had to remind the old woman that1 so far from having encouraged ,jan to enlist1 she had tried1 by providing him with other interests1 to deter him from so doing4 ,as for his actual enlistment1 she had only heard of it after it had become an accomplished fact4 ,this being undeniably true1 ,mrs4 ,issel made no reply and remained silent while it was represented to her that we can never be sure whether an early death is a misfortune or not4 ,no living being can hope to escape sorrow and suffering1 and ,mildred1 for her part1 did not think that poor ,jan's temperament was of the kind that tends towards happiness4 ,probably that also was true4 ,it would hardly have made ,jan happy to discover--as he might have done--that he had mistaken an entirely commonplace young woman for a divinity nor to realise--as he must have done--that he was too heavily weighted in life's handicap to emerge from the ruck where he was so ill at ease4 ,judith ,combe1 while brushing her mistress's hair that evening1 said of him with unexpected sagacity that maybe ,providence had #8served him kind' by taking him out of this world1 seeing that he would always have been set upon what was beyond his reach4 ,judith herself was so set upon obtaining something for which she was more than a little afraid to ask that she decided to take the risk of making her desire known4 ,could ,miss ,mildred spare one of ,jan's letters8 ,he had not written to her at all1 and she would like very much1 if she might1 to have a page or two from his own hand4 #8,because we was in a manner friends1 you see1 ,miss4' ,mildred looked inquiringly at her sedate handmaid and smiled4 #8,i am not sure that it would be quite fair to the poor boy1' she answered4 #8,he says some things which many people would think rather comic1 and perhaps ,i oughtn't4444 ,however1 you wouldn't understand4 ,oh1 well1 yes1 ,judith--take them all1 if you care to have them4 ,i think ,i can find the whole collection4' ,so the whole collection became the property of ,judith1 who spent many an hour over it and stained some of its leaves with her tears4 ,it is by no means certain that she did not understand ,jan's flights of fancy and diction4 ,it may even have constituted one of the unnumbered ironies of human experience that ,jan himself should have been more nearly understood by the illiterate ,judith than by ,mildred ,haseldine or by anybody else4 ,w4 ,e4 ,,norris4 ,,the ,,new #8,,ubique'3 ,a ,,battle4 ,,by ,,jeffery ,e4 ,,jeffery4 ,by the ears and the eyes and the brain1 ,by the limbs and the hands and the wings1 ,we are slaves to our masters the guns1 ,but their slaves are the masters of kings6 ,,gilbert ,,frankau4 ,somewhere about the middle of ,june1 we knew definitely that we were #8for it1' as the soldier says2 we knew that our division was one of those chosen for the great concentration which was to culminate in the #8great push'--and we were proud of the distinction4 ,a three days' march brought us to a certain training area1 where we camped for a week and worked some seventeen hours a day--counting1 that is1 from rveill at #d ,a4,m4 until the last bit of harness was hung up clean and ready for the morrow at #i ,p4,m4 ,during this period two incidents of note occurred4 ,one was that the ,child suddenly developed pleurisy1 and was removed to hospital--a serious loss at any time1 but especially so at this particular moment4 ,the other was that a squadron of hostile aircraft flew over our manuvre ground and actually dropped a bomb within #aej yards of the tail of our column4 ,which1 seeing that we were some twenty miles from the nearest part of the line and at the moment only playing at soldiers1 was most disconcerting4 ,from the time when we left this training area until1 about three weeks later1 we were withdrawn to rest in a quiet part of the line1 ,i kept a rough diary of our particular share in the greatest battle ever fought by the ,british ,army4 ,the following are some extracts from it1 in no way embellished1 but only enlarged so as to make them intelligible4 ,june #bg4--,nine-hour night march southwards1 arriving in comfortable billets at #c4cj ,a4,m4 ,aeroplanes 7or at any rate1 hostile ones7 are the curse of this war3 if it was not for fear of them we could move by daylight in a reasonable manner4 ,the old saddler1 dozing on a wagon1 fell off and was run over3 nothing broken1 but he will be lost to us4 ,a great pity1 as he's a charming character and a first-class workman4 ,june #bh and #bi4--,rested1 the continuation of the march having been postponed4 ,june #cj4--,orders to move on to-night4 ,was sent off with a small party on a road and river reconnaissance3 this presumably with a view to going forward #8when the advance begins4' ,by the time we got back to where the brigade was to billet1 had ridden about forty miles4 ,job only half finished4 ,battery marched in at midnight4 ,july #a4--,started at #e4cj ,a4,m4 with same party to finish reconnaissance4 ,reached a point about four miles behind the line1 at #g4ae ,a4,m43 a tremendous bombardment in progress4 ,left our horses1 and walked on two miles to a river4 ,here learnt that the attack had been launched at #g4cj and was going well4 ,walked north up the river-bank1 keeping well under the shelter of the steep ridge on the east side1 and only emerging to examine each bridge as we came to it4 ,thousands upon thousands of shells of every size1 from #8,grannies' to #ah-prs41 passing over our heads unceasingly3 expected the enemy to retaliate4 ,but not a round came3 probably the ,boche was too busily engaged elsewhere4 ,met streams of wounded coming down2 some with captured helmets1 nearly all with grins4 ,finished the river reconnaissance about #aj4cj and walked back by a roundabout 7but less unpleasant67 way1 and reached our horses about midday4 ,rode back to the battery and spent the afternoon writing out full report4 ,orders to move at #aa4cj ,p4,m4 ,long night march to new billets1 arriving #d4ae ,a4,m4 ,july #b4--,rested4 ,in the course of the day the ,child returned1 having in some amazing way persuaded the hospital authorities that pleurisy and a temperature of #ajd are the best possible things to have on the eve of a great offensive4 ,swears he's all right now1 and objects to being ordered to take it easy--while he can4 ,heavy bombardment all day1 but we are eight miles back here4 ,official communiqus record further successes4 ,july #c4--,moved at #i4cj ,p4,m41 and arrived 7#e4cj ,a4,m47 soaking wet at the worst bivouac it has ever been our unhappy lot to occupy4 ,july #d4--,saw about #aej ,german prisoners being brought back4 ,in the afternoon1 after a violent thunderstorm1 went to look at the position which we are to take over4 ,found that it was immensely strong4 ,originally it was only #abjj yards from the enemy front line1 but now1 since the advance1 is about #cjjj4 ,steady rain all the time4 ,got back to find the camp converted into a veritable bog1 and men of all the batteries making shelters for themselves by cutting down trees and looting straw4 ,there will be a row over this1 but--well1 it is too much to expect men to submit to such unnecessary discomfort4 ,july #e4--,took the ,child and two telephonists and went up to new position4 ,bombardment proceeding incessantly4 ,was amazed at the amount of material already brought up1 at the gangs already working on the shell-wrecked roads1 and at the crowd of spectators who lined a convenient ridge to #8watch the show4' ,went with the ,child and the battery commander from whom we were taking over to get a look at the country and visit the ,o4,p4 ,passed through ,fricourt--not long captured4 ,never could a bombardment have done its work of destruction more thoroughly than here4 ,not figuratively1 but literally2 no one brick stood upon another1 scarcely one brick was whole4 ,walked on up the sunken road that leads north from ,fricourt past the ,dingle and ,shelter ,wood4 ,for days this road had been a death-trap4 ,it was strewn with corpses1 with stretchers on which lay wounded men awaiting removal1 with broken bits of equipment1 ,english and ,german--and it stank4 ,we arrived at the headquarters of a battalion and asked if we could see the colonel4 #8,no1' they told us1 #8you can't at present4 ,he's just been buried in his dug-out by a shell1 and it will be some time before we get him clear2 he's all right1 but a bit shaken4' ,so we went on up a battered trench to the ,o4,p4 ,in it a subaltern and two signallers1 all three caked in mud4 ,at the moment the wire to the battery was intact4 ,two men had been killed and one wounded whilst mending it4 ,from here we could see the famous ,quadrangle ,trench1 which at that time was holding up the advance4 ,many batteries were shooting at it4 ,having got our bearings1 so to speak1 we did not linger in this most unhealthy spot1 but returned to the battery position4 ,on the way home met our own colonel bearing the news that the brigade would probably go into action in quite a different area4 ,this news confirmed at ,h4,q4 at #e ,p4,m4 ,turned back and reconnoitred the new position1 which was farther south1 nearer ,fricourt2 rather cramped and quite unprepared for occupation4 ,cadged dinner from an old friend whom we met at ,d4,h4,q4 ,met the battery on the road about #aj ,p4,m4 and led it to new position4 ,work of getting guns in1 ammunition and stores dumped1 and teams away completed by #c ,a4,m4 ,awaited dawn4 ,july #f4--;,as soon as it was light went up the hill on the right front of the battery to meet the colonel1 choose an ,o4,p4 and #8learn' the country4 ,the scene of wreckage upon this hill now is past all belief1 and is1 ,i should imagine1 a perfect example of the havoc wrought by a modern #8intense' bombardment4 ,the whole face of the earth is completely altered4 ,on the ,german side of ,no ,man's ,land1 not one square yard of the original surface of the ground remains unbroken4 ,line upon line of trenches and tunnels and saps have been so smashed that they are barely recognisable as such3 there are mine craters seventy to a hundred yards across1 and there are dug-outs 7some of these still intact7 which go down fifty feet and more into the chalk4 ,on every side is dbris--rails1 timber1 kit1 blankets1 broken rifles1 bread1 steel helmets1 pumps1 respirators1 corpses4 ,and nowhere can one get away from the sickening smell--the smell of putrescent human flesh4444 ,the morning mist cleared at last and we were able to see the landscape4 ,from the ,o4,p4 we chose1 the view1 for our purposes1 was ideal4 ,below us lay the ruins that once were ,fricourt1 to the right ,fricourt ,wood1 farther off ,mametz ,wood and village1 and on the skyline ,contalmaison4 ,returned1 very dishevelled1 to breakfast at #h ,a4,m4 ,during the morning ran out a wire1 got #8through' to the battery1 but did not dare to start shooting until further information as to the situation of the infantry was available4 ,eventually gathered that we only hold the southern edge of ,mametz ,wood1 and that the ,quadrangle ,trench which lies to the left 7west7 of it is not yet in our possession4 ,spent the afternoon registering the guns1 and then began shelling ,mametz ,wood4 ,was relieved by the ,child at tea-time4 ,came down to the battery and washed4 ,looked forward to decent night's rest but was disappointed1 viz43 ,july #g4--,woken by ,angelo at #a ,a4,m41 who brought orders for a #8strafe1' which was to start at #b4 ,battery fired at a rapid rate from that hour till #b4cj4 ,went back to bed4 ,woken by the ,infant1 who had relieved ,angelo1 at #f4 ,big bombardment to start at #g4bj4 ,went to telephone dug-out at #g4ae1 unwashed and half-dressed1 and remained there all day2 meals brought in to me4 ,the battery fired practically continuously for fourteen hours at rates varying from one to twenty-four rounds a minute4 ,targets various--mostly #8barraging' ,mametz ,wood and ground immediately to the west of it4 ,worked the detachments as far as possible in reliefs1 turning on spare signallers1 cooks1 and servants to carry ammunition as it arrived4 ,the ,child1 who was at the ,o4,p41 sent down what information he could1 but reported that it was hardly possible to see anything owing to the smoke4 ,passed on everything to ,brigade ,h4,q4 7communications working well71 and received their instructions as to changes of target1 rate of fire1 etc4 ,by dusk we were all very tired1 and several of the men stone deaf4 ,there were several heavy showers during the day1 so that the position became a quagmire into which the guns sank almost to their axles and became increasingly difficult to serve4 ,empty cartridge cases piled several feet high round each platform3 mud awful4 ,no official communiqu as to result of the day's operation4 ,got eight hours' sleep4 ,july #h4--,shooting1 off and on1 all day--mostly registration of new points4 ,in the intervals when not firing the detachments kept hard at work improving and strengthening the position4 ,hostile artillery much more active1 but nothing really close to us4 ,fired #aej rounds during the night into ,mametz ,wood3 northern portion not yet in our hands4 ,july #i4--;,a good deal of barrage work all day1 but as it was mostly at a slow rate the men managed to get some rest--goodness knows1 they both need and deserve it4 ,july #aj4--,went out with the colonel to reconnoitre an advanced position4 ,got caught in a barrage1 and had to crouch in a 7fortunately7 deep trench for half an hour4 ,sitting there began to wonder if this was the prelude to a counter-attack2 just then1 looking out to the left1 that is towards the south-west corner of ,mametz ,wood1 saw a lot of men running hard4 ,suddenly spotted the familiar grey uniform and spiked helmets of the enemy4 #8,god6' ,i cried1 #8it is a counter-attack4 ,those are ,huns6' ,expected every moment to have one peering in over the top of the trench3 did not dare to run for it1 owing to the barrage1 which was still heavy4 ,t1 who was with me1 remained calm and put up his glasses4 #8,all right1' he said2 #8they're prisoners4 ,look at the escort4' ,and so they were1 running for their lives through their own shrapnel--and the escort keeping well up with them6 ,the storm being over 7no #8hate' lasts for ever71 returned as quickly as we could1 and reported that the position was possible but by no means tempting6 ,a lot of night firing4 ,july #aa4--,set out with the ,child1 two sergeants1 and my trusty #8look-out man' to look for a more favourable spot4 ,after a good deal of walking about found one1 a fairly snug place 7though pitted with shell holes74 ,intended to reconnoitre for an ,o4,p4 in the front edge of ,mametz ,wood1 but met a colonel just back from those parts who assured us that the enemy front line ran there4 ,reluctantly 767 we abandoned the enterprise and returned4 ,at #f ,p4,m4 the ,child started off with a digging party to prepare the new position4 ,move of the battery ordered for #i4cj1 then postponed till #aj4cj4 ,road crowded with infantry and transport2 progress slow4 ,to be mounted and at the head of a column of twelve six-horse teams is a very different thing from being alone and ready to slip behind a wall or into a trench if occasion calls for it4 ,luck was on our side1 however1 and we got through before any shells came4 ,occupied the position quickly1 emptied the ammunition wagons1 and got the horses clear without casualties4 ,the ,child reported that a few four-twos had come pretty close while he and his party were digging and had stopped their work for a while3 nevertheless1 quite a lot already done4 ,time now #ab4cj4 ,turned on every available man and continued digging till dawn4 ,men very beat1 but not a word of grousing4 ,july #ab4--;,at dawn went up to find a new ,o4,p43 took the ,child and two signallers1 the latter laying a wire as they went4 ,found excellent place with good general view in an old ,german redoubt4 ,trenches1 however1 crammed with sleeping infantry1 over whom one had to step1 and under whom the signallers had to pass their line6 ,thick mist till #h ,a4,m41 when light became good enough to start on our task1 which was to cut through the wire at a certain spot in the ,german main second line north of ,mametz ,wood4 ,observation difficult1 as we were rather far back and the whole line was being heavily bombarded by our #8heavies4' ,about #aj4cj what was apparently an excursion party of generals and staff officers arrived to see the fun1 crowded us out of our bay in the trench and lined up1 with their heads and red hat-bands exposed4 ,lay down in a corner and tried to sleep1 but got trodden on so abandoned the idea4 ,shoon 7another of my youthful subalterns7 came up to relieve us at #b4cj1 so the ,child and ,i returned to the battery and got about three hours' sleep4 ,the detachments with amazing industry and endurance again hard at work digging4 ,a good deal of hostile fire all round us1 especially close to the nullah1 but nothing within #bjj yards of the guns4 ,about #e4cj ,p4,m4 ,shoon rang up from the ,o4,p4 to say that he and a signaller had been wounded4 ,angelo went up to take his place4 ,poor old ,shoon1 when he arrived down1 was pretty shaken4 ,evidently the crowd of spectators previously remarked upon had attracted the attention of some cross ,boche gunner4 ,a five-nine dropped just beside the ,o4,p4 and knocked both signallers and ,shoon1 who was observing his wire-cutting at the moment1 head over heels back into the trench below4 ,while they were picking themselves up out of the dbris a salvo landed on the parados immediately behind them4 ,one signaller was untouched 7and rescued his precious telephone71 the other was badly cut about the head and leg and departed on a stretcher--a good man too4 ,shoon got a scratch on his forehead and some splinters into his left arm4 ,swore he was all right1 but since he didn't look it was ordered to bed4 ,ammunition replenished in the evening in a tearing hurry4 ,it is not pleasant to have teams standing about in a place like this4 ,heard that on the return journey to the wagon line last night a bombardier1 four drivers1 and five horses had been wounded--all slightly1 thank ,heaven6 ,shot all night at the wood 7,bazentin-le-petit71 and at the front line4 ,july #ac4--;,continued wire-cutting and searching the wood all day4 ,scores of batteries doing the same thing1 and noise infernal4 ,the ,child went off to find out if he could see the wire from the front edge of ,mametz ,wood 7which now really is in our possession74 ,failing to see it from there1 he wandered on up an old communication trench known as ,middle ,alley1 which led direct from our own to the ,german front line4 ,eventually he found a place from which he could see through a gap in the hedge4 ,the wire was cut all right--and1 incidentally1 he might have come face to face with a hostile bombing party at any moment6 ,but what seemed to interest him much more was the behaviour of the orderly who had accompanied him4 ,this ,n4,c4,o41 who is the battery #8look-out man1' specially trained to observe anything and everything1 raised himself from the ground a moment after they had both hurled themselves flat to await the arrival of a five-nine in ,mametz ,wood1 peered over a fallen tree-trunk and said1 #8,that one1 sir1 was just in front1 but slightly to the left'6 ,spent the afternoon preparing detailed orders and time-tables for to-morrow's #8big show4' ,slept from #aa till #b4de ,a4,m4 ,july #ad4--,the #8intense' bombardment began at #c4bj ,a4,m42 the infantry attack was launched five minutes later4 ,even to attempt to describe this bombardment is beyond me4 ,all that can be said is that there was such a hell of noise that it was quite impossible to give any orders to the guns except by sending subalterns from the telephone dug-out to shout in the ear of each sergeant in turn4 ,the battery 7in company with perhaps a hundred others7 barraged steadily1 #8lifting' fifty yards at a time from #c4be till #g4ae ,a4,m41 by which time some #ijj rounds had been expended and the paint on the guns was blistering from their heat4 ,we gathered 7chiefly from information supplied by the ,child at the ,o4,p41 who got into touch with various staff and signal officers7 that the attack had been very successful4 ,about #g4cj things slowed down a little and the men were able to get breakfast and some rest--half at a time1 of course4 ,at midday cavalry moved up past us and affairs began to look really promising4 ,slept from #c to #e ,p4,m41 then got orders to reconnoitre an advanced position in front of ,acid ,drop ,copse4 7,it may here be noted that from our first position this very copse was one of our most important targets at a range of nearly #djjj yards47 ,chose a position1 but could see that if and when we do occupy it1 it is not going to be a health-resort4 ,and1 owing to the appalling state of the ground1 it will take some driving to get there4 ,had a really good night's rest for once4 ,battery fired at intervals all night4 ,july #ae4--;,attack continued4 ,by #aj4cj ,a4,m4 our guns had reached extreme range and we were forced to stop4 7,we started at #bgjj in this position47 ,news very good3 enemy much demoralised and surrendering freely4 ,practically no hostile shelling round us now--in fact1 we are rather out of the battle for the moment4 ,after lunch formed up the whole battery and thanked the men for the splendid way that they had worked4 ,shoon1 whose arm has got worse1 sent under protest to hospital4 ,desperately sorry to lose him4 ,in the afternoon switched to the left1 where we are apparently still held up1 and fired occasional salvos on ,martinpuich4 ,ditto all night4 ,july #af4--;,everybody much concerned over a certain ,switch ,trench1 which appears to be giving much trouble4 ,fired spasmodically 7by map7 on this trench throughout the day4 ,in the evening all guns removed to a travelling ,ordnance ,workshop for overhaul--they need it4 ,late at night received orders to dig the ,acid ,drop ,copse position next day1 and occupy it as soon as the guns are sent back4 ,july #ag4--,took all officers and practically every man up to new position at #g ,a4,m4 and started to dig4 ,shells all round us while we worked1 but still no damage4 ,this is too good to last4 ,in the afternoon went out with ,george 7another ,b4,c4#b in the brigade71 the ,child1 and a telephonist to look for an ,o4,p4 whence to see this infernal ,switch ,trench4 ,after a while parted from ,george1 whom we last saw walking forward from the villa1 pausing occasionally to examine the country through his glasses4 ,we learnt afterwards that he spent a really happy afternoon in ,no ,man's ,land carrying various wounded infantrymen into comparative safety6 ,for which he has been duly recommended4 ,got into the old ,german second line 7taken on the #adth71 and found that it had been so completely battered by our bombardment that its captors had been obliged to dig an entirely new trench in front of it4 ,this part of the world was full of gunner officers all looking for an ,o4,p4 for ,switch ,trench4 ,returned to ,acid ,drop ,copse about #e ,p4,m4 and found that the digging had progressed well4 ,marched the men back to the old position1 where they got tea and a rest4 ,teams came up about #h4 ,packed up and moved forward4 ,ground so desperately heavy that it became necessary to put ten horses in a team for the last pull up the hill to the position4 ,got all guns into action and twenty-one wagon loads of ammunition dumped by #aa ,p4,m4--no casualties4 ,work of the men1 who were much worn out1 beyond all praise4 ,the noise in this place is worse than anything previously experienced4 ,being1 as we are now1 the most advanced battery in this particular sector1 we get the full benefit of every gun that is behind us--and there are many4 ,moreover1 the hostile artillery is extremely active1 especially in the wood1 where every shell comes down with a hissing rush that ends in an appalling crash4 ,about midnight the ,boche began to put over small #8stink' shells4 ,these seemed to flit through the air1 and always landed with a soft-sounding #8phutt' very like a dud4 ,one burst just behind our trench and wounded a gunner in the foot4 ,found it impossible to sleep1 owing to the din4 ,july #ah4--;,at #d ,a4,m4 the hostile bombardment seemed so intense that1 fearing a counter-attack1 ,i got up to look round4 ,was reassured by ,angelo1 who had already done so4 ,beyond the fact that the wood was being systematically searched with five-nines1 there was nothing much doing4 ,returned to bed1 but still failed to sleep4 ,fired at intervals throughout the day at various spots allotted by ,brigade ,h4,q4 ,having no ,o4,p4 had to do everything from the map4 ,men all digging when not actually firing3 position now nearly splinter-proof4 ,a most unnerving day1 however4 ,a ,hun barrage of #8air-crumps' on the ridge in front of us by the ,cutting1 another one to our right along the edge of the wood1 many five-nines over our heads into the dip behind us1 and quite a few into ,acid ,drop ,copse on our left rear4 ,in the afternoon we had half a dozen ,h4,e4 #8pip-squeaks' very close at a moment when there were three wagons up replenishing ammunition4 ,one burst within four yards of the lead horses--and no damage4 ,this cannot last4 ,orders for a big attack received at #d ,p4,m4 ,at #e counter-orders to the effect that we are to be relieved to-night4 ,fired continuously till about #h4cj1 then packed up and waited for the teams1 which arrived about #i4 ,we were just congratulating ourselves on our luck1 it being then rather a quiet moment and three out of the four teams already on the move1 when a big #8air-crump' burst straight above our heads1 wounding the sergeant-major in the thigh4 ,put him up on the last limber and sent the guns off as fast as they could go--ground too bad to gallop4 ,two more shells followed us down the valley1 but there were no further casualties4 ,at the bottom missed the ,child3 sent to inquire if he was at the head of the column--no4 ,was beginning to get nervous1 when he strolled up from the rear1 accompanied by the officers'-mess cook4 #8,pity to leave these behind1' he observed1 throwing down a kettle and a saucepan6 ,nervy work loading up our stores and kits on to the ,g4,s4 wagon1 but the enemy battery had returned to its favourite spot by the ,cutting1 and nothing further worried us4 ,marched back to the wagon line 7about five miles74 ,much amused by the tenacity with which one of the sergeants clung to a jar of rum which he had rescued from the position4#c ,at the wagon line collected the whole battery together1 and while waiting went across to see the sergeant-major in the dressing-station4 ,am afraid1 though it is nothing serious1 that it will be a case of #8,blighty' for him4 ,a very serious loss to the battery1 as he has been absolutely invaluable throughout this show4 ,marched to our old bivouac at the swampy wood1 but were allotted a reasonable space outside it this time4 ,fell into bed1 beat to the world1 at #c4cj ,a4,m4 ,july #ai4--,much to do1 though men and horses are tired to death4 ,moved off at #f ,p4,m4 and did a twenty-mile night march1 arriving at another bivouac at #b ,a4,m4 ,horses just about at their last gasp4 ,poor old things1 they have been in harness almost continuously throughout the battle bringing up load after load of ammunition at all hours of the day and night4 ,july #bj4--,took over a new position 7trench warfare style7 just out of the battle area as now constituted1 and settled down to--rest4 ,the above is an accurate1 though1 ,i fear1 far too personal1 record of the doings of one particular unit during a fortnight's continuous fighting4 ,it is in no way an attempt to describe a battle as a whole4 ,that is a feat beyond my powers--and1 ,i think1 beyond the powers of anyone actually engaged4 ,thinking things over now in the quiet of a well-made dug-out1 ,i realise that the predominant impressions left upon my mind1 in ascending order of magnitude so to speak1 are3 dirt1 stink1 horrors1 lack of sleep1 funk--and the amazing endurance of the men4 ,in the first article of this series ,i wrote3 #8,but this ,i know now--the human material with which ,i have to deal is good enough4' ,it is4 ,i grant that our casualties were slight 7though in this respect we were extremely lucky71 and that compared with the infantry our task was the easier one of #8standing the strain' rather than of #8facing the music4' ,but still think of the strain on the detachments1 serving their guns night and day almost incessantly for fourteen days on end4 ,in the first week alone we fired the amount of ammunition which suffices for a battery in peace time for thirty years6 ,they averaged five hours' sleep in the twenty-four1 these men1 throughout the time2 and they dug three separate positions--all in heavy ground4 ,nor must one forget the drivers1 employed throughout in bringing up ammunition along roads pitted with holes1 often shelled and constantly blocked with traffic4 ,the ,new ,ubique begins to be worthy of the ,old4 ,,footnotes #b ,battery ,commander4 #c ,this jar was afterwards found to contain lime-juice6 ,,the ,,bicentenary ,,of ,,gray4 ,,born ,,december #bf1 #agaf4 ,,by ,,the ,,dean ,,of ,,norwich4 ,it is a mere chance1 but none the less suggestive1 that ,shakespeare's commemoration this year should be followed by that of ,gray4 ,shakespeare1 of course1 would cut up into many poets1 but one of them would have been not unlike ,gray2 a man of a fastidious and somewhat melancholy temper but with a rare affectionateness1 and a sincere love of his kind1 which mingled with his critical faculty to produce a fresh and very delightful humour4 ,however this may be1 the lesser poet was drawn to the greater by a sure instinct from school-days4 ,in a letter to ,horace ,walpole1 written when he was just eighteen1 he finds it natural to disguise his boyish affection in terms borrowed from ,mrs4 ,quickly3 #8,i have born and born1 and been fub'd off and fub'd off1' c42 and he does so again later3 #8,if ,i don't hear from you this week1 ,i shall be in a thousand ,tyrrits and ,frights about you4' ,to his more literary friend1 ,richard ,west1 another member of the #8,quadruple ,alliance1' whose early death he was to mourn in the most exquisite of elegies1 he writes with enthusiasm about ,shakespeare's language4 #8,every word in him is a picture4 ,pray put me the following lines into the tongue of our modern ,dramatics3 8,but ,i1 that am not shaped for sportive tricks1 ,nor made to court an amorous looking-glass3 ,i1 that am rudely stampt1 and want love's majesty ,to strut before a wanton ambling nymph3 ,i1 that am curtail'd of this fair proportion1 ,cheated of feature by dissembling nature1 ,deform'd1 unfinish'd1 sent before my time ,into this breathing world1 scarce half made up0-- and what follows4 ,to me they appear untranslatable2 and if this be the case our language is greatly degenerated4' #8,every word in him is a picture4' ,he said the same thing in a fine quatrain of the poem to ,richard ,bentley1 contrasting the great masters of old with the poets of his own day1 especially with himself1 whose poems ,bentley was illustrating3 #8,but not to one in this benighted age ,is that diviner inspiration giv'n ,that burns in ,shakespeare's or in ,milton's page1 ,the pomp and prodigality of heaven4' ,in another letter to ,west of the same year he defends the practice of #8judiciously and sparingly' inserting phrases from ,shakespeare into modern poetry because of their greater energy2 a practice which he himself was to adopt in his later odes4 ,gray's ,shakespearian borrowings are always judicious1 but it may be questioned whether the effect of such quotations from a greater writer by a less is not to create an impression of poverty in the borrower4 ,it is more important to inquire how far ,gray was successful in emulating the ,shakespearian #8pomp and prodigality' of imagination4 ,the prodigality clearly was beyond even his ambition4 ,his ,pegasus always required the spur rather than the reins4 ,but the pomp1 it must be admitted1 he did not infrequently achieve4 ,no one can be blind to the magnificence of the lines about ,pindar in the #8,progress of ,poesy'3 #8,oh6 ,lyre divine1 what daring ,spirit ,wakes thee now8 ,tho' he inherit ,nor the pride1 nor ample pinion1 ,that the ,theban eagle bear ,sailing with supreme dominion ,thro' the azure deep of air4' ,and in the #8,elegy' we have many imaginative pictures that have the true ,shakespearian quality3 #8,the paths of glory lead but to the grave4' #8,and shut the gates of ,mercy on mankind4' #8,or ,flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death4' #8,along the cool sequester'd vale of life ,they kept the noiseless tenor of their way4' #8,left the warm precincts of the chearful day1 ,nor cast one longing1 ling'ring look behind4' #8,even in our ,ashes live their wonted ,fires4' ,it will be remembered that in the #8,progress of ,poesy' ,english poetry is represented by three names--,shakespeare1 ,milton1 and ,dryden4 ,dryden is praised for the energy of his heroic couplet1 symbolised by the #8,two coursers of ethereal race ,with necks in thunder cloath'd and long-resounding pace1' who draw his car1 and also for his one great lyrical achievement1 the ,ode on ,st4 ,cecilia's day4 ,gray's admiration for ,shakespeare and ,milton as models was tempered by his recognition of what ,dryden had done for the ,english language1 in rendering it more #8refined and free4' ,to ,beattie he wrote1 #8,remember ,dryden and be blind to all his faults1' and he told him in an interview 7according to ,mason7 that #8if there was any excellence in his own numbers he had learned it wholly from that great poet2 and pressed him with great earnestness to study him1 as his choice of words and versification were singularly happy and harmonious4' ,if ,dryden's #8,alexander's ,feast' be compared with the #8,progress of ,poesy' we can see how successfully ,gray has blended the qualities he most admired in his several masters4 ,from ,dryden he has caught the smoothness and strength of his line2 but ,gray's rhythm owes more to #8,l',allegro' and #8,comus' than to the commonplace movement of ,dryden's ode2 while the imaginative beauty of its many pictures was part of his debt to the greatest of them all4 ,there is one other great ,english poet to whom ,gray was ready to acknowledge a debt4 ,he told ,norton ,nicholls that he never sat down to compose poetry without reading ,spenser for a considerable time previously4 ,i do not remember that ,gray ever incorporates a ,spenserian phrase in his own verse2 his instinct would have told him that the two styles would not agree4 ,but his instinct would also tell him that to bathe himself in ,spenser before entering the temple of his ,muse was a sure way of freeing himself from any pollution of mind or spirit4 ,the #8,elegy written in a ,country ,churchyard' was composed at intervals between #agdf and #agej1 and sent to ,walpole in ,june of that year4 ,walpole showed it to many friends and in some way it got into the hands of a publisher1 who wrote to ,gray announcing his intention of printing it1 and begging his #8indulgence4' ,gray wrote at once to ,walpole desiring him to let ,dodsley print it without delay from his copy1 and it accordingly appeared in ,february #af1 #agea1 in a quarto pamphlet1 priced sixpence1 and entitled #8,an ,elegy wrote in a ,country ,church ,yard4' ,the fashionable solecism must be attributed to ,walpole1 who saw the poem through the press1 and prefixed this short #8advertisement'3 #8,the following ,poem came into my hands by ,accident1 if the general ,approbation with which this little ,piece has spread1 may be call'd by so slight a ,term as ,accident4 ,it is this ,approbation which makes it unnecessary for me to make any ,apology but to the ,author3 ,as he cannot but feel some ,satisfaction in having pleas'd so many ,readers already1 ,i flatter myself he will forgive my communicating that ,pleasure to many more4 ,the ,editor4' ,in his letter thanking ,walpole for his #8paternal care' of the poem ,gray speaks of the advertisement as #8saving his honour'2 which can only mean that he thought the poem unworthy of being offered to the public by its author4 ,that this was not a mere affectation is shown by his annoyance at its instant popularity1 which he thought to be due to its subject4 ,he said it would have been equally popular if written in prose4 ,he writes to his friend ,dr4 ,wharton1 after speaking of #8,a ,long ,story1' which had been #8shew'd about in ,town1 and not liked at all'3 #8,on the other hand the ,stanzas have had the ,misfortune by ,mr4 ,w4's fault to be made still more publick1 for w they certainly were never meant1 but is too late to complain4 ,they have been so applauded1 it is quite a ,shame to repeat it4 ,i mean not to be modest2 but ,i mean it is a ,shame for those1 who have said such superlative ,things about them1 that ,i can't repeat them4' ,gray's modesty was still further tried in the autumn of the same year by ,walpole's insistence that he should allow his still unpublished odes1 on ,spring1 on ,eton ,college1 and on ,walpole's cat1 with whatever else he had to furnish a volume1 to appear with illustrations by ,walpole's protg1 ,richard ,bentley1 a son of the great ,master of ,trinity4 ,the negotiations1 so far as we have them in ,gray's correspondence1 are diverting4 ,gray discovered that it was in contemplation to prefix his own portrait2 this he forbade1 though it was already half engraved4 ,he objected to the proposed title and insisted that it should be #8,designs by ,mr4 ,r4 ,bentley for six poems of ,mr4 ,t4 ,gray1' on the ground that #8the verses were only subordinate and explanatory to the ,drawings and suffered to come out thus only for that reason4' ,lastly1 he objected to ,dodsley's proposal to omit the #8,mr4' before the names of the poet and artist1 as being #8an uncommon sort of simplicity that looks like affectation4' ,this modesty may have been excessive1 but it is not ridiculous when we reflect that ,gray had not yet produced his finest work1 and knew that he had it in him to write something more worthy of himself and ,english poetry than the occasional pieces which ,walpole wished to publish1 or even than the deservedly popular ,elegy4 ,in #ageg ,walpole issued1 as the first book from his new printing-press at ,strawberry ,hill1 a quarto pamphlet entitled #8,odes by ,mr4 ,gray1' with a vignette on the title-page of his ,gothick castle1 and a motto from ,pindar which ,gray englished as #8vocal to the intelligent alone4' ,it contained two odes1 here called simply ,ode ,i and ,ode ,,ii1 #8,the ,progress of ,poesy' and #8,the ,bard4' ,the first of these odes is undoubtedly ,gray's masterpiece1 and deserves all the study that can be given to it4 ,the subject1 that of the great power of poetry1 was one very near to ,gray's heart as well as to his mind1 and the scheme is well thought out4 ,there is no feeling of strain in any part of it4 ,personification1 with ,gray generally a sign of strain1 is kept within the limits approved by the great masters4 ,thus we have #8antic ,sports and blue-eyed ,pleasures' just as in the #8,allegro' we have #8,jest and youthful ,jollity'2 but there is no elaborate series of abstract figures like that in the two stanzas on the ,passions in the ,ode on ,eton ,college4 ,this fashionable personification perhaps justified itself to ,gray as a combination of the imaginative method of ,shakespeare with the clear definition of ,dryden4 ,what in ,shakespeare would have been a metaphor1 hinted at and immediately succeeded by another1 becomes too often with ,gray a substantial allegorical personage4 ,there seems to us to-day something essentially unpoetical1 because artificial1 in the posturing groups of ,furies and ,graces1 and we wonder that ,gray with his fine critical sense did not feel this4 ,we must recognise1 however1 that whenever he is deeply moved he escapes from the snare4 ,two consecutive stanzas in the #8,ode on ,vicissitude' show how his verse becomes more direct as it deepens in feeling4 #8,still1 where rosy ,pleasure leads1 ,see a kindred ,grief pursue2 ,behind the steps that ,misery treads1 ,approaching ,comfort view3 ,the hues of ,bliss more lightly glow1 ,chastised by sabler tints of woe1 ,and blended form1 with artful strife1 ,the strength and harmony of ,life4 ,see the ,wretch1 that long has tost ,on the thorny bed of ,pain1 ,at length repair his vigour lost1 ,and breathe and walk again3 ,the meanest flowret of the vale1 ,the simplest note that swells the gale1 ,the common ,sun1 the air1 the skies1 ,to him are opening ,paradise4' ,when the two odes were reissued they were styled ,pindaric1 and they justify their title1 being constructed in a series of strophe1 antistrophe1 and epode like the odes of ,pindar4 ,ben ,jonson had furnished one example in the ode to the memory of ,sir ,lucius ,cary and ,sir ,henry ,morrison1 one strophe of which is the often-quoted stanza beginning1 #8,it is not growing like a tree4' ,but the name #8,pindarique' had been abused by ,cowley1 who1 holding the theory that #8the lost excellences of another language' should be supplied by others of our own1 had substituted an expansive eloquence1 one might almost say loquacity1 for the terse musical phrase of his model1 and had entirely ignored the interrelation of strophe and antistrophe4 ,gray recovered for the ,pindaric ode both the music of phrase and the balance of its parts4 ,gray's second ode cannot be reckoned as unequivocal a success as its companion4 ,it is founded on a tradition of the murder of the ,welsh bards by ,edward ,i1 and the earlier portion1 which consists of the spirited and justifiable curses of the last survivor on the king's progeny to the third and fourth generation1 is proper to the subject1 and contains much fine rhetoric and a few passages of a nobler quality4 ,but having written the first three groups of stanzas1 ,gray held his hand for a couple of years2 and the conclusion does not carry out the scheme originally proposed4 ,from the argument1 which ,mason printed from ,gray's commonplace book1 we learn that the ,bard was to predict that all the king's cruelty #8shall never extinguish the noble ardour of poetic genius in this island2 and that men shall never be wanting to celebrate true virtue and valour in immortal strains1 to expose vice and infamous pleasure1 and boldly censure tyranny and oppression4' ,when ,gray resumed the ,ode he had changed his plan1 and the present conclusion can appeal to none but ,welshmen1 for whom it is certain that ,gray did not specially write4 ,the consolation which the ,bard finds in the future is the prospect of a line of ,welsh kings1 the ,tudors1 culminating in ,elizabeth3 ,in the midst a ,form divine ,her eye proclaims her of the ,briton-line2 ,her lyon-port1 her awe-commanding face1 ,attemper'd sweet to virgin-grace4' ,elizabeth's reign is to be marked by a revival of poetry in ,spenser1 ,shakespeare1 and ,milton1 and an unending line beyond them4 ,it must be allowed that the skill of the poet has disguised the weakness of the argument4 ,for to make the consolation effective the efflorescence of poetry should have occurred under the first ,tudor sovereign1 in which case it might poetically have been presumed to be due to him2 and the ,bard should not have overlooked ,chaucer1 who flourished under the sway of ,edward's direct descendant ,richard ,,ii1 of whose accession the ,bard sings in the only passage of the ,ode which has passed into popular currency3 #8,fair laughs the ,morn1 and soft the ,zephyr blows1 ,while proudly riding o'er the azure realm1 ,in gallant trim the gilded ,vessel goes2 ,youth on the prow1 and ,pleasure at the helm2 ,regardless of the sweeping ,whirlwind's sway1 ,that1 hush'd in grim repose1 expects his evening-prey4' ,the #8,elegy' is an expression of the common heart1 though of that common heart purified and ennobled1 and therefore it is of universal appeal2 of the ,odes it is true to-day as in ,gray's lifetime that they are vocal only to the intellectuals4 ,but apart from its merits all ,gray's poetry has a special interest owing to its place at the meeting-point of the ,augustan and ,romantic schools4 ,on the one hand it retains the notion of poetry as a happy combination of words4 ,gray1 in a letter to ,mason1 says3 #8,extreme conciseness of expression1 yet pure1 perspicuous1 and musical1 is one of the grand beauties of lyric poetry'2 adding #8this ,i have always aimed at and could never attain4' ,gray's instrument was always the file2 he had no taste for the verse cast at a jet2 and so he could accuse ,collins of having a bad ear4 ,in the second place1 there are signs in ,gray of that first-hand interest in nature and that respect for the whole of human nature1 and not only its intellect1 which was soon to inspire ,cowper and ,wordsworth4 ,perhaps ,gray is at his modernest in the #8,ode on ,vicissitude1' and in that impromptu couplet which ,norton ,nicholls preserved3 #8,there pipes the woodlark1 and the song-thrush there ,scattering his loose notes in the waste of air'-- if not most modern of all in that quatrain of the #8,elegy' which ,gray's feeling for unity expunged1 but which we cannot spare3 #8,there scatter'd oft the earliest of the year1 ,by ,hands unseen1 are show'rs of violets found3 ,the red-breast loves to build and warble there1 ,and little footsteps lightly print the ground4' ,leslie ,stephen says happily about ,gray and his friends that #8they were feeling round vaguely for a new mode of literary and artistic enjoyment4' ,this feeling after something more satisfying to the whole range of thought and emotion than was afforded by the critical school of ,pope had already given evidence of itself in several ways4 ,thomson and ,dyer1 following each his particular bent1 had found inspiration for poetry in country life and landscape4 ,gray welcomed the venture of both these poets4 ,we know from his letters how attentive was his own observation1 and how he took long journeys in search of the picturesque1 especially in mountain scenery2 but the evidence of this in his poetry is only incidental1 as in the reference to #8,snowdon's shaggy side4' ,another form taken by this dissatisfaction was the revival of interest in the popular ballad literature4 ,the discovery by ,thomas ,percy of his famous folio started a new form of poetry in which ,goldsmith led the way4 ,but though ,gray had seen ,percy's book as early as #agfa1 it came too late to influence his production2 and we may guess that his mind was too erudite to have found expression in the simplicity of the ballad4 ,of far more interest to him was ,macpherson's discovery of fragments of ,highland poetry4 ,he describes himself as #8extasi with their infinite beauty'2 on which the late ,mr4 ,tovey1 to whom a great debt is owed for his scholarly edition of ,gray's letters1 makes the dry comment that some of the fragments were worked up from passages in #8,the ,bard4' ,we may be glad that ,macpherson's discovery came1 like ,percy's1 too late to influence ,gray's own poetry4 ,his interest in the early literature of the ,european nations has given us a few fragments from the ,norse and ,welch4 ,the remark of ,leslie ,stephen quoted above referred to the interest that ,gray and ,walpole took in ,gothic architecture4 ,this influenced ,gray's poetry only indirectly2 but it had some effect in the way it was presented to the public4 ,when ,walpole undertook to convert his newly purchased house at ,twickenham into a ,gothick castle1 the artist he employed to help him in his designs was ,richard ,bentley2 and when ,gray had sprung suddenly into fame by the #8,elegy1' ,walpole urged him to publish his other poems with designs by ,bentley4 ,whether these deserve the poetical encomium ,gray made upon them1 ,i will not presume to say2 but they are undoubtedly very #8,gothick4' ,it is as a poet that we celebrate ,gray's bicentenary1 but those persons who do not care for poetry may celebrate him as a man and a letter-writer4 ,as a man he is secure of our affection as soon as we get to know him1 and any one may know him who will read his letters1 of which there is a great store2 and still more have come to light lately1 and have been well edited by ,mr4 ,paget ,toynbee4 ,there are few men of letters of so attractive a nature as ,gray4 ,perhaps he is the most lovable of all except ,charles ,lamb1 and with ,lamb1 despite many obvious differences1 he has many points in common4 ,they were both solitary creatures living a recluse life1 in the world but not of it1 their best companions among the dead2 they were both exquisite critics2 they were both a prey to melancholy1 or rather1 as ,gray said1 to #8leukocholy'2 white bile not black2 they had both a delicate and delightful humour2 they were both the soul of gentle goodness4 ,and so it comes about that the letters of both1 in which they live to us1 are among the few external goods which are necessary to happiness4 ,the charm of a letter of ,gray's lies partly in this interest of his character1 and partly in the perfect felicity with which everything is said4 ,there is nothing slovenly1 or far-fetched1 or pompous1 or makeshift2 even in the shortest and apparently most hasty note1 his touch is perfectly sure and his taste faultless2 if we except some ,hogarthian passages which smack of the age rather than the individual4 ,it might not seem probable beforehand that the letters of a man whose days went #8round and round like the blind horse in the mill'--#8swinging from chapel or hall home and from home to hall or chapel'--could have much to say that would be of general interest4 ,occasionally1 indeed1 he goes a journey--the grand tour with ,walpole1 or to the ,highlands1 or to see his friend ,wharton at ,old ,park1 or to ,stoke ,poges to his relations1 and then we get lively enough descriptions4 ,but these are episodes4 ,the main topics of his every-day correspondence are his melancholy or his indolence1 ,mason's poetry1 ,cambridge and ,church news1 the ,british ,museum1 politics1 criticism of current literature1--,rousseau1 or ,sterne1 or ,dodsley's poets1--his dab of musick and prints1' gothick1 hyacinths1 and the weather4 ,occasionally1 only occasionally1 he allows himself to slip out a little town gossip1 #8as a decayed gentlewoman would a piece of right mecklin or a little quantity of run tea1 but this only now and then1 not to make a practice of it4' ,,the ,,real ,,thing3 #8,s4 ,o4 ,s4' ,,by ,,william ,,hope ,,hodgson4 ,copyright1 #aiag1 by ,william ,hope ,hodgson1 in the ,united ,states of ,america4 #8,big liner on fire in #ee4dc ,n4 and #cb4ai ,w41' shouts the ,captain1 diving into his chart-room4 #8,here we are6 ,give me the parallels6' ,the ,first ,officer and the ,captain figure busily for a minute4 #8,north1 #ae ,west1' says the ,master2 and #8,north1 #ae ,west1' assents the ,first ,officer1 flinging down his pencil4 #8,a hundred and seventeen miles1 dead in the wind6' #8,come on6' says the ,captain2 and the two of them dash out of the chart-room into the roaring black night1 and up on to the bridge4 #8,north1 #ae ,west6' the ,master shouts in the face of the burly helmsman4 #8,over with her1 smart6' #8,north1 #ae ,west1 ,sir1' shouts back the big quartermaster1 and whirls the spokes to starboard1 with the steering-gear engine roaring4 ,the great vessel swings round against the night1 with enormous scends1 smiting the faces of the great seas with her seventy-feet-high bows4 ,crash6 ,a roar of water aboard1 as a hundred phosphorescent tons of sea-water hurls inboard out of the darkness1 and rushes aft along the lower decks1 boiling and surging over the hatchways1 capstans1 deck-fittings1 and round the corners of the deck-houses4 ,the ship has hit the fifty-mile-an-hour gale full in the face1 and the engine telegraph stands at full speed4 ,the ,master has word with that ,king of the ,underworld1 the ,chief ,engineer2 and the ,chief goes below himself to take charge1 just as the ,master has taken charge on deck4 ,there is fresh news from the ,operator's ,room4 ,the vessel somewhere out in the night and the grim storm is the ,s4,s4 ,vanderfield1 with sixty first-class passengers and seven hundred steerage and she is alight forrard4 ,the fire has got a strong hold1 and they have already lost three boats1 smashed to pieces as they tried to launch them1 and every man1 woman1 and child in the boats crushed to death or drowned4 #8,damn these old-fashioned davits6' says the ,master1 as he reads the wireless operator's notes4 #8,they won't lift a boat out clear of the ship's side1 if she's rolling a bit4 ,the boats in a ship are just ornaments1 if you've not got proper machinery for launching them4 ,we've got the new derricks1 and we can lower a boat1 so she strikes the water1 forty feet clear of the side1 instead of bashing to pieces1 like a sixty-foot pendulum1 against our side6' ,he shouts a question over his shoulder1 standing there by the binnacle3 #8,what's she doing1 ,mister ,andrews8' #8,twenty and three-quarter knots1 ,sir1' says the ,second ,officer1 who has been in charge4 #8,but the ,chief's raising her revolutions every minute4444 ,she's nearly on to the twenty-one now4' #8,and even if we lick that we'll be over five hours reaching her1' mutters the ,master to himself4 ,meanwhile the wireless is beating a message of hope across a hundred miles of night and storm and wild waters4 #8,coming6 ,the ,r4,m4,s4 ,cornucopia is proceeding at full speed in your direction4 ,keep us informed how you are4444' ,then follows a brief unofficial statement1 a heart-to-heart word between the young men operators of the two ships1 across the hundred-mile gulf of black seas3 #8,buck up1 old man4 ,we'll do it yet6 ,we're simply piling into the storm1 like a giddy cliff4 ,she's doing close on twenty-one1 they've just told me1 against this breeze2 and the ,chief's down in the stokeholds himself with a fourteen-inch wrench and a double watch of stokers6 ,keep all your peckers up4 ,i'll let you know if we speed-up any more6' ,the ,operator has been brief and literal1 and has rather under-stated the facts4 ,the ,leviathan is now hurling all her fifty-thousand-ton length through the great seas at something approaching a twenty-two knot stride2 and the speed is rising4 ,down in the engine-room and stokeholds1 the ,chief1 minus his overalls1 is a coatless demi-god1 with life in one hand and a fourteen-inch wrench in the other2 not that this wrench is in any way necessary1 for the half-naked men stream willing sweat in a silence broken only by the rasp of the big shovels and the clang of the furnace-doors1 and the ,chief's voice4 ,the ,chief is young again2 young and a ,king to-night1 and the rough days of his youth have surged back over him4 ,he has picked up the wrench unconsciously1 and he walks about1 twirling it in his fist2 and the stokers work the better for the homely sight of it1 and the sharp tang of his words1 that miss no man of them all4 ,and the great ship feels the effect4 ,her giant tread has broken into an everlasting thunder1 as her shoulders hurl the seas to port and starboard1 in shattered hills of water1 that surge to right and left in half-mile drifts of phosphorescent foam1 under the roll of her ,gargantuan flanks4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the first hour has passed1 and there have been two fresh messages from that vessel1 flaming far off1 lost and alone1 out in the wild roar of the waters4 ,there has been an explosion forrard in the burning ship1 and the fire has come aft as far as the main bunkers4 ,there has been a panic attempt to lower two more of the boats1 and each has been smashed to flinders of wood against the side of the burning ship1 as she rolled4 ,every soul in them has been killed or drowned1 and the ,operator in the burning ship asks a personal question that has the first touch of real despair in it2 and there ensues another little heart-to-heart talk between the two young men3 #8,honest now1 do you think you can do it8' #8,sure1' says the ,operator in the ,cornucopia4 #8,we're doing what we've never done at sea before in heavy weather4 ,we're touching within a knot of our 8trials0 speed--we're doing twenty-four and a half knots2 and we're doing it against this6 ,honour bright1 old man6 ,i'll not deceive you at a time like this4 ,i never saw anything like what we're doing4 ,all the engineers are in the engine-room1 and all the officers are on the boat-deck1 overhauling the boats and gear4 ,we've got those new forty-foot boat derricks1 and we can shove a boat into the water with 'em1 with the ship rolling half under4 ,the ,old ,man's on the bridge2 and ,i guess you're just going to be saved all right4444 ,you ought to hear us6 ,i tell you1 man1 she's just welting the seas to a pulp1 and skating along to you on the top of them4' ,the ,operator is right4 ,the great ship seems alive to-night1 along all her shapely eight hundred feet of marvellous1 honest1 beautiful steel4 ,her enormous bows take the seas as on a horn1 and hurl them roaring into screaming drifts of foam4 ,she is singing a song1 fore and aft1 and the thunder of her grey steel flanks is stupendous1 as she spurns the mutilated seas and the gale and the bleak intolerable miles into her wake4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the second and third hours pass1 and part of the fourth1 in an intermittent thunder of speed4 ,and the speed has been further increased2 for now the ,leviathan is laying the miles astern1 twenty-nine in each hour2 her sides drunken with black water and spume--a dripping1 league-conquering1 fifty-thousand-ton shape of steel and steam and brains1 going like some stupendous ,angel of ,help across the black ,desolation of the night4 99 99 99 99 99 ,incredibly far away1 down on the black horizons of the night1 there shows a faint red glow4 ,there is shouting along the bridge4 #8,there she is6' goes the word fore and aft4 #8,there she is6' ,meanwhile the wireless messages pulse across the darkness3 ,the fire is burning with terrible fury4 ,the fore-part of the ,vanderfield's iron skin is actually glowing red-hot in places4 ,despair is seizing everyone4 ,will the coming ,cornucopia never1 never come8 ,the young ,operators talk1 using informal words3 #8,look out to the ,south of you1 for our searchlight1' replies the man in the wireless-room of the ,cornucopia4 #8,the ,old ,man's going to play it against the clouds1 to let you see we're coming4 ,tell 'em all to look out for it4 ,it'll cheer them up4 ,we're walking along through the smother like an express4 ,man6 ,man6 we're doing our 8trials0 speed1 twenty-five and a half knots1 against this4 ,do you realise it--against this6 ,look along to the ,south4 ,now6' 99 99 99 99 99 ,there is a hissing on the fore-bridge1 quite unheard in the roar of the storm2 and then there shoots out across the miles of night and broken seas the white fan-blaze of the searchlight4 ,it beats like an enormous baton against the black canopy of the monstrous storm-clouds1 beating to the huge1 thundering melody of the roar and onward hurl of the fifty-thousand-ton rescuer1 tossing the billows to right and left1 as she strides through the miles4 ,and what a sight it is1 in the glare of the great light1 as it descends and shows the huge seas6 ,a great cliff of black water rears up1 and leaps forward at the ship's bows4 ,there is a thunderous impact1 and the ship has smitten the great sea in twain1 and tossed it boiling and roaring on to her iron flanks2 and is treading it into the welter of foam that surrounds her on every side--a raging testimony1 of foam and shattered seas1 to the might of her mile-devouring stride4 ,another1 and another1 and another black1 moving cliff rises up out of the water-valleys1 which she strides across2 and each is broken and tossed mutilated from her shapely1 mighty1 unafraid shoulders4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a message is coming1 very weak and faint1 through the receiver3 #8,we've picked up your searchlight1 old man4 ,it's comforted us mightily2 but we can't last much longer4 ,the dynamo's stopped4 ,i'm running on my batteries4444' ,it dwindles off into silence1 broken by fragments of a message1 too weakly projected to be decipherable4 99 99 99 99 99 #8,look at her6' the officers shout to one another on the bridge2 for the yell of the wind and the ship-thunder is too great for ordinary speech to be heard4 ,they are staring through their glasses4 ,under a black canopy of bellied storm-clouds1 shot with a dull red glowing1 there is tossed up on the backs of far-away seas1 a far-off ship1 seeming incredibly minute1 because of the distance2 and from her fore-part spouts a swaying tower of flame4 #8,we'll never do it in time6' says the young ,sixth ,officer into the ear of the ,fifth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the burning ship is now less than three miles away1 and the black backs of the great seas are splashed with huge1 ever shifting reflections4 ,through the glasses it is possible now to see the details of the tremendous hold the fire has got on the ship2 and1 away aft1 the huddled masses of the six hundred odd remaining passengers4 ,as they watch1 one of the funnels disappears with an unheard crash1 and a great spout of flame and sparks shoot up4 #8,it'll go through her bottom6' shouts the ,second ,officer2 but they know this does not happen1 for she still floats4 99 99 99 99 99 ,suddenly comes the thrilling cry of #8,out derricks6' and there is a racing of feet and shouted orders4 ,then the great derricks swing out from the ship's side1 a boat's length above the boat-deck4 ,they are hinged1 and supported down almost to the draught line of the ship4 ,they reach out forty feet clear of the ship's side4 ,the ,leviathan is bursting through the final miles of wild seas2 and then the telegraph bell rings1 and she slows down1 not more than ten or twelve hundred yards to wind'ard of the burning hull1 which rises and falls1 a stupendous spectacle on the waste of black seas4 ,the fifty-thousand-ton racer has performed her noble work1 and now the work lies with the boats and the men4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the searchlight flashes down on to the near water1 and the boats shoot out in the #8travellers1' then are dropped clear of the mighty flanks of the ,mother ,ship4 ,the ,leviathan lies to windward of them1 to break the force of the seas1 and oil bags are put out4 ,the people in the burning ship greet the ship with mad cheers4 ,the women are hove bodily into the seas1 on the ends of lines4 ,they float in their cork jackets4 ,men take children in their arms1 and jump1 similarly equipped4 ,and all are easily picked up by the boats1 in the blaze of the rescuer's searchlights that brood on leagues of ocean1 strangely subdued by the floods of oil which the big ship is pumping on to the seas4 ,everywhere lies the strange sheen of oil1 here in a sudden valley of brine1 unseen1 or there on the shoulder of some monstrous wave1 suddenly eased of its deadliness2 or again1 the same fluorescence swirls over some half-league of eddy-flattened ocean1 resting between efforts--tossing minor oil-soothed ridges into the tremendous lights4 ,then the ,leviathan steams to leeward of the burning ship1 and picks up her boats4 ,she takes the rescued passengers aboard1 and returns to windward2 then drops the boats again1 and repeats the previous operations1 until every man1 woman1 and child is saved4 ,as the last boat swings up at the end of the great derricks aboard the ,cornucopia there is a final volcano of flame from the burning ship1 lighting up the black belly of the sky into billowing clouds of redness4 ,there falls the eternal blackness of the night4444 ,the ,vanderfield has gone4 ,the ,leviathan swings round through the night1 with her six hundred saved2 and begins to sing again in her deep heart1 laying the miles and the storm astern once more1 in a deep low thunder4 ,,the ,,war ,,in ,,perspective4 ,,by ,,dr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,,fitchett4 ,the present war is the biggest event in secular history--so big indeed that its scale evades the imagination4 ,its cause cannot be condensed into a formula or its story told in a volume4 ,but every war1 sooner or later1 finds literary expression2 and the present gigantic struggle needs1 and will create1 a new literature of its own1 beside which all the rest of secular literature will seem petty4 ,a hundred years hence professional soldiers will be spelling out its strategy2 toiling historians will be collating and recording its events2 philosophers will be analysing its causes1 moralists in spectacles will be assessing its spiritual elements4 ,what a literature--strategic1 scientific1 political1 financial1 geographical1 legal1 medical1 personal--it will be6 ,and when all such questions are dealt with there will yet remain that aspect of the war which has nothing to do with strategy1 or politics1 or finance4 ,it deals with the purely human interests and emotions of the struggle2 its picturesqueness2 its dramatic incidents2 the strophe and antistrophe of moral forces it reveals2 its literary aspects1 in a word2 things in it which would have arrested the imagination of ,shakespeare1 and supplied the text for mightier dramas than #8,macbeth' or #8,hamlet'2 incidents that ,scott would have woven into romance2 follies which might have given ,swift the text for keener satire than even his #8,tale of a ,tub'2 heroisms that a greater ,byron may set to more resounding music than even those famous lines which tell of ,waterloo4 ,and1 it may be added1 it is possible already to see in this amazing war some aspects which will do more than merely challenge the literary imagination1 the sense of the wonderful4 ,to begin with what is nearest3 the new scale of the war1 the strange temper1 the terrific weapons with which it is being fought1 will certainly prove1 for centuries to come1 an irresistible challenge to the literary imagination4 ,when the first shot in this war was fired1 the whole familiar and accepted arithmetic of battle went suddenly to wreck4 ,it was a war1 not of armies1 but of nations4 ,as a result we have to think of the contending forces in terms of millions4 ,australia1 for example1 supplies a proof of the enormously expanded scale of this war4 ,the standing army of ,imperial ,rome consisted of #bfj1jjj men4 ,australia is a community of only five million people2 war to it is a totally new experience4 ,yet it has raised1 equipped1 and sent to a battlefield #ab1jjj miles distant an army equal in number to the standing army of the ,caesars1 at the time the ,caesars were the masters of the civilised world4 ,great ,britain affords another example of the amazingly expanded realm of the war4 ,she hates standing armies1 hates them so much that she will only pass the ,mutiny ,act1 which makes an army of any sort possible1 for a year at a time4 ,the ,british formula is a big fleet and a little army4 ,when this war broke out the regular forces of ,great ,britain consisted of only #ahf1jjj men4 ,when the war was not yet two years old1 the ,british fleet had taken a scale without precedent in history2 in addition ,great ,britain had raised an army which approached #e1jjj1jjj and in which every man was a volunteer4 ,if the average ,liberal member of ,parliament had been told1 say1 three years ago1 that ,great ,britain1 in addition to having a fleet in scale so tremendous1 would have a land force of #e1jjj1jjj1 he probably would have assaulted his interlocutor4 ,but ,great ,britain1 having raised by voluntary effort those #e1jjj1jjj1 has actually passed a ,conscription ,bill for the remainder of its population4 ,the battles of to-day take such a scale1 last so long1 and are fought under such strange conditions1 that we have to invent new names for them4 ,they are neither #8sieges' nor #8battles1' but a combination of both2 and so we call them siege-battles4 ,that #8first and last of fights1 king-making ,waterloo1' when set against the arithmetic of the present war1 dwindles into a skirmish4 ,the little shallow valley outside ,brussels1 where ,napoleon and ,wellington measured swords with each other1 and one of the greatest soldiers in history ended his career1 is in area three miles by two1 and lies open to a single glance4 ,waterloo itself began at #aa o'clock in the morning1 and ended before #i o'clock at night2 it might have been fought under the ,factories ,act4 ,let there be set beside it the great siege-battle of the ,aisne1 which began on ,september #ae1 #aiad1 and is going on still1 with louder thunders and vaster slaughter than ever4 ,its field has lengthened into a ribbon of contorted trenches stretching from the ,north ,sea to the ,alps1 a distance of #ejj miles1 and from1 or in1 those strange1 vast1 far-running ditches1 now for nearly two years1 some #c1jjj1jjj men1 the best fighters in history1 armed with an artillery which suggests nothing so much as the weapons with which ,milton equipped ,satan and his hosts in their war with the angels1 have been slaying each other4 ,the deep thunder of the guns1 the tumult of fighting men1 have never ceased to sound at one point or another along those five hundred miles for nearly two years4 ,verdun1 with all its passion and slaughter1 its six months' wrestle of guns and infantry1 is a mere episode in this tremendous siege-battle2 a score of ,waterloos and ,marengos have been fought during its progress1 and have scarcely found a record4 ,the most brilliant chapter in ,british military history before the present war was certainly ,wellington's campaigns in the ,peninsula4 ,they lasted six years4 ,the ,british forces under ,wellington seldom approached1 and never exceeded1 #ej1jjj men4 ,napier condenses the story into a single sentence of stately and resonant prose4 ,in that great struggle the ,british forces #8fought and won nineteen pitched battles1 made or sustained ten sieges1 took four great fortresses2 killed1 wounded1 and took #bjj1jjj enemies1 etc42' and the cost of all this is to be found in #8the bones of #dj1jjj ,british soldiers' which #8lie scattered on the plains and mountains of the ,peninsula4' ,but ,sir ,john ,french's army in ,france lost in three weeks more than ,wellington's armies in the ,peninsula lost in six years6 ,in a single episode of the siege-battle beyond the ,aisne ,valley--say1 the second battle of ,ypres1 which lasted four days--the ,british employed greater forces1 and sustained greater losses1 than in ,wellington's six campaigns in the ,peninsula4 ,the most brilliant1 desperate1 and bloody siege of those campaigns was that of ,badajos1 in #ahab4 ,no one who has read the story ,napier tells of how1 on the night ,badajos was stormed1 the men of the ,light ,division died on its dark breach1 can ever forget the tale4 ,now the siege of ,badajos lasted twenty days2 it cost ,wellington #ejjj men4 ,the storming parties were let loose at #aj o'clock on the night of ,april #f2 when morning dawned ,badajos was won4 ,compare this with ,verdun4 ,the ,german attack began on ,february #bc4 ,some #cjjj guns--amongst them the great howitzers that destroyed ,namur--poured for days and nights an unceasing tempest of high explosives on the ,french lines4 ,then the assault was launched4 ,for nearly six months the thunder of the ,german guns has risen and sunk1 but never ceased2 again and again1 now on one point1 now on another1 the vast grey waves of the ,german infantry have flung themselves in bloody ebb and flow on the ,french position4 ,what the ,german losses have been can only be guessed2 they must reach half a million men4 ,and still the tricolour flies over ,verdun4 ,if we take the fighting on the sea1 again1 there is the same tremendous increase of scale4 ,trafalgar is--or was1 till ,may #ca of the present year--the greatest sea-fight under the ,british flag1 and it is curious to set it in contrast with the fight in the ,north ,sea4 ,the resemblances and differences of the two great battles are alike most striking4 ,that little1 one-eyed1 one-armed1 weather-beaten1 sun-tanned figure1 ,nelson1 is the dominating figure in ,trafalgar2 and he is still the most famous of all who have led the fleets of ,great ,britain into battle4 ,but if we turn to the recent battle in the ,north ,sea--a battle so splendidly fought1 and so ill-told--it is clear that1 in quickness of vision to read the iron alphabet of sea-battle1 and in the dash and fire with which he dared all risks to turn and hold his enemy1 ,sir ,david ,beatty is of ,nelson's school1 and has #8the ,nelson touch4' ,nelson himself1 indeed1 could hardly have done better on that foggy afternoon in the ,north ,sea than ,sir ,david ,beatty did4 ,for seamanship1 for technical skill1 and for pure valour1 the ,north ,sea fight1 in brief1 will compare with ,trafalgar4 ,but in its general aspect1 in the scale of the forces engaged1 and in the amount of destruction achieved--and the terrifying speed of that destruction--the two battles are utterly unlike each other4 ,a comparison betwixt them shows how completely the whole physiognomy of sea-battle is changed4 ,beatty's six battle-cruisers carried only #i-;inch armour1 but they had the hitting-power of ,dreadnoughts and the pace of destroyers2 and speed was the great feature of the ,north ,sea fight4 ,the ships engaged under both flags were amongst the swiftest afloat1 and the battle was fought at full speed4 ,at the critical moment of the fight the ships of ,beatty's squadron were travelling at the rate of thirty miles an hour1 firing as they raced4 ,they could head1 and turn1 the line of ,german ships because they outpaced them4 ,but if the ships were swift1 death was swifter4 ,it was as they whirled around across the head of the ,german line that the ,queen ,mary and the ,indefatigable1 in turn1 were destroyed1 and destroyed in a space of time to be reckoned in minutes--whether by the concentrated fire of the big ,german ,dreadnoughts1 or by the misadventure of striking a floating mine1 is not clear4 ,it is exactly at the two points of furious speed and of destructive energy that the contrast betwixt ,trafalgar and the fight in the ,north ,sea is greatest4 ,at ,trafalgar1 as everyone knows1 the ,franco-,spanish fleet was drawn up1 or had drifted1 into a straggling crescent four miles from tip to tip--thirty-three great line-of-battle ships1 armed with more than #cjjj guns1 a curving forest of masts and flags4 ,the ,british in two columns--,nelson in the ,victory leading one column1 ,collingwood in the ,royal ,sovereign the other--bore down on the enemy1 but there was no speed in the movement4 ,they drifted1 rather than sailed1 at the rate of less than two miles an hour--less than a walking-pace1 that is--into this curve of hostile guns2 and the coolness of the ,british crews and their officers was in keeping with the deliberation with which their ships approached the enemy4 ,the ,royal ,sovereign was a quarter of a mile ahead of its column1 and was certain to receive the concentrated fire of the enemy's line for nearly half an hour without support1 yet ,collingwood was not only nibbling but paring an apple on the quarter-deck while waiting for the great game to begin4 ,nelson's three-deckers1 compared with the modern ,dreadnought or battle-cruiser1 were tiny ships4 ,they had an average tonnage of a little over #bjjj tons--the ,victory herself was of #bbbc tons4 ,now1 a ship of the ,queen ,elizabeth class is of #bg1jjj tons1 equal to the tonnage of the whole column of ,nelson's ships at ,trafalgar4 ,the ,victory carried #aja guns1 about one-third being #cb-pounders2 there were only two carronades firing a shot of sixty-two pounds4 ,if every gun on the ,victory had been fired in one sudden broadside1 the entire weight of metal would have been #bbif pounds1 or a little over one ton of iron1 and the effective range would be less than half a mile4 ,but the ,queen ,elizabeth1 with her #ae-;inch guns1 could discharge1 in a single broadside1 twenty-seven tons of steel1 and could strike her mark with that tempest of flying metal--a swarm of aerolites--once every thirty seconds1 a dozen miles away4 ,the number of men killed at ,trafalgar1 leaving out the wounded1 was only #ddi4 ,on the ,victory itself #eg were killed1 on the #8,fighting' ,tmraire #dg1 on the ,royal ,sovereign #dg1 on the ,belle ,isle #cc1 or a total of #ahd killed in the four leading ships4 ,but the ,cressy1 the ,aboukir1 and the ,hogue were sunk in fifteen minutes--without seeing the submarine that sank them--and #fhj seamen were drowned1 a loss fifty per cent4 greater than that of the whole of ,nelson's fleet at ,trafalgar4 ,sir ,david ,beatty's two battle-cruisers1 the ,queen ,mary and the ,indefatigable1 were sunk in a time as brief as the three unfortunate cruisers1 and sunk when travelling at their highest speed1 and firing as they raced4 ,each carried a complement of #ijj men1 and when they went down the loss of life was four times as great as that of ,trafalgar4 ,a century hence what may be called the ,german psychology1 as revealed in this war1 will still puzzle the curiosity and challenge the imagination of unborn generations4 ,for the first time in history we have the spectacle of a nation of seventy million people1 ,christian in faith1 highly civilised1 strong on the practical side1 of shrewdest business capacity1 with a genius for business and for organisation1 a nation that has given to education1 or what it thinks is education1 a larger place in its life than any other in history1 yet which somehow is smitten with a sort of insanity1 an insanity partly moral and partly intellectual4 ,and what heightens the wonder is the circumstance that it mistakes its very lunacy for culture4 ,to make the tragedy complete1 it is an insanity organised1 armed1 disciplined1 terrible1 equipped with all the resources of science1 and having borrowed from science new engines and subtleties of destruction without precedent in the history of war4 ,in its essence what we are watching is the spiritual bankruptcy of a great nation2 but the whole story bristles with psychological problems4 ,its spiritual landmarks have shifted4 ,good and evil are terms in its politics which have not merely lost1 but--a much more terrible thing--have exchanged their significance4 ,it mistakes might for right4 ,it labels its vices as virtues4 ,in one sense1 ,germany is rich in intellectual ability--the ,germany to which ,beethoven sang1 and ,goethe discoursed philosophy1 for which ,kant moralised1 and at which ,heine jested4 ,it has a list of names great in poetry1 philosophy1 and scholarship4 ,germany1 too1 has done great things in science1 though not so much in the realm of scientific discovery4 ,it adapts rather than discovers2 it excels in translating the scientific discoveries of other races into practical terms4 ,noticeable1 also1 is the fact that the great names in ,german literature1 philosophy1 and scholarship are not ,prussian2 and it is ,prussia1 and the ,prussianised form of ,germany1 which is troubling the world4 ,luther came from ,eisleben2 ,leibnitz was a ,czech2 ,kant was of ,scottish blood2 ,bismarck1 it is amusing to remember1 told ,prince ,napoleon1 #8,i am not a ,german2 ,i am a ,prussian1 a ,wend'--that is1 a ,slav4 ,both ,nietzsche and ,treitschke came of a ,slav stock2 most of the great #8,german' musicians came of a ,jewish strain2 ,heine was1 of course1 a pure ,jew4 ,nearly all the public documents issued by the ,german ,government during this war1 and all the speeches of its statesmen1 are thick-inlaid with statements which1 if not blank lies1 and known by the speaker or writer to be lies1 are yet proofs of some disordered quality in the mind of the speaker or writer4 ,sometimes the speaker seems to be self-hypnotised1 so that he really believes a lie as big as a mountain to be the truth2 or he suffers from some eccentric paralysis of the memory which enables him to forget what he has said1 or written1 only a moment before4 ,the famous #8scrap of paper' incident1 taken as a whole1 has the office of a searchlight as showing the morbid condition both of ,german morals and of ,german intelligence4 ,anybody with a touch of literary imagination will look back upon that scene in a room in ,berlin1 when the ,german ,chancellor complained to ,sir ,edward ,goschen1 #8,you are going to war with us over a scrap of paper1' and recognise it as one of the most picturesque1 as well as the great and critical1 moments in history4 ,the ,german represented the greatest military ,power in the world1 the ,englishman the greatest naval ,power4 ,had both agreed to dismiss as a mere #8scrap of paper' the treaty that guards the neutrality of ,belgium1 the sanctity of all treaties would have disappeared at a breath4 ,but that dismissal into space as a mere scrap of paper of the treaty guaranteeing the neutrality of ,belgium1 which bore the name of ,germany1 was to ,germany herself a worse disaster than the loss of a pitched battle4 ,it was a form of suicide4 ,it destroyed her public credit2 it dismissed her from the realm of good faith4 ,when1 at the end of the war1 the representatives of the nations now in conflict sit around some table in ,london or in ,paris to draw up terms of peace1 the ghost of this scrap of paper will cost ,germany much1 for she has stripped herself of all title to be trusted4 ,now1 a blunder so unspeakably stupid on the part of men so able shows that at that moment1 and in that act1 the brains of the men who were the representatives of ,germany were in some curious state of paralysis4 ,but this gigantic blunder is to this day being pursued by ,germany with explanations and justifications which1 as examples of unreason1 suggest nothing so much as the logic employed in #8,alice in ,wonderland4' ,the ,german ,chancellor himself some time afterwards asked the world to believe that what he meant was that #8a scrap of paper' represented the ,british idea of the value of a treaty1 while ,germany #8took her responsibility towards neutral ,states seriously4' ,and ,bethmann-,hollweg offered this explanation after ,germany had actually violated ,belgian neutrality1 and ,great ,britain had gone to war to maintain it6 ,the ,german ,chancellor offered1 in the very same speech1 yet another explanation in open quarrel with the explanation just given4 ,at the time he described the treaty as #8a scrap of paper1' he had #8reason to believe1' he told the ,reichstag1 that the ,belgians themselves had destroyed their own neutrality by a convention they had made with ,england for the introduction of ,british troops2 but as he lacked formal proof of the circumstance1 he did not mention it at the time4 ,since then they had captured ,brussels1 and found1 in the archives there1 the actual text of the convention with ,england1 by which ,belgium violated its own neutrality4 ,as a matter of fact1 the guilty document which the ,german ,chancellor quoted was not a #8convention' at all1 but notes of a #8conversation' betwixt the ,british military attach and ,major-,general ,ducalme1 a ,belgian officer4 ,it was an academic discussion of what might be done #8after ,germany had entered ,belgian territory'2 and it was endorsed as #8not binding' on either of the two nations4 ,and the ,german ,chancellor quotes this discussion of what might be done to guard its neutrality against ,german attack as a surrender of its neutrality4 ,this is very much as though a burglar1 caught in the act of plundering a house1 claimed that his burglary was justifiable1 as he found--after he had broken into the house--that its owner had a revolver under his pillow4 ,the doctrine of the freedom of the sea which ,germany has suddenly begun to preach at the top of its voice is yet another proof of either the entire absence of any sense of humour in the ,german mind1 or of a morbid condition of the ,german conscience4 ,for ,great ,britain1 the geographical distribution of her ,empire makes an overwhelming superiority in naval power a condition of its existence2 but the seas of the planet1 under her supremacy1 have been free to every flag--except the black flag of the pirate4 ,she has never abused her sea-power4 ,it is ,germany that has made the sea terrible by sowing it with drifting mines and making it a field for the performances of its submarines4 ,great ,britain has supreme power on the sea1 ,germany has--or had--supreme military power on land2 and what ,germany means by #8the freedom of the sea' is that ,great ,britain's advantage should be cancelled out of existence1 while her own advantage should remain undiminished4 ,it is worth quoting the words in which1 in his clear-cut1 sword-edged prose1 ,mr4 ,a4 ,j4 ,balfour analyses and describes this new ,german doctrine4 #8,the most simple-minded1' he says1 #8must feel suspicious when they find that these missionaries of maritime freedom are the very same persons who preach and who practise upon the land the extremest doctrines of military absolutism4 #8,she poses as a reformer of international law1 though international law has never bound her for an hour4 ,she objects to 8economic pressure0 when it is exercised by a fleet1 though she sets no limit to the brutal completeness with which economic pressure may be imposed by an army4 ,she sighs over the suffering which war imposes upon peaceful commerce1 though her own methods of dealing with peaceful commerce would have wrung the conscience of ,captain ,kidd4 ,she denounces the maritime methods of the ,allies1 though in her efforts to defeat them she is deterred neither by the rules of war1 the appeal of humanity1 nor the rights of neutrals4' ,now1 when a ,power like ,germany1 with such a record on the sea1 attires itself in the garb of a missionary1 and begins to preach the gospel of #8the freedom of the sea1' the phenomenon appeals to the literary imagination by its exquisite absurdity2 to the alienist it suggests the urgent need of medical treatment4 ,that the ,power which has scorched with fire and splashed red with blood the little ,state it had sworn to protect1 which sank the ,lusitania and shot ,nurse ,cavell1 should complain to high heaven that ,great ,britain had broken the regulations of the ,hague ,convention1 is an audacity which paralyses the sane intelligence4 ,it is as though ,jack the ,ripper published a tract against vivisection1 or ,deeming wrote a pious homily on #8,how to ,make ,home ,happy4' ,another illustration of this lunatic quality in the ,german mind is found in the furious complaints against ,great ,britain for starving--or for even trying to starve--,germany1 including its women and children4 ,and yet it was ,germany that in #ahgj drew lines of blockade around ,paris1 and waited for starvation to bring the #8gay city' to surrender6 ,no ,german city yet has known the horrors of starvation as the ,german armies compelled ,paris to know them4 ,the death-rate of little children during those sad months rose to #ejjj a week1 and ,bismarck1 when he rode into ,paris after its surrender1 expressed his surprise at seeing any children yet alive4 ,von ,hindenburg1 when told quite recently that ,russian peasants were starving in ,poland1 said #8,it is just as well that it should be so2 we cannot make war sentimentally4' ,then he repeated the formula which is the true credo of every ,prussian soldier3 #8,the more ruthlessly war is waged1 the more humane does it really become2 for that is the best way to bring it to a rapid conclusion4' ,but what more complete proof of the one-sidedness of the ,german mind can be discovered than the fact1 say1 that at the present moment it is itself starving ,belgium1 so that its inhabitants have to be fed by the pity of the world1 and at the same time it is screaming aloud to the whole universe because the meat ration in ,berlin has to be reduced in consequence of the ,british blockade8 ,the puzzle is not so much that ,germany acts with such gaping inconsistency2 it has not the faintest notion that it is inconsistent4 ,this is a mental condition rare outside1 and not even always found inside1 a lunatic asylum4 ,the delirious self-complacency of the ,prussianised ,german1 again1 leaves the whole outside world speechless4 ,there is no other such instance of megalomania in history4 ,no other people pay such loud compliments to themselves1 and pay them with such unashamed diligence4 ,they decorate themselves with compliments as a savage decorates himself with bits of broken glass4 ,a philosopher like ,hegel set the example of proclaiming in ,german accents and to ,german ears the #8godlike glory' of the ,german nation4 ,the #8spiritual nature of ,germanism1' we are assured seven days a week by ,german editors1 makes it the standard-bearer of ,christian ,europe4 ,morality1 we are warned1 #8depends on the preservation of the ,christian ,germanic spirit and on the political power of ,germany4 ,civilisation and ,christianity are unthinkable without the ,germans4' #8,germany1' says ,professor ,lamprecht1 #8is now the protector and pillar of ,european civilisation2 and after bloody victories the world will be healed by being ,germanised4' #8,we ,germans are singled out by ,providence to march at the head of all ,kultur people4444 ,we have the highest mental creative gifts2 we form the crown of ,kultur in the whole of creation4' ,can anyone doubt1 after reading through pages like this1 that ,germany is self-hypnotised8 ,there must be some morbid condition in the character which thus exudes compliments to itself through every pore in its skin4 ,it is the sign of a disordered intelligence4 ,the doctrine of #8frightfulness1' as a method in war1 is the special contribution of ,germany to the present conflict4 ,it is curious1 however1 to remember that the most terrible example of #8frightfulness1' as far as ,europe is concerned1 was supplied by ,germany #cjj years ago in the famous1 or rather infamous1 ,thirty ,years' ,war2 and a chapter from its grim pages reads like nothing so much as a page from the ,german performances in ,belgium in #aiad-ae4 ,the slaughter in ,germany during that period was so huge that in #afdh the country had only a third of the population of #afah2 in some districts the depopulation was so great that every man was allowed to have two wives6 ,it is a ,german historian who says that #8even now the injury done to the psychology of the ,german people by the moral and intellectual decay of the ,thirty ,years' ,war has hardly been repaired4' ,those words were written before the present war broke out1 but there are some pages in the performances of ,germany to-day that justify that statement4 ,what makes the folly of ,germany to-day absolutely unique1 however1 is the fact that1 in its adoption of #8frightfulness' as a war measure1 it takes the performances of the ,thirty ,years' ,war1 translates them into modern terms1 practises them on a new scale1 and enjoins them as virtues6 ,the ,german soldier is instructed1 for reasons of humanity1 to be as inhuman as possible2 and the ,german ,war ,book gives grim details of what can be done1 and supports its instructions by logic which1 if it is dreadful1 is certainly plausible4 ,if war is made more frightful1 it is argued1 it will be made shorter2 so it is a service to humanity to bombard defenceless towns1 burn whole villages1 shoot unarmed citizens1 including women and children4 ,one ,german divine1 indeed--and ,german divines during this war have done and said some wonderful things--preached a sermon to show that #8frightfulness' carried to the nth was a form--a ,german form--of fulfilling the commandment1 #8,thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself4' #8,if you love your neighbour1 you will do your best to prevent him being caught in the red tide of war--or to get him out of it--as early as possible2 and you will achieve this best by making war as terrible as you can4' ,the committee which inquired into ,german atrocities in ,belgium1 and is responsible for the ,bryce ,report1 had on it such shrewd1 practical1 hard-headed men as ,lord ,bryce1 ,sir ,edward ,clarke1 ,sir ,frederick ,pollock1 and their report is the most dreadful indictment ever drawn up against any nation1 civilised or uncivilised4 ,it says3 #8,in the minds of ,prussian officers1 war seems to have become a sort of sacred mission1 one of the highest functions of the omnipotent ,state1 which is itself as much an army as a ,state4 ,ordinary morality and the ordinary sentiment of pity vanish in its presence1 superseded by a new standard which justifies to the soldier every means that can conduce to success1 however shocking to a natural sense of justice and humanity1 however revolting to his own feeling4444 ,cruelty becomes legitimate when it promises victory4' ,then a very pregnant sentence is added3 #8,it is a specifically military doctrine1 the outcome of a theory held by a ruling caste who have brooded and thought and written and talked and dreamed about war until they have fallen under its obsession1 and been hypnotised by its spirit4444 ,if this explanation be the true one1 the mystery is solved1 and that which seemed scarcely credible becomes more intelligible1 though not less pernicious4' ,the use of #8frightfulness' as a method of war1 in other words1 is the result of diseased psychological conditions4 ,to have #8brooded and thought and written and talked and dreamed about war' is a process which might well result in an evil obsession as real1 and as devilish in its spirit and its fruits1 as possession by the devil himself4 ,but the most astonishing thing in this whole astonishing story is that ,germany betrays no sense that it has done anything worthy of blame4 ,it learns with a bewildered exasperation that the outside world disapproves of this example of ,german #8culture4' ,the ,kaiser is quite sure that he has the ,divine approval in this1 and everything else he does4 ,from the wireless station at ,berlin an official #8explanation' of this stupendous crime of a destroyed city was sent to the newspapers of the world3 #8,the only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil population has been to interfere with unrelenting severity1 and to create examples which by their frightfulness would be a warning to the whole country4' ,now1 as an example of inverted ethics1 this is almost worthy of a place in ,de ,quincey's essay on #8,murder ,considered as ,one of the ,fine ,arts4' #8,the ,german ,government1' says ,secretary ,hay1 #8is generally brutal1 but not often silly4' ,here1 however1 it is at once both silly and brutal in a quite superlative degree4 ,it is1 of course1 exactly this doctrine of #8frightfulness' which has made ,germany the outlaw of the civilised world4 ,perhaps nothing in this war will so sharply arrest what we have called the literary imagination as the uncertainty1 the dim half-lights as to its reasons and issues1 with which it began4 ,some of the #8explanations' of the war are foolish2 some are cynical4 ,the ,hon4 ,bertrand ,russell1 for example1 has written a book on the war in which he says the nations of ,central ,europe are fighting for much the same reason dogs do--because #8they don't like each other's smell#86 ,would anyone quote now1 as an explanation of the war1 that couple of pistol-shots in a street in ,serajevo which slew the ,archduke ,franz ,ferdinand and his wife8 ,it is like offering the bursting of a soda-water bottle as the explanation of a ,niagara1 or tracing an earthquake to the explosion of a cracker4 ,the ,austrian ultimatum to ,servia seems to be the match which fired the magazine2 but if there had been no #8magazine' the #8match' would have been quite innocent4 ,for ,great ,britain1 the first reason of the war was something immediate and concrete--the ,german invasion of ,belgium4 ,great ,britain was pledged1 both by express treaty and by its historic policy1 to maintain that neutrality2 and when the ,german columns crossed the ,belgian frontier war was inevitable4 ,it was a simple question of good faith2 ,england1 ,mr4 ,asquith declared1 must keep her pledged word4 ,but when the war was begun it was quickly realised that the existence of the ,empire depended on its result2 and so ,mr4 ,bonar ,law told the ,house of ,commons1 #8,this is a fight for our national existence4' ,that is certainly true1 and it applies with greatest force to the ,dominions4 ,if the ,british ,empire goes into liquidation1 the most coveted assets will be ,australia1 with its #ab1jjj miles of girdling sea1 its radiant climate1 its mineral wealth1 its vast pastures1 or ,new ,zealand1 the ,great ,britain of the ,pacific4 ,the men in the ,french and ,flemish trenches are certainly fighting for--amongst other things--the safety of every home in ,australia and ,new ,zealand4 ,but the war raised the question of the value of the treaty relations which bind civilised ,states together2 so1 as ,lord ,rosebery put it1 we are fighting for #8the sanctity of public law in ,europe4' ,a ,german victory would turn every treaty throughout ,christendom into a #8scrap of paper4' ,in the first message1 again1 ,king ,george addressed to the ,empire1 he said1 #8,we are fighting for the continuity of civilisation2' and that also is true4 ,the defeat of the ,allies would put not only ,europe1 but ,christendom1 back into the ,dark ,ages4 ,in this way1 as the war went on1 its #8reasons' expanded3 the obligation of the pledged word2 our national existence2 the sanctity of public law2 the continuity of civilisation4 ,yet even these reasons all put together are inadequate4 ,there remains something in the war differentiating it from any other ever fought2 some intangible and invisible element not easy to define4 ,in his famous speech in the ,guildhall ,mr4 ,asquith expressed this by saying #8,this is not so much a material as a spiritual conflict4' ,it is a conflict1 in other words1 not racial1 political1 dynastic1 or a mere wrestle of political ideals4 ,it is a battle of opposing ethical codes4 ,we are fighting not merely a nation1 but a doctrine--something that steel cannot pierce nor high explosives wreck4 ,and it is a doctrine armed1 disciplined1 terrible2 fighting with #ag-;inch howitzers and poisonous gases1 with submarines4 ,but what exactly is the #8doctrine' against which we are fighting8 ,it is customary to quote ,nietzsche at this point1 and find in his teaching the germ of the #8doctrine' for which to-day ,germany fights1 and against which the rest of the world is in arms4 ,but for one thing it is difficult to discover any single sustained and intelligible #8doctrine' in the structure of ,nietzsche's works4 ,he died in a lunatic asylum1 and had a strain of lunacy in his writings1 if not in his blood1 long before his insanity came under medical treatment4 ,he had a touch of genius1 but thin partitions divided his genius from madness4 ,if ,germany took its creed from ,nietzsche it would be not only furiously anti-,christian and furiously atheistic1 but even furiously non-moral4 #8,morality1' ,nietzsche said1 #8ought to be shot at4 ,pangs of conscience were indecent4' ,in that dim realm into which his half-insane mind wandered--the #8twilight of the gods'--evil and good had no existence4 ,as for ,christianity1 he called it #8the greatest of all conceivable corruptions1' the #8one immortal blemish of mankind4' ,jesus ,christ1 for ,nietzsche1 was #8a knave1 a charlatan4' ,everyone knows how ,nietzsche took the ,beatitudes and inverted them4 ,his creed combined the theology of a lunatic asylum with the ethics of a gaol4 ,now the ,germany against which the world is fighting to-day is certainly not atheistic1 and it at least thinks itself to be intensely ,christian4 ,what makes the tragedy of ,germany in this war1 the thing which puzzles even those who are fighting against it1 is the fact that ,germany is acting on a doctrine stranger and more terrible than ,paganism itself4 ,it undertakes to be both ,christian and ,pagan at the same time2 ,christian in the individual life1 ,pagan as a nation4 ,it has two eternally hostile codes of ethics3 one for the individual and the other for the ,state4 ,as a private citizen the ,german may be a ,christian1 and ought to be one2 but the moment he puts on a spike-helmet1 or sits at a ,government desk1 he strips himself of all ,christian morals2 vice and virtue change their names for him4 ,as a soldier he can clothe himself with #8frightfulness'2 can rape1 plunder1 kill1 burn1 with the entire approval of his official--that is to say1 his ,paganised--conscience4 ,as a diplomatist1 he can lie and cheat and forswear himself1 and leave his ,christian self-respect untouched4 ,for ,germany acts on the theory that the ,state is a non-moral1 predatory entity1 for which the distinction betwixt good and evil does not exist4 ,it stands in no relation to ,god2 it has no more morals than a tiger2 it acts on the law of the jungle4 ,might1 in its dreadful code1 is right4 ,in the ,prussianised ,germany against which we are fighting we have1 in brief1 a double personality4 ,when it acts as a nation it undergoes a transformation more terrible than that in ,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson's tale when ,dr4 ,jekyll turned into ,mr4 ,hyde4 ,all the separate individualities of ,germany melt into one gigantic ,mr4 ,hyde--,mr4 ,hyde in a spike-helmet4 ,or1 to change the figure1 they become the #8great blond beast' of ,nietzsche1 lawless1 predatory1 invincible1 the superman1 a non-moral monster4 ,the supermen1 says ,nietzsche1 #8where a foreign country begins1 revert to the beast-of-prey conscience1 like jubilant monsters who come with bravado from a ghastly bout of murder1 arson1 rape1 and torture4444 ,the nation becomes a magnificent blond brute1 avidly rampant for spoil and victory4' ,treitschke1 the little stone-deaf professor of history1 proclaimed the doctrine that the ,state is a non-moral entity1 for which an ethical code has no meaning4 ,bernhardi puts the matter more explicitly4 #8,jesus ,christ1' he says1 #8came into the world to establish a society founded on love2 but that principle does not extend to the ,state'2 in all that concerns the ,state1 ,jesus ,christ has no authority4 ,his laws do not extend to that realm4 ,when before in history have we this doctrine proclaimed from the iron lips of #ag-;inch howitzers8 ,here lies the explanation of all that puzzles us in the present war--the strange perversities discoverable in ,german policy3 its contempt for truth1 its capacity for cruelty2 its blindness to moral distinctions4 ,we are fighting with a nation which1 taken individually1 believes itself to be ,christian2 but1 taken as a nation1 it is by deliberate choice ,pagan4 #8,they chose new gods 444 then was war in the gate2' so runs an ancient ,hebrew psalm1 explaining a dark page in a dark history4 ,in those words1 cause and effect are set side by side4 ,germany has certainly chosen #8a new god'2 a god of war2 the god of high explosives1 of poison gases1 of submarines2 a god of material forces1 of battles and bloodshed--as ultimate arbiter in the struggle to spread the ,pan-,german ideal4 ,everyone remembers how ,nietzsche inverted the ,beatitudes4 #8,blessed1' he said1 #8are'--not the meek--but #8the strong1 for they shall inherit the earth4' #8,blessed are'--not the peacemakers--but #8the war-makers1 for they shall be called the sons of ,odin4' ,cramb said that in ,europe two great spiritual forces1 ,napoleon and ,christ1 oppose each other1 and their conflict is #8the most significant spiritual phenomenon of the twentieth century4' ,he adds that1 in ,germany1 #8,corsica has conquered ,galilee'2 ,napoleon1 or what ,napoleon represents1 is worshipped2 not ,christ1 or what ,christ teaches4 ,but the ,germans do not understand even the ,napoleon they accept as their ideal4 ,that great master of the art of war himself said that #8in war moral forces were to material forces as three to one4' ,it is true that by #8moral' ,napoleon did not exactly mean #8ethical'2 but the ethical is an essential part of the moral4 ,germany forgets--or inverts--the ethical2 and that is the most fatal of blunders4 ,for1 as ,carlyle teaches1 this is a world of facts1 and the first condition of success in any realm is fidelity to facts4 ,and certainly the most important kinds of #8facts' are in the ethical order4 ,they have the quality of eternity in them4 ,this world has been so constructed by its ,maker that a falsehood is in quarrel with the very system of things1 and the ,prussianised ,germany1 which has set the world in a flame with its greeds1 and hates1 and envies1 is fighting against the #8system of things4' ,we1 on our part1 have greater allies than the nations knitted to us by formal treaties4 ,with the change of a single word we can adopt ,wordsworth's memorable lines3 #8444 ,thou hast great allies1 ,thy friends are exultations1 agonies1 ,and ,love1 and man's unconquerable mind4' ,but in this war we have still mightier allies than these4 ,all the forces that make for truth1 for humanity1 for honour1 for justice1 for freedom1 are our allies4 ,these are the enduring forces of the universe2 and the ,maker and ,ruler of these forces1 of whose character they are the reflex and of whose will they are the servants1 is on our side too4