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diff --git a/old/63546-0.txt b/old/63546-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 68b0b28..0000000 --- a/old/63546-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8967 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Undefeated, by J. C. (John Collis) -Snaith - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this ebook. - -Title: The Undefeated - -Author: J. C. (John Collis) Snaith - -Release Date: December 05, 2020 [EBook #63546] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: D A Alexander and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at - https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by the Library of Congress) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE UNDEFEATED *** - - - _The_ - UNDEFEATED - - BY - - J. C. SNAITH - - AUTHOR OF "THE SAILOR," "BROKE OF COVENDEN," ETC. - - D. APPLETON AND COMPANY - NEW YORK 1919 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY - D. APPLETON AND COMPANY - - - Printed in the United States of America. - - - - - DEDICATED RESPECTFULLY - TO - "A DECENT AND A DAUNTLESS PEOPLE" - - - - -THE UNDEFEATED - - - - -I - - -It was hot. - -It was so hot that a certain Mr. William Hollis sitting on an old bacon -box in the lee of a summerhouse in his lock-up garden had removed coat -and waistcoat tie and collar, rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and -loosened his braces. The presence of a neighbor's elbows on the party -hedge forbade a complete return to nature, but the freedom of Old Man -Adam from the restraints imposed by society was envied just now by one -at least of his heirs. - -By the side of Bill Hollis was a stone jar of Blackhampton ale, a -famous brew, but even this could not save him from gasping like a carp. -It was a scorcher and no mistake--thick, slab and hazy, the sort of -heat you can almost cut with a knife. - -Leaning gracefully across from the next plot was a large, rotund -gentleman with the face of a well-nourished ferret. Draped in an artful -festoon beneath an old straw hat, a wreath of burdock leaves defended -him from the weather. "Mr. Hollis"--he addressed the man on the bacon -box with conversational charm--"if you want my opinion they're putting -in a bit of overtime in Hell." - -"Mr. Goldman, you've got it." His neighbor, a man of somber -imagination, was struck by the force of the image. First he glanced up -to a sky of burnished copper and then he glanced down over the edge of -sheer hillside upon which he and his friend were poised like a couple -of black ants on the face of a hayrick. Below he saw a cauldron in -which seethed more than a quarter of a million souls. Floating above -the cauldron and its many thousands of chimneys was a haze of soot -thick enough to conceal what in point of mere size was the fourteenth -city of Great Britain. But speaking geographically, and Blackhampton's -inhabitants were prone to do that, it was the exact center of England, -of the United Kingdom, of the British Empire, and therefore-- - -Somewhere in the mind of William Hollis lurked a poet, a philosopher -and an artist. He pointed over the dip of the hill into the middle of -the cauldron. "Reminds me," he said, half to himself, for he was not -consciously an artist, "of the Inferno of Dant, with Lustrations by -Door." - -Mr. Goldman frowned at the simile. What else could he do? He was a -solid citizen, of a solid city, of a solid empire: he was not merely a -Philistine, he was proud of being a Philistine. He suddenly remembered -that his neighbor was a failure as a man of business. And in a flash -Mr. Goldman knew why. - -"Yes, Hollis--hot." The ferret-faced gentleman spoke with more caution -and less charm. Commercially and socially he was secure, but the same -could hardly be said for the man on the bacon box who spoke of the -Inferno of Dant with Lustrations by Door--whatever the Inferno of Dant -with Lustrations by Door might be. - -"Hot enough, Mr. Goldman, to melt those three brass balls of yours." It -was a graceful allusion to a trade symbol, yet a prosperous pawnbroker -felt that in making it a semi-bankrupt greengrocer was verging upon the -familiar. He had just reached that conclusion when a boy selling papers -came along the narrow lane that ran past the end of the garden, and -thrust a tousled head over the fence. - -"Four o'clock, mister?" - -Bill Hollis produced a halfpenny. A minute later he produced a note of -disgust. "County's beat. Yorkshire won by an innings an' four runs. -Funny thing, our chaps can't never play against Yorkshire--not for sour -apples." - -Mr. Goldman gave a slow deep grunt and then artistically readjusted his -garland. - -"Hirst six for twenty-two. Them Tykes can _bahl_ a bit. Rhodes four for -nineteen." - -Mr. Goldman grunted again. And it was now clear by the look in his -small eyes that disapproval was intended. The Inferno of Dant with -Lustrations by Door was still in his mind. That was the key to his -neighbor's financial failure, but this squandering of money, time and -brain power on things of no value was just as significant. - -"Cricket." The tone was very scornful. "One o' these days cricket is -going to be the ruin of the country." - -William Hollis stoutly dissented. "It's cricket that makes us what we -are." - -"It's business, Hollis, that makes a country." There was an accession -of moral superiority in the pawnbroker's tone. "That's the thing that -counts. All this sport is ruination--ruination, Hollis--the road to -nowhere." - -William Hollis was unconvinced, but a man so successful had him at a -hopeless disadvantage. In theory he was sure that he was right, but the -pawnbroker knew that he had just made a composition with his creditors, -so that it didn't matter how sound the argument or how honest the -cause, he was out of court. Truth doesn't matter. It is public opinion -that matters. And public opinion is conditioned by many subtleties, -among which a banking account is foremost. - -Bill Hollis covered his retreat from a position that should have been -impregnable, by turning to another part of the paper which was the -Blackhampton _Evening Star_. - -"Ultimatum to Serbia. Ugly situation. I don't think." - -Mr. Goldman asked why he didn't. - -"A dodge to sell the paper." - -"I expect you're right," said the pawnbroker judicially. "They've -always got some flam or other." - -"Civil war in Ireland," announced Bill Hollis. - -"I daresay. And next week we shall have the sea serpent and the giant -gooseberry. And all for a halfpenny, mark you. We're living in great -days, Hollis." - -The little greengrocer was silent a moment and then he said -thoughtfully, "I sometimes think, Mr. Goldman, what this country wants -is a really good war." - -Mr. Goldman smiled in a superior way. "Well, I don't mind telling you," -he said, "that I've thought that for the last twenty years. Not this -country only, but Europe, the whole world." - -"You're right, Mr. Goldman." There was a grandeur in the conception -that in spite of the weather almost moved his neighbor to enthusiasm. - -"Stands to reason, my boy, and I'll tell you why. The world is -overpoppylated. Look at this town of ours." With the finger of an -Olympian the pawnbroker pointed down the hillside to the smoking -cauldron below. "Poppylation two hundred and sixty odd thousand at the -last census. And when I first set up in business, the year before the -Franco-Prussian War, it was seventy-two thousand. And it's not only -here, it's all over the world alike." - -"That is so, Mr. Goldman. And they say that in America it's even -worse. In fact, wherever you look the competition is cruel." - -"Yes, Hollis, a real good war would do a power of good. We want Old -Boney back again--then there might be breathing space for a bit. As it -is this country is overrun with aliens." - -William assented gloomily. - -"This town of ours, my boy, is crawling with Germans. They come over -here and take the bread out of our mouths. They work for nothing and -they live on nothing. They learn all our trades and then they go back -to the Fatherland, and undersell us." - -Said Bill Hollis with the air of a prophet, "I reckon that sooner or -later we'll be having a scrap with the Germans." - -"Not likely." The pawnbroker's tone was a little contemptuous. "The -Germans can get all they want without fighting. Peaceful penetration's -their game. They are the cleverest nation in the world. In another -twenty years they'll own it all." - -Upon this last expression of his wisdom Mr. Goldman gave a final touch -to his straw hat and its cool garland, waddled down a box-bordered path -and out of the gate at the bottom of his garden. - - - - -II - - -The departure of Mr. Goldman left a void in the heart of Mr. William -Hollis. He was a sociable man, with a craving for the company of his -fellows, and although for quite a long time now his distinguished -neighbor had been clearly labeled in his mind as "a pursy old pig," he -was an interesting person to talk to when he was in the humor. He was -not always in the humor, it was true, for he was a "warm" man, an owner -of house property; therefore he was in the happy position of not having -to be civil to anybody when he didn't feel like it. This afternoon, -however, he had unbent. - -The slowly receding form of Mr. Goldman waddled along by the hedge, -turned into the lane, passed from view. In almost the same moment -William Hollis felt a severe depression. He had reached the stage of -life and fortune when he could not bear to be alone. With a kind of -dull pain he realized that this was his forty-first birthday and that -he had failed in life. - -He was going down the hill. Unless he could take a pull on himself he -was done. Already it might be too late. The best part of his life was -behind him. A year ago that day, in this very garden, his only source -of happiness, he had told himself that; two years ago, three years -ago, five years ago, this had been the burden of his thoughts. But he -was in a rut and there seemed to be no way out. - -Twenty years ago he had felt it was in him to do something. He was -an ambitious young fellow with a mind that looked forward to the day -after to-morrow. Such a man ought to have done something. But now he -knew that there had been a soft spot in him somewhere and that a moral -and mental dry rot had already set in. He was a talker, a thinker, a -dreamer; action was not his sphere. Unless he took a strong pull on -himself he was out of the race. - -He poured what remained of the jar of ale into the earthenware mug he -kept for the purpose--Blackhampton ale tastes better out of a mug--and -drank it slowly, without relish. Then he cut a few flowers to take -home to his wife--to the wife who hadn't spoken to him for nearly a -week--arranged them in a bunch, with the delicacy of one unconsciously -sensitive to form and color, looped a bit of twitch neatly round them, -put on his coat, a stained and worn alpaca, put on his hat, a battered, -disreputable straw, cast the eye of a lover round his precious garden, -locked its dilapidated green door and started down the lane and down -the hill towards the city. - -It was now five o'clock and a little cooler, yet William Hollis walked -very slowly. There was a lot of time to kill before the day was -through. But his thoughts were biting him harder than ever as he turned -into the famous road leading to the city, known as The Rise. This -salubrious eminence, commanding the town from the northeast, was sacred -to the city magnates. When a man made good in Blackhampton, really -good, he built a house on The Rise. It was the ambition of every true -Blackhamptonian to express his individuality in that way. Until he had -achieved a house entirely to his own fancy and taste on The Rise, no -son of Blackhampton could be said really to have "arrived." - -William Hollis trudged slowly along a well kept road, between two -irregular lines of superb villas, gleaming with paint and glass, -standing well back from the road in ample grounds of their own, with -broad and trim gravel approaches. The first on the right was Rosemere, -the residence of Sir Reuben Jope, three times Mayor of Blackhampton, -a man of large fortune and robust taste, whose last expression was -greenhouses and conservatories. They were said to produce fabulous -things--flowers, fruits, shrubs, plants known only to tropical -countries. Many a time from afar had Bill gazed upon them with rather -wistful awe. - -A little farther along was The Haven, the ancestral home of the Clints, -a famous Blackhampton family whose local prestige was on a par with -that of the Rothschilds in the city of London. Across the road was -The Gables, the modest house of Lawyer Mossop, the town's leading -solicitor; then on the right, again, the reticulated dwelling of the -philanthropic Stephen Mortimore, head of the great engineering firm -of Mortimore, Barrow, and Mortimore. For a true son of Blackhampton -these were names to conjure with. Even to walk along such a road gave -one a feeling of worldly success, financial security, aristocratic -exclusiveness. - -Still a little further along on the left was what was clearly intended -to be the _pièce de resistance_ of The Rise. It was the brand-new -residence of the very latest arrival and no house had been more -discussed by Blackhampton society. It was intended to eclipse every -other dwelling on The Rise, but it was of nondescript design, half -suburban villa, half mediæval castle. From the æsthetic standpoint the -result was so little satisfactory that a local wit had christened it -"Dammit 'All." - -As "Dammit 'All" came into view, Bill Hollis found an almost morbid -fascination in gazing at its turrets and the tower so regally crowning -them. It was the house of his father-in-law, Mr. Josiah Munt. Sixteen -years ago, in that very month of July, an ambitious young man had -married his master's eldest daughter. Melia Munt had espoused Bill -Hollis in direct defiance of her father's wishes and had lived long -enough already to rue the day. Josiah, at that time, was not the great -man he had since become, but he was a hard, unbending parent; and he -gave Melia to understand clearly that if she married Hollis he would -never speak to her again. Melia chose to defy him, as he always -thought out of sheer perversity, and her implacable father had been -careful to keep his word to the letter. Not again did he mention her -name; not again did her old home receive her. - -In those sixteen years Josiah Munt had gone up in the world, and if -William Hollis could not be said to have come down in it, he had -certainly made very little headway. At the time of his marriage he was -the chief barman at "the Duke of Wellington," an extremely thriving -public house, at the corner of Waterloo Square in the populous -southeastern part of the city. He was now a small greengrocer in Love -Lane, within a stone's throw of the famous licensed house of his -father-in-law, and he was continually haunted by the problem of how -much longer he would be able to carry on his business. On the other -hand, his old master had prospered so much that he had recently built -for himself a fine house on The Rise. - -Mr. Josiah Munt was still the owner of the Duke of Wellington. Over the -top of its swing doors his name appeared below the spirited effigy of -the Iron Duke as "licensed to sell wines, spirits, beer and tobacco," -but years ago he had ceased to reside there with his family. As far as -possible he liked to disassociate himself from it in the public mind, -but he was too shrewd a man to part with the goose that laid the golden -eggs; besides, in his heart, there was a tender spot for the old house -which had been the foundation of his fortunes. His womenfolk might -despise it; in some ways he had outgrown it himself; but he knew better -than to crab his luck by parting with an extremely valuable property -which at the present time was not appreciated at its true worth by the -surveyor of rates and taxes. - -As William Hollis trudged along the dusty road and his father-in-law's -new and amazing house came into view, he became the prey of many -emotions. The sight of this magnificence was a bitter pill to swallow. -It brought back vividly to his mind the scene that was printed on it -forever--the scene that followed his diffident request for the hand -of Melia. He could still hear the stinging taunts of his employer, he -could still feel the impact of Josiah's boot. It may have been that -boot--for women are queer!--which caused the final capitulation of -Melia. But the hard part was that time had justified the prediction of -her far-sighted parent. Melia in throwing herself away on "a man of no -class" would do a bad day's work when she married Hollis. - -It had been the son-in-law's intention to give the lie to that -prophecy. But!--there was a kink in him somewhere. He had always loved -to dream of the future, yet he had not the power of making his dreams -come true. If only he had had a good education! If only he had known -people who could have put him on the right road to success when he was -young and sharp and the sap was in his brain! If only there hadn't -been so much competition, so much to fight against; if only he could -have had a bit of luck; if only Melia had really cared for him; if only -he hadn't speculated with the hundred pounds she had inherited from -her Aunt Elizabeth; if only he wasn't so apt to be hurt by things that -didn't matter a damn! - -William Hollis was a disappointed and embittered man. Life had gone -wrong with him; but a small jar of Blackhampton Old Ale softens failure -and evokes the quality of self-pity. However, as he approached Mr. -Munt's gate and gained a clearer view of the newest and most imposing -house on The Rise, the sense of failure rose in him to a pitch that was -hard to bear. So this was what Melia's father had done! No wonder she -despised a man like himself. It was not very surprising after all that -she hardly threw a word to him now from one day's end to another. - - - - -III - - -A man in an apron that had once been white and in a cloth cap that had -once been navy blue was painting a series of bold letters on Mr. Josiah -Munt's front gate. Bill Hollis was overwhelmed with depression, but -at this interesting sight curiosity stirred him. He advanced upon the -decorative artist who was whistling gently over a job in which he took -a pride and a pleasure. Upon the ornate front of the large green gate -was being inscribed the word - - STRATHFIELDSAYE - -Bill recognized the artist as a near neighbor of his own in Love Lane. - -"Working for the Nobs, are you, Wickens?" There was a world of scorn -in the tone of William Hollis, a world of sarcasm. And yet what was -scorn and what was sarcasm in the presence of a hard fact, clear, -outstanding, fully accomplished! - -The artist expectorated a silent affirmative. - -"Piecework, I suppose? Cut rates?" Mr. Munt had the reputation of being -a very keen man of business. - -The artist was too much absorbed in his labors to indulge in -promiscuous talk. - -William Hollis peered through the gate, to the rows of newly planted -shrubs on either side the curving carriage drive. "Bleeding upstart" he -muttered; then he turned on his heel and walked on up the road. - -He had gone but a few yards when quite unexpectedly he came upon a -massive figure in a black and white checked summer suit and a white -billycock hat worn at a rather rakish angle. It was his father-in-law -and they were face to face. - -Mr. Munt was proceeding with a kind of elephantine dignity along the -exact center of the sidewalk, and instinctively, before he was aware of -what he had done, his son-in-law by stepping nimbly into the grassgrown -gutter had conceded it to him. But in almost the same instant he -scorned himself for his action; and the gesture of lordly indifference -with which the proprietor of the Duke of Wellington directed his gaze -upon the western gables of Strathfieldsaye, without a flicker of -recognition of the person who had made way for him, suddenly brought -William Hollis to the bursting point. - -The world allows that in a stone jar of Blackhampton Old Ale there are -magic qualities; and far down in Bill himself was hidden some deep -strain of independent manhood. The City records proved--vide Bazeley's -famous Annals of Blackhampton, a second-hand copy of which was one -of his most cherished possessions--that the name of Hollis had been -known and honored in the town long before the name of Munt had been -heard of. The Hollises were an old and distinguished Blackhampton -clan. A William Hollis was mayor of the Borough in the year of the -Armada. It was a family of wide ramifications. There was the great -John Hollis the inventor, circa 1724-1798, there was Henry Hollis the -poet, circa 1747-1801. Of these their present descendant was a kinsman -so remote that the science of genealogy had lost track of their actual -relationship. But beyond a doubt his father's uncle, Troop Sergeant -Major William Hollis, had fought at Waterloo. He himself was named -after that worthy, and the old boy's portrait and portions of his kit -had long embellished the sitting room in Love Lane. - -It was then, perhaps, force of ancestry quite as much as the virtue -of the Blackhampton ale that moved William Hollis to his sudden -and remarkable act of self-assertion. For as Josiah Munt passed -him, head in air, and weather eye fixed upon the western gables of -Strathfieldsaye, his son-in-law stopped, swung round and called after -him in a voice that could be heard even by the decorative artist at -work on the gate-- - -"Sally out of Quod yet?" - - - - -IV - - -By not so much as the quiver of an eyelid did Mr. Munt betray that he -had even heard, much less taken cognizance, of that which amounted to -a studied insult on the part of William Hollis. The proprietor of the -Duke of Wellington converged upon the gate of Strathfieldsaye with head -upheld, with dignity unimpaired. He even cast one cool glance at the -handiwork of the inspired Wickens, but made no comment upon it, while -the artist suspended his labors, opened the gate obsequiously, and -waited for the great man to pass through. But when Mr. Munt had walked -along the carriage drive to within a few yards of his newly bedizened -front door, he stopped all of a sudden like a man who has received a -blow in the face. - -Had Bill Hollis at that moment been able to obtain a glimpse of his -father-in-law he would have seen that his shaft had gone right home. A -sternly domineering countenance was distorted with passion. There was a -rage of suffering in the fierce yellow-brown eyes, there was a twist of -half strangled torment in the lines of the hard mouth. As the lord of -Strathfieldsaye stood clenching his hands in the center of the gravel -he was not an attractive figure. Before entering the house he took off -the white hat and soothed the pressure upon head and neck by passing -over them a red bandanna handkerchief. - -A trim parlor maid, bright as a new pin, received the lord of -Strathfieldsaye. The smart and shining creature was in harmony with her -surroundings. Everything in the spacious and lofty entrance hall shone -with paint and polish, with new curtains, new carpets, new fittings, -new furniture. - -Mr. Munt handed his hat to the parlor maid rather roughly. "Tea's in -the drawing-room, sir," she said, calmly and modestly. It was the air -of a very superior servant. - -Josiah went into the drawing-room and found two ladies drinking tea and -consuming cake, strawberries and cream and bread and butter. One was a -depressed lady in puce silk to whom her lord paid little attention; the -other was much more sprightly, although by no means in the first blush -of youth. She had the air of a visitor. - -Before heralding his arrival by any remark, Mr. Munt gazed with an air -of genuine satisfaction round the large cool room smelling of paint and -general newness, and then he said in a tone of rather grim heartiness -to the more sprightly of the two ladies, "Well, Gert, what do you think -on us?" - -There was a careful marshaling of manner on the part of the lady -addressed as Gert. "Almost _too_ grand, Josiah--since you ask my -opinion. Still I've been telling Maria that she must show Spirit." - -The nod of Josiah might be said to express approval. Miss Gertrude -Preston was a half-sister of his wife, and she was perhaps the only -woman among his strictly limited acquaintance who was able to sustain -a claim to his respect. She had character and great common sense -and having acted for many years as resident companion to no less a -person than Lawyer Mossop's aunt, the late Miss Selina Gregg, she had -seen something of the world. Upon all subjects her views were well -considered and uncommonly shrewd; therefore they were not to be passed -over lightly. Aunt Gerty was a favorite of Josiah, not merely for the -reason that "she knew a bit more than most," but also because she was -clever enough to play up to his rising fortunes and growing renown. - -"Maria shown you round?" said Josiah, accepting a cup of tea from the -graceful hands of his sister-in-law. - -The depressed lady in puce silk sighed a limp yes. - -"Eggshell china tea service," Gerty fixed a purposeful eye upon -Josiah's cup. - -"Out of old Nickerson's sale," Josiah performed an audible act of -deglutition. "Four pun ten the set. Slop basin's cracked though." - -"I see it is, but you have a bargain, Josiah. You always seem to have a -bargain, no matter what you buy." - -Josiah purred under the subtle flattery. - -"Seen that chayney vawse?" He pointed across the room to a pedestal -upon which was a blue china bowl. - -"Looks like genuine Ming," Gertrude opened a pair of long-handled -tortoiseshell glasses. There was less than a score of ladies in the -whole of Blackhampton who sported glasses of that ultra-fashionable -kind, but Miss Preston was one of them. - -"That young feller Parish said it was genuine and he ought to know." - -"Charming," Gerty sighed effectively; then her eyes went slowly round -the room. "This room is perfect. And such a view. You stand so high -that you can look right over the city without knowing that it's there. -And there's the Sharrow beyond. Isn't that Corfield Weir on the right?" - -Rather proudly Josiah said that it was Corfield Weir. - -"And that great bank of trees going up into the sky must be Dibley -Chase." - -"Dibley right enough," vouched Josiah. "Have you had a look from the -tower?" - -"Yes, I have. Wonderful. Maria says on a clear day you can see Cliveden -Castle." - -"Aye. And a sight farther than that. You can see three counties up -there. To my mind, Gert, this house stands on the plumb bit of The -Rise." - -Gertrude fully agreed. - -"So it ought if it comes to that. I had to pay seven and sixpence a -yard for the land, before I could put a brick on it." - -Gertrude was impressed. - -"What do you think o' that oak paneling in the dining-room?" - -She thought it was charming. - -"Has Maria shown you the greenus--I should say conservatory--an' the -rockery--an' the motor garidge? We haven't got the motor yet, but it's -coming next week." - -Gertrude had seen these things. It only remained for her to enter upon -a diplomatic rapture at the recital of their merits. - -"No strawberries, thank you," Josiah's voice was rather sharp as the -depressed lady tactlessly offered these delicacies at a moment when -her lord was fully engaged in describing the unparalleled difficulties -he had had to surmount in order to get the water fountain beyond the -tennis lawn to work properly. - -"Fact o' the matter is, our Water Board wants wackenin' up." - -"Well, you are the man to do that, Josiah. You are an alderman now." - -"I am." The slight note of inflation was unconscious. "And old -Scrimshire an' that pettifoggin' crew are goin' to have a word in -season from Alderman Munt." - -"Mustn't get yourself disliked though." - -Josiah smiled sourly. "Gel," he said, "a man worth his salt is never -afraid o' being unpopular. Right is right an' wrong is no man's right. -Our Water Board's got to be run on new lines. It's a disgrace to the -city." - -Miss Preston was far too wise to offer an opinion upon that matter. She -knew, none better, the limits imposed by affairs upon the sex to which -she belonged. But she was very shrewd and perceptive and underneath the -subtle flatteries she dealt out habitually to this brother-in-law of -hers was a genuine respect for great abilities and his terrific force -of character. - -Among all the outstanding figures in Blackhampton his was perhaps the -least attractive. His name, in polite circles, was almost a byword, -for he never studied the feelings of anybody; he deferred only to his -own will and invariably took the shortest way to enforce it. There was -generally a covert laugh or a covert sneer at the mention of his name -and the house he had recently built on The Rise had set a seal upon his -unpopularity. Nevertheless, the people who knew him best respected him -most. His sister-in-law knew him very well indeed. - -Maria poured out a second cup of tea rather nervously for Josiah to -whom Miss Preston handed it archly. - -"No cake, thanks. I dussent." He tapped his chest significantly; then -he cast a complacent glance through the wide-flung drawing-room windows -to the fair pleasaunce beyond. "So you think, Gert, take it altogether, -this is a cut above Waterloo Villa, eh?" - -Gertrude's only answer to such a question was a discreet laugh. - -"Waterloo Villa was _so_ comfortable," sighed the depressed lady in -puce silk. - -"But there's no comparison, Maria, really no comparison." It was -wonderful how the caressing touch of the woman of the world dispersed -the cloud upon Josiah's brow almost before it had time to gather. - -"Of course there isn't, Gerty. Any one with a grain o' sense knows -that. Why, only this morning as I went down in the tram with Lawyer -Mossop, he said, 'Mr. Munt, this new house of yours is quite the pick -of the basket.'" - -"It is, Josiah." The discreet voice rose to enthusiasm. "And no one -knows that better than Maria." - -The lady in puce silk gave a little sigh and a little sniff. "Waterloo -Villa was quite good enough for _me_," she murmured tactlessly. - - - - -V - - -There was silence for a moment and then said Josiah: "Talking of Lawyer -Mossop--that reminds me. I'm going round to see him. I wonder what time -he gets back from his office." He looked at his watch. "Quarter past -five. Bit too soon, I suppose." - -Maria ventured to ask what he wanted Lawyer Mossop for. - -Josiah did not answer the question immediately. When he did answer it -his voice had such a depth of emotion that both ladies felt as if a -knife had been plunged suddenly into their flesh. - -"I'm goin' to take our Sally out of my will." There was something -almost terrible in the sternness and finality of the words. - -The depressed lady in puce silk gave a gasp. A moment afterwards large -tears began to drip freely from her eyes. - -Aunt Gerty sat very upright on a satinwood chair, her hands folded -in front of her, and two prominent teeth showing beyond a line of -extremely firm lips. She didn't speak. - -"Nice thing"--each word was slowly distilled from a feeling of -outrage that was almost unbearable--"to be made the talk and the -mark of the whole city. And after what I've done for that gel! -School--college--France--Germany--your advice, you know, Gerty----" - -Aunt Gerty didn't speak. - -"And then she comes home and gets herself six weeks' hard labor. Hard -labor, mark you!" - -Both ladies shivered audibly. - -"Nice thing for a man who has always kept himself up, to have his -daughter pitchin' brick ends through the windows of the Houses o' -Parliament, to say nothin' of assaulting the police. Gerty, that comes -of higher education." - -Still Aunt Gerty didn't speak. - -"Fact is, women ain't ripe for higher education. It goes to their -heads. But I'll let her see. In a few minutes I'll be off round to -Lawyer Mossop." - -"But--Josiah!" ventured a quavering voice. - -"Not a word, Mother. My mind's made up. That gel has fairly made the -name o' Munt stink in the nostrils of the nation. Not ten minutes ago -that rotten little dog Bill Hollis flung it in my teeth as I came in at -the front gate. The little wastrel happened to be passing and he called -after me, 'Sally out of Quod yet?' One o' these days I'll quod him--the -little skunk--or Josiah Munt J.P. is not my name." - -Maria continued to weep copiously but in silence. She dare not make her -grief vocal with the stern eye of her husband upon her. The tragedy of -her eldest girl's defiance, now sixteen years old, was still green -in her memory. Josiah had given Amelia plainly to understand that if -she married William Hollis he would never speak to her again and he -had kept his word. Maria had not got over it even yet; and now their -youngest girl, Sally, on whose upbringing a fabulous sum had been -lavished, had disgraced them in the sight of everybody. - -Josiah was meting out justice no doubt, but mothers are apt to be -irrational where their offspring are concerned; and had Maria been able -to muster the courage she would have broken a lance with him, even -now, in this matter of the youngest girl. But she was afraid of him. -And she knew he was in the right. Sally's name had appeared in all the -papers. That morning, by a cruel stroke, they had come out with her -portrait--Miss Sarah Ann Munt, youngest daughter of Alderman Munt J.P. -of Blackhampton, sentenced to six weeks hard labor. Yes, it was cruel! -It would take her father a long time to get over it. And for Maria -herself, it was like the loss in infancy of the young Josiah; it was a -thing she would always remember but never quite be able to grasp. - -The silence grew intolerable. At last it was broken by Gertrude Preston. - -"You'll be having splendid roses, Josiah--next year." Those mincing -tones, quite cool and untroubled, somehow did wonders. Josiah had -always been a noted rose grower and as his sister-in-law pointed -elegantly to the rows of young bushes beyond the drawing-room windows -something in him began to respond. After all that was his great asset -as a human entity: the power to react strongly and readily to the many -things in which he was interested. - -"Aye," he said, almost gratefully. "Next year they'll be a sight. I've -had a double course o' manure put down." - -"I hope there'll be some of my favorite Gloire de Dijons," said Gerty -with fervor. - -"You bet there will be. There's a dozen bushes over yond. By the way, -Gert, you're comin' to the show to-morrow week." - -Miss Preston, for all her enthusiasm for roses, was not sure that she -could get to the show. But Josiah informed her that she would _have_ -to come. And he enforced his command by taking a leather case from his -breast pocket and producing a small blue card on which was printed: - - BLACKHAMPTON AND DISTRICT ROSE GROWERS' ASSOCIATION - PRESIDENT, ALDERMAN JOSIAH MUNT J.P. - - The twenty-seventh annual Show will be held in the Jubilee Park on - Tuesday, August the Fourth. Prizes will be presented at six o'clock to - successful competitors by Mrs. Alderman Munt. The Blackhampton Prize - Brass Band will be in attendance. Dancing in the evening, weather - permitting. - - Admission one shilling. - -"That'll get you in, Gert." The card was placed in her hand. "Come and -stand by Maria and keep her up to it." - -Had Maria dared she would have groaned dismally. As it was she had to -be content with a slight gesture of dismay. - -"You see it'll be a bit o' practice for her. In 1916--the year after -next--she'll be the Mayoress." - -The lady in puce silk shuddered audibly. - - - - -VI - - -In the process of time the clock on the drawing-room chimneypiece -chimed six and Josiah "stepped round" to Lawyer Mossop's. - -That celebrity lived at The Gables, the next house but one along The -Rise. Outwardly a more modest dwelling than Strathfieldsaye, it was -less modern in style, more reticent, more compact. As Josiah walked up -the drive he noted with approval its well kept appearance and its fine -display of rhododendrons, phlox, delphiniums, purple irises and many -other things that spoke to him. He was a genuine lover of flowers. - -Mr. Munt's pressure of the electric button was answered by a manservant -in a starched shirt and a neat black cutaway. The visitor noted him -carefully as he noted everything. "I wonder what he pays a month for -that jockey!" was the form the memorandum took on the tablets of his -mind. - -"Mr. Mossop in?" - -"If you'll come this way I'll inquire, sir." - -Josiah was led across a square-tiled hall, covered in the center by a -Persian rug, into a room delightfully cool, with a large window in a -western angle opening on to a pergola ablaze with roses, along which -the westering sun streamed amazingly. - -"What name, sir?" - -"Hey?" Josiah frowned. As if there was a man, woman or child in -Blackhampton who didn't know him! Still, it was good style. "Munt--Mr. -Munt." - -"Thank you, sir!" The manservant bowed and withdrew. - -Yes, it was good style. And this cool, clean but rather somber room had -the same elusive quality. Three of its four walls were covered with -neat rows of books, for the most part in expensive bindings. Style -again. All the same the visitor looked a little doubtfully upon those -shining shelves. Books were not in his line, and although he did not -go quite to the length of despising them he was well content that they -shouldn't be. Books stood for education, and in the purview of Mr. -Josiah Munt, "if they didn't watch it education was going to be the -ruin of the country." - -Still to that room, plainly but richly furnished, those rows of shining -leather lent a tone, a value. A shrewd eye ran them up and down. -Meredith--Swinburne--Tennyson--Browning--Dickens--Thackeray--all flams, of -course, but harmless, if not carried too far. Personally he preferred -a good billiard room, but no one in Blackhampton disputed that Lawyer -Mossop was the absolute head of his profession; he could be trusted -therefore to know what he was doing. There was one of these books open -on a very good table--forty guineas worth of anybody's money--printed -in a foreign language, French probably, of which he couldn't read a -word. Il Purgatorio, Dante. Fine bit of printing. Wonderful paper! Yes, -wonderful! He handled it appraisingly. And then he realized that Lawyer -Mossop was in the room and smiling at him in that polite way, that was -half soft sawder, half good feeling. The carpet was so thick that he -had not heard him come in. - -"Good evening, Mr. Munt." The greeting was very friendly and pleasant. -"Sit down, won't you?" - -"No, I'll stand--and grow better." Mr. Munt had a stock of stereotyped -pleasantries which he kept for social use. They seemed to make for ease -and geniality. - -The two men stood looking at each other, the solicitor all rounded -corners and quiet ease, the client stiff, angular, assertive, perhaps a -shade embarrassed. - -"Anything I can do for you, Mr. Munt?" - -The answer was slow in coming. It was embodied in a harsh growl. -"Mossop, I want you to take that gel of mine, Sally, out of my will." - -The lawyer said nothing, but pursed his lips a little, a way he had -when setting the mind to work, but that was the only expression of -visible feeling in the heavily lined face. - -"Excuse my troubling you to-night, Mossop. But I felt I couldn't wait. -Give me an appointment for the morning and I'll look in at the office. -Nice goings on! And to think what her education cost me!" - -The lawyer made a silent gesture, spreading his hands like a stage -Frenchman, half dismay, half tacit protest. - -"Better have a new document, eh?" The outraged parent had been already -dismissed; the highly competent man of affairs was now in control. -"My second girl, Ethel, Mrs. Doctor Cockburn, can have it all now, -except"--Josiah hesitated an instant--"except five thousand pounds I -shall leave to Gertrude Preston." - -Lawyer Mossop was still silent. But the mobile lips were working -curiously. "Not for me to advise," he said at last, very slowly, with -much hesitation, "but if I might----" - -Josiah cut him short with a stern lift of the hand. - -"I know what you're going to say, but if she was your gel what'd you -do, eh?" - -Lawyer Mossop rubbed his cheek perplexedly. "At bottom I might be -rather proud of her." - -"You--might--be--rather--proud--of--her!" It was the tone of Alderman -Munt J.P. to a particularly unsatisfactory witness at a morning session -at the City Hall. An obvious lie, yet a white one because it was used -for a moral purpose. Mossop had no ax to grind; he merely wanted to -soften things a bit for a client and neighbor. "You can't tell _me_, -Mossop, you really think _that_." - -The solicitor gazed steadily past the purple face of his client through -the open window to the riot of color beyond. "Why not?" he said. "Think -of the pluck required to do a thing like that." - -Josiah shook his head angrily. "It's the devil that's in her." He spoke -with absolute conviction. "And it's always been there. When she was -that high"--he made an indication with his hand--"I've fair lammoxed -her, but I could never turn her an inch. If she wanted to do a thing -she'd do it--and if she didn't nothing would make her." - -"A lady of strong character." - -"Cussedness, my friend, cussedness. The devil. And it's brought her to -this." - -The lawyer, however, shook his head gently. "Well, Mr. Munt, as I say, -it is not for me to advise, but if she was a daughter of mine----" - -"You'd be proud of her." The sneer was rather ugly. - -"In a way--yes--perhaps ... I don't say positively ... because one -quite sees.... On the other hand, I might ... I don't say I should ... -I _might_ be just as angry as you are." - -The thundercloud began to lift a little. "Come now, that's sense. Of -course, Mossop, you'd be as mad as anybody--it's human nature. Every -Tom, Dick, and Harry pointin' the finger of scorn"--_Sally out of Quod -yet_ was still searing him like a flame--"you'd be so mad, Mossop, that -you'd want to forget that she belonged to you." - -"It might be so." Mr. Mossop's far-looking eyes were still fixed on the -pergola. "At the same time, before I took any definite step, I think I -should give myself a clear fortnight in which to think it over." - -Josiah laughed harshly. "No, Mossop--not if you were as mad as I am." - -It was so true that the solicitor was not able to reply. - -"When I think on her"--the great veins began to swell in the head -and neck of the lord of Strathfieldsaye--"I feel as if I'd like to -kill her. Did you see that picture in the _Morning Mirror_? And that -paragraph in the _Mail_? It's horrible, Mossop, horrible. And first and -last her education's cost me every penny of three thousand pound." - -Mr. Mossop nodded appreciatively; then, sympathetically, he lifted -the lid of a silver box on a charming walnut-wood stand and asked his -visitor to have a cigar. - -"No, I never smoke before my dinner," said Josiah sternly. "She hasn't -been home a month from Germany." The veins in his forehead grew even -more distended. - -"Where--in Germany?" - -"Eight months at Dresden. Pity she didn't stop there. Fact o' the -matter is she's over-educated." - -The lawyer looked a little dubious. - -"Oh, yes, Mossop. Not having a boy, I don't mind tellin' you I've -been a bit too ambitious for that gel. And over-education is what -this country is suffering from at the present time. It's the national -disease. And women take it worse than men. School--college--Paris--and -Germany on the top of 'em. I must have been mad. However ... there it -is! ... let me know when the document's ready and I'll look in at the -office and sign it." - -The lawyer would have liked to continue his protest but the face of his -client forbade. He crossed to his writing table, took up a pencil and -a sheet of notepaper and said, "Miss Sarah's portion to Mrs. Cockburn -except----" - -"Five thousand pounds to Gertrude Preston." - -The lawyer made a brief note. "Right," he said gravely. "I hope a -codicil will be sufficient; we'll avoid a new instrument, if we can. -You shall know when it's ready." - -Josiah gave a curt nod. - -"Going to be war in Europe, do you think?" said the solicitor in -a lighter, more conversational tone. It was merely to relieve the -tension; somehow the atmosphere of the room was heavy and electric. - -"Don't know," said Josiah. "But I'll not be surprised if there is--and -a big one." - -Mr. Mossop showed a courteous surprise. This question of a coming big -war was a perennial subject for discussion in social and business -circles. It had been for years and it had now come to rank in his mind -as purely academic. He could not bring himself to believe in "the big -burst up" that to some astute minds had long seemed inevitable. - -"Any particular reason for thinking so just now?" To the lawyer it was -hardly a live issue; somehow it was against all his habits of thought; -but it was an act of charity at this moment to direct the mind of his -client. - -"Stands to reason," Josiah spoke with his usual decision. "Germany's -got thousands of millions locked up in her army. She'll soon be looking -for some return in the way of dividends." - -"But one might say the same of us and our navy." - -"That's our insurance." - -"That's how they speak of their army, don't they?--with Russia one side -of them, France the other." - -"I daresay, but"--there was a pause which, brief as it was, seemed to -confer upon Mr. Munt an air of profound wisdom--"mark my words, Mossop, -they're not piling up all these armaments for nothing. It's not their -way." - -"But they are so prosperous," said the lawyer. "They are hardly likely -to risk the loss of their foreign markets." - -"Nothing venture, nothing win. And they do say the German workingman is -waking up and that he is asking for a share in the government." - -"One hears all sorts of rumors, but in these matters one likes to be an -optimist." - -"I daresay," Josiah looked very dour. "But I'll tell you this. I'm main -glad I got out of all my Continental investments a year last March." - -The solicitor had to own that that was a matter in which his client -had shown uncommon foresight. The present state of the market was a -remarkable vindication of his sagacity. - -There was another little pause in which the solicitor, himself an able -man of business, could not help reflecting upon the native shrewdness -of this client so keen, so hardheaded, so self-willed. And then it was -broken by Mr. Munt taking a step towards the door and saying, "When are -you and the wife and daughter coming to see us, Mossop? Come to a meal -one evening, won't you?" - -The invitation was point blank; but behind the lawyer's genial courtesy -was the trained fencer, the ready-witted man of the world. "Most kind -of you," he said heartily. "Only too delighted, but, unfortunately, my -womenfolk are going up to Scotland to-morrow"--he gave private thanks -to Allah that it was so!--"and I follow on Saturday, so perhaps if we -may leave it till our return"--the solicitor raised his frank and ready -smile to the stern eyes. - -"Quite so, Mossop!" The client frowned a little. "Leave it open. But -I'd like you to see the house. And Mrs. M. would like to know your wife -and daughter." - -"They'll like to know her, I'm sure." The air of sincerity was balm. -"But they've been so busy gadding about just lately"--the laugh was -charming--"that they've had to neglect their social duties." - -Josiah was far too elemental to feel slighted, even if the lawyer had -not been so disarming. "But you people here on The Rise have the name -of being a stuck-up lot, especially some of you old standards. And I'm -bound to say, Mossop, my experience is that you seem to live up to it." - -Lawyer Mossop laughed his soft rich note as he followed Mr. Munt across -the hall. He opened the front door for his client, and then, hatless as -he was, accompanied the visitor down the short drive as far as the gate. - -"Nice things here, Mossop," Josiah pointed to the flower beds on either -side. "That a Charlotte Fanning?" A finger indicated a glorious white -rose whose dazzling purity of color stood out beyond all the rest. - -Mr. Mossop said it was a Charlotte Fanning. - -"Not sure you are going to beat mine, though." - -Mr. Mossop said modestly that he did not expect to do that. Mr. Munt -had long been famous for his roses; and by comparison the lawyer -declared he was but a novice. The client was flattered considerably by -the compliment. - -At the gate, the proprietor of the Duke of Wellington pointed to the -distant gables of Strathfieldsaye, and said, "Well, come round when you -get back. The garden won't be much of a show for twelve months yet, but -the house is first class. I designed it myself." - -With the winning charm which even Josiah, who felt that he paid for it -on the High Court scale could not resist, Mr. Mossop promised that he -would come round when he got back. - -"An' don't forget the wife and daughter." - -The wife and daughter should come round too. And then as the lord of -Strathfieldsaye said, "Good-night, Mossop," and was about to turn away -from the open gate, he felt suddenly the hand of the solicitor upon -his shoulder and the impact of a pair of grave, kind eyes. "I wish, my -dear friend," said Lawyer Mossop, "you could see your way to taking a -fortnight to think over that little matter." - -It was not mere conventional man-of-the-worldly good feeling. It was -the human father, and the sheer unexpectedness of the obtrusion through -the highly polished surface of the city's foremost solicitor caused his -client to take a sharp breath. But Josiah's strength had always been -that he knew his own mind. And he knew it now. "No, Mossop." A final -shake of the dour head. "That gel is comin' out of my will. Good-night." - -The solicitor sighed gently and closed the gate. And then he stood a -moment to watch the slow-receding lurch of the elephantine figure up -the road. - - - - -VII - - -"If that boy had lived--which he didn't," reflected the lord of -Strathfieldsaye as he opened carefully the fresh painted gate of his -own demesne, "I'd like him to have been educated at Rugby." - -Lawyer Mossop had been educated at Rugby. Somehow that gentleman -always left in the mind of this shrewd, oddly perceptive client an -impression of being "just right," of not having anything in excess. -His reputation in Blackhampton was very high. Just as Dr. Perrin had -been for years its leading physician, Mr. Mossop had been for years -its leading lawyer. To be a patient of the one, a client of the other, -almost conferred a diploma of merit. Not only was it a proof in itself -of social standing, an ability "to pay for the best," but it also -expressed a knowledge, greatly valued by the elect, that the best was -worth paying for. Josiah was a firm believer in that maxim. - -Still ... he closed the gate of Strathfieldsaye as carefully as he had -opened it ... when all was said education was dangerous. Up to a point -a good thing, no doubt. You couldn't be a Lawyer Mossop without it. But -it was like vaccination: some people it suited, others it didn't. - -There was a trim slight figure coming down the path, in a hat not -without pretensions to fashion. - -"Leaving us, Gert?" said Josiah. "Better stop to supper." - -Miss Preston reluctantly declined the invitation. - -"Why not? Always a knife and fork for you here, you know." - -"I'd love to, Josiah, but they'll be waiting for me at home." - -"Well, if you won't, you won't--but you'd be very welcome." And then he -embraced the house and its surroundings in a large gesture. "One better -than Waterloo Villa, eh?" - -"It is," said Gerty, with tempered enthusiasm. She looked at her -brother-in-law with wary eyes. "You must be a very rich man, Josiah." - -He narrowed his gaze a little and scratched his cheek delicately with -the side of his forefinger, an odd trick he had when thinking deeply on -questions of money. "So, so," he said. "So, so." - -"But a place like this means _heaps_ of money," Gerty waved a -knowledgeable parasol. - -"I daresay." It was the air of a very "substantial" man indeed. "The -year after next I expect to be mayor. And then"--a note of triumph -crept into his voice--"we may be able to show some of 'em a thing or -two." - -Miss Preston was diplomatically quite sure of that. And yet as she -stood with the crude bulk of Strathfieldsaye behind her, she looked -somehow a little dubious. It was as if, respect this brother-in-law of -hers as she might, she had certain mental reservations in regard to him. - -He was too busy with his own thoughts to detect what was passing in her -mind; besides the curves of his own mind were too large for him to care -very much even had he done so. - -"You've got to come to the show, Gert," he said abruptly. "To-morrow -week--don't forget." - -Gerty began to hedge a bit, but he would take no denial. It was her -duty "to bring Maria up to the scratch." - -There was no way out, it seemed, so finally she must make up her mind -to yield and to suffer. It would be a horrible affair--common people, -brass band, a general atmosphere of vulgarity and alcohol; it would be -all that her prim soul abhorred. And the heat would be terrific. Her -spirit quailed, but how could the miserable Maria hope to get through -without her to lean upon! Besides if she showed the white feather -Josiah might lose some of his respect for her. And she couldn't afford -that, especially after it had cost her so much for him to gain it. - -"She must get into the habit of showing herself to the public as she's -going to be mayoress." - -Miss Preston quite saw that. She yielded with as much grace as she -could muster. Josiah took her down to the gate and told her to mind the -paint. And then as she was about to pass through, her gloved hand was -laid upon his arm, almost exactly as Lawyer Mossop's had been, and she -said softly and gravely in a voice curiously similar, "Josiah, if I -were you, I should not be in a hurry about ... about Sally." - -The grimness of the eyes that met hers would have scared most women, -but Gertrude Preston was not one to be frightened easily. There was -hesitancy, a slight nervousness, all the same. - -Josiah shook his head. "No," he said slowly, "that gel is coming' out -o' my will." - -The look of him as he stood there with the sun's shadow falling across -his heavy face told her that argument would be worse than useless. -Rather abruptly she said good-night and marched primly away along the -road. - - - - -VIII - - -The annual Flower Show and Gala in Jubilee Park was in part a serious -function, in part a popular festival. But its secondary aspect was -undoubtedly predominant. - -Jubilee Park was sacred to those who thronged the close-packed southern -and eastern areas of the city. Among many other things, held by the -people of Blackhampton to be vastly more important, the town and its -suburbs had a reputation for flowers. It was odd that it should have. -Except perhaps a subtle quality in the soil, there was little in its -corporate life or in its physical expression to account for the fact -that it had long been famous for its roses. Among the hundreds of -allotment holders on the outskirts of the city, practical rose growers -abounded and these claimed an apotheosis at the annual show in Jubilee -Park. - -Almost the only vanity Mr. Josiah Munt had permitted himself in his -earlier days was that he was a practical rose grower. He had competed -at the show ever since there had been a show, and he had garnered so -many prizes in the process that he now took rank as an expert. But he -was more than that. He was now regarded as chief patron of a cult that -was largely confined to the humbler and the poorer classes. A hard -man, known throughout the city as very "near" in his business dealings, -he was a despiser of public opinion and no seeker of popular applause. -But of late years, having grown remarkably prosperous and a figure of -ever-increasing consequence in the town, he made a practice just once -in the year of "letting himself out a bit" at the function in Jubilee -Park. - -For one thing the Park itself was almost within a stone's throw of the -Duke of Wellington; and in Josiah's opinion its sole merit was its -contiguity to that famous public house. Personally he despised Jubilee -Park and the class of persons who frequented it--they were a common -lot--but now he had taken rank as the great man of this particular -neighborhood, wherein he had been born and had sown the seeds of his -fortune, it did him no harm in his own esteem or in that of the people -who had known him in humbler days, once a year to savor his preëminence. - -Tuesday, August the Fourth, was one of the hottest days within the -memory of Blackhampton. And in that low-lying, over-populated area of -which Jubilee Park was the center it seemed hotter than anywhere else. -Being the day after Bank Holiday, a large section of the community "had -taken another day off," therefore several thousand persons of all ages -and both sexes assembled on the brown bare grass in the course of the -afternoon. - -To say that the bulk of these had been attracted to those shadeless -precincts by a display of roses would be too polite a compliment. The -Blackhampton Prize Brass Band was the undoubted magnet of the many. -Then there were tea al fresco for the ladies, a baby show and a beauty -competition, beer and bowls for the gentlemen, dancing to follow and -also fireworks. When the Show was considered in all its aspects, the -roses only appealed to a small minority; the roses in fact were hardly -more than a pretext for a local saturnalia, but in the middle of the -sward was a large tent wherein the competing blooms were displayed. -Close by was a tent considerably less in size if intrinsically the more -imposing, to which a square piece of cardboard was attached by a blue -ribbon. It bore the legend "President and Committee." - -At the entrance to this smaller tent a number of important looking but -perspiring gentlemen were seated in a semicircle on garden chairs. -And in the center of these, with rather the air of Jupiter among his -satellites, was Mr. Josiah Munt. Several members of the committee, -all badged and rosetted as they were, had removed their coats out of -deference to the thermometer, but the President was not of these. Under -the famous white pot hat, which in the southeastern district of his -native city was as famous as the Gladstone collar and the Chamberlain -eyeglass, was artfully disposed a cool cabbage leaf, and over all was a -large white sun umbrella. - -The sun umbrella marked a precedent. It was a symbol, a herald of -the President's ever advancing social status. All the same it was -not allowed to mar a certain large geniality with which he always -bore himself at the Rose Show. By nature the proprietor of the Duke -of Wellington was not an expansive man, particularly in the world of -affairs, but once a year, at least, he made a point of unbending as far -as it was in him to do so. - -This afternoon the President was accessible to all and sundry as of -yore. Moreover he had followed his time-honored custom of regaling the -committee, most of whom were "substantial men" and the cronies of an -earlier, more primitive phase in the ascending fortunes of the future -mayor of the city, with whisky and cigars, conveyed specially from -the Duke of Wellington by George the head barman. But it was clear as -the afternoon advanced and the heat increased with the ever-growing -throng, that the subject of roses and even the martial strains of Rule -Britannia, Hearts of Oak and other accepted masterpieces rendered with -amazing _brio_ by the B.P.B.B. did not wholly occupy the thoughts of -these distinguished men. - -Among the Olympians who sat in the magic semicircle at the mouth of -their own private tent and enjoyed the President's whisky and cigars -and the privilege of personal intercourse with him was a foxy-looking -man with large ears and large spectacles. Julius Weiss by name, he -had migrated from his native Germany thirty years before, and by -specializing in what was technically known as "a threepenny hair-cut" -had risen to the position of a master hair-dresser with six shops -of his own in the city. A man of keen intelligence and cosmopolitan -outlook, there were times in the course of the afternoon when he seemed -to claim more of the President's attention than the ostensible business -in hand. - -"No, I don't trust our gov'ment," said Josiah for the tenth time, -when a cornet solo, the Battle of Prague ("Bandsman Rosher") had been -brought to a triumphant close. "Never have trusted 'em if it comes to -that." - -"That's because you're a blooming Tory," ventured the only hungry -looking member of an extremely well-nourished looking committee--an -obvious intellectual with piercing black eyes and fiercely picturesque -mustache whose hue was as the raven. - -"Politics is barred, Lewis!" It was the President's Saturday morning -manner at the City Hall, but its austerity was tactfully mitigated by -a dexterous passing of the cigar box. "We ought to go in now ... this -minute. What do you say, Weiss?" - -The master hair-dresser screwed up a pair of vulpine eyes and then -replied in a low harsh guttural, "It is a big t'ing to fight Chermany." - -"We are not afraid of you," interjected a pugnacious Committee-man. -"Don't you think that." - -The President held up a stern finger. "No, no, Jennings." It was a -breach of taste and the President glared at the offender from under -his cabbage leaf. He had a deep instinct for fair play, a curious -impartiality that enabled him to see the merits of Weiss as a taxpayer -and a citizen. In the lump he approved of Germans as little as any -one else, but such a man as Weiss with his unceasing industry, his -organizing capacity, his business ability and his social qualities was -a real asset to the city. - -The little hair-dresser broke a solemn pause. "_We_ are not ready -for war." He stressed the "we" to the plain annoyance of several -committee-men, although Josiah was not of the number. "A month from now -they'll be in Paris." - -"I don't think," said the truculent Jennings. - -"You'll see, my tear," said Julius Weiss. - - - - -IX - - -At five o'clock Maria and Aunt Gerty arrived on the scene. -Blackhampton's future mayoress had been taken very firmly in hand by -her step-sister who was fully determined that the social credit of -Alderman Munt should not be lowered in the sight of the world. Gerty -had really taken enormous pains with a naturally timid and weakly -constituted member of society. - -After a battle royal, in which tears had been shed, the hapless Maria -had been compelled to renounce a pair of old-fashioned stays which -on common occasions foreshortened her figure to the verge of the -grotesque, in favor of sinuous, long-lined, straight-fronted corsets. -With such ruthless art had outlying and overlapping portions of Maria -been folded away within their fashionable confines, that, as she -breathlessly remarked to her torturer as she looked in the glass, "She -didn't know herself, she didn't really." - -Maria could hardly breathe as she waddled across the parched expanse of -Jubilee Park. She was more miserably self-conscious than she had ever -been in the whole course of a miserably self-conscious existence. Her -corsets, she was sure, filled the world's eye. At her time of life to -take such liberties with the human form was hardly decent, it wasn't -really. Moreover Gerty had perched a great hat on the top of her, -almost a flower show in itself, the sort that was worn, Gerty assured -her, by the local duchess on public occasions; and it was kept in place -on a miraculous new-fangled coiffure by a white veil with black spots. -Then her comfortable elastic-sided boots, the stand-bys of a fairly -long and very honorable life, had gone by the board at the instance -of the ruthless Gerty. She had to submit to patent leathered, buckled -affairs, that could only be coaxed on to the human foot by a shoehorn. -No wonder that Mrs. Alderman Munt walked with great delicacy across the -baking expanse of Jubilee Park. And the intensely respectable black -kid gloves that for more than half a century had served her so well -for chapel goings, prayer meetings, weddings, funerals, christenings -and the concerts of the Philharmonic Society had been forced to yield -to a pair whose virgin whiteness in Maria's opinion carried fashion to -the verge of immodesty. Nor did even these complete the catalogue of -Gerty's encroachments. There was also a long-handled black and white -parasol. - -As Maria and Gerty debouched across the grass, Josiah arose from his -chair in the midst of the committee and strutted impressively past the -bandstand to receive them. - -"Why, Mother, I hardly knew you." There was high approval in the -greeting. "Up to the knocker, what!" He offered a cordial hand to his -heroically beaming sister-in-law, "How are you, Gert?" - -The ladies had been careful to have tea before they came but this -precaution did not avail. Josiah insisted on their going into the -special tent labeled "Refreshments." Here they had to sit on a form -rickety and uncomfortably narrow which promised at any moment either to -lay them prone beneath the tea urn or enable them to form a parabola -over against the patent bread-cutter at the other end of the table. - -The tea was lukewarm and undrinkable, the bread and butter was thick -and so uninviting that both ladies were sure it was margarine, but -after a moment's hesitation in which she felt the stern eye of Josiah -upon her, the heroic Gerty dexterously removed one white glove and came -to grips with a plate of buttered buns. In the buns were undeniable -currants, and their genial presence enabled Gerty to make a spirited -bluff at consuming them. - -Where Gerty walked, Maria must not fear to tread. The ladies got -somehow through their second tea and then they were haled into the -open, past the bandstand and through the crowd surrounding it, to the -large tent containing the exhibits. Here, in a select corner, draped -with festoons of red cloth, were the prizes which Maria, half an hour -hence, would be called upon to distribute with her own white-gloved -hands to the victorious competitors. - -The heat in the tent being unbearable the President's party had it to -themselves. Therefore Maria's audible groan at the sight of the task -before her was heard by none save her lord. - -"Bear up, Mother," Josiah's tone was a highly judicious blend of -sternness, banter and persuasion. "It's not as if you had to make a -speech, you know. And if you did have there's nobody here who'd bite -you. I'd see to that." - -This was encouraging, yet certain gyrations of the black and white -parasol betrayed to the lynx-eyed Gerty the sinister presence of stage -fright. "Maria," said the inexorable monitress, "you must show Spirit. -Hold your sunshade as I've shown you. Keep your chin up. And try to -smile." - -This counsel of perfection was, at the moment, clearly beyond Maria. -But the President's nod approved it, and Gerty, one of those powerful -spirits that loves to do with public affairs, proceeded on a flute-like -note, "Dear me, what lovely prizes!" - -It was hyperbole to speak of the prizes as lovely, but it was, of -course, the correct thing to say, and in the ear of Josiah the correct -thing was said in the correct way. It would have been difficult for the -duchess herself to have bettered that pure note of lofty enthusiasm. - -"Not so bad, Gert, are they? What do you think o' that little vawse? -Presented by Coppin, the jeweler." - -To assess the gift of Coppin, the jeweler, it was necessary for Miss -Preston to bring into action her famous tortoiseshell folders. She had -no need for glasses at all. But Lawyer Mossop's aunt, the late Miss -Selina Gregg, had aroused in her a passion for their use on appropriate -occasions. "A ducky little vahse!" That vexed word was pronounced after -the manner of the late Miss Gregg, from whose practice there was no -appeal. - -"Not so bad--for Coppin. Better anyway than his silver-plated eggstand -last year." - -Gerty made an admiring survey of the bounty of the patrons of the -Blackhampton Rose Growers' Association. "And here, I see, is the -President's special prize." She had kept in reserve her appreciation -of this _chef d'oeuvre_ of public munificence, a much beribboned -silver gilt goblet to which a card was attached, "President's Special -Prize for Rose of Purest Color. Donor Alderman Munt J.P." It was the -first thing her eye had lit on, but she had worked up to it slowly, -via the lesser gifts of lesser men, so that anything in the nature of -anticlimax might be avoided. - -"Josiah, tell me, who is the fortunate winner?" The archness of the -tone verged upon coquetry. - -"Look and see, my gel." The response was unexpectedly gruff. But, as -soon as Gerty had looked and seen, the reason for the President's -austerity grew clear. On a second card, smaller but beribboned like -the first, was inscribed in a fair clerkly hand, "Presented to Mr. W. -Hollis for Exhibit 16." - - - - -X - - -Had a pin fallen in the tent at that moment, any one of those three -people might have expected to hear it do so. Gerty was too wise to ask -why the husband of the outcast Melia had come to enjoy the special -gift of his father-in-law; Maria simply dare not. In truth it was an -odd story. Josiah did his best to put a gloss on an incredible fact of -which he was rather ashamed; it looked so much like moral weakness, a -public giving in; but, as he informed Gerty with a half apologetic air, -Jannock was Jannock. In other words, fair play in the eyes of honest -men was a jewel. - -There could be no question that, in point of color, the fairest bloom -sent in was Exhibit Sixteen. It was a rose of such a dazzling snowy -whiteness that it had caught and held the expert eye of the President -at the morning inspection. "An easy winner, Jennings," he had said, as -soon as he had seen it, "Nothing to put beside it, my boy." - -The astute Jennings, a professional nurseryman along The Rise, made -no comment. He had taken the trouble to find out the name of the -grower before bringing a mature judgment to bear on the fruits of his -craft. "Sound" criticism is always a priori. Critics who value their -reputation are careful not to pronounce an opinion on any work of -art until they know who has produced it. Otherwise mistakes are apt -to occur. None knew better than Jennings that the grower of Exhibit -Sixteen could not hope to receive the President's prize; indeed -Jennings was amazed at the little tick's impudence in daring to compete -at all for his father-in-law's silver gilt goblet. It was an act of -bravado. Jennings, therefore, shook his head coldly. He declined to -show enthusiasm in the presence of what to the unsuspecting eye of the -President was an almost too obvious masterpiece. - -"All over a winner, Jennings, that is." - -Jennings shook the sober head of a professional expert. "To me," he -said, "Twenty-one 'as more quality." - -"Rubbish, man!" The President threw up his head sharply, a favorite -trick when goaded by contradiction. "Twenty-one can't be mentioned on -the same day o' the week. What do you say, Penney?" - -Before Mr. Councilor Penney, an acknowledged light of the a priori -school of criticism, ventured to express an opinion he winged a glance -at Nurseryman Jennings. And that glance, in the technical language of -experts, conveyed a clear request for "the office." - -"The office" was given sotto voce behind the adroit hand of Jennings, -"Mester Munt--Twenty-one, Sixteen--Bill Hollis." - -Thereupon Mr. Councilor Penney closed one eye and proceeded to examine -the competing blooms. "Well, Mester Munt," he said solemnly, "I am -bound to say, to my mind Twenty-one 'as it." - -The impetuous president had a short way with the Councilor Penneys -of the earth. "Have you no eyes, man! Twenty-one can't live beside -Sixteen. Not the same class. Look at the color--look at the shape--look -at the size----" - -It was realized now that it had become necessary to warn the President. -And the situation must be grappled with at once. The deeper the -President floundered, the more perilous the job of extrication. Rescue -was a man's work, but finally in response to a mute appeal from the -pusillanimous Jennings, Mr. Councilor Penney took his courage in his -hands. "Mr. Munt," he said warily, "don't you know that Twenty-one was -sent in by Joe Mellers, your own gardener?" - -It was the best that Mr. Councilor Penney could muster in the way of -tact. But at all times a very great deal of tact was needed to handle -the President. Clearly the shot was not a lucky one. "Nowt to do with -it, Penney." The great man nearly bit off his head. "Ought to know -that. Sixteen's the best bloom on the bench." - -"Sixteen's that Hollis!" It was an act of pure valor on the part of Mr. -Councilor Penney. Nurseryman Jennings held his breath. - -"That Hollis!" The President repeated the words calmly. For a moment -it was not certain that human dignity could accept their implication. -But there was a world of meaning in the nervous frown of Mr. Councilor -Penney, in the tense furtiveness of Nurseryman Jennings. - -Was it possible?... Was it possible that the little skunk had dared?... -Had dared to compete at this show of all shows?... Had dared to win -honestly that prize of all prizes?... - -The story of Bill Hollis and Melia Munt was a commonplace with every -member of the Committee. They were familiar with all the circumstances; -and though there might be those among them who felt privately that -their august President carried family pride rather far, even these -could not help admiring the rigidity of his attitude. It meant enormous -strength of character; and character in the shrine at which the true -Briton worships. But now that the Committee was up against the problem -Bill Hollis had raised they keenly regretted that they had not taken -steps to disqualify him from the outset, or had not apprised the -President beforehand of the state of the case. - -The pause that followed was rather irksome for all parties. It was -ended at last by Nurseryman Jennings. That practical expert, having -enjoyed an afternoon of free whisky at the President's expense, was now -able to clothe his judgment becomingly. "Don't suppose the little Snot -grew it hisself!" said Jennings. - -Half the Committee saw at once that a way out had been found for the -President. But the President was not of the number. "Why don't you?" he -said curtly. - -The practical expert was hardly prepared with reasons. Why should he -be? His doubts were inspired by the purest altruism. "Why don't you, -Jennings?" repeated the President. - -Really there is no helping some people! - -"Because I don't!" It was rather lame, but Jennings was doing his best -in extremely trying circumstances. - -The longer, tenser pause that followed none was stout enough to break. -Up to a hundred might have been counted before the President said, -slowly and gruffly, as a large and shaggy bear endowed with a few -limited human vocables might have done, "Have the goodness, Jennings, -to mark Exhibit Sixteen for the President's Special." - - - - -XI - - -Thus it was, that among the successful competitors who lined up by the -bandstand at six o'clock to receive awards of merit from the fair hands -of Mrs. Alderman Munt, was her son-in-law Mr. William Hollis. - -Wonders never cease to happen in a world of wonders. When in a moment -of sheer bravado Bill Hollis had paid the necessary shilling and had -entered the choicest bloom in his garden for the Annual Show he would -have staked his davy that he stood about as much chance of walking -off with the Special Prize as he did of going to heaven in a golden -chariot. The Old Un himself would see to that. - -Taken on its merits, this pure white rose that had come as the crown of -many years of loving labor would be hard to beat. But, as Bill Hollis -knew, things are not taken on their merits by the a priori school of -criticism. He knew that its judgments are conditioned by many things -and that intrinsic worth is apt to weigh least in the scale. He had -shown his bloom in pride and defiance; he had not expected to get -anything by it; and now that the despised Committee had acted better -than itself he was inclined to regret that it had not lived up to its -reputation. - -The table containing the prizes had been carried out on to the grass. -Beside it stood Mrs. Alderman Munt, white-gloved and anxious, her eyes -not unlike those of a frightened rabbit. And yet lurking somewhere in -the folds of a rather redundant frame was a certain dignity, as there -is bound to be in one who has given four children to the state; in -one, moreover, who has accompanied such a mate as Josiah step by step -in his steady rise to wealth and power. Beside Mrs. Munt stood the -secretary of the society, an important pince-nezed gentleman, with a -scroll in his hand bearing the names of the prize winners; immediately -behind these, on a row of chairs, were various notabilities, among whom -Alderman Munt was conspicuously foremost; and then facing them, in a -curious, rather impressed semicircle, were the members of that general -public which not for worlds would miss anything in the nature of a -giving of prizes by the wife of a real live alderman. - -The proprietor of the Duke of Wellington sat glaring fiercely from -under his white billycock hat, clutching a little convulsively the -knob of his sun umbrella. A ruthless eye raked the distant corps of -successful competitors, as one by one they came round the corner of the -bandstand and converged upon the timid lady whose task it was publicly -to reward their skill. All were awkward, some were abashed, some tried -to hide their feelings by an ill-timed facetiousness. - -There he was, the little dog! Josiah's grip tightened on the knob -of the sun umbrella. If the little cur had "had a drop," as he most -probably had, he was very likely to insult Maria--it was such a great, -such a golden, opportunity. Josiah was not troubled as a rule by -vain regrets, but as the Secretary in his far flung voice announced, -"President's Special Prize for best Single Bloom, winner Mr. W. -Hollis," and there came an expectant hush in which the meager form -of Mr. W. Hollis emerged into the full glare of the public gaze, his -father-in-law would have paid a substantial sum to be able to rescind -his recent verdict. The little Stoat could not be expected to bear -himself like a gentleman. - -Aunt Gerty, standing prim and tense at the back of the invertebrate -Maria, grew as white as if she had seen a ghost. But she drew in her -thin lips sternly and, great warrior as she was, literally transfixed -poor Melia's declassé husband with her tortoiseshell folders. How -common he was! It was really very stupid of Josiah to let him have a -prize in such circumstances. It was very stupid, indeed! He was just -the kind of man who might be tempted to indulge in some form of cheap -revenge. - -As Melia's husband shuffled across the grass Josiah held himself ready -to spring upon him. Public or no public he would certainly do so if the -little beast made any sign of insulting Maria. But as Bill Hollis came -slowly and doggedly into the picture he was visited by a reluctant -grace. Half way across the grass, midway between the bandstand and the -alderman's lady, he took his shabby hands from his shabby pockets; a -little farther on several degrees of slouch passed from the unpleasing -curve of his narrow shoulders. And finally, as the silver gilt goblet -was bestowed upon him by a pair of trembling hands, he ducked solemnly, -the best he could do in the way of a bow, and then retired modestly, -silently, respectfully, the trophy under his arm. - -Josiah and Aunt Gerty breathed again. Great was their relief. And -so intensely had they been preoccupied with the bearing of Melia's -husband, that, very luckily for Maria, they were not able to notice -hers. It was well this was so. For the alderman's lady had disgraced -herself on an important public occasion by allowing her eyes to fill -with tears. - - - - -XII - - -Bill's first thought was to take the trophy straight home to his wife. -But for various reasons he didn't obey it. Relations had grown very -strained between Melia and himself. For months past she had been giving -him such a bad time that there was little pleasure to be got out of his -home. - -He was a bit of an idealist in his way. Sixteen years ago, at any rate, -he had begun married life by idealizing his home and Melia. But Melia -was not an idealist. She was a decidedly practical person, and, like -her father, endowed with much shrewd sense. In a perverse hour she had -yielded against her better judgment to the quiet persistency of William -Hollis; but almost before she married him she knew it wouldn't answer. -In her heart she wanted somebody better. She felt that a daughter of -Josiah Munt was entitled to somebody better. And in waiving all her -rights as the eldest child of a tyrannical, overbearing father, the -least she could ask of the man to whose star she had pinned her faith -was that he should prove himself a forcible and successful citizen. - -Unhappily Bill had proved to be neither. He was a wordster, a dreamer; -there was nothing at the back of his rose-colored ideas. It was not -that he was a vicious man. For such a nature as Melia's it had perhaps -been better if he had been. She asked for the positive in man, even -positive badness; anything rather than muddling mediocrity, ignoble -envy of other men's prosperity and continual whinings against fate. - -There were times when Melia was so bored with the inadequacy of this -mate of hers that she half hoped to goad him into getting drunk enough -to repay some of her insults with a good beating. At least it would -have been an event, an excitement. But he was not even a thorough-going -drinker; at the best, or the worst, he never drank enough beer to rise -to the heroic, as a real man might have done; his deepest potations did -not carry him beyond maudlin sentiment or vapid braggadocio, both very -galling to a woman of spirit. And now, having realized that there was -nothing to hope for, that they were going steadily down a hill at the -bottom of which was the gutter--just as her clear-sighted father had -predicted from the first--years of resentment had crystallized into -a hard and fixed hostility. She had an ever-growing contempt for the -spineless fool who was dragging her down in his own ruin. - -Bill's instinct was to go home at once with the silver gilt goblet. In -spite of all the bitterness the last few years had brought him he still -had a wish to please Melia. In spite of a cat and dog existence they -were man and wife. They had lived sixteen years together but he still -wished to propitiate her. But hardly had he borne his prize through the -throng by the bandstand and begun to steer for the main gate of Jubilee -Park than there came a change of mind. - -It was one of those sudden, causeless changes of mind that was always -overtaking him. He never seemed able to do anything now for the reason -that almost before he had decided upon one thing he was overpowered by -a desire to do another. He had not reached the park gate before he felt -the humiliation of accepting such a prize from such hands; and Melia -would probably tell him that he ought to have had more self-respect -than to take it--if she thought it worth while to express herself on -the subject. - -The President's Special Prize would bring no pleasure to Melia. True, -there was no need to tell her whence it came. No ... there was no -need! Suddenly the band broke into a hearty strain. Beyond a doubt the -atmosphere of Jubilee Park was far more genial than that of Number -Five Love Lane. Perhaps he ought to have brought Melia to witness -his triumph. One reason was that he had been far from expecting it; -another, that he daren't invite her. For many months now she had been -careful to keep herself to herself, declining always to be seen with -him in public. - -There was a vacant seat by the gate, out of the sun and within sound -of the gay music. This, after all, was far better than Number Five -Love Lane. For a few brief moments "The Merry Widow" (selection) made -him feel happier. It would have been nice for Melia--still it couldn't -be helped. He ought to have refused the prize--still he had honestly -won it. But only an oversight on the part of the blinking Committee -had given it him; he could read that in Josiah's ugly mug and in the -face of that stuck-up Gerty Preston--so it was one in the eye for them -after all! And what price Ma! Her son-in-law broke into a guffaw of -melancholy laughter. The old barrel-bodied image got up like one of the -Toffs! And yet ... how her hands trembled! ... white gloves on 'em too! -... and that was a queer look she gave him. The old girl, after all, -was the best of a rotten bunch. - -"The Merry Widow" crashed to an abrupt finale, and a light went out -suddenly, as it so often did, in the heart of Bill Hollis. Again the -stern edge of reality pressed upon him from every side, but almost at -once it was swept away by a new excitement. And yet the excitement -was not so new as it seemed. All the afternoon it had been present, a -chorus, a background, thrilling and momentous, to a series of formal -proceedings to which it had nothing in common, to which it did not bear -the slightest relation, and yet with a power truly sinister to cast a -pall over them. - -A youth with lungs of brass came through the gate crying the -Blackhampton _Evening Star_. - -Terrible Fighting in Belgium! Awful German Losses! Great Speech by Sir -Edward Grey! - -A sharp thrill ran through the veins of Bill Hollis. It was one more -lively variation on a theme that had been kindling his senses at short -intervals throughout the afternoon. War, a real big war, was coming, -had come. Of course to him personally it wouldn't matter, except that -it might make life more interesting. Yes, somehow it was bound to -do that. Whether it would make it interesting enough for a man like -himself to care to go on living, that was another question. - -"Here y'are, boy." - -The boy came across the grass, handed Bill an _Evening Star_ and firmly -declined the halfpenny that was offered him. - -"Penny, sir." - -A penny for a _Star_ was unheard of. Even the result of the Derby, the -result of the match with Yorkshire, the result of the Cup Final itself -could not command a penny. Evidently this war, now that it had come at -last, was going to be a Record. - -Yes, a Record. All the same he was not going to pay a penny for it. One -halfpenny was the legal price of the Blackhampton _Evening Star_, and -he told the boy "that if he had any of his sauce he'd have the police -of him." - - - - -XIII - - -William Hollis, having defeated the boy, turned his back to the sun and -was assured by the Blackhampton _Star_ that he was living in a great -moment of the world's history. Germany had, it seemed, until twelve -o'clock that evening to decide whether she would take on England. She -had taken on France, Russia and Belgium already; a few hours hence, if -she wasn't careful, she would have to fight the British Empire. - -Even to Bill Hollis, dizzied by the sheer magnitude of the headlines -of his favorite journal which actually surpassed those of the Crippen -trial, the sinking of the _Titanic_ and the late King Edward's visit -to Blackhampton, that phrase "the British Empire" was full of magic. -Lurking somewhere in a compound of half-baked inefficiencies was the -vision of a poet, and at this moment it was queerly responsive to this -symbol. - -"It's all up with 'em if they take on Us." In strict order of priority -that was the first message to flash through the sentient being of Mr. -William Hollis to be duly recorded by the central office. Hard upon it -came a second message. "They've got a Nerve--them Germans." - -In the column for late news were blurred fragments of the speech of -the Foreign Minister in the House of Commons. Intellectually William -Hollis was not conspicuously bright, but, as he read the simple words, -the nature of the terrible misprision against the human race came home -to him and he could only gasp. - -He got up presently and moved away from the band. As always the band -was very nice, but for some reason or other he didn't want to hear it -just now. For a short time he walked about on the brown grass, the -President's cup under his arm, wrapped in the _Evening Star_. But he -wasn't thinking now of the President, of the cup, of Melia, of the -injustice of Fate to a private citizen. His thoughts were centered on -a Thing that made all these other things, painfully intimate as they -were, of no moment at all. These were but trivial matters, and he was -now in the presence of the inconceivable, the stupendous. - -Coming back to the throng, perhaps for the latent solace these clusters -of fellow beings afforded him, he saw from their blank eyes, their set -faces, that his own terrible thoughts were shared more or less by them -all. The boy had sold his papers already. Other boys had sold theirs. -The whole place was alive with fluttering news sheets, gleaming white -and spectral in the sun. Already these people, these stout females -in farcical clothes, for the most part trundling queer abortions on -the end of a string, and these hard-faced, grasping men who were -always overreaching one in trade, were living in a different world. -They were not thinking now of flowers and vegetables, of bands or -dancing, although the first couples of juniors had just begun to sway -rhythmically to the strains of "Hitchy Koo." Something else had come -into their lives. - -Passing the tent sacred to the President and Committee, it gave him one -more thrill to mark the bearing of the grandees. The famous white hat -no longer adorned the head of the President. The great man nursed it -upon his fat loud-checked knees. All the reluctant geniality a public -function had inspired had passed from his ugly face. Yet in the purview -of his son-in-law it looked a little less ugly at that moment than he -ever remembered to have seen it. Those fierce eyes were not occupied -now with the narrow round of their own affairs, nor with a swelling -vision of self-importance. The world was on fire. He was simply a man -among his fellow men; and like them he was wondering what ought to be -done. - -At seven o'clock a vaguely excited but profoundly depressed William -Hollis made his way out of Jubilee Park. He turned down Short Hill in -the direction of his home. But by the time he had reached the foot of -that brief declivity, and was involved in an airless maze of bricks and -mortar, the thought of his home grew suddenly intolerable. He needed -freedom and space, he needed an atmosphere more congenial. Melia would -not understand. Or if she did understand she would be dumb and just -now he simply longed for a little human intercourse. - -At the end of Love Lane, a mean and crooked little street debouching -from the Mulcaster Road which wound a somber trail to the very heart -of the city, he stood a moment gazing at the dingy sign a few doors up -on the left, W. Hollis, Fruiterer. The obvious course was to go and -deposit the prize he had won on the dresser in the back sitting room, -or still better, give it into the personal care of Melia. But instead, -he wrapped up the trophy a little more carefully, resettled it under -his arm, and then allowed himself to drift slowly with the throng in -the direction of the Market Place. - -As was usual with him now, his actions were aimless and uncertain. -There was no particular reason why he should be going to the Market -Place beyond the fact that other people seemed to be going there, as -somehow they always did seem to be going there at great moments in -the national life. The factories and warehouses who happened to be -working that day had disgorged their human cargoes and these under the -stimulus of hourly editions of the _Evening Star_ were moving slowly -and solemnly towards the nodal point. - -What the Market Place is to the city as a whole, Waterloo Square is -to the teeming, close-packed population of its southeastern area. -And at the busiest corner of Waterloo Square, at its confluence with -Mulcaster Road, that main artery which leads directly to the center -of all things, is the Duke of Wellington public house. William Hollis, -drifting with the tide, felt a sudden, uncontrollable desire to "have -one" at this famous landmark of the local life. - -The Duke of Wellington was a "free" house and Mr. Josiah Munt had -been able to maintain in its integrity the declining art of brewing -Blackhampton Old Ale. This had a bite and a sting in it, with which the -more diluted beverages of "tied" houses could not compare. At the Duke -of Wellington you paid for the best and you got it; therefore it was -patronized by all in the neighborhood who knew what was what; it had, -moreover, peculiar advantages of tradition and geography which gave it -a cachet of its own. - -"To have one" at the Duke of Wellington, in the eyes of those who -lived near by, was almost on a par with "looking in" at Brooks's -or the Carlton. It conferred a kind of diploma of local worth and -responsibility. At the same time no form of politics was barred, but -the proprietor himself was a staunch conservative and it was very -difficult to find a welcome in the bar parlor without sharing that -faith. - -It could not be said that William Hollis had ever aspired to the good -graces of the house. There were obvious reasons why this was the -case. For sixteen years he had not passed through its doors; in that -long period he had not even entered the humbler part of the premises -known as "the vaults," sacred to Tom, Dick and Harry, where the more -substantial patrons of the establishment disdained to set foot. - -To-night, however, new and strange forces were at work in Bill. Borne -along a tide of cosmic events as far as those fascinating doors he was -suddenly and quite irrationally mastered by a desire to go in. - -Partly it may have been bravado; certainly it was a daring act to -cross that threshold. But Josiah himself, for whose personal prowess -his son-in-law had a wholesome respect, was safe at the Show; besides, -the proprietor was too great a man these days to visit the house very -often. Years ago he had ceased to reside there with his family; and in -his steady social ascent he was careful not to emphasize a dubious but -extremely lucrative connection with that which regarded in perspective -was but a common public house. - -The chances were that Bill Hollis would be spared this evening an -encounter with his father-in-law and former master. But why he should -decide so suddenly to take the risk was hard to say, unless it was -the half fantastic reaction of an exceedingly impressionable mind to -a crisis almost without a precedent in human experience. By nature a -sociable fellow, he had now an intense desire to exchange ideas with -responsible, knowledgeable people, with those possessing more light -than himself. The Duke of Wellington was the headquarters of such -in that part of the city; it was the haunt of the quidnuncs and the -well informed; and it may have been for that reason that Bill dived -suddenly through the swing doors, an act he had not performed for -sixteen years, and crossed the dark, cool passage with its highly -spiced but not unattractive odors. - -It may have been the magnitude of the situation in Europe which had -suddenly rendered all private matters ridiculous, or it may have -been the talisman under his arm which inspired him with an unwonted -hardihood, but instead of turning into the taproom, the first on the -left, which would have satisfied the claims of honor and wisdom, he -pushed boldly on past the glass-surrounded cubicle of the celebrated -but haughty Miss Searson, into the Mecca of the just and the good, -sublimely guarded by that peri. - -In a kind of dull excitement he entered the famous Bar Parlor. To his -surprise, and rather perversely, to his relief, it was empty, except -that, behind a counter in a strategical angle that commanded the room -as well as the passage, Miss Searson was overwhelmingly present, but -absorbed apparently at that moment in crocheting a two-inch lace border -to an article of female attire sacred to the pages of the realists. - -Nothing seemed to have altered in sixteen years, even to the fly-blown -advertisement of Muirhead's Pale Brandy facing the door, and -surrounding Miss Searson the double row of brass taps, it had once been -a part of his duties to keep clean. And that lady herself, sixteen -years had altered her surprisingly little, if at all. She was what is -known technically as a chemical blonde, a high-bosomed, high-voiced, -large-featured, large-earringed lady, with remarkable teeth and an -aloofness of manner which might almost be said to enforce respect at -the point of the bayonet. - -When Miss Searson looked up from her crochet she could hardly believe -her eyes. William Hollis, in his former incarnation, had been known -to her as Bill the Barman, and she in that distant epoch had been -known to him as a Stuck-Up Piece. Unofficially of course. Outwardly -everybody paid deference to Miss Searson; even the proprietor himself, -if he could be said to pay deference to any human being, had always -adopted that attitude to Miss Searson; as for Bill the Barman, he had -been hardly more than a worm in her sight. And then had come the Great -Romance. It had come like a bolt out of clear sky, knocking a whole -world askew as Miss Searson understood it; a whole world of sacred -values by which Miss Searson and those within her orbit regulated their -lives. - -The entrance of Bill Hollis into the bar struck Miss Searson dumb with -surprise. In a mind temporarily bewildered sixteen years were as but a -single day. This was the first occasion in that long period that the -incredible adventurer who had suborned the eldest daughter of his stern -master into marrying him had dared to revisit the scene of his crime. -To weak minds a great romance, no doubt, but the lady behind the bar -had not a weak mind, therefore she was not in the least romantic. She -saw things as they were, she knew what life was. It was very well for -such things to happen in the pages of a novel, but in the daily round -of humdrum existence they simply didn't answer. - -It seemed an age to Miss Searson before William the Incredible girded -his courage to the point of ordering a pint of bitter. She drew it in -stately silence, handed it across the counter and accepted threepence -with superb hauteur. - -He drank a little. It was no mean brew; and he felt so much a man for -the experience that he was able to ask Miss Searson what she thought of -the news. - -"News," said Miss Searson loftily. "News?" - -"War with Germany." - -"Oh, that!" A Juno-like toss of Miss Searson's coiffure. But there she -stopped. War with Germany was none of her business, nor was it going to -be her business to be forced into conversation with a character whose -standing was so doubtful as the former barman. Miss Searson was not a -believer in finesse. Her methods had a brutal simplicity which made -them tremendously effective. - -However, this evening they were less effective than usual. The world -itself was tottering, and a deep, deep chord in the amazing Bill Hollis -was responsive to the cataclysm. This evening he was not himself, he -was more than himself; his appearance in the Private Bar was proof of -it. - -Miss Searson was but a woman, a human female. She meant nothing, she -meant less than nothing in this hour of destiny. "Yes, that!" He -filled in the pause, after waiting in vain for her to do so. "War with -Germany. Do you realize it?" His voice was full of emotion. - -But Miss Searson did not intend to be drawn into a discussion of -anything so fanciful as war with Germany. She was practical. A -censorious mouth shut like a trap. She regarded Bill with the eye of a -codfish. - -"D'you realize what it means?" - -By an adroit turn of the head towards the farther beer-engine she gave -William Hollis the full benefit of a pile of stately back hair. And -then she said slowly, as if she were trying to bite off the head of -each blunt syllable, "Do you realize that the Mester sometimes looks in -about this time of a Thursday?" - - - - -XIV - - -A normal Bill Hollis would not have been slow to analyze this speech -and to find a lurking insult. But he was not a normal Bill Hollis this -evening; it was the last place he was likely to be in if he had been. -Therefore he shook his head gently at Miss Searson without submitting -her to any more destructive form of criticism. What a fool the woman -was, what a common fool not to understand that in the presence of a war -with Germany nothing else could possibly matter. - -"I don't think I'd stop here--if I was you." Yes, there was a -bluntness about Miss Searson which at ordinary times had a unique -power of "getting there." But Bill merely smiled at her now. The -chrysanthemum-topped fathead! Suddenly he reached the limit of his -endurance; he expressed a boundless contempt for her and all her tribe -by recourse to a spittoon. - -How _could_ Melia ever have married him ... Melia Munt who might have -married an architect!... - -Bill Hollis defensively went on with his bitter. He was consumed with -scorn of a person whom he had once respected immensely. She was found -out, the shallow fool, fringe and back hair included! When he came to -the end of the pint, he paused a moment in the midst of the pleasant -sensations it had inspired and then decided that he would have another, -not because he wanted another, but because he felt that it would annoy -this Toplofty Crackpot. - -The second pint did annoy the T.C., annoyed her obviously; emotionally -she was a very obvious lady. But it was odd that Bill Hollis, shaken to -the depths by a world catastrophe, should desire a cheap revenge and -stoop to gratify it. Perhaps it was a case of multiple personality. -There were several Bill Hollises in this moment of destiny. - -There was the Bill Hollis who gave the defiant order for another pint -of bitter, the Bill Hollis who paid for it with truculent coolness, -the Bill Hollis who bore it to the window the better to regard the -somber stream of fellow citizens flowing steadily in the direction of -the Market Place, the Bill Hollis who took a beer-stained copy of the -Blackhampton _Tribune_ from a table with a marble top and glanced at -the portentous headings of its many columns. And finally there was -the Bill Hollis who suddenly heard with a sick thrill that came very -near to nausea a footfall heavily familiar and a voice outside in the -passage. - -Could it be...! Could it be that...! - -There was a look of obvious triumph on the almost unnaturally fair -countenance of Miss Searson. In her grim eyes was "I told you so!" - -The ex-barman, in the peril of the moment, glanced hastily around, but -the eyes of Miss Searson assured him that he was a rat and that he was -caught in a trap. Moreover they assured him that if ever rat deserved -a fate so ignominious, William Hollis was the name of that rodent. And -the loathsome animal had time to recall before that voice and those -footsteps were able to enter the private bar that sixteen years ago -Miss Searson had been the witness of a certain incident. And if her -warlike bearing meant anything she was now looking for a repetition, -with modern improvements and variations. - -Escape was impossible, that was clear. And on the strength of a fact so -obvious all the various kinds of Bill Hollises promptly came together -and decided to hand over the body politic to the only Bill Hollis who -could hope to deal with the crisis. This was the Bill Hollis who had -had a pint and a half of his father-in-law's excellent bitter and felt -immeasurably the better for it. - -As a measure of precaution this Bill Hollis spread wide the _Tribune_ -and by taking cover behind it greatly reassured his brethren. None of -the others would have had the wit to think of that. Even as it was only -a pint and a half of a very choice brew enabled the device to be put -coolly and quietly into practice. - -He had hardly taken cover when Josiah came in. Following close behind -were Julius Weiss and Councilor Kersley. It was a tense moment, but -these grandees were occupied with a matter more important than the -identity of the man behind the newspaper in the corner by the window. - -"Miss Searson!" The tone of the proprietor was like unto that of Jove. -"Ring up Strathfieldsaye and tell them I am going to eat at the Club." - -Bill Hollis was sensible of a thrill. He was a mere cat in the presence -of a king, except that this was a king whom he dare not look at. It was -a disgusting feeling yet somehow it was exalting. And this sense of -uplift grew when Josiah and his friends disposed themselves augustly at -one of the tables with a marble top, and three tankards of an exclusive -brew were brought to them and they began to talk. - -It was "inner circle talk" and in the ear of William Hollis that lent -it piquancy. Really it was what he was there for. The newspapers -were unsatisfying. He craved to hear the matter discussed by men of -substance, standing, general information, by men of the world. Sitting -there behind his paper in the private bar, he felt nearer to the heart -of things than he had ever been in his life. - -"Is it going to make so much difference?" Councilor Kersley, the -eminent retail grocer, asked the question. - -"It's going to alter everything, Kersley--you mark me." The tone of -Josiah was as final as an act of parliament and Julius Weiss slowly -nodded in deep concurrence with it. - -"Of course we shall down 'em," said Councilor Kersley. - -"Yes, we shall down 'em, but----" Josiah's "but" left a good deal to -the imagination. - -"Don't be too sure, my friends," said the master-hair-dresser. - -"Our Navy'll settle it at the finish," Josiah's growl was that of a -very big dog. - -Julius Weiss shook his head solemnly but he didn't speak again. An odd, -uneasy silence settled on the three of them while they drank their -beer. But of a sudden there came a wholly unexpected obtrusion into the -conversation. - -The man by the window lowered his paper. "We're not going to have a -walk over, so don't let us think we are." For a reason he could not -have explained had his life depended on it, William Hollis revealed his -presence and plunged horse, foot and artillery into the matter in hand. - - - - -XV - - -Josiah gave him a look. But it was not the look he might have expected -to receive. It was less the look of a vindictive parent and employer -than the gesture a Chamberlain might have bestowed on a Jesse Collings -or a Gladstone on a John Morley. - -"You're right, my lad--not a walk over." - -For a few minutes these great men talked on and William Hollis by sheer -force of some innate capacity, now first brought to life in the stress -of an overwhelming affair, talked with them as an equal. These were -proud moments in which the power of vision, the understanding heart -seemed to come by their own. The world was on fire, and if the flames -were to be brought under control many estimates must be revised, many -standards must go by the board. Self-preservation, the primal instinct, -was already uppermost. Brains, foresight, mental energy were at a -premium now. Any man, no matter who or what he might be, who had it -in him to contribute to the common stock was more than welcome to do -so. The conflagration had only just begun but a new range of ideas was -already rife. Men were no longer taken on trust, institutions no longer -accepted at their face value. - -But all too soon for William Hollis the proceedings came to an -end. He would have liked to sit there all night, tossing the ball -among his peers, listening politely and now and again throwing in -a word. Suddenly, however, the door of the private bar opened and -a flaming-haired, shirt-sleeved appearance in a green baize apron -abruptly thrust in its head. At the sight of the grandees it was thrust -out again even more abruptly. - -"That George?" - -George it was. - -"Go out and step that there Bus." In the command of Josiah was all the -power of the man of privilege, the almost superhuman authority of a -city alderman. Bill Hollis, who had once worn the green apron himself, -was thrilled by the recollection that even in his day, when Josiah was -first elected to the town council, the public vehicle plying for hire -between Jubilee Park and the Market Place was always at the beck and -call of Mr. Councilor Munt. Few had a good word for him, but even in -those days in that part of the city his word was law. - -Josiah rose and his friends rose with him. But as he moved to the -door he turned a dour eye upon Bill Hollis. Whole volumes were in it, -beyond tongue or pen to utter. To-night even he, in the stress of what -was happening to the world in which he had prospered so greatly, was -less than himself and also more. An eye of wary truculence pinned the -ex-barman to the wainscot while the master of the house uttered his -slow, unwilling growl. "Not a bad bloom ye sent in, my lad." - -It was a very big dog to a very little dog, but somehow it told far -more than was intended. Almost in spite of himself, the man who on a -day had abused the confidence of his master by marrying his eldest -daughter was forced to realize that no matter what Josiah Munt might -be, he was ... well, he was Jannock! - - - - -XVI - - -Twenty minutes later William Hollis, feeling inches taller, and more in -harmony with himself than for many a day, went forth to grapple with -the situation in Europe. - -Half Blackhampton, at least, if its streets meant anything, was bent on -a similar errand. From every part of the city, its people were slowly -filtering in twos and threes to the Great Market Place, that nodal -point of the local life and of the life of the empire. Blackhampton -claims to be the exact center of England, speaking geographically, -and its position on the map is reflected in its mental outlook. It -combines a healthy tolerance for the ways and ideas of places less -happily situated with a noble faith in itself. Time and again history -has justified that faith; time and again it has chosen the famous town -as the scene of a memorable manifestation, as its castle, its churches, -its ancient buildings, its streets and monuments bear witness. Here -an ill-starred king declared war on his people, here a great poet was -born, to give but a single deed and a single name among so much that -has passed into history. Many of its sons have shed luster on their -birthplace. Here is a street bearing the name of one who revolutionized -industry; yonder the humble abode of the prizefighter who gave his -name to one of the most important towns of Australia; over there the -obscure conventicle of the plain citizen who founded a world religion; -"up yond" the early home of one whose name is a household word on five -continents; across the road the public house where a famous athlete has -chosen to live in a modest but honored retirement. - -Biologists say that all forms of organic life are determined by -climate. Blackhampton owed much, no doubt, to its happy situation as -the exact center of the Empire, but no city in the kingdom could have -lived more consciously in that fact. London was not without importance -as places went; the same might be said for New York; but in the eyes -of the true Blackhamptonian, after all, these centers of light were -comparatively provincial. - -This evening the streets of the city were alive with true -Blackhamptonians. In the sight of these only Blackhampton mattered. Its -attitude was of decisive consequence in this unparalleled crisis. No -matter what other places were doing and thinking, Blackhampton itself -was fully determined to pull its weight in the boat. - -The press of citizens was very great by the time Bill Hollis arrived -in the Market Place. In particular, they were gathered in serious -groups before the City Hall, the Imperial Club and the offices of the -Blackhampton _Tribune_, which continued to emit hourly editions of the -_Evening Star_ with fuller accounts of the proceedings in Parliament -and the latest telegrams concerning the fighting in Belgium. - -The British Cabinet had given Germany until midnight, but Blackhampton -had fully made up its mind in the matter by five minutes past nine, -which was the precise hour that Mr. William Hollis arrived to bear -his part in the local witenagemot. His part was the relatively humble -one of standing in front of the Imperial Club and gazing with rather -wistful eyes into that brightly tiled and glazed and highly burnished -interior as it was momentarily revealed by the entrance of a member. - -Even so early in the world's history as five minutes past nine it was -known to those privileged sons of the race who had assembled in front -of the sandstone and red brick façade of the Blackhampton Imperial -Club that Germany "was going to get it in the neck." There must be a -limit to all things and Germany had already exceeded it. The Cabinet -having unluckily omitted to provide itself with even one Blackhampton -man was yet doing its best to keep pace with informed Blackhampton -opinion, but events were moving very quickly in front of the Imperial -Club. At a quarter past nine Sir Reuben Jope, the chairman of _the_ -Party, drove up in his electric brougham, a bearded fierce-eyed figure -whose broadcloth trousers allied to a prehistoric box hat seemed to -make him a cross between a rather aggressive Free Kirk elder and an -extraordinarily respectable pirate. At twenty minutes past nine Mr. -Whibley, the Club porter, an imposing vision in pale brown, gold braid, -and brass buttons, came down the steps and informed a friend on the -curb "that the Fleet was fully mobilized." - -Other luminaries continued to arrive. It was like the night of a very -hotly contested election, except for the fact that every one of the -thousands of human beings thronging the Market Place were of one mind. -But there was neither boasting nor revelry. This was a sagacious, a -keen-bitten, a practical race. A terrible job was on hand, but it was -realized already that it would have to be done. The thing had gone -too far. There were no demonstrations; on the contrary, a quietude -so intense as to seem unnatural gave the measure and the depth of -Blackhampton's feeling upon the subject. - -Had Bill Hollis used the forty-one years of his life in a way to -justify his early ambitions he would have been inside the Club on this -historical evening, sitting on red leather and smoking a cigar with the -best of them. As it was he had to be content with a foremost place in -the ever-growing throng outside the Club portals, from which point of -vantage he was able to witness the arrival of many renowned citizens -and also to gaze through the famous bow window which abutted on to the -Square at the array of notables within. In the intensity of the hour -the Club servants had omitted to draw down the blinds. - -At ten minutes to ten Mr. Alderman Munt, sustained by roast saddle -of mutton and green peas, fruit tart and custard, appeared in the -embrasure with a large cigar. Seen from the street he looked a -tremendously imposing figure. Even in the midst of the men of light -and leading who surrounded him he was a Saul towering among the -prophets. Not even his admirers, and in the city of his birth these -were singularly few, ventured to call him genial, but there was power, -virility, unconscious domination in the far flung glance that marked -the press beyond the Club windows. Somehow there was a bulldog look -about him that was extraordinarily British. Somehow he looked a good -man in a tight place and a bad one to cross. - -Had the question been asked there was not one among that throng of -hushed spectators who could have explained his own presence in the -Market Place, nor could he have said just what he was doing there. A -powerful magnet had drawn the many together into a limited space on an -airless evening in August to gaze at one another and to wonder what -was going to happen, yet well knowing that nothing could happen as -far as that evening was concerned. But in this strange gathering, in -the solemn hush that came upon it from time to time, was the visible -evidence that the people of Blackhampton were standing together in a -supreme moment. Perhaps it gave a feeling of security that each was -shoulder to shoulder with his neighbor in this hour so fateful for -themselves, for Blackhampton, for the human race. - -Nothing happened, yet everything happened. The throng grew denser -inside and outside the Imperial Club, but casual remarks became even -less frequent, newsboys ceased to shout, and presently the hour of -midnight boomed across the square from the great clock on the Corn -Exchange and from many neighboring steeples. Nothing happened. But it -was Wednesday, August the fifth. The silent multitude began slowly to -disperse. A new phase had opened in history. - -It was not until a quarter past one, by which time four-fifths of the -crowd had gone away as quietly as it had assembled, that Bill Hollis -slowly made his way home to Love Lane. In his hand was the prize he had -so unexpectedly gained, wrapped in the _Evening Star_, but somehow the -Show and all the other incidents of a crowded, memorable, even glorious -day seemed very far off as his boots echoed along the narrow streets. -An imaginative man in whom psychic perception was sometimes raised to -a high power, he was oppressed by a stealthy sense of disaster. It was -as if an earthquake had shaken the world from pole to pole. It was as -if all the people in it were a little dizzy with a vibration they could -hardly feel which yet had shivered the foundations of society. - - - - -XVII - - -Blackhampton was in the war from the first moment. Never its custom -to do things by halves, this body of clear thinking Britons did its -best to rise to the greatest occasion in history. Its best was not -enough--nothing human could have been--but as far as it went it was -heroic. - -In the first days of the disaster none could tell its magnitude. Forces -had been set in motion whose colossal displacement was beyond human -calculation. Something more than buckets of water are required to cope -with a prairie fire, but at first there seemed no other means at hand -of dealing with it. - -Within the tentative and narrow scope of the machinery provided by the -state wonders were performed in the early weeks of the holocaust. Every -bucket the country could boast was called into use, but the flames -seemed always to gain in power and fury. - -From the outset this midland city, like the kingdom itself, betrayed -not a sign of panic. In the presence of fathomless danger it remained -calm. British nerves lie deep down, and in those first shattering weeks -the entire nation stood stolidly to its guns under the threat of night -and disruption. - -The energy shown by Blackhampton in organizing hospitals and in -raising men to fill them was truly amazing, yet in this it was no more -than the mirror of the whole country. City vied with city, shire vied -with shire, in voluntary service to a state, that, no matter what -its defects, was able to maintain a sense of proportion which may be -claimed as the common measure of the republic. The curious anachronism, -magniloquently miscalled the British Empire, rose at once to a moral -height without a precedent in the history of the world. It would have -been fatally easy in the circumstances of the case for a brotherhood of -free peoples to have turned a deaf ear to the voice of honor. The mine -was sprung so quickly, the issues at stake were so cunningly veiled, -that only "a decent and a dauntless people," unprepared as they were -and taken by surprise, would have cast themselves into the breach at -an hour's notice, fully alive to the nature of the act and by a divine -instinct aware of its necessity, yet without fully comprehending what -it involved. - -Governments and politicians, like books and writers, exist to be -criticized, and it is their common misfortune that impudence is now the -first function of wisdom. History is not likely to deny the great part -played in a supreme moment by certain brave and enlightened men. In the -end the mean arts of the party journal will not rob of their need those -who have made still possible a decent life. - -Within a fortnight of the outbreak arose a crying need for men. -Few, even at that moment, were bold enough to breathe the word -"conscription." Britain was a maritime power. Armies on the Continental -scale were none of her business. Russia and France bred to European -conditions, with a fundamental man power fully equal to that of the -Central Empires could be trusted to hold their own. But these fallacies -were soon exposed. - -Still, even then, the country hesitated to take the plunge. -Conscription seemed to many the direct negation of what it had stood -for in the past. These still pinned their faith to the system of -voluntary levies. The rally of the country's manhood to a cause only -indirectly its own was beyond all precedent. Field Marshal Viscount -Partington mobilized his very best mop and sent it to deal with the -Atlantic. For all that the flood did not subside and it gradually -dawned on the public mind that more comprehensive methods might be -needed. - -In the meantime the Hun was at the gate of Paris. The Channel ports, if -not actually in the hands of the enemy, were as good as lost. Belgium -was being ground under the heel of a savage conqueror. And in the city -of Blackhampton, as elsewhere in Britain, these things made a very deep -impression. - -Among the many forcible men that a new world phase revealed -Blackhampton to possess, none stood out more boldly in those first -grim weeks than Josiah Munt. The proprietor of the Duke of Wellington -was a man of peculiar gifts, and it was soon only too clear that not -only Blackhampton, but England herself, had need of them. His was the -ruthless energy that disdains finesse. It sees what to do, or believes -it does--almost as important in life as we know it!--and goes straight -ahead and gets it done. - -One evening in the middle of September Josiah came home to dinner in a -very black mood. It was not often that he yielded to depression. But -he had had a hard day on local war committees in the course of which -he had been in contact with men nearer to the center of things than -he was himself. Moreover, these were men from whom this shrewd son of -the midlands was only too ready to learn. They were behind the scenes. -Sources of information were open to them which even a Blackhampton -alderman might envy; and they were far from echoing the airy optimism -of the public press. The fabric of society, stable but elastic, by -means of which Josiah himself and so many like him had been able in -the course of two or three decades to rise from obscurity to a certain -power and dignity was in urgent danger. The whole of the western world -was in the melting pot. That which had been could never be again. -Cherished institutions were already in the mire. And all this was but -the prelude to a tragedy of which none could see the end. - -Josiah's mood that evening was heavy. Even the presence at the meal of -his sister-in-law, as a rule a natural tonic, did little to lighten it. - -"They won't get Paris now," she affirmed. - -"We don't know that." He shook his head with the gesture of a tired -man. "Nobody knows it." - -"No, I suppose they don't." Miss Preston read in that somber manner the -need for mental readjustment. "But the papers say that General Joffre -has the situation in hand." - -Josiah renounced a plate of mutton broth only half consumed. "Mustn't -believe a word you see in the papers, my gel. They don't know much, and -half of what they do know they are not allowed to tell." Miss Preston -discreetly supposed that it was so. "But things are going better, -aren't they?" - -"We'll hope they are." Josiah's fierce attack upon the joint in front -of him seemed to veto the subject. - -The silence that followed was broken by Maria, whose entrance into the -conversation was quite unexpected and rather startling. "Did you know," -she said, "that Melia's husband has joined the army?" - -Josiah suspended operations to poise an interrogatory carving knife. -"Who tells you that?" he said frostily. - -"The boy from Murrell's, the greengrocer's,"--somehow the infrequent -voice of Maria had an odd precision--"said to Alice this morning that -he heard that Mr. Hollis had gone for a soldier." - -Josiah returned to the joint, content for the time being with the -remark, "that it was a bad lookout for the Germans," a sally that won a -timely laugh from his sister-in-law. On the other hand, Maria, who had -never been known to laugh at anything in all her anxious days, began to -wonder somberly whether Melia would be able to carry on the business. - -"From all that I hear," growled Josiah, "there ain't a sight o' -business to be carried on." - -In the silence which followed Maria gave a sniff that was slightly -lachrymose, and then the strategic Gerty after a veiled glance towards -the head of the table, ventured on "Poor Amelia." - -Josiah was in the act of giving himself what he called "a man's -helping" of beans. "She made her own bed," he said in a tone that -gained in force by not being forcible, "and now she's got to lie in it." - -For the first time in many years, however, Maria seemed to be visited -by a spark of spirit. "Well, I think it's credible of that Hollis, very -creditable." - -Josiah raised a glass of beer to the light with a connoisseur's -disparagement of its color, and then he said, "In my opinion he's -running away from his creditors. I hear he owes money all round." - -"He's going to risk his life, though," ventured Aunt Gerty. "And that's -something." - -"It is--if he risks it," Josiah reluctantly allowed. - -Maria became so tearful that she was unable to continue her dinner. - - - - -XVIII - - -The next morning, about a quarter to ten, Josiah boarded a Municipal -tram at the foot of The Rise, earning in the process the almost -groveling respect of its conductor, and paid twopence for a journey to -Love Lane. Five doors up on the left was a meager house that had been -converted into a greengrocer's shop. By far the most imposing thing -about it was a signboard, which, although sadly in need of a coat of -paint, boldly displayed the name William Hollis Fruiterer, in white -letters on a black ground. For the last sixteen years, whenever the -proprietor of the Duke of Wellington had occasion to pass this eyesore -which was clearly visible from the busy main thoroughfare that ran by -the end of the street, he made it a fixed rule to look the other way. -But this morning when he got off the tram car at the corner, he set his -teeth, faced the signboard resolutely and walked slowly towards it. - -A stately thirty seconds or so of progress brought him to the shop -itself. For a moment he stood looking in the window, which was neither -more nor less than that of a visibly unprosperous greengrocer in a very -small way of business. He then entered a rather moribund interior, the -stock in trade of which consisted in the main of baskets of potatoes -and carrots and an array of stale cabbages laid in a row on the counter. - -The shop had no one in it, but the first step taken by an infrequent -customer across its threshold rang a bell attached to the underside -of a loose board in the floor, thereby informing a mysterious entity -beyond a glass door draped with a surprisingly clean lace curtain that -it was required elsewhere. - -The entity did not immediately respond to Josiah's heavy-footed -summons. When it did respond it was seen to be that of a thin faced, -exceedingly unhappy looking woman of thirty-five whose hair was -beginning to turn gray. Her print dress, much worn but scrupulously -clean and neat, had its sleeves rolled back beyond the elbows; and this -fact and a coarse sackcloth apron implied that she had been interrupted -in the task of scrubbing the floor of the back premises. - -The interior of the shop was rather dark and Josiah, having taken up a -position in its most sunless corner, was not recognized at once by his -eldest daughter. - -They stood looking at each other, not knowing what to say or how to -carry themselves after a complete estrangement of sixteen years. -Josiah, however, had taken the initiative; he was a ready-witted man -of affairs and he had been careful to enter the shop with a formula -already prepared to his mind. It might or might not bridge the gulf, -but in any case that did not greatly matter. He had not come out of a -desire to make concessions; he was there at the call of duty. - -"They tell me your man's joined th' army." That was the formula, but -it needed speaking. And when spoken it was, after a moment uncannily -tense, it was not as Alderman Munt J.P. had expected and intended to -utter it. Instead of being quite impersonal, the tone and the manner -were rude and grim. Somehow they had thrown back to an earlier phase of -autocratic parenthood. - -Melia turned very white. It did not seem possible for her to say -anything beyond a defiant "yes." Breathing hard, she stood looking -stonily at her father. - -"When did he go?" - -"Monday." The tone of Melia was queerly like his own. - -Josiah rolled the scrub of whisker under his chin between his thumb and -forefinger, and then slowly transferred the weight of his ponderous -body from one massive foot to the other. "Don't seem to be doing much -trade." - -"Not much." But the tone of Melia rather implied that it was none of -his business even if such was the case. - -"Will ye be able to carry on?" - -Melia didn't know. Her father didn't either. He was inclined to think -not, but without expressing that opinion he stood with narrowed eyes -and pursing his lips somberly. "Where's the books?" he said abruptly. - -The desire uppermost in Melia was to tell him in just a few plain -words that the books were no concern of his and that she would be much -obliged if he would go about his own affairs. But for some reason she -was not able to do so. She was no longer afraid of him; years ago she -had learned to hate and despise him; but either she was not strong -enough, not a big enough character to be openly rude to him, or the -subtle feelings of a daughter, long since rejected and forgotten, may -have intervened. For after a horrible moment, in which devils flew -round in her, she said impassively, "Don't keep none." - -"Not books! Don't keep books!" The man of affairs caught up the -admission and treated it almost as a young bull in a paddock might have -treated a red parasol. "Never heard the like!" He cast a truculent -glance round the half denuded shop. "No wonder the jockey has to make -compositions with his creditors." - -Melia flushed darkly. She would have given much had she been able at -that moment to order this father of hers out of the shop, but every -minute now seemed to bring him an increasing authority. The Dad, the -tyrant and the bully whom she had feared, defied and secretly admired, -was now in full possession. At bottom, sixteen years had not changed -him and it had not changed her. Had the man for whom she had wrecked -her life had something of her father's quality she might have forgiven -his inefficiency, his tragic failure as a human being, or at any rate -have been more able to excuse herself for an act which, look at it as -one would, was simply unforgivable. - -"I don't know what you mean." Her hard voice trembled and then broke -harshly--but anger and defiance could not go beyond that. "He paid the -quarter's rent before he went. He owes a few pounds but he's going to -send me a bit every week until it's paid." - -"I suppose you've got a list of his liabilities." Even his voice shook -a little, but he treated the scorn, the anger, the hard defiance in her -eyes as if they were not there. - -Again the paramount desire was to insult this father of hers, had it -been humanly possible to do so. But again was she bereft of the power -even to make the attempt. "Yes, I have," she said sullenly. - -"Let me see it, gel." - -For nearly a minute she stood biting her lips and looking at him, -while for his part he coolly surveyed the shop in all its miserable -inadequacy. She still wanted to order him out. His proprietary air -enraged her. Yet she could not repress a sneaking admiration for it -and that enraged her even more. But she suddenly gave up fighting and -retired in defeat to the mysterious region beyond the curtained door, -whence she returned very soon with a piece of paper in her hand. - -Josiah impressively put on his gold-rimmed eyeglasses, a recent -addition to his greatness, and examined the paper critically. The -amount of William Hollis's indebtedness, declared in hurried, rather -illiterate pencil, as if the heart of the writer had not been in his -task, came to rather less than twenty pounds. - -"This the lot?" He spoke as if he had a perfect right to ask the -question. - -"It is." Her eyes and her voice contested the right, yet in spite of -themselves they admitted it. - -"Who owns this here property?" Again the half truculent glance explored -every nook and cranny of the meager premises. - -"Whatmore the builder." - -Josiah rubbed a thick knuckle upon his cheek. "Ah!" That was his only -comment. "Owns the row, I suppose?" - -Melia supposed he did. - -"What rent do you pay?" - -"Twenty-five." She resented the question, but the growing magnetism of -having again a real live man to deal with was making her clay in his -hands. - -He took a step to the shop door, the paper still in his hand, and stood -an instant looking up the dreary length of narrow street. It was only -an instant he stood there, but it was long enough to enable him to make -up his mind. Suddenly he swung round on his heel to confront the still -astonished and resentful Melia. - -"Want more window space," he said. "Casement ought to be lower -and larger. Those flowers"--he pointed to a bowl of stocks on the -counter--"ought to be where people can look at 'em. But this isn't a -neighborhood for flowers. Offer vegetables and fruit at a low price, -but more shop room's needed so that folks can see 'em and so that you -can buy in bigger quantities. Who is your wholesaler?" He looked down -the list. "Coggins, eh? Coggins in the Market Place?" - -Melia nodded. Should she tell him that Coggins had that morning refused -to supply anything else until the last delivery of potatoes, bananas -and tomatoes had been paid for? Pride said no, but a force more -elemental than pride had hold of her now. - -"Owe him six pound, I see. What does he let you have in the way of -credit?" - -"He won't let me have anything else until I've paid his account," said -the reluctant Melia. "And he says it's all got to be cash for the -future." - -"When did he say that?" - -"He's just been up to see me." - -"Can you pay him?" - -"I promised him two pounds by Saturday." - -Josiah made no comment. Once more his eyes made the tour of the shop. -And then he said with the slow grunt that Melia knew so well: - -"Very creditable to your man to join up ... if he sticks it." - -The four last little words were almost sinister. And then in the -unceremonious way in which he had entered the shop the great man -walked out. The place was as distasteful to him as his presence in it -was distasteful to his eldest daughter. Yet for both, and in spite of -themselves, their meeting after long years had had an extraordinary -grim fascination. - - - - -XIX - - -At Christmas Private Hollis was granted forty-eight hours' leave. He -had been a member of the Blackhampton Battalion rather less than three -months, but this was a piece of luck for which he felt very grateful. - -Those three months had been a grueling time. His age was forty-one, -and, in order to comply with the arbitrary limit of thirty-eight -imposed by Field Marshal Viscount Partington in the first days of -strife, it had been necessary to falsify his age. Many another had done -likewise. Questions were not asked, and if a man had physical soundness -and the standards of measurement demanded by the noble Viscount there -seemed no particular reason why they should be. All the same the sudden -and severe change from a soft life found some weak places in Private -Hollis. - -How he stuck it he hardly knew. Many a time in those trying early weeks -he was sorely tempted to go sick with "a pain in his hair." But ever at -the back of his mind hovered the august shade of Troop Sergeant Major -William Hollis, the distinguished kinsman who had fought at Waterloo, -whose spurs and sword hung in the little back sitting room of Number -Five, Love Lane; and that old warrior simply would not countenance any -such proceeding. Therefore, Christmas week arrived without Private -Hollis having missed a single parade. Although not one of the bright -boys of the Battalion, he was not looked upon unfavorably, and on -Christmas Eve, about four o'clock, he returned to his home from the -neighboring town of Duckingfield. - -His home in the course of the sixteen years he had lived in it had -brought him precious little in the way of happiness. More than once -he had wondered if ever he would be man enough to break its sinister -thrall; more than once he had wished to end the ever-growing aversion -of man and wife by doing something violent. He had really grown to hate -the place. And yet after an absence of less than three months he was -returning to it with a thankfulness that was surprising. - -All the same he was not sure how Melia would receive him. When at last -he had made the great decision and had told her that he was going -to join up he had said she must either carry on the business in his -absence, or that it could be wound up and she must be content with the -separation allowance. Her answer had been a gibe. However, she proposed -to carry on in spite of the fact that W. Hollis Fruiterer as a means -of livelihood was likely to prove a stone about her neck. Still there -was a pretty strong vein of independence in her and if she could keep -afloat by her own exertions she meant to do so. - -During his three months' absence in camp their correspondence had been -meager; it had also been formal, not to say cold. The estrangement into -which they had drifted was so wide that even the step he had recently -taken could not bridge it. He had told her on a picture postcard with -a view of Duckingfield Parish Church that he was quite well and he -hoped that she was and that things were going on all right; and with a -view of the Market Place she replied that she was glad to know that he -was quite well as it left her at present. However, he was careful to -supplement this marital politeness with a few words every Saturday when -he sent her five shillings, all he could spare of his pay. The money -was always acknowledged briefly and coldly. No clew was given to her -feelings, or to her affairs, but when he told her he was coming home at -Christmas for two days she wrote to say that she would be pleased to -see him. - -As he stepped off the tram into the raw Blackhampton mirk which awaited -him at the end of Love Lane that formal phrase came rather oddly into -his mind. It gave him a sort of consolation to reflect that Melia was -one who said what she meant and meant what she said. But, whether or -not she would be pleased to see him at the present moment, he was -genuinely pleased to be seeing her. - -It was strange that it should be so. But Melia with all her grim -humors stood for freedom, a life of physical ease and cushioned -independence, and this was what a slack fibered man of one and forty -simply longed for after three months' "grueling." For a man past his -physical best, of slothful habits and civilian softness, the hard -training had not been child's play. Besides, his home meant something. -It always had meant something. That was why in the face of many -difficulties he had struggled in his spasmodic way to keep it together. -It had seemed to give him no pleasure, it had seemed to bring nothing -into his life, but somehow he had felt that if once he let go of it, as -far as he was concerned it would mean the end of all things. He would -simply fall to pieces. He would sink into the gutter and he would never -be able to rise again. - -Getting off the tram at the end of Love Lane he felt a sensation that -was almost pride to think that he had a place of his own to come home -to. After all it stood for sixteen years of life and struggle. And -at that moment he was particularly glad that he had sent that five -shillings a week regularly. Unless he had done so he would not now have -been able to go and face Melia. - -There was not much light in the little street, but it was not yet quite -dark. And the first sight of his home gave him a shock. The outside -of the shop had changed completely. Not only was the signboard and -the rest of the woodwork resplendent with new paint, but the window -was more than twice the size it had been. Moreover it was brilliantly -lighted; there was a fine display of apples, oranges, prunes, nuts, -even boxes of candied fruits and bonbons; and in the center of this -amazing picture was a large Christmas tree, artfully decorated, in a -pot covered with pink paper. - -William Hollis gave a gasp. And then a slow chill spread over him as -he realized the truth. Somebody had taken over the business, somebody -with capital, brains, business experience. But that being the case why -had Melia kept it all so dark? And why, if the business belonged to -somebody else, was his name still on the signboard? And why had it had -that new coat of paint? - -The sheer unexpectedness struck him internally, as if a bucket of water -had been dashed in his face. It was the worst set-back he had ever had -in his life. Not until that moment did he realize how much the shop -meant to him. He was bitterly angry that such a trick had been played. -It showed, as hardly anything else could have done, the depth of -Melia's venom; it showed to what a point she was prepared to carry her -resentment. - -It took him a minute to pull himself together, and then he walked into -the shop, not defiantly, not angrily, but with a sense of outrage. -There was nobody in it, but, as he cast round one indignant glance at -its new and guilty grandeur and then crossed heavily to the curtained -door, he held himself ready to meet the new proprietor. - -Beyond that mysterious portal the small living room was very spick and -span. Almost to his surprise he found Melia there. She matched the -room in appearance and at the moment he came in she was putting a log -of wood on the fire. Great Uncle William's sword and accouterments, -hanging from the wall, were decorated with holly, the pictures also and -a new grocer's almanac, and a small bunch of mistletoe was suspended -from the gas bracket in the middle of the ceiling. Everything was far -more cheerful and homelike than he ever remembered to have seen it. The -note of Christmas was there, which in itself meant welcome and good -cheer. - -He stood at the threshold of the curtained door, a neat soldierlike -figure with a chastened mustache, looking wonderfully trim and erect -in his uniform. She greeted him with a kind of half smile on her hard -sad face, but he didn't offer to kiss her. Not for long years had they -been on those terms; they were man and wife in hardly more than name. -And if in his absence, as there was reason to suspect, she had played -him a trick in revenge for her years of disappointment, he somehow felt -man enough at that moment to make an end of things altogether so far as -she was concerned. There were faults on both sides, no doubt. Perhaps -he hadn't quite played jannock; but if the business now belonged to -somebody else, he would simply walk straight out of the place and he -would never enter it again. - -She stood looking at him, as if she expected him to speak first. But he -didn't know what to say to her, with that doubt in his mind. Braced by -the stern discipline which he felt already had made him so much more a -man than he had ever been in his life, he had come home fully prepared -to make a fresh start. In spite of her embittered temper, he had not -lost quite all his affection for her. He was the kind of man who craves -for affection; absence and hardship had made him realize that. He had -looked forward to this homecoming, not merely as a relief from the -grind of military routine, which galled him at times so that he could -hardly bear it, but as an assertion of the manhood, of the husbandhood, -that had long been overdue. - -"Evenin', Melia," he said at last. - -"Evenin', Bill," as she spoke she dropped her eyes. - -"Happy Christmas to you." Somehow his voice sounded much deeper than -ever before. - -"Same to you. Bill." There was almost a softness in the fall of the -words that took his mind a long way back. - -"How goes it?" Her reception was thawing him a little in spite of -himself, but he hesitated about taking off his overcoat. If this fair -seeming was intended to mask a blow there was only one way to meet it. -There was a pause and then he took the plunge. "Business good?" He -held himself ready for the consequences. - -"Pretty fair." The tone told nothing. - -"Seems to be that," he said mordantly. "Had a coat o' paint, I see, -outside." He steeled himself again. "Had a new window put in an' all." - -She nodded. - -"How did you manage it?" Again the plunge. - -"Got a new landlord." - -Ha! they were coming to it now. He held himself tensely. "Old Whatmore -gone up the spout or something?" He remembered that some time back -there had been rumors of an impending bankruptcy on the part of -Whatmore the builder. - -"No, Whatmore's all right, but he's sold this shop and the whole row -with it." - -"Sold it, eh?" His excitement was so great that in spite of a cool -military air it was impossible to disguise it. All the same she waited -for him to ask the all-important question, but he was slow to do so. - -"Who's bought it?" he said at last. - -"Father's bought it." She did her best to speak quite casually, but she -didn't succeed. - - - - -XX - - -It was a knife. Yet it had not dealt exactly the kind of blow that he -had looked for. Even if the stab was softer, and of that at the moment -he was not quite sure, undoubtedly there was poison in the wound. In -a flash he saw that, somehow, it had strengthened her position and -weakened his. "You never told me he'd bought the business." The tone -was a confession of impotence. - -"He hasn't bought it." - -But, in face of the facts, the fine exterior and the large and -expensive stock this was a quibble and it was too palpable. "How did -you come by all that stuff in the window then?" - -"He's helping me to run it." - -"Helping you to run it!" His face was a picture of simple incredulity. - -"He paid up all we owed so that we could start fair. And he looks in -every Monday morning and tells me what to buy and where to buy it." - -"Does he pay for it?" - -"He does." There was something like pride in her voice. "He pays cash. -And I have to keep books--like I used to at the Duke of Wellington. Of -course he's only lending the money. I pay him back at the end of the -month when I balance the accounts." - -He was dumfounded by this precise statement. The hand of his mean, -narrow father-in-law was not recognizable. Somehow it seemed to alter -everything, but not at once was he able to turn his mind to the new and -unexpected situation. - -One thing was clear, however; it would be vain to resent Josiah's -interference. He had bought the property over their heads and he could -do what he liked with his own. Again Melia had been left in debt and -her husband knew well enough that unless some special providence had -intervened she might not have been able to carry on. Exactly why Josiah -had done as he had done neither his daughter nor his son-in-law could -fathom. They hated to receive these belated favors, yet as things were -there was no way of escaping them. - -A little reluctantly, yet with a feeling of intense relief, Bill took -off his good khaki overcoat and hung it on the nail provided for the -purpose on the curtained door. Melia toasted a pickelet at the clear -fire, buttered it richly, set it in a dish in the fender to keep warm; -then the kettle began to boil and she brewed the tea. - -As she did all this Bill noticed that there was a new air of alertness, -of competence about her; there was a light in her eyes, a decision -in her actions; she seemed to have more interest in life. And for -himself, as he sat at the table with its clean cloth and shining knives -and spoons and bright sugar bowl and she handed him his tea just as -he liked it, with one lump of sugar and not too much milk, he felt -something changing in him suddenly. In a way of speaking it was a kind -of rebirth. - -They didn't talk much. Melia was not a talking sort, nor was he except -when he had "had a drop," and he didn't get "drops" now. Besides, in -any case, the army seemed to have taken anything superfluous in the way -of talk out of him, as it did with most. But he was honestly glad to be -back in the peaceful four walls of his home. And it was not certain, -although Melia carefully refrained from hinting as much, that she was -not honestly glad to see him there. At all events she got his slippers -for him presently out of the boot cupboard; and then, unasked, she -made a spill of paper for him and laid it on the table by his elbow, a -sufficient intimation that he was expected to light his pipe. - - - - -XXI - - -They went to bed at a quarter to ten. For a time they talked and -then Bill fell asleep. And he slept as perhaps he had never slept in -that room in all the years of their married life. How good the old -four-poster seemed! It was a family heirloom in which he had been born -forty-one and a half years ago. Many a miserable, almost intolerable -night had he passed in it, but this Christmas Eve in the course of ten -minutes or so it was giving him one of the best sleeps he had ever -known. - -He woke in pitch darkness. Melia was breathing placidly and regularly -by his side. He didn't venture to move lest he should disturb her, and -he lay motionless but strangely comfortable; somehow it had never given -him such exquisite pleasure to lie in that old bed. - -Everything was very still; there was none of the intolerable fuss and -clatter of barrack life at all hours of the day and night. It was so -peaceful that he was just about to doze again when a distant clock -began to strike. It was the familiar clock of Saint George's Church, -along Mulcaster Road, a hundred yards or so away, and it told the hour -of seven. - -Two or three minutes later bells began to ring. It was Christmas -morning; they were proclaiming peace on earth and good will towards -men. How rum they sounded! Yet as he lay motionless in that bed, with -a slow succession of deeply harmonious breaths near by, he wished harm -to no man, not even to the Boche. Peace on earth and good will towards -men ... yes, and women! Then it was, just in that pulse of time, the -inspiration came to him to make Christmas morning memorable. - -The idea was very simple. He would steal out of bed without harm to -the slumbers of Melia, slip on his clothes in the dark, go downstairs, -light the kitchen fire, boil the kettle and presently bring her a cup -of tea. Never before had it occurred to him to pay her such a delicate -attention, but this morning he appeared to have a new mind and a new -heart; somehow, this morning he was seeing things with other eyes. - -Without disturbing her he was able to carry out his plan. But twenty -minutes later when he returned to the room with a cup of tea on a small -tray, Melia was awake and wondering what the time was. - -"Needn't get up yet," he said. "I've lit the fire. Happy Christmas to -you!" Then he handed her the tea. - -She seemed much surprised and just for a moment a little embarrassed. -But she drank the tea gratefully, yet wondering all the time what had -made him bring it to her. Then she announced her intention of getting -up, but he bade her lie quiet as it was Christmas morning and he was -well able to cook the breakfast. - -Quite a pretty passage of arms developed between them on the subject, -but in the end she prevailed in spite of his protests, and came -downstairs to deal in person with the vital matter of the bacon and -eggs. - -Somehow their half playful contention made a good beginning to the day. -And, take it altogether, it was quite the best they had ever known in -that ill-starred house. There had been times when week had followed -week of such hostility that they had hardly exchanged a look or a -word, times in fact of soul-destroying antipathy in which they almost -loathed the sight of one another. But there was nothing of that now. So -much had happened in three short months of separation that there were -a hundred things to talk about; both of them seemed to be living in a -different world. - -Their outlook on life had altered. Everything they did now had a -purpose, a meaning; it was not merely a question of getting through a -day that had neither reason nor rhyme. He was a soldier in a uniform, -he felt and looked a man in it, he stood for something. She was proud, -in a way she had never been proud, of having a husband in the army. It -was her duty and her privilege to keep his home together against his -return to civil life. - -Soon after breakfast they were visited by a second inspiration, but -this time it came to Melia. Suppose they attended the eleven o'clock -service at Saint George's Church? In their early married life they had -gone there together once or twice, but for many years now when Melia -went there on Sunday evenings she had invariably been alone. - -It may have been a desire to let the neighbors see how well his -khaki suited him, or life in the army had aroused an odd craving for -religion, or perhaps it was simply a wish to give pleasure to Melia; at -any rate Bill fell in with the idea. She had just time to arrange with -the lady next door, Mrs. Griggs by name, who had once been a cook in -good service, to give an eye to the turkey which was set cooking in the -oven, then to put on her best dress, not much of a best, it was true, -but to have gone to church in any other would have been unthinkable, -to put on her only decent hat and a sorely mended pair of black cotton -gloves, and to get there on the stroke of eleven, just as the bells -ceased and the choir were moving down to their stalls. Melia, at any -rate, had seldom enjoyed a service so much as this one, and her friend -the Reverend Mr. Bontine, who called to see her regularly once a -quarter, preached the finest sermon she had ever heard in the course of -long years of worship. - -For all that, it was not certain that Private Hollis was not bored -a little by the Reverend Mr. Bontine. He could not help a yawn in -the middle of the homily, but this may have been a concession to his -length of days as a civilian when "he didn't hold with persons," but -as Melia was too much absorbed to notice him, her sense of a manly and -fruitful discourse was not marred; and she was able to enjoy the same -happy oblivion of martial restiveness during the long prayer. Taking -one consideration with another Private Hollis may be said to have borne -extremely well an ordeal to which he had not submitted for many years; -and at the end of the service as he came out of church he grew alive to -the fact that in the sight of the congregation he was a person of far -more consequence than he had ever been in his life. - -More than one pair of eyes, once hostile or aloof, were upon him and -also upon Melia. People looked at him as if they would have been only -too proud to know him, substantial people like Wilmers, the insurance -agent, and Jenkinson the tailor; but the climax came as he stepped on -to the flags of Mulcaster Road and no less a man than Mr. Blades, the -druggist of Waterloo Square, took off his tall hat to Melia and said, -"Happy Christmas to you, Mr. Hollis." - -A year ago that was an incident that simply could not have happened. -But after all it was just one among many. He was an equal now with the -best of his neighbors, no matter what their substance and standing. -He was a man who counted. In the Blackhampton Battalion he was merely -Private Hollis, and not much of a private at that, as many loud voiced -and authoritative people made a point of telling him, but in civilian -circles apparently the outlook was different. - -When they turned into Love Lane they were met by further evidence of -the new status of W. Hollis Fruiterer. A flaming-haired youth in a -green baize apron had been knocking in vain on the shuttered door of -the shop. There was a parcel in his hand whose shape was familiar but -not on that account the less intriguing. - -"Mester Munt's compliments--sir." It was against the tradition of -the green baize apron to indulge the general public with promiscuous -"sirs," but, in handing ceremoniously the parcel to Private Hollis, -democracy in its purest form deferred a little to his martial aspect. - -Bill never felt less in need of his father-in-law's compliments than -at that moment, but the abrupt departure of George the Barman somehow -forced them upon him. All the same, as Private Hollis fitted the key -into the shop door he wondered what the Old Swine was up to now. - -Divested of its trappings on the sitting room table the parcel turned -out to be a handsome bottle of port wine. It would not have been human -for William Hollis to remain impervious to this largesse from the -famous cellar of the Duke of Wellington. And he knew by the screen of -cobwebs that it was out of the sacred corner bin. - -Bill was puzzled. What had come over the Old Pig! However.... With -the care of one who knew the worth of what he handled he put the royal -visitor in the cupboard, among plebeian bottles of stout and beer, and -then proceeded, chuckling rather grimly at certain thoughts, to help -Melia "set the dinner." - -It was a modest feast, but when in the course of time he sat down to -carve a roast turkey, a plump and proper young bird, flanked with -sausages and chestnuts, he informed Melia "that he wouldn't give a -thank you to dine with the King of England." She could not help smiling -at this disloyal utterance, which so ill became his uniform, as she -freely ladled out bread sauce, that purely Anglo-Saxon dainty, for -which his affection amounted almost to a passion, and helped him hugely -to potatoes and Brussels sprouts, so that it should be no fault of -hers if he was unable to plead provocation for his lapse. Plum pudding -followed. It was of the regulation Blackhampton pattern and Melia, no -mean cook when she gave her mind to it, had given her mind to this one, -so that it expressed her genius and the festive genius of her native -city in a hearty time of cheer. - -At the end of the meal, in spite of the fact that he was told rather -sternly "to set quiet," he insisted like a soldier and a sportsman -in helping to clear the table and in bearing a manly but subordinate -part in the washing up. And when the table had once more assumed the -impersonal red cloth of its hours of leisure, a couple of wine glasses -were produced, which, although polished twice a week, had not seen -active service for fifteen years, and then William drew the cork of the -cobwebbed bottle. - -"Not a drop for me, Bill." - -"You've got to have it, Mother." - -"No, Bill." - -"Yes. Fairation!" He gave one deep sniff at the glass he had measured -already with a care half reverent, half comic. "By Gum, it's prime." In -spite of protests he poured out another glass. "Fairation! Better drink -the health, eh, of the Old Un as it's Christmas Day." - -They honored the Old Un discreetly, in a modest sip of a wine which of -itself could not have denied him a claim to honor, and then with equal -modesty they drank to each other. - -Melia then had an inspiration, though not subject to them as a rule, -and due in this case, no doubt, to the juice of the grape. She procured -a plate full of walnuts from beyond the curtained door and they -entered on a further phase of discreet festivity. Bill insisted on -cracking three nuts and peeling them for her with his own delicately -accomplished fingers; and in the process he complimented her on the -Christmas fare and hoped piously that "the Chaps had had half as good." - -Mention of the Chaps moved him for the first time to reminiscence. As -was to be expected, the Blackhampton Battalion was one of the wonders -of the world. To begin with, its members were nearly all gentlemen. -All the nobs of the town under forty were tommies in the B.B. It was -very remarkable that it should be so, but there the fact was. And it -made men of his sort who liked to think a bit when they had the time -to spare feel regular democratic when they saw real toffs like Lawyer -Mossop's nephew, Marling the barrister, carting manure, or the son of -Sir Reuben Jope on his knees scrubbing the floor of the sergeants' mess. - -To mix in such company was a rare opportunity for a man who knew how -to use it. Melia had noted already that Bill had learned to express -himself better, that his conversation was at a higher level and that it -was full of new ideas. And these facts were never so palpable as when, -slowly and solemnly, a furtive light of humor in his blue eyes, he went -on to tell of his great Bloomer. - -It seemed that the cubicle next to his was occupied by a man named -Stanning, and he had got to be rather pals with him. Stanning was a -serious sort of cove with hair turning gray at the temples, but Private -Hollis had been attracted to him because he was one of the right sort -and because it was clear from his talk that he had thought and seen a -bit. He was a good kind of man to talk to, a sympathetic sort of card, -one of those who made you feel that you had things in common. - -Private Hollis gradually got so "thick" with Private Stanning that -they began to discuss things in an intellectual way, politics one -time, education another, so on and so on, until one evening they found -themselves talking of Art. As Melia knew, Private Hollis had a feeling -for Art. Many an hour had he spent in the City Museum, looking at its -collection of famous pictures; and he told Private Stanning of the -water color he had done of the Sharrow at Corfield Weir, inspired by -the great work on the same subject of his celebrated namesake Stanning, -R.A., which had been bought by the City Authorities for the fabulous -sum of a thousand guineas.... - -Over the walnuts and the wine Private Hollis began to chuckle hugely -as his great Bloomer came back to his mind in all its entrancing -details.... - -P.H. When I first see the price mentioned in the _Evening Star_ I says -to my Missus that's the way they chuck public money about. No picture -was never painted, not a Hangelo nor even a Lord Leighton that was ever -worth a thousand guineas. It's a fancy price. - -P.S. 'Tis in a way. A matter of sentiment, I suppose. - -P.H. Just what I said to the Missus. However, being a bit of a critic -I went to examine that picture for myself. And would you believe it, -Stanning--I'm not saying this to flatter you because the chap who done -it has the same name as yours--when I see that picture it fair knocked -me endways. You see I know every yard of Corfield Weir; in my time -I've had more than one good fish out of it; and as soon as I set eyes -on it, I said to myself, "Stanning R.A.'s a fisherman. He's chosen one -of them gray days that's good for barbel." I give you my word, he'd got -just the proper light coming out of the valley and stealing along the -Sharrow. Only an artist and a fisherman could have done it. - -P.S. Did you ever get bream there? - -P.H. I should say so. And I've had trout in my time. - -P.S. Trout? - -P.H. I'm talking of twenty years back. But to resume. I see at a glance -why the City Authorities had paid a thousand guineas for that picture. -It was not because Stanning, R.A., was a local man; it was pure merit -and I felt very glad it was so. - -P.S. Glad you thought so. - -P.H. You know, of course, that Stanning, R.A., is Blackhampton born? - -P.S. So I've heard. - -P.H. Born in that old house with the high-walled garden along Blue Bell -Hill that was pulled down to widen the road. - -P.S. That so? - -P.H. By the way, Stanning, is he a relation of yours? Of course, it's a -very common name in the City. - -P.S. Ye--es, I suppose he is in a way. - -P.H. That's something to be proud of. I'm not saying it to flatter you, -but at this minute I'd rather be Stanning, R.A., than any one else in -the wide world. - -Private Stanning laughed like a good one. - -P.H. Honest. I'm not talking out of the back of my neck. Stanning, -R.A., for me. You can have all my share of the Kitcheners and the -Joffres and the von Klucks. If I could be born again and born somebody -as mattered I'd like to be Stanning, R.A. Why, what the hell are you -grinning at? - -P.S. That's rheumatism. And if you'll only take it over, old son, you -can have all the remainder of my interest in Stanning, R.A., as a going -concern. - -P.H. What! do you mean to say----! - -"I told you, Mother," concluded Private Hollis in his port-wine-inspired -narrative, "that he was going gray at the temples. And there he set -like a himage at the foot of his shakedown all twisted with rheumatics, -groaning like one o'clock. And then he began to laugh. Queer world, -ain't it, what?" - -Melia, however, was one of those precise but rather immobile intellects -with which her tight little native island is full to overflowing. "You -don't mean to say, Bill, it was Stanning, R.A., himself?" - -"You bet your life it was." Private Hollis handed a peeled walnut, his -masterpiece so far, across an expanse of red tablecloth. "One of the -youngest R.A.'s on record, but a bit long in the tooth for the Army. -And we're pals, I tell you. One of these days I'm going to take him -barbel fishing at Gawsey's Pool. And he's given me a couple of lessons -in drawing already. If only I'd begun sooner I think I might have done -something." - -It was such an incredible story that Melia was fain to smile, but -Private William Hollis, inspired by port wine and enthusiasm, lingered -lovingly over his portrait of one who stood forth in his mind as the -greatest man the city of Blackhampton had yet produced. - - - - -XXII - - -Forty-eight hours is not a long time even as time is reckoned in a -world war, when the infinitely much can happen in a little space. Only -one-fourth of that term, a meager twelve hours, was permitted to Russia -by Germany in which to decide whether she should yield unconditionally -to an unheard of demand, on pain of provoking that conflict, the end -of which even some of the most penetrating minds in Blackhampton were -hardly able to predict with certainty. So much may happen in a little -while. Yet Private Hollis had just four times as long to re-establish -terms of conjugal felicity with his wife Melia. In that period he -kissed her twice. - -Whether that Christian practice would have continued as a regular thing -is difficult to say. This was a special occasion and these were not -demonstrative natures. Even in the heyday of their romance, when Love -not being quite strong enough to turn the door handle, peered once or -twice through the keyhole, yet without ever proving quite bold enough -to come in and make himself at home on that childless hearth, they were -too practical to acquire a permanent taste for that particular kind of -nonsense. - -Still, it hardly does to dogmatize in time of war. For as the -forty-eight hours went on, Melia seemed to grow more and more impressed -by Private Hollis, his martial bearing. Or it may have been the -uniform. Why is it that any kind of uniform has such a fatal attraction -for the ladies? - -In this case, at any rate, it seemed to make a remarkable difference. -There is no doubt it suited Bill. He looked so much more a man in it; -his chest was bigger, his back was straighter, his hair was shorter, -his chin was cleaner and the ragged mustache that used to be all over -his face was now refined to the extreme point of military elegance. -Really he came much nearer to the ideal of manhood there had been in -Melia's mind when she had first married him. Besides he was so much -surer of himself, his voice was deeper, his bearing more authoritative, -his talk was salted with infinitely more knowledge and wisdom. - -When the time came for Private Hollis to return to his regiment, the -boy who delivered the vegetables was left in charge of the shop, -while Melia in Sunday attire went to see her man off at the Central -Station. It was a compliment he had hardly looked for; all the same it -was appreciated. Somehow it made a difference. Other wives, mothers, -sisters, sweethearts were thick on the ground for a similar purpose, -but Private Hollis was of opinion that Melia with her serious face and -a figure you couldn't call stout and in a hat she had trimmed herself -with black and white wings was somehow able to hold her own with the -best of them. - -Moreover they parted at the carriage door as if they meant something -to each other now. It was a public place but he kissed her solemnly -and she said, "You'll write me a bit oftener, Bill, won't you?" in the -manner of the long ago. Then the train began to move, he waved a hand -and she waved hers; and each trundled back alone to a hard life with -its many duties, yet somehow, in a subtle way, the stronger and the -happier for that brief interregnum. - -Life had altered for them both in that short time. They saw each other -with new eyes or perhaps with old eyes reawakened. Sixteen years had -rubbed so much of the bloom off their romance that it was a miracle -almost that they were able to renew it. Yet the delicate process was -only just beginning. It was very odd, but the trite and difficult -business of existence was colored now continually with new thoughts -about each other. Neither had ever been a great hand at writing -letters, but Bill suddenly burgeoned forth into four closely written -pages weekly, and Melia, flattered but not to be outdone, burst out in -equal volume. - -His letters were really very interesting indeed and so were hers, -although of course in an entirely different way. She was kept abreast -of the military situation and the latest Service gossip, with spicy -yarns of the Toffs with whom he rubbed shoulders as an equal in the -B.B., not omitting the details of an ever-ripening friendship with -Private Stanning, who, however, was soon to acquire the rank of a full -corporal. Melia, of course, had not the advantage of this range of -information or contiguity to high affairs, nor did her letters sparkle -with soldierly flashes of wit and audacity, but week by week they gave -a conscientious account of the state of the business, of sales and -purchases, of current prices and money outstanding, all in the manner -of a careful bookkeeper, who, now she had been put on her mettle, was -able and willing to show that the root of the matter was in her. - -Bill, in consequence, had to own that the business in all its luckless -history had never been so flourishing. They didn't like admitting it, -but in their hearts they knew that this new prosperity was directly -due to "the damned interference" (military phrase) of the august -proprietor of the Duke of Wellington. Some men are hoo-doos, they are -born under the wrong set of planets; whatever they do or refrain from -doing turns out equally unwise. W. Hollis Fruiterer had always been one -of that kind. If he bought a barrel of Ribstone Pippins they went bad -before he could sell them, if he bought William pears they refused to -ripen, if he bought peas or runner beans he would have done better with -gooseberries or tomatoes; anything he stocked in profitable quantities -was bound to be left on his hands. But the lord of Strathfieldsaye was -another kind of man altogether. He simply couldn't do wrong when it -came to a question of barter. Up to a point a matter of judgment, no -doubt, but "judgment" does not altogether explain it. There is a subtle -something, over and beyond all mundane wisdom, that confers upon some -men the Midas touch. Everything they handle turns to gold. Josiah Munt -was notoriously one of that kind. - -Certainly from the day he touched the moribund business of W. Hollis -Fruiterer with his magic wand, it took a remarkable turn for the -better. Mr. Munt's own explanation of the phenomenon was that for the -first time in its history it was run on sound business lines. That had -something to do with the mystery of course; not only was Josiah a man -of method and foresight, he was also a man of capital. Money makes -money all the world over; and of that fact Josiah's ever-growing store -was a shining proof. - -Not until the middle of the summer did Bill get leave again. And then -there was a special reason for it. The Battalion had been ordered to -France. That was an epic Saturday evening in July when he came home -with full kit, brown as a bean, hard as a nail, in rare fighting trim. -Time was his own until the Thursday following, when he had to go to -Southampton to join the Chaps. - -Martial his bearing at Christmas, but it was nothing to what it was -now. There seemed to be a consciousness of power about him. For one -thing he was wearing the stripe of a lance corporal. Then, too, he was -a small man, and, as biologists know, small men always have a knack of -looking bigger than they are really. Physically speaking, great men are -generally on the small side, perhaps for the reason that they have more -vitality. Certainly Corporal Hollis, on the eve of his Odyssey, looked -more important than the neighbors ever thought possible. Poor Melia -began to wonder if she would be able to live up to him. - -Melia had never been to London and when Bill proposed that she should -accompany him to the metropolis and see him off from Waterloo the -suggestion came as quite a shock to a conservative nature. It meant -almost as much as a journey to the middle of Africa or the wilds of the -Caucasus to more traveled people. She was not easily fluttered; hers -was a mind of the slow-moving sort, but it was only after a night and a -day, fraught with grave questionings, that she finally consented to do -so. - -For one thing the shop would have to close for twenty-four hours, -at least; besides, and a more vital matter, even her best dress was -nothing like fashionable enough for London, the capital city of the -empire. Both these objections were promptly overruled. An obliging -neighbor--during the last few months the neighbors had proved -wonderfully obliging--consented to take charge of the shop in Melia's -absence; while at the psychological moment a paragraph appeared in the -_Evening Star_ saying that as the Best people were making a point of -wearing old clothes, any attempt at fashion in war time was bad taste. -This interesting fact left so little for further discussion that at a -quarter past nine on the morning of an ever-memorable Wednesday they -steamed out of Blackhampton Central Station, London bound. - -It was the beginning of a day such as Melia had never known. Looking -back upon it afterwards, and she was to look back upon it many times -in the days to follow, she felt it would have been impossible to -surpass it in sheer human interest. Even the journey to such a place as -London was thrilling to one whose travels by train had been confined -to half a dozen visits to Duckingfield, two to Matlock Bath and one to -Blackpool at the age of seven, nice places yet relatively unimportant -in comparison with the capital city of the British Empire. - -As the train did not leave for Southampton until well on in the evening -they had about eight hours in which to see the sights. And so much -happened in those eight hours that they made a landmark in their lives. -Indeed they began with so signal an event that the muse of history -peremptorily demands a past chapter in which to relate it. - - - - -XXIII - - -As soon as he arrived in the metropolis, Corporal Hollis with Melia -rather nervously gripping his arm stepped boldly into the Euston Road -to have a look at London. Almost the first thing he saw was a Canteen, -a token that at once reminded him that his rifle and kit were heavy, -that the wife and he had breakfasted rather early and rather hurriedly -and that nothing at that moment could hope to compare with a couple of -ham sandwiches and a cup of coffee. - -When the question was put to Melia she was inclined to think so too, -although far too bewildered by the mighty flux around her to give any -special thought to the matter. However very wisely, nay providentially, -as it turned out, after a moment's hesitation they decided to cross -the road and follow the promptings of nature. As they passed through -the inviting doors of the Canteen there was nothing to tell them that -anything particular was going to happen, yet perhaps they ought to -have remembered that this was London where the Particular is always -happening. - -They had not to fight their way through a crowd in order to get in -or anything of that sort. Nor were people walking on one another's -heads when they did get in. There was plenty of room for all. Full -privates were in the majority, but the non-commissioned ranks were also -represented, among whom was a Scotsman who had risen to be a sergeant. -But Corporal Hollis appeared to be the only warrior who had brought -his lawful wedded missus. It was a breach of the rules for one thing, -but there was any amount of room, and he managed to stow her away in a -quiet corner where they could have a table to themselves; and then he -moved across to a cubbyhole where a nice fatherly old sportsman with -side whiskers and brown spats relieved him of his rifle and kit and -gave him a card with a number in exchange. Then the gallant Corporal, a -composite of well-bred diffidence and martial mien, sauntered up to the -counter at the end of the room where a Real Smart Piece in a mob cap -and jumper gave him the smile interrogative. After a moment's survey of -the good things around him, he magnificently went the limit. The limit -was ninepence: to wit, two fried eggs, a rasher of bacon, bread and -butter and a cup of tea; in this case ditto repeato, once for himself, -once for Melia. - -The Corporal was by no means sure that the R.S.P. would stand for a -Twicer but she was one of the noble breed that prefers to use common -sense rather than raise obstacles. After one arch glance in the -direction of Melia she booked the order without demur. - -In the process of time the order was executed and they set to upon -this second breakfast with a breadth of style which almost raised it to -the dignity of luncheon. By the time they were through it was half-past -midday already, and they were discussing this fact and its bearing on -the general program when the great Event began to happen. - -It came about unobtrusively, in quite a casual way. Neither the -Corporal nor his lady paid much attention at first, but of a sudden -the nice fatherly old sportsman who had relieved the former of his -rifle and kit came out of his cubbyhole and a dashing trio of R.S.P.'s -emerged from a mysterious region at the back of beyond, proving -thereby that the counter had no monopoly of these luxuries, and the -Scotch sergeant moved a pace or two nearer the door, where the London -daylight seemed a bit better in quality, and then Bill's R.S.P., who -was absolutely the pick of the bunch, although such comparisons are -invariably as idle as they are to be deplored, was heard to use a word -that appeared to rhyme with Mother. - -Of course it could not have been Bother or any word like it. And -whatever it may have been, was not, at that moment, as far as the -Corporal and his lady were concerned, of the slightest importance. To -them it meant nothing. It meant less than nothing. For a startling -rumor was afoot.... - -The Queen was coming. - -William was a military man and fully determined to bear himself with -the coolness of one on parade, but his air of stoicism was but a -poor cloak to his feelings. As for Melia, if not exactly _flustered_, -she was excited more than a little. Still in this epic moment it was -a strengthening thought that she had had that yard and a half of new -ribbon put on her hat. - -That was an instance of subconscious but prophetic foresight. There was -nothing to tell her that the first lady in the land would nip across -from Buckingham Palace as soon as she heard that Bill was in London. -It was hardly to have been expected. In the first place it was truly -remarkable that she should so soon have heard of his arrival. And of -course it was by no means certain that this casual and informal visit -of hers was inspired by William. In fact if you came to think of it---- - -But there was really no time to weigh the pros and the cons of what -after all was a superfluous inquiry, for a commotion had arisen already -beyond the farther door. And even at this late moment, and in spite of -a general stiffening of the phalanx of R.S.P.'s and other details, and -the stately advance of the nice old warrior through the swing doors -into the Euston Road, even then Corporal Hollis, with true military -skepticism, was not sure that it was not an Oaks. - -However the question was soon settled. The commotion increased, the -throng of important looking people surprisingly grew, and in the -midst of it appeared a lady whom William and Melia would have known -anywhere. She was remarkably like her portraits except that the reality -surpassed them. There was a great deal of bowing and walking backwards -and the serried rows of R.S.P.'s made curtsys, and then all ranks stood -up and removed their hats. William and Melia stood up too, but only -William doffed his helmet. - -It was the Scotsman who claimed the first share of the august -visitor's notice. Her eye lit at once on this son of Caledonia, who -unconsciously, by sheer force of climate, began to tower above all -the rest, returning answer for question with inimitable coolness and -mastery. All the Saxons present were lost in envy, but they were fain -to acquiesce in the stern truth that nature has made it impossible to -keep back a Scotsman. In spite of top hats and swallow-tails it was -clear at a glance that he was the best man there. - -All the same the august visitor, helped by a simple and friendly lady -who accompanied her, contrived to distribute her favors impartially. -The son of Caledonia was so compelling that it would have been a -pleasure to talk to him for an hour, but duty and justice forbade, and -she found a smile and a word for humbler mortals. Among these, and last -of all in her tour of the large room were Bill and Melia. - -Corporal Hollis could not be expected to display the entrain of a -sergeant of the Black Watch. Besides he had yet to cross the water -whereas Caledonia's son was a hero of Mons and the Marne. But the -gallant corporal did his regiment no discredit in that great moment, -likewise his wife Melia, nor famed Blackhampton, his fair natal city. - - - - -XXIV - - -When about twenty minutes later William and Melia, haloed with history, -emerged from the precincts of the Canteen, and as they did so treading, -in a manner of speaking, the circumambient air, they were at once -confronted by the spectacle of Bus 49 next the adjacent curb. And Bus -49, according to its own account of the matter, was going amongst other -places to Piccadilly Circus. - -It was the first visit of the Corporal to the metropolis, but in his -mind was lurking the sure knowledge that Piccadilly Circus was the -exact and indubitable center thereof; and by an association of ideas, -he also seemed to remember that Piccadilly Circus was where the King -lived. Such being the case, the apparition at that moment of Bus 49 was -about as providential as anything could have been. - -It was the work of an instant to get aboard the gracious engine, so -swift the workings of the human mind in those dynamic moments when Fate -itself appears, as the sailors say, to stand by to go about. Moreover -the conductor had politely informed the Corporal that there was room -for two on the top. - -That was a golden journey, a kind of voyage to silken Samarcand and -cedared Lebanon, allowing of course for reduction according to scale. -So miraculously were their hearts attuned to venturing, that for one -rapt hour they drank deep of poetry and romance this glorious midday of -July. - -Bus 49 knew its business thoroughly, no bus better. Instead of turning -pretty sharp to the left into that complacent purlieu Portland Place, -as a bus of less experience might have done in order to follow the line -of flight of some mythical crow or other, it chose to go on and on, -past Madame Tussaud's, the Hotel Great Central, and then by a series -of minor but hardly less historic landmarks along Edgware Road to the -Marble Arch, thence via Park Lane to Hyde Park Corner. - -No doubt Bus 49 had ideas. The ordinary machine of commerce would have -got from Euston to Piccadilly Circus in two shakes of a duck's tail. -Not so this accomplished metropolitan, this gorgeous midday of July. -From Hyde Park Corner it proceeded to Victoria, thence via the Army -and Navy Stores to the Houses of Parliament, down Whitehall, past the -lions and Horatio, Viscount Nelson, past the Crédit Lyonnais, up the -Haymarket and so at last to Swan and Edgar's corner, where William and -Melia dismounted, thrilled as never before in all their lives. - -Piccadilly Circus, all the same, was a shade disappointing. It was not -quite so grand as they expected. The Criterion was just opposite, but -they looked in vain for the King's residence. There did not appear to -be a sign of that. Bill, however, noticed a policeman, and decided to -make inquiries. - -"I want Buckingham Palace, please," said the wearer of the King's -uniform. - -Constable X 20, an intelligent officer, told the gallant corporal to -walk along Piccadilly, to which famous thoroughfare he pointed with -professional majesty, to turn down the street of Saint James, to keep -right on until he got to the bottom and then to ask again. - -The constable was thanked for his lucidity and William and Melia -proceeded according to instructions. Along Piccadilly itself their -progress was a triumph. For, as Melia was quick to observe, all the -best people saluted Bill. Of course they could tell by the stripe on -his sleeve that he had been made a corporal, but such open, public -and official recognition of his merit was intensely gratifying. -Brass-hatted, beribboned, extraordinarily distinguished looking -warriors were as punctilious as could be in saluting Bill. Those -placed less highly, the rank and file, the common herd, paid him less -attention, but what were these in the scale of an infinitely larger -and nobler tribute? By the time William and Melia turned down Saint -James's street, had an observant visitor from Mars had the privilege of -walking behind them he would have been bound to conclude that the most -important man in the Empire was Corporal Hollis. - -He would not have been alone in that feeling for Melia was in a -position to share it with him. In fact by the time they had traversed -the historic thoroughfare and had reached Pall Mall the feeling -dominated her mind. On every hand the great ones of the earth mustered -thicker and thicker, but they kept on saluting Bill. Such a reception -was hardly to have been expected at the center of all things, yet in -those thrilling moments so proud was Melia of her man that it did not -seem very surprising after all. - -They crossed the road to the fine and ancient building with the clock -on it, and after making quite sure that the King didn't live there--a -pardonable delusion under which for a moment they had labored--they -proceeded past it, leaving Marlborough House on the port bow, and then -suddenly, as they came into the Mall, they caught a first glimpse of -that which they were out for to see. - -Converging slowly upon the King's residence Melia's courage began to -fail. - -It was a very warm day for one thing. And the sentry in his box, not to -mention his brethren marching up and down in front of the railings, may -have daunted her. Moreover, the Palace itself was an exceeding stately -pile. Besides, she had seen the Queen already. And Bill had passed the -time of day with her. Thus it was, gazing in silent awe through those -stern railings across that noble courtyard, Melia suddenly made up her -mind. - -"No, Bill, I don't think I'll see the King to-day--not in this dress." - -Corporal Hollis looked solemnly at the dress in question and then at -its wearer. "It's as _you_ like, you know, Mother," he said. - - - - -XXV - - -After that they walked about for a while, but the day was terribly -hot, and all too soon the process of seeing London on foot amid the -dust of a torrid July began to lose its charm for Melia. Besides, had -they not seen the best of London already? Piccadilly Circus, it was -true, was a washout; but they had seen Buckingham Palace, the Houses -of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and the outside of -Madame Tussaud's. Even in such a place as London what else was there to -compare with these glories? - -Such skepticism, however, was not according to the book, and the -Special Providence which had been detailed to look after them on this -entrancing day was soon able to bring that fact to their notice. For -when they had come to the quadriga at the southwestern extremity of -the Green Park, an equestrian piece which in the opinion of Corporal -Hollis would have done no discredit to the recognized masterpieces in -Blackhampton's famous gallery, and they had sincerely admired it and -the Corporal had placed his judgment on record, lo! beyond the arch, a -short stone's throw away, a certain Bus, 26 by name, the exact replica -of Bus 49, that immortal machine, was miraculously awaiting them. - -Bus 26 was going to the Zoölogical Gardens. And the highly efficient -Special Providence who had the arrangements in hand had contrived to -book two places on the top. That is to say its conductor informed the -Corporal with an indulgent smile that there was just room outside for -one and a little one. Whether the conductor would have extended the -same accommodating politeness to a mere civilian belongs to the region -of conjecture, but room was undoubtedly found for the Corporal's lady, -and by taking upon his knee a future Wellington--under the shadow of -whose effigy the pleasing incident occurred--in the person of a Boy -Scout in full panoply of war, the gallant Corporal contrived to make -room for himself also. - -At the Zoölogical Gardens they admired George, although rather glad to -find that he was only a distant relation. They pitied the polar bears, -they shuddered at the pythons, the parrots charmed them, the larger -carnivora impressed them deeply! and then the Corporal looked at his -watch, found it was a quarter to four and promptly ordered an ample -repast for two persons. - -The Genie in attendance made no bones at all about finding a small -private table for them, beneath the shade of a friendly deodar which -gave a touch of the Orient to the northwestern postal district and -there they sat for one sweet and memorable hour. Perhaps it was the -sweetest, most memorable hour that life so far had given them. She -admired this man of hers in a way she had long ceased expecting to -admire him; she was proud of him, she was grateful to him for the -great sacrifice he was making. And when the inner Corporal had been -comforted, a crude fellow who has to be humored even in moments of -feeling, and he had lit a Blackhampton Straight Cut, a famous sedative -known from Bond Street to Bagdad, he took the hand of the honest woman -opposite. - -Somehow he was glad to think that she belonged to him. The rather pale -face, the careworn eyes, the tired smile were all he had to nerve him -for the task ahead. These his only talisman in this grim hour. Yet, a -true knight, he asked no more. She was his, a homely thing but a good -and faithful one, who had once believed in him, who had come to believe -in him again. He was able to recall the sacrifices she had made for -him, for her faith in him, for her vision of him. As he looked across -at her he felt content to bear the gauge of this honest, doggedly -courageous woman who had helped to buckle on his armor. He must see -that he didn't disgrace her. - -There was not much to say to one another. At the best of times they -were seldom articulate. But she was able to tell him that she would be -very lonely without him. And she made him promise solemnly to do his -best to come back to her safely. - -"You mean it?" He knew she meant it, but he allowed himself the luxury -of embarrassing her. There was a subtle pleasure in it, even if it was -not quite fair. - -"You know I do, Bill. I'll be that lonely." - -Poor old girl! Of course she would be lonely. It made him sigh a little -when he thought how lonely she would be. He looked at her with a rather -queer softness in his eyes. Their marriage seemed to have brought them -no luck in anything. A time there had been, a time less than a year -ago, when he had felt very thankful that there had been no children to -hasten their steady, hopeless drift downhill. Now, however, it was a -different story. Poor Melia! Her hand responded to the pressure of his -fingers; and a large tear crept slowly into eyes that had known them -perhaps too seldom. - -"Never mind, Mother," he said softly. "I mean to come back." - -"Yes, Bill." The words had a curious intensity. "I mean you to. -I've set my mind on it. And if you really set your mind on a thing -happening----" - -He loved the spirit in her, even if he felt obliged to touch wood as a -concession to the manes of wisdom. It didn't do to boast in times like -these. - -Presently they noticed that the heat was less. Bill looked again at -his watch and then they realized that the hour of parting had drawn -much nearer. Reluctantly they got up and left the gardens, so putting -an end to an hour of life they would never forget. Then arm in arm -they walked to Euston which was not far off, where the Corporal -retrieved his kit from the Canteen and exchanged a valedictory smile -with a R.S.P., although he didn't feel like smiling. Thence by Tube -to Waterloo. It was their first experience of this medium of travel. -Even in Blackhampton, in so many ways the home of modernity, Tubes were -unknown; they seemed exclusively, rather bewilderingly, metropolitan. - -The attendant Genie had to be watchful indeed to prevent their going -all round London en route from Euston to Waterloo, but it was so -alive to its duties that they were only once baffled and then but -temporarily. Thus in the end they found themselves on a seat on -Platform Six with a full hour to wait for the Southampton train. - -She left him at the carriage door, a few minutes before he was due out -on his own grim journey, so that she might have plenty of time to catch -the train for the north. Minute instructions had to be given to enable -her to do this, for London is a bewildering maze to those not up to its -ways. But the Corporal's lady had a typical Blackhampton head, a thing -cool, resolute, hardy in the presence of any severe demand upon it; and -he was quite sure, and she was quite sure, that she would be able to -catch the 8:55 from Euston, no matter what traps were laid for her. - -It was a very simple good-by, but yet they were torn by it in a way -they had hardly expected. She with her worn face and tired eyes was all -there was to hold him to life--she and a terrible, impersonal sense -of duty which seemed to frighten him almost. As he watched the drab -figure disappear among the crowd on the long platform he couldn't help -wondering.... - -But it was no use wondering. He must set his teeth and get his head -down and try to stick it no matter what the dark fates had in store. - - - - -XXVI - - -The Corporal even at his best was not a great hand at writing letters. -And the series he wrote from France did not flatter his powers. Really -they told hardly anything and that which they did tell might have -been far more vividly rendered. Still in the eyes of Melia they were -precious; and they did something to soften months of loneliness and -toil. - -One other gleam there was in that sore time; a fitful one, no doubt, -and the ray it cast upon her life so dubious, that, all things -considered, it meant small comfort. Yet, perhaps, it may have been -wrong not to accept this doubtful boon more gratefully. - -One morning, about a fortnight after Bill's departure for France, her -father paid one of his periodical visits to Love Lane. Since W. Hollis -Fruiterer had taken a turn for the better he was content with a monthly -survey instead of a weekly one in order to assure himself that the -enterprise was shipshape and its affairs in order. - -Melia's reception of her father was invariably cool. She had a proud, -unyielding nature, and Josiah's tardy concession to the sternness of -the times even if it had thawed the ice a little had not really melted -it. Neither was quite at ease in the presence of the other; in both -was a smoldering resentment and the spirit of unforgiveness. - -The books, on inspection, proved to be in very fair order. They were -carefully and neatly kept and, in comparison with the state of affairs -before a business man came on the scene to direct them, they showed a -refreshing change for the better. The accounts had been made up to the -half year. And as a result of eight months trading under new conditions -there was a clear profit of forty-five pounds after a full allowance -for expenses. - -Josiah expressed himself well satisfied. In common with the great -majority of his race, material success was the shrine at which he -worshiped. Success in this case, moreover, was doubly gratifying; it -lent point to his own foresight and judgment and it exhibited a latent -capacity in his eldest daughter. Time alone would be able to disperse -the bitterness he cherished against her in his heart, but it did him -good to feel that she was not wholly a fool and that in some quite -important particulars she was a chip of the old block. - -He congratulated her solemnly in the manner of a Chairman of Directors -addressing a General Manager and hoped she would go on as she had -begun. Resentful as she still was, she was secretly flattered by the -compliment; and she hastened to offer to repay the sum he had advanced -for the satisfaction of the former creditors. - -"Let it stand over," he said, "until your position's a bit firmer." - -She insisted, but he was not to be shaken; and then, as was his way -when at a loss for an argument, he gave the contest of wills a new, -unexpected turn. "Doing anything particular Sunday afternoon?" - -No, she was not doing a thing particular. - -"Better come up home and have a cup of tea with us." Then in a tone -less impersonal: "Your mother would like to see you." - -The blood rushed over Melia's face. At first she feigned not to hear, -but that did not help her. Dignity had many demands to make, but the -brusque insistence of this father of hers seemed to cut away the ground -on which it stood. - -"Say what time and I'll send the car for you." - -The tone was so final that anything she could raise in the way of -protest seemed weakly ridiculous. But the car for _her_! She didn't -want the car and she mustered force enough to say so. - -"Might as well have it. Doing nothing Sunday. Save you a climb up the -hill this hot weather." - -Of one thing, however, she was quite sure. She didn't want the car. -This recent and remarkable expression of her father's wealth and -ever-growing social importance had taken the form of a superb motor -and a smart lady chauffeur in the neatest of green liveries which -already she had happened to see on two occasions in Waterloo Square. -No, such a vehicle was not for her; and she contrived to say so with -the bluntness demanded by the circumstances, yet tempered a little by a -certain regard for anything her father might be able to muster in the -way of feelings. - -"Might as well make use of it," he said. "Eating its head off Sunday -afternoon." - -But she remained quite firm. The car was not for her. - -"Well, it's there for you if you want it." His air was majestic. -"Better pay that money into the bank. And I shall tell your mother to -expect you Sunday tea time." - -It was left at that. He had gained both his points. The third was -subsidiary; it didn't matter. All the same it was like Josiah to raise -it as a cover for those that did. - - - - -XXVII - - -Melia was frankly annoyed with herself for not having put up a better -resistance. The sight of her father strutting down the street with -the honors of war upon him was a little too much for her. He had been -guilty of sixteen years of tyrannical cruelty and she was unable to -forgive. In those sixteen years she had suffered bitterly and her -stubborn nature had great powers of resentment. - -Who was he that he should walk down Love Lane not merely as if he owned -it--in sober truth he now owned half--but also the souls of the people -who lived there? She could not help resenting that invincible flare, -that overweening success, particularly when she compared it with the -fecklessness of the man she had so imprudently married. After all, she -was the first-born of this vain image and she knew his shortcomings -better than he knew them himself. He had had more than his share of -luck. No matter what the world might think of him, however fortune -might treat him, he was not worthy of the position he had come to -occupy. - -As soon as the ponderous broadcloth back had turned the corner of Love -Lane and was lost in that strong-moving stream, Mulcaster Road, she -made up her mind that she would not go up to tea on Sunday afternoon. -It was not that he really cared whether she went or not; had he done so -he would have asked her sooner. Maybe his conscience was pricking him -a bit, but he was not one to be much troubled in that way. In any case -let it hurt him--so much the better if it did. This was a matter in -which she would like him to be hurt as he had never been hurt before. - -Here again, however, her father had an unfair advantage. If she stayed -away on Sunday she might punish him a little--and even that was -doubtful--but she would certainly punish her mother far more. And she -had not the slightest wish to do that. She was sorry for her mother, -whose sins of omission sprang from weakness of character. Nature had -placed her in a very different category. She had fought this tyrant as -hard as it was in her to fight any one, but she was one of nature's -underlings whose lot was always to be trampled on. - -Alas, if Melia didn't turn up on Sunday it was her mother who would -suffer. And it was a matter in which she had suffered too much already. -Melia had no particular affection now remaining for her mother; she -even despised her for being so poor a creature, but at least her only -crime was weakness and it was hardly fair that she should endure more -than was necessary. Melia's was rather a masculine nature in some ways; -at any rate her father and she had one trait in common. They had a -sense of justice. Hence she was now on the horns of a dilemma. - -It was not until Sunday itself, after morning service at Saint -George's, that the decision was finally made. And then fortified by -Mr. Bontine, a clergyman for whom Melia had a regard, she decided much -against her inclination to go up to The Rise in the afternoon. It was -a reluctant decision, made in soreness of heart; the only satisfaction -to be got out of it would arise from the dubious process which the -reverend gentleman described as "conquest of self." - -She set out rather later than she meant to, in a decidedly heavy mood. -And it was not made lighter by the fact that the afternoon was sultry -with the promise of thunder, and that the long and tedious climb to -The Rise had to be made without the help of the tram on which she had -counted. Long before the trams from the Market Place had reached the -end of Love Lane they were full to overflowing, as she ought to have -known they would be on a fine Sunday afternoon in the middle of the -summer. In the process of painfully mounting the stuffy length of mean -streets to achieve the space and grandeur of The Rise she grew vexed -and hot. When at last she reached the famous eminence she was far -indeed from the frame of mind proper to the paying of a call in its -exclusive society. But it served her right. She should have stayed at -home, or at least have allowed the motor to be sent for her. - -As it was, it was nearly five o'clock when, limp and fagged, she -came at last in view of the many-windowed, much-gabled elevation of -Strathfieldsaye. In spite of herself the sight of it made her feel -nervous. It was the home of her father and mother, but its note -of grandeur gave her a cruel sense of her own inadequacy. At the -brilliantly painted gate she lingered a moment. Courage was called for -to walk up the broad gravel path as far as the porch with its fine oak -door studded with brass nails. - -At last, however, she went up and rang the bell. An extremely grand -parlor maid received her almost scornfully, and led her across -a slippery but superb entrance hall which was disconcertingly -magnificent. It was hard to grasp at that moment that such an interior -was the creation of her commonplace parents, harder still to believe -that this servant whose clothes and manners were superior to her own -was at their beck and call. - -However, she would go through the ordeal now she had got so far. But -this afternoon luck was heavily against her. The ordeal proved to be -more severe than even her gloomiest moments had foreshadowed. She was -ushered just as she was, in her shabby hat and much mended gloves, -straight into the drawing-room into the midst of company. And the -company was of the kind she would have given much to avoid. - -She had hoped that she might find her mother alone, or at the worst, -drinking tea with her father. Instead, the first person she saw was -the insufferable Gertrude Preston, that mass of airs and graces which -always enabled their wearer to stand out in Melia's mind as all that -a woman ought not to be. And as if the sight of Gertrude was not -sufficiently chilling and embarrassing, the second person she realized -as being present was her own stuck-up sister Ethel, invariably known -in the family as Mrs. Doctor Cockburn. She was accompanied, however, -by her two children, little peacocks of six and seven, spoiled fluffy -masses of pink ribbons and conceit. - -Last of all was her mother. She was always last in any assembly. -Somehow she never seemed to count. In the old days even in her own -home she could always be talked down, or put out of countenance or -elbowed to the wall; and now, after the flight of years, in these grand -surroundings, she had not altered in the least. She still had the eyes -of a rabbit and a fat hand that wobbled; and on Melia's entrance into -the room Gerty and Ethel at once took the lead of her in the way they -had always taken it. - -"Why, I do declare!" Gerty rose at once with cleverly simulated -surprise tempered by a certain stock brand of archness, kept always on -tap, and unfailingly effective in moments of sudden crisis or emotional -tension. "How are you, Amelia?" She would have liked to offer her -cheek, but the look in Amelia's eyes forbade her risking it. Therefore, -a hand had to suffice, an elegant hand, but a wary one which met with -scant ceremony. - -Ethel, Mrs. Doctor Cockburn, also rose, but not immediately. "Glad to -see you, Amelia." - -Melia knew it was a lie on Ethel's part, and had she had a little more -self-possession might have been moved to say so. - -The three daughters of Mr. Josiah Munt marked three stages in his -meteoric career. Melia, the eldest, was the child of the primitive -era. Compared with her sisters she was almost a savage. Between her -and Ethel had been a boy, Josiah, whose birth had nearly killed Maria -and who had died untimely in his babyhood. She was not allowed in -consequence to bear any more children for ten years, and Ethel was the -natural fruit of the interregnum. Ethel was generally allowed to be -the masterpiece of the family. Five years after her had come Sally who -perhaps in point of time and opportunity should have put out the light -even of Ethel; but in her case it seemed the blessed word progress had -moved a little too fast. Sally, as the world knew only too well, was -over-educated; from the uplands of high intellectual development Sally -had slipped over the precipice into a mental and moral abyss. - -From the social and even the physical standpoint Ethel was indubitably -the pick of Mr. Josiah Munt's three daughters. And Mrs. Doctor's rather -frigid reception of her eldest sister showed a nice perception of -the fact. Amelia had thrown her back to a prehistoric phase. She had -something of the air and manner of a charwoman. When she entered the -room, little shivers had crept down Ethel's sensitive spine. She could -hardly bear to look at her. - -Melia also felt very uncomfortable. She couldn't find a word to say -and the children stared at her. But she sat on the edge of a chair -that Gerty provided; tea, bread and butter and cake were given her; -she began to eat and drink mechanically, but still she felt strangely -hostile and unhappy. She resented the bright plumage, the amazing -prosperity of those among whom she had been born; above all, she -resented Ethel's superciliousness and Gerty's patronage. Ethel, of -course, had a right to be supercilious, and that fact was an added -barb. Her light shone. SHE was the only one who had shed any luster -on the family; her marriage with a doctor rising to eminence in the -town was a model of judicious ambition. Ethel "had done very well for -herself," and even the set of her hat, black tulle and white feathers -and the opulent lines of her spotted muslin dress, seemed to proclaim -it. Her bearing completed the picture. She had not been in the same -room with Amelia for many years, although she had passed her once or -twice in the street without speaking; and at the moment her judicious -mind was fully engaged with the problem as to whether Gwenneth and -Gwladys could or could not call her "Auntie." Finally, but not at -once, the answer was in the negative. - -Amelia, without a word to say for herself, and suffering acutely from -a social awkwardness which a lonely life in sordid circumstances had -made much worse, was altogether out of it. Ethel and Gerty had charm -and elegance; they spoke a different language; they might have belonged -to a different race. Amelia's natural ally should have been her mother. -They had much in common but that depressed and inefficient woman was -nearly as tongue-tied as her eldest daughter. Ethel and Gerty were -almost as far beyond the range of Maria as they were beyond the range -of Amelia; their expensive clothes and their correct talk of This and -That and These and Those, with clear, high-pitched intonation filled -her with dismay. Maria, even in her own drawing-room, was in such awe -of them that she could make no overtures to Amelia, although she simply -longed to point to the vacant sofa beside her and to say, "Come and sit -over here, my dear." - -The eldest daughter of the house bitterly regretted the folly that had -brought her among them again after so many years of outlawry. But in -a few minutes her father came in and then she got on better. He was -the real cause of her present sufferings, but his own freedom from -self-consciousness or the least tendency to pose amid surroundings -which seemed to crave that form of weakness was exactly what the -situation called for. - -"Hulloa, Melia," he said heartily. "Pleased to see you, gel." His lips -saluted her cheek with a loud smack. There was not a suspicion of false -shame about him. He was master in his own house at any rate. And when -he made up his mind to do a thing he did it thoroughly. "What do you -think on 'em?" He pointed to his grandchildren rather proudly. "That's -Gwennie. And that's Gladdie. This is your Auntie Melia." - -The ears of Mrs. Doctor Cockburn began to burn a little as the eyes of -Gwennie and Gladdie grew rounder and rounder. - -"Gladdie favors her ma. Don't you think so, eh? And they've both got a -look of Grandma--what?" - -"I see a look of you, you know, Josiah," said Auntie Gerty with an air -of immense discretion. - -"Um. Maybe. Have they had any strawberries, Grandma?" - -Their mother thought they ought not to have strawberries, but their -grandfather was convinced that a few would not hurt them and chose half -a dozen himself from a blue dish on the tea table and presented them -personally. - -"There, Gwenneth, what do you say?" Mrs. Doctor Cockburn's own mouth -was full of prunes and prisms. "Thank you what--thank you, Grandpa." - -"That's a good little gel." There was a geniality, an indulgence, in -the tone of Josiah that he had never thought of extending to his own -children in their nursery days. "And I tell you what, Ma--if they get a -pain under their pinnies they must blame their old grand-dad." - -Altogether, a pleasant episode, and to everybody, Gwenneth and Gwladys -included, a welcome diversion. - -"Have some more tea, Melia." Her father took her cup from her in spite -of the protest her tongue was unable to utter and handed it to the -inefficient lady in charge of the teapot. "And you must have a few -strawberries. Fresh picked out of the garden. Ethel, touch that bell." - -Mrs. Doctor, with an air of resolute fineladyism, pressed the electric -button at her elbow. The grand parlor maid entered with a smile of -imperfectly concealed cynicism. - -"Alice, more cream!" - -Melia wondered how even her father was able to address Alice in that -way; but his coolness ministered to the reluctant respect he was -arousing in her by his manly attitude to his own grandeur. - -The cream appeared. Gwenneth and Gwladys were forbidden to have -any--their lives so far had been a series of negations and -inhibitions--but Melia had some, although she didn't want it, but the -will of her father was greater than her powers of resistance. And then -he said to her, "When you've had your tea, I'll show you the greenus." - -"Conservatory, Josiah," said Aunt Gerty with an arch preen of features -and a show of plumage. "Much too big for a mere greenhouse." - -"Greenus is more homelike, Gert. What do you say, Mother?" He laughed -almost gayly at Maria. The eldest daughter was amazed at the change -that seemed to be coming over her father. In the dismal days of -drudgery and gloomy terrorism at the public house in Waterloo Square -which now seemed so far away in the past, there was not a trace of this -large and rich geniality. Prosperity, power, worldly success must have -mellowed her father as well as enlarged him. He seemed so much bigger -now, so much riper, he seemed to care more for others. - -Ethel and Gertrude were quite put into the shade by the force and the -heartiness of Josiah, but Mrs. Doctor was not one lightly to play -second fiddle to any member of her own family. "I hear," she said, -pitching her voice upon an almost perilous note of fashion--there -was even a suspicion of a drawl which brought an involuntary curl to -Melia's lip--"that young Nixey, the architect, has been recommended for -the M.C." - -"Has he so?" Josiah's eye lighted up over his suspended teacup. "I've -always said there was something in that young Nixey. And I'm not often -mistaken. He designed that row of cottages I built down Bush Lane." - -"A row of cottages in Bush Lane, have you, Josiah?" said Aunt Gerty -with an air of statesmanlike interest. "You seem to be what they call -going into bricks and mortar." - -"You bet I am--for some time now. And bricks and mortar are not going -to get less in value if this war keeps on, take it from me." - -"I suppose not," said Mrs. Doctor Cockburn, a judge of values. - -"I've one regret." It was not like Josiah to harbor regrets of any -kind, and Aunt Gerty visibly adjusted her mind to hear something -memorable. "That young Nixey's as smart as paint. I nearly let him -have the contract for this house. In some ways he might have suited us -better." - -"But this house is splendid," said Gerty with flagrant optimism. She -knew in her heart that the house was too splendid. - -"Young Nixey's idea was something neater, more in the Mossop style. I -didn't see at the time, so I got Rawlins to do it to my own design. Of -course, what I didn't like about Nixey was that he would have it that -he knew better than I did, and I'm not sure----" Josiah hovered on the -brink of a very remarkable admission. - -"I don't agree, Josiah. This house is almost perfect." The specious -Gertrude was amazed that he of all men should be so near a confession -that he might have been wrong. Dark influences were at work in him -evidently. - -"I agree with you, Father." Mrs. Doctor had nothing of Gerty's finesse. -"The Gables is so refined, a house for a gentleman." - -"Don't know about that," Josiah frowned. "Never heard of a house being -refined. Comes to that, this place is good enough for me, any time." If -he went so far as to own that he might have been wrong it was clearly -the duty of others to hasten to contradict him. "But The Gables is more -compact. More comfort somehow, and less show." - -"Stands in less ground, must have cost less," said Gerty softly. -"Compared to Strathfieldsaye, The Gables to my mind is rather -niggardly." - -"That is so, Gert." He nodded approvingly. She was always there with -the right word. "All the same I believe in that young Nixey. Started, -you know, at the Council School. Won a scholarship at the University. -Why, I remember his mother when she used to come to the Duke of -Wellington and sew for Maria. Done everything for himself. And now he's -a commissioned officer in the B.B. Give honor where honor's due, I say." - -Gerty and Ethel agreed, perhaps a little reluctantly. Maria expressed -a tacit approval. And then Melia made the discovery that her mind had -wandered as far as France; and for a moment or so the world's pressure -upon her felt a little less stifling. - -"Wonderful, how that young man's got on!" There was reverence in the -tone of Gerty whose religion was "getting on." - -"It is." Josiah was emphatic. "You can't hold some people back. I give -him another ten years to be the first architect in this town ... if he -comes through This." - -"It's a big 'if.'" Before the words were out of Gerty's mouth she -remembered Amelia's husband and wished them unsaid. She had not had the -courage to mention William Hollis with poor Amelia so rigidly on the -defensive, but she had hoped that some one would introduce the subject -so that a tribute might be paid him. But no one had done so, and now -that Josiah was there the time seemed to have gone by. His views in -regard to Amelia's husband were far too definite to be challenged -lightly. - -Interest in young Nixey, the architect, began to wane and then suddenly -Ethel startled them all by the statement that she had just had a letter -from Sally. - -Josiah's geniality promptly received a coating of ice. His mouth closed -like a trap. Sally had not been forgiven by her father and those who -knew him best had the least hope that she would be. Her conduct had -struck him in a very tender place, and Gerty could not help thinking -that it was most imprudent of Ethel to mention Sally in his presence -in any circumstances. - -Ethel, however, had long ceased to fear her father. For one thing, in -the eyes of the world her position was too secure. Besides, she was -obtuse. Where angels, etc., Mrs. Doctor could always be trusted to -walk with a certain measure of assurance, mainly because she didn't -see things and feel things in the way that most people did. For that -reason she was not at all disconcerted by the silence that followed -her announcement. And she supplemented it with another which compelled -Gerty, the adroit, to steal a veiled glance at the sphinx-like face of -her brother-in-law. - -"She writes from Serbia, giving a long and wonderful account of her -doings with the Red Cross. I think I have her letter with me." Ethel -opened a green morocco bag that was on the sofa beside her. "Yes ... -here it is ... a long account. Care to read it, Father?" She offered -the letter unconcernedly to Josiah. - -He shook his head somberly. "I'll not read it now." - -"Let me leave it with you. Well worth reading. But I'd like to have it -back." - -"No, take it with you, gel." The words were sharp. "Haven't much time -for reading anything these days. Happen I'll lose it or something." It -was lame and obvious, but Josiah had been taken too much by surprise -to do anything better. Gerty was annoyed with Ethel. She had no right -to be so tactless. None knew so well as Ethel the state of the case -in regard to Sally. At the same time Gerty's respect for Josiah which -amounted to genuine regard was a little wounded. He ought to have been -big enough to have read the letter. - -Ethel had contrived to banish the ease and the sunshine from the -proceedings. The light of genial humor in the eyes of her father -yielded to the truculence of that earlier epoch so familiar to Amelia. -It was a great pity that it should be so; and after a tense moment the -gallant Gerty did her best to pour oil on the vexed waters. "The other -day in the _Tribune_ they were praising you finely, Josiah." - -"Was they?" The King's English was not his strong point in moments of -tension. But in any moment, as Gerty knew, he had his share of the -legitimate vanity of the rising publicist. "What did they say?" - -"The _Tribune_ said you deserved well, not only of your fellow -townsmen, but of the country at large for the excellent work you had -done in the last nine months for the national cause. They said your -work on the Recruiting and Munitions Committees had been most valuable." - -Josiah was visibly mollified by this piping. "Very decent of the -_Tribune_." - -"You'll make an excellent mayor, Josiah. Your turn next year, isn't it?" - -Josiah nodded. The light came again into his eyes. "There's no saying -what sort of a mayor I'll make. It's a stiff job when you come to -tackle it. Big responsibility in times like these." - -"You are not the man to shirk responsibility." - -Josiah allowed that he was not, but the office of mayor in a place like -Blackhampton in times like these was no sinecure for a man with a sense -of civic duty. Once more he clouded. From what he heard things were -looking pretty bad. If England was going to win the war she should have -to find a better set of brains. - -"But surely the Allies are quite as clever as the Germans?" - -"They may be, but they haven't shown it so far. We are a scratch lot of -amateurs against a team of trained professionals. The raw material is -just as good, if not better, but it takes time to lick it in to shape. -And we've got to learn to use it." His gloom deepened. "Still we shall -never give in to the Hun ... not in a hundred years." - -Ethel concurred in this robust sentiment. And then again she obtusely -referred to Sally's letter. It was such a wonderful letter that her -father really ought to read it. He was clearly annoyed by her tactless -persistence. In order to cloak his feelings he called upon Melia in the -old peremptory way to come and look at his tomatoes. - -As they rose for that purpose, Mrs. Doctor Cockburn rose also. She must -really be going; it was the cook's evening out. Gwenneth and Gwladys -were bidden to say good-by to Grandpa. They did so shyly but rather -prettily. - -"Now let me see you shake hands with your Auntie Melia," said Josiah. - -Gwenneth and Gwladys accomplished this task less successfully. They -were half terrified by this shabby, gloomy, silent woman who had not a -word to say. - - - - -XXVIII - - -Weeks went by and Melia settled down to a hard and lonely winter in -Love Lane. She missed Bill sadly now he was no longer there. Absence -had conferred all sorts of virtues upon him. She quite forgot that for -many years and up till very recently she could hardly bear the sight of -him about the place. Their relations as man and wife had entered upon a -new and very remarkable phase. - -About once a fortnight or so life was made a bit lighter for her -by a penciled scrawl from somewhere in France. Bill's letters told -surprisingly little, yet he maintained a kind of grim cheeriness and -seemed more concerned for the life she might be leading than for -anything that was happening to himself. He was very grateful for the -small comforts she sent him from time to time, he was much interested -in the continued prosperity of the business, and he mentioned with -evident pleasure that her mother had sent him a pair of socks and a -comforter she had knitted herself, also a "nice letter." - -From his mother-in-law, whom Bill had always suspected of being a -good sort at heart, "if the Old Un would give her a chance," he had -an account of Melia's visit to Strathfieldsaye. Her mother said what -pleasure it would give her father if she would go there every Sunday. -The statement was incredible on the face of it; Bill frankly didn't -know what to think, but there it was. No doubt the old girl meant -kindly. Perhaps it was her idea of bucking him up. - -In his letters to Melia he made no comment on the life he was leading, -but in one he told her that they had moved up into the Line; in another -that "the Boche had got it in the neck"; in another that "he had got -the rheumatics so that he could hardly move," but that he meant to -carry on as long as possible, adding, "We are very short of men." - -Somehow the letters of that dark winter made her more proud than ever -of this man of hers. There was a determined note of quiet cheerfulness -that she had never known in him before. Instead of the eternal -grumbling that had done so much to embitter her, there was a tone of -whimsical humor which at a time made her laugh, although as a general -rule few people found it harder than she did to laugh at anything. She -had little imagination, still less of the penetration of mind that goes -with it, but there was one phrase he used that was hard to forget. -In one letter he was tempted to complain that the Boche had taken to -raiding them in the middle of the night, but he added a postscript, -"It's no use growsing here." - -Somehow that phrase stuck in her mind. When she rose before daylight -in the bitter mornings of midwinter to light the kitchen fire and -prepare a meal she would have to eat alone, she would remember those -words which he of all men had used, he who was a born growser if ever -there was one. "It's no use growsing here." She tried to take in their -meaning, but the task was not easy. He wrote so cheerfully that he -could hardly mean what he said. And it was his nearest approach to -complaint, he whose life in peace time had been one long complaint. Now -and again she read in the _Tribune_ of things that made her shiver. -Sometimes in the winter darkness she awoke with these things in her -mind. Bill's letters, however, gave no details. If he spoke of "a -scrap," he did so casually, without embroidery, yet she remembered that -once when he had cut his thumb, not very badly, he fainted at the sight -of blood. - -Such letters were a puzzle; they told so little. She couldn't make them -out. Reading between the lines, he seemed to be enjoying life more -than he had ever done, he seemed to realize the humor of it more. It -was very strange that it should be so, especially on the part of one -who had always taken things so hard. In one letter he said that spring -was coming and that the look of the sky made him think of the crocuses -along Sharrow Lane, and then added as a brief postscript, "Stanning's -gone." - -Some weeks later he wrote from the Base to say that "he had had a whiff -of gas, nothing to speak of," but that he was out of the Line for a -bit. And then after a cheerful letter or two in the meantime, he wrote -a month later to say that he had got leave for ten days and that he was -coming home. - -It was the middle of June when he turned up in Love Lane late one -evening, without notice, laden like a beast of burden, looking very -brown and well but terribly worn and shabby. So much had he changed -in appearance that Melia felt it would have been easy to pass him in -the street without recognizing him. He was thin and gray, even his -features, and particularly his eyes, seemed to have altered. The tone -of his voice was different; he spoke in a different way; the words and -phrases he used were not those of the William Hollis she had always -known. - -He was glad to be back in his home, if only for a few days, and the -sight of him with his heavy pack and his gas mask and his helmet laid -on the new linoleum in the little sitting room behind the shop gave her -a deeper pleasure than anything life had offered her so far. Strange -as he was, new almost to the point of being somebody else, the mere -sight of him thrilled her. She was thrilled to the verge of happiness. -It was something beyond any previous emotion. Long ago she had given -up believing that ever again he would appeal to her in the way of that -brief time which had been once and had passed so soon. - -He took off his heavy boots and lit his pipe and seemed childishly -glad to be home again. But he didn't talk much. He sighed luxuriously -and smiled at her in his odd new way, yet he was interested in the -excellent supper she gave him presently and in the account she -furnished of the business which was still on an ascending curve of -prosperity. The old wound, still unhealed, would not allow her to -praise her father, but there was more than one instance to offer of -that tardy repentance; and it was hard to repress a note of pride when -she announced that he was now Mayor of Blackhampton and by all accounts -a good one. - -She tried to get her husband to speak of France, but some instinct -soon made it clear to her that he wanted to forget it. He could not be -induced to speak of his experiences, made light of his "whiff of gas," -but confessed it was hell all the time; he also said that the German -was not a clean fighter. As he sat opposite to her, eating his supper, -his reticence made it impossible for her to realize what he had been -through. He did not seem to realize it himself, except that in a subtle -way he was altogether changed. - -He was eight days at home and they spent a lot of the time together. -They had a new kind of intimacy; the world of men and affairs had -altered for them both. Everything came to them at a fresh angle. They -were dwellers in another atmosphere. The most commonplace actions meant -much more; events once of comparatively large importance meant much -less. She half suggested that they should go up on Sunday afternoon -to Strathfieldsaye, but the idea evidently did not appeal to him and -she did not press it. Still she threw out the hint, because it was an -opportunity to let bygones be bygones and she was sure that he would -meet with a good reception. A sense of justice impelled her to be -grateful to her father, much as she disliked him; in his domineering -way he had tried to make amends; all the same she was not sorry that -Bill was determined to hold himself aloof. It was not exactly that he -bore a grudge against her father; at the point he had reached men did -not bear grudges, but he had some decided views on the matter and they -gained in power by not being expressed. - -On the afternoon of Wednesday, which was early closing day in -Blackhampton, Bill insisted on taking Melia to the Art Gallery. It was -in the historic low-roofed building in New Square--which dated from -the Romans--known as the old Moot Hall. It was now the home of one -of the finest collections of pictures in the country. Among ancient -masterpieces and some modern ones were several characteristic examples -of his friend, Stanning, R.A., whom he had carried dying into a dugout -not four months ago. - -Corporal Hollis had it from Sergeant Stanning's own lips that the -best picture he had ever painted was hung in the middle room, and -that it was not the Sharrow at Corfield Weir, which the Corporal -himself admired so much, but the smaller, less ambitious piece called, -"The Leaves of the Tree"--a picture of the woods up at Dibley in the -sunlight of October, stripped by the winds of autumn, with the bent -figure in the foreground of a very old man raking the dead leaves -together. - -They had no difficulty in finding it. "As the leaves of the trees are -the lives of men." That legend on the gilt frame seemed to them both at -that moment strangely, terribly prophetic. Bill did not tell Melia as -they stood in front of the picture that he had risked his own life in -a vain attempt to save the man who had painted it, nor did he tell her -that the blood of the artist had dyed the sleeves of his tunic. - -The large room was empty and they sat down solemnly on the settee in -front of this canvas, looking at it in silence, yet as they did so -holding the hand of each other like a pair of children. Once before had -they sat there, in the early days of their marriage, when he had talked -to her of those ambitions that were never to materialize. And now, -again, with the spirit of peace upon him and stirred by old memories, -he sighed to himself and spoke for a moment or two of what might have -been. One of these days he had hoped to do something. He had always -intended to do something but the time had slipped away. - -They were still sitting there looking at the picture when two people -came into the room. One was a commonplace elderly woman, the other -a young man in khaki. Although they were totally unlike in the -superficialities of outward bearing it was easy to tell that they were -mother and son. His trained movements and upright carriage, his poise -and alertness, were not able to conceal an odd resemblance to the -wholly different person at his side. - -William and Melia were concealed by the high-backed, wide-armed settee -on which they sat; and as these two people came up the room and took up -a position behind it, they did not seem to realize that they could be -overheard. - -"I want you, mother," said the young man in an eager voice, "to look -at what to my mind is the picture of this collection. Stand here and -you'll get it just right." - -The Corporal and his lady on the high-backed settee offered a silent -prayer that the young man had as much wisdom and taste as the owner -of such a clear, confident voice ought to have. "As the leaves of the -tree are the lives of men." The Corporal breathed more freely; the -young man's voice had not belied him. "Homer's words." He reeled off -pat a large-sounding foreign language. "I want you to catch the ghost -of the sun glancing through these wind-torn branches. You'll get the -light if you stand just here. Wonderful composition ... wonderful -vision ... wonderful harmony ... wonderful everything. The big artists -feel with their eyes." It was charming to hear the voice in its -enthusiasm. "They look behind the curtain of appearances as you might -say. The life of man is but the shadow of a shadow ... you remember -that bit of Lucretius I read you last night? Look at the figure in -the foreground gathering the leaves. Modern critics say symbolism -is not art, but it depends on how it's done, doesn't it? The eyes of -the mind ... imagination ... and that's the only key we have to the -Riddle of the Sphinx." He ran on and on, laughing like a child. "Look -at his color. And how spacious!--imagination there!--the harmony, the -drawing! A marvelous draughtsman. If he'd lived he'd have been a second -Torrington, although you hear people say that Torrington couldn't -draw." He laughed like a schoolboy and then his voice fell. "I like to -think that Jim Stanning was one of us, that he was born among us, and -it's good to think that our old one-horse Art Committee has had the -luck to buy his magnum opus without knowing it. They paid twice as much -for Corfield Weir in the other room, which is not in the same class. -However ... posterity...." - -Prattling on and on the young man came round the corner of the settee, -followed by the old lady. - -And then his flow of words failed suddenly as he caught a glimpse of -William and Melia, whose presence he had been far from suspecting. His -little start of guilt betrayed a feeling that he had made rather an ass -of himself, for he said half shamefacedly, "Come on, my dear, let's go -and look at the Weir. We'll come back here later." The Corporal and his -lady could only catch a glimpse of him as he led his mother abruptly -into the next room; but Melia saw he was an officer with two pips on -his sleeve and that his tunic was adorned with a tiny strip of white -and purple ribbon with a star on it. In answer to her questions the -Corporal was able to inform her that the young man was a Captain in the -B.B. and that his decorations was the M.C. with Bar. - -"And he looks so young!" said Melia. - -"A very good soldier," said the Corporal with a professional air. - -"Who is he, Bill? I seem to remember his mother." - -"It's young Nixey, the architect." - -Of course! But his uniform had altered him. He looked so handsome. And -that was Emma Nixey--Emma Price that was. How proud she must be to have -a boy like that! - -"He's a good soldier." The deep voice of the Corporal broke in upon -Melia's thoughts. "A good soldier--that young feller." - -"Bill, you remember Emma Price that used to live at the bottom of -Piper's Hill?" There was a note of envy in the tone of Melia. - -"I remember old Price, the cobbler." - -"Emma was his eldest girl--no, not the eldest. Polly who married Ford, -the ironmonger, was the eldest. Emma was the second. Married Harry -Nixey, whose mother kept the all-sorts shop in Curwood Street. A -drunken fellow, but very clever at his trade. Bolted with another woman -when this lad Harold was twelve months old. Emma never saw nor heard of -him again. Went to Australia, people said at the time. But I'll say -this for Emma, she was always a good plucked one." - -There was a moment of silence and then the Corporal demanded weightily, -"Has she any others?" - -"He's the only one. But brought up very respectable ... she's managed -to give him a rare good education. How she did it nobody knows. -Tremendous worker, was Emma. But that boy does her credit, I must say." - -"He does that." The Corporal stared hard at the picture in front of -him. "Nothing like education." He sighed softly. "If only I'd had a bit -of education I sometimes think I might have done something myself." - - - - -XXIX - - -On the afternoon of the day before the Corporal returned to France he -went with Melia by bus to Sharrow Bridge and they walked thence to -Corfield Weir. Many hours had he spent with rod and tackle in this -hallowed spot. Those were the only hours in his drab life that he would -have desired to live over again. Many a good fish had he played in the -bend of the river below the famous Corfield Glade, much commemorated by -the local poets in whom the town and county were exceptionally rich. In -particular there was the legend of the fair Mary Corfield who in the -days of Queen Bess had cast herself for love of an honest yeoman into -the deep waters of the Sharrow. From Bill's favorite tree, where from -boyhood he had spun so many dreams that had come to naught, could be -seen the high chimneys of the Old Hall, the home of the ill-fated Mary, -about whose precincts her ghost still walked and was occasionally seen. - -The day was perfect, a rare golden opulence of sky and earth with a -sheen of beauty on wood and field and flowing water. They came to -the little gnarled clump of alders, his old-time friends, whom the -swift-flowing Sharrow was always threatening to devour, and lay side -by side in the shade, on the dry grass, listening to the great rats -plopping into the cool water. - -Both were very silent at first; it was as if nature spoke to them in a -new way. It was as if their eyes were bathed in a magical light. All -the things around them were clearer in outline, brighter, sharper, more -visible. Their ears, too, were attuned to a higher intensity. The swirl -of the water, the rustle of leaves, the cry of the birds, the little -voice of the wind, were more intimate, more harmonious, more audibly -full of meaning. The world itself had never seemed so richly amazing, -so gorgeously inexhaustible as at that moment. - -At last the Corporal broke a very long silence. "Mother, it's something -to have lived." - -Melia did not answer at once, but presently she sighed a little and -said, "I wonder, Bill." - -He plucked a spear of grass. "It's a rum thing to say, but if it hadn't -been for this war I don't suppose I ever should have lived, really." - -She didn't understand him, and her large round eyes, a little like -those of a cow, told him so. - -"I've always been thinking too much about it, you see." His voice was -curiously gentle. "All my life, as you might say, I've always been -telling myself what a wonderful day it was going to be to-morrow. But -to-morrow never comes, you see. And you keep on thinking, thinking, -until you suddenly find that to-morrow was yesterday. That's how it was -with me. And if I hadn't had the guts to join up just when I did, my -belief is I should never have lived at all. Understand me?" - -She shook a placid head at him, not understanding him in the least. But -this was the mood in which he had first captured her, in which he had -first impressed her with his intellectual quality, for which, as a raw -girl, who knew nothing about anything, she had had a sort of reverence. -But as she had come to see, it was this very power of mind, which she -had told herself was not shared by other, more common men, that had -been his undoing, that had brought them both to the verge of ruin. It -was fine and all that, but it didn't mean anything. It was just a kink -in the machine which prevented it from working properly. - -The tears sprang to her eyes as she listened to him, and her youth and -his came back to her, but she turned her face to the river so that he -could not see it. Still it was not all pain to hear him talking. It was -the old, old way that she had loved once and had since despised, but -now lying there in the shade of those old trees, with the music of the -Weir and the glory of the earth and the sky all about her, she loved -again. Strange that it should be so! But the sad voice at her elbow -blended marvelously with all the things she could see and hear. And -what it said was quite true. By some miracle both were living now more -fully than ever before. - -"I'll always have one regret, Mother." His voice had grown as deep as -the water itself. But it broke off in the middle suddenly. - -A feeling came upon her that she ought to say something. "Don't let us -have no regrets, Bill." Those were the words she wanted to utter. "I'll -not have none." But they were not for her to speak. At that moment -she was not able to say anything. She waited tensely for him to go on -talking. - -In the odd way he had, which was a part of his peculiar faculty, he -seemed to feel what was passing in her mind. "I'm not thinking of what -might have been. That's no good. The time's gone by. I'm thinking of my -friend, Stanning, R.A. You see we'd arranged that if we ever had the -chance we'd come here for a day's fishing. We had a bit one day when -we were up in the Line--in that canal--the Yser, I think they call it. -And he said, 'Auntie, I may be able to tell you a thing or two about -drawing, but when it comes to this game the boot's on the other leg.' -'Yes,' I said, 'that's because I've put my heart into it while you've -put your heart into something better.' 'Well, I don't know about that,' -he said--he was the broadest-minded, the best read, the wisest chap I -ever talked to--'nothing is but thinking makes it so, as Hamlet, that -old crackpot used to say. Whatever you happen to be doing, Auntie, the -only thing that matters is whether your heart is in it.' 'Yes,' I said, -'I daresay you are right there. But it's one thing to catch barbel. -It's another to paint Corfield Weir.'" - -To Melia this seemed like philosophy. And she had no head for -philosophy, although inclined to be a little proud that Bill should be -able to swim in these deep waters in such distinguished company. But -one thing aroused her curiosity. Why was this man of hers called Auntie? - -Bill laughed good humoredly when, a little scandalized, she came to put -the question. "They all call me that in C company." His frankness was -remarkable. - -"But why?" - -"They say I was born an old woman." - -Melia thought it was like their impertinence and did not hesitate to -say so. - -"Ah, you don't know the Chaps," Bill laughed heartily. "The Chaps is a -rum crowd. They call you anything." - -"But to your face?" Melia couldn't help resenting it and spoke with -dignity. "You oughtn't to let them, Bill." - -"Why not?" - -"You're a Corporal." - -"Well, Stanning was a sergeant, you see. And nobody means nothing by -it. It's a way they have in the army of being friendly and pleasant. -And I daresay it suits me. My fingers is all thumbs as you might say. -Fishing and a bit o' gardening are the only things I'm good for, -although Stanning told me that in time, if I stuck it, I might be able -to draw. And that was a lot for him to say." - -Melia thought that it must be. - -"I often wonder,"--the eyes of the Corporal were fixed on the -Sharrow--"what made Stanning take up with a chap like me. There was -lots of 'em in C company with far more education, but he told me once -that I was the same kind of fool that he was and I said that I wished -it was so. I suppose he meant that I liked to talk about this old river -and the lights on it and the look of it at different times of the year. -He knew every yard of the Sharrow between here and Dibley and so did I, -but he could see things that I couldn't, and he could remember 'em and -he'd a wonderful eye for nature. He wasn't the least bit of a soldier, -no more than myself, but he made a first-rate job of it--he was the -kind of chap who would make a first-rate job of anything. Our C.O. -wanted him to apply for a commission, but he said he couldn't face the -responsibility. That was queer, wasn't it, in a man of that sort?--for -he was a man, I give you my word." The Corporal plucked another spear -of grass and began to chew it pensively. "He had a cottage up at -Dibley, that largish white one on the left, standing back from the -road, you know the one I mean--the one with the iron gate, and that -funny sort of a tower at the end of the garden." - -Melia said she did know, although she had half forgotten it, but she -hadn't been to Dibley since they were first married, and that was a -long time ago. - -"It belonged to Torrington the artist. He lived and died there. -Stanning said he was the greatest painter of landscape that ever lived, -but nobody knew it while he was alive and he died in poverty. Not that -it mattered. Stanning said that money doesn't matter to an artist, but -he said that many an artist had been ruined by making it too easy." - -This dictum of Stanning's sounded odd in the ear of Melia. No one could -be ruined by making money too easily, but she had not the heart to -contradict his disciple who was still chewing grass and looking up at -the sky. - -"See what I mean, Mother?" - -"Makes them take to drink and gambling, I suppose." After all, there -was that solution. - -"Stanning meant that if an artist gets money too easy it'll take the -edge off his work. He was always afraid that was what was going to -happen to himself. In 1913 he made six thousand pounds--think on it, -Mother, six thousand pounds in one year painting pictures! He said -that was the writing on the wall for him; he said it was as much as -Torrington made in all his life and he lived beyond eighty. 'And I'm -not fit to tie Torrington's shoelace, Auntie.' I laughed at that, of -course, but he was not a man to want butter. 'I mean it, my dear.' If -he liked you he had a way of calling you 'my dear,' like one girl does -to another. 'Torrington was the only man that ever lived who could -handle sunlight. That's the test for a painter. If I touch sunlight I -burn holes in the canvas.' Of course, I laughed, but Stanning was a -very humble chap when he talked about his own paintings." - -Suddenly the Corporal realized that he had let his tongue run away -with him, as it did sometimes. Melia was getting drowsy. He got up, -therefore, and stretched his legs on the soft turf and then he said, -"Let us go across to the Corfield Arms and see if we can get a cup of -tea. And then if you feel up to it we'll walk through the Glade as far -as Dibley and look at the house that Torrington lived in." - - - - -XXX - - -They went across to the Corfield Arms. It was an old, romantic looking -inn, spoiled a little in these later days by contiguity to a great -hive of commerce. But there were occasions, even now, when it retained -something of the halo of ancient peace it was wont to bear; and the -afternoon being Friday was an off day for visitors. When Bill and Melia -passed through the bowling green at the back of the house to the arbor -where last they had sat in the days of their courtship they found it -empty. - -In the garden by the arbor an old man was plucking raspberries. He -turned out to be the landlord, and to the secret gratification of Melia -he addressed Bill as "sir," out of deference to his uniform. Upon -receiving the Corporal's commands he called loudly for "Polly." - -In two shakes of a duck's tail Polly appeared: a blithe beauty in a -clean lilac print dress, a little shrunk in the wash, which showed -to advantage the lovely lines of her shape and the slender stem of a -brown but classic neck in which a nest of red-gold hair hung loose. The -Corporal ordered a royal repast for two persons; a pot of tea, boiled -eggs, bread and butter, cake, and a little of the honey for which the -house used to be famous. - -While they waited for the tea, the Corporal gave the old chap a hand -with the raspberries. "Happen you remember Torrington, the artist who -lived up at Dibley?" - -"Aye." The old man remembered him without difficulty. "Knew him well -when I was young. Soft Jack we used to call him; an old man and just -a bit touched like as I remember him. Long beard he had and blue -eyes--wonderful blue eyes had that old feller. Out painting in the open -all day long, in all weathers. I used to stand for hours and watch him. -He'd paint a bit, and then he'd paint it out, and then he'd paint it in -again. 'Course he was clever, you know, in a manner of speaking. Nobody -thought much of him then, but in these days, if you'll believe me, I've -known people come specially from London to ask about him." - -The Corporal turned to Melia with an air of discreet triumph. But Melia -was so drowsy that she said she would go into the arbor until the tea -came. She was encouraged to do so while the landlord went on, "I was -a bit of a favorite with old Soft Jack. Many's the boy I've lammoxed -for throwing stones at his easel. Of course, at the time I speak of, -the old chap had got a bit tottery; he lived to be tight on ninety. -But as I say nobody thought much of him, yet if you'll believe me it's -only last year, or the year before last--I'm getting on myself--that a -college gentleman came down here to write a book about him. A very nice -civil-spoken gentleman; but fancy writing a book about old Soft Jack!" - -"Ever buy any of his pictures?" - -"My father did. Gave as much as five pounds for one, more out of -charity than anything, I've heard him say, but if you'll believe me -when the old boy was dead my father sold that picture for twenty -pounds, and they tell me--I've not seen it myself--that that picture is -now in our Art Gallery, and the college gentleman I'm speaking of--I -forget his name--says folk come from all parts of the world to look at -it." - -"Happen there was the sun in it," said the Corporal. - -"Very like. Most of his pictures had the sun in 'em, what I remember. -You know they do say that that old chap could look at the sun with the -naked eye. And such an eye as it was--like an eagle's, even when he was -old and past it." - -"Got any of his pictures now?" - -"Can't say I have. My father had one or two odd bits, but he sold 'em -or gave 'em away. No good having a picture, I've heard the dad say, -unless you've a frame to put it in. And frames was dear in those days. -If you'll believe me, the frame often cost more than the picture." - -"Pity you haven't one or two by you now. They do say all Torrington's -pictures are worth a sight o' money." - -"Shouldn't wonder. Money's more plentiful now than it used to be. My -father was 'mazed when he got twenty pounds for the one he sold, and -he heard afterwards it fetched as high as fifty. But I'm speaking, of -course, of when the old man was dead. That reminds me, the old chap, -being very hard up, painted our signboard. It wants a fresh coat now, -but it's wonderful how it's lasted." - -The Corporal, in his devotion to art, ceased to pick raspberries, and -accompanied by his host, went to look at the expression of Soft Jack's -genius upon the ancient front of the Corfield Arms. As they crossed the -bowling green they came upon the smiling and gracious Polly, who bore a -tea tray heavily laden. - -"Lady's in the summerhouse." The gallant Corporal returned smile for -smile. "Tell her to pour out the tea and I'll be along in a jiffy." - -The signboard, after all, was not much to look at. The arms of the -Corfields consisted in the main of a rampant unicorn, reft by the -weather of a good deal of paint. But even here, by some miracle, -the sunlight was shining on the noble horns of the fabulous animal, -but whether the phenomenon was due to purely natural causes on this -glorious afternoon of July, or whether the great artist was personally -responsible for it was more than Corporal Hollis was able to say. It -needed the trained eye of a Stanning, R.A., or of a young Nixey, the -architect, to determine the point, but in the right-hand corner of the -signboard beyond a doubt, as the landlord was able to indicate with an -air of pride, was Soft Jack's monogram, J. T. - -Somehow the monogram saved the signboard itself from being a washout -as a work of art, and the Corporal felt grateful for it as he returned -to the arbor to drink tea with his wife, while the landlord, less of a -critic, went back to the raspberries in his prolific garden. - - - - -XXXI - - -After an excellent tea William and Melia went up the road to Dibley. It -was two miles on and they took a path of classic beauty, fringed by a -grove of elms in which the rooks were cawing, along a carpet of green -bracken through which the lovely river wound. Dibley stood high, at the -crest of a great clump of woodland, with the Sharrow silver-breasted -below surging through a glorious valley. - -It was getting on for twenty years since Bill had last handed Melia -over the stile at the top of the glade, famous in song and story, and -they had debouched arm in arm past the vicarage, along the bridle -path, and had threaded their way through a nest of thatched cottages -to the village green. The sun had now waned a little and the air had -cooled on these shaded heights, the tea had been refreshing, and, for -a few golden moments, inexpressibly sweet yet tragically fleeting, the -courage of youth came back to them. Just beyond the parson's gate the -Corporal stopped suddenly, took Melia in his arms and kissed her. - -It was a sloppy thing to do, unworthy of old married people, but the -guilt of the act was upon them, though neither knew exactly why it -should have come about. They crossed the paddock and went on through -the romantic village, so sweetly familiar in its changelessness. It -seemed but yesterday since they walked through it last. - -"I've wondered sometimes," whispered the Corporal at the edge of the -green, "what made you marry me?" - -"I believed in you, Bill; I always believed in you." It was a great -answer, yet somehow it was unexpected. In his heart he knew he was not -worthy of it and that seemed to make it greater still. - -Facing the duck pond, at the far end of the green, was the white -cottage in which Torrington the artist had lived and died. It had -changed a bit since his time. Things had been added by his more opulent -successor. There were an iron gate, a considerable garden and a tall -tower with a glass roof which nobly commanded the steep wooded slopes -of the valley of the Sharrow. - -With the new eyes a great painter had given him Bill saw at once that -this was a rare pitch for an artist. It was one of the most beautiful -spots in the land. The immense city of Blackhampton with its thousands -of chimneys and its roaring factories might have been a hundred miles -off instead of a bare four miles down the valley. There was not a -glimpse or a sound of it here in this peace-haunted woodland, in this -enchantment of stream and hill, bathed in a pomp of golden cloud and -magic beauty. - -The simple cottage had been modernized and amplified, but with -rare tact and cunning, so that it was still "all of a piece," much -as Torrington had left. But the house itself was empty, with green -shutters across the windows. On the gate was a padlock, the reason for -which was given in a printed bill stuck on a board that had been raised -beside it. - - By order of the executors of the late James Stanning, Esqre., A.R.A., - to be sold by auction the valuable and historical property known as - Torrington Cottage Dibley, together with the following furniture and - effects. - -A list followed of the furniture and effects, but across the face of -the bill was pasted a diagonal red-lettered slip, - - This property has been sold by private treaty. - -The Corporal tried to open the gate but found the padlock unyielding, -and then he gazed at the notice wistfully. - -"Wonder who's bought it," he said. - -Melia wondered too. - -"Hope it's an artist," said the Corporal. - -"So do I. But I expect it isn't. Artists is scarce." - -"You're right, there." The Corporal sighed heavily. "Artists is -scarce." There was a strange look in his eyes and he turned them -suddenly upon the duck pond so that Melia shouldn't notice it. - -Across the road, beside the duck pond, was a wooden bench, sacred to -the village elders, none of whom, however, was in occupation at this -moment. The Corporal pointed to it. "Let's go an' set there a minute," -he said in a husky voice. As if she had been a child he took her by the -hand and led her to it. - -They sat down and in a moment or two it was as if the spirit of the -place had descended upon them. The magic hush of evening crept into -their blood like a subtle wine. A strange soft rapture seemed to -pervade the air. The Unseen spoke to them as never before. - -The Corporal took off his hat and wiped the dew from his forehead. And -then with a queer tightening of the throat and breast he scanned earth -and sky. They seemed marvelous indeed. He felt them speak to him, to -the infinite, submerged senses whose presence he had hardly suspected. -Never had he experienced such awe as now in the presence of this peace -that passed all understanding. - -In a little while the silence of the Corporal began to trouble Melia. A -cold hand crept into his. "What is it, love?" she said softly. - -Not daring to look at her, he kept his eyes fixed on the sky. - -"What is it, love--tell me?" He hardly knew the voice for hers; not -until that moment had he heard her use it; but it had the power to ease -just a little the intolerable pressure of his thoughts. - -"I was wondering," he said slowly, at last, "whether it would not have -been better never to have been born." - -She shivered, not at his words, but at the gray look on his face. - -"Stanning said the night before he went he thought that taking it -altogether it would have been better if there had never been a human -race at all. I'll never forget that last talk with him, not if I live -to be a hundred--which I shall not." The Corporal had begun to think -his thoughts aloud. "You see, he knew then that his number was up. I -can see him settin' there, Mother, just as you are now, lookin' at that -old sunset, his back to that old canal--the Yser, I think they call -it--an' stinkin' it was, fair cruel. 'Auntie,' he said suddenlike, -'tell me what brought you into this?' I said, 'No, boy'--just like a -child he was as he set there--'it's for me to ask _you_ that question. -You're a big gun, you know, a shining light; I'm a never-was-er.' That -seemed to make him laugh; he was one that could always raise a laugh, -even when he felt most solemn. 'I come of a long stock of high-nosed -old Methodists,' he said. 'Always made a thing they call Conscience -their watchword and fetish. There was a Stanning went to the stake for -it in the time of Bloody Mary; there was another helped Oliver Cromwell -to cut the head off King Charles. A poisonous, uncomfortable crowd, and -all my life they've seemed to come back and worry me just at the times -I should have been most pleased to do without them. People talk about -free will--but there isn't such a thing, my dear.' - -"I allowed that there wasn't in my case. Then I told him about Troop -Sergeant Major Hollis, who fought at Waterloo. 'Yes,' he said, 'yours -is an old name in the city, older than mine, I dare say.' 'Well,' I -said, 'according to Bazeley's Annals there was a William Hollis who -was mayor of the borough in the year of the Spanish Armada.' 'Good for -you, Auntie,' he said, chaffing-like; he was a rare one for chaff. 'One -up to you. Then,' he said, 'there was William Hollis who was "some" -poet in the eighteenth century, who wrote the famous romantic poem, -"The Love Lorn Lady of Corfield." Still,' he said, 'these things don't -explain you dragging your old bones to rot out here.' 'They do in a -way, though,' I said. 'When we come up against a big thing it isn't us -that really matters, it's what's at the back of us. I used to set in -my old garden on The Rise,' I said, 'in those early days when those -dirty dogs opposite was just beginning to wipe their feet on Europe. -And I said to myself, Bill Hollis, how would _you_ like it if they -broke through the fence into your garden, trampling your young seeds -and goose-stepping all over your roses and your tulips. And I tell -you, Jim--we got to be very familiar those last few weeks--it used to -make me fair mad to read in the _Tribune_ what they'd done ... Louvain -one time ... Termondy another ... et cetera.... And I kept on settin' -there day after day, in my old garden on the top o' The Rise, saying to -myself, Hollis, it's no use, me lad, you're going into this. You've -failed in every bloody thing so far, and if you take on this you'll -not be man enough to stick it out. War isn't thinking, it's doing, and -you've never been a doer, you've not. Then I read in the _Tribune_ one -morning that they'd got Antwerp and I said to myself, I can't stand -this no more. And I went right away to the Duke of Wellington and had -a liquor up--but only a mild one, you know--and then round the corner -to the Recruiting Office and gave my age as thirty-six and here I am -admiring this bleeding sunset with the eye of an artist.' - -"That made him laugh some more. 'Well, Auntie,' he said, 'I'm very -proud to have known you and I hope you'll do me the honor of accepting -this as a keepsake.' He unbuttoned his greatcoat and took this old -watch out of his tunic." - -The Corporal paused an instant in his story to follow the example of -his friend. He produced an old-fashioned gold hunting watch, with J. T. -in monogram at the back, and handed it to Melia. - -"It's a rare good one, Mother," the Corporal's voice was very low, -"solid gold." He opened the lid and showed her the inscription: - - To John Torrington, Esquire, from a Humble Admirer of His - Genius, 1859. - -"Stanning said, 'I had the luck to buy that in a pawnshop in -Blackhampton long after he was dead, and if I had had a boy of my own -I should like him to have kept it as an heirloom, but as I have not -I want you to take it, Auntie, because I know you'll appreciate it.' -Somehow, I could tell from the way he spoke that he was done. I hadn't -the heart to refuse it, although I hadn't a boy or a girl of my own -neither." A huskiness in the Corporal's throat made it hard to go on -for a moment. "'I'm only thirty-nine,' he said, 'and all the best is in -me. I don't fancy having my light put out like this in a wet bog, but -it's got to come, my dear. I hate to think that sometime to-morrow I -shall be as if I had never been.' 'Not you,' I said. 'You're sickening -for the fever.' But I couldn't move him. He'd got the hoo-doo. 'No use -talking about it,' he said, 'but you and I'll never have that day's -fishing in Corfield Weir. I should like you to have seen my cottage -up at Dibley. It's got the ghost of that old boy.' He put his hand -on the watch, Mother, just like this. 'If there is a heaven for dead -painters, and I doubt it, I'd like to sit in John Torrington's corner -on his right hand. You see, I've learned all sorts of things, living -in his house. I was getting to know the lights on the Sharrow and the -feel of the clouds--in all the great Torringtons the clouds feel like -velvet--and he was going to show me the way to handle sunlight--I've -already been twice across to New York to see "An Afternoon in July in -the Valley of the Sharrow," the most wonderful thing of its kind in -existence. You get the view from my cottage--his cottage--at Dibley. -I should like you to have seen it, Auntie. And then I should like to -have taken you across to New York to show you what old John made of -it. Fancy having to go all the way to New York to look at it. So like -us to be caught on the hop, in the things that really matter.' I give -you my word, Mother, he raised a laugh even then, but of a sudden his -voice went all queer-like. 'However,' he said, 'there's a Mind in this -that knows more than we do.' Then the lad began to shiver just as if -he had the ague. And the next day, about the same time, or mayhap the -perishin' old sun had gone a bit more west, I had to go out across No -Man's Land to bring him in ... what there was left of him." - -The Corporal ended his strange story as if after all it didn't much -matter. He was quite impersonal, but Melia sat beside him shivering -at the look in his eyes. Never before had the veil been torn aside in -this way. She was a dull soul, fettered heavily by her limitations, -but sitting there in the growing dusk it came on her almost with -horror that in all those long years it was the first peep she had had -behind the scenes of his mind. She hadn't realized the kind of man he -was. More than once she had cast it in his face that he was an idle -shack-about. Somehow, there had been nothing to give her the key to -him; and now, miraculously as it seemed, it had come to her, it was too -late. - -She had the key to him now. But the sands were running out in fate's -hour glass. She couldn't bear to look at his thin gray face as the -light fell on it, nor at his strange eyes fixed on the padlocked gate -of the cottage opposite. Of a sudden the watch slipped from her shaking -hands, and fell lightly in a little brake of thistles by the end of the -bench on which they sat. - -Cautiously and carefully he picked it out. "Take care on it, Mother," -he said softly as he put it again in her hands. "I wish we'd a little -boy as could have had it. However, we've not. There was once a George -Hollis who was an artist; I showed you that picture of his, "The Glade -above Corfield," the other day; Jim said it was a good one. John -Torrington one time was his pupil. Don't suppose he was any relation -but it's the same name." - -Melia put the watch in the pretty leather bag he had insisted on buying -for her. And then she said with a horrible clutch in her throat: "Bill, -promise! You'll come back ... won't you?" - -His eyes didn't move. - -"I'll be that lonely." - -He sighed softly like a child who is very tired. "I'll do what I can, -Mother." The voice was gentleness itself. "I can't do more." - -She didn't know ... she didn't realize ... what ... she ... was.... - - - - -XXXII - - -They sat hand in hand on the bench by the duck pond until the shadows -began to lengthen along the valley of the Sharrow. For quite a long -time they didn't speak, but at last their reverie was broken by the -sight of a dusty figure with a sack on its back shambling along the -road towards them. It was the village postman. - -"Who's bought the cottage opposite?" the Corporal asked. - -"Zur?" said the postman. - -The Corporal repeated his question. - -"They do sey, zur," said the postman in slow, impressive Doric, "the -Mayor o' Blackhampton has bought it." - -"What--Alderman Munt?" The voice of the Corporal was full of dismay. - -"The Mayor o' Blackhampton, zur. Come here the other day in a motey car -to look at it. Large big genelman in a white hat." - -The heart of the Corporal sank. What the hell had he, of all people, -to go buying it for! Somehow the postman had shattered the queer sad -little world in which they sat. A feeling of desperation came suddenly -upon the Corporal. He rose abruptly from the bench. "Come on, Mother," -he said, "if we don't get along we'll be late for supper." - -"Don't want no supper, Bill." - -But the Corporal was firm. - -"I'd like to stop here all night," Melia said as she rose limply from -the bench. "I'd like to stop here forever." - -That was the desire uppermost in the Corporal also, but it would not do -to admit it. - -Down the road, hand in hand, like two children out late, they trudged -in the gathering dusk to Corfield. It was a perfect evening. Just a -little ahead was one faint star; over to the left in the noble line of -woods that overlooked the river they could hear the nightingale. Once -they stopped and held their breaths to listen. They saw the rabbits -dart from among the ferns at their feet and run before them along the -white road. The evening pressed ever closer upon them as they marched -slowly on, until, at a turn in the road, Corfield with its fruit -orchards came into view. - -It was a long trek home but they were in no hurry to get there. By the -time they had come to the old stone bridge which spanned the broad -river and united the country with the town it was quite dark and the -lamps of the city were shining in the distance. - -Midway across the bridge they stopped to take one last look at the -Sharrow gleaming down its valley. Since the afternoon this mighty -symbol which from earliest childhood had dominated their every -recollection seemed to have gained in power, in magic and in mystery. - - - - -XXXIII - - -The hard and difficult months wore on. Summer passed to autumn; Europe -was locked in the most terrible conflict the world had ever seen, but -there was no sign of a decision. - -Like Britain herself, Blackhampton was in the war to the last man -and the last shilling. From the moment the plunge had been taken the -conscience and the will of this brotherhood of free peoples had been in -grim unison behind the action of its government. The war was no affair -of sections or of classes; the issue was so clear that there was no -ground for misunderstanding it. - -For years it had been freely declared that Britain was past her zenith, -that disintegration had already begun, that England herself was -enervated with prosperity. At the outset the enemy in making war had -counted on the fact too confidently. Britain would not dare to enter -the struggle, she who was suffering from fatty degeneration of the -soul, or if in the end she was driven into the whirlpool in spite of -herself she would prove a broken reed in this strife for human freedom. - -These were dangerous heresies, even for a race of supermen, and nowhere -in the oldest of free communities was the task of dispelling it -undertaken more vigorously than in Blackhampton. As its archives bore -witness it had a long and proud record. No matter what great national -movement had been afoot in the past, Blackhampton, the central city of -England, geographically speaking, had invariably reacted to it with -force and urgency. - -Among the many virile men who strove to meet a supreme occasion, none -deserved better of his country, or of his fellow citizens than Mr. -Josiah Munt. He was of a type suited beyond all others to deal with the -more obvious needs of a time that called for the unsparing use of every -energy; he had a genius of a plain, practical, ruthless kind; he was -the incarnation of "carry on" and "get things done." - -From the first hour he took off his coat and buckled to. He worked like -a leviathan. No day was too long for him, no labor too arduous; his -methods were rough and now and again the clatter he made was a little -out of proportion to the amount of weight he pulled in the boat. His -life had been one of limited opportunity, but he had a knack of seeing -the thing to be done and of doing it. People soon began to realize that -he was the right man in the right place, and that as a driving force he -was a great asset to the city of Blackhampton. - -The war was about fifteen months' old when Alderman Munt was chosen -mayor of Blackhampton. He took up an office that was by no means a -sinecure at a very critical moment. But it was soon clear that a -wise choice had been made; a certain Britishness of character of the -right bulldog breed did much to keep a population of two hundred and -eighty-six thousand souls "up to the collar." Somehow, the rude force -and the native honesty of the man appealed to the popular imagination; -if a prophet is ever honored in his own country it is in time of war. - -During his mayoralty Josiah Munt came to occupy a place in the minds -of his own people that none could have predicted. When the grim hour -struck which altered the face of the world and changed the whole aspect -of human society few could have been found to say a word in favor of -the proprietor of the Duke of Wellington. He had begun low down, in a -common part of the town; and, although there was really nothing against -him, his name was never in specially good odor, perhaps for the reason -that he bore obvious marks of his origin and because the curves of his -mind were too broad for him to care very much about concealing them. -In the general opinion he had been a very "lucky" man, financially -successful beyond his merits, and for that reason arrogant. But in the -throes of the upheaval preconceived ideas were soon shed if they did -not happen to square with the facts; and it took considerably less than -a year for Josiah to prove to his fellow townsmen that the goddess -Fortune is not always the capricious fool she has the name of being. - -Even in the stress of a terribly strenuous twelve months the Mayor -of Blackhampton, like the wise man he was, insisted upon taking his -annual fortnight's holiday at Bridlington. He had not missed his annual -fortnight at Bridlington once in the last thirty years. It did him so -much good, he was able to work so much the better for it afterwards, -that, as he informed Mr. Aylett the Town Clerk, on the eve of departure -in the second week of August, "it would take more than the likes o' the -Kaiser to keep him from the seaside." - -Like a giant refreshed the Mayor returned to his civic duties at the -end of the month. His leisure at Bridlington had been enlivened by the -company of the Mayoress, by Mrs. Doctor Cockburn and her two children, -and also by Miss Gertrude Preston, who for quite a number of years now -had helped to beguile the tedium of her brother-in-law's annual rest -cure. - -As soon as the Mayor returned to the scene of his labors he found -there was one very important question he would have to decide. In his -absence the City fathers had met several times to discuss the matter of -his successor and had come, in some cases perhaps reluctantly, to the -conclusion that none but himself could be his peer. According to the -aldermanic roster, Mr. Limpenny the maltster was next in office, but -that wise man was the first to own that he had not the driving power, -or the breadth of appeal of the present mayor. - -In ordinary times that would not have mattered, but the times were very -far from ordinary. War was making still sterner demands, week by week, -upon every man and woman in the country. Blackhampton had done much, -as every town in England had, but its temporal directors felt that no -effort must be relaxed, and that it was ever increasingly their duty -"to keep it up to the collar." And Josiah Munt now filled the popular -mind. - -The very qualities which in the gentler days, not so long ago, had -aroused antagonism were at a premium now. For superfine people the -Mayor was a full-blooded representative of a distressing type, but it -was now the reign of King Demos: all over the island from Westminster -itself to the parish hall of Little Pedlington-in-the-Pound the -Josiah Munts of the earth had come at last by their own. On every -public platform and in every newspaper was to be found a Josiah Munt -haranguing the natives at the top of his voice, thereby guaranteeing -his political vision and his mental capacity. King Demos is not a -rose born to blush unseen; he knows everything about everything and -he is not ashamed to say so. With a fraction of his colossal mind he -can conduct the most delicate and far-reaching military operations, -involving millions of men, and countless tons of machinery to which -even a Napoleon or a Clausewitz might be expected to give his -undivided attention; with another he is able to insure that the five -million dogs of the island, mainly untaxed, shall continue to pollute -the unscavengered streets of its most populous cities; with another he -is able to devise a Ministry of Health; with another he can pick his -way through the maze of world politics, and recast the map of Europe -and Asia on a basis to endure until the crack of doom; with yet another -he can devise a new handle for the parish pump. - -King Demos is indeed a bright fellow. And in Mr. Josiah Munt he found -an ideal representative. Happily for Blackhampton, although there were -places of even greater importance who in this respect were not so -well off, he was a man of rude honesty. He said what he meant and he -meant what he said; he was no believer in graft, he did not willfully -mislead; he was not a seeker of cheap applause; and in matters of the -public purse he had a certain amount of public conscience. As Mr. -Aylett the town clerk said in the course of a private conversation with -Mr. Druce the chairman of the Finance Committee, "His worship is not -everybody's pretty boy, but just now we are lucky to have him and we -ought to be thankful that he is the clean potato." - -Therefore, within a week of his return from Bridlington, the Mayor was -met by the request of the City fathers that he should take office for -another year. Josiah was flattered by the compliment, but he felt that -it was not a matter he could decide offhand. "He must talk to the wife." - -At dinner that evening at Strathfieldsaye, when the question was -mooted, the hapless Maria was overcome. Only heaven knew, if heaven -did know, how she had contrived to fill the part of a Mayoress for so -many trying months. She had simply been counting the days when she -could retire into that life of privacy, from which by no desire of her -own had she emerged. It was too cruel that the present agony should be -prolonged for another year, and although her tremulous lips dare not -say so her eyes spoke for her. - -"What do you say, Mother?" His worship proudly took a helping of -potatoes. - -Maria did not say anything. - -"A compliment, you know. Limpenny's next in, but the Council is -unanimous in asking me to keep on. I don't know that I want to, it's -terrible work, great responsibility and it costs money; but, between -you and me, I don't see who is going to do it better. Comes to that, -I don't see who is going to do it as well. Limpenny's a gentleman and -all that, college bred and so on, but he's not the man somehow. Give -Limpenny his due, he knows that. He button-holed me this morning after -the meeting of the Council. 'Mr. Mayor,' he said--Limpenny's one o' -those precise think-before-you-speak sort o' people--'I do hope you'll -continue in office. To my mind you're the right man in the right -place.' I thought that very decent of Limpenny. Couldn't have spoken -fairer, could he?" - -The hapless Maria gave an audible sniff and discontinued the eating of -war beef. - -"Well, Mother, what do you say? The Council seems to think that I've -got the half nelson on this town. So Aylett said. A bit of a wag in -his way, is that Aylett. He said I'd got two hundred and eighty-six -thousand people feeding from the hand. That's an exaggeration, but I -see what he means; and he's a man of considerable municipal experience. -Smartest town clerk in England, they tell me. 'It's all very well, Mr. -Aylett,' I said, 'but I'll have to talk to the Mayoress. And I'll let -you have an answer to-morrow.'" - -The hapless Maria declined gooseberry fool proffered by the respectful -Alice. - -"Don't seem to be eating, Mother," said his worship. "Aren't you well? -I expect it's the weather." - -Maria thought it must be the weather; at any rate it could be nothing -else. - -"Want a bit more air, I think," said Josiah in the midst of a royal -helping of a favorite delicacy. "Just roll back those sunblinds, Alice, -and let in a bit o' daylight." - -The sphinx-like Alice carried out the order. - -"And open the doors a bit wider." - -Alice impassively obeyed. - -"Would you like a nip of brandy? The weather, I suppose. Very hot -to-day. Temperature nearly a hundred this morning in the Council -Chamber. We'll have some new ventilators put in there or I'll know the -reason. At the best of times there's a great deal too much hot air in -the Council Chamber. And when you get a hot summer on the top of it...! -Alice, go and get some brandy for the Mistress." - -Exit Alice. - -"You'll feel better when you've had a drop of brandy. Antiquated things -those ventilators at the City Hall. Aylett thinks they've been there -since the time of Queen Anne. But they're not the only things I'm going -to scrap if I hold office another year. There's too much flummery and -red tape round about Corporation Square. Tradition is all very well but -we want something practical." - -Alice entered with a decanter. - -"Ah, that'll put you right. A little meat for the Mistress, Alice. -Never mind the soda. It'll not hurt you, Mother. Prime stuff is that -and prime stuff never does harm to no one. Some I've had by me at the -Duke of Wellington for many a year." - -At first the Mayoress was very shy of the brandy, prime stuff though -it was, but his worship was adamant, and after a moment or two of -half-hearted resistance Maria seemed the better for her lord's -inflexibility. - -"Talkin' of the Duke of Wellington ... funny how things work out! When -we went in there in '79, you and me, we little thought we should be -where we are now, in the most important time in history. That reminds -me. Alice, just ring up the _Tribune_ Office and give the editor my -compliments and tell him I've arranged to speak to-morrow at the Gas -Works at twelve o'clock and they had better send a reporter." - -"Very good, sir." - -"Alice!" - -Alice halted sphinx-like at the door. - -"Wait a minute. I'll go myself!" Josiah plucked his table napkin out -of his collar. "Nothing like doing a thing while it's fresh in your -mind. And do it yourself if you want it done right. I must have a word -with Parslow the editor. The jockey he sent to Jubilee Park to report -the flower show didn't know his business. The most important part -of the speech was left out." He laid down his table napkin and rose -determinedly. "Nice thing in a time like this for the Mayor of the City -not to be fully reported. I've half a mind to tell that Parslow what I -think of him. Some people don't seem to know there's a war on." - -Five minutes later when Josiah returned in triumph to his gooseberries -he found Maria reclining on the sofa with her feet up, next the window -opening on to the spacious lawns of Strathfieldsaye. The impassive but -assiduous handmaid was fanning her mistress with a handkerchief. - -"That's right, Alice!" Josiah sat down with an air of satisfaction. He -was not indifferent to the sufferings of Maria, but of recent years -she seemed to have developed a susceptibility to climatic conditions -perhaps a little excessive for the wife of one who at heart was still -a plain man. She had a proneness to whims and fancies now which in -robuster days was lacking. He could only ascribe it to a kind of -misplaced fineladyism, and he didn't quite approve it. - -"I spoke pretty straight to the _Tribune_ ... to the subeditor. I said -I hoped they fully realized their duty to the public and also to the -Empire, but that I sometimes doubted it. He seemed a bit huffed, I -thought ... but you'll see I'll be reported to-morrow all right. I'll -look after your mistress, Alice. Go and get the coffee." - -When Alice returned with the coffee she found the Mayor vigorously -fanning the Mayoress with a table napkin, and she was peremptorily -ordered "to nip upstairs for a bottle of sal volatile." - - - - -XXXIV - - -There was honest satisfaction in the town when it was known that the -Mayor had consented to remain another year in office. Most people -agreed that it was a good thing for Blackhampton. But the Mayoress took -to her bed. - -Could she have had her way she would never have got up again. For -many years now life had been a nightmare of ever-growing duties, -of ever-increasing responsibilities. Her conservative temperament -resisted change. She had not wanted to leave the Duke of Wellington -for the comparative luxury of Waterloo Villa, she had not wanted to -leave Waterloo Villa for the defiant grandeur of Strathfieldsaye. When -she was faced with a whole year as Mayoress she fully expected to -die of it, and perhaps she would have died of it but for the oblique -influence of Gertrude Preston; but now she was threatened with a -further twelve months of the same embarrassing public grandeur she was -compelled to review her attitude towards an early demise. - -Maria knew that if she allowed her light to be put out Gerty had the -makings of a highly qualified successor. No one was better at shaking -hands with a grandee, no one had a happier knack of saying the right -word at the right time; and neither the Mayor nor the Mayoress, -particularly the latter, knew what they would have done without her. -Gerty, in fact, had become a kind of unofficial standard bearer and -henchwoman of a great man. Every piece of gossip she heard about him -was faithfully reported, every paragraph that appeared in the paper -was brought to his notice, she flattered him continually and made him -out to be no end of a fellow; and in consequence poor Maria was bitten -with such a furious jealousy that she would like to have killed her -designing but indispensable step-sister. - -When Maria took to her bed, the Mayor promptly requested the -accomplished Gertrude to do what she could in the matter. - -"Josiah, she must show Spirit." As always that was her specific for -the hapless Maria, and at the request of his worship she went at once -to the big bedroom, from whose large bay windows a truly noble view of -the whole city and the open country beyond was to be obtained, and as -Josiah himself expressed it, "proceeded to read the riot act to the -Mayoress." - -The Mayoress was in bed, therefore she had to take it lying down. For -that matter it was her nature to take all things lying down. But in -her heart she had never so deeply resented the obtrusion of Gerty as -at this moment. She wanted never to get up any more, but if she didn't -get up any more this meddlesome and dangerous rival would do as she -liked with Josiah, and in all human probability as soon as the lawful -Mayoress was decently and comfortably in her grave she would marry him. - -It was really Gerty who kept the Mayoress going; not by the crude -method of personal admonition, however forcible its use, but by the -subtle spur that one mind may exert upon another. Maria had to choose -between showing spirit and allowing the odious Gerty to wear the -dubious mantle of her grandeur. - -Hard was the choice, but Mother Eve prevailed in the weak flesh of the -lawful Mayoress. She made a silent vow that Gerty should not marry -Josiah if she could possibly help it. Yes, she would show spirit. Cruel -as the alternative was, she would be Mayoress a second year. Even if -she died of it, and in her present frame of mind she rather hoped she -would, she alone should sit in the chair of honor at the Annual Meeting -of the British Women's Tribute to the Memory of Queen Boadicea, she -alone should take precedence of the local duchess and the county ladies -at the annual bazaar in aid of the Society for Providing Black and -White Dogs with Brown Biscuits. - -Maria, however, in her present low state, consented to Gerty deputizing -for her at the review of the Girl Scouts in the Arboretum. She was -reluctant to make even that minor concession--it was the thin end of -the wedge!--but it had been intimated to Josiah that the Mayoress was -always expected to say a few words on this spirited occasion. This was -altogether too much for Maria in the present condition of her health. - -Before the Girl Scouts, Gerty bore herself in a manner that even -Miss Heber-Knollys, the august principal of the High School for -Young Ladies, who was present, a perfect dragon of silent criticism, -could hardly have improved upon. The Mayor at any rate was delighted -with his sister-in-law's performance, drove her back in triumph to -Strathfieldsaye and insisted on her staying to dinner. - -The hapless Maria, after nearly three weeks of the peace and sanctity -of her chamber, had struggled down to tea for the first time. She sat -forlornly in the drawing-room, a white woolen shawl over her ample -shoulders. It had been a real relief to allow Gerty to deputize for -her, but now that the hour of trial was past Maria was inclined to -despise, for the moment at any rate, the human weakness that had played -into the hands of a highly dangerous schemer. It would have been so -easy to have done it oneself, after all; it was such a simple thing, -now that it was safely over! - -Gerty consumed a pickelet and drank two cups of tea with an air of -rectitude, while Josiah recited the story of the afternoon for the -delectation of Maria. He was so well satisfied with the performance -of the deputy that the lawful Mayoress began to scent danger. "Gert -says," the Mayor informed her, "that if you don't feel up to it she'll -distribute the prizes on the Fifth, at the Floral Hall." - -The Mayoress drew in her lips, a sign that she was thinking. She -_might_ be able to manage the Fifth, as "a few words" were not -expected, although, of course, they were always welcome. - -Josiah, however, was not inclined to press the matter. Maria seemed -rather worried by her duties as Mayoress and Gerty having had greater -experience in that kind of thing and having already done extremely -well in the Arboretum, it now occurred to the Mayor that it might be -possible to arrange with the Town Clerk for her to take over the duties -permanently in his second year of office. "I don't say the Council will -consent," said Josiah. "It may be a bit irregular. But they know you're -not strong, Mother. I was careful to tell them that when I consented to -keep the job on. So the way is paved for you, as you might say, if you -really don't feel up to it. Anyhow, I'll hear what Aylett has to say -about it. No man in England, they tell me, is a safer guide in matters -of municipal practice. If Aylett thinks it will be all right, I'm sure -Gerty won't mind acting as Mayoress." - -"Delighted, Josiah!" Gerty's bow and smile were positively regal; they -were modeled, in point of fact, upon those of Princess Mawdwin of -Connemara, the most celebrated bazaar-opener of the period. - -The Mayoress drew in her lips still further. She began to think very -seriously. No human Mayoress could have been in lower spirits or have -felt less equal to her duties than did Maria at that moment, but if -Gerty was allowed to usurp the honors and the dignities so indubitably -hers it would be very hard to bear. The whole thing was so like Gerty. -Always a schemer; in spite of her soft manners and her pussy-cat ways, -always at heart a grabber. The Mayoress felt that if the weak state -of her health called for a deputy, and really it seemed to do so, -she would have preferred the Queen of Sheba herself to the designing -Gertrude. For years she had been able to twist Josiah round her little -finger. So like a man to be taken in by her! So like a man not to be -able to see what a Fox of a woman she really was. - -Unfortunately Maria had reason to fear that she was very ill, indeed. -She was afraid of her heart. It is true that three times within the -past fortnight Horace, Doctor Cockburn, had solemnly assured his -mother-in-law that there was nothing the matter with it. But thinking -the matter over, as day after day she lay in her miserable bed, she -had come to the conclusion that Horace was a modern doctor and that a -modern doctor could hardly be expected to understand that old-fashioned -organ, the heart. - -She had made up her mind, therefore, to have a second opinion. She -would go to a heart specialist, a man who really knew about hearts. -As a fact she had already made up her mind to have the opinion of Dr. -Tremlett who humored her, who understood her system and its ways. -Horace, who was so modern, rather smiled at Dr. Tremlett--he was -careful not to go beyond a smile at Doctor Tremlett, although his -demeanor almost suggested that he might have done so had not etiquette -intervened. - -The Mayoress, therefore, was now placed in a difficult position by -the success of a base intriguer. She didn't know what to do. Three -days ago her mind had been made up that she would put herself in the -hands of Doctor Tremlett, but if she did that she was quite sure that -Doctor Tremlett, a physician of the old school who knew how important -the heart was in every human anatomy and therefore treated it with the -utmost respect, would not allow her to go overdoing it. Her time would -be divided between her bed and the drawing-room sofa; he would most -probably insist on a trained nurse--Doctor Tremlett really respected -the heart--and the trained nurse would mean, of course, that the -Mayoress had abdicated and that the way was open for the treacherous -Gertrude with her pussy-cat ways to take over the duties permanently. - -It was a dilemma. And it was made needlessly painful for the Mayoress -by the blindness and folly of the Mayor; in some ways so very able, in -others he was such a shortsighted man! Really, he ought to have seen -what Gerty was up to. So like a man to be completely taken in by her. -One of her own sex would have seen at a glance that Gertrude was a Deep -one. - -It was a most difficult moment for the Mayoress. Either she must be -false to Doctor Tremlett and give up her heart or she would have to -submit tamely to the rape of her grandeur and have it flaunted in her -face by a Designing creature. Heaven knew that she had no taste herself -for grandeur, but Gerty had a very decided taste for it and there was -the rub! - -"Have a piece of this excellent pickelet, Josiah!" That smile and that -manner were very winning to some eyes no doubt, but those of Maria were -not of the number. That coat and skirt, how well they hung upon her! -Gerty had always had a slim figure. Some people thought her figure -very genteel, but again Maria was not of the number. Some people also -thought her voice was very ladylike--Josiah did for one. La-di-da -the Mayoress called it. Simpering creature! Even if the pickelet was -excellent it didn't need her to say so. What had she to do with the -pickelet? And there was Josiah submitting to her like a lamb and talking -to her about the Town Clerk and the City Council and wondering whether -she would mind giving him a hand on the Fifth at the Floral Hall. - -"I'll be delighted, Josiah--simply delighted. Anything to help. If I -can be the slightest use to you--and to Maria." - -That precious, "And to Maria," brought a curl to the lip of the lawful -Mayoress. Designing hussy! So like a man not to see through her. Maria -felt herself slowly turning green. The heart has been known to take -people that way. - -"Gert is staying to dinner, Mother. Hope Billing sent up that salmon." - -Billing had sent up the salmon, the Mayor was meekly informed by the -Mayoress. - -"Chose it myself. Looked a good fish." - -"It is wonderful to me, Josiah"--affected mouncing minx!--"how you -manage to get through your day. You seem to have time for everything. -Why, your work as mayor alone would keep most people fully occupied. -Yet you always seem able to attend personally to this and that and the -other." - -"Oh, I don't know, Gert." Some of the great man's critics were inclined -to think that since he had made so good in his high office his amazing -self-confidence had abated a feather or two. "I've always tried to -be what I call a prattical man. If you want a thing done right do it -yourself--that's my motto." - -"But you get through so much, Josiah." - -"Just a habit. But there's a very busy year ahead. Being Mayor o' this -city is not child's play in times like these. We're up against the food -shortage now. Last year it was munitions. Next year it'll be coal. And -the Army's always crying out for men. And any labor that isn't in khaki -is that durned independent and very inefficient into the bargain. The -papers are always writing up what they call democracy. Well, you can -have all my share of democracy. Between you and me, Gert, it's mainly a -name for a lot of jumped-up ignoramuses who have no idea of how little -they do know. Yesterday I was over at Cleveley arranging with the Duke -about a certain matter. Now he's prattical fellow, is that. He said, -'Mr. Munt, to be candid, I don't know anything about the subject, but -I'm very willing to learn.' I tell you, Gert, you'd have to wait till -the cows come home to hear one of our jumped-up Jacks-in-Office talking -that way. There's nothing they don't know and they're not afraid to say -so. Why, it even takes _me_ all my time to tell them anything." - - - - -XXXV - - -At this critical moment Ethel came in. Mrs. Doctor Cockburn was raging -secretly. She had turned up at the Arboretum, dutifully prepared to -help her mother through a situation a little trying perhaps to the -nerve of inexperience and behold! there was Gertrude, smiling and pat, -going through it all without turning a hair and palpably not in need of -the least assistance from any one. The mortified Ethel, having missed a -Sunday at Strathfieldsaye, had not been in a position to realize that -her mother was going to be so weak as to allow Gerty, who as usual had -masked her intentions very cleverly, to take her place. It was such a -pity! Miss Heber-Knollys who was there, had said it was such a pity! - -Ethel, an old and successful pupil of that distinguished lady, had -been carried off to tea by her at the end of the proceedings. And Miss -Heber-Knollys had expressed herself as a little disappointed. She -was sure the Girl Scouts had been so looking forward to having the -Mayoress with them that afternoon; at any rate, Miss Heber-Knollys -had, although of course she had no pretensions to speak for the Girl -Scouts; but speaking as a public, a semi-public woman of Blackhampton, -although born in Kent and educated at Girham, speaking therefore, -as a quasi-public and naturalized woman of Blackhampton with an M.A. -degree, she looked to the Mayoress to take a strong lead in all matters -relating to the many-sided activities of the City's feminine life. - -Ethel quite saw that. And she now proceeded fully and pointedly to -report Miss Heber-Knollys for the future guidance of her father, the -admonition of her mother and for the confusion and general undoing of -the designing Gertrude. Mrs. Doctor Cockburn was far from realizing the -critical nature of the moment at which she had chanced to arrive, but -the general effect of her presence was just as stimulating as if she -had. The lawful Mayoress was in sore need of mental and moral support -if she was to prevail against the Schemer. - -Ethel was in the nick of time, but yet it was by no means certain that -she was not too late to keep Gerty from the Floral Hall. The Floral -Hall would depend on Doctor Tremlett, bluntly remarked Josiah. - -"Doctor Tremlett!" said Mrs. Doctor Cockburn sternly. - -"Your man has got the sack." The Mayor indulged in an obvious wink at -Gerty who was looking as if butter would not melt in her mouth. - -"But," said the horrified Ethel, "there's no comparison between Horace -and Doctor Tremlett. Horace belongs to the modern school; Doctor -Tremlett's an old fossil." - -"Your Ma seems to think Doctor Tremlett understands her," said Josiah -bluntly. "And Doctor Tremlett says she's got to be very careful of her -heart or she'll have to lie up and have a trained nurse." - -"But Horace declares there is nothing the matter with it." - -"That's where Horace don't know his business as well as Doctor -Tremlett. Your Ma has got to be very careful, indeed, and I'm going -to arrange with Aylett for her to have a deputy for the whole of the -coming year. You see if anything happened to her she'd _have_ to have a -deputy, so it may be wise to take steps beforehand." - -"Nonsense, Father! Horace says there's nothing the matter with her. He -says it's stage fright. You ought not to encourage her. Certainly it -isn't right that Gerty should be taking her place. Miss Heber-Knollys -says it may make a bad impression." - -"Don't know, I'm sure, what business it is of hers." His worship spoke -with considerable asperity. - -"Besides, if any one must deputize, surely it should be me." - -There was a little pause and then said Gerty in her meek and dovelike -voice, "We all thought, dear, that just now you would not care to take -part in a public display. Perhaps after Christmas ... when the new -little one has safely arrived." - -The other ladies realized that the Fox of a Gertrude had scored a -bull's-eye. At Christmas it was fondly hoped in the family that the -Mayor would at last have a grandson. Certainly, Mrs. Doctor could not -be expected to take an active part at the Floral Hall. - -There were occasions, however, when Mrs. Doctor was visited by some -of her father's driving force and power of will. And this was one of -them. If a calamity of the first magnitude was to be averted--Gerty -as Deputy-Mayoress was unthinkable!--there must be no half measure. -"Horace says it will do Mother good to distribute the prizes at the -Floral Hall, and if she doesn't I am sure that quite a lot of people -will be disappointed." - -Even for Ethel this was rather cynical. She was well aware that she had -greatly overrated the public's power of disappointment; at the same -time it was clearly a case for strong action. "You'll go to the Floral -Hall, Mother. And I'll come with you." - -"_You_, dear?" Gerty spoke in a melodramatic whisper. - -"I shall sit just behind her ... in the second row. We can't have -people talking. And I shall put on my fur coat." - -It was a blow on the sconce for the specious Gertrude, but she took -it with disarming meekness, smiling, as Ethel mentally described her, -"like a prize Angora" down her long, straight, rather adventurous nose. - -"It's your duty, Mother." Mrs. Doctor proceeded to administer a mental -and moral shaking. "The women of the city look up to you, they expect -you to set an example. Miss Heber-Knollys feels that very strongly. And -Horace, who is a far cleverer man than Doctor Tremlett, says all you -have to do is to keep yourself up." - -"In other words, Maria," cooed Gerty in the voice of the dove, "you -must show Spirit. And that is what I always tell you." - -There were times when Gerty was amazing. Her audacity took away the -breath even of Ethel. As for Maria she felt a little giddy. She was -fascinated. - -The She serpent. - - - - -XXXVI - - -Maria went to the Floral Hall. And she was seen there to great -advantage. She wore a new hat chosen for her by Ethel at the most -fashionable shop in the city; she distributed the prizes to the -Orphans' Guild in a manner which extorted praise from even the -diminished Gertrude; she didn't actually "say a few words," but her -good heart--speaking figuratively of course--and her motherly presence -spoke for her; and as Miss Heber-Knollys said, in felicitously -proposing a vote of thanks to the Mayoress on whose behalf the Mayor -responded, she had brought a ray of sunshine into the lives of those -who saw the sun too seldom. - -This achievement was a facer for the designing Gertrude, also for the -antiquated Doctor Tremlett. On the other hand, it was a triumph for -Ethel and for the modern school of medicine. Horace, Doctor Cockburn, -was reinstated. Maria would still have felt safer with some one who -really understood the heart and its ways, but, as Ethel pointed out to -her, she would earn the admiration of everybody if she could manage to -postpone her really serious illness until the following year. - -Maria, at any rate, was open to reason. For the sake of the general -life of the community she would do her best. But it was very hard upon -her; far harder than people realized. As she had once pathetically told -Josiah, "she hadn't been brought up to that kind of thing," to which -the Mayor promptly rejoined, "that he hadn't either, but he was as good -as some who had." - -Education was what the Mayor called a flam. In the main it wasn't -prattical. He allowed that it was useful in certain ways and in -carefully regulated doses, but of late years it had been ridiculously -overdone and was in a fair way to ruin the country. Education didn't -agree with everybody. He knew a case in point. - -A classical instance of schooling misapplied would always remain in his -mind. There were times when he brooded over this particular matter in -secret, for he never spoke of it openly. His youngest girl, upon whose -upbringing a fabulous sum had been lavished, had cast such a blot on -the family escutcheon that it was almost impossible to forgive her. It -was all very well for Ethel to talk of Sally's doings in Serbia. That -seemed the best place for people like her. Yet, as a matter of strict -equity, and Josiah was a just man, although a harsh one, he supposed -that presently he would have to do something in the matter. - -Under the surface he was a good deal troubled by Sally. She was out of -his will and he had fully made up his mind to have nothing more to -do with her; she had had carte blanche in the matter of learning, and -the only use she had made of it was to disgrace him in the eyes of the -world. - -All that, however, was before the war. And there was no doubt that the -war had altered things. Before the war he lived for money and worldly -reputation; but now that he was in the thick of the fight some of his -ideas had changed. Money, for instance, seemed to matter far less -than formerly; and he had come to see that the only kind of worldly -reputation worth having didn't depend upon externals. His success as a -public man had taught him that. It wasn't his fine house on The Rise, -or the fact that he had become one of the richest men in the city, that -had caused him to be unanimously invited to carry on for another year. -Other qualities had commended him. He didn't pretend to be what he was -not, and the people of the soundest judgment seemed to like him all the -better on that account. - -He was beginning to see now that the case of Sally would have to be -reconsidered. In spite of the damnable independence which had always -been hers from the time she was as high as the dining-room table, there -was no doubt that she was now fighting hard for a cause worth fighting -for. He had not reached the point of telling Mossop to put her back in -his will, but the conviction was growing upon him that he would have to -do so. - -At the same time it was going to hurt. He could have wished now that he -hadn't been quite so hasty in the matter. It was not his way to indulge -in vain regrets or to pay much attention to unsolicited advice, but it -seemed a pity that he had not listened to Mossop in the first instance. -This business of Sally, in a manner of speaking, would be in the nature -of a public climb down. And there had been one already. - -As far as Melia and her husband were concerned his conscience pricked -him more than a little. At first it had gone sorely against the grain -to revoke the ban upon his contemptuously defiant eldest daughter -and his former barman. But once having done so, it had come suddenly -upon him that he had gone wrong in that affair from the outset. The -provocation had been great, but he had let his feelings master him. -Melia and Hollis were not exonerated. She ought to have shown more -respect for his wishes, and a man in the position of Hollis ought to -prove himself before he ventures to ask for his employer's daughter; -but, if he had to deal with the episode again, he felt, in the light of -later experience, that he would have acted differently. - -However, by the end of November, Josiah had made up his mind to restore -Melia and Sally to his will. It was only a question of when he should -do so. But this was a matter in which his usual power of volition -seemed to desert him. In other affairs of life to decide on a thing was -at once to do it; but now he hesitated, putting off from day to day. -It was a dose of particularly disagreeable medicine that there seemed -no immediate need to swallow. - -A day soon came, however, when he was rather bitterly to rue his -vacillation. One morning Josiah arrived at the City Hall at a quarter -to ten. A meeting of the Ways and Means Committee was called for a -quarter past and he had to take the chair in the Mayor's parlor. When -he entered the room he found the Town Clerk standing in front of a fire -of the Best Blackhampton Bright, a twinkle in his eye and a formidable -sheaf of documents in his hand. - -"Good morning, Mr. Mayor." Perhaps a faintly quizzical greeting, -respectful though it was. But this shrewd dog Aylett, with a pair of -humorous eyes looking through gold-rimmed glasses which hung by a cord -from his neck, had a slightly quizzical manner with everybody. He knew -his value to the city of Blackhampton; he was the ablest Town Clerk it -had ever had. - -"Mornin', Aylett," said his worship in that official voice which seemed -to get deeper and deeper at every meeting over which he presided. - -"I suppose you've read your _Tribune_ this morning?" Aylett had an easy -chatty way with everybody from the Mayor down. He was so well used to -high affairs that he could be slightly jocular without impairing the -dignity of a grandee and without loss of his own. - -"As a matter of fact I haven't," said the Mayor. "The girl forgot to -deliver it this morning at Strathfieldsaye. Don't know, Aylett, what -things are coming to in this city, I don't really. We'll have to have -an alteration if we are not going to lose the war altogether." - -The Town Clerk smiled at this, and then he took the municipal copy of -the _Tribune_ from among other works of reference on a side table, -folded back the page and handed the paper to the Mayor. "That youngest -girl of yours has been going it." - -It was an unfortunate piece of phrasing on the part of one so -accomplished as Aylett. Josiah started a little and then with an air of -rather grim anxiety proceeded to read the _Tribune_. - -There was three quarters of a column devoted to the doings of Miss -Sarah Ann Munt; a sight which, with certain sinister recollections in -his mind, went some way to assure Josiah that his worst fears were -realized. But he had but to read a line or so to be convinced that -there was no ground for pessimism. Miss Sarah Ann Munt, it seemed, had -rendered such signal service to the Allied Cause that she had brought -great honor upon herself, upon a name highly and justly esteemed in the -city of Blackhampton, and even upon the country of her origin. - -The _Tribune_ told the thrilling story of her deeds with pardonable -gusto. On the outbreak of war she had volunteered for service with the -Serbian Army. Owing to her great skill as a motor driver, for which -in pre-war days she had been noted, she had been attached in that -capacity to the Headquarters Staff. She had endured the perils and the -hardships of the long retreat; and her coolness, her daring and her -mother wit had enabled her to bring her car, containing the Serbian -Commander and his Chief of Staff, in safety through the enemy lines at -a moment when they had actually been cut off. "It is not too much to -say," declared the _Tribune_ whose language was official, "that the -story of Miss Munt's deeds in Serbia is one of the epics of the war. -By her own personal initiative she did much to avert a disaster of the -first magnitude. No single individual since the war began has rendered -a more outstanding service to the Allied Cause. She has already been -the recipient of more than one high decoration, and on page five will -be found an official photograph of her receiving yet another last week -in Paris from the hands of the Chief of the Republic." - -Josiah felt a little dizzy as with carefully assumed coolness he turned -to page five. There, sure enough, was Sally, looking rather fine drawn -in her close-fitting khaki, but with that half-wicked down-looking -smile upon her that he knew so well. With her leggings, and her square -chin and her "bobbed" hair which hung upon her cheeks in side pieces -and gave her a resemblance to Joan of Arc she was like an exceedingly -handsome, but as they say in Blackhampton, a rather "gallus" boy. -The hussy! He couldn't help laughing at the picture of her, it was -so exactly how he best remembered her. The amused slightly defiant -You-Be-Damned air was so extraordinarily like her. - -"Blame my cats!" said the Mayor. - -For several minutes it was his only remark. - - - - -XXXVII - - -The meeting of the Ways and Means Committee which had been called for a -quarter past ten was of more than local importance. It was of national -importance as the Mayor was careful to inform its members, among whom -were the picked brains of the community, when he informally opened the -business. But it was not until twenty minutes to eleven that he was -able to do so. It was not that the Committee itself was unpunctual; it -was simply that one and all had seen that morning's _Tribune_ and that -the common task had perforce to yield for the nonce to their hearty -congratulations. - -For one thing, the Mayor had become decidedly popular; for another, -one more glorious page had been written in history by the Blackhampton -born. It was really surprising the number of absolutely eminent people -who at one time or another had contrived to be born at Blackhampton. -In no city in England did local patriotism run higher, in no city in -England was there better warrant for it. The Ways and Means Committee -was quite excited. It was almost childishly delighted at having, as -their Chairman, the rather embarrassed parent of one who, as Sir Reuben -Jope, senior alderman and thrice ex-mayor, said in a well turned -phrase, "bade fair to become the most famous woman in the Empire." - -Perhaps a certain piquancy was lent to an event that was already -historical, by the knowledge in possession of those in the inner circle -of municipal life that the Mayor had been hard hit by a former episode -in the dashing career of Miss Sally. That episode belonged to the -pre-war period when the stock of Mr. Josiah Munt did not stand nearly -so high in the market as it did that morning. More than one of these -seated round the council board with their eyes on the Chairman had -relished the public chastening of the lord of Strathfieldsaye. He had -been smitten in a tender place and they were not so sorry for him as -they might have been. But other times other modes of thought. Since -July, 1914, water had flowed under Sharrow Bridge. Nothing could have -been more eloquent of the fact than the rather excited cordiality of -the present gathering. - -"I really think, gentlemen," said Sir Reuben Jope, "that the City -should recognize Miss Munt's extremely gallant behavior. I presume, Mr. -Town Clerk, it is competent to do so." - -"Oh, quite, sir--oh, quite." In the expressive words in which the Mayor -reconstructed the scene that evening for the benefit of the Mayoress, -"that Aylett was grinning all over his lantern-jawed mug like a Barbary -ape." - -"Then I shall propose at the next meeting of the Council that a public -presentation be made to Miss Munt." - -"I shall be glad to second that, Sir Reuben," said Mr. Alderman -Limpenny, "when the time comes to do so." - -But the Mayor interposed with asperity: "No, no, no, gentlemen. We -can't have anything of the kind. Very good of you, I'm sure, but we -must get on with the business." His worship rapped smartly upon the -municipal mahogany. "This is war time, remember. We've got to discuss -that contract of Perkins and Baylis. Seems to me, as I said at the -last meeting, that those jockeys are over-charging the city forty per -cent. You know, gentlemen, we've got to stop this leakage of public -money. Whatever they may do in Whitehall, we are not going to stand for -it here. Signing blank checks and dropping them in Corporation Square -is not our form. As long as I sit in this chair there is going to be -strict control of the public purse. And there is not going to be graft -in this city neither. This is not Westminster. We don't propose to -allow a public department to make a little mistake in its accounts of -a few odd millions sterling and then jog quietly on as if nothing had -occurred." - -"Hear! hear!" from the City Treasurer. - -"This war is costing the British people more than seven millions a day -at the present time and to my mind it's wonderful that they are able -to do it at the price. However, gentlemen, that is by the way. Let us -return to the contract of Perkins and Baylis." - -Truth to tell the contract of Perkins and Baylis had less attraction -for the Committee at that particular moment than the picture in the -_Tribune_. Somehow, the picture had captured its imagination. Whether -it was the leggings, the "bobbed" hair, the Joan of Arc profile, or the -"gallus" smile of the undefeated Miss Sally, it was quite certain that -the last had not been heard of her historic actions. - -The Committee of Ways and Means was not alone in its response to the -picture in the _Tribune_ and the great deeds it commemorated. It was -the talk of the whole city. Josiah moved that day and for many days -in a kind of reflected glory. Wherever he went congratulations were -showered upon him. Three cheers were given him at the Club when he came -in to lunch. There was a decided tendency to identify him personally -with Sally's fame, which, if exceedingly gratifying, was in the -peculiar circumstances not a little disconcerting. - -For one thing, he was rather at a loss to know what line he should take -in the matter. On the unhappy occasion of Sally's going to prison he -had written her what he called "a very stiff letter." In pretty blunt -language he had told her that as she had disgraced him in the sight of -the world he should have no more to do with her and that he intended to -disinherit her. - -To this letter no reply had been received. It was the kind of letter -which did not call for one. Since that time nothing had passed between -Sally and himself on that subject or on any other. But for some months -now Josiah had rather keenly regretted that his attitude had been so -definite. The war seemed to soften the past and to sharpen the present. -In some respects he was a changed man; one less overbearing in temper, -one less harsh in judgment. - -The times had altered. Life itself had altered. He was not a man to cry -over spilt milk, or to deplore the bygone, but at this moment he had -one sharp regret. Some weeks before Sally had burst into fame he had -made up his mind to restore her to his will and meant to write and tell -her so. But for a man of his sort the task was hard and he had weakly -put it off from day to day. And now, alas, it was too late to do it -with the grace of the original intention. It would seem like compulsion -now. Josiah was keenly vexed with himself. Nothing could have been more -eloquent of the rule which hitherto had controlled his life, "Do not -put off until to-morrow, etc." In times like those a cardinal maxim. - - - - -XXXVIII - - -The Mayor was in a false position in regard to his youngest daughter -and he had only himself to blame. But much of his strength lay in the -fact that he was the kind of man whom experience teaches. Delays, it -seemed, were highly dangerous. He must make up his mind to put his -pride in his pocket. - -It was not an easy or pleasant operation, but it had to be performed. -Nevertheless, the town had been ringing a full ten days with the name -of Sally before he could bring himself to turn out after dinner of a -December evening and walk along the road as far as The Gables. - -He was received in the library, as usual, by Lawyer Mossop. The city's -leading solicitor had recently aged considerably. He looked thinner -and grayer, his cheeks were hollow, there were more lines in his face. -His only son, George, who in the natural course of events would have -carried on a very old established business, had been killed in France, -and news had lately come that his sister Edith's boy, whom he had -helped to educate and who had already begun to make his way at the Bar, -had been permanently disabled by the explosion of a hand grenade. - -Long training in self-conquest, backed by generations of emotional -restraint, enabled Lawyer Mossop still to play the man of the world. He -rose with a charming smile and an air of ready courtesy to receive his -distinguished client and neighbor. At a first glance there was nothing -to tell that for the solicitor, life had lost its savor. - -The two men had a long and intimate talk. Oddly unlike as they were in -temperament, education, mental outlook, their minds had never marched -so well together as this evening in all their years of intercourse. -Somehow the rude vigor, the robust sense of the client appeared to -stimulate the more civilized, the more finely developed lawyer. -Moreover, he could not fail to perceive that it was a humaner, more -liberal-minded Josiah Munt than he had ever known who had come to -talk with him this evening. Success, popularity, response to the -overwhelming public need had ripened a remarkable man, rubbed off -some of the corners, softened and harmonized the curious dissonances -that had jarred in what, after all, was a fine character. Rough -diamond as Josiah Munt still was and must always remain in the eyes -of the critical, he stood out this evening as a right-thinking, -straight-seeing citizen, a real asset to the community. - -"Mossop," he said a little shamefacedly, after their conversation had -gone on some time, "I don't like having to own up to it, but I'm bound -to say that I wish I'd had the sense to take that advice you gave me -in the matter of Sally." - -The lawyer could not help a furtive smile at the humility of the tone. - -"You've got to put that gel back in my will." It was a pretty stiff -dose now that it had to be swallowed and a fierce frown did not conceal -its nature. "And I want you to believe, Mossop,"--there was an odd -earnestness in the deep voice--"that I had made up my mind to do it -long before this--this damnable Serbian business happened." - -The lawyer assured Mr. Munt that he was convinced of that. - -"Serves me right, though, for delaying. Mossop, I'm annoyed with -myself. It has the look of a force-put now, but I as I say----" - -The lawyer nodded a nice appreciation of the circumstances. - -"And while I'm about it, I've made up my mind to put Melia, my eldest -girl, back as well." - -The lawyer gave a little sigh of satisfaction. - -"My three gels are now going to share alike. But you must provide six -thousand pounds for Gertrude Preston." - -The lawyer penciled a brief note on his blotting pad. - -"As you know, Mossop, I've made a goodish bit, one way and another, -since this war began. Those girls ought to be very well off. And you -know, of course, that we are takin' in the next house for my hospital -along The Rise. It'll give us another twenty beds--making forty in all." - -The lawyer said in his level voice that he understood that to be the -Mayor's intention when he had negotiated the purchase with Mr. Harvey -Mortimore. - -"We bought that property very well, eh? Not going to get less in value." - -The lawyer agreed. - -"I'm now considering the question of making it over permanently to the -Corporation. Wouldn't make a bad nest egg for the city, eh?" - -"A very generous gift, Mr. Munt." - -"Anyhow, I'm arranging with the Duke to come over on the twenty-sixth -of January to open the new annex. And in the meantime we'll think about -giving it to the city as an orphanage or a cottage hospital." - - - - -XXXIX - - -The next morning Josiah paid a visit to Love Lane. The business of -Sally had taught him a lesson. Events moved so quickly in these crowded -days that it might not be wise to postpone a reconciliation with Melia. - -So busy had the Mayor been since his return from Bridlington at the end -of August that he had not found time to visit his eldest daughter, nor -had she been to Strathfieldsaye since her first somewhat uncomfortable -appearance there. She was still inclined to be much on her dignity. -Women who lead lonely lives in oppressive surroundings are not easily -able to forget the past. The olive branch had been offered already; but -it was by no means certain that Melia intended to accept her father's -overtures. - -This December morning, however, as the great man, proceeding -majestically on foot from the Duke of Wellington, turned up the narrow -street with its worn cobblestones and its double row of mean little -houses, he fully intended as far as might be humanly possible "to right -things with Melia once for all." - -The Mayor entered the shop and found his eldest daughter serving a -woman in a white apron and a black and white checked shawl over her -head with two pennyworth of carrots and a stick of celery. The honest -dame was so taken aback by the arrival of the Mayor of the city, who -was personally known to every man, woman and child throughout the -district as one of a great triumvirate, of whom the King and the Prime -Minister were the other two, that she fled in hot haste without paying -for the spoils she bore away in her apron. - -Melia, however, true to the stock whence she sprang, had no false -delicacy in the matter. Without taking the slightest notice of the -august visitor, she was the other side the counter in a jiffy, out of -the shop and calling after the fleeing customer, "You haven't paid your -fivepence, Mrs. Odell." - -The Mayor stood at the shop door, watching with a kind of grim -enjoyment the process of the fivepence being extracted. He plainly -approved it. Melia, with all her limitations, had the root of the -matter in her. Upon her return, a little flushed and rather breathless, -he refrained from paying her the compliment he felt she deserved but -was content to ask if trade was brisk. - -Trade was brisker, said Melia, than she had ever known it. - -Josiah was glad of that. He then looked round to assure himself that -they were alone in the shop and being convinced that such was the case, -he stood a moment awkwardly silent, balancing himself like a stork -first on one leg and then on the other. - -"Gel," he took her hand suddenly, "you are back in my will. Sally's -back too. You are both going to have an equal share with Ethel." He -felt the roughened, toil-stained hand begin to quiver a little in his -strong grasp. "Bygones have got to be bygones. Understand me." He drew -her towards him and kissed her stoutly and firmly in the middle of the -forehead. - -He retained his hold while her hot tears dripped on to his hand. She -stood tense and rigid, unable to speak or move. But she knew as she -stood there that it was no use fighting him or fighting herself. His -masterfulness, his simplicity, his courage had reawakened her earliest -and deepest instinct, the love and admiration she had once had for -him. Of a sudden she began to sob pitifully. With a queer look on his -face he took out a large red handkerchief and put his arms round her -and wiped her eyes slowly and with a gentleness hard to credit in him, -just as he had done when as a very little girl she had fallen and hurt -herself on the tiled yard of the Duke of Wellington. - -Speech was not possible to father or daughter for several minutes -as time is reckoned in Love Lane, although to both it seemed -infinitely longer, and then said the Mayor, "We'll expect you up at -Strathfieldsaye on Christmas Day. Lunch one-thirty sharp." Then he -added in a tone that was almost peremptory, "If that man o' yours -happens to get home on leave your mother would like him to come, too." - -Her tear-dimmed eyes looked at him rather queerly. "Didn't you know, -Dad?" The voice had something in it of the child he remembered but it -was so faint that it was barely audible. - -"Know what?" His own voice had more asperity than it was meant to have. -But she was able to make allowances for it, as she always had done in -the days when she really understood him. - -"Bill's in hospital." - -He drew in his breath quickly. The thought ran through his mind that -it was well he had had the sense to learn by experience. "Where? What -hospital?" He was just a trifle nervous, just a shade flurried. As near -as a toucher he had put it off too long, as in the case of Sally. - -"In France. At the Base." - -"Wound?" - -"Yes." - -"Bad one?" - -"He says it's only a cushy ... but ... but somehow I don't trust him." - -"How do you mean you don't trust him?" - -"I mean this, Dad." She was quite composed now; the tears and the -shakings were under control; she spoke slowly and calmly. "No matter -how bad he was, he's not one as would ever let on." - -"Why shouldn't he?" - -"He'd be afraid it might upset you. He's got like that lately." -Suddenly the hard eyes filled again. "He grins and bears things now." - -Josiah nodded rather grimly, but made no comment. He turned on his -heel. "See you this day fortnight up at the house." Abruptly, in deep -thought, he went away. - - - - -XL - - -Bill's wound, as it turned out, was a painful one, and it had an -element of danger. His right leg was shattered, also poisoned badly; -it would take a long time to heal and there was a fear that amputation -might be necessary. Such a case demanded special treatment, and to -Melia's joy at the beginning of Christmas week she received word from -her father that her husband had been transferred from France to the -Mayor of Blackhampton's hospital. - -There is no saying how this providential arrangement came about. It -may have been coincidence; on the other hand it may not. Josiah in his -second year of office was certainly becoming a power, if not an actual -puller of strings. Influence may or may not have been at work; anyhow -the Corporal bore the long journey so well that Melia, as a special -concession, was allowed to see him for a short time on Christmas Eve. - -She found him wonderfully cheerful in spite of the fact that he had -endured much pain; more cheerful perhaps than she had ever known him. A -subtle change had taken place since she had seen him last. The look of -utter weariness had yielded to something else. It was as if he had been -spiritualized by suffering; indeed as he smiled at her gently from his -bed she felt that he was not the kind of man she used to know. - -The memory of those few exquisite days in the summer was still in their -minds. It was from that point they now took up their lives. For both -the world had changed. They saw each other with new eyes. This man of -hers had been as good as his word, he had done his best to come back -to her; and there, full of pain, he lay helpless as a baby, yet now -inexpressibly dear as the only thing in life that had any meaning for -her. As for himself, as he smiled up at her, the grace of his dreams -was again upon her. This was she about whom the romance of his youth -had been woven. He didn't see her as she was, a commonplace, worn, -gray-haired woman, or if he did he remembered the sacrifices she had -made for his sake; he remembered that she had once believed in him, and -after long days she had come to believe in him again. - -There was rare conflict in the clean and quiet room. The walls were -hung with holly; everything about the place seemed to minister to a -wonderful sense of home. He sighed a deep content as she took a chair -by his bed and held a feverish hand in hers. - -"Your father's hospital!" A deep sigh spoke of gratitude. "When you -happen to see him tell him from me I'm glad to be in it." - -She promised to do so. - -"It's a good place." His eyes and his voice grew softer than their -wont in speaking of his father-in-law. "A bit of luck to be here." He -sighed luxuriously. - -Said Melia, "You must take your time getting well, Bill." - -Eyes of suffering looked into hers. "I expect I won't be right just -yet." They were still together, passing the time with delightful -fragments of talk and with fragments of silence equally delightful -when a nurse came importantly into the room to say that the Mayor had -arrived unexpectedly to look round the hospital and to wish a happy -Christmas to his guests. - -Melia rose rather nervously. "I think I'll be going, Bill." - -"Not yet, my dear." The voice from the bed was calm and quiet. "We must -let bygones be bygones. The times has changed." - -She was glad to hear him say that. And she had not told him yet of her -father's recent act of reparation. Should she tell him now? Was the -moment favorable? Or had she better wait until---- - -The question, however, was already decided. Too late to tell him now. -The door at the other end of the room was open and the Commandant had -entered followed by his worship the Mayor. - -"Only one bed in this room, sir," said the Commandant. "A special case. -Corporal Hollis." - -The Mayor looked calmly round. He didn't see Melia who was hidden by a -screen between the bedstead and the door. "I notice, ma'am, you've got -another door yonder." He pointed to the other end of the room. "Hope -these new casements fit well." - -The new casements fitted very well indeed. - -"All the same,"--the deep voice was very much that of the man of -affairs--"I expect you get a bit of draught here when the wind blows -from the northeast." - -The draught was nothing to speak of, he was assured. - -"Any complaints? Heating apparatus all right? Ventilators working -properly?" - -There were no complaints to make of any kind. - -"Thank you, ma'am," said the Mayor. "You can leave me here alone a few -minutes with Corporal Hollis--if he's well enough to talk to me." - -The Commandant retired, closing the door after her, and the Mayor -slowly approached the bed. - -"How are you, Bill?" It was a tone of simple, hearty kindness. - -Before the occupant of the bed could answer the question, Josiah, -coming round the corner of the screen, was taken aback by the sight -of his eldest daughter. He was not prepared for her, yet he was quite -equal to the situation. "Hulloa, Melia"--it was a father's cordiality. -"How are you, gel? Happy Christmas to you. Happy Christmas to you both." - -For a little while he stood talking to them, easily and without -constraint, while the Corporal lay in his bed saying nothing, but with -his worn face softened by pain and service and the thought of others. -From time to time he smiled grayly at the Mayor's pungent humor. Even -in the old days "the Mester" had always had a liberal share of that -quality in which his fellow townsmen excelled. Josiah's sense of humor -was very keen, particularly when it came to assessing the shortcomings -of other people; it had a breadth, a gusto, a penetration which high -office seemed to amplify. His stories, comments, criticisms of those -prominently before the world kept the Corporal quietly amused for some -time. Finally, the Mayor looked at his watch. "I must be getting on," -he said. "I've got to address the War Workers' Association at six -o'clock. And at seven I've promised to look in at the Hearts of Oak -annual soiree and concert." - -Very simply and with the manliness that was part of him he held out -his hand. Without hesitation the Corporal took it. They looked in the -eyes of one another. "I hope you're quite comfortable," said Josiah. -"If there's anything you need you have only to let me know. So long, -my boy, and don't be in a hurry to get well. See you to-morrow, Melia. -Wish you could have brought Bill along with you. Happy Christmas." - -With a wave of the hand for them both the Mayor went away, exuding an -atmosphere of kindness and goodwill towards all men except Germans. In -the Mayor's opinion Germans were not men at all. - - - - -XLI - - -It would have been ungracious of Melia not to spend Christmas Day at -Strathfieldsaye. Indeed, she felt that she could hardly do otherwise. -That stubborn thing, pride, might still be lurking in the corners of -her heart, yet it durst not show itself openly; besides, whatever its -secret machinations, she could not overlook the fact that her father -was striving to wipe out the past. Perhaps the past is the only thing -easier to create than to destroy, but certainly Josiah was now trying -his best to undo it. And this Melia knew. - -In view of the important function on Christmas Day, Melia had been -taken in hand by Aunt Gerty. It would have been natural to resent the -interference of that lady, but it was clear that her actions were -inspired "from above." At the same time no emissary could have been -more tactful, more discreet. In situations that called for finesse -she was hard to beat; and she was able to have Melia "fitted" for a -_really_ good coat and skirt by her own accomplished dressmaker, Miss -Pratt, and helped her also to choose a hat at Messrs. Rostron and -Merton's, the best shop in the city, without arousing antagonism in -that sensitive soul. Also she whispered in Melia's ear that there was -reason to believe that her father had a little surprise in store for -her on Christmas Day. - -In regard to "the surprise" Gerty's information was correct. And as -Melia, looking and feeling far more fashionable than she had ever done -in her life, turned up at Strathfieldsaye at a quarter past one, "the -surprise" duly materialized even before the Christmas luncheon at -one-thirty. Her father gave her a check for fifty pounds. - -On Melia's last visit to Strathfieldsaye she had felt quite "out of -it," but not so now. Partly it may have been the new clothes. Formerly, -she had felt self-conscious, awkward, hopelessly shabby in the midst of -a grandeur to which she was unused, whereby she was thrown back upon -her embittered self, but now her changing circumstances, the considered -kindness of her mother and Gerty, and especially her father's new -attitude towards her gave her a sense of happiness almost. - -Perhaps the fact that Ethel, Mrs. Doctor Cockburn, was unable to be -present may also have ministered a little to this feeling. Ethel's -absence was much deplored. Somehow a void was created which seemed to -rob the modest function of any claim to distinction it might have had; -yet in her heart Melia felt that the absence of Mrs. Doctor made it -easier for her personally, and even for her mother, whatever it may -have done for people so accomplished in the world as her father now -was, and for Aunt Gerty who somehow had learned to be genteel without -being stuck-up. With Ethel, on the other hand, she had never felt quite -at her ease. Nor did anybody, if it came to that. Putting people at -their ease was not among Mrs. Doctor Cockburn's many gifts. She was so -much a lady that simple folk were apt to be overwhelmed by her sense of -her happy condition. It was difficult for ordinary people to be their -plain selves in her presence; ordinary they might be, but in social -intercourse Mrs. Doctor seemed almost to resent their plainness as -being in the nature of a slight upon herself. - -However, Ethel was not there. And in Melia's opinion her absence gave a -finer flavor to the turkey, a gentler quality to the plum pudding and a -more subtle aroma to the blazing fumes that crowned it. Nevertheless, -it was a theme for much comment. An Event of the first magnitude was -almost due to take place in the family; and the head of it, presiding -over the modest feast with a kind of genial majesty which ever-growing -public recognition of his unusual qualities seemed to enhance and to -humanize, made no secret of the fact that he very much wanted to have a -little grandson. - -"Well, Josiah," said the gallant Gerty, adding a little water to some -excellent claret and smiling at him with two level rows of white teeth, -"I am sure we all hope your wish will be gratified. No man, I'm sure, -if I may be allowed to say so, more thoroughly deserves a little -grandson than yourself." - -To some minds, perhaps, it was not quite in the Gertrude tradition. -It was Christmas Day and in crowning the Christmas pudding Josiah had -been a thought on the free side, no doubt, with some of the finest old -brandy even the Duke of Wellington could boast; but in any case she -meant well. All the same, the Mayoress could not repress a slight frown -of annoyance. The demonstration did not amount to more than that. It -did not really convict Gerty of bad taste, but Maria felt somehow that -she had to watch her continually. Gerty was such a Schemer. Besides, -what business was it of Gerty's anyway? - -"Thank you, Gert." The Mayor raised his glass to the Serpent with the -homely charm that was never seen to greater advantage than on Christmas -Day in the family circle. "Good health and good luck all round. I must -have that little grandson, somehow. Melia, my gel, that's something for -you and your good man to bear in mind." - -Melia flushed. She looked so confused and so unhappy that the watchful -Gerty, who with all her ways really spent a good deal of time thinking -for others, suddenly perceived that it might be kind to change the -subject. - -"Josiah," said Gerty, "what is this one hears about a public -presentation to Sally?" - -"You may well ask that." The Mayor held up a glass of '68 port to the -light. "Some of those jockeys on the City Council have been making -themselves very officious." - -"Glad to hear it, Josiah." Gerty was just as pat as your hat. "Think -of the honor she's brought to the city. Surely right and surely proper -that what Sally has done should be publicly recognized. Even the -_Times_ says she's a credit to the Empire." - -"All very well," said his worship. "But it's nothing like ten years -since I used to lay her across my knee and spank her. There was one -slipper I kept for the purpose." With a humorous sigh he converged upon -the brim of his wine glass. "But I could never make nothing of that -gel. There was always the devil in her. Public presentation's all very -well, but some of those jockeys on the Council have persuaded the Duke -to make it, and he's fair set on my takin' the chair as I'm Mayor o' -the city and so on." - -"The Duke is such a sensible man!" An arch preen of Gerty's plumage. -"Only right and proper, Josiah, that you should take the chair. The -other day, according to the _Tribune_, the French Government gave her a -very high decoration. She's quite a heroine in Paris." - -"I'm not surprised at anything." In the Mayor's grim eye was quite -as much vexation as there was humor. "Stubborn as a mule. And that -independent. Must always go her own gait. Nice thing my having to -preside over three thousand people while she's being handed an -illuminated address. Of course, that Aylett's at the back of it. -Mischievous dog! I said if there must be a public presentation, as I -was the father o' the hussy, it was up to somebody else to preside. -But, seemingly, they don't take to the idea." - -"Of course not, Josiah." - -Groaned the Mayor, "I'll have to make the best of it, I suppose. Still, -a scurvy trick on the part of that Aylett." - - - - -XLII - - -In spite of the Mayor's attitude, which was unsympathetic to the -verge of discouragement, the Town Clerk was able to inform him on New -Year's morning that Miss Sarah Ann Munt had graciously consented to -accept an illuminated address in commemoration of her deeds on January -twenty-fifth at the Floral Hall. The news was not received graciously. -Josiah had comforted himself with the not unreasonable hope that the -Hussy would decline the presentation; it would be so like her to upset -their plans. But no, after all, Sally preferred to behave with still -deeper cussedness. She wrote a charmingly polite letter from the Depôt -of the Northern Command at Screwton, where she was at present attached, -to inform the members of the Blackhampton City Council that it would -give her great pleasure to attend the function on January twenty-fifth -and that she was very sensible of the honor about to be conferred upon -her. And that, after all, was even more like her than a refusal of the -proposal would have been. - -Josiah was more disconcerted than he cared to own. It was necessary -to hide his feelings as far as he could, but he was not a finished -dissembler, and, in addition to "that Aylett," there were several -members of the Council who seemed to enjoy the situation. Several -of these received a piece of the Mayor's mind in the course of the -morning. "He didn't know what they could be thinking of to be wastin' -the Town's money in that way." In other words, Josiah had decided to -carry things off with a high hand. - -That evening, after dinner, he sat down and wrote a letter. - - "Dear Sarah Ann, I understand that you are to be presented with an - Address on the twenty-fifth at the Floral Hall. Your mother and I hope - that you will be able to come and stay here over the week end. Your - affectionate Father, Josiah Munt. P.S. No need to tell you that this - Affair is none of my doing." - -It was not an easy letter to write nor was the Mayor altogether -satisfied when it was written. But in the circumstances it wouldn't do -to say too much. - -By return of post came a dry, rather curt note from Sally. She thanked -her father for the invitation, but she had already promised Ethel that -when next in Blackhampton she would stay at Park Crescent. - -Josiah felt annoyed. Once more it was so like her. Somehow the reply -left him less easy in his mind than ever. He would be glad when the -ordeal of the twenty-fifth was over. He didn't trust the minx. As -likely as not she would play some trick or other; she was quite capable -of affronting him publicly. However, the eyes of the world were upon -him, he must keep a stiff upper lip, he must see that she didn't down -him. - -In the meantime, from another quarter, bitter disappointment came. The -high hopes of a little grandson did not materialize. Instead of a lusty -Horace Josiah Cockburn bursting upon a flattered world, the inferior -tribe of Gwenneths and Gwladyses had a Gwendolen added to their number. -It was quite a blow. The Mayor and all his family had set their hearts -on a boy. For once the successful Ethel had been less than herself. She -had failed conspicuously. It was impossible to conceal the fact that -people were a little disappointed with her. - -Happily, Gwendolen had enough sense of proportion and right feeling to -arrive according to schedule. It would have been unpardonable in her -to have prevented Mrs. Doctor from attending the important function -on the twenty-fifth at the Floral Hall and the even more important -ceremony on the twenty-sixth when the Duke was to open the new annex -to the Mayor of Blackhampton's hospital, which at one acute moment she -had threatened to do. Fortunately Gwendolen remembered herself in time. -She contrived to make her appearance on January second in this vale of -tears, and, although from the outset not a popular member of society, -after all she was less unpopular than she might have been had she -deferred her arrival until a week later. - - - - -XLIII - - -The scene at the Floral Hall was worthy of the occasion. All that -was best in the public life of Blackhampton and of the county of -Middleshire was gathered in force in the ornate building in New Square. - -There was more than one reason for the representative character of the -audience. In the first place it was felt to be a royal opportunity to -exalt the horn of patriotism. This public recognition of the heroic -Miss Munt was a compliment paid to the women of Britain, to those many -thousands of magnificent women whose deeds had proved them worthy of -their brothers, their husbands and their sons. Again, the figure of -Sally herself had fired the public imagination. A Joan of Arc profile -overlaid by a general air of you-be-damnedness made an ideal picture -postcard as her father had already found to his cost. All sorts of -people seemed to take a fantastic pleasure in addressing them to Josiah -Munt, Esquire, J.P., Strathfieldsaye, The Rise, Blackhampton. "How -proud you must be of her," et cetera. Ad nauseam. - -Moreover, this function was intended as a tribute to the Mayor himself. -His worth was now recognized by all classes. He was the right man in -the right place; his boundless energy and his practical sense were of -the utmost value to the community; and the wise men of that thickly -populated district seized the chance of paying homage to Josiah and at -the same time of exploiting a powerful personality in the interests of -the state. - -At three o'clock, when the Mayor came on to the platform, the large -hall was very full. He was followed by the Duke of Dumbarton, a genial, -young-middle-aged nobleman, who was to make the presentation, and by -other magnates. Behind the Chairman many notables were seated already; -and to lend point to the somewhat intimate nature of the proceedings, -which may or may not have been part of the design of these "in the -know," the members of Josiah's family with the national heroine in -their midst had been grouped prominently upon his right hand. - -The Town Clerk, a little wickedly perhaps, had intimated beforehand -to the Mayor that the proceedings would really be in the nature of -"a family party." At all events, his worship took the hint "of that -Aylett" literally. Before sitting down at the table and taking formal -charge of the meeting his eyes chanced to light on a group of men in -hospital blue for whom places had been reserved in the front row of -the balcony. Among these he recognized Corporal Hollis, whose leg as a -result of five weeks' special treatment had improved quite remarkably. - -The Mayor went to the end of the platform and called loudly, "Bill, -you are wanted down here. Come on to the platform, my boy." - -The Corporal did not covet notoriety, but it would have been as wise to -thwart the waters of Niagara as to resist the will of the City's chief -magistrate at a public meeting. Until his instructions had been carried -out there was not a chance of a start being made. Reluctantly realizing -this the Corporal in the course of three minutes had made his way down -from the gallery and on to the platform, a crutch in each hand, where -his august father-in-law received him. - -"Come on, Bill." He was shepherded along the front row of chairs as -if the presence of three thousand people was a very ordinary matter. -"You come and sit with the wife. Colonel Hickman, kindly move up a bit. -Thank you. Like a chair for your leg? If you do, I'll get one." - -The Corporal declined a chair for his leg, just as the meeting incited -by certain officious members of the Town Council broke into cheers. -Melia and the Corporal, seated side by side, were covered in momentary -confusion. Then the chairman took his seat at the table, reduced the -meeting to silence by rapping the board sternly with his mallet and -stood up again briefly to open the proceedings. These consisted in -patriotic speeches from Lieutenant-General Sir William Hardcastle, -K.C.B., and the Duke of Dumbarton, and the presentation of an -illuminated scroll in a gold casket to Miss Sarah Ann Munt. - -First, a speech excellent in its kind, which paid tribute to the deeds -of the sons and daughters of the Empire in all parts of the world; also -it emphasized the sternness of the hour and the need for "keeping on, -keeping on." Then, amid a flutter of excitement, came the presentation -to Miss Munt. It was made by the Duke, a figure deservedly popular all -over the district from which, to be sure, he derived immense revenues. -A master of courtly phrase and well turned compliment, he gave the -heroine of the occasion the full benefit of his powers. And when at -last, in the purview of three thousand people, the dauntless Sally came -forth to the table to receive the casket and scroll she was a sight to -behold. - -Rather tall, very slender, brown of cheek and with the eye of a falcon, -in her simple, faded, but much beribboned khaki she looked at that -moment a child of the gods. At the sight of her a thrill ran through -the hall. Cinema, newspaper, picture postcard had led that assembly -to set its hopes high, but the reality, in its calm strength, with a -faintly ironical smile fusing a noble fixity of purpose, more than -fulfilled them. In the youngest daughter of the Mayor of the city was -symbolized the glorious spirit of the youth of the Empire. - -A hush came over the great audience. The Duke opened the casket and -took out the scroll. Everybody seemed fascinated by her, including the -members of her own family in a group at the right-hand of the Chair. -But there was just one person there who did not seem willing to submit -without a struggle to her dynamic influence; and that person was her -rather rueful, slightly scandalized male parent. - -Even now, in this, of all moments, his worship seemed to detect in -that amazing personality the spirit of Damnable Independence. How many -times in the past, in the stress of combat, when it had been his will -against hers, had he seen that dogged, oh-go-to-the-devil look which -would surely have driven him mad had not he been weak enough to admire -it secretly. There was no getting topside of a look of that kind. As -she stood in the presence of the ducal necktie, with a faint trace -of humorous scorn at the corners of her lips, the outraged Chairman -suddenly caught and fixed her eye. And as he did so his own eye, as of -old, seemed to say to her, "One word from You, our Sally, and I'll give -You such a Lammoxing!" - -The casket and scroll were handed to Miss Munt, who acknowledged them -with a graceful inclination of an imperial head, and then cheers broke -out in a hurricane. In part, no doubt, they were inspired by family -associations, for her father had grown vastly popular; but in large -measure they were due beyond a doubt to sheer power of personality. The -secret force which distinguishes one human being from another, over -and beyond their works and their walk in life, belonged to Sally in -sovereign degree. Her portraits and her fame had kindled hopes which -the dauntless reality had more than fulfilled. In the sight of all she -stood a true daughter of her race, foursquare, unconquerable. - -At last the cheers subsided and then arose demands for a speech from -the Mayor. As the result of assiduous practice in war oratory Josiah -had won remarkable success. He did not pretend to polish or to flights -of intellect or fancy, but he had a knack of speechmaking that was -immensely to the taste of his fellow citizens. In response to the -insistent demand of the meeting he rose ponderously. - -On the crowded platform, as in the body of the hall itself, was many a -shrewd judge of men. The average Briton of all classes has an instinct -in such matters that is almost uncanny. He knows a man when he sees -one. And when the Mayor stood up to address them, a little yet not too -much, embarrassed by the nature of his reception, all present knew that -they saw one now. Charmed and delighted by the heroine of the piece, so -shrewd a body of persons may also have been rather amazed that she had -come to happen. But, somehow, her father seemed to explain her. A rough -diamond, no doubt, but at that moment, in his self-possession, in his -self-belief, in his titanic grappling power when faced with difficulty, -he was an expression of the genius of the race. - -All the same it was not easy for the Mayor of Blackhampton to find -words at that moment. As a rule, when on his legs he did not suffer a -lack of them. He had a natural gift of speech and a faculty of humor -which found expression in many a racy idiom. But his powers threatened -to desert him now. - -"Ladies and gentlemen," he began. There was a pause and then he -began again. "Ladies and gentlemen." There was a second pause while -three thousand sympathetic fellow citizens hung upon the phrase. -And then at last slowly and grimly the great voice boomed out, -"Ladies and gentlemen, there are those who think they can down the -Anglo-Saxon race, but"--slight pause--"they don't know what they are -un-der-ta-kin'----" - -There was one pause more. It lasted but an instant for the meeting -broke out in a roar. Only too well had the Mayor interpreted the -thought that was dominating the minds of his fellow citizens. - - - - -XLIV - - -On the Sunday after the famous meeting at the Floral Hall, Bill paid a -first visit to Strathfieldsaye. He was loth to yield to the will of his -father-in-law, but Josiah would take no denial. Corporal Hollis was a -stubborn man, but no one under the rank of a field marshal could hope -to resist effectively the Mayor of Blackhampton in his second year of -office. - -Due notice was given by Josiah that he was going personally to fetch -Melia on Sunday afternoon. He intended to drive in his car to Love Lane -for that purpose. On the way back he would call at the hospital for -the Corporal "who must come along up home and drink a dish of tea with -Maria." - -The program was not exactly to the taste of Bill, who had little use -for tea and perhaps even less use for his "in-laws." But what could he -do in face of the Mayor's ukase? - -Thus it was that in the twilight of a memorable Sunday the Corporal -made his first appearance in Strathfieldsaye's spacious drawing-room. -In the past month his leg had surprisingly improved, but final recovery -would be long and slow, and he still required two crutches. On entering -the room he was a little disconcerted to find so distinguished -a company, for in addition to the Mayoress, mutely superb at the -tea table, was Mrs. Doctor Cockburn, more vocal in black velvet, -Miss Preston, as usual, touched with fashion, and, standing on the -hearthrug, near the fire, in her faded khaki was the slight but martial -form of Sally. - -The presence of Sally was a surprise to the Mayor. He had not expected -to see her there, and as soon as his eye lit on her he gave a start. -First of all, however, he shepherded the Corporal into a comfortable -chair with a tenderness hard to credit in him, fixing up the injured -leg on a second chair and laying the crutches on the carpet by the -Corporal's side. - -Having done all this, the Mayor moved up to the hearthrug, his hand -outstretched. "Very glad to see you here, my gel." Without hesitation -and in the frankest way he kissed Sally loudly upon the cheek. It was -manly and it was also bold, for such an act seemed perilously like -kissing in public a decidedly soldierlike young man. - -Sally didn't seem to mind, however. She was just as frank and -unaffected as her father. Moreover, she had acquired a rich laugh and -an authority of manner almost the equal of his own. She complimented -him upon his speech and quizzically added that he ought to stand for -Parliament. Josiah promptly rejoined that if he did he'd be as much use -as some of those jackasses, no doubt. - -The Mayor then carried a cup of tea to the Corporal and Aunt Gerty -provided him with bread and butter and a plate to put it on; and -then Sally moved across from the chimneypiece, sat down very simply -on a hassock by his side and began at once to talk to him. Plain, -direct talk it was, full of technical turns and queer out-of-the-way -information which could have only come from the most intimate -first-hand knowledge. But it was palpably unstudied, without the least -wish to pose or impress, and presently with almost the same air of -blunt modesty the Corporal began talking to her. - -To Mrs. Doctor and even to Miss Preston it seemed rather odd that a -real live graduate of Heaven-knew-where should sit tête-à-tête with -poor Melia's husband and be completely absorbed by him and the crude -halting syllables he emitted from time to time. Still to the Mayor -himself, standing with his broad back to the fire and toying like a -large but domesticated wolf with a buttered scone, it didn't seem so -remarkable. - -Josiah, at any rate, was able to perceive that his youngest daughter -and his son-in-law were occupied with realities. They had been through -the fire. Battle, murder, death in every unspeakable form had been -their companions months on end. These two were full-fledged Initiates -in an exclusive Order. - -The Mayor, foursquare on the hearthrug, had never seemed more at home -in the family circle, but, even his noble self-assurance abated a -feather or two out of deference to Sally and the Corporal. They had -been there. They knew. If Josiah had respect for anything it was for -actual first-hand experience. - -Mrs. Doctor, however, was not fettered by the vanities of hero worship. -In spite of Sally and in spite of the Corporal she was able as usual to -bring her light tea table artillery into play. At strategic intervals -her high-pitched, authoritative voice took spasmodic charge of the -proceedings. Now it was the Egg Fund and the incompetence of Lady -Jope, now the latest dicta of Miss Heber-Knollys, now the widespread -complaints of the Duke's inaudibility at the Floral Hall. - -Miss Preston fully agreed. "So different from you, Josiah." She was -well on the target as usual. "But he made up for it, didn't he, by the -nice things he said of you when he opened the Annex?" - -"Very flattering, wasn't he?" Mrs. Doctor took up the ball. "And wasn't -it charming of him to come here to lunch. Such an unaffected man!" - -Josiah broke his scone in half and held a piece in each hand. "Why -shouldn't he come here?" The voice had the old huffiness, yet mitigated -now by an undeniable twinkle of humor. "He got quite as good food here -as he'd get at home, even if we don't run to gold plate and flunkeys." - -"Quite, Josiah, quite," piped the undefeated Gerty. "And only too glad, -I'm sure, to come and see the Mayor of Blackhampton." - -The laugh of his worship verged upon the whimsical. "Gert, if you want -my private opinion, he didn't come to see me at all." - -"Pray, then, Father, who did he come to see?" fluted Mrs. Doctor. - -Josiah jerked a humorous thumb in the direction of Sally, who was still -tête-à-tête with the Corporal. - -"Nonsense, Father." - -"Well, it's my opinion." - -It was hard for Mrs. Doctor to believe that her youngest sister could -be the attraction. But her father was clear upon the point. And that -being the case it made the pity all the greater that Sally had declined -the invitation to be present. She had been urged to come to luncheon -and meet the Duke who was anxious to meet her, but she had preferred to -stay at Park Crescent and play with the children. - -So like her! - - - - -XLV - - -"D'you mind if I smoke, Mother?" - -The lady at the tea table looked mutely at her lord. - -Josiah nodded graciously. "Do as you like, gel." - -Sally produced a wisp of paper and a very masculine tobacco pouch and -began rolling a cigarette in an extremely competent manner. Josiah -proffered a box of Egyptian but Sally preferred her own and struck a -match on the sole of her shoe in a fashion at once so accomplished and -so boylike as to take away the breath of her mother and Aunt Gerty. - -As she sat talking easily and yet gravely to the Corporal with her -long straight legs and trim ankles freely displayed by a surprisingly -short khaki skirt she looked more like a boy than ever. And such was -the thought in the minds of the other three ladies, who agreed tacitly -that the skirt and the cigarette and the astonishing freedom of pose -were not quite maidenly. Still with those ribbons, and that clear deep -voice and that wonderful eye she was fascinating. Even her father, who -on principle declined to admire her Damnable Independence, was unable -to resist the impact of a personality that was now world famous. - -Gazing at her in stern astonishment he pointed to her abbreviated lower -garment. "Excuse me, gel," he said, "but do you mind telling us what -you've got underneath?" - -Sally deigned no reply in words, but stuck the cigarette in the corner -of her mouth with unconscious grace and dexterously lifted her skirt. A -decidedly workmanlike pair of knickerbockers was disclosed. - -Josiah gasped. - -The unconcerned Sally continued to talk with the Corporal, while the -Mayor, half scandalized, struggled against a guffaw. "Things seem to be -changing a bit, as you might say. Don't you think so, Mother?" - -Aunt Gerty took upon herself to answer, as she often did, for poor -bewildered Maria. "I fully agree, Josiah." She lowered her discreet -voice. "But almost a pity ... almost a pity ... don't you think?" - -The Mayor pursed his lips. "Durned if I know what to think, Gert." He -scratched a dubious head. "Seems to me the Empire is not going to be -short o' man power for some little time to come, eh?" - -"Still ... not ... quite ... maidenly ... Josiah." - -"Daresay you're right." The Mayor fought down his feelings. "Next -chicken on the roost'll be the hussy puttin' up for parliament." - -"Bound to get in if she does," Gerty sounded rather rueful. "There -isn't a constituency in England that wouldn't jump at the chance of -electing her just now." - -Josiah breathed hard while this obvious truth sank into his bones, but -Mrs. Doctor assured Gerty that she was talking nonsense. Her father -being frankly opposed to this pious opinion, Ethel appealed to her -mother. Maria, alas, was in the position of a modest wether who has -given birth to a superb young panther. She simply didn't know what -to think, and by forlornly folding her hands on her lap gave mute -expression to her feelings. - -At the best, however, it was a futile discussion as Gerty was quick -to realize. She turned the talk adroitly into other channels. "This -morning," she said, "as I was walking along Queen's Road I had quite -a shock. I met a blind man being led by an old woman. And who do you -think it was?" - -Mrs. Doctor had no idea who it could be. - -"It was Harold Nixey the architect. Such a pitiful object! Did you -know, Josiah, that he is now quite blind?" - -Josiah was aware of the fact. - -"How sad, how very sad!" said Ethel. "And he has done so well, so -wonderfully well, in France." - -Gerty considered it nothing less than a calamity--for an architect of -all people. And for one who promised such great things. - -Sally was apparently absorbed in talk with the Corporal, but she lifted -her eyes quickly. "Blind, did you say? Harold Nixey?" - -"Yes," said Gerty. "Such a grievous thing." - -"Aye, it is that!" The voice of Josiah was heavy and somber. - -Ethel hoped for his recovery. - -Her father shook his head. "From what they tell me the sight is -completely destroyed. I was with the lad yesterday." It was clear from -Josiah's manner that he was moved by real feeling. "Wonderful pluck -and cheerfulness. He knows he'll never draw another elevation, but he -pretends to that old mother of his that he's going to get better--just -to keep her going." - -"And you say, Father"--it was the slow precise voice of Sally--"that he -can't get better?" - -"Not a dog's chance from what Minyard the eye doctor tells me. It's a -gas those devils have been using." The Mayor sighed. "He's a good lad, -is that. And he'd have gone far. Rose from nothing, as you might say, -but in a year or two he'd have been at the top of the tree." Josiah, -whose gospel was "getting on," again sighed heavily. - -"I think I'll go and see him, Father, if you'll give me his address." -Again the slow, precise voice of Sally. - -"Do. It'll be a kindness. Number Fourteen, Torrington Avenue. The -second turn on the right past the Brewery along Corfield Road. Pleased -to have a visit from you, I'm sure. He talked about you a lot. His -mother had read him the _Tribune's_ account of Thursday. He says he -used to know you in London when he was studying at South Kensington." - -Under Sally's deep tan the blood imperceptibly mounted. "Yes, I used -to know him quite well." She didn't add that she had refused rather -peremptorily to marry him. - -"Well, go and see him, gel. A very good soldier they tell me--D.S.O. -and M.C. with two bars." - -"_Two_ bars, Josiah!" Gerty put up her glasses impressively. - -"And earned 'em--they tell me. Come to think of it, it's wonderful what -some of these young chaps have done." - -"And some of the older ones, too, Josiah." Gerty looked across at -the Corporal who was toying pensively with a cigarette that had been -pressed upon him. - -"Aye, and some of the old uns, too!" The Mayor followed the glance of -his sister-in-law with the eye of perfect candor. "And not been brought -up to it, mark you. They tell me our B.B. is second to none in the -British Army." - -The Corporal looked as if he would like to have confirmed the Mayor's -statement had he not remembered that professional etiquette required so -delicate a topic to be left exclusively to civilians. - -Sally and Ethel went after awhile, and Josiah led the Corporal across -the hall to what he called "his snuggery," wherein he considered -his business affairs and the affairs of the City, and, although by -no means a reading man, occasionally referred to the Encyclopedia -Britannica and kindred works. He was at pains to dispose the Corporal -in comfort near the fire and then gave him an excellent cigar and -insisted on his smoking it. - -At first little passed between them in the way of words. They smoked -in silence, but the Corporal could not help thinking, as he delicately -savored the best cigar he had ever held between his fingers, how much -prosperity had improved "the Mester." He was so much mellower, so -much more generous than of yore. His outlook on the world was bigger -altogether; the Corporal's own outlook was larger also; somehow, he had -not the heart to resist the peace overtures of his father-in-law. - -Said Josiah at last, pointing to the Corporal's leg: "A longish job, I -expect." - -The doctors seemed to think it might be. Still it had got the turn now. -It was beginning to mend. - -"I've been wondering," said the Mayor, "whether it mightn't be possible -to get you transferred to munitions. Johnson and Hartley are short o' -foremen. Pound a day to begin with. What do you say, my boy?" - -The Corporal gazed into the fire without saying anything. - -Said the Mayor, half apologetically, "You're not so young as you were, -you see. Forty-three, they tell me, is a bit long in the tooth for the -trenches. And you've done your bit. Why not give some o' the younger -ones a chance?" - -In silence the Corporal went on gazing into the fire. - -"Anyhow it might be worth thinking over." - -The Corporal removed the cigar from his mouth and appeared laconically -to agree that it might be worth thinking over. But the suggestion -didn't seem to fire him. - -A deeper silence followed and then said the Mayor with a certain gruff -abruptness which was a partial return to the old manner, "I'm thinking -it'll be a good thing for Melia to quit Love Lane. She's not done so -bad with the business lately, but it might be wise to sell it now. -And she'll be none the worse for a rest in country air. Happen I told -you that back in the spring I bought that cottage up at Dibley that -that artist chap--I forget his name for the moment--used to come and -paint in. Rare situation--sandstone foundation--highest point in the -county--see for miles from his studio at the end o' the garden. Don't -quite know why I bought it except that it was going cheap. An old -property--nobody seemed to fancy it--but the freehold is not going to -get less in value if I'm a judge o' such matters and the place is in -pretty good condition. Suppose, my boy, you and Melia moved in there? -Save me a caretaker, and some o' the finest air in Europe comes down -the valley of the Sharrow." - -The heart of the Corporal leaped at these amazing words, but his eyes -were still fixed upon the fire. - -"What was the name o' that artist chap? A local man, but quite well up, -they tell me." - -"Stanning, R.A." Something hard and queer rose in the Corporal's throat. - -"That's the jockey--Stanning, R.A. Now I remember ... a rare dust there -was in the Council some years ago when the Art Committee bought one of -his pictures for...." The Mayor drew heavily at his cigar ... "for ... -dram it! I'm losing my memory...." - -"A thousand guineas," the Corporal whispered. - -"Something like that. Something extortionate. I remember there was -a proper dust when the Council got to know of it. All very well to -encourage local talent, I remember saying, but a thousand guineas was -money. Maxon the curator resigned." - -The Corporal kept his eyes on the fire. - -With a rich chuckle the Mayor turned over the cigar in his mouth at -the memory of old battles in the Council Chamber. "The fur flew for -a bit, I can tell you. He wasn't an R.A. at that time and the poor -chap's gone now so happen he'll begin to rank as an old master. They -tell me fabulous sums are paid for these old masters, so one o' these -days Stanning, R.A., may grow into money and the City'll have a bargain -after all. But I don't pretend to understand such things myself. A -brave man, anyway. Joined up with the B.B. at the beginning and was -killed out yonder." - -The Corporal nodded but said nothing. The Mayor went on with his -cigar. "I'm trying to remember the name of another artist chap who -used to live in that cottage when I was a boy. We used to jang from -school on fine afternoons in the summer and go bathing in Corfield -Weir. And painting by the river was an old chap with a long beard -like Tennyson--you've seen the picture of Tennyson"--Josiah pointed -to a lithograph of the bard on the wall behind the Corporal--"but -not quite so fierce looking. Wonderful blue eyes had that old feller -... lord love me, what _did_ they call him!... I remember we used to -throw stones at his easel. We got one right through it once, when he -had nearly finished his picture and he had to begin all over again. -What _was_ the name of the old feller?" The Mayor fingered his cigar -lovingly and looked into the fire. "Soft Billy ... that was it.... Soft -Billy." Josiah sighed gently. "Poor, harmless old boy. I can see those -blue eyes now." - -The Mayor drew gently at his cigar while the Corporal kept his eyes on -the fire. "That reminds me.... I've got one of the old chap's pictures, -somewhere." The Mayor laughed softly to himself. "Took it for a bad -debt ... quite a small thing ... wonder what's become of it?" He grew -pensive. "Must be up in the box room." Suddenly he rose from his -chair. "I'll go and see if I can find it." - -The man of action went out of the room, leaving the Corporal in silent -enjoyment of warmth, the tobacco and many reflections. - -In a few minutes Josiah returned in triumph with a small piece of -unframed canvas in his hand. He rang the bell for a duster, of which it -was much in need, and when the duster had been duly applied he held the -picture up to the light. "It wants a frame." The tone was indulgent but -casual. "Looks like Dibley Chase to me." He handed the landscape to the -Corporal who gazed at it with wistful eagerness. - -"Dibley Chase was always a favorite pitch for these artist chaps. -See the Sharrow gleaming between the trees?" Josiah traced with his -finger the line of the river. "I like that bit o' sun creeping down -the valley. Good work in it, I daresay ... but I don't pretend to be -up in such matters. Very small but it may be worth a frame. Been up in -the attic at Waterloo Villa for years ... aye, long before Waterloo -Villa...." Josiah took a loving puff of his cigar. "I must have had -that picture when I first went to the Duke o' Wellington in March, -'79. How time gets on! Had it of that lame chap who used to keep -the Corfield Arms who went up the spout finally. Used to supply him -with beer. Gave me this for a barrel he couldn't pay for." The Mayor -laughed richly and put on his spectacles. "Can you see the name o' the -artist? What was the name o' that old Soft Billy ... ha, there it is." -The Mayor brought his thumb to bear on the right-hand corner. "'J. -Torrington, 1854' ... a long time ago. John Torrington, that was his -name ... some of his work grew in value, I've heard say. A harmless old -man!" - -The Mayor sighed a little and gave himself up to old memories while the -Corporal held the picture in his hand. "Soft Jack ... aye, that was his -name.... I can see him now with his white beard and long hair ... I'm -speakin' of fifty years ago. Soft Jack, yes ... had been a good painter -so they said ... but an old man, then. Used to sit by the Weir painting -the sun on the water. I've pitched many a stone at his easel ... in the -summertime after bathing." - -The Corporal was too absorbed in the picture to heed the Mayor's -reminiscences. Josiah laughed softly at his thoughts and chose a second -cigar. "Too small to be worth much," he said. "But Melia might like it. -She was always a one for pictures. We'll pop a bit o' the _Tribune_ -round it and she can stick it in the front parlor up at Dibley where -the old boy lived and died." - - - - -XLVI - - -The next morning, Monday, towards eleven o'clock, Sally dropped -expertly off the municipal tram, without waiting for it to stop, at the -second turn on the right past the Brewery, along the suburban end of -the Corfield Road, and entered a street that she had never seen before. - -Torrington Avenue was one of those thoroughfares on the edge of large -cities that seem to spring into being in a day and a night. In spite of -the obvious haste with which its small houses had been flung together -it was not unpleasing. But when Sally was last in her native city, a -year before the war, this area had been a market garden. - -Number Fourteen was a well kept little dwelling in the middle of a neat -row. Just as Sally reached it, an old woman with a wicker shopping -basket came out of the iron gate. - -"Mrs. Nixey?" - -The visitor had recognized the old lady but the converse did not hold -true. - -"You don't remember me, Mrs. Nixey. I'm Sally Munt." - -The old lady gave vent to surprise, pleasure, incredulity. But even -then she was not able to identify one who but a few years ago had been -almost as familiar to her as her own son until Sally had lifted her cap -and rolled back the fur collar of her immense khaki overcoat. - -"Well, I never!" The old woman's voice was shrill and excited. "It -_is_ Miss Munt. I _am_ pleased to see you, my dear." The distinguished -visitor suddenly received a peck on a firm brown cheek. "He knows all -about you. I read him the account of the doings at the Floral Hall. He -wanted to be there, but the Doctor thought it wouldn't be good for him. -It _is_ kind of you to come and see him.... It'll please him so." - -Sally cut the old lady short with a brief, pointed question or two. He -was very well in health except that he couldn't see, but he was always -telling his mother that he was quite sure he would be able to see -presently, although Dr. Minyard had told her privately that he couldn't -promise anything. - -The old lady led the way along the short path and applied a latchkey to -the front door. As it opened, Sally caught the delicately played notes -of a piano floating softly across the tiny hall. - -"He plays for hours and hours and hours," said the old lady. "Your -dear father has just given him a beautiful new piano. He's been such a -friend to Harold. Wonderful the interest he's taken in him." - -She opened the door of a small sitting room, whence the music came, -but the player wholly absorbed did not hear them enter. - -"Harold, who do you think has come to see you!" - -As the piano stopped and the musician swung round slowly on his stool, -Sally shivered at the pallor of the face and the closed eyes. She saw -that tears were trickling from them. - -"Miss Munt has come to see you." There was excitement in the voice of -the old lady. "You remember Miss Sally of Waterloo Villa. And to think -what we've been reading about her in the _Tribune_!" - -The musician sprang up with a boy's impulsiveness. "You don't say, -Mother--you don't say!" The eager voice had a music of its own. "Where -are you, Miss Sally?" He held out his hand. "Put your hand there and -then I shall believe it." - -Sally did as she was asked. - -"Well, well, it's really the great and famous you." He seemed to caress -that strong and competent paw with his delicate fingers. - -She couldn't find the courage to say anything. - -But he did not allow the silence to become awkward. "Better go and look -after your coupons, Mother, while Miss Sally and I talk shop." - -Upon that plain hint the old lady went away, closing the front door -after her, and then the blind man helped the visitor to take off her -heavy coat and put her into a chair. He found his way back to the music -stool without difficulty, but in sitting down he brushed the keys of -the piano with his coat sleeve. - -"Your dear, good father gave me this. A wonderful improvement on -the one we've scrapped. Did you hear me murdering Beethoven as you -came in? One's only chance now to score off the poor blighters!" His -cheerfulness, his whimsical courage, were amazing to Sally. "Since -last we met things have happened, haven't they? South Kensington Tube -Station, December, 1913. Æons ago." He sighed like a child. "By the -way, tell me, did you get a letter I sent to you when you did your 'go' -of time?" - -Sally had received the letter. Soft the admission and also blushing, -although he could not see that. - -"Wasn't meant as an impertinence, though perhaps it was one. Always -doing the wrong things at that time, wasn't I? And I'm saying 'em now. -Born under bad stars." He laughed a little and paused. "Jove! what -wonderful things you've done, though." - -"I've had luck." Her voice was firm at last. - -"Not more than you deserve. Hell of a time in Serbia ... must have had. -Don't know how you managed to come through it." - -"Just the stars." Sally laughed a little now. But never in her life had -she felt so little like laughing. She remembered that she used to think -him a bounder; she remembered how much his proposal had annoyed her. -Yet he was just the same now--the same Harold Nixey--only raised to a -higher power. Once she had despised his habit of thinking aloud, yet -now it almost enchanted her.... - -But she was not very forthcoming. He seemed to have to do the talking -for both. "Fritz beginning to get cold feet, do you think?" - -She didn't think so. - -"What are you doing now?" It was the dry tone of the professional -soldier. - -"I'm detailed for special duty in France." The tone of Sally was -professional also. - -He sighed a gentle, "When?" - -"Off to-morrow." - -He sighed again. - -"It was not until last evening,"--her voice changed oddly--"that I -heard you were at home." - -"Nice of you to come and see me," he said. "You must excuse the room -being in a litter." There was a table in the center on which was a -drawing board, geometrical instruments, many sheets of paper. "I've -been trying to work. I'm always trying ... but ... you need eyes to be -an architect ... you need eyes." - -Sally was suddenly pierced by the thought of his ambition and his -passion for work. He was going to do so much, he had begun so well. - -"I have an idea for a new cathedral for Louvain. Been studying -ecclesiastical architecture for years in my spare time." As he paused -his face looked ghastly. "It's all in my head ... but...." - -"Is it possible"--she could hardly speak--"for any one to help you--in -the details, I mean?" - -"They would have to get right inside my mind ... some one practical ... -yet very sympathetic ... and then the chances are that it wouldn't work -out." - -"It might, though." - -"Somehow, I don't think so." He was curiously frank. "I tell myself it -might, just to keep going. There's always the bare chance if I get the -right person to help me ... some one with great intelligence, great -insight, great sympathy, yet without ideas of their own." - -"You mean they wouldn't have to know too much?" - -"That's it ... not know too much. They would have to sink their -individuality in ... in one who couldn't.... Your father suggested -a partnership. But it wouldn't be fair, would it? Besides I should -be terribly trying to work with ... terribly trying ... perhaps -impossible." - -"Do you think you would be?" - -"In a partnership, yes. It couldn't answer. I'm so creative.... I have -always to stamp myself on my work ... if you know what I mean. Then -... as I say ... I don't know yet ... that ... I can pick up all the -threads that have been...." - -"You need," said Sally slowly and softly, "some intelligent amateur, -capable of drawing a ground plan, who would give himself up to you." - -He threw up his head eagerly. "That's it ... somebody quite -intelligent ... but without ambition ... who would"--the voice began to -tail off queerly--"have the courage ... not to mind ... the ferocious -egotism ... of the ... baffled." Suddenly he covered his face with his -hands. - -"It wouldn't take me very long to learn the rudiments, I think," said -Sally. "I'm rather quick at picking up the things that interest me. -It would be enormously interesting to see what could be done with -this--this----" - -"But you are off to France to-morrow." - -"The war won't last forever." - -The tone of her voice startled him. His heart leapt queerly. There was -a time, not so long ago, when he would have given his soul to have -surprised just that note in it. He began to shake violently. - -With all the will his calamity had left him he strove to hold himself -in. Her voice was music, her nearness magical; what she offered him now -was beyond his wildest hopes. Once he had jumped at her too soon, in -a moment of delirium; but he had always known, by force of the strong -temperament, that was such a torment to him now, that she was the only -woman in the world he would ever really care for. - -"I see just the kind of helper you need." Divinely practical, yet -divinely modern! "I could mug up my drawing in a week or two and I -should never know enough to want to interfere with anything that -mattered." - -He held himself tensely like one who sees a precipice yawning under -his feet. "America coming in, do you think?" It was a heroic change of -voice. "I wish she would. I'm afraid it may be a draw without her." - -Sally, with all her ribbons and her uniform, could rise to no immediate -interest in America. - -"Our poor lads have had an awful grueling on the Somme. Seven hundred -thousand casualties and nothing to show for it so far." - -"I know." The sightless eyes were lacerating her. "They ought to help -us. It's their war as much as it's ours." - -"We can't blame them for staying out. Can't blame anybody for staying -out. But we'll never get the right peace unless they help us." - -"Some people think they'd not make much difference." - -"My God!" It was the vehemence she used not to like. "They'd simply tip -the scale. Have you ever been there?" - -"No." - -"I have. Some country, America. They've pinched our best Torrington, -curse them ... not that that took me there. One afternoon, though, I -happened to be looking for it in a moldy, one-horse museum just off -Washington Square--I forget the name of it--when I walked straight into -the arms of dear old Jim Stanning who had actually come all the way -from Europe on purpose to gaze at it." - -Sally emitted becoming surprise. - -"If you read that in a novel you'd say it was the sort of thing that -doesn't happen. But it did happen. Fancy old Jim coming all those miles -by flood and field to look at a strip of canvas not as big as that -drawing board. 'The Valley of the Sharrow on an afternoon in July.' By -the way, did you ever happen to meet him?" - -Sally had never met Stanning the painter. - -"One of the whitest men that ever lived. Lies out there. A great chap, -Jim Stanning. Another Torrington almost for a certainty ... although he -doubted himself, whether he was big enough to fight his own success. -See what he meant?" - -It thrilled him a little when he realized that she did. - -For an instant the extinguished eyes seemed to well with light. "That -picture of his, 'As the Leaves of the Tree,' carries technique to a -point that makes one dizzy. Some say technique doesn't matter, but -there's nothing permanent without it." He sighed heavily. "Of course -the undaunted soul of man has to shine through it. And that's just what -Jim Stanning was--an undaunted soul. Dead at thirty-nine. We shan't -realize ... if we ever realize ... however...." - -Overcome by his thoughts for a moment, he could not go on. Sally sat -breathing hard. - -"If I were a rich man, as rich as Ford or Carnegie, I'd buy that -picture of old Jim's and send it to them in Berlin. Some day it might -help them to ask themselves just what it was that brought the man who -painted it, a man who simply lived for beauty, to die like a dog, half -mad, in a poisoned muckyard in Flanders." - -Suddenly he stopped and the light seemed to die in his face. Then he -turned round on the piano stool and broke delicately into the opening -bars of the haunted, wild and terrible Fifth Symphony. For the moment -he had forgotten that Sally was there. - -She got up from her chair and came to him as a child to a wounded and -suffering animal. Putting an arm round his clean but frayed collar she -kissed his forehead. - -"I shall come and see you again ... if I may." - -His sightless flesh seemed to contract as he lifted his thin hands from -the keyboard. "Don't!" he gasped. "Better not ... better not ... for -both of us." - -She knew he was right and something in her voice told him so. "... If I -may," she repeated weakly. - -He didn't answer. She pressed her lips again upon his forehead, then -took up her coat and went hastily from the room. - -The old woman was in the act of turning the latchkey in the front door. -She had got her coupons and was returning in triumph with a full basket. - -"Not going, Miss Sally, are you? I should like you to have seen his -decorations--D.S.O. with two Bars and such a wonderful letter from the -General." - -"I'm afraid I simply must go, Mrs. Nixey. Off to France to-morrow, and -I've got to pack." - -"Yes, my dear, I suppose so. Very good of you to come and see him." - -"Don't say that." - -At the sight of Sally's eyes the voice of the old woman changed -suddenly. "He thinks, my dear, he'll get better ... he quite thinks -he'll get better ... but ... but, Dr. Minyard...." Again the voice of -the old woman changed. "Ah, there he is playing again. How beautifully -he does play, doesn't he? Hours ... and hours ... and hours. So soft -and gentle ... the bit he's playing now reminds him of the wind in -Dibley Chase. Yes, and that bit too ... he says it makes him see the -sun dancing along the Sharrow on an afternoon in July. Beautiful -piano! So kind and thoughtful of your dear father! He quite thinks ... -he'll...." - - - - -XLVII - - -The Corporal's leg was a long time getting well. - -First it came on a bit, then it went back a bit; but the process of -recovery was a painful and a tardy business. Still it was much softened -by the judicious help of others. By the interest of the Mayor of the -city, whose model hospital on The Rise and its last word in equipment -meant access to more than one influential ear, Corporal Hollis in the -later stages of a long convalescence had the privileges of an out -patient. - -These privileges, moreover, were enjoyed in ideal conditions. Early in -April, Melia was installed at Torrington Cottage, Dibley. To the secret -gratification of her family, the business in Love Lane was given up, -and Melia's checkered life entered upon a new phase amid surroundings -wholly different from any it had known before. - -At first the change seemed almost too great to be enjoyed. After the -gloom, the semi-squalor, the hard toil of Love Lane, it was like an -entrance into paradise. And when, at the end of that enchanted month -of April, the Corporal joined her in the new abode, Melia's cup of -happiness seemed quite perilously full. - -That was a summer of magic days. For weeks on end they lived in a dream -that had come true. To Melia the well appointed house, the beautiful -surroundings, the bounty of her father were sources of perpetual -amazement; to the Corporal the extensive garden, so gloriously stocked -with flowers, fruit and vegetables, was a thing of delight; above all, -the tower at the end of it, commanding on every hand his lovely native -county, was a sacred thing, a temple of august memories. - -The Corporal sunning himself and smoking his pipe by the south -wall, where the peaches grew, could never have believed it to be -possible. Melia, tending the flowerbeds and the grass, at the end of a -not-too-strenuous summer's day, felt somehow that this was fairyland. -Yes, their dreams of the long ago had more than come true. And, -crowning consummation, in the eyes of each other, they were honored -husband and cherished wife. - -The Corporal was a long time getting well, but in that he was obeying -instructions. Those most competent to speak of his case had told him -not to be in a hurry; otherwise he might be permanently lame. And he -was entitled to take his time. He had done his bit. Moreover, as his -father-in-law assured him, it was the turn of younger men to "carry -on." He had been through more than a year and a half in the trenches -amid some of the cruelest fighting of the war; he was entitled to wear -two stripes of gold braid on his sleeve. If any man could nurse a -painful injury with a good conscience that man was Corporal Hollis. - -In spite of searing memories, in spite of the whole nation's anxieties, -in a measure made less, yet not wholly dispelled by the entrance into -the war of a great Ally, the Corporal was allowed a taste of those -half-forbidden fruits, Poetry and Romance. At such a time, perhaps, -with the issue still undecided and the trials of the people growing -more severe every week, the gilt on life's gingerbread should have -been denied him altogether. And yet by dogged pluck he had earned that -guerdon, and Melia by her simple faith was worthy to share it with him. - -The famous erection at the end of the garden, a weathercock at its -apex, a course of bricks and twelve stone steps at its base, was -haunted continually by an unseen presence. And it was a presence with -whom the Corporal long communed. Many an odd hour between sunrise and -sunset, a humble disciple of the Highest, pencil or brush in hand, -strove with hardly more than infantile art to surprise some of the -secrets of woodland, stream and hill. - -No wonder that at that particular corner, where mile upon lovely -mile of England rolled back to the frontiers of three counties, two -of her greatest painters had gloried in Beauty and drunk deep. The -lights tossed from the sky to the silver-breasted river gleaming a -thousand feet below and then cast back again were so many heralds and -sconce-bearers for those who had eyes to see. - -When the Corporal was not being wheeled round his enchanted garden, -or was not smoking his pipe in the sun, he was sitting with his back -to the weather, drawing and painting and dwelling in spirit with the -genius of place and, through it, with one immortal friend. - -Autumn came and the Corporal still needed a crutch. But he could get -about the garden now and even pluck the weeds, although not yet able -to dig. And he was so happy that he didn't chafe against the slow -recovery. He needed rest and he had earned it; of that there could be -no question. - -Meanwhile the months passed and events moved quickly. The war, to which -no glimpse of an end was yet in sight, continued to press ever more -severely upon all sections of the population. There was a shortage -of everything now except the spirit of grim determination. It was a -people's war, as no war had ever been, and the people, come what might, -were set on winning it. - -In November the signal compliment was paid Josiah of electing him to -office a third consecutive year. If anything, his second term had -enhanced his prestige; his authority in the city of Blackhampton -was greater than ever. More and more did he seem to be the man such -abnormal times required. And the Mayoress, although under the constant -threat of dissolution throughout a strenuous year, was still in the -land of the living. Looking back on what she had suffered, the fact -appeared miraculous; and yet as the end of the second term drew near, -had she been quite honest with herself, she might have been tempted -to own that she was none the worse for her experience. In some ways, -although the admission would have called for wild horses, she might -almost be said to be the better for it. Gertrude Preston, at any rate, -openly said so. - -Such being the case, Josiah did not hesitate to accept office for a -third term. By now he realized that he was the best man in the city, at -all events for that particular job. Everybody said so, from the Town -Clerk down; and it was no mere figure of speech. Indeed, Josiah felt -that Blackhampton could hardly "carry on" without him. - -He was an autocrat, it was true, his temper was despotic, but that was -the kind of man the times called for. It was no use having a divided -mind, it was no use having a mealy-mouth. With the political instinct -of a hardheaded race he had contrived to find a formula of government. -He could talk to Labor in the language it understood; and the employers -of Labor allowed him to talk to them, perhaps mainly for the reason -that he was not himself an employer, but a disinterested and, if -anything, slightly too honest, private citizen. - -Therefore, no great surprise was caused at the beginning of the New -Year when it was announced that the dignity of a Knight of the British -Empire had been conferred upon the Mayor of Blackhampton. Sir Josiah -Munt, K.B.E., took it as "all in the day's work." A democrat pur sang, -yet he didn't doubt "that he'd make as good a knight as some of 'em." -But the hapless Maria showed less stoicism. According to credible -witnesses, when the news came to her that Lady Munt was her future -style and degree, she fainted right off, and when at last the assiduous -Alice had brought her to, she put herself to bed for three days. - -Be that as it may, old issues were revived in that tormented breast. -Horace, Doctor Cockburn, had immensely strengthened his position in -the triumphant course of the preceding year, but the new situation -cried aloud for Doctor Tremlett. However, the Mayor telephoned to his -sister-in-law "to come at once and set her ladyship to rights," the -call was promptly obeyed by the dauntless Gerty, and the crisis passed. - - - - -XLVIII - - -The early months of the year 1918 saw the entire Allied Cause in the -gravest jeopardy. Even a superficial study of facts only partially -revealed has made it clear that disaster was invited by an almost -criminal taking of chances. The time is not yet for the whole truth to -be known. Meanwhile the muse of history continues to weave her Dædalian -spells.... - -On the last Sunday morning of that momentous and terrible March the -Mayor sent his car to Torrington Cottage. Melia and her husband had -been invited to spend the day at Strathfieldsaye. For several months -the Corporal had been working at a new aerodrome along the valley, -which happened to be within easy reach of his tricycle. His last -Medical Board had proved that his leg was still weak and in its opinion -not unlikely to remain so. But he had not been invalided out of the -Army, as there was still a chance that presently he might be able to -pass the doctor; at the same time, having regard to his age and the -nature of his injury, he had a reasonable hope of getting his discharge -whenever he cared to apply for it. - -More than once had Melia urged him to do so. Her arguments were strong. -He was not a young man and he had already "done his bit"; they were -very happy together in their charming house; and her father had said -that it would continue to be theirs as long as they cared to live in -it. The Corporal, however, could not quite bring himself to quit the -Army, even had such a course been possible. Something still held him. -He didn't know exactly what it was, but even now that the chance had -been given him he was loathe "to cut the painter." Pride seemed to lie -at the root of his reluctance. Melia felt it must be that. But the -Corporal knew that alchemies more potent were at work. - -On this fateful Sunday in March, after the midday meal, as he sat -smoking one of his father-in-law's cigars in the little room across the -hall he realized that pressure was being brought to bear upon him to -make a decision. Moreover, in Josiah's arguments, he heard the voice of -his wife. Melia had lately astonished the world with the news that she -was expecting a baby. The fact was very hard to credit that she was now -preparing clothes for her first-born. A nine days' wonder had ensued. -Such a thing was almost beyond precedent, yet, after all, Dame Nature -had been known to indulge in these caprices! The startled, fluttered, -rather piqued Mrs. Doctor, after consultation with her lord, was able -to furnish instances. Still, it was remarkable! And it lent much -cogency to Melia's desire that the Corporal should now apply for his -discharge from the Army. - -This afternoon it was clear that Josiah was pleading Melia's case. -There was an excellent billet waiting for the Corporal at Jackson and -Holcroft's if he cared to take it. They offered short hours and good -pay. Why not? He was still going a trifle lame; the Medical Board was -not likely to raise any objection; and it would be a relief to Melia -who ought to be considered now. - -The Corporal, however, shifted uneasily in his chair. All through -luncheon he had seemed terribly gloomy; and, if anything, his -father-in-law's arguments had deepened the clouds. One reason was, -perhaps, that Josiah himself was terribly gloomy. The whole country was -terribly gloomy. It had suddenly swung back to the phase of August, -1914. - -The simple truth was that disaster was in the air. A crushing blow had -fallen, a blow doubly cruel because so long foreseen and, therefore, to -be parried if not actually prevented. - -"Over a wide front the British Army is beaten!" Such was the enemy -message to the Sunday papers. "Ninety thousand prisoners and an -enormous booty have been taken!" And the greatest disaster in the long -history of British arms was confirmed by the artless official meiosis. -"Our Fourth and Fifth Armies have retired to a previously prepared -position." It omitted to state that the position was some thirty miles -nearer Paris, but that fact received confirmation from the French -communiqué in the next column, "The capital is being bombarded by -long-range guns." - -No day could have been less propitious for Melia. And after the Mayor -had sat smoking a few minutes with his gloomy son-in-law he appeared -to realize the state of the case. As the Corporal drew at his cigar in -a silence that was almost morose, Josiah's own thoughts and feelings -began to take color from their surroundings. He lapsed into silence -also. It seemed to come home to him all at once and for the first time -in his life that he had been guilty of impertinence. This little man -with his bloodshot eyes and few struggling wisps of gray hair, with his -twitching hands and his air of smoldering rage, had been through it. -Even to have been Mayor of Blackhampton three years running was very -little by comparison. Josiah was man enough to feel keenly annoyed for -having allowed his tongue so free a rein. - -There came at last a deep growl from the Corporal. It was the note of -an old dog, whose life of many battles has not improved his temper. "If -the bloody politicians will interfere!" - -The words found an echo in the heart of the Mayor. Sinister tales were -rife on every hand. And of his own knowledge he was aware that there -were hundreds of thousands of trained men in the country at that moment -whose presence was most imperatively called for on the perilously -weakened and extended British line to France. - -"Goin' to call up the grandads, I see," said the Corporal, grimly. - -"Aye!" The Mayor laughed bitterly. "Fat lot o' use they'll be when -they've got 'em. Muddle, muddle, muddle." Like the Corporal, he was in -a very black humor. "It's a mercy the Yankees are with us now--if they -are not in too late." - -"Fancy muckin' it," said the Corporal, "with the game in our hands. A -year ago we'd got 'em beat." - -"Press government," said Josiah savagely. - -The Corporal proceeded to chew a good cigar. "Dad," he said at last, -and it was the first time in his life he had addressed his former -employer so familiarly, "I'm thinking I'll have to go before the -Medical Board again." - -Josiah combed an incipient goatee with a dubious forefinger. "But, my -boy, from what you told me, you thought you could get your discharge -any time you liked to ask for it." - -"That was back in January." - -"You're no fitter now than you were then, are you?" - -The Corporal slowly stretched his right leg to its full length, and -then, gathering it under him leant his whole weight upon it. "I'm much -firmer on my pins than I was then." His rough voice suddenly regained -its usual gentleness. "Work seems to suit me." He laughed rather -wryly. "I expect the Board'll pass me now--if I ask 'em to." - -It was the turn of Josiah to maltreat his cigar. "Not thinking of going -back into the Line, are you?" - -"If they'll take me." The Corporal spoke slowly and softly. "And I -daresay they will--if I ask 'em polite." - -Josiah's keen face was full of queer emotion. "Not for me to say -anything." But he had been charged with a mission by the urgent Melia. -No matter what his private feelings let him not betray it! "Seems to -me, my boy, although it's not for me to say anything, that no one'll -blame you, after what you've been through, if you stand aside and make -room for others." - -The Corporal extended both legs towards the fire. He gazed into it -solemnly without speaking. - -"Well, think it over, Bill." The voice of the tempter. "No one can -blame you, if you stick to your present billet, which suits you so -well--or even if you go into munitions at a good salary. You'll have -earned anything they give you. And in a manner o' speaking you'll still -be doing your bit. But as I say ... it's not for me...." - -Strangling a groan, the Corporal rose suddenly from his chair, "I must -think it over." He threw the stump of his cigar into the fire. "You -see, I don't like leaving the Chaps." The voice of the Corporal sank -almost to a whisper. - -The Mayor gave his guest a second cigar and chose another for himself. -But he didn't say anything. - -"You see--as you might say--I've had Experience." - -The Mayor looked a little queerly at the Corporal. Then he took a -penknife out of the pocket of a rather ornate knitted waistcoat and -dexterously removed the tip from his cigar. - -"I've had Experience." The Corporal sighed and sat down heavily in his -cushioned chair. He fixed his eyes again on the fire. - -The Mayor applied a lighted spill to his cigar and then in silence -offered it to the Corporal. But the Corporal's cigar was not yet ready -for smoking. - -"If I do go"--the voice of the Corporal was soft and thick and rather -husky--"you'll ... you'll...." - -His father-in-law nodded. "Don't you worry about that. I'll see _her_ -all right." - -Josiah took out his handkerchief and blew his nose violently. - - - - -XLIX - - -That evening, about nine o'clock, when Melia and the Corporal returned -to Torrington Cottage, they found a cosy fire awaiting them in the -charming sitting room, an act of grace on the part of Fanny, a -handmaiden from the village, for the evenings were chilly. They sat -a few minutes together and then Melia retired for the night after -having drawn a promise from the Corporal that he would not be long in -following her example. - -Alas, the Corporal did not feel in the least like going to bed. There -was a decision to be made. In fact he had half made it already. But the -good wife upstairs and the very chair in which he sat had cast their -spells upon him. Gazing into the heart of the fire he realized that -he was deliciously and solidly comfortable. All his days he had been -a catlike lover of the comfortable. In the first instance it had been -that as much as anything that had so nearly undone him. Conflicting -voices were urging him, as somehow they always did, at critical moments -in his life. - -This beautiful room with its old furniture, its china, its bric-a-brac, -its soft carpet, its one rare landscape upon the wall was an enchanted -palace. Even now, after all these months of occupation, it seemed -like sacrilege to be sitting in it. But it was a symptom of a changed -condition. This lovely place with its poetry and its elegance was a -dream come true. And the honor and the affection with which a world -formerly so hard and so supercilious surrounded him now made life so -much sweeter than ever before. - -Sitting there in front of a delicious fire he felt that the peace and -the beauty all about him had entered his soul. He had a right to these -languors; he had purchased them with many unspeakable months of torture -and pain. No one would blame him, no one could blame him if he left the -dance to younger men. Suddenly he heard a little wind steal along the -valley and he shivered at the image that was born upon its whisper. -Just beyond these cosy, lamplit walls was Night, Chaos, Panic. Outside -the tiny harbor he had won at such a price was all hell let loose. - -He heard the awful Crumps, he could taste the icy mud they flung over -him, he was plunged again in endless, hideous hours, he could see -and feel the muck, the senseless muck, the boredom, the excruciating -misery. The wind in the valley grew a little louder and he shuddered in -the depths of his spirit. - -The crocuses were out in the fields by the river. Next week would be -April, the time of cloud, of glowing brake and flowering thorn, of -daffodils and miraculous lights along the Sharrow. The little picture -over the chimneypiece, which he had copied three times in his long -convalescence, showed what April meant along the Sharrow. Friendship -had taught him something, had given him eyes. He had been initiated -into the higher mysteries. Beauty for the sake of Beauty--the world -religion of the future--had been revealed to him. The sense of it -seemed to fill him with passion as he gazed into the fire. - -"Auntie!" Surely there was a voice in the room. Or was it the little -wind outside softly trying the shutters? "Auntie!" It was there again. -He got up unsteadily, but in a kind of ecstasy, half entrancement, half -pain, and crossed to the French window. Very gently he slipped back -the bolts and flung open the door. The darkness hit him, but there -was nothing there. He knew there was nothing there, yet in his old -carpet slippers he stepped out gingerly on to the wet lawn. The air was -moist and mild and friendly, and as his eyes grew used to the mirk the -rosebushes and the fruit trees took shape on either hand. - -The shafts of light from the room he had left guided him across the -grass as far as the path which led to the tower at the end of the -garden. As soon as his feet were on the gravel he thought he heard the -voice again. Of course it couldn't be so. It was only the wind along -the valley. And yet ... no ... if the wind wasn't calling.... - -The gaunt line of the many-windowed tower loomed ahead. Less by -calculation than by instinct he suddenly found the lowest of the twelve -stone steps which led to its high door--in that darkness he couldn't -see it, and if he had seen it there was not the slightest reason for -ascending, but just now he was possessed. Step after step shaped itself -with a kind of intelligence to his old waterlogged slippers, the damp -knob of the door came into his hand. - -The door was locked. Silly fool he was! Must be cracked anyway! But -the starched cuff of his best Sunday shirt had got entangled with -something. The key, of course. It had been left in the lock. Careless -to leave it like that. - -Of a sudden the door came open. The ghostly abyss within smelt very -damp and cheerless. Ought to have had an occasional fire there during -the winter months. He felt his way cautiously in and his eyes adjusted -themselves to the grimmer texture of the darkness. The chill made his -teeth chatter. He felt in his pockets for a match, but he hadn't got -one; he moved gingerly forward, past a wooden table and a wicker chair; -the spectral outline of an unshuttered window confronted him. - -Outside was nothing but the wind in the valley. He couldn't see a yard -beyond the glass. The chill of the musty place was settling into his -bones. What a fool not to be in his comfortable bed! But ... a voice -was still whispering. There _was_ something ... somewhere.... - -The wind was just like the little wind along that damned Canal. No -wonder his teeth chattered. And then right out in the void he saw a -star. It was so faint, so far beyond the valley and the wind's voice -that he was not sure it was a star. But as he stood looking at it the -voice seemed to come quite close. - -"Auntie ... Auntie...." - -"That you, Jim ... here I am, boy...." - -... Only a fool would stand with chattering teeth, in carpet slippers, -at a goodish bit past midnight, talking to something that wasn't -there.... - -Somewhere in the darkness there was a presence. Perhaps it was outside -the window. He felt his way back to the open door, as far as the veiled -peril of the twelve stone steps. It was so dark that he couldn't even -see the topmost; there was not even a railing for such an emergency; a -single false step and he would break his neck. - -Queerly excited he stood poised on the threshold, feeling into space -with one foot. The wind was in the garden below him. And then oddly, -at a fresh angle, over by his left hand, he caught a glimpse of the -star. He swayed forward into the void but the lamp of faith had been -lit in his eyes. His taut nerves awoke to the fact that he was really -descending the unseen steps one by one and that he was counting them. -If he didn't take extraordinary care he was very likely to kill -himself, but the care he was taking seemed by no means extraordinary. - -His old carpet slippers were shuffling along the gravel at last. He -could make out a line of currant bushes by which ran the path to the -house. As he moved forward the wind died away in the valley and he -lost sight of the star. But he knew his way now. Pent up forces flowed -from him through the wall of living darkness. "I'm coming, Jim!" he -muttered. The wind seemed to answer him. And then he came to the end of -the row of bushes and there beyond a patch of wet grass was the door of -the cosy room still open with a subdued glow of lamp and fire shining -beyond. - -When he came in he took off his soaked slippers that they might not -soil the beautiful carpet of which Melia was so proud. As he barred the -door and drew the curtains across the window, the pretty old-fashioned -clock on the chimneypiece chided him by melodiously striking one -o'clock. He must be a fool--he had to be up at seven; but the enchanted -room that was like a dream embodied cast one last spell upon him. - -He had no need ... the Chaps wouldn't expect it ... he was -forty-five.... - -The voice was in the valley. It was a quarter past one. He raked out -the last faint embers of the fire, then he put out the lamp and carried -his wet slippers into the hall. After his recent adventure it was but a -simple matter to find his way up the richly carpeted stairs without a -light and creep into the room where his wife slept. - -She was sleeping now. So cunningly he crept into the room that she did -not stir. He listened to the gentle rise and fall of her soft breath. -Good woman! brave woman! He tiptoed past the bed to where the window -was and managed to draw up the clever new-fangled blinds without making -a sound. Yes, there was the star. That was all he wanted to see. Faint -it was, so faint that faith was needed to believe that it was a star. -But there was nothing else it could be. - -The little sobbing voice, now no more than a whisper, that, too, was -out there. Jim's voice ... cracked he must be ... such sloppy notions -... the wind along that damned canal.... - -Suddenly he turned from the star. At the beck of a queer impulse he -knelt by the bed, burying his eyes in the soft counterpane. He prayed -for the Chaps. He prayed for Melia. He prayed for the life that lay -with her, the life coming to them so miraculously they knew not whence, -after all those years. - -Could it be that Jim was coming back to complete his great beginnings? -Coming back to witch the world with beauty? Just a fancy. But -everything was just a fancy. Jim had said so once, looking at the -sunset on the bank of that canal. - -And he was one who.... - - - - -L - - -The months went by. In the meantime, upon the fields of France, was -being decided the fate of the world for generations to come. Day -followed day whose story will echo down the ages, but in the cottage -with the green shutters at the head of the valley there was little to -indicate that it was a time of destiny. - -The Corporal was allowed to return to his old regiment. Experience had -made him doubly valuable and its ranks had been grievously thinned. -After three months at the Depôt he was sent to France. - -When at the end of July he came home on draft leave to bid Melia -good-by, her time was drawing near. And in spite of the burdens life -had laid upon them, the feeling now uppermost was a subtle sense of -triumph. In the final bitterness of conflict the dark Fates had given -them courage to bear their heads high. - -A strange reward was coming to them, bringing with it new obligations, -new responsibilities. But they were not afraid. Somewhere, a Friend was -helping them. It must be so, or else the dire perils to which they had -been exposed would not have allowed their happiness to bear so late a -flower. Besides, they had been given a specific token that in the sum -of things they mattered. - -As the Corporal held his wife in a last embrace it came to him all at -once that he was never to see the young life that was to bear his name. -"If we can put the job through to a finish," he whispered huskily, "I'd -like it to be a boy. If we can't, a girl'd be better." - -She asked why a girl would be better. As usual she was not very quick -in the uptake. - -"The world'll not be a place for boys--unless we can do the job clean." - -"But you will do it, Bill." The almost cowlike eyes expressed a divine -instinct. "God won't let the Germans win." - -Somehow the words shamed him, yet not for the reason that turned her -own heart to fire. It was treason to the Chaps to talk of girls. - -"O' course we'll make a clean job on it." He pressed a final caress -upon her. "You can set there, my dear, in that nice chair all covered -with wild flowers, and the door open just as it is, so that you can get -a glimpse o' that old river with the sun on it and when your eyes get -tired-like, my dear, you can fix 'em on that little picture over the -chimneypiece opposite. See what I mean, like? There's the sun in that, -too. John Torrington painted it. Look at it sometimes. We are going to -win--it isn't right to think otherwise. That means a boy. And if a boy -it is, I'd like him to be called Jim." - - - - -LI - - -Civilization was ringing with great news at the very hour that a son -was born to the Corporal. But at that time he was a Corporal no longer. -A letter had already reached Melia to say that "he was promoted Color -Sergeant." The fighting was awful, but the Chaps had got their tails -up, and the time was coming "when Fritz would be bound to throw in his -hand." - -It was very well, therefore, that the half comic, rather pathetic, -somewhat crumpled but perfectly healthy creature snuggling up against -its mother in a lovely chintz-clad bedroom looking southwest, -proved to be a small but perfectly formed specimen of the human -male. The delighted grandmother herself took the incredible news to -Strathfieldsaye. - -Josiah, who for several days past had been hard set to conceal a -growing excitement, rubbed his hands with glee. "One in the eye for -Park Crescent--what? Fancy ... Melia!" - -Lady Munt agreed that wonders are never likely to cease in this world. - -"Mother," she never remembered to have seen Josiah so excited, -"this means a bottle o' champagne." He pressed the bell and gave -comprehensive orders to Alice. "Seems to me that Victory's in the -air." Secretly he had always had a grudge against Fate, that, with all -his worldly success, his family could not muster one solitary male -among them. "Funny thing, y' know, how you can be deceived in people. I -always said that chap Hollis was a good-for-nothing. Well, I was wrong." - -Her ladyship sniffed a little and wiped tearful eyes. She was in -perversely low spirits, but good soup, in spite of the food crisis -and good wine, which she was simply forced to drink, did something to -restore her. - -"Yes, you can be deceived in people." The cool trickle down Josiah's -throat generated a desire for conversation. "Take the Germans. -Everybody thought they were a white race. Well, they aren't. Then take -the Americans. Everybody said they were too proud to fight. And, when -finally they came in, people said they'd not be much use anyway. But it -shows how easy it is to be wrong." Again the Mayor took up his glass. -"For I tell you, Mother, those Yankees have made a difference. Since -that mix-up back in March they've done wonders. The Yankees have turned -the scale." - -Maria had a head for domestic affairs only; she did not pretend to -be wise in international matters. She sighed gently and thought of a -certain chintz-clad room up at Dibley. - -"Get on with it!" Her lord pointed at her glass peremptorily. "Pol -Roger '04'll hurt nobody." Strong in that faith, he lifted his own -glass and bowed and beamed over the top of it. "Grandma, here's now!" - -At the toast Maria hoisted a blush which brought Josiah to the verge -of catastrophe. Tears, her one form of emotional luxury, came into her -honest eyes. - -"In a year or two, Grandma, we'll have to be thinking of your -golden wedding--touching wood!" He laid a ritualistic finger upon -the mahogany. "You little thought, did you now, when we started out -together in that funny little box up Parker's Entry that one day you'd -be My Lady? Funny world--what? I remember going to fetch the Doctor the -night that gel was born. Bitter cold it was." Suddenly Josiah stopped -and again took up his glass. "Wind had an edge like a knife round the -corner by Waterloo Square." Then came an odd change of voice. "Did I -understand you to say the gel would like me to be godfather?" - -Maria understood that Melia understood that Bill would like it. - -A sigh escaped Josiah. He laid down his knife and fork. "Well, well, I -never made such a mistake in my life as over that chap." His voice grew -humbler than Maria had ever heard it. "Shows how you can be deceived. -Something big about that feller. Never made a greater mistake in my -life. We'll hope he'll come through. Better write him a line, Mother. -Don't suppose it's any use tryin' to send a wire." - - - - -LII - - -Some weeks later, on a cold Sunday morning in November, Sir Josiah -and Lady Munt drove over to Torrington Cottage. They were accompanied -by Sally, on short leave from France, and by Gertrude Preston. Before -the party walked across the village green to the little parish church, -where a service of National Thanksgiving was to be held, it found that -a matter of great importance claimed attention. - -The matter was Jim. The rector of the parish had arranged to christen -him that afternoon at three o'clock. Near a good log fire in the sunny -embrasure of the charming little drawing-room his grand cradle had been -set; and here the wonderful infant was duly inspected by his godparents. - -Jim was a picture. His grandfather said he was. There was no other -word. Yet even in the presence of this phenomenal youth there was but -a chastened joy. He was sleeping for one thing, calmly, sweetly and -superbly; and his pale, fine-drawn, yet strangely proud-looking mother -was clad in the livery of widowhood. - -Said Josiah in a low voice, so as not to wake the baby, "What's -happened to the picture that used to be there?" He pointed to the wall -above the chimneypiece. - -"It fell down, Dad." The voice of Melia was calm. - -"When?" - -"One night last week--the night before the news came." - -"You don't say!" Josiah was not superstitious, still it was queer. - -"No one was in the room when it happened. No one heard it fall. Didn't -break the frame or the glass or anything. Just the snapping of the -cord." - -"War cord, I expect." Josiah's voice was grim. "Need a cord of a better -quality to hang a certain party. Better have it put up again. Young -Nixey tells me that picture may be worth a sight o' money." - -Melia promised that it should be put up again. _He_ always set such -great store by it. - -Of a sudden, Sally, who had been wholly absorbed in the contemplation -of James, said, "Tell me, Father, when did you last see young Nixey?" - -"Thursday--Friday. Happened to look in Friday morning as I was passing." - -"How was he?" - -"Wonderfully cheerful considerin'. Tries to gammon his old mother, but -I guess the old lady knows...." - -"... he'll never...." - -"No, poor fellow. Wonderful pluck. Tells me he's plannin' a cathedral -... a cathedral, mark you ... and stone blind." - -Sally sighed a little and turned again to look at Jim. Aunt Gerty -laid a white-gloved hand gently on the Mayor's sleeve. "Ten minutes -to eleven, Josiah. Won't do to be late--_you_ of all people. Will it -Maria?" - - - - -LIII - - -Maria and Aunt Gerty, carrying respectability to the verge of fashion, -led the way by the path across the green to the village church. Josiah, -walking with his daughters, followed ten paces behind. Wearing the tall -hat of public life he looked imposing, but four and a quarter years -of war had chastened him. The roll and the swagger were not what they -were; four and a quarter years of incessant but fruitful labor for the -common weal had molded his mind, had modified an aggressive personality. - -The church, although in excess of the local requirements as a rule, was -very full this morning in November. It was an hour of Thanksgiving. The -goal had been reached. Victory, complete and final, had come almost -like a thief in the night. And its coming had revealed, in a manner -transcending even the awful dramas of old, the omnipotence of the -moral law. Yet again the God of Righteousness had declared Himself in -Sovereign power. - -Grim perils had been surmounted by the devotion of the sons and -daughters of the race, but very much remained to do. Behind the humble -gratitude to the Giver of Victory, behind the sense of exultation -so rightly uppermost this Sabbath morning, was in every heart a -desolating sense of the cost in human lives and a deep anxiety for the -future. - -The Vicar of the parish, by name the Reverend Corfield Stanning, was a -white-haired man who had given soul and kin freely to the Cause. He was -a son of the soil, a type of the almost extinct squarson who survives -here and there in England, half landowner, half patriarch, less a -scholar than a sportsman and a man of the world. For that reason, -perhaps, he had the practical wisdom that books do not give. He had the -instinct for affairs which men of his type seldom lack. - -Victory was with the arms of Right. The people did well to rejoice. -But also it was a time for prayer, for steadfast dedication to the -gigantic tasks ahead. The man-eating tiger was in the net. It now -remained to repair the havoc he had wrought, and to provide security -for generations unborn against his kind. - -Having humbly thanked the Giver, the old man prayed for his country and -for those noble races of which it was the foster-mother. He prayed for -all her wide-flung peoples to whom the Keys had been given; he prayed -that the Pioneers of sacred liberties so long in peril, those one in -name and in blood over all the wide seas, who hold Milton's faith, who -speak Shakespeare's tongue may ever stand as now, shoulder to shoulder -in the gate. - -He prayed for all those children of men grown old and weak in bondage, -whose chains had at last been cast off. He besought the Divine grace -to guide them. - -Finally, he prayed for the Co-trustees of the future and that the -Divine wisdom encompass them in their reckoning with a cruel and -unworthy foe. He asked that mercy be extended to those who had denied -it to others, not that it was in his heart to pity them in their -eclipse or to spare them aught of their desert, but that the name of -the Master be served, in whom lay the ultimate hope of the world, might -be honored in mankind's supreme yet most terrible hour. - -When the old man came to his brief and simple sermon the words of his -text pierced every heart. "Greater love hath no man than this, that he -lay down his life for his friends." - -It began with commemoration of a humble hero, known to many in that -church, who had given all he had to give without stint or question. And -he read a letter written from the sacred and recovered soil of France -by the officer commanding that Band of Brothers raised in their midst -to the wife of one Sergeant William Hollis, who had died a soldier and -a gentleman that his faith and his friends might live. - - THE END - - - - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Words and phrases that were typeset as italic in the printed version -of this book have been shown with an underscore (_) at the beginning -and end of the word or phrase. - -Minor changes have been made to correct obvious typesetters' errors -and to regularize hyphenation; variant spellings have been retained. - -In chapter XXIV, the sentence that was typeset as "By the time William -and Melia turned down Saint James his street," has been changed to -"By the time William and Melia turned down Saint James's street," to -make sense grammatically. - -In several places, Josiah Munt refers to himself or others as -"prattical" in conversation. In chapter XXXVI, he is musing about -education for women as not being "prattical"; the Transcriber has -chosen to retain this spelling as fitting the author's style and intent. - -In four instances in the book, the author refers to a "pickelet", and -in one place to a "pikelet". Because of the frequency of pickelet, the -Transcriber has chosen to retain the variant spelling. - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE UNDEFEATED *** - -***** This file should be named 63546-0.txt or 63546-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/5/4/63546/ - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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