thesunburnt
face
of
the
soldier
,
something
of
the
contempt
they
felt
for
his
species
was
reflected
in
their
light-blue
eyes
.
Of
the
two
pairs
of
light-blue
eyes
William
's
perhaps
were
the
more
contemptuous
:
his
anti-militarism
was
more
habitual
and
ingrained
than
Griselda
's
.
What
William
looked
at
was
a
creature
(
the
soldier
)
of
whom
he
knew
little
and
talked
much
;
his
experience
of
the
man
of
war
was
purely
insular
,
and
his
attitude
towards
him
would
have
been
impossible
in
any
but
a
native
of
Britain
.
He
came
of
a
class
—
the
English
lower
middle
—
which
the
rules
of
caste
and
tradition
of
centuries
debarred
from
the
bearing
of
arms
;
a
class
which
might
,
in
this
connection
,
have
adapted
to
its
own
needs
the
motto
of
the
House
of
Rohan
.
"
Roi
ne
puis
;
prince
ne
daigne
;
Rohan
je
suis
,
"
might
have
been
suitably
englished
in
the
mouths
of
William
's
fellows
as
,
"
Officer
I
cannot
be
;
private
I
will
not
be
;
tradesman
or
clerk
I
am
.
"
Further
,
he
had
lived
in
surroundings
where
the
soldier
was
robbed
of
his
terrors
;
to
him
the
wearer
of
the
king
's
uniform
was
not
only
a
person
to
whom
you
alluded
at
Labour
meetings
with
the
certainty
of
raising
a
jeer
,
but
a
target
at
whom
strikers
threw
brickbats
and
bottles
with
energy
and
practical
impunity
.
Should
the
target
grow
restive
under
these
attentions
and
proceed
to
return
them
in
kind
,
it
was
denounced
in
Parliament
,
foamed
at
by
the
Press
,
and
possibly
court-martialled
as
a
sop
to
indignant
Labour
.
Thus
handicapped
it
could
hardly
be
looked
on
as
a
formidable
adversary
...
and
William
,
without
a
thought
of
fear
,
stared
the
field-grey
horseman
in
the
eyes
.
The
field-grey
horseman
,
on
his
side
,
stared
the
pair
of
civilians
up
and
down
—
with
a
glance
that
matched
the
courtesy
of
his
recent
manner
of
address
—
until
,
having
surveyed
them
sufficiently
,
he
called
over
his
shoulder
to
some
one
unseen
within
the
house
.
There
was
something
in
his
face
and
the
tone
of
his
loud-voiced
hail
that
made
the
temper
of
Griselda
stir
within
her
;
and
for
the
second
time
that
morning
she
wished
for
a
command
of
the
language
of
the
country
—
this
time
for
the
purposes
of
sharp
and
scathing
rebuke
.
As
a
substitute
she
assumed
the
air
of
cold
dignity
with
which
she
had
entered
the
taxi
on
the
night
of
her
protest
at
the
meeting
.
"
Come
on
,
William
,
"
she
said
.
"
Do
n't
take
any
notice
of
him
,
dear
.
"
The
advice
,
though
well
meant
,
was
unfortunate
.
As
William
attempted
to
follow
both
it
and
his
wife
,
the
soldier
moved
forward
and
struck
him
a
cuff
on
the
side
of
the
head
that
deposited
him
neatly
on
the
grass
.
Griselda
,
who
—
in
order
to
convey
her
contempt
for
official
authority
and
disgust
at
official
insolence
—
had
been
pointedly
surveying
the
meeting
of
hill
and
horizon
,
heard
a
whack
and
scuffle
,
a
guttural
grunt
and
a
gasp
;
and
turned
to
see
William
,
with
a
hand
to
his
cheek
,
lying
prone
at
the
feet
of
his
assailant
.
She
rounded
on
the
man
like
a
lion
,
and
perhaps
,
with
her
suffragette
training
behind
her
,
would
have
landed
him
a
cuff
in
his
turn
;
but
as
she
raised
her
arm
it
was
caught
from
behind
and
she
found
herself
suddenly
helpless
in
the
grasp
of
a
second
grey-clad
soldier
—
who
,
when
he
heard
his
comrade
's
hail
,
had
come
running
out
of
the
house
.
"
Let
me
go
,
"
she
cried
,
wriggling
in
his
grasp
as
she
had
wriggled
aforetime
in
the
hands
of
a
London
policeman
,
and
kicking
him
deftly
on
the
shins
as
she
had
been
wont
to
kick
Robert
on
his
.
For
answer
he
shook
her
to
the
accompaniment
of
what
sounded
like
curses
—
shook
her
vehemently
,
till
her
hat
came
off
and
her
hair
fell
down
,
till
her
teeth
rattled
and
the
landscape
danced
about
her
.
When
he
released
her
,
with
the
final
indignity
of
a
butt
with
the
knee
in
the
rear
,
she
collapsed
on
the
grass
by
her
husband
's
side
in
a
crumpled
,
disreputable
heap
.
There
for
a
minute
or
two
she
lay
gasping
and
inarticulate
—
until
,
as
her
breath
came
back
and
the
landscape
ceased
to
gyrate
,
she
dragged
herself
up
into
a
sitting
position
and
thrust
back
the
hair
from
her
eyes
.
William
,
a
yard
or
two
away
,
was
also
in
a
sitting
position
with
his
hand
pressed
against
his
cheekbone
;
while
over
him
stood
the
assailants
in
field-grey
,
apparently
snapping
out
questions
.
"
I
do
n't
understand
,
"
she
heard
him
protest
feebly
,
"
I
tell
you
I
do
n't
understand
.
Griselda
,
ca
n't
you
explain
to
them
that
I
do
n't
speak
French
?
"
"
Comprends
pas
,
"
said
Griselda
,
swallowing
back
tears
of
rage
.
"
Comprends
pas
—
so
it
's
not
a
bit
of
good
your
talking
to
us
.
Parlez
pas
français
—
but
that
wo
n't
prevent
me
from
reporting
you
for
this
disgraceful
assault
.
You
cowards
—
you
abominable
cowards
!
You
're
worse
than
the
police
at
home
,
which
is
saying
a
good
deal
.
I
wonder
you
're
not
ashamed
of
yourselves
.
I
've
been
arrested
three
times
and
I
've
never
been
treated
like
this
.
"
At
this
juncture
one
of
the
men
in
field-grey
seized
William
by
the
collar
and
proceeded
to
turn
out
his
pockets
—
extracting
from
their
recesses
a
purse
,
a
pipe
,
a
handkerchief
,
a
fountain
pen
,
and
a
green-covered
Cook
's
ticket
.
He
snapped
back
the
elastic
on
the
Cook
's
ticket
,
and
turned
the
leaves
that
remained
for
the
journey
home
.
"
London
,
"
he
ejaculated
suddenly
,
pronouncing
the
vowels
in
un-English
fashion
as
O
's
.
"
London
!
"
his
companion
echoed
him
—
and
then
,
as
if
moved
by
a
common
impulse
,
they
called
on
the
name
of
Heinz
.
There
was
an
answering
hail
from
the
farmhouse
kitchen
,
whence
issued
promptly
a
fattish
young
man
with
a
mug
in
his
hand
,
and
a
helmet
tilted
on
his
nose
.
With
him
the
assailants
of
William
and
Griselda
entered
into
rapid
and
throaty
explanations
;
whereat
Heinz
nodded
assentingly
as
he
advanced
down
the
garden
path
to
the
gate
,
surveying
the
captives
with
interest
and
a
pair
of
little
pigs'-eyes
.
Having
reached
the
gate
he
leaned
over
it
,
mug
in
hand
,
and
looked
down
at
William
and
Griselda
.
"
English
,
"
he
said
in
a
voice
that
was
thicker
than
it
should
have
been
at
so
early
an
hour
of
the
morning
;
"
English
—
you
come
from
London
?
...
I
have
been
two
years
in
London
;
that
is
why
I
speak
English
.
I
was
with
a
hairdresser
in
the
Harrow
Road
two
years
;
and
I
know
also
the
Strand
and
the
Angel
and
Buckingham
Palace
and
the
Elephant
.
"
(
He
was
plainly
proud
of
his
acquaintance
with
London
topography
.
)
"
All
of
them
I
know
,
and
when
we
arrive
in
London
I
shall
show
them
all
to
my
friends
.
"
He
waved
his
hand
vaguely
and
amiably
to
indicate
his
grey-clad
companions
.
"
You
come
from
London
,
but
you
shall
not
go
back
there
,
because
you
are
now
our
prisoners
.
I
drink
your
damn
bad
health
and
the
damn
bad
health
of
your
country
and
the
damn
bad
health
of
your
king
.
"
He
suited
the
action
to
the
word
and
drained
his
mug
;
and
having
drained
it
till
it
stood
upright
upon
his
nose
,
proceeded
to
throw
it
over
his
shoulder
to
shatter
on
the
brick
path
.
Whether
from
natural
good
temper
or
the
cheering
effect
of
potations
his
face
was
wreathed
in
an
amiable
smile
as
he
crossed
his
arms
on
the
bar
of
the
gate
and
continued
to
address
his
audience
—
"
We
shall
take
you
to
our
officer
and
you
will
be
prisoners
,
and
if
you
are
spies
you
will
be
shot
.
"
There
was
something
so
impossible
about
the
announcement
that
William
and
Griselda
felt
their
courage
return
with
a
rush
.
Moreover
,
though
the
words
of
Heinz
were
threatening
the
aspect
of
Heinz
was
not
;
his
fat
young
face
with
its
expansive
and
slightly
inebriated
smile
was
ridiculous
rather
than
terrifying
,
even
under
the
brim
of
a
helmet
.
William
,
thankful
for
the
English
acquired
during
the
two
years
'
hairdressing
in
the
Harrow
Road
,
admonished
him
with
a
firmness
intended
to
sober
and
dismay
.
"
This
is
not
a
time
for
silly
jokes
.
I
am
afraid
that
you
do
not
realize
the
seriousness
of
the
situation
.
I
shall
feel
it
my
duty
to
make
a
full
report
to
your
superiors
—
when
you
will
find
it
is
no
laughing
matter
.
My
wife
and
I
,
proceeding
quietly
to
the
station
,
have
been
grossly
and
violently
assaulted
by
your
two
companions
.
We
gave
them
no
provocation
,
and
the
attack
was
entirely
uncalled
for
.
I
repeat
,
I
shall
feel
it
my
duty
to
report
their
conduct
in
the
very
strongest
terms
.
"
He
felt
as
he
spoke
that
the
reproof
would
have
carried
more
weight
had
it
been
delivered
in
a
standing
position
;
but
his
head
still
reeled
from
the
stinging
cuff
it
had
received
and
he
felt
safer
where
he
was
—
on
the
ground
.
It
annoyed
him
that
the
only
apparent
effect
of
his
words
upon
Heinz
was
a
widening
of
his
already
wide
and
owlish
smile
.
"
Oh
,
you
'll
report
their
conduct
,
will
you
?
"
he
repeated
pleasantly
and
thickly
.
"
And
who
will
you
report
it
to
,
old
son
?
"
William
stiffened
at
the
familiarity
,
and
the
tone
of
his
reply
was
even
colder
and
more
dignified
than
that
of
the
original
rebuke
.
"
To
the
nearest
police
authority
;
I
shall
not
leave
Belgium
until
my
complaint
has
been
attended
to
.
If
necessary
I
shall
apply
for
redress
to
the
British
Consul
in
Brussels
.
"
The
expansive
smile
on
the
face
of
Heinz
was
suddenly
ousted
by
an
expression
of
infinite
astonishment
.
His
fat
chin
dropped
,
his
little
eyes
widened
,
and
he
pushed
back
his
helmet
,
that
he
might
stare
the
better
at
William
.
"
Say
it
again
,
"
he
demanded
—
slowly
and
as
if
doubtful
of
his
ears
,
"
You
shall
apply
to
the
British
Consul
—
the
British
Consul
at
Brussels
?
"
"
Certainly
,
"
William
assured
him
firmly
;
and
Griselda
echoed
"
Certainly
.
"
The
threat
they
judged
had
made
the
desired
impression
,
for
so
blank
and
disturbed
was
the
countenance
of
Heinz
that
his
two
companions
broke
into
guttural
questioning
.
The
former
hairdresser
checked
them
with
a
gesture
and
addressed
himself
once
more
to
William
.
"
I
think
,
"
he
announced
,
"
you
are
balmy
on
the
crumpet
,
both
of
you
.
Balmy
,
"
he
repeated
,
staring
from
one
to
the
other
and
apparently
sobered
by
the
shock
of
his
own
astonishment
.
Suddenly
a
gleam
of
intelligence
lit
up
his
little
pig's-eyes
—
he
leaned
yet
further
over
the
gate
,
pointed
a
finger
and
queried
—
"
You
do
not
read
the
newspapers
?
"
"
As
a
rule
I
do
,
"
William
informed
him
,
"
but
we
have
not
seen
any
lately
—
not
since
we
left
England
.
"
"
And
how
long
is
it
since
you
left
England
?
"
William
told
him
it
was
over
three
weeks
.
"
Three
weeks
,
"
the
other
repeated
,
"
three
weeks
without
newspapers
...
and
I
think
you
do
not
speak
French
,
eh
?
"
"
My
wife
,
"
William
answered
,
"
understands
it
—
a
little
.
But
we
neither
of
us
speak
it
.
"
His
manner
was
pardonably
irritated
,
and
if
he
had
not
judged
it
imprudent
he
would
have
refused
point-blank
to
answer
this
purposeless
catechism
.
Nor
was
his
pardonable
irritation
lessened
when
amusement
once
more
gained
the
upper
hand
in
Heinz
.
Suddenly
and
unaccountably
he
burst
into
hearty
laughter
—
rocked
and
trembled
with
it
,
holding
to
the
gate
and
wiping
the
tears
from
his
cheeks
.
Whatever
the
joke
it
appealed
also
to
his
comrades
,
who
,
once
it
was
imparted
between
Heinz
's
paroxysms
,
joined
their
exquisite
mirth
to
his
own
.
The
three
stood
swaying
in
noisy
merriment
,
while
Griselda
,
whitefaced
and
tight-lipped
,
and
William
with
a
fast
disappearing
left
eye
awaited
in
acute
and
indignant
discomfort
some
explanation
of
a
jest
that
struck
them
as
untimely
.
It
came
only
when
Heinz
had
laughed
himself
out
.
Wiping
the
tears
once
more
from
his
eyes
,
and
with
a
voice
still
weakened
by
pleasurable
emotion
,
he
gave
them
in
simple
and
unpolished
language
the
news
of
the
European
cataclysm
.
"
I
tell
you
something
,
you
damn
little
ignorant
silly
fools
.
There
is
a
war
since
you
came
to
Belgium
.
"
Probably
they
thought
it
was
a
drunken
jest
,
for
they
made
no
answer
beyond
a
stare
,
and
Heinz
proceeded
with
enjoyment
.
"
A
War
.
The
Greatest
that
ever
was
.
Germany
and
Austria
—
and
Russia
and
France
and
Belgium
and
England
and
Servia
.
"
He
spoke
slowly
,
dropping
out
his
words
that
none
might
fail
of
their
effect
and
ticked
off
on
a
finger
the
name
of
each
belligerent
.
"
Our
brave
German
troops
have
conquered
Belgium
and
that
is
why
we
are
here
.
We
shall
also
take
Paris
and
we
shall
also
take
Petersburg
and
we
shall
also
take
London
.
We
shall
march
through
Regent
Street
and
Leicester
Square
and
over
Waterloo
Bridge
.
Our
Kaiser
Wilhelm
shall
make
peace
in
Westminster
Abbey
,
and
we
shall
take
away
all
your
colonies
.
What
do
you
think
of
that
,
you
damn
little
fools
?
"
There
are
statements
too
large
as
there
are
statements
too
wild
for
any
but
the
unusually
imaginative
to
grasp
at
a
first
hearing
.
Neither
William
nor
Griselda
had
ever
entertained
the
idea
of
a
European
War
;
it
was
not
entertained
by
any
of
their
friends
or
their
pamphlets
.
Rumours
of
war
they
had
always
regarded
as
foolish
and
malicious
inventions
set
afloat
in
the
interest
of
Capitalism
and
Conservatism
with
the
object
of
diverting
attention
from
Social
Reform
or
the
settlement
of
the
Woman
Question
;
and
to
their
ears
,
still
filled
with
the
hum
of
other
days
,
the
announcement
of
Heinz
was
even
such
a
foolish
invention
.
Nor
,
even
had
they
given
him
credence
,
would
they
in
these
first
inexperienced
moments
have
been
greatly
perturbed
or
alarmed
;
their
historical
ignorance
was
so
profound
,
they
had
talked
so
long
and
so
often
in
terms
of
war
,
that
they
had
come
to
look
on
the
strife
of
nations
as
a
glorified
scuffle
on
the
lines
of
a
Pankhurst
demonstration
.
Thus
Griselda
,
taught
by
The
Suffragette
,
used
the
one
word
"
battle
"
for
a
small
street
row
and
the
fire
and
slaughter
of
Eylau
—
or
would
have
so
used
it
,
had
she
known
of
the
slaughter
of
Eylau
.
And
that
being
the
case
,
Heinz
's
revelation
of
ruin
and
thunder
left
her
calm
—
disappointingly
so
.
"
I
think
,
"
she
said
loftily
,
in
answer
to
his
question
,
"
that
you
are
talking
absolute
nonsense
.
"
There
are
few
men
who
like
to
be
balked
of
a
sensation
and
Heinz
was
not
among
them
.
He
reddened
with
annoyance
at
the
lack
of
success
of
his
bombshell
.
"
You
do
not
believe
it
,
"
he
said
.
"
You
do
not
believe
that
our
brave
German
troops
have
taken
Belgium
and
will
shortly
take
Paris
and
London
?
Very
well
,
I
will
teach
you
.
I
will
show
you
.
You
shall
come
with
us
to
our
officer
and
you
shall
be
shot
for
spies
.
"
He
came
through
the
gate
and
clambered
into
his
saddle
,
his
companions
following
suit
;
William
and
Griselda
instinctively
scrambled
to
their
feet
and
stood
gazing
up
in
uncertainty
at
the
three
grey
mounted
men
.
"
Get
on
,
"
said
Heinz
with
a
jerk
of
his
head
down
the
valley
;
and
as
William
and
Griselda
still
stood
and
gazed
his
hand
went
clap
to
his
side
and
a
sword
flashed
out
of
its
sheath
.
Griselda
shrieked
in
terror
as
it
flashed
over
William
's
head
—
and
William
bawled
and
writhed
with
pain
as
it
came
down
flat
on
his
shoulder
.
"
Get
on
,
"
Heinz
repeated
—
adding
,
"
damn
you
!
"
and
worse
—
as
the
blade
went
up
again
;
and
William
and
Griselda
obeyed
him
without
further
hesitation
.
Their
heads
were
whirling
and
their
hearts
throbbing
with
rage
;
but
they
choked
back
its
verbal
expression
and
stumbled
down
the
valley
path
—
in
the
clutch
of
brute
force
and
with
their
world
crumbling
about
them
.
It
was
a
most
unpleasant
walk
—
or
rather
trot
;
they
were
bruised
,
they
were
aching
from
the
handling
they
had
received
,
and
their
breath
came
in
sobs
from
the
pace
they
were
forced
to
keep
up
.
Did
they
slacken
it
even
for
an
instant
and
fall
level
with
the
walking
horses
,
Heinz
shouted
an
order
to
"
Hurry
,
you
swine
!
"
and
flashed
up
his
threatening
sword
;
whereupon
,
to
keep
out
of
its
painful
and
possibly
dangerous
reach
,
they
forced
themselves
to
a
further
effort
and
broke
into
a
shambling
canter
.
The
sweat
poured
off
them
as
they
shambled
and
gasped
,
casting
anxious
glances
at
the
horses
'
heads
behind
them
;
and
their
visible
distress
,
their
panting
and
their
impotent
anger
,
was
a
source
of
obvious
and
unrestrained
gratification
to
Heinz
and
his
jovial
companions
.
They
jeered
at
the
captives
'
clumsy
running
and
urged
them
to
gallop
faster
.
When
Griselda
tripped
over
a
tussock
and
sprawled
her
length
on
the
grass
,
they
applauded
her
downfall
long
and
joyously
and
begged
her
to
repeat
the
performance
.
The
jeers
hurt
more
than
the
shaking
,
and
she
staggered
to
her
feet
with
tears
of
wretchedness
and
outraged
dignity
running
openly
down
her
nose
—
seeking
in
vain
for
that
sense
of
moral
superiority
and
satisfaction
in
martyrdom
which
had
always
sustained
her
en
route
to
the
cells
of
Bow
Street
.
She
hated
the
three
men
who
jeered
at
her
miseries
and
could
have
killed
them
with
pleasure
;
every
fibre
of
her
body
was
quivering
with
wrath
and
amazement
.
Neither
she
nor
William
could
speak
—
they
had
no
breath
left
in
them
to
speak
;
but
every
now
and
then
as
they
shambled
along
they
turned
their
hot
faces
to
look
at
each
other
—
and
saw
,
each
,
a
beloved
countenance
red
with
exertion
and
damp
with
perspiration
,
a
pair
of
bewildered
blue
eyes
and
a
gasping
open
mouth
...
.
So
they
trotted
down
the
valley
,
humiliated
,
dishevelled
,
indignant
,
but
still
incredulous
—
while
their
world
crumbled
about
them
and
Europe
thundered
and
bled
.
CHAPTER
VII
Looking
back
on
the
morning
in
the
month
of
August
,
nineteen
hundred
and
fourteen
,
when
he
made
his
first
acquaintance
with
war
as
the
soldier
understands
it
,
William
Tully
realized
that
fear
,
real
fear
,
was
absent
from
his
heart
until
he
witnessed
the
shooting
of
the
hostages
.
Until
that
moment
he
had
been
unconvinced
,
and
,
because
unconvinced
,
unafraid
;
he
had
been
indignant
,
flustered
,
physically
sore
and
inconvenienced
;
but
always
at
the
back
of
his
mind
was
the
stubborn
belief
that
the
pains
and
indignities
endured
by
himself
and
his
wife
would
be
dearly
paid
for
by
the
perpetrators
.
He
could
conceive
as
yet
of
no
state
of
society
in
which
Law
and
the
bodily
immunity
of
the
peaceful
citizen
was
not
the
ultimate
principle
;
and
even
the
sight
of
a
long
grey
battalion
of
infantry
plodding
dustily
westward
on
the
road
by
the
river
had
not
convinced
him
of
war
and
the
meaning
of
war
.
They
came
on
the
trudging
torrent
of
men
as
they
debouched
from
the
valley
on
to
the
main
road
;
and
their
captors
halted
them
on
the
grass
at
the
roadside
until
the
close
grey
ranks
had
passed
.
William
and
Griselda
were
thankful
for
the
few
minutes
'
respite
and
breathing-space
;
they
wiped
their
hot
faces
and
Griselda
made
ineffectual
attempts
to
tidy
her
tumbled
hair
.
She
was
reminded
by
her
pressing
need
of
hairpins
that
they
had
left
their
bags
on
the
scene
of
their
misfortune
,
outside
the
farmhouse
gate
;
they
conversed
about
the
loss
in
undertones
,
and
wondered
if
the
bags
would
be
recovered
.
They
were
not
without
hopes
,
taking
into
account
the
loneliness
of
the
neighbourhood
...
.
When
the
battalion
,
with
its
tail
of
attendant
grey
carts
,
had
passed
,
Heinz
ordered
them
forward
again
—
and
they
moved
on
,
fifty
yards
or
so
behind
the
last
of
the
grey
carts
,
and
trusting
that
their
goal
was
at
hand
.
"
If
they
're
only
taking
us
as
far
as
the
village
,
"
Griselda
panted
hopefully
.
They
were
—
to
the
familiar
little
village
with
its
miniature
railway
station
between
the
river
and
the
cliff
.
The
column
of
infantry
plodded
dustily
through
and
past
it
,
but
Heinz
followed
the
rear-guard
only
halfway
down
the
street
before
he
shouted
to
his
prisoners
to
halt
.
They
halted
—
with
an
alacrity
born
of
relief
and
a
sense
of
the
wisdom
of
prompt
obedience
to
orders
—
before
an
unpretentious
white
building
with
a
sentry
stationed
on
either
side
of
the
door
.
Heinz
swung
himself
down
from
his
horse
and
went
into
the
house
,
leaving
William
and
Griselda
in
charge
of
his
comrades
and
standing
at
the
side
of
the
road
.
William
and
Griselda
looked
about
them
.
They
had
passed
through
the
place
several
times
and
were
accustomed
enough
to
its
usual
appearance
to
be
aware
of
the
change
that
had
come
over
it
.
The
rumbling
grey
carts
behind
which
they
had
tramped
were
already
at
the
end
of
the
village
;
they
could
see
all
the
sunlit
length
of
the
street
and
take
stock
of
the
new
unfamiliar
life
which
filled
it
from
end
to
end
.
It
was
a
life
masculine
and
military
;
an
odd
mixture
of
iron
order
and
disorder
;
of
soldiers
on
duty
and
soldiers
taking
their
ease
.
The
street
itself
was
untidy
and
littered
as
they
had
never
seen
it
before
;
its
centre
had
been
swept
clear
,
so
that
traffic
might
pass
unhindered
,
but
the
sides
of
the
road
were
strewn
with
a
jetsam
of
fragmentary
lumber
.
A
country
cart
that
had
lost
a
wheel
sat
clumsily
in
front
of
the
church
near
a
jumble
of
broken
pottery
,
and
a
chair
with
its
legs
in
the
air
was
neighboured
by
trusses
of
straw
.
All
down
the
street
the
doors
stood
widely
open
—
here
and
there
a
house
with
starred
or
shattered
windows
looked
unkempt
and
forlornly
shabby
.
Beyond
shivered
panes
and
occasional
litter
of
damaged
crockery
and
furniture
there
was
no
sign
of
actual
violence
;
the
encounter
that
had
taken
place
there
—
a
cavalry
skirmish
between
retreating
Belgian
and
advancing
German
—
had
left
few
traces
behind
it
.
The
civilians
of
the
village
,
with
hardly
an
exception
,
were
invisible
.
The
landlord
of
the
café
was
serving
his
soldier
customers
,
and
two
labourers
were
unloading
sacks
,
from
a
miller
's
dray
under
the
eye
of
a
guard
;
and
when
William
and
Griselda
had
been
waiting
for
a
few
minutes
an
old
man
crossed
the
road
hurriedly
from
opposite
house
to
house
—
emerging
from
shelter
like
a
rabbit
from
its
burrow
and
vanishing
with
a
swift
running
hobble
.
As
for
women
,
they
saw
only
two
—
whom
they
were
not
to
forget
easily
.
They
stood
,
the
two
women
,
a
few
yards
away
on
the
further
side
of
the
road
;
almost
opposite
the
door
by
which
Heinz
had
disappeared
and
with
their
eyes
continually
fixed
on
it
.
One
—
the
elder
—
was
stout
and
grey-headed
,
very
neatly
dressed
in
black
with
a
black
woollen
scarf
on
her
shoulders
;
her
hands
were
folded
,
meeting
on
her
breast
,
and
every
now
and
then
she
bent
her
head
over
them
while
her
lips
moved
slowly
and
soundlessly
.
At
such
moments
she
closed
her
eyes
,
but
when
she
lifted
her
head
again
they
turned
steadily
to
the
door
.
The
woman
who
stood
beside
her
was
taller
and
younger
,
middle-aged
,
upright
,
and
angular
;
she
also
wore
a
black
dress
,
and
above
her
sharp
and
yellowish
features
an
unbecoming
black
hat
—
a
high-crowned
hat
with
upstanding
and
rusty
black
bows
.
What
struck
you
about
her
at
the
first
glance
was
her
extreme
respectability
—
in
the
line
of
her
lean
shoulders
,
in
the
dowdily
conventional
hat
;
at
a
second
,
the
fact
that
her
mouth
was
a
line
,
so
tightly
were
her
lips
compressed
.
She
also
stood
with
her
eyes
fixed
on
the
door
.
William
and
Griselda
looked
at
the
pair
curiously
;
it
was
odd
and
uncomfortable
to
see
them
standing
at
the
side
of
the
road
,
their
clothes
dusted
by
passing
cars
,
not
moving
or
speaking
to
each
other
.
For
the
rest
,
from
end
to
end
of
the
street
there
were
only
soldiers
in
sight
.
Soldiers
taking
their
noisy
ease
at
the
tables
outside
the
café
—
any
number
of
them
crowded
round
the
little
green
tables
while
the
sweating
landlord
ran
to
and
fro
with
a
jug
or
a
tray
of
glasses
and
an
obvious
desire
to
propitiate
.
Other
soldiers
,
less
noisy
,
led
a
string
of
horses
to
water
;
and
a
rigid
file
of
them
with
rifles
grounded
,
was
drawn
up
on
the
further
side
of
the
street
not
far
from
the
waiting
women
;
some
ten
or
a
dozen
of
motionless
helmeted
automata
,
with
a
young
officer
,
a
ruddy-faced
boy
,
pacing
up
and
down
the
road
in
front
of
them
.
Through
a
gap
in
the
row
of
white
houses
William
and
Griselda
saw
another
group
of
men
in
their
shirt-sleeves
at
work
on
the
railway
line
—
the
line
that
should
have
taken
them
to
Brussels
;
they
seemed
to
be
repairing
some
damage
to
the
permanent
way
;
and
further
down
the
village
two
or
three
soldier
mechanics
were
busied
inquisitively
at
the
bonnet
of
a
heavy
grey
car
drawn
up
at
the
side
of
the
road
.
While
they
waited
and
watched
other
heavy
grey
cars
of
the
same
pattern
rumbled
into
the
street
and
along
it
;
and
motor
cycles
one
after
another
hooted
and
clanked
past
them
to
vanish
in
a
smothering
trail
of
dust
.
In
after
days
William
tried
vainly
to
recall
what
he
felt
and
thought
in
the
long
hot
minutes
while
they
waited
for
Heinz
to
reappear
and
for
something
to
happen
.
He
supposed
that
it
was
the
fiercer
sensations
of
the
time
that
followed
which
deadened
the
impressions
of
the
half-hour
or
so
during
which
they
stood
in
the
sunny
street
expecting
they
knew
not
what
;
and
though
he
remembered
,
and
remembered
vividly
,
the
outward
show
and
manner
of
the
place
—
its
dusty
road
,
its
swarming
soldiers
,
its
passing
cars
and
cycles
and
the
bearing
of
the
two
silent
women
—
the
memory
brought
with
it
no
hint
of
his
accompanying
attitude
of
mind
.
All
he
knew
was
that
he
had
not
been
seriously
alarmed
...
.
He
might
have
recalled
his
impressions
with
more
success
had
he
and
Griselda
discussed
at
the
time
their
new
and
surprising
experiences
;
but
an
attempt
to
enter
into
conversation
was
promptly
checked
by
one
of
their
attendant
guards
.
What
he
actually
said
was
unintelligible
,
but
his
manner
conveyed
his
meaning
and
thereafter
the
captives
considered
their
situation
in
silence
.
He
did
not
know
how
long
it
was
before
the
hostages
came
out
into
the
street
;
but
he
remembered
—
it
was
his
first
distinct
memory
of
a
vivid
personal
impression
—
the
instantaneous
thrill
of
relief
and
excitement
with
which
,
after
their
dreary
wait
,
he
saw
the
first
signs
of
movement
at
the
sentry-guarded
door
.
A
man
—
a
soldier
—
came
out
swiftly
and
went
to
the
boy-officer
,
who
thereupon
stopped
his
pacing
;
there
was
a
clicking
of
heels
,
a
salute
and
a
message
rapidly
delivered
;
the
boy-officer
turned
and
shouted
to
his
men
and
,
his
men
moved
at
the
word
,
their
rifles
going
to
their
shoulders
,
as
if
by
the
impulse
of
one
will
.
William
's
eye
was
caught
and
held
by
the
oiled
swiftness
,
the
mechanical
simultaneousness
of
the
movement
;
he
stared
at
the
line
of
uniforms
,
now
rigidly
inactive
again
,
till
a
hand
from
behind
gripped
his
collar
and
impelled
him
urgently
sideways
.
One
of
his
captors
had
adopted
this
simple
method
of
informing
him
that
way
must
be
made
for
those
about
to
issue
from
the
door
of
the
sentry-guarded
house
.
He
choked
angrily
and
brought
up
against
the
wall
—
to
which
Griselda
,
taking
warning
,
had
hastily
backed
herself
.
He
was
still
gasping
when
the
little
procession
came
out
;
a
soldier
leading
it
,
a
couple
more
with
bayonets
fixed
—
two
civilians
walking
together
—
a
couple
more
soldiers
with
bayonets
fixed
and
last
of
all
an
officer
,
a
fattish
,
youngish
,
moustachioed
man
whom
the
sentries
stiffened
to
salute
.
He
came
a
little
behind
his
men
,
paused
on
the
step
and
stood
there
framed
in
the
doorway
with
his
hand
resting
on
his
sword
,
the
embodiment
of
conscious
authority
;
the
others
,
the
two
civilians
and
their
guard
,
went
on
to
the
middle
of
the
road
.
There
,
in
the
middle
of
the
road
,
they
also
halted
—
the
soldiers
smartly
,
the
captives
uncertainly
—
and
William
saw
the
two
civilians
clearly
.
One
was
a
short
and
rotund
little
man
who
might
have
been
sixty
to
sixty-five
and
might
have
been
a
local
tradesman
—
nearly
bald
and
with
drooping
moustaches
,
rather
like
a
stout
little
seal
.
Essentially
an
ordinary
and
unpretentious
creature
,
he
was
obviously
aiming
at
dignity
;
his
chin
was
lifted
at
an
angle
that
revealed
the
measure
of
the
roll
of
fat
that
rested
on
his
collar
,
and
he
walked
almost
with
a
strut
,
as
if
he
were
attempting
to
march
.
Afterwards
William
remembered
that
he
had
seen
on
the
little
man
's
portly
stomach
some
sort
of
insignia
or
ribbon
;
at
the
time
it
conveyed
nothing
to
him
,
but
he
was
told
later
that
it
was
the
outward
token
of
a
mayor
.
He
remembered
also
that
the
little
man
's
face
was
pale
,
with
a
sickly
yellow-grey
pallor
;
and
that
as
he
came
down
the
steps
with
his
head
held
up
the
drooping
moustache
quivered
and
the
fat
chin
beneath
it
twitched
spasmodically
.
There
was
something
extraordinarily
pitiful
about
his
attempt
at
a
personal
dignity
which
nature
had
wholly
denied
him
;
William
felt
the
appeal
in
it
even
before
he
grasped
the
situation
the
meaning
and
need
of
the
pose
.
The
man
who
walked
on
his
left
hand
was
taller
and
some
years
younger
—
middle-aged
,
slightly
stooping
and
with
slightly
grizzled
hair
and
beard
.
He
belonged
to
an
ordinary
sedentary
type
,
and
William
,
thinking
him
over
later
,
was
inclined
to
set
him
down
a
schoolmaster
,
or
perhaps
a
clerk
.
He
wore
steel-rimmed
eye-glasses
and
his
black
coat
was
shiny
on
the
back
and
at
the
elbows
;
he
had
none
of
his
fellow
's
pomposity
,
and
walked
dragging
his
feet
and
with
his
eyes
bent
on
the
ground
.
He
raised
them
only
when
,
as
they
halted
in
the
middle
of
the
road
,
the
respectable
woman
in
black
called
out
something
—
one
word
,
perhaps
his
name
—
came
up
to
him
and
caught
him
by
the
shoulder
.
He
answered
her
quickly
and
very
briefly
—
with
hardly
more
than
a
word
—
and
for
a
second
or
two
after
he
had
spoken
she
stood
quite
still
,
with
her
hand
resting
on
his
shoulder
.
Then
,
suddenly
,
her
sallow
face
contorted
,
her
thin
mouth
writhed
and
from
it
there
came
a
cry
that
was
too
fierce
to
be
called
a
groan
and
too
hoarse
to
be
called
a
scream
;
she
flung
herself
forward
on
the
neck
of
the
grizzled
man
and
her
lean
black
arms
went
round
it
.
He
tried
to
speak
to
her
again
,
but
she
silenced
him
by
drawing
down
his
head
to
her
breast
;
she
held
it
to
her
breast
and
pressed
it
there
;
she
rocked
and
swayed
a
little
from
side
to
side
,
fondling
the
grizzled
hair
and
kissing
it
to
a
stream
of
broken
endearment
.
Her
grief
was
animal
,
alike
in
its
unrestraint
and
its
terrible
power
of
expression
;
convention
fell
away
from
her
;
in
her
tidy
dress
and
with
her
dowdy
hat
slipping
to
one
shoulder
she
was
primitive
woman
crooning
over
her
dying
mate
...
.
When
she
was
seized
and
drawn
away
from
her
man
,
her
curved
fingers
clung
to
his
garments
.
Two
soldiers
held
her
and
she
writhed
between
them
choking
out
a
hoarse
incoherent
appeal
to
the
officer
standing
in
the
frame
of
the
doorway
with
his
hand
on
the
hilt
of
his
sword
;
she
went
on
crying
herself
hoarser
as
her
captors
urged
her
further
down
the
street
and
at
last
,
in
mercy
to
those
who
looked
on
,
out
of
sight
through
an
open
doorway
.
William
had
his
hands
to
his
ears
when
the
door
shut
.
No
one
,
in
spite
of
the
persistence
of
her
cries
,
came
out
into
the
street
to
inquire
the
cause
of
her
grief
;
but
it
seemed
to
William
afterwards
that
he
had
been
aware
here
and
there
of
furtive
faces
that
appeared
at
upper
windows
.
While
they
forced
the
dowdy
woman
away
from
him
her
man
stood
motionless
,
turned
away
from
her
with
his
head
bent
and
his
eyes
on
the
ground
,
so
that
he
started
when
a
soldier
came
up
behind
him
and
tapped
him
sharply
on
the
arm
.
The
soldier
—
he
had
stripes
on
his
sleeve
and
seemed
a
person
of
authority
—
held
a
handkerchief
dangling
from
his
hand
;
and
,
seeing
it
,
the
grizzled-haired
captive
removed
his
steel-rimmed
eyeglasses
.
"
Do
n't
look
,
"
said
William
under
his
breath
.
"
Griselda
,
do
n't
look
.
"
For
the
first
time
mortal
fear
had
seized
him
by
the
throat
and
shaken
him
.
He
knew
now
that
he
stood
before
death
itself
,
and
the
power
to
inflict
death
,
and
his
heart
was
as
water
within
him
.
His
wife
was
beside
him
—
and
when
he
realized
(
as
he
did
later
on
with
shame
)
that
the
spasm
of
terror
in
those
first
moments
of
comprehension
had
been
stronger
than
the
spasm
of
pity
,
he
excused
it
by
the
fact
of
her
presence
.
His
fear
in
its
forecast
of
evil
took
tangible
shape
.
Griselda
at
his
elbow
had
her
eyes
and
her
mouth
wide
open
;
she
was
engrossed
,
fascinated
—
and
he
was
afraid
,
most
horribly
afraid
,
that
in
her
amazement
,
her
righteous
pity
,
she
might
say
or
do
something
that
would
bring
down
wrath
upon
them
.
He
remembered
how
bold
she
had
been
in
the
face
of
a
crowd
,
how
uplifted
by
sacred
enthusiasm
!
...
He
plucked
her
by
the
sleeve
when
he
whispered
to
her
not
to
look
—
but
she
went
on
staring
,
wide-eyed
and
wide-mouthed
,
for
the
first
time
unresponsive
to
his
touch
and
the
sound
of
his
voice
.
They
bandaged
the
eyes
of
the
two
prisoners
—
the
rotund
pompous
little
mayor
and
the
man
who
might
have
been
a
schoolmaster
.
All
his
life
William
remembered
the
look
of
the
rotund
mayor
with
a
bandage
covering
him
from
forehead
to
nose-tip
and
his
grey
moustache
quivering
beneath
it
—
a
man
most
pitifully
afraid
to
die
,
yet
striving
to
die
as
the
situation
demanded
.
And
he
remembered
how
,
at
the
moment
the
bandage
was
knotted
on
the
mayor
's
head
,
there
stepped
up
to
him
quietly
the
stout
old
woman
who
had
stood
praying
on
the
further
side
of
the
road
with
her
eyes
fixed
upon
the
door
.
She
held
up
a
little
crucifix
and
pressed
it
to
the
quivering
grey
moustache
...
.
Griselda
clutched
William
by
the
wrist
and
he
thought
she
was
going
to
cry
out
.
"
Do
n't
,
darling
,
do
n't
!
"
he
whispered
.
"
Oh
,
darling
,
for
both
our
sakes
!
"
...
He
did
not
know
whether
it
was
his
appeal
or
her
own
terror
and
amazement
that
restrained
her
from
speech
—
but
she
stood
in
silence
with
her
fingers
tightened
on
his
wrist
.
He
wished
she
would
look
away
,
he
wished
he
could
look
away
himself
;
he
tried
for
an
instant
to
close
his
eyes
,
but
the
not-seeing
was
worse
than
sight
,
and
he
had
to
open
them
again
.
As
he
opened
them
a
car
roared
by
raising
a
smother
of
dust
;
but
as
the
cloud
of
its
passage
settled
he
saw
that
the
two
blindfolded
men
were
standing
with
their
backs
to
a
blank
wall
—
a
yellow-washed
,
eight-foot
garden
wall
with
the
boughs
of
a
pear-tree
drooping
over
it
.
It
was
opposite
the
yellow-washed
wall
,
across
the
road
,
that
the
file
of
soldiers
was
drawn
up
;
the
captives
were
facing
the
muzzles
of
their
rifles
and
the
red-faced
boy-officer
had
stationed
himself
stiffly
at
the
farther
end
of
the
file
.
The
dust
settled
and
died
down
—
and
there
followed
(
so
it
seemed
to
William
)
an
agony
of
waiting
for
something
that
would
not
happen
.
Long
beating
seconds
(
three
or
four
of
them
at
most
)
while
two
men
stood
upright
with
bandaged
eyes
and
rifles
pointed
at
their
hearts
;
long
beating
seconds
,
while
a
bird
fluted
in
the
pear-tree
—
a
whistle-note
infinitely
careless
...
.
And
then
(
thank
God
for
it
!
)
a
voice
and
a
report
that
were
as
one
...
.
The
man
with
the
grizzled
hair
threw
out
an
arm
and
toppled
with
his
face
in
the
dust
;
the
mayor
slid
sideways
against
the
wall
with
the
blood
dribbling
from
his
mouth
.
CHAPTER
VIII
Fundamentally
William
was
no
more
of
a
coward
than
the
majority
of
his
fellow-men
,
and
,
put
to
it
,
he
would
have
emulated
the
shivering
little
mayor
and
tried
to
strut
gamely
to
his
end
;
it
was
as
much
sheer
bewildered
amazement
as
the
baseness
of
bodily
terror
that
had
him
by
the
throat
when
he
saw
the
hostages
done
to
death
—
sickening
and
shaking
him
and
,
for
the
moment
,
depriving
him
of
self-control
.
Never
before
,
in
all
his
twenty-eight
years
,
had
he
seen
a
man
come
to
his
end
;
so
far
death
had
touched
him
only
once
,
and
but
slightly
,
by
the
unseen
passing
of
a
mother
he
had
not
loved
;
thus
the
spectacle
of
violent
and
bloody
dying
would
of
itself
have
sufficed
to
unnerve
and
unman
him
.
To
the
natural
shrinking
from
that
spectacle
,
to
his
natural
horror
at
the
slaying
of
helpless
men
,
to
his
pity
and
physical
nausea
was
added
the
impotent
,
gasping
confusion
of
the
man
whose
faith
has
been
uprooted
,
who
is
face
to
face
with
the
incredible
.
Before
his
eyes
had
been
enacted
the
impossible
—
the
ugly
and
brutal
impossible
—
and
beneath
his
feet
the
foundations
of
the
earth
were
reeling
.
The
iron-mouthed
guns
and
the
marching
columns
which
had
hitherto
passed
him
as
a
dusty
pageant
took
life
and
meaning
in
his
eyes
;
they
were
instruments
of
the
ugly
impossible
.
There
was
meaning
too
in
the
lonely
grave
and
in
the
lonely
house
—
whence
men
had
fled
in
terror
of
such
scenes
as
his
eyes
had
witnessed
.
So
far
,
to
him
,
the
limit
of
human
savagery
had
been
the
feeding
through
the
nose
of
divers
young
women
who
,
infected
with
the
virus
of
martyrdom
,
demanded
to
be
left
to
die
—
and
now
he
had
witnessed
the
killing
of
men
who
desired
most
greatly
to
live
.
At
the
time
he
did
not
—
because
he
could
not
—
analyse
either
the
elements
of
the
situation
or
his
own
attitude
towards
it
;
but
he
knew
afterwards
,
vaguely
but
surely
,
that
in
that
one
bewildering
and
ruthless
moment
the
heart
of
his
faith
was
uprooted
—
his
faith
in
that
large
vague
entity
the
People
,
in
the
power
of
Public
Opinion
and
Talk
,
in
the
power
of
the
Good
Intention
...
.
Until
that
moment
he
had
confounded
the
blunder
with
the
crime
,
the
mistaken
with
the
evilly
intentioned
.
It
had
not
seemed
to
him
possible
that
a
man
could
disagree
with
him
honestly
and
out
of
the
core
of
his
heart
;
it
had
not
seemed
to
him
possible
that
the
righteous
could
be
righteous
and
yet
err
.
He
knew
now
,
as
by
lightning
flash
,
that
he
,
Faraday
,
a
thousand
others
,
throwing
scorn
from
a
thousand
platforms
on
the
idea
of
a
European
War
,
had
been
madly
,
wildly
,
ridiculously
wrong
—
and
the
knowledge
stunned
and
blinded
him
.
They
had
meant
so
well
,
they
had
meant
so
exceedingly
well
—
and
yet
they
had
prophesied
falsely
and
fact
had
given
them
the
lie
.
Until
that
moment
he
had
been
in
what
he
called
politics
the
counterpart
of
the
Christian
Scientist
,
despising
and
denying
the
evil
that
now
laughed
triumphant
in
his
face
.
With
its
triumph
perforce
he
was
converted
.
War
was
:
men
were
shot
against
walls
.
Converted
,
though
as
yet
he
knew
not
to
what
form
of
unknown
faith
.
He
did
not
see
what
became
of
the
two
dead
bodies
—
whither
they
were
taken
or
by
whom
they
were
buried
—
for
they
had
barely
fallen
to
the
ground
and
his
eyes
were
still
closed
that
he
might
not
look
on
the
blood
that
was
dribbling
from
the
mayor
's
moustache
when
a
hand
tapped
him
smartly
on
the
shoulder
and
he
found
Heinz
standing
beside
him
.
He
had
a
glimpse
of
men
moving
round
the
bodies
,
a
glimpse
of
his
wife
's
face
staring
and
sickly
,
another
of
a
passing
motor-cycle
,
and
then
Heinz
turned
him
to
the
door
where
the
sentries
stood
on
guard
.
With
his
captor
's
hand
on
his
shoulder
he
went
into
the
low
white
house
,
along
a
little
passage
on
the
ground
floor
and
into
a
room
on
the
right
,
at
the
back
of
the
house
;
Griselda
coming
after
him
,
still
staring
and
white-faced
and
likewise
with
a
hand
on
her
shoulder
.
In
the
room
—
large
and
sunny
with
windows
looking
on
to
a
garden
—
was
a
man
in
uniform
and
spectacles
writing
at
a
table
,
and
,
erect
and
complacent
beside
him
,
the
fattish
moustachioed
officer
who
had
watched
the
execution
from
the
doorstep
.
He
was
lighting
a
cigar
with
a
hand
that
did
not
tremble
.
William
and
Griselda
were
escorted
by
their
guards
into
the
middle
of
the
room
and
planted
there
,
standing
in
front
of
him
.
After
what
he
had
seen
,
and
with
the
memory
of
Heinz
's
threats
,
William
Tully
believed
most
firmly
that
he
too
was
about
to
die
;
and
with
the
conviction
there
filled
his
heart
(
as
it
would
have
filled
the
heart
of
any
honest
lover
)
a
great
and
intolerable
pity
for
Griselda
,
his
new-made
wife
.
She
,
the
woman
,
would
be
left
where
he
,
the
man
,
would
be
taken
—
and
he
dared
not
turn
his
head
towards
her
lest
he
might
see
her
face
instinct
with
the
agony
of
the
coming
parting
,
lest
,
foreseeing
and
resisting
it
,
she
should
fling
her
arms
about
him
and
croon
over
him
as
the
sallow-faced
woman
in
respectable
black
had
crooned
over
the
head
of
her
man
.
Her
meanings
,
the
meanings
of
a
woman
unknown
,
had
torn
at
his
inmost
heart
;
how
should
he
bear
it
when
Griselda
,
his
darling
,
clung
fast
to
him
and
cried
in
vain
for
pity
?
...
That
he
might
not
see
Griselda
's
face
even
with
the
tail
of
an
eye
he
stared
hard
and
steadily
over
the
officer
's
shoulder
.
He
never
forgot
the
wall-paper
beyond
the
well-filled
grey
uniform
;
it
was
dingy
mud
and
orange
as
to
ground
with
a
ponderous
pattern
of
clumped
and
climbing
vegetables
.
In
one
spot
,
opposite
the
window
,
where
a
blaze
of
sunlight
struck
it
,
the
mud
and
orange
was
transfigured
to
shining
gold
—
and
William
knew
suddenly
that
he
had
never
seen
sunlight
before
.
For
the
first
time
he
saw
it
as
vivid
glory
from
heaven
—
when
his
eyes
(
as
he
thought
)
would
soon
close
on
its
splendour
for
ever
.
Not
only
his
sight
but
his
every
sense
was
alert
and
most
sharply
intense
;
on
a
sudden
the
thudding
of
guns
in
the
distance
was
threateningly
nearer
at
hand
,
and
,
in
the
interval
between
the
gun-bursts
,
a
wasp
beating
up
and
down
the
window-pane
filled
the
room
with
a
spiteful
humming
.
It
was
while
he
stood
waiting
for
the
doom
he
believed
to
be
certain
,
while
the
German
captain
looked
him
up
and
down
and
addressed
curt
unintelligible
questions
to
those
who
had
made
him
their
prisoner
—
that
there
stirred
in
the
breast
of
William
Tully
the
first
faint
sense
of
nationality
.
He
did
not
recognize
it
as
such
,
and
it
was
not
to
be
expected
that
he
should
,
since
his
life
for
the
last
few
strenuous
years
had
been
largely
moulded
on
the
principle
that
the
love
of
one
's
country
was
a
vice
to
be
combated
and
sneered
at
.
If
you
had
told
him
a
short
day
earlier
that
the
thought
of
the
soil
he
was
born
on
could
move
and
thrill
and
uplift
him
,
he
would
have
stared
and
despised
you
as
a
jingo
,
that
most
foolish
and
degraded
of
survivals
;
yet
with
his
eyes
(
as
he
thought
)
looking
their
last
on
the
blazing
gold
that
was
sunlight
,
with
the
sword
suspended
over
his
trembling
head
,
something
that
was
not
only
his
pitiful
love
for
Griselda
,
something
that
was
more
than
his
decent
self-respect
,
fluttered
and
stirred
within
him
and
called
on
him
to
play
the
man
.
It
bade
him
straighten
his
back
before
men
of
an
outlandish
race
,
it
bade
him
refrain
from
pleading
and
weakness
before
those
who
were
not
of
his
blood
;
and
for
the
first
time
for
many
years
he
thought
of
himself
as
a
national
,
a
man
of
the
English
race
.
Not
consciously
as
yet
and
with
no
definite
sense
of
affection
for
England
or
impulse
to
stand
by
her
and
serve
her
;
but
with
a
vague
,
unreasoning
,
natural
longing
for
home
and
the
narrow
things
of
home
.
It
mattered
not
that
the
England
he
longed
for
was
small
,
suburban
,
crowded
and
noisily
pretentious
;
he
craved
for
it
in
the
face
of
death
,
as
other
men
crave
for
their
spacious
fenlands
or
the
sweep
of
their
open
downs
.
England
as
he
knew
her
called
him
,
not
with
the
noisy
call
of
yesterday
,
but
in
a
voice
less
strident
and
more
tender
;
he
knew
now
that
it
was
dreadful
to
die
away
from
her
.
Instinctively
,
thinking
on
London
,
he
drew
himself
up
to
the
height
of
his
five
foot
five
and
—
as
the
mayor
had
done
before
him
—
he
lifted
his
chin
in
would-be
defiance
and
dignity
.
There
—
with
the
attempt
to
subdue
the
trembling
flesh
and
defy
brute
insolence
and
tyranny
—
the
resemblance
between
the
two
men
's
cases
ended
.
For
the
time
being
William
ran
no
risk
of
a
violent
and
bloody
ending
;
there
was
no
further
need
of
an
example
and
he
had
offended
the
conqueror
only
by
his
poor
little
presence
.
Further
—
though
he
expressed
his
enjoyment
of
it
less
noisily
and
emphatically
than
his
three
subordinates
had
done
—
the
humour
of
his
prisoner
's
situation
appealed
to
Heinz
's
superior
officer
almost
as
much
as
it
had
appealed
to
Heinz
himself
.
He
grinned
perceptibly
as
he
questioned
the
couple
in
his
somewhat
halting
English
;
chuckled
audibly
when
they
confirmed
his
subordinate
's
statement
as
to
their
complete
ignorance
of
the
European
upheaval
;
and
when
he
had
elicited
the
fact
that
the
hapless
pair
had
been
spending
their
honeymoon
in
the
secluded
valleys
of
Ardennes
he
removed
his
cigar
from
his
moustachioed
lips
that
he
might
chuckle
long
and
unhindered
.
"
Honeymoon
,
"
he
repeated
,
his
stout
shoulders
trembling
with
merriment
.
"
In
a
nice
,
quiet
place
,
wiz
no
one
to
interrupt
zee
kissings
.
Never
mind
—
you
will
have
a
very
good
honeymoon
with
us
and
you
will
very
soon
be
able
to
go
back
to
England
.
Just
so
soon
as
the
Sherman
Army
shall
have
been
there
.
You
should
be
very
pleased
that
you
are
safe
with
us
:
it
is
more
dangerous
to
be
in
London
.
"
William
,
with
his
nerves
tuned
up
to
face
a
firing
party
,
withered
miserably
under
heavy
jocularity
.
He
knew
instinctively
that
his
life
was
saved
to
him
;
but
the
assurance
of
safety
was
conveyed
in
a
jeer
,
and
at
the
moment
(
so
oddly
are
we
made
)
the
jeer
hurt
more
than
the
assurance
of
safety
relieved
him
.
He
had
mastered
his
anguish
and
strung
himself
up
—
to
be
treated
as
a
figure
of
fun
;
the
spectacled
clerk
at
the
writing-table
was
laughing
so
heartily
that
he
had
to
remove
his
glasses
and
wipe
them
before
he
continued
his
labours
.
William
tingled
all
over
with
helpless
rage
as
Griselda
tingled
beside
him
.
But
yesterday
he
would
have
told
you
loftily
that
both
he
and
his
wife
were
inured
to
public
,
above
all
to
official
,
ridicule
;
but
it
is
one
thing
to
brave
ridicule
with
an
approving
audience
in
the
background
,
another
to
face
it
unapplauded
,
uncrowned
with
the
halo
of
the
martyr
...
.
They
reddened
and
quivered
whilst
incomprehensible
witticisms
passed
between
the
captain
and
his
clerk
.
It
was
an
intense
relief
when
a
nod
and
a
brief
order
signified
that
the
jest
was
sufficiently
enjoyed
and
their
audience
with
the
captain
at
an
end
.
They
were
too
thankful
even
to
resent
the
roughness
with
which
Heinz
collared
his
man
while
his
comrade
collared
Griselda
.
CHAPTER
IX
One
of
the
features
of
the
interview
that
struck
William
later
on
was
this
—
during
all
the
long
minutes
that
it
lasted
Griselda
had
spoken
no
words
.
For
once
the
tumult
and
amazement
of
her
soul
was
beyond
her
glib
power
of
expression
and
it
was
only
as
they
came
into
the
open
air
that
—
for
the
first
time
since
she
had
seen
the
hostages
die
—
she
unclosed
her
lips
and
spoke
.
"
What
are
they
going
to
do
with
us
?
"
she
asked
.
Her
voice
was
husky
and
uncertain
,
and
the
words
came
out
in
little
jerks
.
William
gave
the
question
no
answer
:
for
one
thing
because
his
ignorance
of
their
destiny
was
as
thorough
as
his
wife
's
;
for
another
because
speech
,
by
reason
of
Heinz
's
firm
grip
on
his
collar
,
was
so
difficult
as
to
be
almost
impossible
.
The
man
had
his
knuckles
thrust
tightly
between
shirt
and
skin
;
William
purpled
and
gasped
as
he
trotted
down
the
street
with
a
collar
stud
pressing
on
his
windpipe
.
Behind
him
when
he
started
came
Griselda
and
her
guard
;
as
he
could
not
twist
his
head
to
look
over
his
shoulder
he
had
no
suspicion
that
the
couples
had
parted
company
,
and
it
was
not
until
his
captor
turned
him
sharply
to
the
right
down
a
by-road
leading
to
the
station
that
he
discovered
,
in
rounding
the
corner
,
that
his
wife
and
her
escort
were
no
longer
following
in
his
footsteps
.
The
momentary
sidelong
glimpse
he
caught
of
the
road
gave
him
never
a
sight
of
Griselda
;
she
had
vanished
without
word
or
sign
.
For
a
moment
he
could
hardly
believe
it
and
walked
on
stupidly
in
silence
;
then
,
the
stupor
passing
,
his
terror
found
voice
and
he
clamoured
.
"
Where
's
my
wife
?
"
he
cried
out
and
writhed
instinctively
to
free
himself
.
His
reward
was
a
tightening
of
the
German
's
strangle-hold
,
some
most
hearty
abuse
and
some
even
heartier
kicks
.
Under
the
punishment
he
lost
his
foothold
and
would
have
fallen
but
for
Heinz
's
clutch
upon
his
collar
;
when
the
punishment
was
over
he
was
brought
up
trembling
and
choking
.
In
that
moment
he
suffered
the
fiercest
of
torments
,
the
fire
of
an
ineffectual
hate
.
He
hated
Heinz
and
could
have
torn
him
;
but
he
had
been
taught
the
folly
of
blind
wrestling
with
the
stronger
and
,
for
Griselda
's
sake
,
he
swallowed
his
fury
and
cringed
.
"
Where
is
she
?
"
he
begged
most
humbly
and
pitifully
as
Heinz
thrust
him
forward
again
.
"
For
mercy
's
sake
tell
me
what
you
have
done
with
my
wife
—
with
my
wife
?
...
If
you
will
only
let
me
know
where
she
is
?
That
's
all
—
just
to
let
me
know
.
"
He
was
answered
by
the
silence
of
contempt
and
a
renewed
urge
along
the
road
;
he
obeyed
because
he
could
do
no
other
,
whimpering
aloud
in
the
misery
of
this
new
and
sharpest
of
misfortunes
.
As
he
pled
and
whimpered
terrible
thoughts
came
hurrying
into
his
brain
;
all
things
were
possible
in
these
evil
times
and
among
these
evil
men
—
and
there
was
a
dreadful
,
hideously
familiar
phrase
anent
"
licentious
soldiery
"
:
a
phrase
that
had
once
been
just
a
phrase
and
that
was
now
a
present
horror
beating
hard
in
his
burning
head
.
He
stumbled
on
with
the
tears
running
down
his
cheeks
,
and
discovered
suddenly
that
he
was
whispering
under
his
breath
the
name
of
God
—
all
things
else
having
failed
him
.
He
did
not
realize
that
he
was
sobbing
and
shedding
great
tears
until
halfway
along
the
road
when
a
German
soldier
met
them
.
The
man
as
he
passed
turned
his
head
to
laugh
at
the
sight
of
a
face
grotesque
and
distorted
in
its
wretchedness
;
whereupon
there
flared
up
again
in
William
that
new
sense
of
blood
and
breed
and
with
it
an
instant
rush
of
shame
that
he
had
wept
before
these
—
Germans
!
He
gulped
back
his
tears
,
strove
to
stiffen
his
face
and
clenched
his
hands
to
endure
.
He
had
need
in
the
hours
that
came
after
of
all
his
powers
of
endurance
alike
of
body
and
of
mind
.
The
day
that
already
seemed
age-long
was
far
from
being
at
its
height
when
Griselda
was
taken
away
from
him
and
all
through
the
heat
till
close
upon
sundown
he
was
put
to
hard
physical
toil
.
Level
with
the
village
the
railway
line
had
been
torn
up
and
the
little
wayside
station
was
a
half-burnt
mass
of
wreckage
;
a
detachment
of
retreating
Belgians
had
done
their
best
to
destroy
it
,
had
derailed
an
engine
and
half
a
dozen
trucks
and
done
such
damage
as
time
allowed
to
a
stretch
of
the
permanent
way
.
In
its
turn
a
detachment
of
Germans
was
hard
at
work
at
removal
of
the
wreckage
and
repairs
to
the
line
;
and
into
their
service
they
had
pressed
such
villagers
as
had
not
fled
at
their
approach
.
A
cowed
,
unhappy
band
they
toiled
and
sweated
,
dug
,
carried
loads
and
levelled
the
broken
soil
;
some
stupidly
submissive
,
some
openly
sullen
to
their
captors
,
some
pitiably
eager
to
please
:
all
serfs
for
the
time
being
and
all
of
them
ignorant
of
what
the
next
hour
might
bring
forth
of
further
terror
or
misfortune
.
To
this
captive
little
company
William
Tully
was
joined
,
handed
over
by
Heinz
to
its
taskmaster
—
to
become
of
them
all
the
most
pitiable
,
