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diff --git a/old/53611-8.txt b/old/53611-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index be2026c..0000000 --- a/old/53611-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9970 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Goslings, by J. D. Beresford - -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'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Goslings - -Author: J. D. Beresford - -Release Date: November 26, 2016 [EBook #53611] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOSLINGS *** - - - - -Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ for Project -Gutenberg (This file was produced from images generously -made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - GOSLINGS - - By - - J. D. BERESFORD - - Author of "The Hampdenshire Wonder," etc. - - - London - William Heinemann - 1913 - - - - - - - - -BOOK I - -THE NEW PLAGUE - - -I--THE GOSLING FAMILY - - -1 - -"Where's the gels gone to?" asked Mr Gosling. - -"Up the 'Igh Road to look at the shops. I'm expectin' 'em in every -minute." - -"Ho!" said Gosling. He leaned against the dresser; the kitchen was -hot with steam, and he fumbled for a handkerchief in the pocket of -his black tail coat. He produced first a large red bandanna with which -he blew his nose vigorously. "Snuff 'andkerchief; brought it 'ome to -be washed," he remarked, and then brought out a white handkerchief -which he used to wipe his forehead. - -"It's a dirty 'abit snuff-taking," commented Mrs Gosling. - -"Well, you can't smoke in the orfice," replied Gosling. - -"Must be doin' somethin', I suppose?" said his wife. - -When the recital of this formula had been accomplished--it was hallowed -by a precise repetition every week, and had been established now for -a quarter of a century--Gosling returned to the subject in hand. - -"They does a lot of lookin' at shops," he said, "and then nothin' 'll -satisfy 'em but buyin' somethin'. Why don't they keep away from 'em?" - -"Oh, well; sales begin nex' week," replied Mrs Gosling. "An' that's a -thing we 'ave to consider in our circumstances." She left the vicinity -of the gas-stove, and bustled over to the dresser. "'Ere, get out of -my way, do," she went on, "an' go up and change your coat. Dinner'll -be ready in two ticks. I shan't wait for the gells if they ain't in." - -"Them sales is a fraud," remarked Gosling, but he did not stop to -argue the point. - -He went upstairs and changed his respectable "morning" coat for a -short alpaca jacket, slipped his cuffs over his hands, put one inside -the other and placed them in their customary position on the chest of -drawers, changed his boots for carpet slippers, wetted his hair brush -and carefully plastered down a long wisp of grey hair over the top -of his bald head, and then went into the bathroom to wash his hands. - -There had been a time in George Gosling's history when he had not been -so regardful of the decencies of life. But he was a man of position -now, and his two daughters insisted on these ceremonial observances. - -Gosling was one of the world's successes. He had started life as -a National School boy, and had worked his way up through all the -grades--messenger, office-boy, junior clerk, clerk, senior clerk, -head clerk, accountant--to his present responsible position as head of -the counting-house, with a salary of £26 a month. He rented a house -in Wisteria Grove, Brondesbury, at £45 a year; he was a sidesman -of the church of St John the Evangelist, Kilburn; a member of Local -Committees; and in moments of expansion he talked of seeking election -to the District Council. A solid, sober, thoroughly respectable man, -Gosling, about whom there had never been a hint of scandal; grown -stout now, and bald--save for a little hair over the ears, and that -one persistent grey tress which he used as a sort of insufficient -wrapping for his naked skull. - -Such was the George Gosling seen by his wife, daughters, neighbours, -and heads of the firm of wholesale provision merchants for whom he had -worked for forty-one years in Barbican, E.C. Yet there was another man, -hardly realized by George Gosling himself, and apparently so little -representative that even his particular cronies in the office would -never have entered any description of him, if they had been obliged -to give a detailed account of their colleague's character. - -Nevertheless, if you heard Gosling laughing uproariously at some story -produced by one of those cronies, you might be quite certain that it -was a story he would not repeat before his daughters, though he might -tell his wife--if it were not too broad. If you watched Gosling in the -street, you would see that he took a strange, unaccountable interest in -the feet and ankles of young women. And if many of Gosling's thoughts -and desires had been translated into action, the Vicar of St John the -Evangelist would have dismissed his sidesman with disgust, the Local -Committees would have had no more of him, and his wife and daughters -would have regarded him as the most depraved of criminals. - -Fortunately, Gosling had never been tempted beyond the powers of -his resistance. At fifty-five, he may be regarded as safe from -temptation. He seldom put any restraint upon his thoughts, outside -business hours; but he had an ideal which ruled his life--the ideal -of respectability. George Gosling counted himself--and others counted -him also--as respectable a man as could be found in the Metropolitan -Police area. There were, perhaps, a quarter of a million other men -in the same area, equally respectable. - - - - -2 - -As he was drying his hands, Gosling heard the front door slam and -his daughters' voices in the passage below, followed by a shrill -exhortation from the kitchen: "Now, gels, 'urry up, dinner's all -ready and your father's waitin'!" - -Gosling trotted downstairs and received the usual salute from his two -girls. He noted that they were a shade more effusive than usual. "Want -more money for fal-lals," was his inward comment. They were always -wanting money for "fal-lals." - -He adopted his usual line of defence through dinner and constantly -brought the subject of conversation back to the need for a reduction -of expenses. He did not see Blanche wink at Millie across the table, -during these strategic exercises; nor catch the glance of understanding -which passed between the girls and their mother. So, as his dinner -comforted and cheered him, Gosling began to relax into his usual -facetiousness; incredibly believing, despite the invariable precedents -of his family history, that his daughters had been convinced of the -hopelessness of approaching him for money that evening. - -The credulous creature even allowed them to make their opening, -and then assisted them to a statement of their petition. - -They were talking of a friend's engagement to be married, and Gosling -with an obtuseness he never displayed in business remarked, "Wish my -gels 'ud get married." - -"Talking about us, father?" asked Blanche. - -"Well, you're the only gels I've got--as I know of," said Gosling. - -"Well, how can you expect us to get married when we haven't got a -decent thing to put on?" returned Blanche. - -Gosling realized his danger too late. "Pooh! That don't make any -difference," he said hastily, adopting a thoroughly unsound line of -defence; "I never noticed what your mother was wearing when I courted -'er." - -"Dessay you didn't," replied Millie, "I dessay most fellows couldn't -tell you what a girl was wearing, but it makes just all the difference -for all that." - -"Of course it does," said Blanche. "A girl's got no chance these days -unless she can look smart. No fellow's going to marry a dowdy." - -"It does make a big difference, there's no denyin'," put in Mrs -Gosling, as though she was being convinced against her will. - -"And now the sales are just beginning----" - -Poor Gosling knew the game was up. They had made no direct attack -upon his pocket, yet; but they would not relax their grip of this -fascinating subject till they had achieved their object. Blanche was -saying that she was ashamed to be seen anywhere; and procrastination -would be met at once by the argument--how well he knew it--based on -the premise that if you didn't buy at sale-time, you had to pay twice -as much later. - -It was quite useless for Gosling to fidget, throw himself back in -his chair, frown, shake his head, and look horribly determined; -the course of progress was unalterable from the direct attack: "Do -you like to see us going about in rags, father?" through the stage -of "Well, well, 'ow much do you want? I simply can't afford----" -and the ensuing haggles down to the despairing sigh as the original -minimum demanded--in this case no less than five pounds--was forlornly -conceded, and clinched by Blanche's, "We must have it before the end -of the week, dad, the sales begin on Monday." - -At the end of it all, he received what compensation they had to offer -him; hugs and kisses, offers to do all sorts of impossible things, -assistance in getting his armchair into precisely the right position, -and him into the chair, and the table cleared and the lamp in just -the right place for him to read his half-penny evening paper which -was fetched for him from the pocket of his overcoat. And, finally, -the crux of Gosling's whole position, a general air of complacency, -good-temper and comfort. - -Gosling was an easy-going man, he hated rows. - -"Mind you, you two," he remarked with a return to facetiousness as he -settled himself with his carpet slippers spread out to the fire--"mind -you, I look on this money as an investment. You two gels got to get -married; and quick or I shall be in the bankrup'cy Court. Don't you -forget as these 'fal-lals' is bought for a purpose." - -"Oh, don't be so horrid, father," said Blanche, with a change of front; -"it sounds as if we were setting traps for men." - -"Well, ain't you?" asked Gosling. "You said just now----" - -"Not like that," interrupted Blanche. "It's very different just wanting -to look nice. Personally, I'm in no 'urry to get married, thank you." - -"You wait till Mr Right comes along," put in Mrs Gosling, and then -turned the conversation by saying: "Well, father, what's the news -this evening?" - -"Nothin' excitin'," replied Gosling. "Seems this new plague's spreadin' -in China." - -"They're always inventin' new diseases, nowadays, or callin' old ones -by new names," said Mrs Gosling. The two girls were busy with a sheet -of note-paper and a stump of pencil that seemed to require frequent -lubrication; they were making calculations. - -"This one's quite new, seemingly," returned Gosling. "It's only the -men as get it." - -"No need for us to worry, then," put in Millie, more as a duty, -some slight return for benefits promised, than because she took any -interest in the subject. Blanche was absorbed; her unseeing gaze was -fixed on the mantelpiece and ever and again she removed the point of -the pencil from her mouth and wrote feverishly. - -"Oh, ain't there?" replied Gosling. He turned his head in order to -argue from so strong a position. "And where'd you be, and all the -rest of the women, if you 'adn't got no men to look after you?" - -"I expect we could get along pretty well, if we had to," said Millie. - -Gosling winked at his wife, and indicated by an upward movement of -his chin that he was astounded at such innocence. "Who'd buy your -'fal-lals' for you, I should like to know?" he asked. - -"We'd have to earn money for ourselves," said Millie. - -"Ah! I'd like to see you or Blanche takin' over my job," replied her -father. "Why, I'll lay there's 'alf a dozen mistakes in the figurin' -she's doing at the present moment. Let me see!" - -Blanche descended suddenly from visions of Paradise, and put her hand -over the sheet of note-paper. "You can't, father," she said. - -Gosling looked sly. "Indeed?" he said, with simulated surprise. "And -why not? Ain't I to be allowed to judge of the nature of the investment -I'm goin' in for? I might give you an 'int or two from the gentleman's -point of view." - -Blanche shook her head. "I haven't added it up yet," she said. - -Gosling did not press the point; he returned to his original -position. "I dunno where you ladies 'ud be if you 'adn't no gentlemen -to look after you." - -Mrs Gosling smirked. "We'll 'ope it won't come to that," she -said. "China's a long way off." - -"Appears as there's been one case in Russia, though," remarked -Gosling. He saw that he had rather a good thing in this threat of male -extermination, a pleasant, harmless threat to hold over his feminine -dependents; a means to emphasize the facts of masculine superiority -and of the absolute necessity for masculine intelligence; facts that -were not sufficiently well realized in Wisteria Grove, at times. - -Mrs Gosling yawned surreptitiously. She was doing her best to be -pleasant, but the subject bored her. She was a practical woman -who worked hard all day to keep her house clean, and received very -feeble assistance from the daughters for whom her one ambition was -an establishment conducted on lines precisely similar to her own. - -Millie and Blanche had returned to their calculations and were -completely absorbed. - -"In Russia? Just fancy," commented Mrs Gosling. - -"In Moscow," said Gosling, studying his Evening News. "'E was an -official on the trans-Siberian Railway. 'As soon as the disease -was identified as a case of the new plague,'" read Gosling, "'the -patient was at once removed to the infectious hospital and strictly -isolated. He died within two hours of his admission. Stringent measures -are being taken to prevent the infection from spreading.'" - -"Was 'e a married man?" asked Mrs Gosling. - -"Doesn't say," replied her husband. "But the point is that if it once -gets to Europe, who knows where it'll stop?" - -"They'll see to that, you may be sure," said Mrs Gosling, with a -beautiful faith in the scientific resources of civilization. "It said -somethin' about that in the bit you've just read." - -Gosling was not to be done out of his argument. "Very like," he -said. "But now, just supposin' as this 'ere plague did spread to -London, and 'alf the men couldn't go to work; where d'you fancy -you'd be?" - -Mrs Gosling was unable to grasp the intricacies of this -abstraction. "Well, of course, every one knows as we couldn't get on -without the men," she said. - -"Ah! well there you are, got it in once," said Gosling. "And don't -you gels forget it," he added turning to his daughters. - -Millie only giggled, but Blanche said, "All right, dad, we won't." - -The girls returned to their calculations; they had arrived at the -stage of cutting out all those items which were not "absolutely -necessary." Five pounds had proved a miserably inadequate sum on paper. - -Gosling returned to his Evening News, which presently slipped gently -from his hand to the floor. Mrs Gosling looked up from her sewing -and put a finger on her lips. The voices of Blanche and Millie were -subdued to sibilant whisperings. - -Gosling had forgotten his economic problems, and his daring -abstractions concerning a world despoiled of male activity, especially -of that essential activity, as he figured it, the making of money--the -wage-earner was enjoying his after-dinner nap, hedged about, protected -and cared for by his womankind. - -There may have been a quarter of a million wage-earners in Greater -London at that moment, who, however much they differed from Gosling -on such minor questions as Tariff Reform or the capabilities of the -then Chancellor of the Exchequer, would have agreed with him as a -matter of course, on the essentials he had discussed that evening. - - - - -3 - -At half-past nine the click of the letter-box, followed by a resounding -double-knock, announced the arrival of the last post. Millie jumped -up at once and went out eagerly. - -Mr Gosling opened his eyes and stared with drunken fixity at the -mantelpiece; then, without moving the rest of his body, he began to -grope automatically with his left hand for the fallen newspaper. He -found it at last, picked it up and pretended to read with sleep-sodden -eyes. - -"It's the post, dear," remarked Mrs Gosling. - -Gosling yawned enormously. "Who's it for?" he asked. - -"Millie! Millie!" called Mrs Gosling. "Why don't you bring the -letters in?" - -Millie did not reply, but she came slowly into the room, in her hands -a letter which she was examining minutely. - -"Who's it for, Mill?" asked Blanche, impatiently. - -"Father," replied Millie, still intent on her study. "It's a foreign -letter. I seem to remember the writing, too, only I can't fix it -exactly." - -"'Ere, 'and it over, my gel," said Gosling, and Millie reluctantly -parted with her fascinating enigma. - -"I know that 'and, too," remarked Gosling, and he, also, would have -spent some time in the attempt to guess the puzzle without looking -up the answer within the envelope, but the three spectators, who were -not sharing his interest, manifested impatience. - -"Well, ain't you going to open it, father?" asked Millie, and Mrs -Gosling looked at her husband over her spectacles and remarked, -"It must be a business letter, if it comes from foreign parts." - -"Don't get business letters to this address," returned the head -of the house, "besides which it's from Warsaw; we don't do nothin' -with Warsaw." - -At last he opened the letter. - -The three women fixed their gaze on Gosling's face. - -"Well?" ejaculated Millie, after a silence of several seconds. "Aren't -you going to tell us?" - -"You'd never guess," said Gosling triumphantly. - -"Anyone we know?" asked Blanche. - -"Yes, a gentleman." - -"Oh! tell us, father," urged the impatient Millie. - -"It's from the Mr Thrale, as lodged with us once," announced Gosling. - -"Oh! dear, our Mr Fastidious," commented Blanche, "I thought he was -dead long ago." - -"It must be over four years since 'e left," put in Mrs Gosling. - -"Getting on for five," corrected Blanche. "I remember I put my hair -up while he was here." - -"What's he say?" asked Millie. - -"'E says, 'Dear Mr Gosling, I expect you will be surprised to 'ear -from me after my five years' silence----'" - -"I said it was five years," put in Blanche. "Go on, dad!" - -Dad resumed "... 'but I 'ave been in various parts of the world and it -'as been quite impossible to keep up a correspondence. I am writing -now to tell you that I shall be back in London in a few days, and to -ask you whether you can find a room for me in Wisteria Grove?'" - -"Well! I should 'ave thought he'd 'ave written to me to ask that!" said -Mrs Gosling. - -"So 'e should 'ave, by rights," agreed Gosling. "But 'e's a queer -card is Mr Thrale." - -"Bit dotty, if you ask me," said Blanche. - -"'S that all?" asked Mrs Gosling. - -"No, 'e says: 'I can't give you an address as I go on to Berlin -immediately, but I will look you up the evening after I arrive. Eastern -Europe is not safe at the present time. There 'ave been several -cases of the new plague in Moscow, but the authorities are doing -everything they can--which is much in Russia--to keep the news out -of the press, yours sincerely, Jasper Thrale,' and that's the lot," -concluded Gosling. - -"I do think he's a cool hand," commented Blanche. "Of course you -won't have him as a paying guest now?" - -Gosling and his wife looked at each other, thoughtfully. - -"Well----" hesitated Gosling. - -"'E might bring the infection," suggested Mrs Gosling. - -"Oh! no fear of that," returned her husband, "but I dunno as we want -a boarder now. Five years ago I 'adn't got my big rise----" - -"Oh, no, father; what would the neighbours think of us if we started -to take boarders again?" protested Blanche. - -"It wouldn't look well," agreed Mrs Gosling. - -"Jus' what I was thinking," said the head of the house. "'Owever, -there's no 'arm in payin' us a friendly visit." - -"O' course not," said Mrs Gosling, "though I do think it odd 'e -shouldn't 'ave written to me in the first place. - -"He's dotty!" said Blanche. - -Gosling shook his head. "Not by a very long chalk 'e ain't," was his -firm pronouncement.... - -"Well, girls, what about bed?" asked Mrs Gosling, putting away the -"bit of mending" she had been engaged upon. - -Gosling yawned again, stretched himself, and rose grunting to his -feet. "I'm about ready for my bed," he remarked, and after another -yawn he started his nightly round of inspection. - -When he returned to the sitting-room the others were all ready to -retire. Gosling kissed his daughters, and the two girls and their -mother went upstairs. Gosling carefully took off the larger pieces -of coal from the fire and put them under the grate, rolled up the -hearthrug, saw that the window was securely fastened, extinguished -the lamp and followed his "womenfolk." - -As he was undressing his thoughts turned once more to the threat of -the new disease which was devastating China. - -"Rum thing about that new plague," he remarked to his wife. "Seems -as it's only men as get it." - -"They'd never let it spread to England," replied Mrs Gosling. - -"Oh! there's no fear of that, none whatever," said Gosling, "but it's -rum that about women never catching it." - -The attitude of the Goslings faithfully reflected that of the immense -majority of English people. The faith in the hygienic and scientific -resources which were at the disposal of the authorities, and the -implicit trust in the vigilance and energy of those authorities, were -sufficient to allay any fears that were not too imminent. It was some -one's duty to look after these things, and if they were not looked -after there would be letters in the papers about it. At last, without -question, the authorities would be roused to a sense of duty and the -trouble, whatever it was, would be stopped. Precisely what authority -managed these affairs none of the huge Gosling family knew. Vaguely -they pictured Medical Boards, or Health Committees; dimly they -connected these things with local government; at the top, doubtless, -was some managing authority--in Whitehall probably--something to -do with the supreme head of affairs, the much abused but eminently -paternal Government. - - - - - - - -II--THE OPINIONS OF JASPER THRALE - - -1 - -"Lord, how I do envy you," said Morgan Gurney. - -Jasper Thrale sat forward in his chair. "There's no reason why you -shouldn't do what I've done--and more," he said. - -"Theoretically, I suppose not," replied Gurney. "It's just making -the big effort to start with. You see I've got a very decent berth -and good prospects, and it's comfortable and all that. Only when -some fellow like you comes along and tells one yarns of the world -outside, I get sort of hankerings after the sea and adventure, and -seeing the big things. It's only now and then--ordinary times I'm -contented enough." He stuck his pipe in the corner of his mouth and -stared into the fire. - -"The only things that really count are feeling clean and strong and -able," said Thrale. "You never really have that feeling if you live -in the big cities." - -"I've felt like that sometimes after a long bicycle ride," interpolated -Gurney. - -"But then the feeling is wasted, you see," said Thrale. "When you -feel like that and there is something tremendous to spend it upon, -you get the great emotion as well." - -"Like the glimmer of St Agnes' light, after you'd been eight weeks -out of sight of land?" reflected Gurney, going back to one of Thrale's -reminiscences. - -"To feel that you are a part of life, not this dead, stale life of -the city, but the life of the whole universe," said Thrale. - -"I know," replied Gurney. "To-night I've half a mind to chuck my job -and go out looking for mystery." - -"But you won't do it," said Thrale. - -Gurney sighed and began to analyse the instinct within himself, -to find precisely why he wanted to do it. - -"Well, I must go," said Thrale, getting to his feet, "I've got to -find some sort of lodging." - -"I thought you were going to stay with those Gosling people of yours," -said Gurney. - -"No! That's off. I went to see them last night and they won't have -me. The old man's making his £300 a year now, and the family's too -respectable to take boarders." Thrale picked up his hat and held out -his hand. - -"But, look here, old chap, why the devil can't you stay here?" asked -Gurney. - -"I didn't know that you'd anywhere to put me," said Thrale. - -"Oh, yes. There's always a room to be had downstairs," said Gurney. - -After a brief discussion the arrangement was made. - -"It's understood I'm to pay my whack," said Thrale. - -"Of course, if you insist----" - -When Thrale had gone to fetch his luggage from the hotel, Gurney -sat pondering over the fire. He was debating whether he had been -altogether wise in pressing his invitation. He was wondering whether -the curiously rousing personality of Thrale, and the stories of those -still existent corners of the world outside the rules of civilization -were good for a civil servant with an income of £600 a year. Gurney, -faced with the plain alternatives, could only decide that he would be a -fool to throw up a congenial and lucrative occupation such as his own, -in order to face present physical discomfort and future penury. He -knew that the discomforts would be very real to him at first. His -friends would think him mad. And all for the sake of experiencing -some high emotion now and again, in order to feel clean and fresh -and be able to discover something of the unknown mystery of life. - -"I suppose there is something of the poet in me," reflected -Gurney. "And I expect I should hate the discomforts. One's imagination -gets led away...." - - - - -2 - -During the next few evenings the conversations between these two -friends were many and protracted. - -Thrale was the teacher, and Gurney was content to sit at his feet -and learn. He had a receptive mind, he was interested in all life, -but Uppingham, Trinity Hall, and the Home Civil had constricted his -mental processes. At twenty-nine he was losing flexibility. Thrale -gave him back his power to think, set him outside the formulas of -his school, taught him that however sound his deductions, there was -not one of his premises which could not be disputed. - -Thrale was Gurney's senior by three years, and when Thrale left -Uppingham at eighteen, he had gone out into the world. He had a -patrimony of some £200 a year; but he had taken only a lump sum of -£100 and had started out to appease his furious curiosity concerning -life. He had laboured as a miner in the Klondike; had sailed, working -his passage as an ordinary seaman, from San Francisco to Southampton; -he had been a stockman in Australia, assistant to a planter in Ceylon, -a furnace minder in Kimberley and a tally clerk in Hong Kong. For -nearly nine years, indeed, he had earned a living in every country -of the world except Europe, and then he had come back to London and -invested the accumulation of income that his trustee had amassed for -him. The mere spending of money had no fascination for him. During -the six months he had remained in London he had lived very simply, -lodging with the Goslings in Kilburn, and, because he could not live -idly, exploring every corner of the great city and writing articles -for the journals. He might have earned a large income by this latter -means, for he had an originality of outlook and a freshness of style -that made his contributions eagerly sought after once he had obtained -a hearing--no difficult matter in London for anyone who has something -new to say. But experience, not income, was his desire, and at the -end of six months he had accepted an offer from the Daily Post as a -European correspondent--on space. He was offered £600 a year, but -he preferred to be free, and he had no wish to be confined to one -capital or country. - -In those five years he had traversed Europe, sending in his articles -irregularly, as he required money. And during that time his chief -trustee--a lawyer of the soundest reputation--had absconded, and -Thrale found his private income reduced to about £40 a year, the -interest on one of the investments he had made, in his own name only, -with his former accumulation--two other investments made at the same -time had proved unsound. - -This loss had not troubled him in any way. When he had read in a -London journal of his trustee's abscondence--he was later sentenced -to fourteen years' penal servitude--Thrale had smiled and dismissed -the matter from his mind. He could always earn all the money he -required, and had never, not even subconsciously, relied upon his -private fortune. - -He had now come back to London with a definite purpose, he had come -to warn England of a great danger.... - -One other distinguishing mark of Jasper Thrale's life must be -understood, a mark which differentiated him from the overwhelming -majority of his fellow men--women had no fascination for him. Once in -his life, and once only, had he approached and tasted experience--with -a pretty little Melbourne cocotte. That experience he had undertaken -deliberately, because he felt that until it had been undergone one -great factor of life would be unknown to him. He had come away from -it filled with a disgust of himself that had endured for months.... - - - - -3 - -Fragments of the long conversations between Thrale and Gurney, -the exchange of a few germane ideas among the irrelevant mass, -had a bearing upon their immediate future. There was, for instance, -a criticism of the Goslings, introduced on one occasion, which had -a certain significance in relation to subsequent developments. - -Some question of Gurney's prompted Thrale to the opinion that the -Goslings were in the main precisely like half a million other families -of the same class. - -"But that's just what makes them so interesting," said Gurney, -not because he believed it, but because at the moment he wanted to -lead the conversation into safe ground, away from the too appealing -attractions of the big world outside the little village of London. - -Thrale laughed. "That's truer than you guess," he said. "Every -large generalization, however trite, is a valuable contribution to -knowledge--if it's more or less accurate." - -"Generalize, then, mon vieux," suggested Gurney, "from the characters -and doings of your little geese." - -"I've seen glimmerings of the immortal god in the old man," said -Thrale, "like the hint of sunlight seen through a filthy pane -of obscured glass. He's a prurient-minded old beast leading what's -called a respectable life, but if he could indulge his ruling desire -with absolute secrecy, no woman would be safe with him. In his world -he can't do that, or thinks he can't, which comes to precisely the -same thing. He is too much afraid of being caught, he sees danger -where none exists, he looks to all sorts of possibilities, and won't -take a million-to-one chance because he is risking his all--which is -included in the one word, respectability." - -"Jolly good thing. What?" remarked Gurney. - -"Good for society as a whole, apparently," replied Thrale, "but surely -not good for the man. I've told you that I have seen glimmerings of -the god in him, but outside the routine of his work the man's mind -is clogged. He's not much over fifty, and he has no outlet, now, -for his desires. He's like a man with choked pores, and his body is -poisoned. And in this particular Gosling is certainly no exception -either to his class or to the great mass of civilized man. Well, what -I wonder is whether in a society which is built up of interdependent -units the whole can be sound when the greater number of the constituent -units are rotten." - -"But look here, old chap," protested Gurney, "if things are as you say, -and men rule the country, why shouldn't they alter public opinion, -and so open the way to do as they jolly well please?" - -"Because the majority are too much ashamed of their desires to dare -the attempt in the first place, and in the second because they don't -wish to open the way for other men. They aren't united in this; they -are as jealous as women. If they once opened the way to free love, -their own belongings wouldn't be safe." - -"What's your remedy, then?" - -"Oh! a few thousand more years of moral development," said Thrale, -carelessly, "an evolution towards self-consciousness, a fuller -understanding of the meaning of life, and a finer altruism." - -"You don't look far ahead," remarked Gurney. - -"Do you think anyone can look even a year ahead?" asked Thrale. - -"There have been some pretty good attempts in some ways--Swedenborg, -for instance, and Samuel Butler...." - -"Yes, yes, that's all right, in some ways--the development of -certain sorts of knowledge, for example. But there is always the -chance of the unpredictable element coming in and upsetting the whole -calculation. Some invention may do it, an unforeseen clash of opinions -or an epidemic...." - -For a time they drifted further away from their original topic till -some remark reminded Gurney that he had meant to ask a question and -had forgotten it. - -"By the way," he said, "I wanted to ask you what you meant when you -said you had seen a god in old Gosling?" - -"Just a touch of imagination and wonder, now and again," replied -Thrale. "Something he was quite unconscious of himself. I remember -standing with him on Blackfriars Bridge, and he looked down at the -river and said: 'I s'pose it was clean once, banks and sand and so -on, before all this muck came.' Then he looked at me quickly to see -if I was laughing at him. That was the god in him trying to create -purity out of filth, even though it was only a casual thought. It was -smothered again at once. His training reasserted itself. 'Lot better -for trade the way it is, though,' was his next remark." - -"But how can you alter it?" asked Gurney. - -"My dear chap, you can't alter these things by any cut-and-dried plan, -any more than you can dam the Gulf Stream. We can only lay a brick -or two in the right place. We aren't the architects; the best of us -are only bricklayers, and the best of the best can only lay two or -three bricks in a lifetime. Our job is to do that if we can. We can -only guess very feebly at the design of the building; and often it is -our duty partly to pull down the work that our forefathers built...." - -Presently Gurney asked if his companion had ever seen a god in Mrs -Gosling. - -Thrale shook his head. "It didn't come within my experience," he -said. "Don't condemn her on that account, but she, like all the women -I have ever met, has been too intent upon the facts of life ever to see -its mystery. Mrs Gosling hadn't the power to conceive an abstract idea; -she had to make some application of it to her own particular experience -before she could understand the simplest concept. Morality to her -signified people who behaved as she and her family did; wickedness -meant vaguely, criminals, Sarah Jones who was an unmarried mother, and -anyone who didn't believe in the God of the Established Church. Always -people, you see, in this connexion; in others it might be things; -but ideas apart from people or things she couldn't grasp. Her two -daughters thought in precisely the same way...." - - - - -4 - -One Saturday afternoon Thrale came into Gurney's chambers and burst -out: "Just Heaven! why you fools stand it I can't imagine!" - -"What's up now?" asked Gurney. - -Thrale sat down and drew his chair up to the table. The pupils of -his dark eyes were contracted and seemed to glow as if they were -illuminated from within. - -"I was in Oxford Street this morning, watching the women at the -sales," he said. "All the biggest shops in London are devoted to -women's clothes. Do you realize that? And it's not only that they're -the biggest--there are more of them than any other six trades put -together can show, bar the drink trade, of course. The north side -of Oxford Street from Tottenham Court Road to the Marble Arch is one -long succession of huge drapers and milliners. And what in God's name -is the sense or reason of it? What do these huge shops sell?" - -"Dresses, I suppose," ventured Gurney, "and stockings, underlinen, -corsets, hats, and so on." - -"And frippery," said Thrale, fixing his brilliant dark eyes on Gurney, -"And frippery. Machine lace, ribbons, yokes, cheap blouses, feathers, -insertions, belts, fifty thousand different kinds of bits and rags -to be tacked on here and there, worn for a few weeks and then thrown -away. Millions of little frivolous, stupid odds and ends that are -bought by women and girls of all classes below the motor-class, to -make a pretence--gauds and tawdry rubbish not one whit better from the -artistic point of view than the shells and feathers of any half-naked -Melanesian savage. In fact, meaningless as the Melanesians' decorations -are, they do achieve more effect. And what's it all for, I ask you?" - -Thrale paused, and Gurney offered his solution. - -"The sex instinct, fundamentally, isn't it?" he said. "The -desire--often subconscious, no doubt--to attract." - -"Well, if that is so," said Thrale, "what terribly unintelligent -fools women must be! If women really set out to attract men, they must -realize that they are pandering to a sex instinct. Do you think any man -is attracted by a litter of odds and ends? Doesn't every woman sneer -when they see some Frenchwoman, perhaps, who dresses to display her -figure instead of hiding it? Don't they bitterly resent the fact that -their own men-folk are resistlessly drawn to stare at, and inwardly -desire, such a woman? Don't they know perfectly well that such a woman -is attractive to men in a way their own disguised bodies can never be?" - -"Yes, old chap; but your average middle-class English girl hasn't -got the physical attractions to start with," put in Gurney. - -"Look at it in another way, then," replied Thrale. "Doesn't every -woman know perfectly well--haven't you heard them say--that a -nurse's dress is very becoming--a plain, more or less tightly-fitting -print dress, with linen collars and cuffs? Don't you know yourself -that that attire is more attractive to you than any befrilled and -bedecorated arrangement of lace, ribbons and gauds? Why are so many -men irresistibly attracted by parlourmaids and housemaids?" - -"Yes," meditated Gurney, "that's all true enough. Well, are women -all fools, or what is it?" - -"The majority of women are sheep," said Thrale. "They follow as -they are led, and don't or won't see that they are being led. And -the leaders are chiefly men--men who have trumpery to sell. Why do -the fashions change every year--sometimes more often than that in -matters of detail? Because the trade would smash if they didn't. New -fashions must be forced on the buyers, or the returns would drop; -women would be able to make their last year's clothes do for another -summer. That must be stopped at any cost. Those vast establishments -must maintain an enormous turnover if they are to pay their fabulous -rents and armies of assistants. There are two means of keeping up -the sales, and both are utilized to the full. The first is to supply -cheap, miraculously cheap, rubbish which cannot be made to last for -more than a season. The second is to alter the fashions which affect -the more durable stuffs, so that last year's dresses cannot be used -again. This fashion-working scheme reacts upon the poorer buyers, -because it compels them to do something to imitate the prevailing -mode, if they can't afford to have entirely new frocks. That is where -all these bits of frilling and what-not come in; make-believe stuff -to imitate the real buyers--the large majority of whom don't buy in -Oxford Street, by the way. - -"Mind you, there is a limit to the sheep-like docility of women in this -connexion. They refused, for instance, to return to the crinoline, and -they refused the harem skirt--one of the very few sensible devices -of the fashion-imposers. And this in the face of the prolonged, -strenuous and expensive methods of the fashion ring. With regard to -the crinoline, I think that failure was due to over-conceit on the -part of the fashion-imposers. They had come to believe that they -could make the poor fools of women accept anything, and on the two -marked occasions on which they attempted to introduce the crinoline, -the contrast to the existing mode was too glaring. If the fraud had -been worked more gradually by way of full skirts and flounces, some -modification of the crinoline to the necessities of 'buses and tubes -might have been foisted upon the buyers." - -"Oh, my Lord!" ejaculated Gurney; "do you mean to say that women just -accept these fashions without any sense or reason at all?" - -"You're rather a blithering ass, at times, Gurney," remarked Thrale. - -Gurney smiled. "You don't give me time to think," he said, "I feel -like an accumulator being charged. I haven't had time yet to begin -working on my own account. You're so mighty--so mighty dynamic--and -positive, old chap." - -"Well, it's so absurdly obvious that there must be a reason for women -accepting the fashions, you idiot!" returned Thrale. "And the first -and biggest reason is class distinction. The women with money want -to brag of it by differentiating themselves from the ruck of their -sisters, and the poor women try to imitate them to the best of their -ability. Women dress for other women. There is sex rivalry as well as -class rivalry at the bottom of it, but they dare not put sex rivalry -first and dress to please men alone, because they are afraid of the -opinions of other women." - -"Sounds all right," said Gurney, and sighed. - -"And we, damned fools of men, stand all this foolishness and pay for -it. Pay, by Jove! I should think so! I should like to see the trade -returns of all the stuff of this kind that is sold in England alone -in one year. They would make the naval estimates look small, I'll -warrant. We even imitate the women's foolishness in some degree. There -are men's fashions too, but the madness is not so marked; fortunately -the body of middle-class men can't afford to make fools of themselves -as well as of their women--though they are asses enough to wear linen -shirts and collars which are uncomfortable unsightly and expensive -to wash." - -Gurney regarded his lecturer's canvas shirt and collar, and then -stood up and observed his own immaculate linen in the glass over the -fireplace. "I must say I like stiff collars and shirts," he remarked; -"gives one a kind of spruceness." - -Thrale laughed. "It's only another sex instinct," he said. "Women -like men to look 'smart.' When you are playing games with other men, -or camping out, you don't care a hang for your 'spruceness.' Oh! and -I'll admit the class distinction rot comes in too. You're afraid -of public opinion, afraid of being thought common. If the jeunesse -dorée started the soft shirt in real earnest, you would soon be able -to persuade your women that that looked smart or spruce, or whatever -you liked to call it." - -"Look here, you know," said Gurney, "you're an anarchist, that's what -you are." - -"You're half a woman, Gurney," said Thrale. "You think in names. All -people are 'anarchists' who think in ideas instead of following -conventions." - - - - -5 - -Not until he had been staying with Gurney for more than a week did -Thrale speak explicitly of his purpose in London. But one cold evening -at the end of January, as the two men were sitting by a roaring fire -that Gurney had built up, the younger man unknowingly opened the -subject by saying, - -"Things are pretty slack at the present moment. The Evening Chronicle -has even fallen back on the 'New Plague' for the sake of news." - -"What do they say?" asked Thrale. He was lying back in his chair, -nursing one knee, and staring up at the ceiling. - -"Oh, the usual rot!" said Gurney "That the thing isn't understood, -has never been 'described' by any medical or scientific authority; that -it is apparently confined to one little corner of Asia at the present -time, but that if it got hold in Europe it might be serious. And then -a lot of yap about the unknown forces of Nature; special article by -a chap who's been reading too much Wells, I should imagine." - -"It seems so incredible to us in twentieth-century England that -anything really serious could happen," remarked Thrale. "We are -so well looked after and cared for. We sit down and wait for some -authority to move, with a perfect confidence that when it does move, -everything is bound to be all right." - -"With such an organism as society has become," said Gurney, "things -must be worked like that. A certain group to perform one function, -other groups for other functions, and so on." - -"Cell-specialization?" commented Thrale. "Some day to be perfected -in socialism." - -"I believe socialism must come in some form," said Gurney. - -"Yes, it's an interesting speculation, in some ways," said Thrale, -"but the higher forces are about to put a new spoke in the human wheel, -and the machinery has to be stopped for a time." - -"What have you got hold of now?" asked Gurney. - -"The thoughtful man," went on Thrale, still staring up at the ceiling, -"would have asked me to define my expression 'the higher forces.'" - -"Well, old man, I knew that was beyond even your capacity," returned -Gurney, "so I thought we might 'cut the cackle and come to the -'osses.'" - -Thrale suddenly released his knee and sat upright; then he moved his -chair so that he directly confronted his companion. - -"Look here, Gurney," he said, and the pupils of his eyes contracted -till they looked like black crystal glowing with dark red light. "Do -you realize how some outside control has always diverted man's -progress; how when nations have tended to crystallize into specialized -government, some irruption from outside has always broken it up? You -can trace the principle through all known history, but the most -marked cases are those of the Egyptians and the Incas--two nations -which had developed specialized government to a science. There is -some power--whether we can credit it with an intelligence in any way -comprehensible to us from the feeble basis of our own knowledge, -I doubt--but there is some outside power which will not permit -mankind to crystallize into an organism. From our, human, point of -view, from the point of view of individual comfort and happiness, -it would be of enormous benefit to us if we could develop a system -of specialization and swamp the individual in the community. And in -times of peace and prosperity that is always the direction in which -civilization tends to evolve. But beyond a certain point--as the -individualists have not failed to point out--that state of perfect -government will lead to stagnation, degeneration, death. Now, in the -little span of time that we know as the history of mankind, there -has been no world-civilization. As soon as a nation tended to become -over-civilized and degenerate, some other, younger, more barbarous -people flowed over them and wiped them out. In the case of Peru the -process had gone very far, owing to the advantages of the Incas' -peculiar segregation. But then, you see, the development in the East, -the new world (I ought to explain that I find the oldest civilization -of the present epoch in America) reached a point in Spain and England -which sent them out across a hemisphere to wreck and destroy the Incas. - -"Well, we have now reached a condition when the nations are in touch -with one another and progress becomes more general. We are in sight -of a system of European, Colonial and Trans-Atlantic Socialism, -more or less reciprocal and carrying the promise of universal -peace. Whence, you ask, is any irruption to come that will break up -this strong crystallizing system which is admittedly to work for the -happiness and comfort of the individual? There has been much talk -of an Asiatic invasion, a rebellious India or an invading China, -but those civilizations are older than ours; if we can trust the -precedents of history in this connexion, the conquerors have always -been the younger race." He broke off abruptly. - -Gurney had been sitting fascinated and hypnotized by the compulsion -of Thrale's personality; he had been held by the keen, intent stare -of those wonderful dark eyes. When Thrale stopped, however, the -tension snapped. - -"Well," remarked Gurney, "I think that's a jolly good argument to -prove that we have, at last, reached a stage of universal progress -towards the ideal." - -"You can't conceive," asked Thrale, "of any cataclysm that would -involve a return to the old segregation of nations, and bring about -a new epoch beginning with separated peoples evolving on more or less -racial lines?" - -Gurney pondered for a moment or two and then shook his head. - -"Little wonder," said Thrale, "I had often considered this problem, -and I could think of no upheaval which would bring about the familiar -effect of submersion. Years ago there was always the possibility of a -European war, but even that would have only a temporary effect despite -the forecast of Mr Wells in The War in the Air. No, I considered and -wondered if my theory was faulty. I was willing to reject it if I -could find a flaw...." - -"And then?" questioned Gurney. - -Thrale leaned forward again and once more compelled the other's -fascinated attention. - -"And then, when I was in Northern China, seven weeks ago, I saw a -solution, so appalling, so inconceivably ghastly, that I rejected -it with horror. For days I went about fighting my own conviction. I -couldn't believe it! By God, I would not believe it! - -"There, within a hundred and fifty miles of the border of Tibet, the -outside forces have planted a seed which has been maturing in secret -for more than a year. There that seed has taken root, and from that -centre is spreading more and more rapidly, and it may spread over -the whole world. It is like some filthily poisonous and incredibly -prolific weed, and its seeds, now that it has once established itself, -are borne by every wind, dropping here and there in an ever-widening -circle, every seed becoming a fresh centre of distribution outwards." - -"But what, in Heaven's name, is the weed?" whispered Gurney. - -"A new disease--a new plague--unknown by man, against which, so -far as we know, he has no weapon. In those scattered villages among -the mountains there are no men left to work. Everything is done by -women. They are prohibited more fiercely than any leper settlement. No -one dares to approach within five miles of them. But every week or -two another village is smitten, and the inhabitants fly in terror -and carry the infection with them. - -"Gurney, it's come to Europe! There are new centres of distribution -in Russia at the present time. If it isn't stopped it will come to -England. And it doesn't decimate the population. It wipes the men -clean out of existence; not one man in ten thousand, the Chinese -say, escapes. - -"Is it possible that this can be the means of the 'higher forces' -I spoke of, the means to segregate the nations once more?" - - - - - - - -III--LONDON'S INCREDULITY - - -1 - -Jasper Thrale's mission was no easy one. England, it appeared, -was slightly preoccupied at the moment, and had no ear for -warnings. Generally, he was either treated as a fanatic and laughed -at, or he was told that he greatly exaggerated the danger and that -these matters could safely be entrusted to the Local Government Board, -which had brilliantly handled the recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth -disease. But there were some exceptions to this rule. - -His first definite statement had been made to his own editor, Watson -Maxwell of the Daily Post. - -"Yes," said Maxwell, when he had given Thrale a patient hearing, -"it is certainly a matter that needs attention. Would you care to go -out as our special commissioner and report at length?..." - -"There isn't time," replied Thrale. "The thing is urgent." - -Maxwell brought his eyebrows together and looked keenly at his -correspondent. "Do you really think it's so serious, Thrale?" he -asked. "After all, what evidence have you, beyond the Chinese reports?" - -"I know there are several cases in Russia," said Thrale. - -"Yes, yes; I don't doubt that," returned Maxwell, with a touch of -impatience. "But unless you can bring evidence to show that this new -disease is as deadly as you say, it is not a matter that I could give -space to at the present time. For one thing, the Evening Chronicle has -been making rather a feature of it for the last three or four days, -and I don't see that I could do much unless we had some special inside -information. Then, the House will be sitting again next week, and -it seems to me not altogether improbable that we shall have a stormy -session, which will mean that a good deal of ordinary matter will have -to give way...." He broke off, and then added, with a friendly smile: -"But if you would go out as our commissioner, we should be glad to -make you a proposal." - -"There will be no need for a commissioner in a week's time," replied -Thrale. "You don't seem to understand that I'm not looking out for a -job. I don't want to write articles; I don't want to be paid for the -information I can supply. I foresee a grave danger, which is growing -more grave hourly by reason of the Russian Government's censorship of -all reports referring to the plague. It is a danger which should be -understood at once. If you send any commissioner, send the cleverest -physician you can find, and a bacteriologist." - -There could be no doubt of Thrale's earnestness, and Maxwell, who was -not only a very capable editor, but also an able and intellectual man, -was impressed. Unfortunately, the interests of his proprietors at -that moment necessitated a great effort to prop up the very unstable -Liberal Government, which had been in power for four years and was -now on its last legs. It was so essential from the proprietors' point -of view--three of them were on the Government front bench--that the -dissolution should be postponed until such time as the Ministry could -go to the country with a reasonable prospect of success. A tentative -English Church Disestablishment Bill was to be introduced in the coming -session, and it was hoped that if the Government had to go to the -country they could make a platform on that one clear issue. It was a -good Bill, designed to win the Nonconformist vote, without completely -alienating the High Church party. In other words, the Government was -eager at that moment to please the majority of the electors, which is, -presumably, the highest object of a representative government. - -"If it had been at any other time," said Maxwell, and pushed his -chair back. - -Thrale understood that the interview was at an end. He rose from his -chair and picked up his hat. - -"We shall be glad to print any articles you care to send us," said -Maxwell, with his kind smile, "but I can't undertake a campaign, -you understand, at the present moment." - -It was nearly four o'clock, but Thrale just managed to catch Groves -of the Evening Chronicle. - - - - -2 - -Groves had his hat on, and was just off to tea at his club when -Thrale's name was sent in to him. He told the messenger that he would -see Mr Thrale in the waiting-room downstairs. - -Thrale had had some experience of newspaper methods, and he inferred -that the reception was equivalent to a refusal to see him. He knew -what those interviews in downstairs waiting-rooms implied. It was -not the first time that he had been treated like an insurance agent -or a tradesman and told, in effect, "Not to-day, thank you." - -In this case he was mistaken in his inference. Groves had had an -eye on Thrale's articles for some time past, and though he thought -it a diplomatic essential to keep his man waiting for ten minutes, -he had no intention of offending him. - -Groves came into the waiting-room with a slightly abstracted -air. "Sorry to keep you waiting Mr Thrale," he said. "The fact is, -that I wanted to finish before I left. Did you want to see me about -anything particular?" - -"Yes," returned Thrale; "I have some facts about the new plague which -ought to be given publicity at once." - -Groves pursed his thick lips and shook his head. "Well, well," he said, -"will you come and have tea with me at the club?" - -He took Thrale's assent for granted, and went out abruptly, leaving -his guest to follow. - -In the taxicab Groves talked of nothing but the lack of originality -in invention in reference to aeroplanes. He seemed to take it as a -personal affront that no workable adaptation of the aeroplane had -been made to short-distance passenger traffic. - -Indeed, it was not till after "tea"--in Groves' case an euphemism for -whisky and soda--that he would approach the subject of Thrale's visit. - -"The fact is, my dear fellow," he said, "that our campaign hasn't -caught on. I'm going to let it down gently and drop it after to-day's -edition. You see, we've got to get the Government out this session, -and I'm going to start a new campaign. Can't give you any particulars -yet, but you'll see the beginning of it next Monday." Like Maxwell, -Groves differentiated between the uses of the singular and plural -pronouns in speaking of his work. There was a distinction to be -inferred between the initiation and responsibilities of the editor -and those of his proprietors. - -Groves was not at all impressed by any earnestness or forebodings. He -seemed to think that a touch of the plague in London might be rather -a good thing in some ways. People wanted waking up--especially to -the importance of getting rid of the present Government. - -It appeared that Thrale's articles on other subjects would be -acceptable to the readers of the Evening Chronicle, but there was no -suggestion that he should go out to Russia as a special commissioner. - - - - -3 - -Grant Lacey, of The Times, listened seriously to Thrale's exposition, -and then, in a finely delivered speech which lasted twenty minutes, -proved to his own complete satisfaction that Thrale's premises, -deductions, and whole argument were thoroughly unsound. Lacey, -however, was greatly interested in the condition of Russia, and -promised Thrale magnificent terms if he would tour St Petersburg, -Moscow, Kiev, Warsaw--and then return and contribute a special series -of articles. References to the new plague would not be prohibited in -the series if Thrale still found any cause for alarm. - -In all, Thrale had interviews with the editors of nine important -journals; the other six developed on the general lines already -indicated--either he was not taken seriously or was told that the -danger was greatly exaggerated. The real causes of his failure were -two:--first, the critical position of the Government; second, the -precocious campaign of the Evening Chronicle--the latter had taken -the wind out of the sails of less enterprising journals. - -Thrale's next step was to obtain introductions to Ministers and -prominent members of the Opposition; but from them he received even -less attention--he did not obtain interviews on many occasions--and, if -possible, less encouragement. The President of the Local Government -Board informed him that the matter was already engaging that -department's energies; the others were all manifestly preoccupied -with more immediate interests. - -But little less than a fortnight after the initiation of his campaign -Thrale received a special message from the editor of the Daily Post. It -was nearly midnight, and the messenger was waiting with a taxicab. - -The message ran: "Received through news agency report of three cases -of plague in Berlin. Can you come down at once?--Maxwell." - - - - - - - -IV--MR BARKER'S FLAIR - - -1 - -Jasper Thrale, in the partial exposition of his philosophy (if -that description is not too large for such vague imaginings), had -included very definite reference to certain "higher forces" to which -he had attributed peculiar powers of interference in humanity's -management of its own concerns. Doubtless these powers had control -of various instruments, and were able to exercise their influence -in any direction and by any means. In the present case it would -seem that they were working in devious and subtle ways--and in this -at least they differed not at all from the methods attributable to -that we have called Providence, or the Laws of Nature; any assumed -guide or irrefragible, incomprehensible ordination. It is a common -characteristic of these forces that they seem able to control the -inconceivably great and the inconceivably small with equal certitude. - -Not that George Gosling touched any limits. He was moderately large -in body and small in intellect, but neither the physical excess nor -the mental deficiency marked him out from his fellow men. In the -office, indeed, he was regarded by the firm and his colleagues as a -capable man of business whose embonpoint was quite consistent with -his employment by a firm of wholesale provision merchants. - -On the Thursday morning that saw the announcement in the morning papers -that a case of the new plague was reported in Berlin, Gosling was -called into the partners' private office on some matter of accountancy. - -The senior partner of Barker and Prince was eager, grasping and -imaginative; his name had originally been German, and ended, in -"stein," but he had changed it for the convenience of his English -connexion. Prince was a large rubicund man, friendly and noisy in -his manners, but accounted a shrewd buyer. - -It was not until Gosling was about to depart that the higher forces -turned their attention to Barbican and then they suddenly urged -Gosling to say, without premeditation on his part, - -"I see there's a case of this 'ere new plague in Berlin." - -Mr Prince laughed and winked at his subordinate. "Some of us'll have -to start a hareem, soon; who knows?" he said, and laughed again, -more loudly than ever. - -"I suppose you haf not heard any other reports, eh?" asked Mr Barker. - -"Well, curiously enough, I 'ave," said Gosling. "A young feller who -used to lodge with us five years back, come 'ome from Russia about -a fortnight since, and 'e tells me as the plague's spreadin' like -wildfire in Russia." - -Mr Prince laughed again, and Mr Barker seemed about to turn his -attention to other matters, when the higher forces sent Gosling the -one great inspiration of his life. It came to him with startling -suddenness, but he gave utterance to it as simply and with as little -verve as he spoke his "good morning" to the office-boy. - -"I been thinkin', sir," he said (he had never once thought of it until -this moment), "as it might be well to keep a neye on this plague, -so to speak." - -"Ah! Zo?" said Mr Barker; a phrase which Gosling correctly interpreted -as the expression of a desire for the elucidation of his last remark. - -"Well, I been thinkin', if you'll excuse me, sir," he went on, "as -though the plague's only in the bud, so to speak, at the present time, -it seems very likely to spread so far as we can judge; and that what -with quarantine, p'raps, and p'raps shortage of labour and so on, -it might mean 'igher prices for our stuff." - -"Zo!" said Mr Barker, but this time the monosyllable was -reflective. The great inspiration had found fruitful soil. - -"Brince," continued Barker after a minute's thought, "I haf a -flair. We will buy heavily at once. But not through our London -house, no; or others will follow us too quickly. You must not go, -we will zend Ztewart from Dundee, it will zeem that we prepare for -the zhipping strike in the north. We buy heavily; yes? I haf a flair." - -"But, I say," said Mr Prince, who had the greatest confidence in his -partner's insight, "I say, Barker, d'you think this plague's serious?" - -"I am putting money on it, ain't I?" asked Barker. - -Prince and Gosling exchanged a scared glance. Until that moment it -had not come home to either of them that it was possible for English -affairs to be affected by this strange and deadly disease. - -The remainder of the conversation was complicated and exceedingly -technical. - - - - -2 - -When he came back into the counting-house, Gosling looked unnaturally -thoughtful. - -"Anything gorne wrong?" asked his crony, Flack. - -"There's nothing wrong with the 'ouse, if that's what you mean," -replied Gosling mysteriously. - -"What then?" asked Flack. - -"It's this 'ere new plague," returned Gosling. - -"Tchah! That's all my eye," said Flack. He was a narrow-chested, -high-shouldered man of sixty, with a thin grey beard, and he had a -consistently incredulous mind. - -Out here in the counting-house, Gosling's thrill of fear was rapidly -subsiding, and he had no intention of passing over his own important -part in the house's decision to buy for a rise; so he bulged out his -cheeks, shook his head and said: - -"Not by a long chalk it ain't, Flack; not by a long chalk. There -was that young feller, Thrale, as I was tellin' you about; 'e gave -me a hidea or two, and now s'mornin' we 'ave this very serious news -from Berlin." - -"Papers 'ave to make the worst of everything," said Flack. "It's -their livin'." - -"Anyways," continued Gosling, "I put it quite straight to the 'ouse -this mornin', as we might do worse under the circumstances than buy -'eavily...." - -"You did?" asked Flack, and he cocked up his spectacles and looked -at Gosling underneath them. - -"I did," replied Gosling. - -"What did Mr Barker say to that?" asked Flack. - -"He took my advice." - -"Lord's sakes, you don't tell me so?" said Flack, his spectacles on -his forehead. - -"I'm now about to dictate various letters to our 'ouse in Dundee," -replied Gosling, dropping his voice to a whisper, and assuming an -air of mysterious importance, "advising them to send our Mr Stewart -to Vienna immediate, from where 'e is to proceed to Berlin. 'E is, -also, to 'ave private instructions from the 'ouse as to the extent -of 'is buyin'--which I may tell you in confidence, Flack, will be -enormous--e-normous." Gosling raised his head slowly on the first -syllable, brought it down with a jerk on the second, and left the -third largely to the imagination. - -"But d'yer mean to tell me," expostulated Flack, "as all this is on -account of this plague? They been usin' that as a blind, my boy." - -Gosling laid a bunch of swollen fingers on his colleague's arm. "I -tell you, Flack, old boy," he said, "that this is serious. When Mr -Barker took up my advice, as 'e did very quick, Mr Prince said, 'You -don't tell me as you really take this plague serious, Barker?' 'e -said. And Mr Barker looked up and says, 'I'm goin' to put all my -money on it.'" Gosling paused and then repeated, "Mr Barker says as -'e's goin' to put all our money on it, Flack." - -"Lord's sakes!" said Flack. Here, indeed, was an argument strong enough -to break down even his consistent incredulity. "But d'yer mean to tell -me," he persisted, "that Mr Barker thinks as it'll come to England?" - -"We-el, you know," returned Gosling, "we need not, p'raps go quite -so far as that. But it may go far enough to interfere with European -markets, there may be trouble with quarantine, and such-like...." - -"Ah, well, that," said Flack with an air of relief. "Jus' so, jus' -so. Mr Barker can see as far through a brick wall as most people, -and so I've always said." He dropped his spectacles on to his nose -again, and returned to his interrupted accountancy. - -Gosling went fussily into his own room and rang for his typist--a -competent and presentable young woman, among whose duties that of -turning her superior's letters into equivalent English was not the -lightest. - - - - -3 - -Gosling was very full of importance that day, and during lunch he -wore the air of a man who had secret and valuable information. He -was too well versed in City methods and too loyal to his own house -to give any hint of Barker and Prince's speculations in Austria and -Germany; but when the subject of the new plague inevitably came into -the conversation, he spoke with an authority that was heightened by -the hint of reserve implicit in his every dictum. - -When the latest joke on the subject, fresh from the Stock Exchange, -had been retailed by one of the usual group of lunchers, and had -been received with the guffaws it merited, Gosling suddenly screwed -his face to an unaccustomed seriousness and said, "But it's serious, -you know, extremely serious." - -And by degrees, from this and many other better informed sources, -the rumour ran through the City that the new plague was serious, -extremely serious. That afternoon there was a slight drop of prices in -certain industrial shares, and a slight rise in wheat and some other -imported food stuffs; fluctuations which could not be attributed to -ordinary causes. Mr Barker's foresight was justified once again in -the eyes of Gosling and Flack. Before five o'clock another letter -was posted to Dundee, enforcing haste. - -In the bosom of his family that evening, Gosling was a little pompous, -and talked of economy. But his wife and daughters, although they -assumed an air of interest, were quite convinced that the head of -the house in Wisteria Grove was making the most of a rumour for his -own purposes. - -As Blanche said to Millie, later, father was always finding some -excuse for keeping them short of dress money. That five pounds had -proved inadequate to supply even their immediate necessities, and -they were already meditating another attack. - -"We simply must get another three pounds somehow," said Millie. And -Blanche quite agreed with her. - - - - - - - -V--THE CLOSED DOOR - - -1 - -There was a lull for forty-eight hours after that announcement of -the case of the new plague in Berlin, and Maxwell was beginning to -regret his headlines when the news began to come in, this time in -volume. The Russian censorship had broken down, and the news agencies -were suddenly flooded with reports. There were several thousand cases -of the plague in Eastern Russia; the north and south were affected, -many men were dying in such towns as Kharkov and Rostov; there were -a dozen cases in St Petersburg; there was a such a rush of reports -that it was quite impossible to distinguish between those that were -probably true and those that were certainly false. - -The morning papers gave as much space as they could spare, and had -even broken up some of the matter dealing with the arrangements for -the opening of Parliament on that day. But the evening papers had -news that put all previous reports in the shade. Eleven more cases -were reported in Berlin, three in Hamburg, five in Prague and one in -Vienna. But more important, more thrilling still, was the news that -H.I.H. the Grand Duke Kirylo, the Tsar's younger brother, had died of -the plague in Moscow, and Professor Schlesinger in Berlin. Until that -startling announcement came, the English public had incomprehensibly -imagined that only peasants, Chinamen and people of the lower social -grades were attacked by this strange new infection. - -In the later editions it was reported on good authority that Professor -Schlesinger had been observing a sample of the blood of the first -case of plague that had been recognized in Berlin. - -Nevertheless the majority of readers, after glancing through the -obituary notices of H.I.H. the Grand Duke Kirylo and of the world-famed -bacteriologist, turned to the account--only slightly abbreviated--of -the opening of Parliament. And in many households the subject of -the new plague gave place to the fiercely controversial topic of the -English Church Disestablishment Bill, which had been indicated in the -King's Speech as a measure that was to be introduced in the forthcoming -session. Many opponents of the Bill coupled the two chief items of -news and said that the plague was a warning against infidelity. It -may be assumed that they found sufficient warrant for the killing -of a few thousand Russians, including a prince of the blood and a -great German scientist, in the acknowledged importance of England -among the nations. The death of half a million or so Chinamen in the -first instance had been a delicate hint; now came the more urgent -warning. Who knew but that if this sacrilegious Bill were passed, -England herself might not be smitten. When warnings are disregarded, -judgments follow. The Evangelicals found a weapon ready to their -hands.... - -But what precisely was the nature of the new plague, none of the -journals was as yet able to say. The symptoms had not as yet been -"described" by any medical authority, for it appeared that, contrary -to modern precedent, the doctor himself, despite all precautions, -was peculiarly subject to infection. Out of the eleven new cases in -Berlin, no less than four were medical men. - -From the layman's point of view the symptoms were briefly as follows: -Firstly, violent pains at the base of the skull, followed by a period -of comparative relief which lasted from two to five hours. Then, -a numbness in the extremities, followed by rapid paralysis. Death -ensued in from twenty-four to forty-eight hours after the pains were -first experienced. No case, as yet, was known to have recovered. A -well-known physician in London gave it as his opinion that the disease -was a hitherto unknown form of cerebro-spinal meningitis of unexampled -virulence. He protested that the word "plague" was a false description, -but that word had already been impressed on the public mind, and the -disease was spoken of as the "new plague" until the end. - - - - -2 - -The next morning all London was reading a heavily-leaded article -by Jasper Thrale. It appeared first in the Daily Post, with the -announcement that it was not copyright, and all the evening papers -took it up, and some of them reprinted it in its entirety. - -The article began by pointing out that in the recent history -of civilization Europe had been subject to a long succession of -pestilences. From the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries, -wrote Thrale, the Black Death, now commonly supposed to be a form -of the bubonic plague, was practically endemic in England. In more -recent times small-pox had been responsible for enormous mortality -among all classes, and, in our own day, tuberculosis. In the two -former examples, Thrale pointed out, and in many other diseases, -infectious or contagious, or both, these pestilences had gradually -lost virulence. By the elimination of those most susceptible to -infection and incapable to resist the onslaught of the disease, and -by the survival of those whose vitality was strong enough either to -resist attack or to achieve recovery, mankind at last were gradually -becoming immune against certain infections which had prevailed in the -past. And in a greater or less degree this immunity was without doubt -being obtained against a whole host of lesser ills. This comparative -immunity, in fact, was one of the means of man's evolution towards -a more perfect physical body. - -"But let us consider for a moment," wrote Thrale, "the appalling -danger which threatens us when we are attacked by a pestilence which -is entirely new to humanity; new, so far as we know, to the world. In -the middle of the fourteenth century the Black Death is recorded in -some places to have killed two-thirds of the whole population, and, -notwithstanding the modern improvement in sanitation and general -hygiene, there is no inherent reason why another pestilence may not -appear, which may be even more deadly. And we are faced at the present -moment with the awful threat that such a pestilence has appeared, the -pestilence commonly known as the 'new plague.' There is no reason why -we should consider the appearance as without precedent in history; -there is no reason why we should regard its coming as outside the -laws of common probability; finally, and most decisively, there is -no reason why England should not be smitten. - -"According to report among the Chinese, this 'new plague' has been -spasmodically epidemic in Tibet for more than a century. We have, as -yet, no certain facts upon which to base any hypothesis, but is it not -credible that during that time some bacterium or bacillus--hitherto -harmlessly parasitic, perhaps, in the blood of lower animals--has -changed its life habit? In the isolated and sparsely inhabited -regions of Tibet, it is possible that for many thousand years the -assumed bacterium was never bred in the blood of man; it is possible -that when it first found a new host it was comparatively harmless -to him, but within a hundred years it may have become so altered by -new conditions that it has developed into what is practically a new -species. If these theories are relatively true, it is not unlikely -that this new bacterium is working out its own destruction by the -destruction of its hosts. It may be that it is one of those blind -alleys of evolution which reach a certain stage of development and -then disappear. But meanwhile what of mankind? We know so little of -the history of microscopic life. There is a whole world of evolution -in process of which we have no conception, and at this stage, whether -my hypothesis be a possible one or not, we are at least sure that an -unknown organism--animal or vegetable--has become visible to us in -its effects and may alter the whole history of mankind. - -"I lay stress on these aspects, because we are so hide-bound, so -restricted, so conventional in our ideas that we assume, without -thought, that the process of life as we know of it from a few thousand -years of history can never be interrupted. In our few years of -individual existence we become accustomed to certain apparent laws of -cause and effect, and will not believe that there can be any exception -to those assumed laws. But, now, in the face of recent evidence, it is -absolutely essential that we should realize instantly and practically -that we are threatened with a new factor in life, which imperils the -whole human race. It is no longer safe to comfort ourselves with the -belief--begotten of our vanity--that the world was necessarily made for -man. It behoves us to take measures for our protection without delay, -to undertake our own cause and trust no longer in any beneficent -Providence that works always for our ultimate benefit. - -"These measures of protection are clearly indicated. We must close our -doors against the invasion of the plague. Quarantine will not protect -us; we must have no traffic with Europe until the danger is past. By -the happy accident of our position we can become isolated from the -rest of the world. We must close our doors before it is too late." - - - - -3 - -If the people had not been seriously scared by the sudden irruption of -news on the day preceding that on which this article was published, -they would have ignored Thrale's hyperboles--or laughed. But, caught -in a moment of agitation and fear, a certain section of the crowd took -up Thrale's suggestion, talked about the "closed door," held meetings, -and started propaganda. The Press, with its genius for appreciating -and following public opinion, also took up the suggestion, and was -automatically divided into two sections, recognizable as Liberal -and Conservative. - -The Times took command of the situation with a leader, in which -Thrale's argument was pounded, rather than picked, to pieces; -but the Daily Mail produced more effect with two special articles -contributed, one by a bacteriologist, the other by a professor of -economics. The first had little weight--all argument under that head -was as yet founded on the most uncertain hypotheses. The second was -so convincing that the less ardent supporters of the "closed door" -policy were shaken in their convictions. - -The writer of the economic article pointed out that an England with -closed doors could not feed herself for a month. He was scrupulously -fair in his argument, and was at great pains to show that even if -preparation was instantly made to lay in large stores of grain from -Canada, tinned meats from America, and food-stuffs generally from -the many places which were as yet free from any taint of plague, it -would still be impossible to provide for more than a three months' -isolation. Then, leaving this aspect of the question, he went on to -show in detail that even if the food could be supplied, the practical -cessation of our enormous foreign trade would mean the destruction of -England's commerce, and he wound up with an earnest exhortation to -the country at large, warning the people to beware of scaremongers, -pessimists, and opportunists who had their own ends to serve, and -cared nothing for the general welfare. It was an excellent article -in every way; quite one of the best that the Daily Mail had ever -published. And as this, too, was declared free of any copyright -restrictions, it was largely circulated. - -The Daily Post replied next morning by pointing out that the -celebrated professor of economics was nullifying all his own previous -utterances on the case for Tariff Reform, but that retort carried -little weight. No one cared if the professor contradicted himself; -anyone, except the faddists, could see that the argument of the -article was sound, in fact incontrovertible. What had to be done was -to put pressure on the Local Government Board. It was true that the -Daily Post, the semi-official organ of the Government, affirmed that -the Board in question was alert and active, but that announcement -was regarded as a cliché; what was wanted were particulars of the -preventive measures that were being taken. - -The members of the great Gosling family, in offices, warehouses -and shops followed the line of least resistance, while making some -assertion of their rights as citizens. - -George Gosling's arguments with his crony Flack were excellently -representative. - -"What yer think of this 'closed door' business?" asked Flack. - -"Goin' a bit too far, in my opinion," returned Gosling judicially. - -Flack's natural incredulity had inclined him in the same direction, -but his colleague's certainty swung him round at once. - -"I ain't so sure o' that," he said. "Looks to me as things is going -pretty bad." - -"Bad enough, I grant you," returned Gosling. "But there isn't no -need for us to lose our 'eads over it. Take it all round, you know, -it's pretty certain as things isn't as bad as is made out, whereas, -on the other 'and, the 'closed door' policy'd mean ruin and starvation -for 'undreds of thousands--there's no gettin' round that." - -"Better a few 'undred thousands than the 'ole male population," -said Flack. - -"If it come to that, but it won't; no fear, not by a long chalk, -it won't," replied Gosling. "What's got to be done is to get the -Local Government Board to work. We've got to 'ave a regular system o' -quarantine established, that's what we've got to 'ave." - -It did, indeed, appear the most practical form of prevention at -the moment; it is hard to see what other measures could have been -adopted. The supporters of the "closed door" policy soon began to -lose adherents. The scheme was obviously alarmist, far-fetched and -utterly impracticable.... - - - - -4 - -Through February and the early part of March the plague spread through -Central Europe, but not with an alarming rapidity. - -In the second week of March, Berlin was reporting a weekly roll of -over five hundred deaths attributable to this cause, and Vienna was -second with between four and five hundred. In St Petersburg and Moscow -the figures were no higher, and there were as yet comparatively few -cases in France, and none in Spain or Portugal. - -Many authorities were of opinion that the mortality had reached the -maximum, and that the plague would work itself out in the course -of a few more weeks. Moreover it appeared that the early reports -of the highly infectious character of the plague must have been -grossly exaggerated, for as yet there had been not a single case -in the British Isles despite the enormous traffic between England -and the Continent. It is true that the strictest quarantine had been -established--it had been ascertained that the period of gestation of -the germ was about fifty hours--but not one single case had so far -been detained in quarantine ships or hospitals. It was argued from -this that the plague was not infectious at all in the ordinary sense, -and only mildly contagious; that it flourished in certain centres -and was not easily transferable from one centre to another. - -The only aspect of the thing that was seriously alarming was -the horrible mortality among doctors and the specialists who were -endeavouring to recognize and isolate the characteristic germ of the -disease. Nine English experts who had dared martyrdom in the cause -of science had gone to Berlin to make investigations, and not one of -them had returned. As a consequence of this strange susceptibility -of the investigator, whether medical man or bacteriologist, there was -still an extraordinary ignorance of the general nature and action of -the disease. - -Nevertheless, despite this one intimidating aspect of the plague, -the general attitude in the middle of March was that the quarantine -arrangements were enormously impeding trade and should be relaxed. The -foreign governments were alive to the seriousness of the scourge, -and were doing all in their power to prevent infection. There had -been a scare, but people were calm again, now, and able to realize -the extent of the earlier exaggerations. - -The Government passed the second reading of the English Church -Disestablishment Bill by a majority of nineteen, before the Easter -recess, and the Goslings, who had grown used to the plague, whose -chief attitude towards it was that it was an infernal nuisance which -interfered with trade, turned their attention gladly to the new topic; -they all thought that a general election at that moment would result -in an overwhelming Conservative majority. And as the Liberals had -been in power for more than ten years, that eventuality was regarded -with complacency. - -But at this critical moment--to the joy of the Evangelicals--the new -plague set to work in earnest. - - - - - - - -VI--DISASTER - - -1 - -Russia was smitten. Once more communication was cut off from Moscow, -this time by a different agent. The work of the city was paralysed. Men -were falling dead in the street, and there were only women to bury -them. A wholesale emigration had begun. The roads were choked with -people on foot and in carriages, for the trains had ceased to run. - -The news filtered in by degrees: it was confirmed, contradicted and -definitely confirmed again every few hours. - -Then came final confirmation, with the news that something approaching -war had broken out--a war of defence. Germany had sent troops to the -frontier to stem the tide of emigrants from smitten Russia and Poland; -and Austria-Hungary was following her example. - -Parliament re-assembled before the Easter recess had expired. The -time for more drastic measures had come, and the Premier explained -to the House that it was proposed to bring in a Bill immediately to -cut off communication with Europe. - -There can be no doubt that England was now badly scared, but centuries -of protection had established a belief in security which was not -easily shaken. - -The enthusiasts for the "closed door" policy found plenty of -recruits, but on the other side there was a solid body of opinion -which maintained that the danger was grossly exaggerated. And when the -Evening Chronicle came out with a long leader and a backing of expert -opinion, to prove that the "Closed Door" Bill--as it was commonly -called--was a dodge of the Government's in order to retain office, -a well-marked reaction followed against the last and terrible step -of cutting off all communication with Europe; and the Conservative -party was joined by some avowed Liberals who had personal interests -to consider in this connexion. - -In committee-rooms, members of the Opposition were inclined to be -jubilant: "If we can throw out the Government on this Bill we shall -simply sweep the country ... all the manufacturers in the North will -be with us ... even Scotland, most likely ... we should come back -with a record majority...." - -The prospects were so magnificent that there could be no hesitation -in making a party question of the Bill. - -No time was to be lost, for the Bill was to be rushed, it was an -emergency measure, and it was proposed that it should become law -within four days. Preparations were already in hand to carry out the -provisions enacted. - -An urgent rally of the Opposition was made, and when the Bill came up -for the second reading the Premier addressed a well-filled House. The -House was not crowded because a large number of people, including many -members of Parliament, were on their way to America. All the big liners -were packed on their outward voyage and were returning, contrary to -all precedent, in ballast--this ballast was exclusively food-stuffs. - -The Premier introduced the Bill in a speech which was remarkable -for its sincerity and earnestness. He outlined the arrangements that -were being made to feed the community, and showed clearly that while -communication remained open with America, there was no fear of any -serious shortage. Pausing for a moment on this question of intercourse -with America, he made a point of the fact that American ports were -already closed to emigrants from all European countries with the one -exception of Great Britain, and that if a single case of plague were -reported in these islands the difficulties of obtaining food-stuffs -from America and the Colonies would be enormously increased. He wound -up by almost imploring the House not to make a party question of so -urgent and necessary a measure at a time when the safety of England -was so terribly threatened. He pleaded that at this critical moment, -unparalleled in the history of humanity, it was the duty of every man -to sink his own personal interests, to be ready to make any sacrifice, -for the sake of the community. - -Mr Brampton, the leader of the Opposition, then completely destroyed -the undoubted effect which had been made upon the House. He did -not openly speak in a party spirit, but he hinted very plainly that -the Bill under consideration was a mere subterfuge to win votes. He -poured contempt upon the fear of the plague, which he characterized -throughout as the "Russian epidemic," and ended with the advice to -keep a cool head, to preserve the British spirit of sturdy resistance -instead of shutting our doors and bringing the country to commercial -ruin. "Are we all cravens," he concluded, "scurrying like rabbits to -our burrows at the first hint of alarm?" - -The further debate, although lengthy, had comparatively little -influence; the House divided, and the Government was defeated by a -majority of nine. - - - - -2 - -The news was all over the country by ten o'clock that night, and it -was noticeable that a large percentage of the younger generation -still regarded the danger as "rather a lark." This threat of the -plague held a promise of high adventure; youth can only realize the -possibility of death in its relation to others. - -"I say, if this bally old plague did come" ... remarked a young man -of twenty-two, who was sitting with a friend in the little private -bar of the "Dun Taw" Hotel. - -His friend drew his feet up on to the rungs of his tall stool and -winked at the barmaid. - -"Well, go on. What if it did?" remarked that young woman. - -The young man considered for a moment and then said: "Those that got -left would have a rare old time." - -"It's the women as'd get left, seems to me," replied the barmaid, -and scored a point. - -"I say, surely you don't come from this part of the world?" was the -compliment evoked by her wit. - -"Not me!" was the answer, "I'm a Londoner, I am. Only started -yesterday, and sha'n't stay long if to-day's a fair sample. There -'asn't been a dozen customers in all day, and they were in such a -'urry to get their tonic and go that I'm sure they couldn't 'ave told -you whether me 'air was black or ches'nut." - -Both men immediately looked at the crown of pretty fair hair which -had been so churlishly slighted. - -"First thing I noticed about you," said one. - -The other, who had hardly spoken before, took the cigarette out of -his mouth and remarked: "You can never get that colour with peroxide." - -The barmaid looked a little suspicious. - -"Oh, he means it all right, kid," put in the younger man -quickly. "Dicky's one of the serious sort. Besides, he's in that line; -travels for a firm of wholesale chemists." - -Dicky nodded gravely. "I could see at once it was natural," he remarked -with the air of an expert. - -"Ah! you're one of them that keeps their eyes open," returned the -barmaid approvingly, and Dicky modestly acknowledged the compliment -by saying that his business necessitated close observation. - -"Most men are as blind as bats," continued the barmaid, and the -examples she gave from her own experience led to an absorbing -conversation, which was presently interrupted by the shriek of the -swing door. - -The new-comer was a small, fair man with a neatly waxed moustache. He -came up to the counter with the air of an habitué, and remarked, -"Hallo! where's Cis? You're new here, aren't you?" - -The barmaid, recognizing the marks of a regular customer, quietly -admitted that this was only her second day at the "Dun Taw." - -"I've been away for two months," explained the fair man, and ordered -"Scotch." He was evidently in the mood for company, for he brought -up a stool and, sitting a little way back from the bar, he began to -address his three hearers at large. - -"Only came back from Europe this evening," he said, "and glad to be -home, I assure you." He raised his left hand with a gesture intended -to convey horror, and drank half his whisky at a gulp. - -Dicky turned to give his serious attention to the narrative which -was plainly to follow, and somewhat ostentatiously observed the -details of the new-comer's dress. Dicky had a new-found reputation -to maintain. His friend looked bored and a little sulky, and tried -to continue his conversation with the barmaid, but that young woman, -appreciating the difference in value between a casual and a regular -customer, passed a broad hint by with a smile and said: "Europe? Just -fancy!" - -"It's a place to get out of, I assure you," said the fair man. "I've -been over there for two months--Germany and Austria chiefly--but for -the last fortnight I've been wasting my time. There's nothing doing." - -"Isn't there?" commented Dicky with great seriousness. - -"Oh, we're sick to death of this bally plague," put in the other -young man quickly. "There's been simply nothing else in the papers -for the last I don't know how long. I want to forget it." - -The fair man reached forward and put down his empty glass on the bar -counter. "Same again, Miss," he said, and then: "We'll all be more -sick of the plague before we've finished with it. It's a terror. If I -was to tell you a few of the things I've seen in the past fortnight, -I don't suppose you'd believe me." - -"That's all right; I'd believe you quick enough," returned the young -man. "Point is, what's the good of getting yourself in a funk about -it? Personally I don't believe it's coming to England. If it was it -would have been here before this. What I say is ..." - -His pronouncement of opinion ceased abruptly. The fair man's behaviour -riveted attention. He was gazing past the barmaid at the orderly rows -of shining glasses and various shaped bottles behind her. His mouth -was open. He gazed intensely, horribly. - -The barmaid backed nervously and looked over her shoulder. The -two young men hastily rose and pushed back their stools. The same -thought was in all their minds. This neat, fair man was on the verge -of delirium tremens. - -In a moment the air of intercourse and joviality that had pervaded the -little room was dissipated; in place of it had come shocked surprise -and fear. - -There was an interval of slow desolating silence, and then the -convulsive grip of the fair man shattered the glass he held, and the -fragments fell tinkling to the floor. - -"I say, what's up?" stammered the barmaid's admirer, while the barmaid -herself shrank back against the shelves and watched nervously. She -had had experience. - -The fair man's head was being pulled slowly backwards by some invisible -force. His eyes, staring straight before him, appeared to watch with -fierce intensity some point that moved steadily up the wall of shelves -behind the counter; up till it reached the ceiling and began to move -over the ceiling toward him. - -Then, quite suddenly, the horrible tension was relaxed; his head fell -loosely forward and he clapped both hands to the nape of his neck. He -was breathing loudly in short quick gasps. - -"I say, do you think he's ill?" asked the young man. At the suggestion -Dicky made a step towards the sufferer; his knowledge of chemistry -gave him a professional air. - -"He's come from Europe.... Suppose it's the plague," whispered the -barmaid. - -And at that the two young men started back. As the words were spoken -realization swept upon them. - -Mumbling something about "get a doctor," they rushed for the door. One -of them made a wide détour--he had to pass the man who sat doubled -forward in his chair, frantically gripping the base of his skull. - -Hardly had the clatter of the swing door subsided before he fell -forward on to the floor. He was groaning now, groaning detestably. - -The barmaid whimpered and stared. "Women don't get it." she said -aloud. But she kept to her own side of the counter. - -Later the owner of the "Dun Taw" identified the fair man--from a -distance--as Mr Stewart, of the firm of Barker and Prince. - - - - -3 - -Thrale's "higher forces" had shown their hand. - -The humble and rotund instrument of their choice had served his -purpose, and he was probably the first man in London to receive the -news--a delicate acknowledgment, perhaps, of his services. - -The telegram was addressed to the firm, but as neither of the heads -of the house had arrived, Gosling opened it according to precedent. - -"Gosh!" was his sole exclamation, but the tone of it stirred the -interest of Flack, who turned to see his colleague's rather protuberant -blue eyes staring with a fishy glare at a flimsy sheet of paper which -visibly trembled in the hold of two clusters of fat fingers. - -Flack lifted his spectacles and holding them on a level with his -eyebrows, said, "Bad news?" - -Gosling sat down, and in the fever of the moment wiped his forehead -with his snuff handkerchief, then discovered his mistake and laid -the handkerchief carelessly on the desk. This infringement of his -invariable practice produced even more effect upon Flack than the -staring eyes and wavering fingers. Gosling might be guilty of mild -histrionics, but not of such a touch as this. The utter neglect of -decency exhibited by the display of that shameful bandanna could only -portend calamity. - -"Lord's sakes, man, what's the matter?" asked Flack, still taking an -observation under his spectacles. - -"It's come, Flack," said Gosling feebly. "It's in Scotland. Our Mr -Stewart died of it in Dundee this mornin'." - -Flack rose from his seat and grabbed the telegram, which was brief -and pregnant. "Stewart died suddenly five a.m. Feared plague. Macfie." - -"Tchah!" said Flack, still staring at the telegram. "'Feared -plague.' Lost their 'eads, that's what they've done. Pull yourself -together, man. I don't believe a word of it." - -Gosling swallowed elaborately, discovered his bandanna on the desk and -hastily pocketed it. "Might 'a been 'eart-disease, d'you think?" he -said eagerly. - -"We-el," remarked Flack, "I never 'eard as 'is 'eart was affected, -did you?" - -Gosling held out his hand for the telegram, and made a further -elaborate study of it, without, however, discovering any hitherto -unsuspected evidence relating to the unsoundness of Stewart's heart. - -"It says 'feared,' of course," he remarked at last. "Macfie wouldn't -have said feared if 'e'd been sure." - -"They'd 'ardly have mentioned plague in a telegram if they 'adn't -been pretty certain, though," argued Flack. - -Gosling was so upset that he had to go out and get a nip of brandy, -a thing he had not done since the morning after Blanche was born. - -The partners looked grave when they heard the news from Dundee, and -London generally looked very grave indeed, when they read the full -details an hour later in the Evening Chronicle. - -Stewart, it appeared, had come straight through from Berlin to -London via Flushing and Port Victoria, and on landing in England he -had managed to escape quarantine. His was not an isolated case. For -some weeks it had been possible for British subjects to get past -the officials. There was nothing in the regulations to allow such an -evasion of the order, but it could be managed occasionally. Stewart -had been told to spare no expense. - -The Evening Chronicle, although it made the most of its opportunity in -contents bill and headlines, said that there was no cause for alarm, -that these things were managed better in Great Britain than on the -Continent; that the case had been isolated from the first moment the -plague was recognized (about five hours before death), that the body -had been burned, and that the most extensive and elaborate process of -disinfection was being carried out--even the sleeping coach in which -Stewart had travelled from London to Dundee twelve hours before, -had been identified and burned also. - -London still looked grave, but was nevertheless a little inclined to -congratulate itself on the thoroughness of British methods. "We'll -never get it in England, you see if we do," was the remark chiefly -in vogue among the great Gosling family. - -But twelve hours or so too late, England was beginning to regret that -the Government had been defeated. It was rumoured that the Premier -had broken down, had immediately resigned his office, and would not -seek re-election as a private member. - -This rumour was definitely confirmed in the later editions of the -evening papers. Mr Brampton had been summoned to Buckingham Palace -and was forming a temporary ministry which was to take office. In -the circumstances it was deemed inadvisable to plunge the country -into a general election at that moment. - - - - -4 - -Mr Stewart died in the small hours of Friday morning, and the next day, -Saturday, the 14th of April, was the first day of panic. - -The day began with comparative quiet. No further case had been notified -in Great Britain, but telegraphic communication was interrupted between -London and Russia, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and other continental -centres. In Germany matters were growing desperate. There had been -riots and looting. Military law had been declared in several towns; in -some cases the mob had been fired upon. Business was at a standstill, -and the plague was spreading like a fire. Between two and three hundred -cases were reported from Reims, and upwards of fifty from Paris.... - -Business houses were being closed in the City of London, and the -banks noted a marked tendency among their depositors to withdraw gold; -so marked, indeed, that many banks of high standing were glad to be -able to close their doors at one o'clock. - -It was on this Saturday morning, also, that the bottom suddenly -fell out of the money market. For weeks past, prices had been falling -steadily, but now they dropped to panic figures. Every one was selling, -there were no buyers left. Consols were quoted at 53-1/2. - -The air of London was heavy with foreboding, and throughout the -morning the gloom grew deeper. The depressed and worried faces to -be met at every turn contrasted strangely with the brilliance of the -weather. For April had come with clear skies and soft, warm winds. - -As the day advanced the atmosphere of depression became continually -more marked, and how extraordinary was the effect upon all classes may -be judged from the fact that less than 5,000 people paid to witness -the third replay between Barnsley and Everton, in the semi-final of -the English cup.... - -In London, men and women hung aimlessly about the streets waiting -for the news they dreaded to hear. The theatres were deserted. The -feeling of gloom was so real that many women afterwards believed -that the sky had been overcast, whereas Nature was in one of her most -brilliant moods. - -It was a few minutes past three when the pressure was exploded by the -report of the final catastrophe. "Two more cases of plague in Dundee -and one in Edinburgh," was the first announcement. That would have been -enough to show that all the vaunted precautions had been useless, and -within an hour came the notification of two further cases. Before six -o'clock, eight more were notified in Dundee, three more in Edinburgh, -and one in Newcastle. - -The new plague had reached England. It was then that the panic began. - - - - - - - -VII--PANIC - - -1 - -Gurney, when he left his office on that Saturday, was influenced by -the general depression. He went to lunch at the "White Vine," in the -Haymarket, quite determined to keep himself in hand, to argue himself -out of his low spirits. - -He made a beginning at once. - -"Every one seems to have a fit of the blues. Ernst," he remarked to -the waiter with a factitious cheerfulness. - -Ernst, less polite than usual, shrugged his shoulders. "There is -enough cause already," he said. - -"Have you had bad news from Germany?" asked Gurney, feeling that he -had probably been rather brutal. - -"Ach Gott! 's'ist bald Keiner mehr da," blubbered Ernst, and he wept -without restraint as he arranged the table, occasionally wiping his -eyes with his napkin. - -"I'm most awfully sorry," murmured the embarrassed Gurney, and -retreated behind the horror of his evening paper. He found small -cause for rejoicing there, however, and discarded it as soon as his -lunch had been brought by the red-eyed Ernst. - -"I wonder what Mark Tapley would have done," Gurney reflected moodily -as he attacked his chop. - -There were few other people in the restaurant, and they were all silent -and engrossed. That dreadful cloud hung over England, the spirit of -pestilence threatened to take substance, the air was full of horror -that might at any moment become a visible shape of destruction. - -Gurney did not finish his lunch, he lighted a cigarette, left four -shillings on the table, and hurried out into the air. - -He did not look up at the sky as he turned eastwards towards Fleet -Street; no one looked up at the sky that afternoon. Heads and shoulders -were burdened by an invisible weight which kept all eyes on the ground. - -Fleet Street was full of people who crowded round the windows of -newspaper offices, not with the eagerness of a general election crowd, -but with a subdued surliness which ever and again broke out in spurts -of violent temper. - -Gurney, still struggling to maintain his composure, found himself -unreasonably irritated when a motor-bus driver shouted at him to get -out of the way. It seemed to Gurney that to be knocked down and run -over was preferable to being shouted at. The noise of those infernal -buses was unbearable, so, also, was that dreadful patter of feet upon -the pavement and the dull murmur of mournful voices. Why, in the name -of God, could not people keep quiet? - -He bumped into some one on the pavement as he scrambled out of the -way of the bus, and the man swore at him viciously. Gurney responded, -and then discovered that the man was known to him. - -"Hallo!" he said. "You?" - -"Hallo," responded the other. - -For a moment they stood awkwardly, staring; then Gurney said, "Any -more news?" - -The man, who was a sub-editor of the Westminster Gazette, shook his -head. "I'm just going back now," he said. "There was nothing ten -minutes ago." - -"Pretty awful, isn't it?" remarked Gurney. - -The sub-editor shrugged his shoulders and hurried away. - -Presently Gurney found himself wedged among the crowd, watching the -Daily Chronicle window. - -A few minutes after three, a young man with a very white face, -fastened a type-written message to the glass. - -There was a rapid constriction of the crowd. Those behind, Gurney -among them, could not read the message, and pressed forward. There -were cries of "What is it?... I can't see.... Read it out...." Then -those in front gave way slightly, a wave of eagerness agitated the -mass of watchers, and the news ran back from the front. "Two more -cases of plague in Dundee; one in Edinburgh." - -And with that the pressure of dread was suddenly dissipated, giving -place to something kinetic, dynamic. Now it was fear that took the -people by the throat: active, compelling fear. Men looked at each -other with terror and something of hate in their eyes, the crowd -broke and melted. Every man was going to his own home, possessed by -an instinct to fly before it was too late. - -Gurney shouldered his way out, and stopped a taxi that was crawling -past. - -"Jermyn Street," he said. - -The driver leaned over and pointed to the Daily Chronicle -window. "What's the news?" he asked. - -"The plague's in Dundee and Edinburgh," said Gurney, and climbed into -the cab and slammed the door. - -"Gawd!" muttered the driver, as he drove recklessly westwards. - -Sitting in the cab, finding some comfort in the feeling of headlong -speed, Gurney was debating whether he would not charter the man to -take him right out of London. But he must go home first for money. - -At the door of the house in Jermyn Street he met Jasper Thrale. - - - - -2 - -"Have you heard?" asked Gurney excitedly. - -"No. What?" said Thrale, without interest. - -"There are two more cases in Dundee and one in Edinburgh," said -Gurney. The driver of the cab got down from his seat, and looked from -Gurney to Thrale with doubt and question. - -Thrale nodded his head. "I knew it was sure to come," he remarked. - -"Better get out of this," put in the driver. - -"Yes, rather," agreed Gurney. - -"Where to?" asked Thrale. - -"Well, America." - -Thrale laughed. "They'll have it in America before you get there," -he said. "It'll go there via Japan and 'Frisco." - -"You seem to know a lot about it," said the driver of the cab. - -"Do you mean to tell me there's nowhere we can go to?" persisted -Gurney. - -Thrale smiled. "Nowhere in this world," he said. "This plague has -come to destroy mankind." He spoke with a quiet assurance that -carried conviction. - -The driver of the cab scowled. "May as well 'ave a run for my money -first, then," he said, and thus gave utterance to the thought that -was fermenting in many other minds. - -There was no hope of escape for the mass, only the rich could seek -railway termini and take train for Liverpool, Southampton or any port -where there was the least hope of finding some ship to take them out -of Europe. - -That night there was panic and riot. The wealthy classes were trying -to escape, the mob was trying to "get a run for its money." Yet very -little real mischief was done. Two or three companies of infantry -were sufficient to clear the streets, and not more than forty people -in all were seriously injured.... - -In Downing Street the new Premier sat alone with his head in his -hands, and wondered what could be done to stop the approach of the -pestilence. One of the evening papers had suggested that a great line -of fire should be built across the north of England. The Premier -wondered whether that scheme were feasible. He had never held high -office before; he did not know how to deal with these great issues. All -his political life he had learned only the art of party tactics. He -had learned that art very well, he was a master of debate, and he -had shown a wonderful ability to judge the bent of the public mind -and to make use of his judgments for party ends. But now that any -action of his was divorced from its accustomed object, he was as -a man suddenly forced into some new occupation. Whenever he tried -to think of some means to stay the progress of the plague his mind -automatically began to consider what influence the adoption of such -means would have upon the general election which must soon come.... - -"A line of fire across the north," he was thinking, "would shut -off the whole of Scotland. They would never forgive us for that. We -should lose the entire Scottish vote--it's bad enough as it is." He -sat up late into the night considering what policy he should put -before the Cabinet. He tried honestly to consider the position apart -from politics, but his mind refused to work in that way.... - - - - -3 - -In Jermyn Street Thrale was arguing with Gurney, trying to persuade -him into a philosophic attitude. - -"Yes, I suppose there's absolutely nothing to be done but sit down -and wait," said Gurney. - -"Personally," returned Thrale, "I have no intention of spending my -time flying from country to country like a marked criminal. That way -leads to insanity. I've seen men become animals before now under the -influence of fear." - -"Yes, of course, you're quite right," agreed Gurney. "One must exercise -self-control. After all, it's only death, and not such a terrible -death at that." He got up and began to pace the room restlessly, -then went to the window and looked out. Jermyn Street was almost -deserted, but distant sounds of shouting came from the direction of -Piccadilly. He left the window open and turned back into the room. - -"It's so infernally hard just to sit still and wait," he said. "If -only one could do something." - -"I doubt, now," said Thrale, quietly, "whether one could ever have -done anything. The public and the Government took my warnings in -the characteristic way, the only possible way in which you could -expect twentieth-century humanity to take a warning--a thrill of -fear, perhaps, in some cases; frank incredulity in others; but no -result either way that endured for an hour.... Belief in national -and personal security, inertia outside the routine of necessary, -stereotyped employment; these things are essential to the running of -the machine." - -"I suppose they are," agreed Gurney absently He had sat down again -and was sucking automatically at an extinguished pipe. - -"In a complex civilization," went on Thrale "any initiative on the part -of the individual outside his own tiny sphere of energy is just so much -grit in the machine. There are recognized methods, they may not be the -best, the most efficient, but they are accepted and understood. Every -clerk who has to calculate twelve pence to the shilling knows how -his work would be lightened if he had only to calculate ten, but he -accepts that difficulty, because he can do nothing as an individual to -introduce the decimal system. And that spirit of acceptance grows upon -him until the individual has the characteristics of the class. Only -when a man is stirred by too great discomfort does he open his eyes to -the possibility of initiative; then come labour strikes. If labour had -a sufficiency of ease and comfort, if its lot were not so violently -contrasted with that of even the middle-classes, labour would settle -down to complacency. But the contrast is too great, and to attain -that complacency of uninitiative we must level down. That was coming; -that would have come if this plague...." - -"What was that?" asked Gurney excitedly, jumping to his feet. "Did -you hear firing?" He went to the window again, and leaned out. From -Piccadilly came the sound of an army of trampling feet, of confused -cries and shouting. "By God, there's a riot," exclaimed Gurney. He -spoke over his shoulder. - -Thrale joined him at the window. "Panic," he said. "Senseless, -hysterical panic. It won't last." - -"I think I shall go out of London," said Gurney. "I'd sooner ... I'd -sooner die in the country, I think." He withdrew from the window and -began to pace up and down the room again. - -"Going to stampede with the rest of 'em?" asked -Thrale. "Extraordinarily infectious thing, panic." - -"I don't think it's that exactly ..." hesitated Gurney. - -"Animal fear," said Thrale. "The terror of the wild thing threatened -with the unknown. The runaway horse terrified and rushing to its own -destruction. Fly, fly, fly from the threat of peril as you did once -on the prairies, when to fly meant safety." - -"It's so infernally depressing in London," said Gurney. - -"All right, go and brood on death in the country," replied -Thrale. "That may cheer you up a bit. But, take my advice, -don't run. Walk at a snail's pace and check the least tendency to -hurry. Once you begin to quicken your pace, you will find yourself -hurrying desperately--and then stampede the hell of terror at your -heels. After all, you know, you may survive. It isn't likely that -every man will die." - -Gurney caught eagerly at that. "No, no, of course it isn't," he -said. "But wouldn't one be much more likely to survive if one were -living in the country, or by the sea--in some fairly isolated place, -for example. I meant to go down to Cornwall for my holiday this year, -to a little cottage on the coast about four miles from Padstow; -don't you think in pure air and healthy surroundings like that, -one would stand a better chance?" - -"Very likely," said Thrale carelessly. "But don't run. In any case -you'd better wait till the middle of the week. The first rush will -be over then." - -"Yes. Perhaps. I'll go on Wednesday, or Tuesday...." - -Thrale smiled grimly. "Well, good night," he said. "I'm going to bed." - -When he had gone, Gurney went to the window again. The sounds of riot -from Piccadilly had died down to a low, confused murmur. A motor-car -whizzed by along Jermyn Street, and two people passed on foot, a man -and a woman; the woman was leaning heavily on the man's arm. - -Gurney turned once more to his pacing of the room. He was trying to -realize the unrealizable fact that the world offered no refuge. For a -full hour he struggled with himself, with that new, strange instinct -which rose up and urged him to fly for his life. At last weary and -overborne he threw himself into a chair by the dying fire and began -to cry like a lost child; even as Ernst, the waiter, had cried.... - - - - -4 - -The panic emigration lasted until Monday evening, and then came -news which checked and stayed the rush for the ports of Liverpool, -Southampton and Queenstown. The plague was already in America. It -had come, as Thrale had prophesied from the West. At the docks many -of those favoured emigrants who had secured berths, hesitated; if -it was to be a choice between death in America and death in England, -they preferred to die at home. - -Yet, even on Tuesday morning, when doubt as to the coming of the -plague was no longer possible, when Dundee could only give approximate -figures of the seizures in that town, reporting them as not less than a -thousand, when it was evident that the whole of Scotland was becoming -infected with incredible rapidity, and two cases were notified as far -south as Durham, there remained still an enormous body of people who -stoutly maintained that, bad as things were, the danger was grossly -exaggerated, who believed that the danger would soon pass, and who, -steadfast to the habits of a lifetime, continued their routine wherever -it was possible so to do, determined to resist to the last. - -To this body, possibly some two-fifths of the whole urban population, -was due the comparative maintenance of law and order. In face of -the growing destitution due to the wholesale closing of factories, -warehouses and offices, necessitated by the now complete cessation -of foreign trade and to the hoarding of food stores and gold which -was already so marked as to have seriously affected the commerce -not dependent on foreign sellers and buyers, a semblance of ordinary -life was still maintained. Newspapers were issued, trains and 'buses -were running, theatres and music-halls were open, and many normal -occupations were carried on. - -Yet everything was infected. It was as if the cloak of civilization -was worn more loosely. Crime was increasing and justice was -relaxed. Robberies of food were so common that there was no place for -the confinement of those who were convicted. Shopkeepers were becoming -at once more reliant upon their own defences, and less scrupulous in -their dealings with bona-fide customers. No longer could the protection -of the State be exclusively relied upon, the citizen was becoming lost -in the individual. Public opinion was being resolved into individual -opinion; and with the failing of the great restraint every man was -developing an unsuspected side of his character. Thrown upon his -own resources, he became continually less civilized, more conscious -of possibilities to fulfill long-thwarted tendencies and desires; -he began to understand that when it is a case of sauve qui peut, -the weakest are trampled under foot. - -So the cloak of civilization gaped and showed the form of the naked -man, with all its blemishes and deformities. And women blenched -and shuddered. For woman, as yet, was little, if at all, altered -in character by the fear that was brutalizing man. Her faith in -the intrinsic rectitude of the beloved conventions was more deeply -rooted. Moreover woman fears the strictures of woman, more than man -fears the judgments of man. - - - - - - - -VIII--GURNEY IN CORNWALL - - -1 - -Gurney's alternative to flying from the plague was to run away from -himself. He shirked the issue in his conversations with Thrale, -shuffled, sophisticated, and in a futile endeavour to convince his -companion, convinced himself that his reasoning was sound and his -motive unprejudiced. - -It was not until the following Thursday, however, that he took train -to Cornwall. He had succeeded in realizing between two and three -hundred pounds in gold, and this he took with him. He intended to -lay in stores of flour, sugar and other primary necessities; to buy -and keep two or three cows, to rear chickens, to grow as much garden -produce as possible, especially potatoes; and generally to provide -against the coming scarcity of food and the cessation of transport. - -The bungalow on the shores of Constantine Bay, to which he departed, -was a place well suited to the carrying out of these prudent -arrangements. It belonged to a friend of his, who was rich enough -to indulge his whims, and who had spent a considerable sum of money -in building the place and enclosing ground, but who rarely occupied -the bungalow himself, and was too careless to bother about letting -it. Gurney had the keys in his possession. When he had asked his -friend for permission to spend his summer holiday there, he had been -told to use the place as if it were his own. "Jolly good thing for me, -you know," his friend had said. "Keep it dry and all that." - -Gurney was not an idle man. Arrived at his bungalow, he lost no time -in carrying out the arrangements he had schemed, and for nearly three -weeks he was so absorbed in this work, in learning new occupations -and perfecting his plan, that he did, indeed, achieve his purpose of -running away from himself. - -He became imbued with a new feeling of security; he received neither -letters nor papers from the outside, and the old labourer who assisted -him in setting potatoes, who taught him to milk a cow and instructed -him generally in the primitive arts of self-supporting toil, seemed -to regard all rumours of the new plague which filtered through to the -village of St Merryn as some foreign nonsense which had little bearing -on life in the county of Cornwall, as represented by the twenty-five -or thirty square miles which were to him all the essential world. - -Gurney began to believe that the plague would never cross the Tamar, -and one day in early May, when his provisions against a siege were -practically completed, he was stirred to attempt a journey across the -peninsula in order to visit an acquaintance in East Looe. Gurney had -become conscious of a longing for some companionship. Old Hawken was -very good at cows and potatoes, but he was rather deaf and his range -of ideas was severely restricted. - - - - -2 - -From Padstow to Looe is not an ideal journey by rail at the best of -times, involving as it does, a change of train at Wadebridge, Bodmin -Road and Liskeard; but Gurney was in no hurry, and the conversations -he overheard in his compartment were not destructive of his new-found -complacency. There was, indeed, some mention of the plague, but only in -relation to the scarcity of food supply and its effect on trade. One -passenger, very obviously a farmer, was congratulating himself that -he was getting higher prices for stock than he had ever known, and -that as luck would have it he had sown an unusual number of acres -with wheat that year. "I'll be gettun sixty or seventy a quarter, -sure 'nough," he boasted. - -Dickenson--Gurney's friend in Looe--regarded the matter more seriously, -but he, too, seemed untouched by any fear of personal infection. He was -an ardent Liberal, and his chief cause for concern seemed to be that -the plague should have come at a time when so much progress was being -made with legislation. He was, also, very distressed at the reports -of poverty and starvation which abounded, and at the terrible blow to -trade generally. But he seemed hopeful that the trouble would pass -and be followed by a new era of enlightened government, founded on -sound Liberal principles. - -Gurney stayed the night and the greater part of the next day at Looe. - - - - -3 - -On his return journey he had to wait at Liskeard to pick up the main -line train for London, which would take him to Bodmin Road. - -It was a glorious May evening. The day had been hot, but now there -was a cool breeze from the sea, and the long shadow from the high -bank of the cutting enwrapped the whole station in a pleasant twilight. - -Gurney, deliberately pacing the length of the platform, was conscious -of physical vigour and a great enjoyment of life. He had an imaginative -temperament, and in his moments of exaltation he found the world -both interesting and beautiful, an entirely desirable setting for -the essential Gurney. - -So he strolled up and down the platform, regarded any female figure -with interest, and was in no way concerned that the train was already -an hour late. He had expected it to be late. His own train from Looe, -for no particular reason, had been half an hour late. If he missed -his connexion at Wadebridge he would only have some seven or eight -miles to walk. - -Fifteen or twenty other people were waiting on the down platform, -and presently Gurney became conscious that his fellow-passengers were -no longer detached into parties of two and three, but were collected -in groups, discussing, apparently, some matter of peculiar interest. - -Gurney had been lost in his dreams and had hardly noticed the passage -of time. He looked at his watch and found that the train was now two -hours overdue. The sun had set, but there was still light in the sky. A -man detached himself from one of the groups and Gurney approached him. - -"Two hours late," he remarked by way of introducing himself, and -looked at his watch again. - -The man nodded emphatically. "Funny thing is," he said, "that they've -had no information at the office. The stationmaster generally gets -advice when the train leaves Plymouth." - -"Good lord," said Gurney. "Do you mean to say that the train hasn't -got to Plymouth yet?" - -"Looks like it," said the stranger. "They say it's the plague. It's -dreadfully bad in London, they tell me." - -"D'you mean it's possible the train won't come in at all?" asked -Gurney. - -"Oh! I should hardly think that," replied the other. "Oh, no, I should -hardly think that, but goodness knows when it will come. Very awkward -for me. I want to get to St Ives. It's a long way from here. Have -you far to go?" - -"Well, Padstow," said Gurney. - -"Padstow!" echoed the stranger. "That's a good step." - -"Further than I want to walk." - -"I should say. Thirty miles or so, anyway?" - -"About that," agreed Gurney. "I wonder where one could get any -information. - -"It's very awkward," was all the help the stranger had to offer. - -Gurney crossed the line and invaded the stationmaster's office. "Sorry -to trouble you," he said, "but do you think this train's been taken -off, for any reason?" - -"Oh, it 'asn't been taken off," said the stationmaster with a wounded -air. "It may be a bit late." - -Gurney smiled. "It's something over two hours behind now, isn't -it?" he said. - -"Well, I can't 'elp it, can I?" asked the stationmaster. "You'll -'ave to 'ave patience." - -"You've had no advice yet from Plymouth?" persisted Gurney, facing -the other's ill-temper. - -"No, I 'aven't; something's gone wrong with the wire. We can't get -no answer," returned the stationmaster. "Now, if you please, I 'ave -my work to do." - -Gurney returned to the down platform and joined a group of men, -among whom he recognized the man he had spoken to a few minutes before. - -The afterglow was dying out of the sky, in the south-west a faint -young moon was setting behind the high bank of the cutting. A porter -had lighted the station lamps, but they were not turned full on. - -"The stationmaster tells me that something has gone wrong with the -telegraphic communication," said Gurney, addressing the little knot -of passengers collectively. "He can't get any answer it seems." - -"Been an accident likely," suggested some one. - -"Or the engine-driver's got the plague," said another. - -"They'd have put another man on." - -"If they could find one." - -"If we ain't careful we shall be gettin' the plague down 'ere." - -After all why not? The horrible suggestion sprang up in Gurney's -mind with new force. That remote city seemed suddenly near. He saw in -imagination the train leaving Paddington, and only a journey of six or -seven hours divided that departure from its arrival at Liskeard. It -might come in at any moment, bearing the awful infection. Why should -he wait? There was an inn near the station. He might find a conveyance -there. - -"Constantine Bay?" questioned the landlord. - -"It's near St Merryn," said Gurney, but still the landlord shook -his head. - -"Not far from Padstow," explained Gurney. - -"Pard-stow!" exclaimed the landlord on a rising note. "Drive over to -Pard-stow at this time o' night?" He appeared to think that Gurney -was joking. - -"Well, Bodmin, then," suggested Gurney. - -"Aw, why not take the train?" asked the landlord. - -Gurney shrugged his shoulders. "The train doesn't seem to be coming," -he said. - -"Bad job, that," answered the landlord. "Been an accident, sure -'nough; this new plague or something." He was evidently prepared to -accept the matter philosophically. - -"You can't drive me then?" asked Gurney. - -The landlord shook his head with a grin. He was inclined to look upon -this foreigner as rather more foolish than the majority of his kind. - -Gurney came out of the little inn, and looked down into the -station. The number of waiting passengers seemed to be decreasing, -but the light was so dim that he could not see into the shadows. - -"I must keep hold of myself," he was saying. "I mustn't run." - -A man was coming up the steep incline towards him, and Gurney moved -slowly to meet him. He found that it was the stranger he had spoken -to on the platform. - -"Any news?" asked Gurney. - -"Yes, they've got a message through from Saltash," replied the -stranger. "It's the plague right enough. They say they don't know -when there'll be another train...." - - - - -4 - -Days grew into weeks, and still there were no trains. Trade was at a -standstill, and the prices of home produce mounted steadily. Fish there -was, but not in great abundance, and the towns inland, such as Truro -and Bodmin, organized a motor service with coast fishing villages, -a service which only lasted for a week, by reason of the failure of -the petrol supply. After that there was a less effective horse service. - -Within three weeks after that last train arrived from outside, a new -system of exchange was coming into vogue. In this little congeries of -communities in Cornwall, men were beginning to learn the uselessness -of gold, silver and bronze coins as tokens. Credit had collapsed, -and a system of barter was being introduced, mainly between farmer and -fisherman. In time it was possible that Cornwall might have become a -self-supporting community, for its proportionately few inhabitants -were rapidly being depleted by want and starvation; but, although -it was the last place in the British Isles to become infected, the -plague came there, too, in the end. - -A steamer sent out from Cardiff on a plundering expedition carried -the plague to the Scillies, and a fishing vessel from St Ives carried -it on to Newlyn.... - - - - - - - -IX--THE DEVOLUTION OF GEORGE GOSLING - - -1 - -The progress of the plague through London and the world in general was -marked, in the earlier stages, by much the same developments as are -reported of the plague of 1665. The closed houses, the burial pits, -the deserted streets, the outbreaks of every kind of excess, the -various symptoms of fear, cowardice, fortitude and courage, evidenced -little change in the average of humanity between the seventeenth and -the twentieth centuries. The most notable difference during these -earlier stages was in the enormously increased rapidity with which -the population of London was reduced to starvation point. Even before -the plague had reached England, want had become general, so general, -indeed, as to have demonstrated very clearly the truth of the great -economist's contention that England could not exist for three months -with closed doors. - -The coming of the plague threw London on to its own very limited -resources. That vast city, which produced nothing but the tokens of -wealth, and added nothing to the essentials that support life, was -instantly reduced to the state of Paris in the winter of 1870-71; with -the difference, however, that London's population could be decreased -rapidly by emigration, and was, also, even more rapidly decreased -by pestilence. Yet there was a large section of the population which -clung with blind obstinacy to the only life it knew how to live. - -There was, for instance, George Gosling, more fortunate in many -respects than the average citizen, who clung desperately to his house -in Wisteria Grove until forced out of it by the lack of water. - -On the ninth day after the first coming of the plague to London--it -appeared simultaneously in a dozen places and spread with fearful -rapidity--Gosling broke one of the great laws he had hitherto observed -with such admirable prudence. The offices and warehouse in Barbican -had been shut up (temporarily, it was supposed), and the partners had -disappeared from London. But Gosling had a duplicate set of keys, and, -inspired by the urgency of his family's need, he determined to dare -a journey into the City in order to borrow (he laid great stress on -the word) a few necessaries of life from the well-stored warehouse -of his firm. - -In this scheme, planned with some shrewdness, he co-operated with a -friend, a fellow-sidesman at the Church of St John the Evangelist. This -friend was a coal merchant, and thus fortunately circumstanced in -the possession of wagons and horses. - -These two arranged the details of their borrowing expedition between -them. Economically, it was a deal on the lines of the revived -methods of exchange and barter. Gosling was willing to exchange -certain advantages of knowledge and possession for the hire of wagons -and horses. It was decided, for obvious reasons, to admit no other -conspirator into the plot, and Boost, the coal merchant, drove one -cart and Gosling drove the other. Perhaps it should rather be said -that he led the other, for, after a preliminary trial, he decided -that he was safer at the horses' heads than behind their tails. - -The raid was conducted with perfect success. Boost had a head -for essentials. The invaluable loads of tinned meats, fruits and -vegetables were screened by tarpaulins from the possibly too envious -eyes of hungry passers-by--quite a number of vagrants were to be -seen in the streets on that day--and Boost and Gosling, disguised in -coal-begrimed garments, made the return journey lugubriously calling, -"Plague, plague," the cry of the drivers of the funeral carts which -had even then become necessary. Their only checks were the various -applications they received for the cartage of corpses; applications -easily put on one side by pointing to the piled-up carts--they had -spent six laborious hours in packing them. "No room; no room," they -cried, and on that day the applicants who accosted Boost and Gosling -were not the only ones who had to wait for the disposal of their dead. - -Gosling arrived at Wisteria Grove, hot and outwardly jubilant, -albeit with a horrible fear lurking in his mind that he had been -in dangerous proximity to those tendered additions to his load. His -booty was stored in one of the downstairs rooms--with the assistance -of Mrs Gosling and the two girls they managed the unpacking without -interruption in two hours and a half--and then, with boarded windows -and locked doors, the Goslings sat down to await the passing of horror. - -Boost died of the plague forty-eight hours after the great adventure, -but as he had a wife and four daughters his plunder was not wasted. - - - - -2 - -For nearly a fortnight after the raid the Goslings lay snug in their -little house in Wisteria Grove, for they, in company with the majority -of English people at this time, had not yet fully appreciated the -fact that women were almost immune from infection. In all, not more -than eight per cent of the whole female population was attacked, and -of this proportion the mortality was almost exclusively among women -over fifty years of age. When the first faint rumours of the plague -had come to Europe, this curious, almost unprecedented, immunity of -women had been given considerable prominence. It had made good copy, -theories on the subject had appeared, and the point had aroused more -interest than that of the mortality among males--infectious diseases -were commonplace enough; this new phase had a certain novelty and -piquancy. But the threat of European infection had overwhelmed the -interest in the odd predilection of the unknown bacterium, and the more -vital question had thrown this peculiarity into the background. Thus -the Goslings and most other women feared attack no less than their -husbands, brothers and sons, and found justification for their fears -in the undoubted fact that women had died of the plague. - -The Goslings had always jogged along amiably enough; their home life -would have passed muster as a tolerably happy one. The head of the -family was out of the house from 8.15 a.m. to 7.15 p.m. five days of -the week, and it was only occasionally in the evening of some long -wet Sunday that there was any open bickering. - -Now, confinement in that little house, aggravated by fear and by the -absence of any interest or diversion coming from outside, showed the -family to one another in new aspects. Before two days had passed the -air was tense with the suppressed irritation of these four people, -held together by scarcely any tie other than that of a conventional -affection. - -By the third day the air was so heavily charged that some explosion -was inevitable. It came early in the morning. - -Gosling had run out of tobacco, and he thought in the circumstances -that it would be wiser to send Blanche or Millie than to go -himself. So, with an air of exaggerated carelessness, he said: - -"Look here, Millie, my gel, I wish you'd just run out and see if you -can get me any terbaccer." - -"Not me," replied Millie, with decision. - -"And why not?" asked Gosling. - -Millie shrugged her shoulders, and called her sister, who was in the -passage. "I say, B., father wants us to go out shopping for him. Are -you on?" - -Blanche, duster in hand, appeared at the doorway. - -"Why doesn't he go himself?" she asked. - -"Because," replied her father, getting very red, and speaking with -elaborate care, "men's subject to the infection and women is not." - -"That's all my eye," returned Millie. "Lots of women have got it." - -"It's well known," said Gosling, still keeping himself in hand, -"a matter of common knowledge, that women is comparatively immune." - -"Oh, that's a man's yarn, that is," said Blanche, "just to save -themselves. We all know what men are--selfish brutes!" - -"Are you going to fetch me that terbaccer or are you not?" shouted -Mr Gosling suddenly. - -"No, we aren't," said Millie, defiantly. "It isn't safe for girls to -go about the streets, let alone the risk of infection." She had heard -her father shout before, and she was not, as yet, at all intimidated. - -"Well, then, I say you are!" shouted her father. "Lazy, -good-for-nothing creatures, the pair of you! 'Oose paid for everything -you've eat or drunk or wore ever since you was born? An' now you -won't even go an errand." Then, seeing the ready retort rising to his -daughters' lips, he grew desperate, and, advancing a step towards them, -he said savagely: "If you don't go, I'll find a way to make yer!" - -This was a new aspect, and the two girls were a little -frightened. Natural instinct prompted them to scream for their mother. - -She had been listening at the top of the stairs, and she answered -the call for help with great promptitude. - -"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Gosling," she said, on a high -note. "The streets isn't safe for gels, as you know well enough; -and why should my gels risk their lives for the sake of your nasty, -dirty, wasteful 'abit of smoking, I should like to know?" - -Gosling's new-found courage was evaporating at the attack of this -third enemy. He had been incensed against his daughters, but he had -not yet overcome the habit of giving in to his wife, for the sake of -peace. She had managed him very capably for a quarter of a century, -but on the occasions when she had found it necessary to use what -she called the "rough side of her tongue" she had demonstrated very -clearly which of the two was master. - -"I should have thought I might 'a been allowed a little terbaccer," -he said, resentfully. "'Oo risked his life to lay in provisions, I -should like to know? An' it's a matter o' common knowledge as women -is immune from this plague." - -"And Mrs Carter, three doors off, carried out dead of it the day -before yesterday!" remarked Mrs Gosling, triumphantly. - -"Oh, 'ere and there, a case or two," replied her husband. "But not -one woman to a thousand men gets it, as every one knows." - -"And how do you know I mightn't be the one?" asked Millie, bold now -under her mother's protection. - -For that morning, the matter remained in abeyance; but Gosling, -muttering and grumbling, nursed his injury and meditated on the -fact that his daughters had been afraid of him. Things were altered -now. There was no convention to tie his hands. He would work himself -into a protective passion and defy the three of them. Also, there -was an unopened bottle of whisky in the sideboard. - -Nevertheless, he would have put off the trial of his strength if he -had had to seek an opportunity. He was, as yet, too civilized to take -the initiative in cold blood. - -The opportunity, however, soon presented itself in that house. The air -had been little cleared by the morning's outbreak, and before evening -the real explosion came. A mere trifle originated it--a warning from -Gosling that their store of provisions would not last for ever, and a -sharp retort from Millie to the effect that her father did not stint -himself, followed by a reminder from Mrs Gosling that the raid might -be repeated. - -"Oh! yes, you'd be willing enough for me to die of the plague, I've no -doubt!" broke out Gosling. "I can walk six mile to get you pervisions, -but you can't go to the corner of the street for my terbaccer." - -"Pervisions is necessary, terbaccer ain't," said Mrs Gosling. She was -not a clever woman. She judged this to be the right opportunity to -keep her husband in his place, and relied implicitly on the quelling -power of her tongue. Her intuitions were those of the woman who had -lived all her life in a London suburb; they did not warn her that -she was now dealing with a specimen of half-decivilized humanity. - -"Oh! ain't it?" shouted Gosling, getting to his feet. His face was -purple, and his pale blue eyes were starting from his head. "I'll soon -show you what's necessary and what ain't, and 'oose master in this -'ouse. And I say terbaccer is necessary, an' what's more, one o' -you three's goin' to fetch it quick! D'ye 'ear--one--o'--you--three!" - -This inclusion of Mrs Gosling was, indeed, to declare war. - -Millie and Blanche screamed and backed, but their mother rose to -the occasion. She did not reserve herself; she began on her top -note; but Gosling did not allow her to finish. He strode over to -her and shook her by the shoulders, shouting to drown her strident -recriminations. "'Old your tongue! 'old your tongue!" he bawled, and -shook her with increasing violence. He was feeling his power, and when -his wife crumpled up and fell to the floor in shrieking hysterics, -he still strode on to victory. Taking the cowed and terrified Millie -by the arm, he dragged her along the passage, unlocked and opened -the front door and pushed her out into the street. "And don't you -come back without my terbaccer!" he shouted. - -"How much?" quavered the shrinking Millie. - -"'Alf-a-crown's worth," replied Gosling fiercely, and tossed the coin -down on the little tiled walk that led up to the front door. - -After Millie had gone he stood at the door for a moment, thankful for -the coolness of the air on his heated face. "I got to keep this up," -he murmured to himself, with his first thought of wavering. Behind -him he heard the sound of uncontrolled weeping and little cries of the -"first time in twenty-four years" and "what the neighbours'll think, -I don't know." - -"Neighbours," muttered Gosling, contemptuously, "there aren't any -neighbours--not to count." - -A distant sound of slow wheels caught his ear. He listened attentively, -and there came to him the remote monotonous chant of a dull voice -crying: "Plague! Plague!" - -He stepped in quickly and closed the door. - - - - -3 - -Millie found the Kilburn High Road deserted. No traffic of any kind -was to be seen in the street, and the rare foot-passengers, chiefly -women, had all a furtive air. Starvation had driven them out to -raid. No easy matter, as Millie soon found, for all shutters were -down, and in many cases shop-fronts were additionally protected by -great sheets of strong hoarding. - -Millie, recovering from her fright, was growing resentful. Her little -conventional mind was greatly occupied by the fact that she was out in -the High Road wearing house-shoes without heels, in an old print dress, -and with no hat to hide the carelessness of her hair-dressing. At -the corner of Wisteria Grove she stopped and tried to remedy this -last defect; she had red hair, abundant and difficult to control. - -The sight of the deserted High Road did not inspire her with -self-confidence; she still feared the possibility of meeting some -one who might recognize her. How could one account for one's presence -in a London thoroughfare at seven o'clock on a bright May evening in -such attire? Certainly not by telling the truth. - -The air was wonderfully clear. Coal was becoming very scarce, and -few fires had been lighted that day to belch forth their burden of -greasy filth into the atmosphere. The sun was sinking, and Millie -instinctively clung to the shadow of the pavement on the west side of -the road. She, too, slunk along with the evasive air that was common to -the few other pedestrians, the majority of them on this same shadowed -pavement. That warm, radiant light on the houses opposite seemed to -hold some horror for them. - -So preoccupied was Millie with her resentment that she wandered for -two or three hundred yards up the road without any distinct idea of -what she was seeking. When realization of the futility of her search -came to her, she stopped in the shadow of a doorway. "What is the -good of going on?" she argued. "All the shops are shut up." But the -thought of her father in his new aspect of muscular tyrant intimidated -her. She dared not return without accomplishing her errand. "I'll -have another look, anyway," she said; and then: "Who'd have thought -he was such a brute?" She rubbed the bruise on her arm; her mouth was -twisted into an ugly expression of spiteful resentment. Her thoughts -were busy with plans of revenge even as she turned to prosecute her -search for the tyrant's tobacco. - -Here and there shops had been forcibly, burglariously entered, -plate-glass windows smashed, and interiors cleared of everything -eatable; the debris showed plainly enough that these rifled shops -had all belonged to grocers or provision merchants. Into each of -these ruins Millie stared curiously, hoping foolishly that she might -find what she sought. She ventured into one and carried away a box of -soap--they were running short of soap at home. A sense of moving among -accessible riches stirred within her, a desire for further pillage. - -She came at last to a shop where the shutters were still intact, but -the door hung drunkenly on one hinge. A little fearfully she peered in -and discovered that fortune had been kind to her. The shop had belonged -to a tobacconist, and the contents were almost untouched--there had -been more crying needs to satisfy in the households of raiders than -the desire for tobacco. - -It was very dark inside, and for some seconds Millie stared into what -seemed absolute blackness, but as her eyes became accustomed to the -gloom, she saw the interior begin to take outline, and when she moved -a couple of steps into the place and allowed more light to come in -through the doorway, various tins, boxes and packets in the shelves -behind the counter were faintly distinguishable. - -Once inside, the spirit of plunder took hold of her, and she began -to take down boxes of cigars and cigarettes and packets of tobacco, -piling them up in a heap on the counter. But she had no basket in which -to carry the accumulation she was making, and she was feeling under -the counter for some box into which to put her haul, when the shadows -round her deepened again into almost absolute darkness. Cautiously -she peered up over the counter and saw the silhouette of a woman -standing in the doorway. - -For ten breathless seconds Millie hung motionless, her eyes fixed on -the apparition. She was very civilized still, and she was suddenly -conscious of committing a crime. She feared horribly lest the figure -in the doorway might discover Millicent Gosling stealing tobacco. But -the intruder, after recognizing the nature of the shop's contents, -moved away with a sigh. Millie heard her dragging footsteps shuffle -past the window. - -That scare decided her movements. She hastily looped up the front of -her skirt, bundled into it as much plunder as she could conveniently -carry, and made her way out into the street again. - -She was nearly at the corner of Wisteria Grove before she was molested, -and then an elderly woman came suddenly out of a doorway and laid a -hand on Millie's arm. - -"Whacher got?" asked the woman savagely. - -Millie, shrinking and terrified, displayed her plunder. - -"Cigars," muttered the woman. "Whacher want with cigars?" She opened -the boxes and stirred up the contents of Millie's improvised bundle -in an eager search for something to eat. "Gawd's truth! yer must be -crazy, yer thievin' little slut!" she grumbled, and pushed the girl -fiercely from her. - -Millie made good her escape, dropping a box of cigars in her -flight. Her one thought now was the fear of meeting a policeman. In -three minutes she was beating fiercely on the door of the little -house in Wisteria Grove, and, disregarding her father's exclamations -of pleased surprise when he let her in, she tumbled in a heap on to -the mat in the passage. - -Gosling's first declaration of male superiority had been splendidly -successful. - - - - -4 - -A few minutes after Millie's return, Mrs Gosling, red-eyed and -timidly vicious, interrupted her husband's perfect enjoyment of the -long-desired cigar by the announcement: "The gas is off!" - -Gosling got up, struck a match, and held it to the sitting-room -burner. The match burned steadily. There was no pressure even of air -in the pipes. - -"Turned off at the meter!" snapped Gosling. "'Ere, lemme go an' -see!" He spoke with the air of the superior male, strong in his -comprehension of the mechanical artifices which so perplex the feminine -mind. Mrs Gosling sniffed, and stood aside to let him pass. She had -already examined the meter. - -"Well, we got lamps!" snarled Gosling when he returned. He had always -preferred a lamp to read by in the evening. - -"No oil," returned Mrs Gosling, gloomily. She'd teach him to shake her! - -Gosling meditated. His parochial mind was full of indignation. Vague -thoughts of "getting some one into trouble for this"--even of -that last, desperate act of coercion, writing to the papers about -it--flitted through his mind. Plainly something must be done. "'Aven't -you got any candles?" he asked. - -"One or two. They won't last long," replied his studiously patient -partner. - -"Well, we'll 'ave to use them to-night and go to bed early," was -Gosling's final judgment. His wife left the room with a shrug of -forbearing contempt. - -When she had gone, the head of the house went upstairs and peered -out into the street. The sun had set, and an unprecedented mystery -of darkness was falling over London. The globes of the tall electric -standards, catching a last reflection from the fading sky, glimmered -faintly, but were not illuminated from within by any fierce glare of -violet light. Darkness and silence enfolded the great dim organism that -sprawled its vast being over the earth. The spirit of mystery caught -Gosling in its spell. "All dark," he murmured, "and quiet! Lord! how -still it is!" Even in his own house there was silence. Downstairs, -three injured, resentful women were talking in whispers. - -Gosling, still sucking his cigar, stood entranced, peering into the -darkness; he had ventured so far as to throw up the sash. "It's the -stillness of death!" he muttered. Then he cocked his head on one side, -for he caught the sound of distant shouting. Somewhere in the Kilburn -Road another raid was in progress. - -"No light," murmured Gosling, "and no fire!" An immediate association -suggested itself. "By gosh! and no water!" he added. For some seconds -he contemplated with fearful awe the failure of the great essential -of life. - -In the cistern room he was reassured by the sound of a delicious -trickle from the ball-cock. "Still going," he said to himself; -"but we'll 'ave to be careful. Surely they'll keep the water goin', -though; whatever 'appens, they'd surely keep the water on?" - - - - -5 - -Nothing but the failure of the water could have driven them from -Wisteria Grove. Half-a-dozen times every day Gosling would climb up -to the top of the house to reassure himself. And at last came the day -when a dreadful silence reigned under the slates, when no delicious -tinkle of water gave promise of maintained security from water famine. - -"It'll come on again at night," said Gosling to himself. "We'll -'ave to be careful, that's all." - -He went downstairs and issued orders that no more water was to be -drawn that day. - -"Well, we must wash up the breakfast things," was his wife's reply. - -"You mustn't wash up nothing," said Gosling, "not one blessed -thing. It's better to go dirty than die o' thirst. Hevery drop o' -the water in that cistern must be saved for drinkin'." - -Mrs Gosling noisily put down the kettle she was holding. "Oh! very -well, my lord!" she remarked, sarcastically. She looked at her two -daughters with a twist of her mouth. There were only two sides in -that house; the women were as yet united against the common foe. - -When Gosling, fatuously convinced of his authority, had gone, his -wife quietly filled the kettle and proceeded with her washing up. - -"Your father thinks 'e knows everything these days," remarked the -mother to her allies. - -There was much whispering for some time. - -Gosling spent most of the day in the roof, but not until the afternoon -did he realize that the cistern was slowly being emptied. His first -thought was that one of the pipes leaked, his second that it was -time to make a demonstration of force. He found a walking-stick in -the hall.... - -But even when that precious half-cistern of water was only called -upon to supply the needs of thirst, and the Goslings, sinking further -into the degradation of savagedom, slunk furtive and filthy about -the gloomy house, it became evident that a move must be made sooner -or later. Two alternatives were presented: they might go north and -east to the Lea, or south to the Thames. - -Gosling chose the South. He knew Putney; he had been born there. He -knew nothing of Clapton and its neighbourhood. - -So one bright, clear day at the end of May, the Goslings set out on -their great trek. The head of the house, driven desperate by fear of -thirst, raided his late partner's coal sheds and found one living -horse and several dead ones. The living horse was partly revived -by water from an adjacent butt, and the next day it was harnessed -to a coal cart and commandeered to convey the Goslings' provisions -to Putney. It died half-a-mile short of their destination, but they -were able, by the exercise of their united strength, to get the cart -and its burden down to the river. - -They found an empty house without difficulty, but they had an -unpleasant half-hour in removing what remained of one of the previous -occupants. Gosling hoped it was not a case of plague. As the body was -that of a woman, and terribly emaciated, there were some grounds for -his optimism. - -Gosling was in a state of some bewilderment. When water had been -fetched in buckets from the river, and the three women had explored, -criticized and sniffed over their new home somewhat in the manner -of strange cats, the head of the house settled down to a cigar and -a careful consideration of his perplexities. - -In the first place, he wondered why those horses of Boost's had not -been used for food; in the second, he wondered why he had not seen -a single man during the whole of the long trek from Brondesbury to -Putney. By degrees an unbelievable explanation presented itself: -no men were left. He remembered that the few needy-looking women -he had seen had looked at him curiously; in retrospect he fancied -their regard had had some quality of amazement. Gosling scratched -the bristles of his ten-days'-old beard and smoked thoughtfully. He -almost regretted that he had stared so fiercely and threateningly at -every chance woman they had seen; he might have got some news. But the -whole journey had been conducted in a spirit of fear; they had been -defending their food, their lives; they had been primitive creatures -ready to fight desperately at the smallest provocation. - -"No man left," said Gosling to himself, and was not convinced. If -that indeed were the solution of his perplexity, he was faced with -an awful corollary; his own time would come. He thought of Barbican, -E.C., of Flack, of Messrs Barker and Prince, of the office staff, -and the office itself. He had not been able to rid his mind of the -idea that in a few weeks he would be back in the City again. He had -several times rehearsed his surprise when he should be told of the -depredations in the warehouse; he had wondered only yesterday if he -dared go to the office in his beard. - -But to-night the change of circumstance, the breaking up of old -associations, was opening his eyes to new horizons. There might -never be an office again for him to go to. If he survived--and he -was distinctly hopeful on that score--he might be almost the only -man left in London; there might not be more than a few thousand in -the whole of England, in Europe.... - -For a time he dwelt on this fantastic vision. Who would do the -work? What work would there be to do? - -"Got to get food," murmured Gosling, and wondered vaguely how food was -"got" when there were no shops, no warehouses, no foreign agents. His -mind turned chiefly to meat, since that had been his trade. "'Ave to -rear sheep and cattle, I suppose," said Gosling. As an afterthought -he added: "An' grow wheat." - -He sighed heavily. He realized that he had no knowledge on the subject -of rearing cattle and growing wheat; he also realized that he was -craving for ordinary food again--milk, eggs, and fresh vegetables. He -had a nasty-looking place on his leg which he rightly attributed to -unwholesome diet. - - - - -6 - -After forty-eight hours' residence in the new house, Gosling began -to pluck up his courage and to dare the perils of the streets. He -was beginning to have faith in his luck, to believe that the plague -had passed away and left him untouched. - -And as day succeeded day he ventured further afield; he went in search -of milk, eggs and vegetables, but he only found young nettles, which -he brought home and helped to eat when they had been boiled over a -wood fire. They were all glad to eat nettles, and were the better for -them. Occasionally he met women on these excursions, and stayed to -talk to them. Always they had the same tale to tell--their men were -dead, and themselves dying of starvation. - -One day at the beginning of June he went as far as Petersham, and -there at the door of a farmhouse he saw a fine, tall young woman. She -was such a contrast to the women he usually met on his expeditions -that he paused and regarded her with curiosity. - -"What do you want?" asked the young woman, suspiciously. - -"I suppose you 'aven't any milk or butter or eggs to sell?" asked -Gosling. - -"Sell?" echoed the girl, contemptuously. "What 'ave you got to give -us as is worth food?" - -"Well, money," replied Gosling. - -"Money!" came the echo again. "What's the good of money when there's -nothing to buy with it? I wouldn't sell you eggs at a pound apiece." - -Gosling scratched his beard--it looked quite like a beard by this -time. "Rum go, ain't it?" he asked, and smiled. - -His new acquaintance looked him up and down, and then smiled in return, -"You're right," she said. "You're the first man I've seen since father -died, a month back." - -"'Oo's livin' with you?" asked Gosling, pointing to the house. - -"Mother and sister, that's all." - -"'Ard work for you to get a livin', I suppose?" - -"So, so. We're used to farm-work. The trouble's to keep the other -women off." - -"Ah!" replied Gosling reflectively, and the two looked at one another -again. - -"You 'ungry?" asked the girl. - -"Not to speak of," replied Gosling. "But I'm fair pinin' for a change -o' diet. Been livin' on tinned things for five weeks or more." - -"Come in and have an egg," said the girl. - -"Thank you," said Gosling, "I will, with pleasure." - -They grew friendly over that meal--two eggs and a glass of milk. He -ate the eggs with butter, but there was no bread. It seemed that the -young woman's mother and sister were at work on the farm, but that -one of them had always to stay at home and keep guard. - -They discussed the great change that had come over England, and -wondered what would be the end of it; and after a little time, Gosling -began to look at the girl with a new expression in his pale blue eyes. - -"Ah! Hevrything's changed," he said. "Nothin' won't be the same any -more, as far as we can see. There's no neighbours now, f'rinstance, -and no talk of what's going on--or anythin'." - -The girl looked at him thoughtfully. "What we miss is some man to -look after the place," she said. "We're robbed terrible." - -Gosling had not meant to go as far as that. He was not unprepared for -a pleasant flirtation, now that there were no neighbours to report him -at home, but the idea that he could ever separate himself permanently -from his family had not occurred to him. - -"Yes," he said, "you want a man about these days." - -"Ever done any farm work?" asked the girl. - -Gosling shook his head. - -"Well, you'd soon learn," she went on. - -"I must think it over," said Gosling suddenly. "Shall you be 'ere -to-morrow?" - -"One of us will," said the girl. - -"Ah! but shall you?" - -"Why me?" - -"Well, I've took a fancy to you." - -"Very kind of you, I'm sure," said the girl, and laughed. - -Gosling kissed her before he left. - - - - -7 - -He returned the next afternoon and helped to cut and stack sainfoin, -and afterwards he watched the young woman milk the cows. It was so -late by the time everything was finished that he was persuaded to -stay the night. - -In the new Putney house three women wondered what had happened to -"father." They grew increasingly anxious for some days, and even -tried in a feeble way to search for him. By the end of the week they -accepted the theory that he too had died of the plague. - -They never saw him again. - - - - - - - -X--EXODUS - - -1 - -In West Hampstead a Jewess, who had once been fat, looked out of the -windows of her gaudy house. She was partly dressed in a garish silk -negligé. Her face was exceedingly dirty, but the limp, pallid flesh -was revealed in those places where she had wiped away her abundant -tears. Her body was bruised and stiff, for in a recent raid on a house -suspected of containing provisions she had been hardly used by her -sister women. She had made the mistake of going out too well dressed; -she had imagined that expensive clothes would command respect.... - -As she looked out she wept again, bewailing her misery. From her -earliest youth she had been pampered and spoilt. She had learnt that -marriage was her sole object in life, and she had sold herself at -a very respectable price. She had received the applause and favour -of her family for marrying the man she had chosen as most likely to -provide her with the luxury which she regarded as her birth-right. - -Two days ago she had cooked and eaten the absurdly expensive but -diminutive dog upon which she had lavished the only love of which -she had been capable. She had wept continuously as she ate her idol, -but for the first time she had regretted his littleness. - -Hunger and thirst were driving her out of the house of which she had -been so vain; the primitive pains were awakening in her primitive -instincts that had never stirred before. From her window she could -see naught but endless streets of brick, stone and asphalt, but -beyond that dry, hot, wilderness she knew there were fields--she -had seen them out of the corner of her eye when she had motored to -Brighton. Fields had never been associated in her mind with food until -the strange new stirring of that unsuspected instinct. Food for her -meant shops. One went to shops and bought food and bought the best -at the lowest price possible. With all her pride of position, she -had never hesitated to haggle with shopkeepers. And when the first -pinch had come, when her husband had selfishly died of the plague, -and her household had deserted her, it was to the shops she had gone, -autocratically demanding her rights. She had learned by experience -now that she had no longer any rights. - -She dressed herself in her least-conspicuous clothes, dabbed her -face with powder to cover some of the dirt--there was no water, -and in any case she did not feel inclined to wash--carefully stowed -away all her money and the best of her jewels in a small leather bag, -and set out to find the country where food grew out of the ground. - -Instinct set her face to the north. She took the road towards -Hendon.... - - - - -2 - -In every quarter of London, in every great town and city throughout -Europe, women were setting their faces towards the country. - -By the autumn London was empty. The fallen leaves in park squares -and suburban streets were swept into corners by the wind, and when -the rain came the leaves clung together and rotted, and so continued -the long routine of decay and birth. - -When spring came again, Nature returned with delicate, strong hands -to claim her own. For hundreds of years she had been defied in the -heart of this great, hard, stone place. Her little tentative efforts -had been rudely repulsed, no tender thread of grass had been allowed -to flourish for an hour under the feet of the crushing multitude. Yet -she had fought with a steady persistence that never relaxed a moment's -effort. Whenever men had given her a moment's opportunity, even in -the very heart of that city of burning struggle, she had covered -the loathed sterility with grass and flowers, dandelions, charlock, -grounsel and other life that men call weeds. - -Now, when her full opportunity came, she set to work in her slow, -patient way to wreck and cover the defilement of earth. Her winds -swept dust into every corner, and her rain turned it into a shallow -bed of soil, ready to receive and nurture the tiny seeds that sailed -on little feathered wings, or were carried by bird and insect to -some quiet refuge in which they might renew life, and, dying, add -fertility to the mother who had brought them forth. - -Nature came, also, with her hurricanes, her lightnings and her frosts, -to rend and destroy. She stripped slates from roofs, thrust out gables -and overturned solid walls. She came with fungi to undermine and with -the seeds of trees to split asunder. - -She asked for but a few hundred years of patient, continuous work in -order to make of London once more a garden; where the nightingale -might sing in Oxford Street and the children of a new race pluck -sweet wild flowers over the site of the Bank of England.... - - - - -3 - -The spirit of London had gone out of her, and her body was crumbling -and rotting. There was no life in all that vast sprawl of bricks and -mortar; the very dogs and cats, deserted by humanity, left her to -seek their only food, to seek those other living things which were -their natural quarry. - -In her prime, London had been the chief city of the world. Men and -women spoke of her as an entity, wrote of her as of a personality, -loved her as a friend. This aggregate of streets and parks, this -strange confusion of wealth and squalor, had stood to men and women for -something definitely lovable. It was not her population they loved, not -the polyglot crowd that swarmed in her streets, but she herself and all -the beauty and intoxication of life she had gathered into her embrace. - -Now she was dead. Whatever fine qualities she had possessed, whatever -vices, had gone from her. She sprawled in all her naked ugliness, -a huge corpse rotting among the hills, awaiting the slow burial which -Nature was tediously preparing. - -All those wonderful buildings, the great emporiums in the West End, -the magnificent banks and insurance offices, museums and picture -galleries, regarded as the storehouses of incalculable wealth, vast -hotels, palatial private residences, the thundering railway termini, -Government offices, Houses of Parliament, theatres, churches and -cathedrals, all had become meaningless symbols. All had represented -some activity, some ambition of man, and man had fled to the country -for food, leaving behind the worthless tokens of wealth that had -intrigued him for so many centuries. - -Gold and silver grew tarnished in huge safes that none wished to rifle, -banknotes became mildewed, damp and fungus crept into the museums and -picture galleries, and in the whole of Great Britain there was none -to grieve. Every living man and woman was back at the work of their -ancestors, praying once more to Ceres or Demeter, working with bent -back to produce the first essentials of life. - -Each individual must produce until such time as there was once more -a superfluity, until barns were filled and wealth re-created, until -the strong had seized from the weak and demanded labour in return for -the use of the stolen instrument, until civilization had sprung anew -from the soil. - -Meanwhile London was not a city of the dead, but a dead city. - - - - - - - - -BOOK II - -THE MARCH OF THE GOSLINGS - - -XI--THE SILENT CITY - - -1 - -July came in with temperate heat and occasional showers, ideal weather -for the crops; for all the precious growths which must ripen before -the famine could be stayed. The sudden stoppage of all imports, -and the flight of the great urban population into the country, had -demonstrated beyond all question the poverty of England's resources -of food supply, and the demonstration was to prove of value although -there was no economist left to theorize. England was once again an -independent unit, and no longer a member of a great world-body. Indeed -England was being subdivided. The unit of organization was shrinking -with amazing rapidity. The necessity for concentration grew with -every week that passed, the fluidity of the superfluous labour was -being resolved by death from starvation. The women who wandered from -one farm to the next died by the way. - -In the Putney house, Mrs Gosling and her daughters were faced -by the failure of their food supply. The older woman had little -initiative. She was a true Londoner. Her training and all the -circumstances of her life had narrowed her imaginative grasp till -she was only able to comprehend one issue. And as yet her daughters, -and more particularly Millie, were so influenced by their mother's -thought that they, also, had shown little evidence of adaptability -to the changed conditions. - -"We shall 'ave to be careful," was Mrs Gosling's first expression of -the necessity for looking to the future. She had arranged the bulk -of her stores neatly in one room on the second floor, and although -a goodly array of tins still faced her she experienced a miserly -shrinking from any diminishment of their numbers. Moreover, she had -long been without such necessities as flour. Barker and Prince had -not dealt in flour. - -Returning from her daily inspection one morning in the second week of -July, Mrs Gosling decided that something must be done at once. Fear -of the plague was almost dead, but fear of invasion by starving women -had kept them all close prisoners. That house was a fortress. - -"Look 'ere, gels," said Mrs Gosling when she came -downstairs. "Somethin' 'll 'ave to be done." - -Blanche looked thoughtful. Her own mind had already begun to work -on that great problem of their future. Millie, lazy and indifferent, -shrugged her shoulders and replied: "All very well, mother, but what -can we do?" - -"Well, I been thinking as it's very likely as things ain't so bad in -some places as they are just about 'ere," said Mrs Gosling. "We got -plenty o' money left, and it seems to me as two of us 'ad better go -out and 'ave a look about, London way. One of us could look after -the 'ouse easy enough, now. We 'aven't 'ardly seen a soul about the -past fortnight." - -The suggestion brought a gleam of hope to Blanche. She visualized -the London she had known. It might be that in the heart of the town, -business had begun again, that shops were open and people at work. It -might be that she could find work there. She was longing for the -sight and movement of life, after these two awful months of isolation. - -"I'm on," she said briskly. "Me and Millie had better go, mother, -we can walk farther. You can lock up after us and you needn't open -the door to anyone. Are you on, Mill?" - -"We must make ourselves look a bit more decent first," said Millie, -glancing at the mirror over the mantelpiece. - -"Well, of course," returned Blanche, "we brought one box of clothes -with us." - -They spent some minutes in discussing the resources of their wardrobe. - -"Come to the worst we could fetch some more things from Wisteria. I -don't suppose anyone has touched 'em," suggested Blanche. - -At the mention of the house in Wisteria Grove, Mrs Gosling sighed -noticeably. She was by no means satisfied with the place at Putney, -and she could not rid herself of the idea that there must be accessible -gas and water in Kilburn, as there had always been. - -"Well, you might go up there one day and 'ave a look at the place," she -put in. "It's quite likely they've got things goin' again up there." - -In less than an hour Blanche and Millie had made themselves -presentable. Life had begun to stir again in humanity. The atmosphere -of horror which the plague had brought was being lifted. It was as if -the dead germs had filled the air with an invisible, impalpable dust, -that had exercised a strange power of depression. The spirit of death -had hung over the whole world and paralyzed all activity. Now the -dust was dispersing. The spirit was withdrawing to the unknown deeps -from which it had come. - -"It is nice to feel decent again," said Blanche. She lifted her head -and threw back her shoulders. - -Millie was preening herself before the glass. - -"Well, I'm sure you 'ave made yourselves look smart," said their -mother with a touch of pride. "They were good girls," she reflected, -"if there had been more than a bit of temper shown lately. But, then, -who could have helped themselves? It had been a terrible time." - -The July sun was shining brilliantly as the two young women, -presentable enough to attend morning service at the Church of St John -the Evangelist, Kilburn, set out to exhibit their charms and to buy -food in the dead city. - - - - -2 - -They crossed Putney Bridge and made their way towards Hammersmith. - -The air was miraculously clear. The detail of the streets was so sharp -and bright that it was as if they saw with wonderfully renewed and -sensitive eyes. The phenomenon produced a sense of exhilaration. They -were conscious of quickened emotion, of a sensation of physical -well-being. - -"Isn't it clean?" said Blanche. - -"H'm! Funny!" returned Millie. "Like those photographs of foreign -places." - -Under their feet was an accumulation of sharp, dry dust, detritus of -stone, asphalt and steel. In corners where the fugitive rubbish had -found refuge from the driving wind, the dust had accumulated in flat -mounds, broken by scraps of paper or the torn flag of some rain-soaked -poster that gave an untidy air of human refuse. Across the open way -of certain roads the dust lay in a waved pattern of nearly parallel -lines, like the ridged sand of the foreshore. - -For some time they kept to the pavements from force of habit. - -"I say, Mill, don't you feel adventurous?" asked Blanche. - -Millie looked dissatisfied. "It's so lonely, B.," was her expression -of feeling. - -"Never had London all to myself before," said Blanche. - -Near Hammersmith Broadway they saw a tram standing on the rails. Its -thin tentacle still clung to the overhead wire that had once given -it life, as if it waited there patiently hoping for a renewal of the -exhilarating current. - -Almost unconsciously Blanche and Millie quickened their pace. Perhaps -this was the outermost dying ripple of life, the furthest outpost of -the new activity that was springing up in central London. - -But the tram was guarded by something that in the hot, still air -seemed to surround it with an almost visible mist. - -"Eugh!" ejaculated Millie and shrank back. "Don't go, Blanche. It's -awful!" - -Blanche's hand also had leapt to her face, but she took a few steps -forward and peered into the sunlit case of steel and glass. She saw a -heap of clothes about the framework of a grotesquely jointed scarecrow, -and the gleam of something round, smooth and white. - -She screamed faintly, and a filthy dog crept, with a thin yelp, -from under the seat and came to the door of the tram. For a moment -it stood there with an air that was half placatory, wrinkling its -nose and feebly raising a stump of propitiatory tail, then, with -another protesting yelp, it crept back, furtive and ashamed, to its -unlawful meat. - -The two girls, handkerchief to nose, hurried by breathless, with -bent heads. A little past Hammersmith Broadway they had their first -sight of human life. Two gaunt faces looked out at them from an -upper window. Blanche waved her hand, but the women in the house, -half-wondering, half-fearful, at the strange sight of these two -fancifully dressed girls, shook their heads and drew back. Doubtless -there was some secret hoard of food in that house and the inmates -feared the demands of charity. - -"Well, we aren't quite the last, anyway," commented Blanche. - -"What were they afraid of?" asked Millie. - -"Thought we wanted to cadge, I expect," suggested Blanche. - -"Mean things," was her sister's comment. - -"Well! we weren't so over-anxious to have visitors," Blanche reminded -her. - -"We didn't want their beastly food," complained the affronted Millie. - -The shops in Hammersmith did not offer much inducement to -exploration. Some were still closely shuttered, others presented -goods that offered no temptation, such as hardware; but the majority -had already been pillaged and devastated. Most of that work had been -done in the early days of the plague when panic had reigned, and many -men were left to lead the raids on the preserves of food. - -Only one great line of shuttered fronts induced the two girls to pause. - -"No need to go to Wisteria for clothes," suggested Blanche. - -"How could we get in?" asked Millie. - -"Oh! get in some way easy enough." - -"It's stealing," said Millie, and thought of her raid on the Kilburn -tobacconist's. - -"You can't steal from dead people," explained Blanche; "besides, -who'll have the things if we don't?" - -"I suppose it'd be all right," hesitated Millie, obviously tempted. - -"Well, of course," returned Blanche and paused. "I say, Mill," she -burst out suddenly. "There's all the West-end to choose from. Come on!" - -For a time they walked more quickly. - -In Kensington High Street they had an adventure. They saw a woman -decked in gorgeous silks, strung and studded with jewels from head -to foot. She walked with a slow and flaunting step, gesticulating, -and talking. Every now and again she would pause and draw herself up -with an affectation of immense dignity, finger the ropes of jewels -at her breast, and make a slow gesture with her hands. - -"She's mad," whispered Blanche, and the two girls, terrified and -trembling, hastily took refuge in a great square cave full of litter -and refuse that had once been a grocer's shop. - -The woman passed their hiding-place in her stately progress -westward without giving any sign that she was conscious of their -presence. When she was nearly opposite to them she made one of -her stately pauses. "Queen of all the Earth," they heard her say, -"Queen and Empress. Queen of the Earth." Her hand went up to her head -and touched a strange collection of jewels pinned in her hair, of -tiaras and brooches that flashed brighter than the high lights of the -brilliant sun. One carelessly fastened brooch fell and she pushed it -aside with her foot. "You understand," she said in her high, wavering -voice, "you understand, Queen and Empress, Queen of the Earth." - -They heard the refrain of her gratified ambition repeated as she -moved slowly away. - -A long submerged memory rose to the threshold of Millie's -mind. "Thieving slut," she murmured. - - - - -3 - -As they came nearer to representative London the signs of deserted -traffic were more numerous. By the Albert Memorial they saw an -overturned motor-bus which had smashed into the park railings, and a -little further on were two more buses, one standing decently at the -curb, the other sprawling across the middle of the road. The wheels -of both were axle deep in the dust which had blown against them, and -out of the dust a few weak threads of grass were sprouting. There -were other vehicles, too, cabs, lorries and carts: not a great -number altogether, but even the fifty or so which the girls saw -between Kensington and Knightsbridge offered sufficient testimony -to the awful rapidity with which the plague had spread. For it seems -probable that in the majority of cases the drivers of these deserted -vehicles must have been attacked by the first agonizing pains at -the base of the skull while they were actually employed in driving -their machines. There were few skeletons to be seen. The lull which -intervened between the first unmistakable symptoms of the plague -and the oncoming of the paralysis had given men time to obey their -instinct to die in seclusion, the old instinct so little altered by -civilization. Those vestiges of humanity which remained had, for the -most part, been cleansed by the processes of Nature, but twice the -girls disturbed a horrible cloud of blue flies which rose with an angry -buzzing so loud that the girls screamed and ran, leaving the scavengers -to swoop eagerly back upon their carrion. Doubtless the thing in the -Hammersmith tram had been the body of a woman, recently-dead from -starvation. Even from the houses there was now little exhalation. - -In Knightsbridge, a little past the top of Sloane Street, Blanche -and Millie came to a shop which diverted them from their exploration -for a time. Most of the huge rolling shutters had been pulled down -and secured, but one had stopped half way, and, beyond, the great -plate-glass windows were uncovered. One of ten million tragedies had -descended swiftly to interrupt the closing of that immense place, -and some combination of circumstances had followed to prevent the -completion of the work. The imaginative might stop to speculate on -the mystery of that half-closed shutter; the two Goslings stopped to -admire the wonders behind the glass. - -For a time the desolation and silence of London were forgotten. In -imagination Blanche and Millie were once again units in the vast crowd -of antagonists striving valiantly to win some prize in the great -competition between the boast of wealth and the pathetic endeavour -of make-believe. - -They stayed to gaze at the "creations" behind the windows, at dummies -draped in costly fabrics such as they had only dreamed of wearing. The -silks, satins and velvets were whitened now with the thin snow of dust -that had fallen upon them, but to Blanche and Millie they appeared -still as wonders of beauty. - -For a minute or two they criticized the models. They spoke at -first in low voices, for the deep stillness of London held them in -unconscious awe, but as they became lost in the fascination of their -subject they forgot their fear. And then they looked at one another -a little guiltily. - -"No harm in seeing if the door's locked, anyway," said Blanche. - -Millie looked over her shoulder and saw no movement in the frozen -streets, save the sweep of one exploring swallow. Even the sparrows -had deserted the streets. She did not reply in words, but signified -her agreement of thought by a movement towards the entrance. - -The swing doors were not fastened, and they entered stealthily. - -They began with the touch of appraising fingers, wandering from room to -room. But most of the rooms on the ground floor were darkened by the -drawn shutters, and no glow of light came in response to the clicking -of the electric switches that they experimented with with persistent -futility. So they adventured into the clearly lit rooms upstairs and -experienced a fallacious sense of security in the knowledge that they -were on the floor above the street. - -Fingering gave place to still closer inspection. They lifted the -models from the stands and shook them out. They held up gorgeous -robes in front of their own suburban dresses and admired each other -and themselves in the numerous cheval glasses. - -"Oh! bother!" exclaimed Blanche at last, "I'm going to try on." - -"Oh! B." expostulated the more timid Millie. - -"Well! why to goodness not?" asked her elder sister. "Who's to be -any the wiser?" - -"Seems wrong, somehow," replied Millie, unable to shake off the -conventions which had so long served her as conscience. - -"Well, I am," said Blanche, and retired into a little side room to -divest herself of her own dress. She had always shared a bedroom -with her sister, and they observed few modesties before each other, -but Blanche was mentally incapable of changing her dress in the broad -avenues of that extensive show-room. It is true that the tall casement -windows were wide open and the place was completely overlooked by the -massive buildings opposite, but even if the windows had been screened -she would not have changed her skirt in the publicity of that open -place, though every human being in the world were dead. - -When she emerged from her dressing-room she was transformed indeed. She -went over to her still hesitating sister. - -"Do me up, Mill," she said. - -Blanche had chosen well; the fine cloth walking dress admirably -fitted her well-developed young figure. When she had discarded her -hat and touched up her hair before the glass, only her boots and her -hands remained to spoil the disguise. Well gloved and well shod, -she might have passed down the Bond Street of the old London, and -few women and no man would have known that she had not sprung from -the ruling classes. - -She posed. She stepped back from the mirror and half-unconsciously -fell to imitating the manners of the revered aristocracy she had -respectfully studied from a distance. - -In a few minutes she was joined by Millie, also arrayed in peacock's -feathers and anxious to be "fastened." - -Their excitement increased. Walking dresses gave place to evening -gowns. They lost their sense of fear and ran into other departments -searching for long white gloves to hide the disfigurements of household -work. They paraded and bowed to each other. The climax came when they -discovered a Court dress, immensely trained, and embroidered with gold -thread, laid by with evidences of tenderest care in endless wrappings -of tissue paper. Surely the dress of some elegant young duchess! - -For a moment they wrangled, but Blanche triumphed. "You shall have -it afterwards," she said, as she ran to her dressing-room. - -Millie followed in an elaborate gown of Indian silk; a somewhat -sulky Millie, inclined to resent her duty of lady's maid. She dragged -disrespectfully at the innumerable fastenings. - -"My!" ejaculated Blanche when she could indulge herself in the glory -of full examination before a cheval glass in the open show-room. She -struggled with her train and when she had arranged it to her -satisfaction, threw back her shoulders and lifted her chin haughtily. - -"I ought to have some diamonds," she reflected. - -"It drags round the hips," was Millie's criticism. - -"You should say 'Your Majesty,'" corrected Blanche. - -"Oh! a Queen, are you?" asked Millie. - -"Rather----" - -"Queen of all the Earth," sneered Millie. - -Blanche's face suddenly fell. "I wonder if she began like this," -she said, and a note of fear had come into her voice. - -Millie's eyes reflected her sister's alarm. - -"Oh! let's get out of this, B.," she said, and began to tear at the -neck of her Indian silk gown. - -"I wanted diamonds, too," persisted Blanche. - -"Oh! B., it isn't right," said Millie. "I said it wasn't right and -you would come." - -Silence descended upon them for a moment, and then both sisters -suddenly screamed and ducked, putting up their hands to their heads. - -"Goodness! What was that?" cried Blanche. - -A swallow had swept in through the open window, had curved round in -one swift movement, and shot out again into the sunlight. - -"Only a bird of some sort," said Millie, but she was trembling and -on the verge of hysterics. "Do let's get out, B." - -After they had put on their own clothes once more they became aware -that they were hungry. - -"We have wasted a lot of time here," said Blanche as they made their -way out. - -She did not pause to wonder how many women had spent the best part -of their lives in a precisely similar manner. - -"And we ought to have been looking for food," she added. - -"Come on," replied Millie. "That place has given me the creeps." - - - - -4 - -Growing rather tired and footsore they made their way to Piccadilly -Circus, and so on to the Strand. Everywhere they found the same -conditions: a few skeletons, a few deserted vehicles, young vegetation -taking hold wherever a pinch of soil had found an abiding place, -and over all a great silence. But food there was none that they were -able to find, though it is probable that a careful investigation of -cellars and underground places might have furnished some results. The -more salient resources of London had been effectively pillaged so -far as the West-end was concerned. They were too late. - -In Trafalgar Square, Millie sat down and cried. Blanche made no attempt -to comfort her, but sat wide eyed and wondering. Her mind was opening -to new ideas. She was beginning to understand that London was incapable -of supporting even the lives of three women; she was wrestling with -the problem of existence. Every one had gone. Many had died; but many -more, surely, must have fled into the country. She began to understand -that she and her family must also fly into the country. - -Millie still sobbed convulsively now and again. - -"Oh! Chuck it, Mill," said Blanche at last. "We'd better be getting -home." - -Millie dabbed her eyes. "I'm starving," she blubbered. - -"Well, so am I," returned Blanche. "That's why I said we'd better -get home. There's nothing to eat here." - -"Is--is every one dead?" - -"No, they've gone off into the country, and that's what we've got -to do." - -The younger girl sat up, put her hat straight, and blew her -nose. "Isn't it awful, B.?" she said. - -Blanche pinched her lips together. "What are you putting your hat -straight for?" she asked. "There's no one to see you." - -"Well, you needn't make it any worse," retorted Millie on the verge -of a fresh outburst of tears. - -"Oh! come on!" said Blanche, getting to her feet. - -"I don't believe I can walk home," complained Millie; "my feet -ache so." - -"You'll have to wait a long time if you're going to find a bus," -returned Blanche. - -Three empty taxicabs stood in the rank a few feet away from them, -but it never occurred to either of the two young women to attempt any -experiment with these mechanisms. If the thought had crossed their -minds they would have deemed it absurd. - -"Let's go down by Victoria," suggested Blanche. "I believe it's -nearer." - -In Parliament Square they disturbed a flock of rooks, birds which -had partly changed their natural habits during the past few months -and, owing to the superabundance of one kind of food, were preying -on carrion. - -"Crows," commented Blanche. "Beastly things." - -"I wonder if we could get some water to drink," was Millie's reply. - -"Well, there's the river," suggested Blanche, and they turned up -towards Westminster Bridge. - -In one of the tall buildings facing the river Blanche's attention -was caught by an open door. - -"Look here, Mill," she said, "we've only been looking for shops. Let's -try one of these houses. We might find something to eat in there." - -"I'm afraid," said Millie. - -"What of?" sneered Blanche. "At the worst it's skeletons, and we can -come out again." - -Millie shuddered. "You go," she suggested. - -"Not by myself, I won't," returned Blanche. - -"There you are, you see," said Millie. - -"Well, it's different by yourself." - -"I hate it," returned Millie with emphasis. - -"So do I, in a way, only I'm fair starving," said Blanche. "Come on." - -The building was solidly furnished, and the ground floor, although -somewhat disordered, still suggested a complacent luxury. On the floor -lay a copy of the Evening Chronicle, dated May 10; possibly one of the -last issues of a London journal. Two of the pages were quite blank, -and almost the only advertisement was one hastily-set announcement of a -patent medicine guaranteed as a sure protection against the plague. The -remainder of the paper was filled with reports of the devastation that -was being wrought, reports which were nevertheless marked by a faint -spirit of simulated confidence. Between the lines could be read the -story of desperate men clinging to hope with splendid courage. There -were no signs of panic here. Groves had come out well at the last. - -The two girls hovered over this piece of ancient history for a few -minutes. - -"You see," said Blanche triumphantly, "even then, more'n two months -ago, every one was making for the country. We shall have to go, -too. I told you we should." - -"I never said we shouldn't," returned Millie. "Anyhow there's nothing -to eat here." - -"Not in this room, there isn't," said Blanche, "but there might be -in the kitchens. Do you know what this place has been?" - -Millie shook her head. - -"It's been a man's club," announced Blanche. "First time you've been -in one, old dear." - -"Come on, let's have a look downstairs, then," returned Millie, -careless of her achievement. - -In the first kitchen they found havoc: broken china and glass, empty -bottles, empty tins, cooking utensils on the floor, one table upset, -everywhere devastation and the marks of struggle; but in none of the -empty tins was there the least particle of food. Everything had been -completely cleaned out. The rats had been there, and had gone. - -Exploring deeper, however, they were at last rewarded. On a table -stood a whole array of unopened tins and in one of them was plunged -a tin-opener, a single stab had been given, and then, possibly, -another of these common tragedies had begun. Had he been alone, -that plunderer, or had his companions fled from him in terror? - -Here the two girls made a sufficient meal, and discovered, moreover, -a large store of unopened beer-bottles. They shared the contents -of one between them, and then, feeling greatly reinvigorated, they -sought for and found two baskets, which they filled with tinned -foods. They only took away one bottle of beer--a special treat for -their mother--on account of the weight. They remembered that they -had a long walk before them; and they were not over-elated by their -discovery; they were sick to death of tinned meats. - -In looking for the baskets they came across a single potato that the -rats had left. From it had sprung a long, thin, etiolated shoot which -had crept under the door of the cupboard and was making its way across -the floor to the light of the window. Already that shoot was several -feet in length. - -"Funny how they grow," commented Millie. - -"Making for the country, I expect," replied Blanche, "same as we -shall have to do." - -It was a relief to them to find their way into the sunlight once -more. Those cold, forsaken houses held some suggestion of horror, -of old activities so abruptly ended by tragedy. From these interiors -Nature was still shut off. That ghostly tendril aching towards the -light had no chance for life and reproduction.... - - - - -5 - -The two Gosling girls had yet one more adventure before they toiled -home with their load. - -They were growing bolder, despite the gloom and oppression of those -human habitations, and some freakish spirit prompted Blanche to suggest -that they should visit the Houses of Parliament. After a brief demur, -Millie acceded. - -That great stronghold was open to them now. They might walk the floor -of the House, sit in the Speaker's chair, penetrate into the sacred -places of the Upper Chamber. - -Gone were all the rules and formulas, the intricacies and precedents -of an unwritten constitution, the whole cumbrous machinery for the -making of new laws. The air was no longer disturbed by the wranglings, -evasions and cunning shifts of those who had found here a stage for -their personal ambitions. The high talk of progress had died into -silence along with the struggle of parties which had played the supreme -game, side against side, for the prize of power. Progress had been -defined in this place, in terms of human activity, human comfort. The -end in sight had been some vague conception of general welfare through -accumulated riches. And from the sky had fallen a pestilence to change -the meaning of human terms. In three months the old conception of -wealth was gone. Money, precious stones, a thousand accepted forms -of value had become suddenly worthless, of no more account than the -symbol of power which lay coated with dust on the table of the House -of law-makers. Even law itself, that slow growth of the centuries, -had become meaningless. Who cared if some mad woman plundered every -jeweller's shop in the whole City? Who was to forbid theft or avenge -murder? The place of traffic was empty. Only one law was left and -only one value; the law of self-preservation, the value of food. - -The sunlight fell in broad coloured shafts upon two half-educated -girls come on a plundering expedition, and they might sit in the high -places if they would, and make new laws for themselves. - -Blanche sat for a few moments in the Speaker's chair. - -"It's a fine big place," she remarked. - -"Oh! come on, B., do," replied Millie. "I want to get home." - -As they crossed the Square, Millie looked up at Big Ben. "Quarter-past -nine," she said. "It must have stopped." - -"Well, of course, silly," replied Blanche. "All the clocks have -stopped. Who's to wind 'em?" - - - - - - - -XII--EMIGRANT - - -1 - -For some time Mrs Gosling was quite unable to grasp the significance -of her daughters' report on the condition of London. During the past -two months she had persuaded herself that the traffic of the town was -being resumed and that only Putney was still desolate. She had always -disapproved of Putney; it was damp and she had never known anyone who -had lived there. It is true that the late lamented George Gosling had -been born in Putney, but that was more than half a century ago, the -place was no doubt quite different then; and he had left Putney and -gone to live in the healthy North before he was sixteen. Mrs Gosling -was half inclined to blame Putney for all their misfortunes--it was -sure to breed infection, being so near the river and all--and she had -become hopeful during the past month that all would be well with them -if they could once get back to Kilburn. - -"D'you mean to say you didn't see no one at all?" she repeated in -great perplexity. - -"Those three we've told you about, that's all," said Blanche. - -"Well, o' course, they're all shut up in the 'ouses, still; afraid -o' the plague and 'anging on to what provisions they've got put by, -same as us," was the hopeful explanation Mrs Gosling put forward. - -"They ain't," said Millie, and Blanche agreed. - -"Well, but 'ow d'you know?" persisted the mother. "Did you go in to -the 'ouses?" - -"One or two," returned Blanche evasively, "but there wasn't no need -to go in. You could see." - -"Are you quite sure there was no shops open? Not in the Strand?" Mrs -Gosling laid emphasis on the last sentence. She could not doubt the -good faith of the Strand. If that failed her, all was lost. - -"Oh! can't you understand, mother," broke out Blanche petulantly, -"that the whole of London is absolutely deserted? There isn't a soul -in the streets. There's no cabs or buses or trams or anything, and -grass growing in the middle of the road. And all the shops have been -broken into, all those that had food in 'em, and----" words failed -her. "Isn't it, Millie?" she concluded lamely. - -"Awful," agreed Millie. - -"Well, I can't understand it," said Mrs Gosling, not yet fully -convinced. She considered earnestly for a few moments and then asked: -"Did you go into Charing Cross Post Office? They'd sure to be open." - -"Yes!" lied Blanche, "and we could have taken all the money in the -place if we'd wanted, and no one any the wiser." - -Mrs Gosling looked shocked. "I 'ope my gels'll never come to that," -she said. Her girls, with a wonderful understanding of their mother's -opinions, had omitted to mention their raid on the Knightsbridge -emporium. - -"No one'd ever know," said Millie. - -"There's One who would," replied Mrs Gosling gravely, and strangely -enough, perhaps, the two girls looked uneasy, but they were thinking -less of the commandments miraculously given to Moses than of the -probable displeasure of the Vicar of St John the Evangelist's Church -in Kilburn. - -"Well, we've got to do something, anyhow," said Blanche, after a -pause. "I mean we'll have to get out of this and go into the country." - -"We might go to your uncle's in Liverpool," suggested Mrs Gosling, -tentatively. - -"It's a long walk," remarked Blanche. - -Mrs Gosling did not grasp the meaning of this objection. "Well, -I think we could afford third-class," she said. "Besides, though we -'aven't corresponded much of late years, I've always been under the -impression that your uncle is doin' well in Liverpool; and at such a -time as this I'm sure 'e'll do the right thing, though whether it would -be better to let 'im know we're comin' or not I'm not quite sure." - -"Oh! dear!" sighed Blanche, "I do wish you'd try to understand, -mother. There aren't any trains. There aren't any posts or -telegraphs. Wherever we go we've just got to walk. Haven't we, Millie?" - -Millie began to snivel. "It's 'orrible," she said. - -"Well I can't understand it," repeated Mrs Gosling. - -By degrees, however, the controversy took a new shape. Granting for -the moment the main contention that London was uninhabitated, Mrs -Gosling urged that it would be a dangerous, even a foolhardy, thing -to venture into the country. If there was no Government there would -be no law and order, was the substance of her argument; government in -her mind being represented by its concrete presentation in the form of -the utterly reliable policeman. Furthermore, she pointed out, that they -did not know anyone in the country, with the exception of a too-distant -uncle in Liverpool, and that there would be nowhere for them to go. - -"We shall have to work," said Blanche, who was surely inspired by -her glimpse of the silent city. - -"Well, we've got nearly a 'undred pounds left of what your poor father -drew out o' the bank before we shut ourselves up," said her mother. - -"I suppose we could buy things in the country," speculated Blanche. - -"You seem set on the country for some reason," said Mrs Gosling with -a touch of temper. - -"Well, we've got to get food," returned Blanche, raising her voice. "We -can't live on air." - -"And if food's to be got cheaper in the country than in London," -snapped Mrs Gosling, "my experience goes for nothing, but, of course, -you know best, if I am your mother." - -"There isn't any food in London, cheap or dear, I keep telling you," -said Blanche, and left the room angrily, slamming the door behind her. - -Millie sat moodily biting her nails. - -"Blanche lets 'er temper get the better of 'er," remarked Mrs Gosling -addressing the spaces of the kitchen in which they were sitting. - -"It's right, worse luck," said Millie. "We shall have to go. I 'ate -it nearly as much as you do." - -The argument thus begun was continued with few intermissions for a -whole week. A thunderstorm, followed by two days of overcast weather, -came to the support of the older woman. One thing was certain among -all these terrible perplexities, namely, that you couldn't start off -for a trip to the country on a wet day. - -Meanwhile their stores continued to diminish, and one afternoon Mrs -Gosling consented to take a walk with Blanche as far as Hammersmith -Broadway. - -The sight of that blank desert impressed her. Blanche pointed out -the house in which she had seen the two women five days before, but -no one was looking out of the window on that afternoon. Perhaps they -had fled to the country, or were occupied elsewhere in the house, -or perhaps they had left London by the easier way which had become -so general in the past few months. - -When she returned to the Putney house, Mrs Gosling wept and wished she, -too, was dead, but she consented at last to Blanche's continually urged -proposition, in so far as she expressed herself willing to make a move -of some sort. She thought they might, at least, go back and have a -look at Wisteria Grove. And if Kilburn had, indeed, fallen as low as -Hammersmith, then there was apparently no help for it and they must -try their luck in the waste and desolation of the country. Perhaps -some farmer's wife might take them in for a time, until they had a -chance to look about them. They had nearly a hundred pounds in gold. - -The girls found a builder's trolley in a yard near by, a truck of -sturdy build on two wheels with a long handle. It bore marks of -having held cement, and there were weeds growing in one end of it, -but after it had been brought home and thoroughly scrubbed, it looked -quite a presentable means for the transport of the "necessaries" -they proposed to take with them. - -They made too generous an estimate of essentials at first, piling -their truck too high for safety and overtaxing their strength; but -that problem, like many others, was finally solved for them by the -clear-sighted guidance of necessity. - -They started one morning--a Monday if their calculations were not -at fault--about two hours after breakfast. Mrs Gosling and Millie -pushed behind, and Blanche, the inspired one, went before, pulled by -the handle of the pole and gave the others their direction. - -It is possible that they were the last women to leave London. - -By chance they discovered the Queen of all the Earth on a doorstep -near Addison Road. She was quite dead, but they did not despoil her -of the jewels with which she was still covered. - - - - -2 - -Mrs Gosling was a source of trouble from the outset. She had lived -her life indoors. In the Wisteria Grove days, she never spent two -hours of the twenty-four out of the house. Some times for a whole -week she had not gone out at all. It was a mark of their rise in the -world that all the tradesmen called for orders. She had found little -necessity to buy in shops during recent years. And so, very surely, -she had grown more and more limited in her outlook. Her attention -had become concentrated on the duties of the housewife. She had not -kept any servant, a charwoman who came for a few hours three times -a week had done all that the mistress of the house had not dared, in -face of neighbourly criticism--in her position she could not be seen -washing down the little tiled path to the gate nor whitening the steps. - -The effect of this cramped existence on Mrs Gosling would not -have been noticeable under the old conditions. She had become a -specialized creature, admirably adapted to her place in the old -scheme of civilization. No demand was ever made upon her resources -other than those familiar demands which she was so perfectly educated -to supply. Even when the plague had come, she had not been compelled -to alter her mode of life. She had made trouble enough about the lack -of many things she had once believed to be necessary--familiar foods, -soap and the thousand little conveniences that the twentieth century -inventor had patented to assist the domestic economy of the small -householder; but the trouble was not too great to be overcome. The -adaptability required from her was within the scope of her specialized -vision. She could learn to do without flour, butter, lard, milk, -sugar and the other things, but she could not learn to think on -unfamiliar lines. - -That was the essence of her trouble. She was divorced from a permanent -home. She was asked to walk long miles in the open air. Worst of all, -she was called upon for initiative, ingenuity; she was required to -exercise her imagination in order to solve a problem with which she -was quite unfamiliar. She was expected to develop the potentialities -of the wild thing, and to extort food from Nature. The whole problem -was beyond her comprehension. - -The sight of Kilburn was a great blow to her. She had hoped against -hope that here, at least, she would find some semblance of the life -she had known. It had seemed so impossible to her that Aiken, the -butcher's, or Hobb's, the grocer's, would not be open as usual, and -the vision of those two desolated and ransacked shops--the latter with -but a few murderous spears of plate-glass left in its once magnificent -windows--depressed her to tears. - -So shaken was she by the sight of these horrors that Blanche and -Millie raised no objection to sleeping that night in the house in -Wisteria Grove. Indeed, the two girls were almost tired out, although -it was yet early in the afternoon. The truck had become very heavy -in the course of the last two miles; and they had had considerable -difficulty in negotiating the hill by Westbourne Park Station. - -Mrs Gosling was still weeping as she let herself in to her old home, -and she wept as she prowled about the familiar rooms and noted the -dust which had fallen like snow on every surface which would support -it. And for the first time the loss of her husband came home to -her. She had been almost glad when he had vanished from the Putney -house--in that place she had only seen him in his new character of -tyrant. Here, among familiar associations, she recalled the fact that -he had been a respectable, complacent, hard-working, successful man -who had never given her cause for trouble, a man who did not drink -nor run after other women, who held a position in the Church and was -looked up to by the neighbourhood. According to her definition he had -certainly been an ideal husband. It is true that they had dropped any -pretence of being in love with one another after Blanche was born, -but that was only natural. - -Mrs Gosling sat on the bed she had shared with him so long and hoped -he was happy. He was; but if she could have seen the nature of his -happiness the sight would have given her no comfort. Vaguely she -pictured him in some strange Paradise, built upon those conceptions -of the mediæval artists, mainly Italians, which have supplied the -ideals of the orthodox. She saw an imperfectly transfigured and still -fleshly George Gosling, who did unaccustomed things with a harp, -was dressed in exotic garments and was on terms with certain hybrids, -largely woman but partly bird, who were clearly recognizable as the -angelic host. If she had been a Mohammedan, her vision would have -accorded far more nearly with the fact. - - - - -3 - -The successful animal is that which is adapted to its -circumstances. Herbert Spencer would appear foolish and incapable in -the society of the young wits who frequent the private bar; he might -be described by them as an old Johnny who knew nothing about life. Mrs -Gosling in her own home had been a ruler; she had had authority over -her daughters, and, despite the usual evidences of girlish precocity, -she had always been mistress of the situation. In the affairs of -household management she was facile princeps, and she commanded -the respect accorded to the eminent in any form of specialized -activity. But even on this second morning of their emigration it became -clear to Blanche that her mother had ceased to rule, and must become a -subordinate. A certain respect was due to her in her parental relation, -but if she could not be coaxed she must be coerced. - -"She'll be better when we get her right away from here," was Blanche's -diagnosis, and Millie, who had also achieved some partial realization -of the necessities imposed by the new conditions, nodded in agreement. - -"She wants to stop here altogether, and, of course, we can't," -she said. - -"We shall starve if we do," said Blanche. - -From that time Mrs Gosling dropped into the humiliating position of -a kind of mental incapable who must be humoured into obedience. - -The first, and in many ways the most difficult, task was to persuade -her away from Kilburn. She clung desperately to that stronghold of -her old life. - -"I'm too old to change at my age," she protested, and when the -alternative was clearly put before her, she accepted it with a -flaccidity that was as aggravating as it was unfightable. - -"I'd sooner die 'ere," said Mrs Gosling, "than go trapesing about the -fields lookin' for somethin' to eat. I simply couldn't do it. It's -different for you two gels, no doubt. You go and leave me 'ere." - -Millie might have been tempted to take her mother at her word, -but Blanche never for a moment entertained the idea of leaving her -mother behind. - -"Very well, mother," she said, desperately, "if you won't come we -must all stop here and starve, I suppose. We've got enough food to -last a fortnight or so." - -As she spoke she looked out of the window of that little suburban -house, and for the first time in her life a thought came to her of -the strangeness of preferring such an inconvenient little box to the -adventure of the wider spaces of open country. Outside, the sun was -shining brilliantly, but the windows were dim with dust and cobwebs. - -Yet her mother was comparatively happy in this hovel; she would -find delight in cleaning it, although there was no one to appraise -the result of her effort. She was a specialized animal with -habits precisely analogous to the instincts of other animals and -insects. There were insects who could only live in filth and would die -miserably if removed from their natural surroundings. Mrs Gosling was -a suburban-house insect who would perish in the open air. After all, -the chief difference between insects and men is that the insect is -born perfectly adapted to its specialized existence, man finds, or -is forced into, a place in the scheme after he has come to maturity.... - -"I can't see why you shouldn't leave me behind," pleaded Mrs Gosling. - -"Well, we won't," replied Blanche, still looking out of the window. - -"It's wicked of you to make us stop here and starve," put in -Millie. "And even you must see that we shall starve." - -Mrs Gosling wept feebly. She had wept much during the past twenty-four -hours. "Where can we go?" she wailed. - -"There's country on the other side of Harrow," said Blanche. - -The thought of Harrow or Timbuctoo was equally repugnant to Mrs -Gosling. - -Then Millie had an idea. "Well, we only brought four bottles of water -with us," she said, "where are we going to get any more in Kilburn?" - -Mrs Gosling racked her brain in the effort to remember some convenient -stream in the neighbourhood. "It may rain," she said feebly at last. - -Blanche turned from the window and pointed to the blurred prospect -of sunlit street. "We might be dead before the rain came," she said. - -They wore her out in the end. - - - - -4 - -With Harrow as an immediate objective, they toiled up Willesden Lane -with their hand-cart early the next morning. Blanche took that route -because it was familiar to her, and after passing Willesden Green, -she followed the tram lines. - -As they got away from London they came upon evidences of the exodus -which had preceded them. Bodies of women, for the most part no longer -malodorous, were not infrequent, and pieces of household furniture, -parcels of clothing, boxes, trunks and smaller impedimenta lay by the -roadside, the superfluities of earlier loads that had been lightened, -however reluctantly. - -Mrs Gosling blenched at the sight of every body--only a few of them -could be described as skeletons--and protested that they were all -going to their death, but Blanche kept on resolutely with a white, -set face, and as Millie followed her example, if with rather less show -of temerity, there was no choice but to follow. When the gradients -were favourable the girls helped their mother on to the truck and -gave her a lift. She was a feeble walker. - -Not till they reached Sudbury did they see another living being of -their own species, or any sign of human habitation in the long rows -of dirty houses. - -The great surge of migration had spread out from the centre and become -absorbed in circles of ever-widening amplitude. The great entity of -London had eaten its way so far outwards in to arable and pasturage -that within a ten-mile radius from Charing Cross not a thousand women -could be found who had been able to obtain any promise of security -from the products of the soil. And although there were great open -spaces of land, such as Wembley Park, which had to be crossed in the -journey outwards, the exiles had been unable to wait until such time -as seed could be transformed into food by the alchemy of Nature. So -the pressure had been continually outwards, forcing the emigrants -toward the more distant farms where some fraction of them, at least, -might find work and food until the coming of the harvest. In Kent, -vegetables were comparatively plentiful. In Northern Middlesex and -Buckinghamshire the majority had to depend upon animal food. But in -all the Home Counties and in the neighbourhood of every large town, -famine was following hard upon the heels of the plague, and 70 per -cent of the town-dwelling women and children who had escaped the latter -visitation died of starvation and exposure before the middle of August. - -In the first inner ring, still sparsely populated, were to be found -those who had had vegetable gardens and had been vigorous enough to -protect themselves against the flood of migration which had swept up -against them. - -It was the first signs of this inner ring that the Goslings discovered -at Sudbury. - - - - -5 - -They came upon a little row of cottages, standing back a few yards from -the road. All three women had been engaged in pushing their trolly -up an ascent, and with heads down, and all their physical energies -concentrated upon their task, they did not notice the startling -difference between these cottages and other houses they had passed, -until they stopped to take breath at the summit of the hill. - -Mrs Gosling had immediately seated herself upon the sloping pole -of the trolly handle. She was breathing heavily and had her hands -pressed to her sides. Millie leaned against the side of the trolly, -her eyes still on the ground. But Blanche had thrown back her shoulders -and opened her lungs, and she saw the banner of smoke that flew from -the middle of the three chimney-stacks--smoke, in this wilderness, -smoke the sign of human life! To Blanche it seemed the fulfilment of -a great hope. She had begun to wonder if all the world were dead. - -"Oh!" she gasped. "Look!" - -They looked without eagerness, anticipating some familiar horror. - -"Ooh!" echoed Millie, when she, too, had recognized the harbinger. But -Mrs Gosling did not raise her eyes high enough. - -"What?" she asked stupidly. - -"There's some one living in that cottage," said Blanche, and pointed -upwards to the soaring pennant. - -Mrs Gosling's face brightened. "Well, to be sure," she said, "I wonder -if they'd let me sit down and rest for a few minutes? And perhaps -they might be willing to sell me a glass of milk. I'm sure I'd pay -a good price for it." - -"We can see, anyway," replied Millie, and they roused themselves and -pushed on eagerly. The cottage was not more than thirty yards away. - -Before they reached it, a woman came to the doorway, stared at them -for a moment and then came down to the little wooden gate. - -She was a thick-set woman of fifty or so, with iron grey hair cut -close to her head. She wore a tweed skirt which did not reach the -tops of her heavily soled, high boots. She looked capable, energetic -and muscular. And in her hand she carried about three feet of stout -broomstick. - -She did not speak until the little procession halted before her gate, -and then she pointed meaningly up the road with her broomstick and -said: "Go on. You can't stop here." She spoke with the voice and -inflection of an educated woman. - -Blanche paused in the act of setting down the trolly handle. Mrs -Gosling and Millie stared in amazement; they had been prepared to -weep on the neck of this human friend, found at last in the awful -desert of Middlesex. - -"We only wanted to buy a little milk," stammered Blanche, no less -astonished than her mother and sister. - -The big woman looked them over with something of pity and contempt. "I -can see you're not dangerous," she sneered and crossed her great bare -fore-arms over the top of the gate. "Only three poor feckless idiots -going begging." - -"We're not begging," retorted Blanche. "We've got money and we're -willing to pay." - -"Money!" repeated the woman. She looked up at the sky and nodded -her head, as though beseeching pity for these feeble creatures. "My -dear girl," she went on, "what do you suppose is the good of money -in this world? You can't eat money, nor wear it, nor use it to light -a fire. Now, if you'd offered me a box of matches, you should have -had all the milk I can spare." - -"Well, I never," put in Mrs Gosling, who had feebly come to rest -again on the handle of the trolly. - -"No, my good woman, you never did," said the stranger. "You never -could and I should say the chances are that you never will." - -Millie was intimidated and shrinking, even Blanche looked a -little nervous, but Mrs Gosling was incapable of feeling fear of -a fellow-woman. "You can't mean as you won't sell us a glass of -milk?" she said. - -"Have you got a box of matches you'll exchange for it?" asked the -stranger. "I've got a burning glass I stole in Harrow, but you can't -depend on the sun." - -"No, nor 'aven't 'ad, the last three weeks," said Mrs Gosling. "But -if you've more money a'ready than you know what to do with, I should -'ave thought as you'd 'a been willing to spare a glass o' milk for -charity's sake." - -The stranger regarded her petitioner with a hard smile. "Charity's -sake?" she said. "Do you realize that I've had to defend this place -like a fort against thousands of your sort? I've killed three madwomen -who fought me for possession and buried 'em in the orchard like -cats. I held out through the first rush and I can hold out now easily -enough. You three are the first I've seen for a month, and before -that they'd begun to get weak and poor. These are your daughters, -I suppose, and the three of you had always depended upon some fool -of a man to keep you. Yes? Well, you deserve all you've got. Now you -can start and do a little healthy, useful work for yourselves. I've -no pity for you. I've got a damned fool of a sister and an old fool -of a mother to keep in there," she pointed to the cottage with her -broomstick. "Parasitic like you, both of 'em, and pretty well all -the use they are is to keep the fire alight. No, my good woman, -you get no charity from me." - -When she had finished her speech, which she delivered with a fluency -and point that suggested familiarity with the platform, the stranger -crossed her arms again over the gate and stared Mrs Gosling out -of countenance. - -"Come along, my dears," said that outraged lady, getting wearily to -her feet. "I wouldn't wish your ears soiled by such language from a -woman as 'as forgotten the manners of a lady. But, there, poor thing, -I've no doubt 'er 'ead's been turned with all this trouble." - -The stranger smiled grimly and made no reply, but as the Goslings -were moving away, she called out to them suddenly: "Hi! You! There's -a witless creature along the road who'll probably help you. The house -is up a side road. Bear round to the right." - -"What a beast," muttered Blanche when they had gone on a few yards. - -"One o' them 'new' women, my dear," panted Mrs Gosling, who -remembered the beginning of the movement and still clung to the old -terminology. "'Orrible unsexed creatures! I remember how your poor -father used to 'ate 'em!" - -"I'd like to get even with her," said Millie. - -They bore to the right, and so avoided two turnings which led up -repulsive-looking hills, but they missed the side road. - -"I'm sure we must have passed it," complained Mrs Gosling at -last. Her sighs had been increasing in volume and poignancy for the -past half-mile, and the prospect of uninhabited country which lay -immediately around her she found infinitely dispiriting. - -"There isn't an 'ouse in sight," she added, "and I really don't -believe I can walk much farther." - -Blanche stopped and looked over the fields on her right towards -London. In the distance, blurred by an oily wriggle of heat haze, she -could see the last wave of suburban villas which had broken upon this -shore of open country. They had left the town behind them at last, -but they had not found what they sought. This little arm of land -which cut off Harrow and Wealdstone from the mother lake of London -had not offered sufficient temptation to delay their forerunners in -the search for food. Most of them, with a true instinct for what they -sought, had followed the main road into the Chiltern Hills, and those -who for some cause or another had wandered into this side track had -pushed on, even as Blanche and Millie would have done had they not -been dragged back by their mother's complaints. The sun was falling -a little towards the west, and bird and animal life, which had seemed -to rest during the intenser heat of mid-day, was stirring and calling -all about them. A rabbit lolloped into the road, a few yards away, -pricked up its ears, stared for an instant, and then scuttled to -cover. A blackbird flew out of the hedge and fled chattering up the -ditch. The air was murmurous with the hum of innumerable insects, -and above Mrs Gosling's head hovered a group of flies which ever -and again bobbed down as if following some concerted plan of action, -and tried to settle on the poor woman's heated face. - -"Oh! get away, do!" she panted, and flapped a futile handkerchief. - -"How quiet it is!" said Blanche; and although the air was full of -sound it did indeed appear that a great hush had fallen over the -earth. No motor-horn threateningly bellowed its automatic demand for -right of way; there was no echo of hoofs nor grind of wheels; no call -of children's voices, nor even the bark of a dog. The wild things had -the place to themselves again, and the sound of their movements called -for no response from civilized minds. The ears of the Goslings heard, -but did not note these, to them, useless evidences of life. They were -straining and alert for the voice of humanity. - -"I don't know when I've felt the 'eat so much," said Mrs Gosling -suddenly, and Blanche and Millie both started. - -"Hush!" said Blanche, and held up a warning finger. - -In the distance they heard a sound like the closing of a gate, and -then, very clear and small, a feminine voice. "Chuck! chuck! chuck!" it -said. "Chuck! chuck! chuck!!!" - -"I told you we'd passed it," said Mrs Gosling triumphantly. They turned -the trolly and began to retrace their footsteps. Their eager eyes -tried to peer through the spinney of trees which shut them off from -the south. Once or twice they stopped to listen. The voice was fainter -now, but they could hear the squawk of greedily competitive fowls. - - - - - - - -XIII--DIFFERENCES - - -1 - -The only side road they could find proved to be no more than a track -through the little wood. They almost passed it a second time, and -hesitated at the gate--a sturdy five-barred gate bearing "Private" -on a conspicuous label--debating whether this "could be right." They -still suffered a spasm of fear at the thought of trespass, and to open -this gate and march up an unknown private road pushing a hand-cart -seemed to them an act of terrible aggression. - -"We might leave the cart just inside," suggested Blanche. - -"And get our food stole," said Mrs Gosling. - -"There's no one about," urged Blanche. - -"There's that broomstick woman," said Millie. "She may have followed -us." - -"I'm sure I dunno if it's safe to go foragin' in among them trees, -neither," continued Mrs Gosling. "Are you sure this is right, Blanche?" - -"Well, of course, I'm not sure," replied Blanche, with a touch -of temper. - -They peered through the trees and listened, but no sign of a house -was to be seen, and all was now silent save for the long drone of -innumerable bees about their afternoon business. - -"Oh! come on!" said Blanche at last. She was rapidly learning to -solve all their problems by this simple formula.... - -In the wood they found refuge from those attendant flies which had -hung over them so persistently. - -Mrs Gosling gave a final flick with her handkerchief and declared -her relief. "It's quite pleasant in 'ere," she said, "after the 'eat." - -The two girls also seemed to find new vigour in the shade of the trees. - -"We have got a cheek!" said Millie, with a giggle. - -"Well! needs must when the devil drives," returned Mrs Gosling, -"and our circumstances is quite out of the ordinary. Besides which, -there can't be any 'arm in offerin' to buy a glass of milk." - -Blanche tugged at the trolley handle with a flicker of impatience. Why -would her mother be so foolish? Surely she must see that everything -was different now? Blanche was beginning to wonder at and admire -the marvel of her own intelligence. How much cleverer she was than -the others! How much more ready to appreciate and adapt herself to -change! They could not understand this new state of things, but she -could, and she prided herself on her powers of discrimination. - -"Everything's different now," she said to herself. "We can go anywhere -and do anything, almost. It's like as if we were all starting off -level again, in a way." She felt uplifted: she took extraordinary -pleasure in her own realization of facts. A strange, new power had -come to her, a power to enjoy life, through mastery. "Everything's -different now," she repeated. She was conscious of a sense of pity -for her mother and sister. - - - - -2 - -The road through the wood curved sharply round to the right, and they -came suddenly upon a clearing, and saw the house in front of them. It -was a long, low house, smothered in roses and creepers, and it stood -in a wild garden surrounded by a breast-high wall of red brick. At the -edge of the clearing several cows were lying under the shade of the -trees, reflectively chewing the cud with slow, deliberate enjoyment, -while one, solitary, stood with its head over the garden gate, -motionless, save for an occasional petulant whisp of its ropey tail. - -"Now, then, what are we going to do?" asked Mrs Gosling. - -The procession halted, and the three women regarded the guardian cow -with every sign of dismay. - -"Shoo!" said Millie feebly, flapping her hands; and Blanche repeated -the intimidation with greater force; but the cow merely acknowledged -the salutation by an irritable sweep of its tail. - -"'Orrid brute!" muttered Mrs Gosling, and flicked her handkerchief -in the direction of the brute's quarters. - -"I know," said Blanche, conceiving a subtle strategy. "We'll drive -it away with the cart." She turned the trolly round, and the three of -them grasping the pole, they advanced slowly and warily to the charge, -pushing their siege ram before them. They made a slight detour to -achieve a flank attack and allow the enemy a clear way of retreat. - -"Oh, dear! what are you doing?" said a voice suddenly, and the three -startled Goslings nearly dropped the pole in their alarm--they had -been so utterly absorbed in their campaign. - -A young woman of sixteen or seventeen, very brown, hot and dishevelled, -was regarding them from the other side of the garden wall with a stare -of amazement that even as they turned was flickering into laughter. - -"It's that great brute by the gate, my dear," said Mrs Gosling, -"and we've just----" - -"You don't mean Alice?" interrupted the young woman. "Oh! you couldn't -go charging poor dear Alice with a great cart like that! Three of -you, too!" - -"Is its name Alice?" asked Blanche stupidly. She did not feel equal -to this curious occasion. - -"Its name!" replied the young woman, with scorn. "Her name's Alice, -if that's what you mean." She shook back the hair from her eyes -and moved down to the gate. The cow acknowledged her presence by an -indolent toss of the head. - -"Oh! but my sweet Alice!" protested the young woman; "you must move -and let these funny people come in. It really isn't good for you, -dear, to stand about in the sun like this, and you'd much better go -and lie down in the shade for a bit!" She gently pulled the gate from -under the cow's chin, and then, laying her hands flat on its side, -made as if to push it out of the way. - -"Well, I never!" declared Mrs Gosling, regarding the performance with -much the same awe as she might have vouchsafed to a lion-tamer in a -circus. "'Oo'd 'ave thought it'd 'a been that tame?" - -The cow, after a moment's resistance, moved off with a leisurely walk -in the direction of the wood. - -"Now, you funny people, what do you want?" asked the young woman. - -Mrs Gosling began to explain, but Blanche quickly interposed. "Oh! do -be quiet, mother; you don't understand," she said, and continued, -before her mother could remonstrate, "We've come from London." - -"Goodness!" commented the young woman. - -"And we want----" Blanche hesitated. She was surprised to find that -in the light of her wonderful discovery it was not so easy to define -precisely what they ought to want. As the broomstick woman had said, -they were "beggars." Fairly confronted with the problem, Blanche saw -no alternative but a candid acknowledgment of the fact. - -"You want feeding, of course," put in the young woman. "They all -do. You needn't think you're the first. We've had dozens!" - -A solution presented itself to Blanche. "We don't really want food," -she said. "We've got a lot of tinned things left still, only we're ill -with eating tinned things. I thought, perhaps, you might be willing -to let us have some milk and eggs and vegetables in exchange?" - -"That's sensible enough," commented the young woman. "If you only -knew the things we have been offered! Money chiefly, of course"--Mrs -Gosling opened her mouth, but Blanche frowned and shook her head--"and -it does seem as if money's about as useless as buttons. In fact, I'd -sooner have buttons--you can use them. But the other funny things--bits -of old furniture, warming-pans, jewellery! You should have heard Mrs -Isaacson! She was a Jewess who came from Hampstead a couple of months -ago, and she had a lot of jewels she kept in a bag tied round her -waist under her skirt; and when Aunt May and I simply had to tell her -to go she tried to bribe us with an old brooch and rubbish. She was a -terror. But, I say"--she looked at the sun--"I've got lots of things to -do before sunset." She paused, and looked at the three Goslings. "Look -here," she went on, "are you all right? You seem all right." - -Again Mrs Gosling began to reply, but Blanche was too quick for -her. "Tell me what you mean by 'all right'?" she asked, raising her -voice to drown her mother's "Well, I never did 'ear such----" - -"Well, of course, mother'll give you any mortal thing you want," -replied the young woman at the gate. "Dear old mater! She simply -won't think of what we're going to do in the winter; and I mean, if -you come in for to-night, say, and we let you have a few odd things, -you won't go and plant yourselves on us like that Mrs Isaacson and -one or two others, because if you do, Aunt May and I will have to -turn you out, you know." - -"What we 'ave we'll pay for," said Mrs Gosling with dignity. - -The young woman smiled. "Oh, I dare say!" she said; "pay us with -those pretty little yellow counters that aren't the least good to -anyone. You wait here half a jiff. I'll find Aunt May." - -She ran up the path and entered the house. A moment later they heard -her calling "Aunt May! Auntie--Aun-tee!" somewhere out at the back. - -"Let's 'ope 'er Aunt May'll 'ave more common sense," remarked Mrs -Gosling. - -Blanche turned on her almost fiercely. "For goodness sake, mother," -she said, "do try and get it out of your head, if you can, that we can -buy things with money. Can't you see that everything's different? Can't -you see that money's no good, that you can't eat it, or wear it, or -light a fire with it, like that other woman said? Can't you understand, -or won't you?" - -Mrs Gosling gaped in amazement. It was incredible that the mind of -Blanche should also have been distorted by this terrible heresy. She -turned in sympathy to Millie, who had taken her mother's seat on the -pole of the trolly, but Millie frowned and said: - -"B.'s right. You can't buy things with money; not here, anyway. What'd -they do with money if they got it?" - -Mrs Gosling looked at the trees, at the cows lying at the edge of -the wood, at the sunlit fields beyond the house, but she saw nothing -which suggested an immediate use for gold coin. - -"Lemme sit down, my dear," she said. "What with the 'eat and all this -walkin'----Oh! what wouldn't I give for a cup o' tea!" - -Millie got up sulkily and leaned against the wall. "I suppose they'll -let us stop here to-night, B.?" she asked. - -"If we don't make fools of ourselves," replied Blanche, spitefully. - -Mrs Gosling drooped. No inspiration had come to her as it had come to -her daughter. The older woman had become too specialized. She swayed -her head, searching--like some great larva dug up from its refuse -heap--confused and feeble in this new strange place of light and air. - -And as Blanche had repeated to herself "Everything's different," so -Mrs Gosling seized a phrase and clung to it as to some explanation -of this horrible perplexity. "I can't understand it," she said; -"I can't understand it!" - - - - -3 - -Aunt May appeared after a long interval--a thin, brown-faced woman of -forty or so. She wore a very short skirt, a man's jacket and an old -deerstalker hat, and she carried a pitchfork. She must have brought -the pitchfork as an emblem of authority, but she did not handle it as -the other woman had handled her broomstick. The murderous pitchfork -appeared little more deadly in her keeping than does the mace in -the House of Commons, but as an emblem the pitchfork was infinitely -more effective. - -Aunt May's questions were pertinent and searching, and after a few -brief explanations had been offered to her she drove off the young -woman, her niece, whom she addressed as "Allie," to perform the many -duties which were her share of the day's work. - -Allie went, laughing. - -"You can sleep here to-night," announced Aunt May. "We shall have -a meal all together soon after sunset. Till then you can talk to my -sister, who's an invalid. She's always eager for news." - -She took charge of them as if she were the matron of a workhouse -receiving new inmates. - -"You'd better bring your truck into the garden," she said, "or Alice -will be turning everything over. Inquisitive brute!" she added, -snapping her fingers at the cow, who had returned, and stood within -a few feet of them, eyeing the Goslings with a slow, dull wonder--a -mournfully sleepy beast whose furiously wakeful tail seemed anxious -to rouse its owner out of her torpor. - -The invalid sister sat by the window of a small room that faced -west and overlooked the luxuriance of what was still recognizably -a flower-garden. - -"My sister, Mrs Pollard," said Aunt May sharply, and then addressing -the woman who sat huddled in shawls by the window, she added: "Three -more strays, Fanny--from London, Allie tells me." She went out quickly, -closing the door with a vigour which indicated little tolerance for -invalid nerves. - -Mrs Pollard stretched out a delicate white hand. "Please come and sit -near me," she said, "and tell me about London. It is so long since -I have had any news from there. Perhaps you might be able----" she -broke off, and looked at the three strangers with a certain pathetic -eagerness. - -"I'll take me bonnet off, ma'am, if you'll excuse me," remarked Mrs -Gosling. She felt at home once more within the delightful shelter of -a house, although slightly overawed by the aspect of the room and -its occupant. About both there was an air of that class dignity to -which Mrs Gosling knew she could never attain. "I don't know when -I've felt the 'eat as I 'ave to-day," she remarked politely. - -"Has it been hot?" asked Mrs Pollard. "To me the days all seem so much -alike. I want you to tell me, were there any young men in London when -you left? You haven't seen any young man who at all resembles this -photograph, have you?" - -Mrs Gosling stared at the silver-framed photograph which Mrs Pollard -took from the table at her side, stared and shook her head. - -"We haven't seen a single man of any kind for two months," said -Blanche, "not a single one. Have we, Millie?" - -Millie, sitting rather stiffly on her chair, shook her head. "It's -terrible," she said. "I'm sure I don't know where they can have all -gone to." - -Mrs Pollard did not reply for a moment. She looked steadfastly out -of the window, and tears, which she made no attempt to restrain, -chased each other in little jerks down her smooth pale cheeks. - -Mrs Gosling pinched her mouth into an expression of suffering sympathy, -and shook her head at her daughters to enforce silence. Was she not, -also, a widow? - -After a short pause, Mrs Pollard fumbled in her lap and discovered -a black-bordered pocket-handkerchief--a reminiscence, doubtless, of -some earlier bereavement. Her expression had been in no way distorted -as she wept, and after the tears had been wiped away no trace of them -disfigured her delicate face. Her voice was still calm and sweet as -she said: - -"I am very foolish to go on hoping. I loved too much, and this trial -has been sent to teach me that all love but One is vain, that I must -not set my heart upon things of the earth. And yet I go on hoping -that my poor boy was not cut off in Sin." - -"Dear, dear!" murmured Mrs Gosling. "You musn't take it to 'eart too -much, ma'am. Boys will be a little wild and no doubt our 'eavenly -Father will make excuses." - -Mrs Pollard shook her head. "If it had only been a little wildness," -she said, "I should have hope. He is, indeed, just and merciful, slow -to anger and of great kindness, but my poor Alfred became tainted -with the terrible doctrines of Rome. It has been the greatest grief -of my life, and I have known much pain...." And again the tears slowly -welled up and fell silently down that smooth, unchanging face. - -Mrs Gosling sniffed sympathetically. The two girls glanced at one -another with slightly raised eyebrows and Blanche almost invisibly -shrugged her shoulders. - -The warm evening light threw the waxen-faced, white-shawled figure -of the woman in the window into high relief. Her look of ecstatic -resignation was that of some wonderful mediæval saint returned from -the age of vision and miracle to a recently purified earth in which -the old ideas of saintship had again become possible. Her influence -was upon the room in which she sat. The sounds of the world outside, -the evening chorus of wild life, the familiar noise of the farm, -seemed to blend into a remote music of prayer--"Kyrie Eleison! Christe -Eleison!" Within was a great stillness, as of a thin and bloodless -purity; the long continuance of a single thought found some echo in -every material object. While the silence lasted everything in that -room was responsive to this single keynote of anæmic virtue. - -Mrs Gosling tried desperately to weep without noise, and even the -two girls, falling under the spell, ceased to glance covertly at one -another with that hint of criticism, but sat subdued and weakened as -if some element of life had been taken from them. - -The lips of the woman in the window moved noiselessly; her hands were -clasped in her lap. She was praying. - - - - -4 - -Firm and somewhat clumsy steps were heard in the passage, the door -was pushed roughly open, banging back against the black oak chair -which was set behind it, and Aunt May entered carrying a large tray. - -"Here's your dinner, Fanny," she said. "We've done earlier to-night, -in spite of interruptions." She bustled over to the little table in the -window, pushed back the Bible and photograph with the edge of the tray -until she could release one hand, and then, having driven the tray into -a position of safety, moved Bible and photograph to the centre table. - -There was something protestingly vigorous about her movements, as -though she endeavoured to combat by noise and energy the impoverished -vitality of that emasculate room. - -"Now, you three!" she went on. "You had better come out into the -kitchen and take your things off and wash." - -As the Goslings rose, Mrs Pollard turned to them and stretched -out to each in turn her delicate white hand. "There is only one -Comforter." she said. "Put your trust in Him." - -Mrs Gosling gulped, and Blanche and Millie looked as they used to -look when they attended the Bible-classes held by the vicar's wife. - -Blanche gave a shiver of relief as they came out into the passage. Her -mind was suddenly filled by the astounding thought that everything -was not different.... - -Supper was laid on the kitchen table--cold chicken, potatoes and -cabbage, stewed plums and cream, and warm, new milk in a jug; no bread, -no salt, and no pepper. - -As the three Goslings washed at the scullery sink they chattered -freely. They felt pleasure at release from some cold, draining -influence; they felt as if they had come out of church after some long, -dull service, into the air and sunlight. - -"I'm sure she's a very 'oly lady," was Mrs Gosling's final summary. - -Blanche shivered again. "Oh! freezing!" was her enigmatic reply. - -Millie said it gave her "the creeps." - -They were a party of seven at supper--the meal was referred to as -"supper," although to Mrs Pollard it had been dignified by the name of -"dinner"--including two young women whom the Goslings had not hitherto -seen; strong, brown-faced girls, who spoke with a country accent. They -had something still of the manner of servants, but they were treated -as equals both by Allie and Aunt May. - -There was little conversation during the meal, however, for all of -them were too intent on the business in hand. To the Goslings that -meal was, indeed, a banquet. - -When they had all finished, Aunt May rose at once. "Thank Heaven -for daylight," she remarked; "but we must set our brains to work to -invent some light for the winter. We haven't a candle or a drop of -oil left," she went on, addressing the Goslings, "and for the past -five weeks we have had to bustle to get everything done before sunset, -I can tell you. Last night we couldn't wash up after supper." - -"We know," replied Blanche. - -Aunt May nodded. "We all know," she said. "Now, you three girls, -get busy!" And Allie and the two brown-faced young women rose a -little wearily. - -"I'm getting an old woman," remarked Aunt May, "and I'm allowed certain -privileges, chief of them that I don't work after supper. She paused -and looked keenly at the three Goslings. "Which of you three is in -command?" she asked. - -"Well, it seems as if my eldest, Blanche, that is, 'as sort o' taken -the lead the past few days," began Mrs Gosling. - -"Ah! I thought so," said Aunt May. "Well, now, Blanche, you'd better -come out into the garden and have a talk with me, and we'll decide -what you had better do. If your mother and sister would like to go -to bed, Allie will show them where they can sleep." - -She moved away in the direction of the garden and Blanche followed her. - - - - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -XIV--AUNT MAY - - -The sun had set, but as yet the daylight was scarcely faded. Under -the trees the fowls muttered in subdued cluckings, and occasionally -one of them would flutter up into the lower branches with a squawk of -effort and then settle herself with a great fluttering and swelling -of feathers, and all the suggestion of a fussy matron preparing for -the night--preparing only, for these early roosters sat open-eyed -and watchful, as if they knew that there was no chance of sleep for -them until every member of that careless crowd below had found its -appointed place in the dormitory. - -"We put 'em inside in the winter," remarked Aunt May, as she and -Blanche paused, "but they prefer the trees. We haven't any foxes here, -but I've noticed that the wild things seem to be coming back." - -Blanche nodded. She was thinking how much there was to learn concerning -those matters which appertained to the production of food. - -"They're rather a poor lot," Aunt May continued, "but they have to -forage for themselves, except for the few bits of vegetable and such -things we can spare them. We've no corn or flour or meal of any kind -for ourselves yet. But a farmer's wife about a mile from here has got -a few acres of wheat and barley coming on, and we shall help her to -harvest and take our share later. We shall be rich then," she added, -with a smile. - -"I'm town-bred, you know," said Blanche. "We've got an awful lot to -learn, Millie and me." - -"You'll learn quickly enough," was the answer. "You'll have to." - -"I suppose," returned Blanche. - -At the end of the orchard through which they had been passing they came -to a knoll, crowned by a great elm. Round the trunk of the elm a rough -seat had been fixed, and here Aunt May sat down with a sigh of relief. - -"It's a blessed thing to earn your own bread day by day," she -said. "It's a beautiful thing to live near the earth and feel -physically tired at night. It's delightful to be primitive and -agricultural, and I love it. But I have a civilized vice, Blanche. I -have a store of cigarettes I stole from a shop in Harrow, and every -night when it's fine I come out here after supper and smoke three; -and when it's wet I smoke 'em in my own bedroom, and--I dream. But -to-night I'm going to talk to you, because you want help." - -She produced a cigarette case and matches from a side pocket of -her jacket, lit a cigarette, inhaled the smoke with a long gasp of -intensest enjoyment, and then said: "Men weren't fools, my dear; -they had pockets in their coats." - -"Yes?" said Blanche. She felt puzzled and a little awkward. She knew -that this woman was a friend, but the girl's town-bred, objective -mind was critical and embarrassed. - -"Do you smoke?" asked Aunt May. "I can spare you a cigarette, though -I know the time must come when there won't be any more. Still, it's -a long way off yet. Bless the clever man who invented air-tight tins!" - -"No, I don't smoke, thanks," replied Blanche, conventionally; and, -try as she would, she could not keep some hint of stiffness out of -her voice. Modern manners take a long time to influence suburban -homes of the Wisteria Grove type. - -"Ah! well, you miss a lot!" said Aunt May; "but you're better without -it, especially now, when tobacco isn't easy to get, and will soon -be impossible." - -"But do you think," asked Blanche, drawing her eyebrows together, -"that this sort of thing is going on always?" - -"I dare say. Don't ask me, my dear; the problem's beyond me. What -we poor women have got to do is to keep ourselves alive in the -meantime. And that's what we've come out here to talk about. What -about your mother and you two girls? Where are you going? And what -are you proposing to do?" - -"I don't know," said Blanche. "I--I've been trying to think." - -"Good!" remarked Aunt May. "I believe you'll do. I'm doubtful about -your sister." - -"We'll have to work on a farm, I suppose." - -"It's the only way to live." - -"Only where?" - -"That's what I've been trying to worry out," said Aunt May. "We do -get news here, of a sort. Our girls work in Mrs Jordan's fields, and -meet girls and women who come from Pinner, and the Pinner people hear -news from Northwood, and the Northwood people from somewhere else; -and so we get into touch with half a county. But, coming to your -affairs; you see, we here are just the innermost circle. Most of -the women who came from London missed this place and passed us by, -thanks be!... Now, that poor unfortunate Miss Grant, down the road, -had to defend herself with weapons. Fortunately she's strong." - -"Is Miss Grant the awful woman with the broomstick?" asked Blanche. - -"She's not really awful, my dear," said Aunt May, smiling; "she's -a very good sort. A little rough in her manners, perhaps, and quite -mad about the uselessness of the creatures we used to know as men, -but a fine, generous, unselfish woman, if she does boast of her three -murders. Did she tell you that, by the way?" - -Blanche nodded. - -"She would, of course; and I believe it's true; but her theory was -to defend her own people. She said they'd all have died if she -hadn't. I'm not sure about the ethic, but I know dear old Sally -Grant meant well. However, I'm wandering--I often do when I talk -like this. The point was that just this little circle here, close -to London, is very thickly populated, and there's precious little -food ready to be got any way; but you'll have to pass through the -country beyond Pinner before you'll find a place where they'll give -you work and keep you. There's a surplus in the next ring, I gather, -too much labour and too little to grow. You'll have to push out into -the Chilterns, out to Amersham at the nearest. It's all on the main -road, of course, which is bad in a general way, because that's the -road they all took. But I think if you'll cut across towards Wycombe -you might, perhaps, find a place of some sort, though whether they'll -feed your mother free gratis I can't say. Women are of all sorts, but -this plague hasn't made 'em more friendly to one another, or perhaps -it is we notice it more, and the worst of the lot are the farmers' -wives and daughters who've got the land. They get turned out, though, -sometimes. We hear about it. The London women have made raids; only, -you see, the poor dears don't know what to do with the land when they -get it, so they have to keep the few who do know to teach 'em--when -they're sensible enough--the raiders, I mean. They aren't always." - -"It'll be an adventure," remarked Blanche. - -Aunt May threw away the very short end of her second cigarette and -lighted her third. "Adventure will do you good," she said. - -It was nearly dark under the elm. The things of the night were coming -out. Occasionally a cockchafer would go humming past them, the bats -were flitting swiftly and silently about the orchard, and presently -an owl swept by in one great stride of soundless flight. - -"How they are all coming back!" murmured Aunt May. "All the wild -things. I never saw an owl here before this year." - -"I should be frightened if you weren't here," said Blanche. - -"Nothing to be frightened of, yet." - -"Yet?" - -"In a few years' time, perhaps. I don't know. We killed a wild cat -who came after the chickens a few days ago. The cats have gone back -already, and the dogs aren't so respectful as they used to be. The -dogs'll interbreed, I suppose, and evolve a common form--strike some -kind of average in a beast which will be somewhere near the ancestral -type, smaller, probably, I don't know. It's a wonderful world, and -very interesting. I could almost wish man wouldn't return for twenty -years or so--just to see how much of his handiwork Nature could undo -in the interval. I often think about it out here in the evenings." - -"I wish I knew more about it," said Blanche timidly. "Are there any -books, do you know, that----" - -"You won't want books, my dear. Keep your eyes open and think." - -They lapsed into silence again. The third cigarette was finished, -but Aunt May gave no indication of a desire to get back to the house, -and Blanche's mind was so excited with all the new ideas which were -pouring in upon her that she had forgotten her tiredness. - -"It's awfully interesting," she said at last. "It's all so -different. Mother and Millie hate it, and they'd like all the old -things back; but I don't think I would." - -"You're all right. You'll do," replied her companion. "You're one of -the new sort, though you might never have found it out if it hadn't -been for the plague. Now, your sister will do one of two things, -in my opinion; either she'll stop in some place where there's a -man--there's one at Wycombe, by the way--and have children, or she'll -turn religious." - -Blanche was about to ask a question, but Aunt May stopped her. "Never -mind about the man, my dear," she said. "You'll learn quickly -enough. It's like Heaven now, you see--no marrying or giving in -marriage. With one man to every thousand women or so, what can you -expect? It's no good kicking against it. It's got to be. That's -where Fanny----" She broke off suddenly, with a little snort of -impatience. "I think to-night's an exception," she went on. "I like -talking to you, and one simply can't talk to Allie yet, so just -to-night I'll have one more." She took out her cigarette case with -a touch of impatience. - -It was dark under the elm now, and she had to hold up her cigarette -case close to her face in order to see the contents. "Two more," -she announced. "It's a festival, and for once I can speak my mind -to some one. An imprudence, perhaps, like this habit of smoking, -but I shall probably never see you again, and I'm sure you won't tell." - -"Oh, no!" interposed Blanche eagerly. - -"You're not tired? You don't want to go to bed?" - -"Not a bit. I love being out here." - -"I can't see you, but I know you're speaking the truth," said Aunt May, -after a pause. "In the darkness and silence of the night I will make a -confession. I look weather-worn and fifty, I know, but I feel absurdly -romantic, only there's no man in this case. I used to write novels, -my dear--an absurd thing for any spinster to do, but they paid, and -I've got the itch for self-expression. That's the one outlet I miss -in this new world of ours. Sally Grant and I can't agree, and, in any -case, she wants to do all the talking. And sometimes I'm idiot enough -to go on writing little bits even now when I have become a capable, -practical woman with at least four lives dependent upon me. Well, -it shows, anyhow, that we writing women weren't all fools...." She -hung on that for a moment or two, and then continued. - -"Are you religious?" - -"I don't know--I suppose so. We always went to Church at home," said -Blanche. "I thought every one was, almost. Not quite like Mrs Pollard, -of course." - -"Oh, well!" said Aunt May. "There's no harm and a lot of good in -being religious, if you go about it in the right way. I don't want to -change your opinions, my dear. It's just a question to me of the right -way. And I can't see that Fanny's way is right. Here we are, and we've -got to make the best of it; and to my mind that means facing life, -and not shutting yourself into one room with a Bible and spending half -your time on your knees. Fanny never was good for much. She brought -up Alfred--my nephew, you know--with only one idea, and she stuffed -him so full of holiness that the English Church couldn't hold him, -and he had to work some of it off by going over to Rome. He thought -he'd have better chances of saintship there. He was a poor, pale thing, -anyway. Of course, that was anathema to Fanny. She might have forgiven -him for committing a murder, but to become a Roman Catholic----! Oh, -Lord! She's been praying for him ever since. And, my dear, what -difference can it make? Alfred's apostasy, I mean. Do you think it -matters what particular form of worship or pettifogging details of -belief you adopt? Why can't the Churches take each other for granted, -and be generous enough to suppose that all roads lead to Heaven, which -is, according to all accounts, a much better place than Rome? But, -oh! above all, if you have a religion, do be practical! Come out and -do your work, instead of sighing and psalm-singing, and wearying dumb -Heaven with fulsome praise and lamentations of your unworthiness, -as if you were trying to propitiate a rich customer! - -"There, my dear, I won't say any more. My last cigarette's done, -and wasted, because I was too excited to enjoy it. I know I've been -disloyal; but it's my temperament. I could slap Fanny sometimes. And -she shan't have Allie.... It's the night that has affected -me. To-morrow I shall be just as practical as ever, and you'll forget -that you've seen this side of me. Come along. We must go to bed." - -"This is the greatest night of my life," thought Blanche as they -walked back in silence to the house. - -Even when she was in bed, she did not go to sleep at once. She lay -and listened to the heavy breathing of her mother and Millie, and -she wondered. Everything, indeed, was different, but everybody was -just the same, only, in some curious way, individualities seemed -more pronounced. - -Could it be that everybody was more natural, that there was less -restraint? - -Blanche was not introspective. She did not test the theory on -herself. She thought of the women she had met that day, and of her -mother and Millie. - -She fell asleep, determined to be more like Aunt May. - - - - - - - -XV--FROM SUDBURY TO WYCOMBE - - -1 - -Allie knocked on the Goslings' door at sunrise the next morning, and -Blanche, who had come to bed two hours after her mother and sister, -was the only one to respond. She woke with the feeling that she -had something important to do, and that the affair was in some way -pleasant and inspiring. - -Millie was not easily roused. She had slept heavily, and did not -approve the suggestion that she should get up and dress herself. - -"All right, B., all right!" she mumbled, and cuddled down under the -bedclothes like a dormouse into its straw. - -"Oh! do get up!" urged Blanche, impatiently, and at last resorted to -physical force. - -"What is the matter?" snapped Millie, struggling to maintain her hold -of the blankets. "Why can't you leave me alone?" - -"Because it's time to get up, lazy!" said Blanche, continuing the -struggle. - -"Well, I said I'd get up in a minute." - -"Well, get up then." - -"In a minute." - -"No--now!" - -"Oh, bother!" said Millie. - -Blanche succeeded at last in obtaining possession of the blankets. - -"You'll wake mother!" was Millie's last, desperate shaft. - -"I'm going to try," replied Blanche. - -Millie sat up in the bed and wondered vaguely where she was. These -scenes had often been enacted at Wisteria Grove, and her mind had -gone back to those delightful days of peace and security. When full -consciousness returned to her, she was half inclined to cry, and more -than half inclined to go to sleep again. - -Mrs Gosling was quite as difficult. - -"What's the time?" was her first question. - -"I don't know," said Blanche. - -"I'm sure it's not seven," murmured Mrs Gosling. - -Millie, still sitting on the bed, wondered whether Blanche would -let her get to the blankets which were tumbled on the floor a few -feet away. - -"No, you don't!" exclaimed Blanche, anticipating the attempt. - -Finally she lost her temper and shook her mother vigorously. - -At that, Mrs Gosling sat up suddenly and stared at her. "What in -'eaven's name's wrong, gel?" she asked. Her instinct told her with -absolute certainty that it was still the middle of the night by -Wisteria Grove standards. - -"Oh! my goodness! I'm going to have my hands full with you two!" broke -out Blanche impatiently. Her imagination pictured for her in that -instant how great the trouble would be. She would never be able to -wake them up.... - -They took the road before eight o'clock. Aunt May was generous in -the matter of eggs and fruit, and she left her many urgent duties to -point the way for the inexperienced explorers. - -"Get right out as far as you can," was her parting word of advice. - -They did not see Mrs Pollard again. She was still in bed when they -set out. - - - - -2 - -Despite the promise of another cloudless day, none of the three -travellers set out in high spirits. To all of them, even to Blanche, -it seemed a return to weariness and pain to start out once more -pushing that abominable truck. That truck represented all their -troubles. It had become associated with all the discomforts they -had endured since they left the Putney house. It indicated the -paucity of their possessions, and yet it was intolerably heavy to -push. After their brief return to the comfort and stability of a home -and natural food, this adventuring out into the inhospitable country -appeared more hopeless than ever. If they could have gone without the -truck, they might, at least, have avoided that feeling of horrible -certainty. They might have cheated themselves into the belief that -they would return. The truck was the brand of their vagabondage. - -Mrs Gosling did not spare her lamentations concerning the hopelessness -of their endeavour, and gave it as her opinion that they had been -most heartlessly treated by Aunt May. - -"Turning out a woman of my age into the roads," she grumbled. "She -might 'ave kept us a day or two, I should 'ave thought. It ain't as -if we were beggars. We could 'ave paid for what we 'ad." - -She had, indeed, made the suggestion and been repulsed. Aunt May had -firmly put the offer on one side without explanation. She understood -that explanations would be wasted on Mrs Gosling. - -Millie was inclined to agree with her mother. - -Blanche, at the handle, did not interrupt the statement of their -grievances. She was occupied with the problem of the future, trying -to think out some plan in her own confused inconsecutive way. - -Their progress was tediously slow. Against the combined brake of -the truck and Mrs Gosling, they did not average two miles an hour; -and even before they came to Pinner it was becoming obvious to the -two girls that they might as well let their mother ride on the trolly -as allow her to lean her weight upon it as she walked. - -They took the road through Wealdstone to avoid the hill and found that -they were still in the track of one wing of the foraging army which -had preceded them. That first rush of emigrants had ravaged the stores -and houses as locusts will ravage a stretch of country. The suburb -of regular villas and prim shops had been completely looted. Doors -stood open and windows were smashed; the spread of ugly houses lay -among the fields like an unwholesome eruption, awaiting the healing -process of Nature. Wealdstone also was deserted by humanity. The -flood had swept on towards the open country. - -But as they approached Pinner the signs of devastation and desertion -began to give way. Here and there women could be seen working in -the fields; one or two children scuttled away before the approach -of the Goslings and hid in the hedges, children who had evidently -grown furtive and suspicious, intimidated by the experiences of the -past two months; and when the outlying houses were reached--detached -suburban villas, once occupied by relatively wealthy middle-class -employers--it was evident that efforts were being made to restore -the wreckage of kitchen gardens. - -The Goslings had reached the point at which the wave had broken -after its great initial energy was spent. Somewhere about this -fifteen-mile limit, varying somewhat according to local conditions, -the real disintegration of the crowd had begun. As the numerous tokens -of the road had shown, a great number of women and children--possibly -one-fifth of the whole crowd--had died of starvation and disease before -any harbour was reached. From this fifteen-mile circle outwards, an -increasing number had been stayed in their flight by the opportunities -of obtaining food. Work was urgently demanded for the future, but the -determining factor was the present supply of food, and the constriction -of immediate supply had decided the question of how great a proportion -of the women and children should remain. Here, about Pinner, was more -land than the limited number of workers could till, but little of it -was arable, and this year there would be almost no harvest of grain. - -Vaguely, Blanche realized this. She remembered Aunt May's advice to -keep her eyes open, and looking about her as she walked she found -little promise of security in the grass fields and the rare signs of -human activity. - -Mrs Gosling, eager to find some home at any price, expressed her usual -optimistic opinion with regard to the value of money. She saw signs of -life again, at last, conditions familiar to her. She thought that they -were returning once more to some kind of recognizable civilization, -and began, with some renewal of her old vigour, to advise that they -should find an hotel or inn and take "a good look round" before going -any further. - -Millie, heartened by her mother's belief, was of much the same opinion, -and Blanche was summoned from the pole to listen to the proposition. - -She shook her head stubbornly. - -"I'm not going to argue it out all over again," she said. "You can -just look round and see for yourselves that there's no food to be -got here. We must get further out." - -Mrs Gosling refused to be convinced, and advanced her superior -knowledge of the world to support her judgment of the case. - -"Oh! very well," said Blanche, at last. "Come on to the inn and see -for yourselves." - -The inn, however, was deserted. All its available supply of food, -solid and liquid, had long been exhausted, and the gardenless house had -offered no particular attractions as a residence. Houses were cheap -in that place, the whole population of Pinner, including children, -did not exceed three hundred persons. - -They found a woman working in a garden near by, and she, with perhaps -unnecessary harshness, warned them that they could not stay in the -village. "There's not enough food for us as it is," she said, and -made some reference to "silly Londoners." - -That was an expression with which the Goslings were to become very -familiar in the near future. - -The appeal for pity fell on deaf ears. Mrs Gosling learned that she -was only one of many thousands who had made the same appeal. - -The sun was high in the sky as they trudged out of Pinner on the -road towards Northwood. It was then Blanche suggested that her mother -should always ride on the trolly, except when they were facing a hill; -and after a few weak protestations the suggestion was accepted. The -trolly was lightened of various useless articles of furniture--a -grudging sacrifice on the part of Mrs Gosling--and the party pushed -on at a slightly improved pace. - -After her disappointment in Pinner, Mrs Gosling's interest in life -began rapidly to decline. Seated in her truck, she fell into long -fits of brooding on the past. She was too old and too stereotyped -to change, the future held no hope for her, and as the meaning and -purpose of her existence faded, the life forces within her surely and -ever more rapidly ebbed. Reality to her became the discomfort of the -sun's heat, the dust of the road, the creak and scream of the trolly -wheels. She was incapable of relating herself to the great scheme of -life, her consciousness was limited, as it had always been limited, -to her immediate surroundings. She saw herself as a woman outrageously -used by fate, but to fate she gave no name; the very idea, indeed, -was too abstract to be appreciated by her. Blanche, Millie and that -horrible truck were all that was left of her world, and in spirit -she still moved in the beloved, familiar places of her suburban home. - - - - -3 - -As the Goslings trudged out into the Chilterns they came into new -conditions. Soon they found over-crowding in place of desolation. The -harvest was ripening and in a month's time the demand for labour -would almost equal the supply, for the labour offered was quite -absurdly unskilled and ten women would be required to perform the -work of one man equipped with machines. But at the end of July the -surplus of women, almost exclusively Londoners, had no employment -and little food, and many were living on grass, nettles, leaves, -any green stuff they could boil and eat, together with such scraps -of meat and vegetables as they could steal or beg. Their experiments -with wild green stuffs often resulted in some form of poisoning, -and dysentery and starvation were rapidly increasing the mortality -among them. Nevertheless, in Rickmansworth houses were still at a -premium, and many of those who camped perforce in fields or by the -roadside were too enfeebled by town-life to stand the exposure of the -occasional cold, wet nights. The majority of the women in this ring -were those who had been too weak to struggle on. They represented the -class least fitted to adapt themselves to the new conditions. The -stronger and more capable had persisted, and left these congested -areas behind them; and it was evident that in a very few months a -balance between labour and supply would be struck by the relentless -extermination of the weakest by starvation and disease. - -Blanche, if she was unable to grasp the problem which was being so -inevitably solved by the forces of natural law, was at least able -to recognize clearly enough that she and her two dependents must not -linger in the district to which they had now come. Aunt May had warned -her that she must push out as far as Amersham at the nearest, but -Millie was too tired and footsore to go much further than Rickmansworth -that night, and after a fruitless search for shelter they camped out -half a mile from the town in the direction of Chorley Wood. - -They made some kind of a shield from the weather by emptying and -tilting the trolly, and they hid their supply of food behind them -at the lowest point of this species of lean-to roof. The two girls -had realized that that supply would soon be raided if the fact of -its existence were to become known. They had been the object of -much scrutiny as they passed, and their appearance of well-being -had prompted endless demands for food, from that pitiful crowd of -emaciated women and children. It had been a demand quickly put on -one side by lying. Their applicants found it only too easy to believe -that the Goslings had no food hidden in the truck. - -"I hated to refuse some of 'em," Blanche said as they carefully -hid what food was left to them, before turning in for the night, -"but what good would our little bit have done among all that lot? It -would have been gone in half a jiff." - -"Well, of course," agreed Millie. - -Mrs Gosling had taken little notice of the starving crowd. "We've got -nothin' to give you," was her one form of reply. She might have been -dealing with hawkers in Wisteria Grove. - -She was curiously apathetic all that afternoon and evening, and -raised only the feeblest protestation against the necessity for -sleeping in the open air. But she was very restless during the night, -her limbs twitched and she moved continually, muttering and sometimes -crying out. And as the three women were all huddled together, partly -to make the most of their somewhat insufficient lean-to, and partly -because they were afraid of the terrors of the open air, both Blanche -and Millie were constantly aroused by their mother's movements. Once -they heard her calling urgently for "George." - -"Mother's odd, isn't she?" whispered Blanche after one such -disturbance. "Do you think she's going to be ill?" - -"Shouldn't wonder," muttered Millie. "Who wouldn't be?" - -In the morning Blanche was very careful with their food. For breakfast -they ate only part of a tin of condensed beef between them--Mrs Gosling -indeed ate hardly anything. The eggs which they had brought from -Sudbury they reserved, chiefly because they had neither water nor fire. - -They drank from a stream, later, and at midday Blanche and Millie -each ate one of the eggs raw. Mrs Gosling refused all food on this -occasion. She had been very quiet all the morning, and had made little -complaint when she had been forced to walk the many hills which they -were now encountering. - -Blanche was uneasy and tried to induce her mother to talk. "Do you -feel bad, mother?" she asked continually. - -"I wish I could get 'ome," was all the reply she received. - -"She'll be all right when we can get settled somewhere," grumbled -Millie. "If such a time ever comes." - - - - -4 - -They came to Amersham in the afternoon. The signs of misery and -starvation were here less marked. They were approaching the outer -edge of this ring of compression, having passed through the node at -Rickmansworth. The faint relief of pressure was evidenced to some -extent in the attitude of the people they addressed. It is true that -no immediate hope of food and employment were held out to them, but -on the one hand Blanche's inquiries were answered with less acerbity -and on the other they were less besieged by importunate demands for -charity. Blanche gave an egg to one precocious girl of thirteen or -so, who insisted on helping them to push the truck uphill, and she -and Millie watched the deft way in which the child broke the shell -at one end and sucked out the contents. Their own methods had been -both unclean and wasteful. - -They turned off the Aylesbury Road, towards High Wycombe late in the -afternoon and about a mile from Amersham came to a farm where they -made their last inquiry that day. - -Blanche saw signs of life in the outbuildings and went to investigate, -leaving Millie and her mother to guard the truck. She found three -women and a girl of fourteen or so milking. For some minutes she stood -watching them, the women, after one glance at her, proceeding with -their work without paying her any further attention. But, at last, -the eldest of the three rose from her stool with a sigh of relief, -picked up her wooden bucket of milk, gave the cow a resounding slap -on the side, and then, turning to Blanche, said, "Well, my gal, -what's for you?" - -"Will you change two pints of milk for a small tin of tongue?" asked -Blanche. It was the first time she had offered any of their precious -tinned meats in exchange for other food, but she wanted milk for her -mother, who had hardly eaten anything that day. - -The two other women and the girl looked round and regarded Blanche -with the first signs of interest they had shown. - -"Tongue, eh?" said the older woman. "Where from did you get tongue, -my gal?" - -"London," replied Blanche tersely. - -"When did you leave there?" asked the woman, and then Blanche was -engaged in a series of searching questions respecting the country -she had passed through. - -"You can have the milk if you've anything to put it in," said the -woman at last, and Blanche went to fetch the tongue and the two -bottles that they had had from Aunt May. - -The bottles had to be scalded, a precaution that had not occurred -to Blanche, and one of the other women was sent to carry out the -operation. - -"Well, your tale don't tell us much," said the woman of the farm, -"but we always pass the news here, now. Where are you going to sleep -to-night?" - -Blanche shrugged her shoulders. - -"You can sleep here in the outhouses, if you've a mind to," said the -woman, "but I warn you we get a crowd. Silly Londoners like yourself -for the most part, but we find a use for 'em somehow, though I'd give -the lot for three labourers." - -She paused and twisted her mouth on one side reflectively. "Ah! well," -she went on with a sigh, "no use grieving over them that's gone; -all I was goin' to say was, if you sleep here you'd better keep an -eye on what food you've got with you. My lot'll have it before you -can say knife, if they get half a chance." - -"It isn't us girls, me and my sister," explained Blanche. "It's -my mother. She's bad, I'm afraid. If she could sleep in your -kitchen...? She wouldn't steal anything." - -After a short hesitation the woman consented. - -Yet neither the glory of being once more within the four walls of a -house, nor the refreshment of the milk which she drank readily enough, -seemed appreciably to rouse Mrs Gosling's spirits. - -The woman of the farm, a kindly enough creature, plied the old lady -with questions, but received few and confused answers in reply. Mrs -Gosling seemed dazed and stupid. "A touch of the sun," the farmer's -widow thought. - -"The sun's been cruel strong the past week," she said, "but she'll -be all right in a day or two, get her to shelter." - -"Ah! that's the trouble," said Blanche. - -That night the farmer's widow said no more on that subject. She -allowed the three Goslings to sleep in an upstair room, in which -there was one small bed for the mother, and the two girls slept on -the floor. Exchanging confidence for confidence, they brought their -truck into the kitchen; and then the farmer's widow proceeded to lock -up for the night, an elaborate business, which included the fastening -of all ground-floor windows and shutters. - -"It's a thievin' crowd we've got about here," she explained, "and -you can't blame them or anyone when there ain't enough food to go -round. But we have to be careful for 'em. Let 'em go their own way -and they'd eat up everything in a week and then starve. It looks -like you're being hard on 'em, but it's for their own good. There's -some, of course," she went on, "as you have got to get shut of. Only -yesterday I had to send one of 'em packing. A Jew woman she was, -called 'erself Mrs Isaacson or something. She was a caution." - -Blanche wondered idly if this were the same Mrs Isaacson who had -stayed too long with Aunt May. - -The woman of the farm roused the Goslings at sunrise, and she, like -Aunt May, had a brisk, practical, morning manner. - -She gave the travellers no more food, but when they were nearly ready -to take the road again she gave them one valuable piece of information. - -"If I was you," she said, "I'd make through Wycombe straight along the -road here, and go up over the hill to Marlow. Mind you, they won't -let every one stop there. But you look two healthy gals enough and -it's getting on towards harvest when there'll be work as you can do." - -"Marlow?" repeated Blanche, fixing the name in her memory. - -The farmer's widow nodded. "There's a man there," she said. "A queer -sort, by all accounts. Not like Sam Evans, the butcher at Wycombe, -he ain't. Seems as this Marlow chap don't have no truck with gals, -except setting 'em to work. However, time'll show. He may change his -mind yet." - -They had some difficulty with Mrs Gosling. She refused feebly to -leave the house. "I ain't fit to go out," she complained, and when -they insisted she asked if they were going home. - -"Best say 'yes,'" whispered the woman of the farm. "The sun's got to -her head a bit. She'll be all right when you get her to Marlow." - -Blanche accepted the suggestion, and by this subterfuge Mrs Gosling -was persuaded into the truck. The girl found the ruins of an umbrella, -which they rigged up to protect her from the sun. - -Blanche and Millie were quite convinced now that their mother was -suffering from a slight attack of sunstroke. - -Both the girls were still footsore, and one of Millie's boots had worn -into a hole, but they had a definite objective at last, and only some -ten or twelve miles to travel before reaching it. - -"We shall be there by midday," said Blanche, hopefully. - -Unconsciously, every one was using a new measure of time. - - - - - - - -XVI--THE YOUNG BUTCHER OF HIGH WYCOMBE - - -1 - -Near Wycombe a woman rose from under the hedge as the Goslings -approached, and came out into the middle of the road. She was a -stout, florid woman, whose age might have been anything between forty -and fifty. Her gait and the droop of her shoulders, rather than the -flaccidity of her rather loose skin, gave her the appearance of being -past middle age. - -"Goot morning," she said as the Goslings came up. "If it iss no -inconvenience I would like to come with you." She spoke with a foreign -accent, thickening her final consonants and giving a different value -to some of her vowels. - -"Where to?" asked Blanche curtly. - -"Ah! that! what does it matter?" returned the woman. "I have been -living with a farmer's wife further back along the road there. But -she was not company for me. She was common. Now I see that you and -your mother are not common. And I do not care to live with farmers' -wives. But where we go? Does it matter? We all go to find work in the -fields--aristocrat as much as peasant. But iss it not better that we -who are not peasants should go together?" - -Millie giggled surreptitiously, and Mrs Gosling appeared conscious -of the fact that some one was addressing them. - -"We're goin' 'ome," she remarked, and Millie gently prodded her in -the back. - -"Goin' 'ome," repeated Mrs Gosling firmly. - -"Ach! You are lucky. There are few that have homes now," replied the -strange woman. "I had a home, once, how long ago. Now, during two -months, I have no home." She was evidently on the verge of tears. - -"Mother's got a touch of the sun," Blanche said in a low voice, "and -we have to pretend we're going home. You needn't tell her we're not." - -"Have no fear," replied the stranger. "I am all that is most discreet, -yes." - -Blanche hardened her heart. This woman took too much for granted. "I -don't see it's any use your coming with us," she said. - -"Ach! we others, we should cling together," said the stranger, with -a large gesture. - -"We're nobody," replied Blanche, curtly. - -"It iss well to say that. I know. There iss good reason. I, too, -must tell the common people that I am a nobody, I call myself, even, -Mrs Isaacson. But between us there iss no need to say what iss not -true. I can see what you are. Although I am not English, I have lived -many years already in England, and I can see. It iss well that we -cling together? Yes?" - -"Oh!" burst out Blanche. "You're Mrs Isaacson, are you? I've heard -of you." - -For one moment Mrs Isaacson's fine eyes seemed to look inwards in -an instantaneous review of her past. "Ach! so! Then we are friends -already," she said cautiously. - -"I heard of you from Aunt May," said Blanche, and the faint air of -respect with which she pronounced the name did not escape the notice -of the alert Jewess. - -"Ach! the so dear and so clever Auntie May," she said. "But she iss -too kind, and work so hard while her sister do always nothing. See, -I will help you to draw your poor mother who has a touch of the -sun. You and I at the handle and your beautiful sister to push, -while we talk a little of the clever Auntie May. Yes?" - -Blanche had been forewarned. She could only put one construction on -the little she had heard of Mrs Isaacson. But the Jewess's manner no -less than her conversation was subtly flattering. Moreover, she had -made no appeal for help; finally there was a certain urgency about -her, a force of will which Blanche found it difficult to resist. And -as the girl still hesitated Mrs Isaacson bravely seized her side of -the trolly handle and the procession moved on. - -The Goslings found a use for her when they came to the drop of Amersham -Hill, going down into High Wycombe. Blanche proposed that Mrs Gosling -should walk down, but the old lady did not seem to understand her. She -looked perplexed and kept saying, "I don't remember this road. Are -you sure we're goin' right, Blanche?" - -"Ah! she must not walk in this heat," put in Mrs Isaacson. "We three -can manage very well." And, indeed, although she manifestly suffered -greatly from the exertion, the Jewess was of very great assistance -in retarding the speed of the trolly as they made the perilous descent. - -After that there could be no question of calmly telling her to go -her own way. - -By the time they had crossed the almost deserted town--at that hour -nearly all the women were either in their houses or working in gardens -and fields--and had found their way to the Marlow road, Mrs Isaacson -had quite become one of the party, and by no means the least energetic. - -"We'll have something to eat and some milk, when we get through the -town," said Blanche as they faced the long hill up to Handy Cross. - -"Presently, presently," replied the heaving Mrs Isaacson, as though -food were of little importance to her, but accepting the admission -that she had earned the right to share equally with the others. - -Their first burst of energy after they had faced the ascent brought -them to the gates of Wycombe Abbey, and there they decided to rest -and lunch, blissfully ignorant of the long climb which lay before them. - -"It will be nice and quiet here in the shade," suggested Mrs Isaacson. - - - - -2 - -The old conventions would not have suffered them to sit and eat thus -under the walls, at the very gates of Wycombe Abbey. Their clothes and -their boots were wearing badly, and Mrs Isaacson, at least, was not -too clean. It was noticeable, however, that, despite the dryness of -the weather, little dust clung to them. The surface of the roads had -not been pounded and crushed into powder during the past six weeks -by the constant passage of wheeled traffic, and even in the tracks -frequented by farm carts the roads were stained with green. Indeed, -everything was greener than in the old days, everything was more -vigorous. Whether because the year had been favourable, or because -it was relieved from the burden of choking dust which it had had to -endure in other years from May onwards, the vegetation in hedges and -by the wayside appeared to grow more strongly and with a greater -self-assertion. And by contrast with this vigour and cleanness of -plant life, the four women in their tumbled clothes and untidy hats, -feeble and unsightly remnants of forgotten fashion, were as much out -of place as if they had been set down in ancient Greece. The dowdy -foolishness of their apparel marked them out from every other living -thing about them, they were intruders, despoilers of beauty. - -Some dim consciousness of this came to Blanche. - -They had spoken little as they ate--Mrs Gosling would touch nothing -but milk, and Mrs Isaacson strove desperately and with some success -to control the greed that showed in the concentrated eagerness of her -eyes and the grasping crook of her fingers--and when they had finished, -lingering in the relief of the shade, they were still silent. It seemed -as if the first word spoken must necessarily hasten the continuation -of their journey. - -"Oh! bother this old hat," said Blanche at last. "I'm going to take -mine off," and she drew out the solitary pin which remained to her -and cast the hat into the ditch. - -"That won't do it any good," remarked Millie but she, too, took off -her hat with a sigh of relief. - -"I'm going to chuck hats," said Blanche. "What's the good of 'em?" - -Mrs Isaacson looked doubtful. "They are a protection from the sun," -she said. - -"Allie never wore a hat, and she didn't come to any harm," returned -Blanche. - -"No?" said Mrs Isaacson, and looked thoughtful. - -Millie was running her fingers through the masses of her red-brown -hair, loosening it and lifting it from her head. - -"It is a relief," she remarked. "My head gets so hot." - -"Ah!" said Mrs Isaacson, "and what beautiful hair! It does not seem -right to hide it. I haf a comb in my bag. It is almost all I haf -left. Let me now comb your beautiful hair for you." - -"Oh! don't you bother," said Millie sheepishly, but she allowed -herself to be persuaded. "Don't lose the hair-pins," she warned her -newly-found lady's maid. - -"It seems so funny out here in the open road," giggled Millie. - -Mrs Isaacson's praise was fulsome. - -Blanche watched without comment. Mrs Gosling was plunged in -meditation. She was involved in an immense problem relating to the -housekeeping at Wisteria Grove. She was debating whether the lace -curtains at the front windows could be washed at home when they -went back. - -Suddenly the attention of the three younger women was caught by -unnatural sounds that came from the further side of the wall against -which they were leaning--sounds of voices, laughing and singing, -the crunch of wheels and the stamping of horses. - -The two girls jumped to their feet. Mrs Isaacson rose more -deliberately, with a grunt of expostulation. Mrs Gosling was in a -world far removed and continued to debate her problem. - -Millie's hands were fumbling at her hair, and Blanche was first at -the gate. - -"Oh! my!" she exclaimed. "Why, whatever...." - -"Goody!" squealed Millie, still struggling with her loose mane. - - - - -3 - -The centre and object of the curious crowd which moved slowly down -the drive was a landau and pair. The horses were decorated as if -for a May-day fête, grotesquely, foolishly decorated with roses, -syringa and buttercups made into shapeless bunches and tied to the -harness. Three or four women walked at the horses' heads, leading -them with absurdly beflowered ropes. - -Round the landau a dozen girls and young women were dancing, -chattering, singing, laughing; constantly turning to the occupant -of the carriage, for whose benefit the whole performance was being -conducted. Some of them had their necks and breasts bare, and all -appeared to be frankly shameless. They twisted and danced with -clumsy eagerness, threw themselves about, screamed and shrieked, -unaware of any observer but the one whose notice they were seeking -to attract. They were graceless, civilized savages; Bacchantes who -had never known the beauty of unconscious abandonment. There was the -ugliness of conscious purpose in their every attitude, and no trace -of the freedom that comes from careless rapture. - -In the carriage a man and a woman were sitting side by side. The -man was young, with strong claims to physical beauty--tall, -broad-shouldered, swarthy, with boldly modelled features and heavily -lidded eyes. But his skin was coarse; the bulk of his body was too -gross for clean, muscular strength; his curly, well-oiled hair was -thinning at the temples; his loose mouth leered and gaped. He was -dressed in a suit of broadly-patterned tweed, his great red fingers -were covered with rings, he wore a heavy gold bangle on each thick, -round wrist, and a sweet, frail rose was thrust into his black and -greasy hair. - -The woman beside him was the typical courtesan of the ages, low-browed -and full-lipped. Her eyes were eloquent with the subtleties of love, -with invitation, retreat, fear and desire. Had she been dressed -becomingly she would have been beautiful; but she was English and -modern, and her great meaningless hat and senseless garments were -of the fashion that had been in vogue just before the plague. This -reigning sultana and her lover were more incongruous in that setting -than the two dishevelled, travel-worn girls, who retreated timidly -to let the landau pass out between the great iron gates. - -The Bacchantes eyed the Goslings with obvious disfavour, but the -beauty in the landau seemed unaware of their presence until her lord's -attention was attracted by the sight of Millie's hair--it was all -down again, rippling and spreading to her waist. - -The young butcher had been lolling back in a corner of his carriage, -magnificently indolent, sure of worship; but his satiety was pierced by -the sight of that flaming mane. He sat up and looked at Millie with -the experienced eyes which had served him so well in his judgment -of cattle. - -"'Ere, 'alf a jiff," he commanded the nymphs at his horses' bridles, -and the carriage was stopped. - -Millie, covered with shame, shrank back, and cowered behind Blanche, -who threw up her chin and met the butcher's eyes with all the contempt -of which she was capable--little enough, perhaps, for she, too, was -weak with unreasoning terror. Behind their backs the Jewess grimaced -her scorn of them. - -"You needn't be afraid of me--I ain't goin' to 'urt yer----" began -the butcher, but his lady interrupted him. - -Her fine eyes grew bright with anger. "If you stop here, I shall get -out," she said, and her inflexion was not that of the people. - -The butcher visibly hesitated. It may be that this chain had held -him too long and was beginning to gall him, but he looked at her -and wavered. - -"No 'arm in stoppin'," he muttered. "Pass the news an' that." - -"Are you going on?" demanded the beauty fiercely. - -"All right, all right," he returned sullenly. "You needen' get so -blasted 'uffy about it, old gal. Oh, gow on, you!" he added to the -nymphs. "Wot the 'ell are yer starin' at?" - -As the landau moved on, he looked back once at Millie. - - - - -4 - -"What a brute," said Blanche when the procession had passed on down -the hill towards Wycombe. - -"How he stared at my hair," said Millie, with a giggle. "I did try -to get it up, but it's that stubborn with the heat or something." - -"Lucky for us he had that creature with him," commented Blanche. - -Millie assented without fervour. She was bold enough now the danger -had passed. - -Mrs Isaacson looked from one to the other and attempted no criticism -of the adventure. - -"You must let me do up your beautiful hair," she said to the simpering -Millie. - -Millie was grateful. "It is kind of you, Mrs Isaacson, I'm sure," -she said. "My hair is a trouble. I sometimes think I'll cut it all -off and be done with it...." - -She appeared excited and chatted incessantly while the hair-dressing -continued, and Blanche restored the remains of their meal to the -trolly. - -With some difficulty they succeeded in getting Mrs Gosling back -into her carriage. She had taken no notice of the procession, but -as they were starting again she awoke from her abstraction to ask: -"When d'you expect we'll be 'ome, Blanche? I've been thinkin' about -them curtains in the drawin'-room...." - -"We'll be home in an hour or two, now," Blanche said, reassuringly. She -did not know what a struggle awaited them before they should top the -hill at Handy Cross. - -Mrs Isaacson had forsaken her place at the pole. "I shall be able to -push more strongly behind," she had said, but despite the theoretical -gain in mechanical advantage obtained by the new arrangement, the hill -seemed never-ending. They had to rest continually, and always they -looked with increasing irritation at the quiet figure in the trolly, -chief cause of their distress. - -"I believe she could walk all right," Millie broke out at last. - -"If it was for a little way, it would help," commented Mrs Isaacson. - -But when Blanche put the proposition to her mother, Mrs Gosling -seemed unable to comprehend it, and pity influenced them to renew -the struggle. - -So they toiled on with growing impatience until they reached level -ground again; and presently, looking down over the long slope of the -valley, saw, two miles and a half away, the spire of Marlow Church. - -They rested under a hedge for a time, and when they started again -Millie followed her sister's example and discarded her hat. Blanche, -with a certain courage of opinion, had left hers under the walls of -Wycombe Abbey, but Millie's hat found a place in the trolly. - -The ease of the long descent permitted a renewal of conversation, -and Mrs Isaacson and Millie talked in undertones as they made their -way down towards Marlow. Blanche took little notice of them; she -was struggling perplexedly with the problems of life. Mrs Gosling's -presence was negligible. - -"That was a very handsome fellow in the carriage," remarked Mrs -Isaacson suddenly, "I think you do well not to go near that place -again." Her fine eyes fixedly regarded the broad, rusty back of Mrs -Gosling and the broken ribs of her umbrella. - -Millie simpered. "Oh! I should be safe enough. His wife'd see to that." - -"She was not his wife," returned Mrs Isaacson. "Men would not marry -now that they are so few." - -"Well! there's a thing to say!" exclaimed Millie on a note of -expostulation, interested nevertheless. - -"It iss true," continued Mrs Isaacson. "I haf heard of this handsome -young fellow. He iss a butcher, and he goes every day to kill the -sheep and cows, because the women do not like that work. And he iss -very strong, and clever also. He teach a few of the women how to cut -up the sheep and the cows. And he iss much admired, it iss of course, -by all the young women; but he does not marry because he is one man -among so many women, and it would not be right that he should love -only one, for so there would be so few children and the world would -die. Yes! But he has for a time one who iss favourite, for another time -another favourite. And that iss why I warn you not to return. Because -I see that he admire your so beautiful hair. And I see that if you -had not been so modest and so good, and hide behind your sister, he -would have come down from his carriage and put you up there beside -him. And he would have said to that bold ugly woman. 'Go, I tire of -you, I will haf beside me this one who iss young and beautiful and -has hair of gold.' It iss not safe for you, there." - -"Oh! I say," commented Millie. - -"It iss true," nodded Mrs Isaacson, with intensest conviction. - -"Oh! well, thank goodness, I'm not one of that sort," said Millie, -warm in the knowledge of her virtue. - -"Truly not," assented Mrs Isaacson. "You must not be displeased that -I warn you. It iss not your goodness that I doubt. It iss that this -man iss so powerful. He iss able to do what he wishes. He iss a king." - -"Goody!" was the mark of surprise with which Millie punctuated this -remarkable piece of information, and for several yards they trudged -on in silence. - -But Millie soon revived this fascinating subject by saying -thoughtfully, "Well, you don't catch me over there again." - -"Truly not. It iss not wise," agreed Mrs Isaacson, and proceeded to -enlarge upon Millie's dangerous beauty. - -It was a topic entirely new to Millie. She simpered and giggled, -disclaimed her attractions, protested that Mrs Isaacson was "getting -at" her, and became so absorbed in the fascination of her disavowal -that she forgot her weariness, her tender feet--naked to the road -in two places--and all her discouragements. She walked with a more -conscious air, straightening her back and lifting her head. The blood -moved more freely in her veins, and she presently became so vivacious -in her replies that Blanche was aroused to a sense of something -unfamiliar. She checked the trolly and looked back at her sister, -past the quiet brooding figure of Mrs Gosling. - -"What is it, Mill?" she asked. - -"Oh! nothing!" replied Millie. "We were just talking." - -"Seem to be enjoying yourselves," said Blanche. - -"We were saying that we shall soon now arrive at some place where we -can rest. Yes?" put in Mrs Isaacson, and thus established a ground -of confidence between herself and Millie. - -"P'raps. I dunno!" returned Blanche. She sighed and looked round her. - -In the fields between them and Marlow they could see here and there -little figures stooping and straightening. - -"Ooh!" exclaimed Millie, suddenly. - -"What?" asked Blanche. - -"There's another man," said Millie, pointing. "We'd better scoot!" - -But they made no attempt to put such an impossible plan into -action. The man had evidently seen them. He was coming towards -them across one of the fields, shouting to attract their -attention. "Hi! wait a minute!" they thought he was saying. - -"Mill!" exclaimed Blanche, with extraordinary emphasis. - -"What?" asked Millie, nervously. She was flushed and trembling. - -"Do you see who it is?" - -"It isn't the one out of the carriage...." hesitated Millie. - -"No! Silly. It's that young fellow who used to live with us, our Mr -Fastidious. What was his name? Thrale! You remember." - -"Goody!" said Millie. She was conscious of a quite inexplicable -feeling of disappointment. - -"He iss a friend? Yes?" asked Mrs Isaacson. - - - - - - - - -BOOK III - -WOMANKIND IN THE MAKING - - -XVII--LONDON TO MARLOW - - -1 - -The history of mankind is the history of human law. The larger -ordinances of the universe are commonly referred to some superior -lawgiver, under such names as God and physico-chemical action; names -which appear mutually subversive only to the bigot, whether theologian -or biologist. These larger ordinances sometimes appear inflexible, -as in the domain of physics and chemistry, sometimes empirical as in -the development of species, but we may believe that if they change at -all, the period of change is so great as to be outside any possibility -of observation by a few thousand generations of mankind. - -Human law, on the other hand, is tentative, without sound precedent -and in its very nature mutable. In our miserably limited record of -history, that paltry ten thousand years which is but a single tick of -the cosmic watch, we have been unable to formulate any overruling law -to which other laws are subject. Climate, race and condition impose -certain limitations, and within that enceinte civilizations have -developed a system of rules, increasing always in complexity, and have -then failed to maintain their place in the competitive struggle. It -has been rashly suggested that the overriding law of laws is that -rigidity is fatal to the nation. An analogy has been found in the -growth of the child. Here and there some bold spirit has ventured -the daring hypothesis that if a young child be confined within a -perfectly fitting iron shell he will not grow. Such speculations, -however, do not appeal to mankind as a whole. Perhaps the truth of -the matter is that nothing appals us so much as the idea that man -is capable of growth. Is it not inconceivable that any race of men -could be wiser, more perfect than ourselves? - -Nevertheless, out of all vague speculation one deliciously certain -axiom presents itself, namely that mankind cannot live without law -of some kind. The most primitive savage has his ordinances. The -least primary concussion of individuals develops a rule of practice, -whether it takes such diverse forms as "hit first," or "present the -other cheek"; although the latter rule has not yet been developed -beyond the stage of theory. - -In the unprecedented year of the new plague, the old rules were thrown -into the melting pot, but within three months humanity was evolving -precedents for a new statute book. The concussions of these three -months were fierce and destructive. Women, in the face of death, killed -and stole in the old primitive ways, unhampered now by the necessity -to kill and steal according to the tedious rules of twentieth-century -civilization, rules that women had never been foolish enough to -reverence in the letter. All those complex and incomprehensible laws -had been made by men for men, and after the plague there was none -to administer them, for no women and few men had ever had the least -idea what the law was. Even the lawgivers themselves had had to wait -for the pronouncement of some prejudiced or unprejudiced judge. Women -had long known what our Bumbles can only learn by bitter experience, -inspired to vision in some moment of fury or desolation. - -But within three months of the first great exodus of women from the -town, one dominant law was being brought to birth. It was not written -on tables of stone, nor incorporated in any swollen, dyspeptic book of -statutes; it was not formulated by logic, nor was it the outcome of -serious thought by any individual or by a solemn committee. The law -rose into recognition because it was a necessity for the life of the -majority, and although that majority was not compact, had no common -deliberate purpose, and had never formulated their demand in precise -language, the new law came into being before harvest and was accepted -by all but a small resentful minority of aristocrats and landowners, -as a supreme ordinance, indisputably just. - -This law was that every woman had a right to her share in the bounty -of Nature, and the corollary was that she earned her right by labour. - -In those days the justice of the principle was perfectly obvious; -so obvious, indeed, that the law came to birth without the obstetric -skill of any parliament whatever. - - - - -2 - -It is now impossible to say why such different types of male humanity -as Jasper Thrale, George Gosling or the Bacchus of Wycombe Abbey -escaped the plague. The bacillus (surely a strangely individual -type, it must have been) was never isolated, nor the pathology of -the disease investigated. The germ was some new unprecedented growth -which ran through a fierce cycle of development within a few months, -changed its nature as it swarmed into every corner of the earth, -and finally expired more quickly than it had come into being. - -If the male survivors in Europe and the East had been of one type, -some theory might be formulated to account for their immunity; but -so far as science can pronounce an opinion, the living male residue -can only be explained by the doctrine of chances. A few escaped, -by accident. In the British Isles there may have been 1,500 men who -thus survived. In the whole of Europe, besides, there were less than -a thousand. It seems probable that even before Scotland was attacked -the climax had been reached; by the time the plague reached England -the first faint evidences of a decline in virulence may be marked.... - -From the first, Jasper Thrale ventured his life without an -afterthought. He was fearless by nature. He did not lack those powers -of imagination which are commonly supposed to add so greatly to the -terror of death, he simply lacked the feeling of fear. In all his life -he had never experienced that sickness of apprehension which dissolves -our fibre into a quivering jelly--as though the spirit had already -withdrawn from the trembling inertia of the flesh. Perhaps Thrale's -spirit was too dominant for such retreat, was more completely master -of its material than is the spirit of the common man. For the spirit -cannot know bodily fear, it is the apprehensive flesh that wilts and -curdles at the approach of danger. And it is worthy of notice that -in the old days, up to the early twentieth century, these rare cases -of fearlessness in individuals were more often found among women than -among men. - -Thrale, with his perfectly careless courage, found plenty of work for -himself in London during May and early June. He acted as a scavenger, -and still went far afield with his burial cart long after every trace -of living male humanity had disappeared from the streets of London. - -Then one day, at the end of June, he realized that his task was -futile, and it came to him that there was work awaiting him of more -importance than this purification of streets which might never again -echo to the traffic of humanity. - -So he chose the best bicycle he could find in Holborn Viaduct, -stripped a relay of four tyres from other machines, and with these -and a reserve of food made into a somewhat cumbrous parcel, he set -out to explore the new world. - -He took the Bath Road, intending to make exploration of the fertile -West Country. He had Cornish blood in his veins, and his ultimate -goal was the county which had almost escaped urbanization. As he then -visualized the problem, it appeared that life would offer greater -possibilities in such places. - -But before he reached Colnbrook, he had recognized that work was -required of him nearer home. The exodus was then in progress. He came -through armies of helpless women and children flying from starvation; -women who had no object in view save that of escape to the country; -"Silly Londoners" with no knowledge of how food was to be obtained -when their goal was reached. - -He did not stay there, however. He was beginning to see the outline of -his plan, and at the same time the limitation of his own powers. He -saw that enough food could not be raised near London to support the -multitude, that the death of the many was demanded by the needs of -the few if any were to survive, and that communities must be formed -with the common purpose of tilling the land and excluding those who -could not earn their right to support. In such a catastrophe as this, -charity became a crime. - -He intended even then to push on beyond Reading, but in Maidenhead -he met a woman who influenced him to a nearer goal. - - - - -3 - -She stepped into the road and held up her hand. - -Thrale stopped; he thought she was about to make the familiar demand -either for food or a direction. - -"Well?" he said curtly. - -"Where are you going?" she asked. - -He shrugged his shoulders. "To find room," he said. - -"There is room for you near here," said the woman, "if you'll work." - -"At what?" he asked. - -"Machinery, harvesting machinery, agricultural machinery of all sorts." - -"Where?" asked Thrale. - -She dropped her voice and looked about her. "Marlow," she -said. "It--it's an eddy. Off the main roads and by the river. There -are less than a thousand women there at present, and we are keeping -the others out; at least until after harvest. There is plenty of land -about, and we're keeping ourselves at present. Only we do want a man -for the machines. Will you come and help us?" - -"I'll come and see what I can do," said Thrale "I won't promise -to stay." - -"Aren't there any other men, there?" he added after a moment's -hesitation. - -"One at Wycombe," said the women. "He's a butcher, but----" - -"I understand," said Thrale. - -"And meanwhile you might help me," said the woman. "I come over here -with a horse and cart to raid the seedsmen's shops. If we leave them -the women would eat all the beans and peas and things, you know; -enough to feed us for the winter gone in a week, and no one any the -better. Isn't it awful how careless we are?" - - - - -4 - -She was a fair, clear-eyed girl, with the figure and complexion of -one who had devoted considerable attention to outdoor sports. She -was wearing a man's Norfolk jacket (men's clothing was so plentiful), -and a skirt that barely reached her knees, and did not entirely hide -cloth knickerbockers which might also have been adapted from a man's -garment. Below the knickerbockers she displayed thick stockings and -sandals. Her splendid fair hair furnished sufficient protection for -her head, and she had dressed a pillow of it into the nape of her -neck as a shield for the sun. - -Thrale looked at her with a frank curiosity as they made their way up -the town to a seedsman's shop. She had left the horse and cart there, -she explained, while she explored other streets of the town. - -"Who are you?" he asked. - -"Eileen, of Marlow," she said. "There doesn't seem to be another -Eileen there, so one name's enough." - -"Is that how your community feel about it?" he asked. - -She smiled. "We're beginning," she said. - -He pondered that for a time, and then asked, "Who were you?" - -"Does it matter?" was the answer. - -"Not in the least," said Thrale. "Never did much so far as I was -concerned, but I have a memory of having seen your photographs in -the illustrated papers. I was wondering whether you had been actress, -peeress, scandal; or perhaps all three." - -She laughed. "I'm the eldest daughter of the late Duke of Hertford," -she said, "the ci-devant Lady Eileen Ferrar, citizen." - -"Oh, was that it?" replied Thrale carelessly. "Where's this shop -of yours?" - -The loot was heavier than Eileen had anticipated. The shop had been -ransacked, but they found an untouched store, containing such valuables -as beans, potatoes and a few small sacks of turnip seed at the bottom -of a yard. When these had been placed in the cart, they decided that -the load was sufficient for one horse. - -They took the longer road to Marlow, through Bourne End, to avoid -the hill. Eileen walked at the horse's head, with Thrale beside her -wheeling his bicycle, and during those two hours he learnt much of -the little community which he proposed to serve for a time. - -It seemed that in Marlow--and the same thing must have happened in -a hundred other small towns throughout the country--a few women had -taken control of the community. These women were of all classes and -the committee included an Earl's widow, a national schoolmistress, -a small green-grocer, and an unmarried woman of property living -half a mile out of the town. These women had worked together in an -eminently practical way; at first to relieve distress, and then to -plan the future. They had wasted little time in discussions among -themselves--none of them had the parliamentary sense of the uses -of debate. When they had disagreed, they had had plenty of scope to -carry out varying methods within their own spheres of influence. - -Their first and most difficult task had been to teach the members -of their community to work for the common good, and that task was -by no means perfected as yet. Co-operation was agreeable enough to -those who had nothing to lose, but the women in temporary possession -of the sources of food supply were not so easily convinced. In many -instances the committee's arguments had been suddenly clenched by an -exposition of force majeure, and property owners had discovered to -their amazement that they had no remedy. - -But the head and leader of Marlow was a farmer's daughter of -nineteen, a certain Carrie Oliver. Her father had had a small farm -in the Chilterns not far from Fingest. He had been a lazy, drunken -creature, and from the time Carrie had left the national school she -had practically carried on the work of the farm single handed. She -liked the work; the interest of it absorbed her. - -The Marlow schoolmistress had remembered her when the committee had -first faced the daunting task of providing for the future. They had -been more or less capable of organizing a majority of the women, -but no member of the committee knew the secrets of agriculture and -stock-breeding, and in all Marlow and the neighbourhood no woman -had been found who was capable of instructing them in all that was -necessary. - -A deputation of three had been sent to Fingest, and had discovered -Miss Oliver in the midst of plenty, cultivating her farm in comfort -now that she had been relieved of her father's unwelcome presence. - -She had been covered with confusion when requested to leave her retreat -and take command of a town and the surrounding twenty thousand acres -or so within reach of the new community. - -"Oh! I can't," she had said, blushing and ducking her head. "It's -easy enough; I'll tell you if there's anything you want to know." - -The deputation had then put the case very clearly before her, pointing -out that in Miss Oliver's hands lay the future of a thousand lives. - -"Oh, dear. I dunno. What can I do?" Carrie had said, and when the -deputation had urged that she should return with them and take charge -forthwith, she had replied that that was quite impossible, that there -were the cows to milk, the calves, pigs and chickens to feed, and -goodness knew how many other necessary things to be done before sunset. - -The deputation had said that cows, calves, horses, sheep, pigs and -chickens might and should be transferred forthwith to the neighbourhood -of Marlow. - -It had taken three days to convince her, Eileen said, and added, -"But she's splendid, now. It's wonderful what a lot she knows; and -she rides about on a horse everywhere and sees to everything. The -difficulty is to stop her getting down and doing the work herself." - -Thrale understood that, exceptional male as he was, his position in -Marlow would be subordinate to that of Miss Oliver. - -"Does she understand agricultural machinery?" he asked. - -"Oh, yes," returned Eileen. "But she hasn't time, you see, to attend -to all that, and it's so jolly difficult to learn. I've been doing a -bit. I'm better at it than most of 'em. But when I saw you it struck -me how ripping it would be if you'd come and take over that side. Men -are so jolly good at machinery. We shouldn't miss them much if it -weren't for that." - - - - -5 - -After a marked preliminary hesitation the committee appointed -Jasper Thrale chief mechanic of Marlow. The hesitation was -understandable. Their only experience of the ways of men in this -altered civilization had been drawn from observations of Mr Evans -at Wycombe. His manner of life appeared representative of what they -might expect. Nevertheless they did not openly condemn him, although -he proved an immediate source of trouble, even to these organizers -in Marlow. The youth of the place was apt to wander over the hill -in the evenings; "just for fun," they said. They went in twos and -threes, and occasionally one of them stayed behind. These evening -walks interfered with work. "Later on I shouldn't mind so much," -Lady Durham had said, commenting on the loss of a young and active -worker, "but there is so much to do just now." Her comment showed -that even then the situation was being accepted, and that many women -were prepared to adapt their old opinions to new conditions. It also -showed why the committee hesitated to accept Thrale's services. - -Thrale understood their difficulty, and went straight to the point. - -"You are afraid that the young women will be wasting time, running -after me," he said. "Set your minds at rest. That won't last. And if -you give me pupils for my machinery I should prefer women over forty -in any case. I believe I shall find them more capable." - -He was right in one way. When the excitement of his coming had -subsided, he was not the cause of much wasted time. He adopted a -manner with the younger women which did not encourage advances. He -was, in fact, quite brutally frank. When the young women devised all -kinds of impossible excuses to linger in his vicinity he sent them -away with hot indignant faces. Among those who sought their sterile -amusements in Wycombe it became the fashion openly to express hatred -and contempt for "that engine fellow." It was agreed that he "wasn't a -proper man." Another section, however, talked scandal, and hinted that -assistant-engineer Eileen was the cause of Thrale's pretended misogyny. - -The committee found their work more complicated in some respects -after Thrale's coming. - -Thrale, himself, was supremely indifferent to any scandal or expression -of hatred. He had his hands full, his hours of work were only limited -by daylight, and six hours sleep was all he asked for or desired. After -a very brief introduction to the intricacies of reaper and rake at -the hands of Miss Oliver--her father had never been able to afford -a binder, but the days of corn-harvest were still far ahead--he set -himself to learn the mysteries of all the agricultural machinery in the -neighbourhood; traction engines, steam ploughs and thrashing machines, -and to pass on the knowledge he gained to his pupils. He found them -stupid at first, but they were patient and willing for the most part. - -Then, handicapped by the lack of coal, he rode over to Bourne End and -discovered two locomotives. One of them was standing on the line a -mile out of the station with a full complement of coaches attached, -the other was an unencumbered goods engine in a siding. He chose the -latter for his first experiment, and succeeded in driving it back -to Marlow. It groaned and screamed in a way that indicated serious -organic trouble, but after he had overhauled it, it proved capable -of taking him to Maidenhead, where he found a sound engine in a shed. - -After that he devoted three days to getting a clear line to Paddington, -a tedious process which involved endless descents from the cab, -and mountings into signal boxes, experiments with levers and the -occasional necessity for pushing whole trains out of his path into -some siding. But at last he returned with magnificent loot of coal -from the almost untouched London yards beyond Ealing. - -London was still the storehouse of certain valuable commodities. - -His passage through the surrounding country was hailed with cries of -amazement and jubilant acclamation. The first railway surely excited -less astonishment than did Thrale on his solitary engine. Doubtless -the unfortunate women who saw him pass believed that the gods of -machinery had returned once more to bring relief from all the burden -of misery and unfamiliar work. - -And once the points were set and the way open to London by rail he -could go and return with tools and many other necessaries that had -offered no temptation to the starving multitude who had fled from -the town. - -Marlow was greatly blessed among the communities in those days. - - - - -6 - -The harvest was early that year, and Miss Oliver decided to cut -certain fields of barley at the end of July. - -Thrale's energies were then diverted to the superintendence of the -reapers and binders, and he rode from field to field, overlooking -the work of his pupils or spending furious hours in struggle with -some refractory mechanism. - -One Saturday, an hour or two after midday, he was returning from some -such struggle, when he saw a strange procession coming down that long -hill from Handy Cross, which some pious women regarded as the road -to hell. - -Casual immigration had almost ceased by that time, but the sight -indicated the necessity for immediate action. The immigration laws -of Marlow, though not coded as yet, were strict; and only bona fide -workers were admitted, and even those were critically examined. - -Thrale shouted to attract attention and the procession stopped. - -When he came through the gate on to the road, he was accosted by name. - -"Oh, Mr Thrale, fancy finding you," said the young woman at the pole -of the truck. - -The meeting of Livingstone and Stanley was far less amazing. - -An old woman perched on the truck and partly sheltered by the remains -of an umbrella, regarded his appearance with some show of displeasure. - -"By rights 'e should 'ave written to me in the first place," she -muttered. - -"Mother's got a touch of the sun," explained Blanche hurriedly. - -Thrale had not yet spoken. He was considering the problem of whether -he owed any duty to these wanderers, which could override his duty -to Marlow. - -"Where have you come from?" he asked. - -Blanche and Millie explained volubly, by turns and together. - -"You see, we don't let anyone stay here," said Thrale. - -Blanche's eyebrows went up and she waved her too exuberant sister -aside. "We're willing to work," she said. - -"And your mother?" queried Thrale. "And this other woman?" - -"Ach! I work too," put in Mrs Isaacson. "I have learnt all that is -necessary for the farm. I milk and feed chickens and everything." - -"You'll have to come before the committee," said Thrale. - -"Anywhere out of the sun," replied Blanche, "and somewhere where we -can put mother. She's very bad, I'm afraid." - -"You can stay to-night, anyway," returned Thrale. - -Millie made a face at him behind his back, and whispered to Mrs -Isaacson, who pursed her mouth. - -"Well, you do seem more civilized here," remarked Blanche as the -procession restarted towards Marlow. Thrale, with something of the -air of a policeman, was walking by the side of the pole. - -"You've come at a good time," was his only comment. - -Millie had another shock before they reached the town. She saw what -she thought was a second man, on horseback this time, coming towards -them. Marlow, she thought, was evidently a place to live in. But -the figure was only that of Miss Oliver in corduroy trousers, -riding astride. - - - - -7 - -Fate had dropped the Goslings into Buckinghamshire to fulfil their -destiny. They had been led to Marlow by a casual direction, here -and there, after the first propulsion of Blanche's instinct had sent -them into the country beyond Harrow. And fate, doubtless with some -incomprehensible purpose of its own in view, had quietly decided -that in Marlow they were to stay. They had been dropped at a season -when, for the first time in the long three months' history of the -community, there was a shortage of labour; and Blanche and Millie, -browned by exposure and generally improved by their first six days of -healthy life, were quite acceptable additions to the population at that -moment. As for Mrs Isaacson, a lady of sufficient initiative and force -of character to require no kindly interposition of Providence on her -behalf, she arranged her own future as an expert of farm management, -and incidentally as the Goslings' housemate. Mrs Isaacson was a burr -that would stick anywhere for a time. She displayed an unexpected -and highly specialized knowledge of the management of farms, when -confronted with the expert Miss Oliver who was far too embarrassed -to press her questions home. The casual remarks of Aunt May and her -helpers had been retained in Mrs Isaacson's brilliant memory and she -displayed her knowledge to the best possible advantage, filling the -gaps with irrelevant volubility, gesture and histrionic struggles -with the English language, which proved suddenly inadequate to the -expression of these recondities that the German would have so aptly -expressed. It was inferred that in her native Bavaria, Mrs Isaacson -had farmed in the grand style. - -Only Mrs Gosling, useless and ineligible, remained for consideration, -and she for once took a firm line of her own, and defied the committee, -Marlow generally, and the negligible remainder of the cosmos, to -alter her determination. - -The home at which they had finally arrived did not suit her. The -tiny cottage of three rooms in the little street that runs down to -the town landing stage had no lace curtains in the front window, -no suites of furniture, no hall to save the discreet caller from -stepping through the front door straight into the single living-room, -no accumulation of dustable ornaments, not even a strip of carpet -or linoleum to cover the nakedness of a bricked floor. It was not -civilized; it was not decent according to the refined standards of -Wisteria Grove; it was an impossible place for any respectable woman -to live in, and Mrs Gosling, with unexpected force of character, -chose the obvious alternative. She did not, however, make any -announcement of her determination; she was wrapped in a speculative -depression that found no relief in words. She had been so ordered, -hoisted, dragged and bumped through the detested country during the -past six days that all show of authority had been taken from her. It -may be that deep in her own mind she cherished a sullen and enduring -resentment against her daughters, and had vowed to take the last and -unanswerable revenge of which humanity is capable. But outwardly she -preserved that air of incomprehension which had marked her during the -last stages of their journey, and committed herself to no statement -of the enormous plan which must have been forming in her mind. - -When they took her into the small, brick-paved room and deposited -her temporarily on a wooden-seated chair, while they unpacked what -remained to them in the accursed trolly, Mrs Gosling took one brief -but comprehensive survey of her naked surroundings. - -"She's a bit touched, isn't she?" whispered Millie to her sister. "Do -you think she understands where we are or what we're doing?" - -Blanche shook her head. "I expect she'll be all right in a day or two," -she ventured, "It's the sun." - -The two girls, stirred to a new outlook on life by the extraordinary -experiences of the past months, were on the threshold of diverse -adventures. After the toil and anxiety of their tramp through -inhospitable country, and the hazard of the open air, this reception -into a community and settlement into a permanent shelter afforded a -relief which was too unexpected to be qualified as yet by criticism, -or any comparison with past glories. They were young and plastic, -and to each of them the future seemed to hold some promise; to them -the silence and immobility of their mother could only be evidence of -impaired faculties. - -"We must get her to bed," said Blanche. - -Even when Mrs Gosling asked with perfect relevance, "Are we going to -stop 'ere, Blanche?" they humoured her with evasive replies. "Well, -for a day or two, perhaps," and "Look here, don't you worry about -that. We're going to put you to bed." - -Her head dropped again and she fell back into her moody -silence. Doubtless she meditated on the many wrongs her daughters -had done her, and wondered why she should have been brought out to -die in this wilderness? - -During the nine days that elapsed before her plan matured, she made -no further comment on her surroundings. She lay in the upstairs room, -sleeping little, with no desire ever again to face the terror of a -world which demanded a new mode of thought. Unconsciously she had -adopted Blanche's phrase, "Everything's different," but to her the -message was one of doom, she could not live in a different world. - -And Blanche on her side was puzzled at her mother's apathy and said, -"I can't understand it." Yet both the changed conditions and Mrs -Gosling's unchangeable habit were fundamental things. - - - - - - - -XVIII--MODES OF EXPRESSION - - -1 - -In Marlow that year harvesting and thrashing were carried on -simultaneously. August was very dry, and the greater part of the corn -was never stacked at all. Thrale took his engines into the fields, -and the shocks were loaded on to carts and fed directly into the -thrasher. This method entailed some disadvantages, chief among them -the retarding of the actual harvest-work, but on the whole it probably -economized labour. The scheme would doubtless have been impracticable -in the days of small private ownership, but it worked well in this -instance, favoured as it was by the drought. - -The saving of labour during those six weeks of furious toil was a -matter of the first importance. The work, indeed, was too heavy for -many of the women who were unable to stand the physical strain of -hoisting sheaves from the waggons into the thrasher; and the sacks -of grain proved so unmanageable that Thrale had to devise a makeshift -hoist for loading them into the carts. In Marlow, at least, machinery -was still triumphant, and the committee sighed their relief in the -sentence: "I don't know what we should have done without Jasper -Thrale." Nevertheless it is quite certain that they would have -done without him if it had not been for that fortuitous meeting -in Maidenhead. - -For Thrale there was no rest possible, even when the last field had -been cleared and the last clumsily-built stack of straw or unthrashed -corn erected. Besides the necessity for some form of thatching--or, -failing efficiency in that direction, for completing the thrashing -operations--he had to turn his attention to the immensely difficult -problem of turning the grain into flour. He knew vaguely that the -grain ought to be cleaned and conditioned before grinding, and that -the actual separation of the constituents of the berry was a matter -of importance; but he had no practical knowledge of the various -operations, and in this matter Miss Oliver was quite unable to -help him. - -The mill beside the lock presented itself as an intricate and -enormously detailed problem which must be solved by a concentrated -effort of induction. The only person who appeared to be of real -assistance to him was Eileen, and she was apt to tire and fall into -despair when the detail of involved and often concealed machinery -baffled them for hour after hour. Nevertheless Thrale solved this -problem also. His first concern was for a head of water. The weirs -had not been touched since the beginning of May, and the river was -very low, but by mid-September there was enough water to work for -a few hours every day, and, despite endless mistakes and setbacks, -the mill was turning out a sufficient supply of fairly respectable -looking flour. - -Thrale had that wonderful masculine faculty for thus applying himself -to a mechanical problem, and, like his predecessors in mechanical -invention, it was the problem and not any promise of future reward -which interested him. He became absorbed for the time in that problem -of grinding corn, grudging the hours he was obliged to devote to -other activities; and when he felt the throb of life running through -the mill, saw the women he had taught attending each to their own -appointed task in the economy, and felt the touch of the fine, smooth -flour between his fingers, he needed no thanks from the committee -nor promise of independence to reward him for his labour. The sight -of this thing he had created was sufficient recompense. He loved this -beautiful efficient toy that changed wheat into flour, and oats into -meal, it was his to father and to fight for; the perfect child of -his ingenuity and toil. - -But if Thrale's time was tremendously occupied the women found that -they had more opportunities for leisure after harvest. They were still -employed in field and garden, and there was still much to be done, -but their hours were shorter and the work seemed light in contrast -with the heroic labour that had been necessary at the harvest. - -And with this first coming of comparative ease, this first -opportunity for reflection since the terrible plague had thrust upon -them the necessity for fierce and unremitting effort to produce the -essentials of life, women began to express themselves in their various -ways. Aspirations and emotions that had been crushed by the fatigues -of physical labour began to revive; personal inclinations, jealousies -and resentments became manifest in the detail of intercourse; old -prejudices, religious and social, once more assumed an aspect of -importance in the interactions of individuals. There was a faint stir -in the community, the first sign of a trouble which was steadily to -increase as winter laid its bond upon the storehouses of earth. - - - - -2 - -The two Goslings, working only six or seven hours a day in the -mill during the latter part of September, found plenty of time for -chatter and speculation. They, and more especially Blanche, had shown -themselves capable workers in the harvest field, but when hands had -been required in his mill Thrale had chosen the Goslings and those whom -he considered less adapted to field work; and among them Mrs Isaacson -and a member of the committee, Miss Jenkyn, the schoolmistress. (The -education problem was in abeyance for the time being. The children had -run wild for three months, and been subject only to the discipline -of their mothers, but it was understood that the children were to -receive attention when the winter brought opportunity.) - -Blanche soon distinguished herself as a picked worker in this -sphere. Her intelligence was of a somewhat more masculine quality -in some respects than that of the average woman; she was slower, -more detailed, more logical in her methods. And now that those male -characteristics--so often deplored by women in the days before the -plague--had been withdrawn from the flux of life, it had become -evident that they had been an essential part of the whole, if only -a part. Masculine characteristics were at a premium in Marlow that -autumn, and as a natural consequence were being rated at an ever higher -value. There was a tendency among some women to become more male.... - -Millie, however, was not among the progressives. She was not gifted -intellectually; she had no swift intuitions--such as Eileen had--which -enabled her to comprehend her work; she was naturally indolent, -and all her emotions came to her through sensation. - -When she was put to work in the mill she was secretly elated. She -did not believe the stories told of Jasper Thrale's insensibility to -feminine attractions, and if she believed those other stories which -coupled his name with that of Lady Eileen, Millie was of opinion that -such an entanglement was not necessarily final. - -The first week of her association with Thrale in the work of the mill -brought disillusionment. - -When she looked up from her work and caught his eye as he passed her, -he either stared coldly or stopped and asked in a businesslike, austere -voice whether she wanted assistance. Such intimations should have been -sufficient, but in this thing, at least, Millie was persistent. She -thought that he did not understand--men were proverbially stupid in -these matters. So she waited for an opportunity and within ten days -one was presented. - -A hesitation in some of the machinery she overlooked provided -sufficient excuse for calling the head engineer. She looked down -the step-ladder which communicated with the floor below and called -hesitatingly, "Oh! Please. Mr Thrale." - -He heard her and looked up, "What is it?" he asked. - -"Something gone wrong," she said blushing, "I've stopped the rollers, -but I don't know----" - -"All right, I'm coming," he returned, and presently joined her. - -"By the way," he remarked as he began to examine the machine, -"we don't say 'Mister,' now. I thought you'd learnt that." - -Millie simpered. "It sounds so familiar not to," she said. - -"Rubbish," grunted Thrale. "You can call me 'engineer,' I suppose?" - -"Now, look here," he continued, "do you see this hopper in here?" - -She came close to him and peered into the machine. - -"It gets clogged, do you see?" said Thrale, "and when the meal stutters -you've just got to put your hand in and clear it. Understand?" - -"I think so," hesitated Millie. She was leaning against him and her -body was trembling with delicious excitement. Almost unconsciously -she pressed a little closer. - -Thrale suddenly drew back. "Do you understand?" he said harshly. - -"Ye-yes, I think so," returned Millie; and she straightened herself, -looked up at him for a moment and then dropped her eyes, blushing. - -"Very well," said Thrale, "and here's another piece of advice for -you. If you want to stay in the mill keep your attention on your -work. You're a man now, for all intents and purposes; you've got a -man's work to do, and you must keep your mind on it. If there's any -foolishness you go out into the turnip fields. You won't have another -warning," he concluded as he turned and left her. - -"Beast," muttered Millie when she was alone. She was shaken with -furious anger. "I hate you, you silly stuck up thing," she whispered -fiercely shaking with passion. "Oh, I wish you only knew how I hate -you. I won't touch your beastly machines again. I'd sooner a million -times be out in the turnip field than in the same mill with you, -you stuck up beast. I won't work, I won't do a thing, I'll--I'll----" - -For a time she was hysterical. - -Blanche coming down from the floor above found her sister tearing at -her hair. - -"Good heavens, Mill, what's up?" she asked. - -Millie had passed through the worst stages of her seizure by then, -and she dropped her hands. "I dunno," she said. "It's this beastly -mill, I suppose." - -"I like it," returned Blanche. - -"Oh, you," said Millie, full of scorn for Blanche's frigidity. "You -ought to have been a man, you ought." - -"I dunno what's come to you," was Blanche's comment. - - - - -3 - -It was maturity that had come to Millie. Her new life of air and -physical exercise had set the blood running in her veins. In the -Wisteria Grove days she had had an anæmic tendency; the limited -routine of her existence and all the suppressions of her narrow life -had retarded her development. Now she was suddenly ripe. Two months -of sun and air had brought superabundant vitality, and the surplus -had become the most important factor in her existence. She found no -outlet for her new vigour in the work of the mill. Something within -her was crying out for joy. She wanted to find expression. - -There were many other young women in Marlow that autumn in similar -case, and a rumour was current among them that this was a favourable -time for crossing the hill. It was said that the lord of Wycombe was -seeking new favourites. - -Millie heard the rumour and tossed her head superciliously. - -"Let him come here. I'd give him a piece of my mind," she said. - -"He doesn't come 'ere," returned the gossip. "'E's afeard of our -Mr Thrale." - -"Oh! Jasper Thrale!" said Millie. "That fellow from Wycombe could -knock his head off in no time." - -The gossip was doubtful. - -Millie was incapable of formulating a plan in this connexion, but she -was seized with a desire for spending the still September evenings in -the open air, and always something drew her towards the hill at Handy -Cross. That way lay interest and excitement. There was a wonderful -fascination in going as far as the top of the descent into Wycombe. - -Usually she joined one or two other young women in these excursions. It -was understood between them that they went "for fun," and they -would laugh and scream when they reached the dip past the farm, -pretend to push each other down the slope, and cry out suddenly: -"He's coming! Run!" - -But one afternoon, some ten days after Jasper Thrale had threatened -her with the turnip field, Millie went alone. - -She had left work early. The rain had not come yet, and Thrale was -becoming anxious with regard to the shortage of water. He had the -sluices of Marlow and Hedsor weirs closed, and had opened the sluices -of the weirs above as far as Hambledon, but so little water was coming -down that he decided to work shorter hours for the present. - -Blanche had stayed on at the mill to help with repairs. She was -rapidly developing into a capable engineer. So Millie, whose only -service was that of machine minder, found herself alone and unoccupied. - -Every one else seemed to be working. Her friends of the evening -excursions were mostly in the fields on the Henley side of the town. - -Millie decided she would lie down on the bed and go to sleep for a bit; -but even before she came to the cottage she changed her mind. It was -a deliciously warm, still afternoon. - -Almost automatically she took the road towards Little Marlow; a desire -for adventure had overtaken her. Why, she argued, shouldn't she go -into Wycombe? There were plenty of other women there. She would be -quite safe. She only wanted to see what the place was like. - -Her consciousness of perfect rectitude lasted until she reached -the dip beyond Handy Cross. Farther than this she had not ventured -before. Some mystery lay beyond the turn of the road. - -She sat down in the grass by the wayside and called herself a fool, -but she was afraid to go further. She and those friends of hers had -made this place the entrance to a terrible and fascinating beyond. She -remembered how they had feared to stay there in the failing light, -daring each other to remain there alone after sunset. There was -nothing to be afraid of, she said to herself; and yet she was afraid. - -She was hot with her long climb, and the place was quite deserted. She -decided to take down her hair to cool herself. - -Curiously, she looked upon this simple act as deliciously daring and -in some way wicked. She cast half-fearful glances at the green girt -shadows of the descending road, as she shook out the masses of her -hair. "If anyone should come!" she thought. "If he should come...!" - -She giggled nervously, and shivered. - -But as time passed, and no one came, she began to lose her fear, -and presently she lay full length on the grass, and stared up into -the pale blue dome of the sky until her eyes ached and she had to -close them. The deep hush of the still afternoon enveloped her in a -great calm. - -For a time she slept peacefully, and then she dreamed that she was -rushing through the air, and that some one chased her. She wanted -desperately to be captured, but it was ordained that she must fly, and -she flew incredibly fast. She flew through the sunlight into darkness, -and awoke to find that some one was standing between her and the sun. - -She lay still, paralysed with terror. She bitterly regretted her -coming. She would have given ten years of life to be safe home -in Marlow. - -"Now, where've I seen you before?" asked Sam Evans.... - -It was nearly dark when Blanche accosted a knot of women in the -High Street with a question as to whether they had seen anything of -her sister. - -One of the women laughed sneeringly. "Ah! She went over the hill -this afternoon," she said. "We were in the fields that side, and saw -her go." - -Blanche's face burned. "She hasn't! I know she hasn't!" she blurted -out. "She isn't one of that sort." - -The woman laughed again. - -"She's one of the lucky ones," another woman remarked. "You can expect -her back in a week or two's time." - - - - -4 - -On the same evening that Millie crossed the hill, Lady Eileen Ferrar -encountered the spirit of passion in another shape. - -The thought of a lonely bathe tempted her, and she crossed the river, -made her way through deserted Bisham, and back to the stream along -a narrow, overhung lane beyond Bisham Abbey. - -The sun had set, but when she came out from the trees there was -light in the sky and on the water. Overhead a few wisps of cirrus, -sailing in the far heights of air, still caught the direct rays of the -sun. Eileen paused on the bank, rejoicing in the glow of colour about -her; but as she gazed, the little fleet of salmon-tinted clouds were -engulfed in the great earth-shadow, and the delicate crisp rose-leaves -were transfigured into flat stipples of steel grey. - -A slight chill had come into the air, but the water was deliciously -soft and warm. Eileen swam a couple of hundred yards up-stream, -towards the gloom of shadows that obscured the course of the river. The -after-glow was fading now, and though the surface of the water seemed -to catch some reflection of light from an unknown source, the near -distance loomed dark and mysterious. She trod water for a few moments, -but could not decide whether the river turned to right or left. To -all appearances, it terminated abruptly fifty yards ahead.... - -A new sound was forcing itself upon her attention--a low, steady -booming. She stopped swimming, and, keeping herself afloat by -slow, silent movements of hands and feet under water, she listened -attentively. The dull boom seemed changed into a low, ceaseless moan. - -She remembered then the recently opened sluices of Temple Weir, but -quite suddenly she was aware of fear. She thought she saw a movement -among the reeds by the bank. She thought she heard laughter and the -thin pipe of a flute. - -Were the old gods coming back to witness the death of man, as they -had witnessed his birth? Now that machinery and civilization were -being re-absorbed into the nature-spirit from which they had been -wrung by the force of man's devilish and alien intelligence, were the -old things returning for one mad revel before the creatures of their -sport disappeared for ever, these representatives of a species which -had failed to hold its own in the struggle for existence? - -Night was coming up like a shadow, and in the east a red, enormous -moon was rising, coming not to dissipate, but to enhance the mysteries -of the dark, coming to countenance the wild and blind the eyes of man. - -Eileen, almost motionless, was floating down with the drift of the -sluggish stream. She was afraid to intrude upon the natural sounds of -the night, the stealthy trickle of the river, and the furtive rustle -of secret movement whose origin she could not guess. And again she -thought that she heard the trembling reed of a distant flute. - -She touched bottom near her landing-place, and waded out of the river, -crouching, afraid even in the black shadow of the trees to exhibit -the white column of her slim body. She dried and dressed hastily, -and when she felt again the touch of her familiar clothes about her, -she knew that she was safe from the wiles of nymph or satyr. She had -come out of the half-world that interposes between man and Nature; -her clothes made her invisible to the earth-gods, and hid them from -her knowledge. - -But she was still trembling and afraid. The flesh had terrors great -as those of the spirit. - -A little uncertain wind was coming out of the south-west, and the -trees were stirred now and again into hushed whisperings. A dead leaf -brushed her face in falling, and she started back, thrusting at an -imaginary enemy with nervously agitated hands. - -The thought of her remoteness from life terrified her. She was alone, -face to face with implacable, brutal Nature. Man, the boastful, full -of foolish pride, was vanishing from the earth. He had been an alien, -ever out of place, defiling and corrupting the order of growth. Now he -was beaten and a fugitive. All around her, the representative of this -vile destructive species, was the slow, persistent hatred of the earth, -which longed to be at peace again. There was no god favourable to man, -now that he was dying; the gods of man's creation would perish with -him. Only a few women were left to realize that they were strangers -in the world of Nature which hated them. The world was not theirs, -had never been theirs; they were only some horrible, unnatural fungus -that had disfigured the Earth for a time.... - -She moved cautiously and slowly under the darkness of the trees, -and even when she came back to the road she could not shake off -her fear. On her right she could see the black cliff of the woods -transfigured by the light of the moon. In the day she knew them for -woods; now they were strange and threatening; they menaced her with -invasion. She knew that they would march down from the hills and swarm -across the valley. In a hundred, two hundred years, Marlow would be -a few heaps of brick and stone lost in the heart of the forest. - -Ashamed of her race, she hurried on stealthily towards the bridge. - -But before she reached it, she heard the sound of a firm, defiant -step coming towards her. She paused and listened, and her fear fell -from her. In the old days she would have feared man more than Nature, -feared robbery or assault, but now, man was united in a common cause; -the sound of humanity was the sound of a friend. - -"Hullo!" she called, and the voice of Jasper Thrale -answered. "Hullo! Who's that?" he said. - -"Me--Eileen," she replied. "I've been for a bathe." - -He paused opposite her, and they looked at one another. - -"Jolly night," he remarked. - -"I've seen the great god Pan," said Eileen. "Those sailors in the -Ionian Sea were misinformed. He's not dead." - -"Why should Pan die and Dionysus live?" returned Thrale. "I hear that -Dionysus has claimed one of our hands, by the way." - -"Millie?" - -"Yes." - -"Are you angry?" - -"Yes. Not with Millie. If you saw Pan, why shouldn't she see -Dionysus? No, I'm angry with the Jenkyn woman. She's saying that we -ought not to have Millie back if she wants to come." - -"How silly!" commented Eileen. - -"Oh! if that were all!" replied Thrale. "The real trouble is that the -Jenkyn woman is proselytizing. She wants to revive Church services and -Sunday observances. We're going to have a split before the winter's -over, and all the old misunderstandings and antagonisms back again." - -"Why, of course we are," returned Eileen, after a pause. "We are -going to divide into those that are afraid and those that aren't. It's -fear that's got hold of us, now we've time to think. It's all about -us to-night; I've seen it, and Millie has seen it; and Clara Jenkyn -and all those who are going with her have seen it; and we've all got -to find our own way out." She hesitated for a moment, and then said: -"And what about you? Have you seen it?" - -"Yes, for the first time. Within the last ten minutes," said Thrale. - -The moon was above the trees now, and she could see his face -clearly. "Have you?" she asked. "I can't picture it. It can't be Pan -or Dionysus, or fear of the Earth or of humanity. No; and it can't be -the most terrible of all, the fear of an idea. What are you afraid of?" - -"I'm afraid of you," said Thrale, and he turned away quickly and -hurried on in the direction of the river. - -"I did see Pan," affirmed Eileen, as she returned, happy and unafraid, -towards Marlow. - - - - -5 - -That mood of the night had suggested to Eileen the idea of a single -cause which seemed sufficient to account for the revivalist tendencies -of Miss Jenkyn and certain other women in Marlow. Fear was presented as -a simple explanation, and Eileen, like many other philosophers who had -preceded her, was too eager for the simple and inclusive explanation. - -At first the revivalist tendency was feeble and circumscribed. Twenty -or thirty women met in the schoolroom and talked and prayed by -the light of a single, tenderly nursed oil-lamp. The absence of any -minister kept them back at first; the less earnest needed some concrete -embodiment of religion in the form of a black coat and white tie. - -But when the rain came in early October, came and persisted; when the -beeches, instead of flaring into scarlet, grew sodden and dead; when -the threat of flood grew even more imminent, and the distraction of -physical toil almost ceased, this little nucleus of women was joined -by many new recruits, and their comparatively harmless prostrations, -lamentations and worshippings of the abstract, developed into an -attempt to enforce a moral law upon the community. - -Millie Gosling, returning to Marlow in mid-October, gave the -religionists splendid opportunity for a first demonstration. - -Millie returned with a bold face and a shrinking heart. She had fled -from Wycombe because she could not meet the taunts of the women who -had so lately envied her as she rode, prime favourite for a time, -in the Dionysian landau. A great loneliness had come over her after -she was dethroned; she needed sympathy, and she hoped that Blanche -might be made to understand. Millie came back from over the hill -prepared with a long tale of excuses. - -She found her sister perfectly complacent. - -Blanche was a fervent disciple of Jasper Thrale and machinery, and -Thrale had anticipated Millie's return and in some ways prepared -for it. At odd moments he had preached the new gospel, the tenets of -which Blanche had begun to formulate for herself. - -"It's no good going back to the old morality for a precedent," had -been the essential argument used by Thrale; "we have to face new -conditions. If a man is only to have one wife now, the race will -decline, probably perish. It is a woman's duty to bear children." - -Eileen, Blanche and a few other young women had wondered that he made -no application of the argument to his own case, but his opinion carried -more weight by reason of his continence. Even Miss Jenkyn could not -urge that his opinion was framed to defend his own mode of life, -and, failing that casuistical support, she had to fall back on the -second alternative of her kind, namely, to assert that this preacher -of antagonistic opinions was either the devil in person or possessed -by him--a line of defence which took longer to establish than the -simple accusation of expediency. - -So Millie, returning one wet October afternoon, found that no excuses -were required of her. Blanche welcomed her and asked no questions, -and Jasper Thrale and Eileen came to the little cottage in St -Peter's Street at sunset and treated the prodigal Millie with a new -and altogether delightful friendliness. It was understood that she -would return at once to her work in the Mill. But in the school-house -opposite another reception was being prepared for her. - -The more advanced of the Jenkynites were for taking immediate -action. Prayer, worship, and the acknowledgment of personal sin fell -into the background that evening, Millie appeared not as a brand -to be saved from the burning, but as an abandoned and evil creature -who must be thrust out of the community if any member of it was to -save her soul alive. Every one of these furious religionists could -stand up and declare that she was innocent of the commission of this -particular sin of Millie's, and every one was willing and anxious to -cast the first stone. - -The meeting simmered, and at last boiled over into St Peter's Street. A -band of more than a dozen rigidly virtuous and ecstatically Christian -women beat at the door of the Goslings' cottage. They had come to -denounce sin and thrust the sinner out of the community with physical -violence. Each of them in her own heart thought of herself as the -bride of Christ. - -The door was opened to them by Jasper Thrale. - -"We have come to cast out the evil one!" cried Miss Jenkyn in a high -emotional voice. - -"What are you talking about?" asked Thrale. - -"She shall be cast forth from our midst!" shrilled Miss Jenkyn; -and her supporters raised a horrible screaming cry of agreement. - -"Cast her forth!" they cried, finding full justification for their -high pitch of emotion in the use of Biblical phrase. - -"Cast forth your grandmother!" replied Thrale calmly. "Get back to -your homes, and don't be foolish." - -"He is possessed of the devil!" chanted Miss Jenkyn. "The Lord has -called upon us to vindicate his honour and glory. This man, too, -must not be suffered to dwell in the congregation." - -"Down with him! down with him!" assented the little crowd, now so -exalted with the glory of their common purpose that they were ready -for martyrdom. - -Miss Jenkyn was an undersized, withered little spinster of forty-five, -and physically impotent; but, drunk with the fervour of her emotion, -and encouraged by the sympathy of her followers and the fury of her -own voice, she flung herself fiercely upon the calm figure of Jasper -Thrale. Her thwarted self-expression had found an outlet. She desired -the blood of Millie Gosling and Jasper Thrale with the same intensity -that women had once desired a useless vote. - -Jasper Thrale put out a careless hand and pushed her back into the arms -of the women behind her; but she was up again instantly, and, backed -by the crowd, who, encouraging themselves by shrill screams of "Cast -them forth!" were now thrusting forward into the narrow doorway, she -renewed the assault with all the fierce energy of a struggling kitten. - -"I shall lose my temper in a minute," said Thrale, as he took a step -forward and, bracing himself against the door frame, drove the women -back with vigorous thrusts of his powerful arms. - -To lose his temper, indeed, seemed the only way of escape; to give way -to berserk rage, and so to injure these muscularly feeble creatures -that they would be unable to continue the struggle. But the babble of -screaming voices was bringing other helpers to his aid, chief among -them Lady Durham, and her cold, clear voice fell on the hysterical -Jenkynites like a douche of cold water. - -"Clara Jenkyn, what are you doing?" asked Elsie Durham. - -"Millie Gosling must be cast forth," wavered the little dishevelled -woman; but this time there was no reponse from her disciples. - -"That is a question for the committee," replied Elsie Durham. "Now, -please go to your homes, all of you." - -Miss Jenkyn tried to explain. - -Elsie Durham walked into the cottage and shut the door. - -Inside, Eileen and Blanche were trying to reassure the trembling -Millie. Outside, the Jenkynites were suffering a more brutal martyrdom -than that they had sought. The tongues of the new arrivals, the -fuller-blooded, more physically vigorous members of the community, -were making sport of these brides of Christ. - - - - -6 - -But the women of Marlow were to learn afresh the old lesson -that religious enthusiasm is not to be killed by ridicule or -oppression. Jasper Thrale understood and appreciated that fact, -but the policy he suggested could not be approved by the committee. - -"This emotion is a fundamental thing," he said to Lady Durham, -"and history will show you that persecution will intensify it to -the point of martyrdom. There is only one way to combat it. Give it -room. Let them do as they will. The heat of the fire is too fierce -for you to damp it down; you only supply more fuel. Fan it, throw it -open to the air, and it will burn itself harmlessly out." - -Elsie Durham shrugged her shoulders. "That's all very well," she -said. "I believe it's perfectly true. But they make you the bone of -contention. If it were only Millie Gosling--well--she might go. We -could find a place for her--at Fingest, perhaps. But we can't spare -you." - -"I don't know why not," returned Thrale. "I never intended to stay -indefinitely. You can carry on now without me, and I can fulfil my -original intention and push on into the West." - -"My dear man! we can't, and we won't!" said Elsie Durham. "You are -indispensable." - -"No one is indispensable," replied Thrale. - -"Bother your metaphysics, Jasper!" was the answer. "We are not -going to let you go. 'We' is the majority of Marlow, not only the -committee. We'll fight the fanatics somehow." - -The majority referred to by Elsie Durham was fairly compact in -relation to this issue of retaining Jasper Thrale, and included the two -greater of the three recognizable parties in the community. Of these -three, the greatest was the moderate party, made up of Episcopalians, -Nonconformists and a few Roman Catholics, who found relief for their -emotion one day in seven either in the Town Hall or Marlow Church, -in which places services and meetings were held--the former by -certain approved individuals, notably Elsie Durham and the widow -of the late Rector of Marlow. The second party in order of size -included all those who either denied the Divine revelation or were -careless of all religious matters. The third party--the Jenkynites, -as they were dubbed by their opponents--had drawn their numbers from -every old denomination. The Jenkynites were differentiated from the -other two parties by certain physical differences. For instance, the -Jenkynites numbered few members under the age of thirty-five; very -few of them were fat, and very few of them were capable field workers; -they were hungry-eyed, and had a certain air of disappointed eagerness -about them; they looked as though they had for ever sought something, -and, finding it, had remained unsatisfied. In all, there were some -seventeen women who might have been regarded as quite true to type, -and about this vivid nucleus were clustered nearly a hundred other -women, many of whom exhibited some characteristic mark of the same -type, while the remainder, perhaps 40 per cent of the whole body, -had joined the party out of bravado, to seek excitement, or for some -purpose of expediency. - -Among the last was Mrs Isaacson, who was the ultimate cause of the -Jenkynite defeat. - -Ever since she had passed her examination in farm supervision, -Mrs Isaacson had exhibited an increasing tendency to rest on her -laurels. She had grown very stout again during her stay in Marlow, -and complained of severe heart trouble. The least exertion brought on -violent palpitation accompanied by the most alarming symptoms. The -poor lady would gasp for breath, press her hands convulsively to -a spot just below her left breast, and roll up her eyes till they -presented only a terrifying repulsive rim of blood-streaked white, if -the least exertion were demanded from her, and yet she would persist -in the effort until absolutely on the verge of collapse. "No, no! I -must work!" she would insist. "It iss not fair to the others that I -do no work. I will try once more. It iss only fair." - -At times they had to insist that she should return home and rest. - -And as the winter closed in, Mrs Isaacson's rests became more and -more protracted. Jasper Thrale grinned and said: "I suppose we've -got to keep her"; but there was a feeling among the other members of -the committee that they were creating an undesirable precedent. Mrs -Isaacson's example was being followed by other women who preferred -rest to work. - -Heart weakness was becoming endemic in Marlow. - -Then came the news that Mrs Isaacson had joined the Jenkynites. The -seventeen received her somewhat doubtfully at first, but the body of -the sect were in favour of her reception. Possibly they were rather -proud of counting one more fat woman among them; the average member -was so noticeably thin. - -Even the seventeen were satisfied within a fortnight of Mrs Isaacson's -conversion. She had a wonderful fluency, and she said the right and -proper things in her own peculiar English--a form of speech which -had a certain piquancy and interest and afforded relief and variety -after the somewhat stereotyped formulas of the seventeen. - -But early in December, before the floods came, Mrs Isaacson was -convicted of a serious offence against the community. One of -the committee's first works had been to store certain priceless -valuables. Tea, coffee, sugar, soap, candles, salt, baking powder, -wine and other irreplaceable commodities had been locked up in one -of the bank premises. In all, they had a fairly large store, upon -which they had hardly drawn as yet. It was not intended to hoard these -luxuries indefinitely. After harvest a dole had been made to all the -workers as acknowledgment of their services, and it had been decided -to hold another festival on Christmas Day. - -Mrs Isaacson, with unsuspected energy, had burglariously entered this -storehouse of wealth. She had found an accessible window at the rear, -which she had succeeded in forcing, and, despite her bulk and the -delicate state of her heart, she had effected an entrance and stolen -tea, sugar, candles and whisky. - -She was, indeed, finally caught in the act; but her thefts would -probably have escaped notice--she worked after dark, and with a cunning -and caution that would have placed her high in the profession before -the plague--had it not been for Blanche. - - - - -7 - -It seems that Mrs Isaacson had formed the habit of staying up in the -evening. She pleaded that she could not sleep during the early hours -of the night, which was not surprising in view of the fact that she -slept much during the day; and as she was diligent in picking up or -begging sufficient wood to maintain the fire, there was no reason why -Blanche and Millie should offer any objection. Thrale had rigged up -a dynamo at the mill now to provide artificial light, and the girls' -hours of work were so prolonged that they were glad to get to bed -at half-past seven. By eight o'clock Mrs Isaacson evidently counted -herself safe from all interruption. - -She might have continued her enjoyment of luxury undiscovered -throughout the winter if Blanche had not suffered from toothache. - -She had been in bed and asleep nearly two hours when her dreams of -discomfort merged into a consciousness of actual pain. She sighed -and pressed her cheek into the pillows, made agonizing exploration -with her tongue, and tried to go to sleep again. Possibly she might -have succeeded had not that unaccountable smell of whisky obtruded -itself upon her senses. - -At first she thought the house was on fire. That had always been her -one fear in leaving Mrs Isaacson alone; and she sat up in bed and -sniffed vigorously. "Funny," she murmured; "it smells like--like plum -pudding." The analogy was probably suggested to her by the odour of -burning brandy. - -She got up and opened the door of the bedroom. - -Mrs Isaacson slept on a sort of glorified landing, and when Blanche -stepped outside her own door she could see at once by the light of -a watery full moon that her lodger had not yet come to bed. - -The smell of the spirit was stronger on the landing, and Blanche, -forgetting her toothache in the excitement of the moment, stole -quietly down the short flight of crooked stairs. The door giving -on to the living-room was latched, but there were two convenient -knot-holes, and through one of them she saw Mrs Isaacson seated by -the fire drinking hot tea. On the table stood an open whisky bottle -and two lighted wax candles. - -Blanche was thunderstruck. Tea, whisky and candles were inexplicable -things. The thought of witchcraft obtruded itself, and so fascinated -her that she stood on the stairs gazing through the knothole until -a sudden rigour reminded her that she was deadly cold. - -She did not interrupt the orgy. She crept back to bed, and after much -difficulty awakened Millie. - -The sound of their voices must have alarmed Mrs Isaacson, for the -girls presently heard her stumbling upstairs. They stopped their -discussion then, and Blanche's toothache being mysteriously cured by -her excitement, they were soon asleep again. - -Neither of the girls spoke of their discovery to anyone the next -day, but Blanche returned to the cottage at half-past four, when Mrs -Isaacson was at a meeting over the way, and explored her bedroom. She -found a small store of tea, sugar and candles under the mattress--the -whisky bottle had disappeared--and so came to an understanding of -Mrs Isaacson's self-sacrificing insistence that she should perform -all work connected with her own sleeping-place--it could hardly be -called a room. - -After consultation with Millie, Blanche decided that she must inform -Jasper Thrale of the contraband. - -"She's been stealing, of course," he said. "I suppose we shall have -to bring it home to her." But he laughed at Blanche's indignation. - -"She's stealing from us!" said Blanche, who had developed a fine -sense of her duty towards and interest in the community. - -"Oh, yes! you're quite right," said Thrale. "I'll inform the -committee--at least, the non-Jenkynites." - -The five non-Jenkynites were furious. - -"We must make an example," Elsie Durham said. "It isn't that we -shall miss what the Isaacson woman has taken--or will take. It's the -question of precedent. This is where we are facing the beginning of -law--isn't it? Somebody has to protect the members of the community -against themselves. If one steals and goes unpunished, another will -steal. We shall have the women divided into stealers and workers." - -"What are you going to do with her?" asked Thrale. - -"Turn her out," replied Elsie Durham. - -"The Jenkynites won't let her go," said Thrale raising the larger -question. - -"We shall see," said Elsie Durham, "But that reminds me that we must -catch the woman flagrante delicto; we must have no quibbles about -the facts." - -Thrale agreed with the wisdom of this policy, but refused to -take any part in either the detection or the prosecution of Mrs -Isaacson. "They'll say its a put-up job if I have anything to do with -it," he argued. - - - - -8 - -The Jenkynites blazed when Rebecca Isaacson was finally caught and -denounced. The culprit, when caught in the act of entering the bank -premises had made a slight error of judgment, and pleaded the excuse -that she was a sleepwalker and quite unconscious of what she was -doing; but she afterwards adopted a sounder line of defence. She made -full confession to the seventeen, pleaded extravagant penitence with -all the necessary references to the blood of the Lamb, and displayed -all the well-known signs that she would become fervent in well-doing -after the ensanguined ablutions had been metaphorically performed. - -The Jenkynites were enraptured with so real a case of sin. They had -been compelled to content themselves with so many minor failures from -grace that the performances were becoming slightly monotonous. - -The "Sister Rebecca" case was refreshingly real and genuine, and they -meant to make the most of it. Also, this case gave them occasion to -assert themselves once more against the opinions of the community. - -It must not be supposed that the seventeen deliberately adopted a -practical and apparently promising policy. They were not consciously -seeking to obtain civil power as were the priests of the old days -before the plague. The seventeen had no sense of the State as -represented by the community; they were without question perfectly -sincere in their beliefs and actions. Their fault, if it can be -so described, was their inability to adapt themselves to their -conditions. They were as unchangeable as the old lady who had died -sooner than be permanently separated from the glories of a house in -Wisteria Grove. She and the seventeen and many other women in Marlow -were demonstrating that rigidity of opinion is detrimental to the -interests of the growing State. The same proposition had been clearly -demonstrated by a few exceptional individuals in the old days, but -progress was so slow, the property owners so content, and the average -of mankind so intensely conservative, that their arguments received -no attention. For every man who believed in the broad principle of -maintaining an open mind, there were ten thousand who were quite -incapable of putting the principle into practice. With these women -in Marlow the conditions were completely changed. Moreover, women -are by nature more broad-minded than men in practical affairs. Where -intuition rather than the hard-and-fast methods of an intellectual -logic is being brought into play, new and wonderful possibilities of -adaptation may enter the domain of politics. - -The Jenkynites and such individuals as the late Mrs Gosling became -suddenly conspicuous in the new conditions. The type that they -represent cannot persist. They are the bonds on a vigorous and -increasing growth; the tree will grow and burst away all inflexible -restraints. - -In Marlow the new and vigorous growth was the sense of the -community. The majority of the women were realizing, consciously -or unconsciously, that they must work with and for each other. The -Jenkynite affair served the committee as a valuable object-lesson. - -Mrs Isaacson was free to do as she would while the discussion -raged. Imprisonment would have been utterly futile. The committee -did not wish to punish her for her offence against common property, -they merely wished to rid themselves of an undesirable member and to -make public announcement that they would in like manner exclude any -other member who proved herself a burden to the community. - -The Jenkynites were characteristically unable to comprehend this -argument. They had their own definitions of heinous and venial sins, -definitions based on ancient precedent, and they counted the fault -of Millie Gosling in the former and that of Rebecca Isaacson in the -latter category. They were not susceptible to argument. As they saw -the problem, no argument was admissible. They had the old law and the -old prophets on their side, and maintained that what was true once -was true for all time. In their opinion, changed conditions did not -affect morality. - -If the need for labour had been great, the affair might have been -shelved for a time as of less importance than the dominant economic -demand which takes precedence of all other problems. But although -the floods had not yet come, there was not enough work for all the -members of the community, and this comparative idleness reacted upon -the importance of the Isaacson case in another and probably more -influential direction than the abstract consideration of justice -and humanity. - -The women had time to talk, and a new and fascinating subject was -given them to discuss. And they talked; and their talk ripened into -action. The affair Isaacson, which included also the affair Jenkyns, -was brought to a climax at a mass meeting in the Town Hall. - -It was decided, noisily, but with considerable emphasis, that for -the good of the community the Jenkynites must go. The seventeen were -specifically indicated, but it was understood that certain of their -more advanced adherents would go with them. - -The Jenkynites accepted the decision in the spirit of their -belief. They were martyrs in a great cause. They would leave this -accursed city (their terminology was always Biblical) and cast off -its dust from their feet--although the roads were deep in mud at the -time. They would go forth to regenerate the world, upheld by their -love of truth and their zeal for the Word. - -Only Mrs Isaacson dissented, but she was compelled to go with them. - -They went forth in the rain, thirty-nine of them in all, exalted -with conscious righteousness and faint with enthusiasm. The women -of Marlow were kind to them. They turned out and jeered the little -procession as it marched out of the town by the Henley Road. - -"'Oo stole the tea?" was the most popular taunt, and no doubt the -exiles would have preferred that the taunts should have been cast -at their faith rather than at the social misdemeanour of an obscure -convert. But any form of martyrdom was better than none, and they held -their heads high and sang "Glory! glory!" with magnificent fervour. - -"I'm sure we've done right," commented Elsie Durham. "But we should -never have had all the women with us if there had been no offence -against property. That touched them--communal property. I'm not sure -that it isn't become almost dearer than personal property." - - - - - - - -XIX--ON THE FLOOD - - -1 - -From the middle of November onwards, the river had been running -nearly bank-high, and so much power was available that Thrale had been -considering the possibility of lighting some of the nearer houses by -electricity. He had made three journeys to London, and with half a -dozen assistants he had rifled two dynamos from the power station just -outside Paddington, and had brought back twenty truck-loads of coal. - -The dynamos, however, were still in the truck, covered by -tarpaulin. Thrale had decided that the luxury of artificial lighting -could not be provided until all the grain had been thrashed and -milled. The end of that work was now in sight, and the accumulated -wealth of flour in Marlow was calculated to be sufficient to last the -community for at least twelve months. But before the lighting scheme -could be put in hand, a new trouble had threatened. - -During the first week of December there was almost continuous rain, -and the river began to top its banks, spreading itself over the -meadowland below the lock and creeping up the end of St Peter's -Street. No serious matter as yet, and a short spell of frost and -clear skies followed; but before Christmas heavy rains came again, -and Thrale began to grow anxious. - -"The weirs down-stream ought to be opened," he explained to -Eileen. "They are probably all up; we need never be afraid of shortage -here; if we close our own weir we can always hold up all the water -we want." - -"Is it serious?" she asked. - -"Not yet, but it may be," he said, looking up at the sky. "All Marlow -might be flooded." - -And still the rain fell, and soon the girls had to wade through a -foot of water to reach the mill. - -"I must go down-stream and open all the weirs," Thrale announced -on Christmas Eve. "I've been looking at a steam launch over at the -boat-house; it's in quite good condition. I shall bring it up to the -town landing-stage to-morrow and get enough coal and food aboard to -last a week." - -"You're not going alone?" said Eileen. - -"No! I must take some one to work the engine and the locks," returned -Thrale. - -"I'll come!" announced Eileen, with glee. - -Thrale shook his head. "You'll have to run this place," he said. - -Since that night in September no reference had been made by either of -them to his strange revelation of fear. They had worked together as -two men might have worked. Neither of them had exhibited the least -consciousness of sex. Thrale believed that he had put the fear away -from him, and Eileen was content to wait. She was barely twenty. - -"Blanche could run the mill," she suggested. "There isn't much to -do now." - -Thrale turned away from her with a touch of impatience. "Blanche had -better come with me," he said. - -"I want to come," pleaded Eileen. - -"Why?" he asked. - -"It'll be sport." - -"I don't care to trust Blanche with the mill," he persisted. - -"She's every bit as good as I am," was her reply. - -He shook his head. - -"Oh, look here," said Eileen, "you might let me come, or are you--are -you afraid of--of what the women will say?" She was standing by one -of the flour-encrusted mill windows and she began to scratch a clean -place on it with her nail. - -Thrale did not answer for a moment and then he came and stood near -her. "What is it?" he asked. "Are you sick of your work here?" - -"I shouldn't mind a change," she said, intent on enlarging her -peep-hole. - -"One forgets that you are women," said Thrale. "I suppose women are -never content with work for work's sake." - -"If you like," returned Eileen inconsequently. "I can see out now. Why -don't we have these windows cleaned sometimes?" - -"You can have them done while I'm away," he suggested. - -"I'm coming with you," said Eileen. - -"Oh! you can come if you like," he said. He thought he was perfectly -safe, despite this unusual display of femininity. - -"You'll have to run the engine," he concluded. - -"Oh! I'll run the engine," she agreed and looked down at her capable, -frankly dirty little hands. - - - - -2 - -The weirs at Marlow and Hedsor had been roaring open-mouthed for ten -days before Thrale and Eileen began their journey; but the water -had been piling up from below and the floods were working back up -river. The fact that none of the weirs above Henley was closed had -served to protect Marlow in some degree. There were great floods -above Sonning, and from Goring to Culham the country was a vast sheet -of water. This water, however, only came down comparatively slowly -owing to the dammed condition of the main channel, and a greater -proportion of it was absorbed. If the upper weirs had been open, -Marlow would have been under water by the middle of December. - -Not until the launch had been manoeuvred with some difficulty through -Boulter's Lock did Thrale begin to realize the full significance of -the situation. - -He had had very great difficulty first in reaching and second in -raising the paddles of the Taplow weir. In one place the force of -the flood had broken away the structure, but even with the relief -this passage had afforded the pressure of water on the paddles was -so great that he had been working for more than two hours before the -last valve was opened. - -Eileen had been waiting for him with the launch warped up just below -the lock where the force of the stream was not so great. - -"I don't know whether we shall be able to carry out this job," -remarked Thrale when he rejoined her. - -"Oh, but we must," she expostulated. - -"Do you see what has happened?" he explained. "All the water is piled -up below us. We shall probably find the next locks flood-high, which -means that we sha'n't be able to open them." - -"We must navigate," said Eileen. "Steam round them; shoot the weirs." - -"Oh, well," said Thrale, "I'm wondering how far our responsibility -goes. If we don't open the river right down to Richmond, we shall only -be increasing the flood in the lower reaches, and there may be women -living there. After all, Marlow isn't the only place on the river. And -there is another thing; we may never get back. It's a risky thing we -are proposing to do. No one could swim against this current. If we -were upset and carried into a weir, we should be smashed to pieces -in no time. Do you think the community can spare us?" - -"Bother the community!" replied Eileen. - -The community and its activities were already in the background of -her mind. Marlow had receded into a little distant place with which -she was no longer connected. The world of adventure and romance lay -open before her. She wanted only to explore this turbulent river, -widened now into a miniature Amazon, from which arose the islands of -half-submerged houses and trees that composed the strange archipelago -of Maidenhead. - -"Oh, well," said Thrale again. "We'll try. It's no use waiting for -the stream to go down. We'd better go on now." - -"Shall I cast off?" asked Eileen. - -"Steady, steady," Thrale warned her. "The next quarter of a mile -is simply a rapid. You must be ready to get the engines going full -ahead the moment we start, or I sha'n't be able to steer her. And, -now, we must both cast off together or we shall be across the stream -in two ticks. Just loosen the rope round the cleats and let go, and -then start the engine. Let the loose end of the rope drag till we've -time to pick it up. Are you ready? All right--cast off!" - -The little launch swept out into the current with a bound the instant -she was released from her moorings, and almost before the engines -began to revolve she was caught in the rapids that surged down from -the newly-opened weir. She was only a light draught pleasure-boat, -designed to navigate the placid surface of the summer Thames, and -when she entered the curling broken water below the island she threw -up her nose and plunged like a nervous mare. - -"Full steam ahead," shouted Thrale at the toy wheel. Eileen nodded, -crouching over her little engine; the roar of the stream had drowned -Thrale's voice, but she guessed his order. - -Her eyes were bright with excitement. She had no sense of fear. She -was exhilarated by the sense of rapid movement. The launch, indeed, -was travelling at a remarkable pace. In the narrow channel between the -islands and the town, the river must have been running at nearly ten -miles an hour, and the engines were probably adding another eight. In -the wide spaces of the ocean eighteen miles an hour may appear a safe -and controllable speed, but this little launch was running down hill, -she could not be stopped at command, and the restricted course was -beset with many and dangerous obstacles. - -Thrale, handling the little brass wheel forward, was conscious of -uneasiness. The launch steered after a fashion, but he had little -control of her. The trees on the banks appeared to be flying upstream -at the pace of an express train, and ahead of him was the town bridge. - -He decided instantly that they could not pass under it, and put the -wheel over, intending to shoot out of the stream into the calm of the -flood water over the new open bank. But as the launch turned and came -across, the current took her stern and turned her half round. For a -moment her lee rail was under water, and she trembled and rocked on -the verge of capsize. Then her engines drove her out of the stream and -she righted herself again and began to cut through the almost still, -shallow flood water. - -"Stop her!" roared Thrale. - -"I say, what's up?" replied Eileen, coolly, as she obeyed the order. - -"No room to pass under the bridge," said Thrale. "I suppose we'll -have to navigate, as you call it. Go dead slow, and be prepared to -stop her at a moment's notice." - -They spent over an hour in finding a passage round the approach to -the bridge. They had laboriously to pole the launch through the tops -of hedges, and in one place they were aground for ten minutes. But -after they had returned to the stream once more they had a rapid and -easy passage down to Bray. They shot the great arch of the Maidenhead -railway bridge triumphantly. Eileen said it was "glorious." - -The weir at Bray proved even more difficult to negotiate than the -one above, and by the time it was fully opened the dull December -afternoon was closing in. - -They spent that night moored to two of the elms that ring the isolated -little church in the meadows by Boveney. - -"At this rate," remarked Thrale as they settled themselves for the -night, "it'll take us a week to get to Richmond. We've done two weirs -out of thirteen, so far." - - - - -3 - -Thrale's estimate proved excessive. They reached Richmond on the -fourth day out from Marlow, having opened another nine weirs--the -one at Old Windsor had been swept away, and the one below Richmond -Bridge Thrale opened that afternoon. - -During those four days they had seen few signs of life. They had moved, -keeping to the main stream for the most part, in the midst of a wide -expanse of water; exploring a desolate and wasted country. - -Once they had been hailed by three women, who looked out at them from -a house in Windsor, and shouted something they did not catch; and a -woman had been standing on Staines Bridge as they careered intrepidly -through the centre arch--they had no time even to distinguish her -dress. But with these exceptions they might have come through the land -of an extinct civilization, devoid of life; a land in which deserted -houses and church towers stood up from the silver sheet of a vast lake, -that was threaded by this one impetuous torrent of swelling river. - -Richmond, also, was deserted. The emigrants had passed on over the -river or southwards to Petersham and so into Surrey. - -"Well!" said Eileen, wiping her oil-blackened hands on a bunch of -cotton waste, "that job's done. We've fairly drawn the plug of the -cistern now. And how are we going to get back?" - -"We'll find a couple of bicycles somewhere here," said Thrale. - -It had been a clear day, and there was a suggestion of frost in the -air. The sun was setting very red and full behind the bare trees -across the river. Save for the gurgle and hiss of the eddying flood, -everything was very still. The little launch which had served them -so well, and bore the marks of its great adventure in broken rails -and bruised sides, was run aground by the side of the bridge. Thrale -was standing in the road, but Eileen still sat by her engine. - -"I hate to leave the launch," she said, after a long pause. - -"We can come back and fetch her up when the flood goes down," -returned Thrale. - -"We've done pretty well, the three of us." - -"Yes, the three of us," he echoed. - -"It has been great fun," sighed Eileen. - -Thrale did not reply. He was thinking himself back into the past. He -saw a street in Melbourne on a burning December evening, and the -figure of a gaily-clad little brunette who spoke purest cockney -and asked him why he looked so glum. "We ain't goin' to a funeral," -she had said. Yet afterwards he had believed that something had been -buried that night. He had faced his own passion and the sight of it had -disgusted him. He had seen the shadow of a demon who might master him, -and he had grappled with it; he believed that he had slain and buried -lust in Melbourne ten years ago. It had not risen up to confront him -when the plague had put a world of women at his command. He had not -been forced to fight, he was not tempted--surely the thing was dead -and buried. Only once, on that warm September night, had he felt a -sudden furious desire to take this girl into his arms and fly with -her into the woods. The desire had come and gone, he was master of -it, and in any case it bore no resemblance to the brutal thing he -had faced in Melbourne. - -Nor, as he stood now by Richmond Bridge watching the vault of the -sky deepen to an intenser blue, did the feeling that possessed him -in any way resemble that old cruel passion which had flared up and -died--surely it had died. He could not analyse his feeling for this -brave, clear-eyed companion, who had faced with him all the dangers of -the past four days without a sign of fear. She had made no advances -to him, they were friends, she might have been some delightfully -clean, wholesome boy. And then his thought was pierced and broken by -a horrible suggestion. - -A picture of the hill to Handy Cross flashed before him, and he saw -a little lonely figure creeping furtively away from Marlow. He drove -his nails into his palms and suddenly cried out. - -"What's up?" said Eileen, turning round and looking up at him. "Have -you forgotten anything?" - -He stepped into the boat and sat down beside her. "I want to know--I -must know," he said. - -She looked at him and smiled. "All right, old man," she said. "Fire -away." - -"I told you once that I was frightened of you," said Thrale. "I want -to know if you have ever been frightened of yourself--or of me?" - -"I could never be frightened of you," she replied, and looked away -towards the rising darkness of the shadows across the hurrying river, -"and I haven't been afraid of myself--yet. I don't think----" - -"Wouldn't you be frightened of me if I picked you up and ran shouting -into the woods?" he asked, fiercely. - -Her eyes met his without reserve. "Dear old man," she said. "I -should love it. I'm so glad you understand. That was the one thing -that prevented our being real friends. I've wanted so much to be -frank and open with you. It's all these silly reserves that make love -abominable. Now we can be two jolly, clean human beings who understand -each other, can't we? And we shall be such ripping good friends always; -quite open and honest with each other." - -He drew a deep, sighing breath and put his arms round her, drew -her close to him and laid his face against hers. "I've been such an -awful ass," he said. "I've always thought that love was unclean. I've -been like that Jenkyn woman. I've been prurient and suspicious and -evil-minded. I've been like the people who cover up statues. But -there was an excuse for me--and for them, too. I didn't know, because -there was no woman like you to teach me. All the women I've known have -been secretive and sly. They've fouled love for me by making it seem -a hidden, disreputable thing. Oh! we shall be ripping good friends, -little Eileen--magnificent friends." - -"This is a jolly old boat, isn't it?" replied Eileen, -inconsequently. "Don't smother me, old man. And, I say, do you -think we'll be able to raid some soap from somewhere? Do look at -my hands! You couldn't be friends with a chap who had hands like -that!" ... - -"There's one thing I'd like to remark," said Eileen the next -morning. There had been a frost in the night, and there was every -promise of an easy ride back to Marlow. - -"Yes?" said Thrale, examining the deflated tyres of two bicycles they -had chosen from a shop in the High Street. - -"We'd never have understood each other so well if we hadn't worked -together on the same job," said Eileen. - -"Well, of course not," returned Thrale. His tone seemed to imply -that she had stated a truth that must always have been obvious to -sensible people. - -"That and there being no footle about marriage," concluded Eileen. - - - - -4 - -A third factor that had contributed to the perfection of that complete -understanding was not realized by either until they were descending -the hill into Bisham. - -"I rather wish we weren't going back," said Eileen. "Let's stop a -moment. I want to talk. We've never thought of what we're going to do." - -"Do?" said Jasper, as he dismounted. "Well, we've just got to make an -announcement and that's the end of it. The Jenkyns lot have all gone." - -"It isn't the end, it's the beginning," replied Eileen. "Don't you -see that we can't even explain?" - -"We sha'n't try." - -"We shall. We shall have to--in a way. It'll take years and years to -do it. But the point is that they won't understand, now, none of them, -not even Elsie Durham. We aren't free any longer." - -"We aren't alone," she added, bringing the hitherto unacknowledged -factor into prominence. - -Thrale frowned and looked up into the thin brightness of the frosty -sky. "Yes, I understand," he said. "It's public opinion that compels -one to regard love as shameful and secret. Alone together, free from -every suspicion, we hadn't a doubt. But now, we have to explain and we -can't explain, and we are forced against our wills to wonder whether -we can be right and all the rest of the world wrong." - -"We are right," put in Eileen. - -"Only we can't prove it to anyone but ourselves." - -"And we shouldn't want to, if we hadn't got to live with them." - -For a moment they looked at one another thoughtfully. - -"No, we mustn't run away," Jasper said, with determination, after -a pause. "Look, the flood has begun to go down already. That's our -work. There's other work for us to do yet." - -For a time they were silent, looking down on to Marlow and out over -the valley. - -"We didn't go over that hill," said Eileen, at last, pointing to the -distant rise of Handy Cross. - -"No," replied Jasper, and then, "we won't hide behind hills. Damn -public opinion." - -"Oh, yes, damn public opinion," agreed Eileen. "But we won't stay in -Marlow always." - - - - - - - -XX--THE TERRORS OF SPRING - - -1 - -The frost gave way on the third night, and for ten days there -was a spell of mild weather with some rain. Carrie Oliver began to -contemplate the possibility of getting forward with such ploughing as -still remained to be done. She proposed to have an increased acreage -of arable that year, and less pasture, less hay and less turnips; the -arable was to include potatoes, beans and peas. For the community was -rapidly tending towards vegetarianism. They had no butcher in Marlow, -and the women revolted against the slaughter of cattle and sheep. They -were hesitating and clumsy in the attack, and so inflicted wounds which -were not fatal, they turned sick at the sight of the brute's agonies -and at the appalling spurts of blood, and finally when the animal was -at last mercifully dead, they bungled the dissection of the carcase. - -"I'd sooner starve than do it again," was the invariable decision -pronounced by any new volunteer who had heroically offered to provide -Marlow with meat, and even Carrie Oliver admitted that it was a -"beastly dirty job." - -"Only," she added "we'll 'ave to go on breeding calves or we won't -get no milk, an' what are we goin' to do with the bullocks?" - -The committee wondered if some form of barter might not be -introduced. Wycombe and Henley might have something to offer -in exchange, or, failing that, might be urged to accept these -superfluous beasts as a present, returning the skins and horns, -for which there might be a use in the near future. Sheep must be -reared for their wool--the clothes of the community would not last -for ever. The subjects of tanning and weaving were being studied -by certain members of the now enlarged committee. Neither operation -presented insuperable difficulties. - -Now that a certain supply of food was provided for, the community -was already turning its energy towards the industries. Many schemes -were being planned and debated. Marlow was well situated, with -such abundance of water and wood at its gates; and the question of -attracting desirable immigrants had been raised. - -Time was afforded for the consideration of all these schemes by the -great frost which began on New Year's Day and lasted until the end -of February. - -The frost came first from the south-west, and for three days the -country was changed into a fairy world built of sharp white crystals, -a world that was seen dimly through a magic veil of mist. Then followed -a black and bitter wind from the north-east, that bought a thin and -driving snow, and when the wind fell the country was locked in an -iron shell that was not relaxed for six weeks. - -The flood had nearly subsided before the first frost came, but the -river was still high, and presently the water came down laden with -ice-floes, that jammed against the weir and the mill, and formed a -sheet of ice that gradually crept back towards the bridge. - -All field and mill work was stopped, and Thrale and Eileen spent two -or three days a week making excursions to London, bringing back coal -and other forms of riches. - - - - -2 - -Their fear of being misunderstood had proved to have been an -exaggeration. In that exalted mood of theirs, which had risen to such -heights, after four days of adventurous solitude, they had come a -little too near the stars. In finding themselves they had lost touch -with the world. - -Elsie Durham had smiled at their defensive announcement. - -"My dear children," she had said, "don't be touchy about it. I am so -glad; and, of course, I've known for months that you would come to an -understanding. And there's no need to tell me that your--agreement, -did you say?--was entirely different to any other. I know. But be -human about it. Don't apologize for it by being superior to all of us." - -"Oh, you're a dear," Eileen had said enthusiastically. - -Nevertheless there were many women still left in Marlow who were less -spiritually-minded than Elsie Durham. Comparative idleness induced -gossip, and there was more than one party in the community which -regarded Thrale and Eileen with disfavour. - -The old ruts had been worn too deep to be smoothed out in a few -months, however heavy had been the great roller of necessity. And, -strangely enough, the life of Sam Evans at High Wycombe was regarded -by many of the more bigoted with less displeasure than this perfectly -wholesome and desirable union of Thrale and Eileen. The prostitution -of Sam Evans was a new thing outside the experience of these women, -and it was accepted as an outcome of the new conditions. The other -affair was familiar in its associations, and was condemned on both -the old and the new precedents. - -The mass of the women were quite unable to think out a new morality -for themselves.... - - - - -3 - -Relief from all these foolish criticisms, gossipings and false emotions -came when the frost broke. A warm rain in the first week of March -released the soil from its bonds, and as the retarded spring began -to move impatiently into life there was a great call for labour. - -But as the year ripened the temperament of the community exhibited -a new and alarming symptom. - -There was a terrible spirit of depression abroad. - -All Nature was warm with the movement of reproduction. Nature was -growing and propagating, thrusting out and taking a larger hold upon -life. Nature was coming to the fight with new reserves and allies, -a fruitful and increasing army, eager for the struggle against this -little decreasing band of sterile humanity. Nature was prolific and -these women were barren. - -And in some inexplicable way the consciousness of futility had spread -through the Marlow community. Some posthumous children had been -born since the plague, a few young girls--Millie among them--were -pregnant, but death had been busier than life during the winter, -and from outside came stray reports that in other communities death -had been busier still. - -What hope was there for that generation? They were too few to cope with -their task. Grass was growing in their streets, their houses were in -need of repair, and after their day's labour in the fields to provide -themselves with food, they had neither strength nor inclination to -take up the battle anew. - -Moreover, the spice was gone from life. Some inherent need for -emulation was gone. They were ceasing to take any pride in their -persons, and in their clothes. They wore knickerbockers or trousers for -convenience in working, and suffered a strange loss of self-esteem in -consequence. Many of the younger women still returned in the evenings -to what skirts and ribbons they still possessed, but the habit was -declining. The uselessness of it was growing even more apparent. There -were no sex distinctions or class distinctions among them. Of what -account was it that one girl was prettier or better dressed than -her neighbour? What mattered was whether she was a stronger or more -intelligent worker. - -Above all, the woman's need for love and admiration could find no -outlet. They realized that they were becoming hardened and unsexed, -and revolted against the coming change. Something within them rose -up and cried for expression, and when it was thwarted it turned to -a thing of evil.... - -The mind of the community was becoming distorted. Hysteria, sexual -perversions, and various forms of religious mania were rife. Young -women broke into futile and unsatisfying orgies of foolish dancing, -and middle-aged women became absorbed in the contemplation of a male -and human god. - -Even the committee did not escape the influence of the growing -despair. They looked forward to a future when such machines and -tools as they possessed would be worn out, and they had no means of -replacing them. - -Thrale had reported that the line to London was becoming unsafe for -the passage of his trucks. Rust was at work upon the rails; rain and -floods had weakened embankments; young growths were springing up -on the permanent way, and it was hopeless to contemplate any work -of repair. In the old days an army of men had been needed for that -work alone. The country roads needed re-metalling, and the houses -restoration; they had not the means or the labour to undertake half -the necessary work. There were breaches in the river bank and a large -and apparently permanent lake was forming in the low meadows towards -Bourne End. All about them Nature was so intensely busy in her own -regardless way, and they were helpless, now, to oppose her. - -The age of iron and machinery was falling into a swift decline. All -that the community could look for in the future was a return to -primitive conditions and the fight for bare life. Every year their -tools and machines would grow less efficient, every year Nature would -return more powerful to the attack. In ten years they would be fighting -her with rude and tedious weapons of wood, grinding their scanty corn -between two stones, and living from hand to mouth. In the bountiful -South such a life might have its rewards, but how could they endure -it in this uncertain and cruel North? - -So while the sun rose higher in the sky and the earth was wonderfully -reclothed, the women of Marlow fell deeper and deeper into the horrors -of mental depression. What had they to work for, and to hope for, -save this miserable possession of unsatisfied life? - - - - - - - -XXI--SMOKE - - -1 - -One bright morning, at the end of April, Jasper and Eileen sat on -the cliffs at the Land's End and talked of the future. - -Ten days before, they had left Marlow on bicycles to make -exploration. They intended to return; they had explained they would be -away for a month at the outside, but in view of the growing depression -and the loss of spirit shown by the community, they considered it -necessary to go out and discover what conditions obtained in other -parts of England. It might be, they urged, that the plague had been -less deadly in other districts. - -"We should not know, here," Jasper had argued. "There may be many men -left elsewhere; but they might not have been able to communicate with -us yet. Their attention, like ours, would have been concentrated upon -local conditions for a time. Eileen and I will find out. Perhaps we -may be able to open up communication again. In any case we'll come -back within a month and report." - -His natural instinct had taken him into the West Country. - -They had left Elsie Durham slightly more cheerful. They had given -her a gleam of hope, given her something, at last, to which she might -look forward. - -Their own hopes had quickly faded and died as they rode on into the -West. By the time they reached Plymouth they were thinking of Marlow -as a place peculiarly favoured by Providence. - -At first they had passed through communities conducted on lines -resembling their own, greater or smaller groups of women working -more or less in co-operation. In many of these communities a single -man was living--in some cases two men--who viewed their duty towards -society in the same light as the Adonis of Wycombe. - -But the unit grew steadily smaller as they progressed. It was no -longer the town or village community but the farm which was the -centre of activity, and the occupied farms grew more scattered. For -it appeared that here in the West the plague had attacked women as -well as men. Another curious fact they learned was that the men had -taken longer to die. One woman spoke of having nursed her husband -for two months before the paralysis proved fatal.... - -And if the depression in Marlow had been great, the travellers -soon learned that elsewhere it was greater still. The women worked -mechanically, drudgingly. They spoke in low, melancholy voices when -they were questioned, and save for a faint accession of interest in -Thrale's presence there, and the signs of some feeble flicker of hope -as they asked of conditions further north and east, they appeared to -have no thought beyond the instant necessity of sustaining the life to -which they clung so feebly. Thrale and Eileen rode on into Cornwall, -not because they still hoped, but because they both felt a vivid -desire to reach the Land's End and gaze out over the Atlantic. They -wanted to leave this desolate land behind them for a few hours, -and rest their minds in the presence of the unchangeable sea. - -"Let us go on and forget for a few days," Eileen had said, and so -they had at last reached the furthest limit of land. - -Cornwall had proved to be a land of the dead. Save for a few women -in the neighbourhood of St Austell, they had not seen a living human -being in the whole county. - -And so, on this clear April morning, they sat upon this ultimate -cliff and talked of the future. - - - - -2 - -The water below them was delicately flecked with white. No long -rollers were riding in from the Atlantic, but the fresh April breeze -was flicking the crests of little waves into foam; and, above, an -ever-renewed drift of scattered white clouds threw coursing shadows -upon the blues and purples of the curdling sea. - -Eileen and Thrale had walked southwards as far as Carn Voel to avoid -the obstruction to vision of the Longships, and on three sides they -looked out to an unbroken horizon of water, which on that bright -morning was clearly differentiated from the impending sky. - -"One might forget--here," remarked Eileen, after a long silence. - -"If it were better to forget," said Jasper. - -Eileen drew up her knees until she could rest her chin upon them, -embracing them with her arms. "What can one do?" she asked. "What -good is it all, if there is no future?" - -"Just to live out one's own life in the best way," was the answer. - -She frowned over that for a time. "Do you really believe, dear," -she said, when she had considered Jasper's suggestion, "do you really -believe that this is the end of humanity?" - -"I don't know," he said. "I have changed my mind half a dozen times -in the last few days. There may be a race untouched somewhere--in -the archipelagos of the South Seas, perhaps--which will gradually -develop and repeople the world again." - -"Or in Australia, or New Zealand," she prompted. - -"We should have heard from them before this," he said. "We must have -heard before this." - -"And is there no hope for us, here in England, in Marlow? There are a -few boys--infants born since the plague, you know--and there will be -more children in the future--Evans's children and those others. There -were two men in some places, you remember." - -"Can they ever grow up? It seems to me that the women are -dying. They've nothing to live for. It's only a year since the -plague first came, and look at them now. What will they be like in -five years' time? They'll die of hopelessness, or commit suicide, -or simply starve from the lack of any purpose in living, because work -isn't worth while. And the others, the mothers, that have some object -in living, will fall back into savagery. They'll be so occupied in the -necessity for work, for forcing a living out of the ground somehow, -that they'll have neither time nor wish to teach their children. I -don't know, but it seems to me that we are faced with decrease, -gradually leading on to extinction. - -"And I doubt," he continued, after a little hesitation, "I doubt -whether these sons of the new conditions will have much vitality. They -are the children of lust on the father's side, worse still, of tired -lust. It does make a difference. Perhaps if we were a young and -vigorous people like the old Jews the seed would be strong enough -to override any inherent weakness. But we are not, we are an old -civilization. Before the plague, we had come to a consideration of -eugenics. It had been forced upon us. A vital and growing people -does not spend its time on such a question as that. Eugenics was a -proposition that grew out of the necessity of the time. It was easy -enough to deny decadence, and to prove our fitness by apparently sound -argument, but, to me, it always seemed that this growing demand for -some form of artificial selection of parents, by restriction of the -palpably unfit, afforded the surest evidence. Things like that are -only produced if there is a need for them. Eugenics was a symptom." - -Eileen sighed. "And what about us?" she asked. - -"We're happy," replied Jasper. "Probably the happiest people in -the world at the present time. And we must try to give some of our -happiness to others. We must go back to Marlow and work for the -community. And I think we'll try in our limited way to do something -for the younger generation. Perhaps, it might be possible for us -to go north and try our hands at making steel, there are probably -women there who would help us. But I don't think it's worth while, -unless to preserve our knowledge and hand it on. We can only lessen -the difficulty in one little district for a time. As the pressure -of necessity grows, as it must grow, we shall be forced to abandon -manufacture. The need for food will outrun us. We are too few, and it -will be simpler and perhaps quicker to plough with a wooden plough -than to wait for our faulty and slowly-produced steel. The adult -population, small as it is, must decrease, and I'm afraid it will -decrease more rapidly than we anticipate, owing to these causes of -depression and lack of stimulus...." - -"Oh, well," said Eileen at last, getting to her feet, "we're happy, -as you say, and our job seems pretty plain before us. To-morrow, I -suppose, we ought to be getting back, though I hate taking the news -to Elsie." - -Jasper came and stood beside her, and put his arm across her -shoulders. "We, at any rate, must keep our spirits up," he said. "That, -before everything." - -"I'm all right," said Eileen, brightly. "I've got you and, for the -moment, the sea. We'll come back here sometimes, if the roads don't -get too bad." - -"Yes, if the roads don't get too bad." - -"And, already, the briars are creeping across the road from hedge to -hedge. The forest is coming back." - -"The forest and the wild." - -He drew her a little closer and they stood looking out towards the -horizon. - - - - -3 - -In the south-west the clear line had been wiped out and what looked -like mist was sweeping towards them. - -"There's a shower coming," said Thrale. - -They stood quietly and let the sharp spatter of rain beat in their -faces, and then the shadow of the storm moved on and the horizon line -was clear again. - -"That's a queer cloud out there," said Eileen. "Is it another shower?" - -She pointed to a tiny blur on the far rim of the sea. - -"It is queer," said Thrale. "It's so precisely like the smoke of -a steamer." - -For a few seconds they gazed in intent silence. - -"It's getting bigger," broke out Eileen, suddenly excited. "What is -it, Jasper?" - -"I don't know. I can't make it out," he said. He moved away from her -and shaded his eyes from the glare of the momentarily cloudless sky. - -"I can't make it out," he repeated mechanically. - -The blur was widening into a grey-black smudge, into a vaguely diffused -smear with a darker centre. - -"With the wind blowing towards us----" said Jasper, and broke off. - -"Yes, yes--what?" asked Eileen, and then as he did not answer, she -gripped his arm and repeated importunately. "What? Jasper, what? With -the wind blowing towards us?" - -"By God it is," he said in a low voice, disregarding her question. "By -God it is," he repeated, and then a third time, "It is." - -"Oh! what, what? Do answer me! I can't see!" pleaded Eileen. - -But still he did not answer. He stood like a rock and stared without -wavering at the growing cloud on the horizon. - -And then the cloud began to grow more diffused, to die away, and -Eileen could see tiny indentations on the sky line, indentations -which pushed up and presently revealed themselves as attached to a -little black speck in the remotest distance. - -"Oh, Jasper!" she cried, and her eyes filled with inexplicable tears, -so that she could see only a misty field of troubled blue. - -"It's a liner," said Jasper at last, turning to her. He looked puzzled -and his eyes stared through her. "And its coming from America. Do -you suppose the American women----" - -The boat was revealed now. They could see the shape of her, the high -deck, the two tall funnels and the three masts. She was passing across, -fifteen miles or so to the south of them, making up Channel. - -For a moment they felt like shipwrecked sailors on a lonely island, -who see a vessel pass beyond hail. - -"Oh, Jasper, what can it be?" Eileen besought him. - -"It's a White Star boat," he said, and he still spoke as if his mind -was far away. "Is it possible, is it anyway possible that America -has survived? Is it possible that there is traffic between America -and Europe, and that they pass us by for fear of infection? How do -we know that vessels haven't been passing up the Channel for months -past? Why should we think that this is the first?" - -"It is the first," proclaimed Eileen. "I feel it. Oh, let us hurry. Let -us ride and ride as fast as we can to Plymouth or Southampton. I -know they'll be coming to Plymouth or Southampton. Men, Jasper, -men! No women would dare to run a boat at that pace. See how fast -she is going. Oh hurry, hurry!" - -He caught fire then. They ran back to find their bicycles. They ran, -and presently they rode in silence, with fierce intensity. They rode -at first as if they had but ten miles to go, and the lives of all -the women in England depended upon their speed. - -And though they slackened after the first few miles they still rode -on with such eager determination that they reached Plymouth at sunset. - -But they could see no sign of the liner in the waters about -Plymouth. They saw only the deserted hulks of a hundred vessels that -had ridden there untouched for twelve months, futile battleships and -destroyers among them; great, venomous, useless things that had become -void of all meaning in the struggle of humanity. - -"It's not here. Let's go on!" said Eileen. - -Jasper shrugged his shoulders. "It's well over a hundred miles to -Southampton," he said. "Nearer a hundred and fifty, I should say." - -"But we must go on, we must," urged Eileen. - -It was evident that Jasper, too, felt a compelling desire to go on. He -stood still with a look of intense concentration on his face. Eileen -had seen him look thus, when he had been momentarily frustrated by -some problem of mill machinery. She waited expectant for the solution -she was sure would presently emerge. - -"A motor," he said, speaking in short disconnected sentences. "If -we can find paraffin and petrol and candles--light of some sort. The -engines wouldn't rust, but they'd clog. It must be paraffin. We daren't -clean with petrol by artificial light. It's possible. Let's try...." - -That night Jasper did not sleep, but Eileen, as she sat beside him in -the softly moving motor, soon lost consciousness of the dim streak -of road and black river of hedge. The moon, in her third quarter, -had risen before midnight, and when they started was riding deep in -the sky, half veiled by a vast wing of dappled cirrus. And that, too, -merged into her dream. She thought she was driving out into the open -sea in a ship which became miraculously winged and soared up towards -an ever-approaching but unincreasing moon. She woke with a start to -find that it was broad daylight and that a thin misty rain was coming -up from the sea. - -"The Solent," said Jasper, pointing to a distant gleam below them. - -On the common they stopped and stood up in the car, watching a distant -smear of smoke that stained the thin mist. - -"She'll be coming up Southampton Water with the lead going," said -Jasper, trying desperately to be calm. - - - - - - - -EPILOGUE - - -THE GREAT PLAN - -On the evening of that day Jasper and Eileen dined on board the -"Bombastic," that latest development of the old trans-Atlantic -competition in shipbuilding, the boat that had made her first journey -to New York carrying fugitives from England in the days when the -threat of the plague grew hourly more imminent. The "Bombastic" -had not justified her name, she had fled from Southampton without -ceremony, and she had not returned for over a year. The "Apologetic" -would have been more apt. - -And on this evening of her return, the demeanour of that crowd of -quiet serious men in the huge over-decorated saloon, gave no hint of -bombast. As they listened intently to the rapid story of their two -travel-stained and somewhat ragged guests, there was no hint of brag -or boast among them all. They came not as conquerors but as friends. - -"But oh, it's your story we want to hear," broke in Eileen at last. - -She had been strangely quiet so far, she had become suddenly conscious -of the defects of her dress. The old associations were swarming about -her. Eighteen months ago she had sat in just such another saloon -as this, courted and flattered, the daughter of a great aristocrat, -a creature on a remote and gorgeous pedestal. Now it seemed that she -was neither greater nor less than any man present. She was one of -them, not set apart. She looked down at her hands, still oil-stained -by her struggles with the motor on the previous night. - -Jasper had been more patient. He was not less eager than Eileen to -hear the explanation of this wonderful visit, of the resurrection -of these twelve hundred men from a dead and silent world. But he had -restrained his impatience and told his story first. He knew that so -he would be more quickly satisfied. He would be able to listen to -men who were not tense with an anxiety to ask questions. - -They were sitting now at one end of a long table in the saloon, after -eating a meal that had provided once more the longed-for satisfaction -of salt. - -"Well," said an American at the head of the table, turning to Eileen -in answer to her protest, "we've maybe been selfish in putting all -these questions but we're looking ahead. We aren't forgetting that -we've a big work to do." - -"But how did you get here?" asked Eileen impetuously. "How is it that -you're all alive?" - -"Well, as to that, you'd better ask the doctor, there," replied the -American. "He's a countryman of yours, and he's been in the thick of -it and knows the life story of that plague microbe like the history -of England." - -The doctor, a bearded, grave-eyed man, looked up and smiled. - -"Hardly that," he said. "We shall never know now, I hope, the history -of the plague organism. It was never studied under the microscope--we -were too busy--and now we trust that the bacillus--if it were a -bacillus--has encompassed its own destruction. What interests you, -however, is that this sudden, miraculously sudden, development of its -deadly power as regards humanity ran through a determinable cycle -of evolution. From what you've told us, already, it seems clear, I -think, that even in England the bacillus was losing what I may call -its effectiveness. The men in the West Country you've described, -probably died from starvation and neglect." - -He paused for a moment and then continued: "Now in America both men -and women were attacked. There was certainly a greater percentage of -male cases, but I suppose something like half the female population -was infected as well. As far as one can judge the bacillus was simply -losing power. But for all we know it may have developed, it may be -entering on a new stage of evolution, and in some apparently haphazard -way now be beneficial to man instead of deadly. Such things may be -happening every day below the reach of our knowledge. The little -world is hidden from us, even as the great world is hidden.... - -"However," he went on more briskly, "the thing we do know is that the -symptoms of the new plague in America differed materially from our -expectation of them, gathered from the accounts that had reached us -from the Old World. In England the paralysis lasted, I believe, some -forty-eight hours and ended in death. In America the paralysis rarely -ended fatally, but it lasted in some cases for six months. 'Paresis,' -we called it. The patient was perfectly conscious but practically -unable to move hand or foot." - -"That paresis gave us time to do some very clear and consecutive -thinking, I may remark," put in an American. "I had four months to -study my ideas of life." - -The doctor nodded thoughtfully. "America is no less changed than -England," he said, "but it is another change. Well, you understand -that we did not all get the plague over there; the thing was less -deadly in attack and about ten per cent of us were left to look after -the patients." - -"And find food," interpolated one of the listeners. - -"That was a time we won't ever forget," agreed another. - -"Sure thing," said some one, and a general murmur of assent ran round -the table. - -"And all the machines were idle, of course," continued the doctor, -"and even when the tide of recovery began to flow we had to turn our -attention first to the getting of food." - -"If it hadn't been for that we'd have been here before this," said a -young man. "I feel we owe England and Europe some kind of an apology, -but we just had to get busy on food growing right away. We couldn't -spare a ship's crew till three weeks ago." - -"And the others are hard at it over there still," put in another. "This -is just a pioneer party." - -"It's all so comprehensible now," said Thrale after a silence, "but -we had no idea, we never thought there could be any one living in -America. We thought that somehow we must have heard. One forgets...." - -"We tried to get on to you," said one of the party, "by cable and -wireless. We kept on tapping away for months, but we got no reply. We -thought you must be all dead too." - -"Well, we guessed you were having a real bad time anyway," amended -another. "You see we knew the way that plague had taken Europe but -we kept hoping and trying to get on to you all the same." - - - -"We've got a message for Elsie, after all," Eileen said to Jasper -the next day. "There's hope for us yet." - -"Yes, there's hope," said Jasper. - -They had been up at the town railway station assisting a party of -Americans to investigate the condition of the rolling stock and the -permanent way. Neither could be pronounced satisfactory. A few women -had come in from the neighbouring country that morning attracted by -the sight of an inexplicable pillar of smoke, and their report of -local conditions had been equally uninspiring. They had spoken of -famine and failure, but their faces had been lit by a new brightness -at the sight of this miraculous little army of men. There had been -hope in the faces and bearing of these toil-worn women, faith in the -promise of support and succour. - -Now Jasper and Eileen stood looking down towards the harbour. The tide -was creeping in to efface the repulsive ugliness of the mud flats, -and the sluggish water rippled faintly against the foul sloping sides -of small boats that had lain anchored there for more than twelve -months. Behind them, across the line, was a row of unsightly houses, -hung with weather-slating. - -"Oh, there's hope," repeated Jasper. - -He was thinking of all the work that lay before them, and yet he -had faith that a new and better civilization would arise. "We must -get things going again," had been the Americans' phrase, and they -apparently faced the future without a qualm. - -But Jasper's mind was perplexed with the detail of the mechanical -work that must be faced, detail so intricate and confused that he -was bewildered by its complexity. It appeared to him that the crux -of the whole problem lay in the North, in the counties of coal and -iron. Coal and steel were the first essentials, he thought. They must -begin there in however small a way, and America must send out more -men, continually more men. To-morrow he was going back in the motor, -with two experts, to the cable hut in Sennen Cove. They were going to -test the cable and hoped to re-establish communication with America, -and then more ships would come and more men, ever more men. - -And, even so, they could do little at first, and beyond lay the whole -of Europe and still further the whole of Asia. Were women there, also, -maintaining the terrible fight against Nature in the awful struggle to -find food? Steel and coal we must have, was the burden of his thought, -and in his imagination he pictured the waking of factories and mines, -he had a vision of little engines running.... - -Eileen's thought had flown ahead. With one magnificent leap she had -passed from the contemplation of present necessity to a realization -of the dim future. And her thought found words. - -"Hope, lots of hope," she said. "Hope of a new clean world. We've -got such a chance to begin all over again, and do it better. No -more sweated labour, Jasper, and no more living on the work of -others. We've just got to pull together and work for each other. If -we can get enough food, and we can now with all these dear men come -to help us, we can do such wonderful things afterwards. There'll be -lots of children growing up in a few years' time, and we shall teach -them the things we've had to learn by the force of necessity. They'll -begin so differently because, although we have had the experience -of all history, we sha'n't be bound by all the foolish conventions -that grew out of it. Such a silly incongruous growth, wasn't it? But -I suppose it couldn't be helped in one way. We were so penned in. We -all had our rotten little places to keep and that took all our time. We -never had a chance to consider the broad issues, the real fundamental -things. But you've got to consider the fundamental things when you -start clean away from a new beginning. - -"And, oh! Jasper, surely we have all learnt certain things to avoid, -haven't we? I mean class distinctions and sex distinctions, and things -like that. Women won't trouble any more about titles and all that rot -now, and anyway there aren't any left to trouble about. And social -conditions will be so different now that there won't be any more -marriage. Marriage was a man's prerogative; he wanted to keep his -woman to himself, and keep his property for his children. It never -really protected women, and anyway they were capable of protecting -themselves if they'd been given a chance. I know the children were a -difficulty in the old days, but they won't be now. It'll be everybody's -business to see that the children get looked after, and a woman won't -starve just because she hasn't got a husband to keep her. She'll get -better wages than that. The women who have children will be the most -precious things we shall have. They'll live healthier lives, too, and -they won't be incapacitated as they used to be. They'll work and be -strong instead of spending all their time either in doing nothing or -pottering about the house in an eternal round of cleaning the stupid, -ugly things we used. We shall have to have all new houses, Jasper, -when we get things going again. - -"Oh, it will be splendid," she broke out in a great burst of -enthusiasm, "and we begin to-day. We have begun." - -Jasper nodded. "It's a wonderful opportunity," he said. - -"Wonderful, wonderful," repeated Eileen. "We all, men and women, start -level again. Equality, Jasper, It's a beautiful word--Equality. Of -course I know how unequal we all are from one point of view, and -there must come a sort of aristocracy of intellect and efficiency. But -underneath there will be a true equality for all that, and we shall -see to it that no man or woman can abuse their powers by making -slaves again. What a world of slaves it used to be, and we weren't -even slaves to intellect and efficiency, only to wealth and to money, -and to some foolish idea of position and power." - -"Well, we've got our work to do, here and now," said Jasper after a -long pause. - -"Work? Of course, and I love it," returned Eileen, "and while we work -we've got to think and teach." - -The tide was coming in steadily, and near them an old boat that had -been lying on the mud was now afloat once more and had taken on some -of its old dignity. - -Eileen pointed to it. "We're afloat again," she remarked. - -"Embarked on the greatest plan the world has ever known," added Jasper. - -"Oh, it's all part of the great plan," concluded Eileen. - - - - THE END - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Goslings, by J. D. 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