Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 189, No. 4 — page 75: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

KING’S Soldiers tramped by him in their heavy shoes on their way to barracks, marring the serenity of the night with their clanking, martial note. He slumped into a bench at the side of the road, overlooking the valley of Camber- ham, the rolling furrowed fields and sleeping farmhouses, with the rumble of a far-off, darkened, London-bound train coming faintly on the hay-scented air. “ Beautiful, isn’t it?” Tremanner’s voice spoke beside him. ‘ Our lovely Surrey— stripped of its sons who are now in purga- tory for the sins of their fathers.” “We'll be there presently, ourselves for our own sins,” Harmon answered gloomily, and made room on the bench. “ Our fathers danced here in Europe for fifty years of peace,” Tremanner went on, following his own thought, “ danced gayly on the edge of Armageddon, danced without a thought of to-morrow, lied diplomatically, and lived carelessly, criminally negligent, and now is the time of the gray dawn and the piper must be paid—and we’ve begun to pay him! Have you heard of Loos?” ‘“‘ Last month’s victory? It was published in orders as—” “ They lied to us—as usual,’’ Tremanner whispered. ‘‘ The customary propaganda to cover their mistakes. I spoke this after- noon to a man who knew the facts of the battle of Loos. A solid battalion of the Royal Kildares was wiped out in ten min- utes—because some one on the general staff made a mistake—there were lots of mis- takes at Loos. “The young gentlemen who danced so prettily and cricketed so cleverly and the old gentlemen who should have been re- tired on pensions twenty years ago, hadn’t studied the matter carefully enough—hadn’t studied anything carefully. They had been too busy assuring us that war was impos- sible, “So something like sixty thousand men were lost—my friend seemed to know the figures. Hill 70 was taken by the High- landers, in a dashing attack and lost again for lack of organization and reserves. “ British troops were thrown into action unsupported and cut to pieces. It was, ap- parently, the greatest defeat of British arms KHAKI. in the history of our nation—this victory they speak of. We lost all along the line. Sixty thousand men! Well—” The shadowy figures of the soldiers passed, brass buttons glimmering, faces blots of white in the darkness. And as a group strode by they sang the popular song of the hour: “We beat them at the Marne, we beat them at the Aisne, We gave them ’ell at Neuve Chapelle, An’ ’ere we are again!” ‘““We did not give them hell at Neuve Chapelle. As a matter of fact,” Tremanner remarked. ‘“ But we will, Dick! It’s the thought of all the mumble-jumble and non- sense and inefficiency outside that makes me reconciled to Camberham and Sergeant Narley. They know what they’re doing anyway. They’re forging the sword for England—Kitchener’s Army! It’s going to be up to us very soon.” The bundle he was holding rolled to the ground and he recovered. it. “What a sentimental ass I am some- times,” he laughed. ‘ Clean forgot for the moment what I stopped for, and old Bob probably wandering around looking for his coat and cap. Didn’t he come with you?” ‘““No. I—left in a hurry. You see— well, I’m not going to hide it from you. I may be pretty low, but—” He stumbled through an explanation of his sudden departure. Tremanner listened and made no comment for some time after Harmon stopped speaking. “Now what do yeu think of me?” Har- mon insisted. ‘““T wasn’t thinking of that aspect of it at all,” Tremanner assured him, and laid a hand on Harmon’s shoulder. “ It’s not a particularly heinous crime, and even if it were, a friendship would be rather fragile - that couldn’t withstand that shock. No, I’m thinking of Denise. They are a bit of a proud family and Denise has something of that herself. have meant pistols and coffee for two and an angry brother or father to face. But this case is different—” 3 “That only makes it worse!’? Harmon muttered. ‘“ Now I can never see her—” (E In the old days it would © Eomichooks