NON-COMBATANTS AND OTHERS
BY ROSE MACAULAY
AUTHOR OF 'THE LEE SHORE,' 'THE MAKING OF A BIGOT,' ETC.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO
Printed in 1916
TO
MY BROTHER
AND OTHER COMBATANTS
There's laughter in the wings:
'Tis sawdust that they bleed,
But a box Death brings.
Even the gods must feel
A smarting of the eyes
As these fumes upsweal.
While we Spectators sit
Aghast at its agony,
Yet absorbed in it.
Cold the night draughts blow,
Mutely we stare, and stare
At the frenzied show.
Of deep and starry blue—
We cry "An end!" we are bowed
By the dread "'Tis true!"
Behind our deafened ear
Hoots—angel-wise—"the Cause!"
And affrights even fear.'
'War is just the killing of things and the smashing of things.And when it is all over, then literature and civilisation willhave to begin all over again. They will have to begin lowerdown and against a heavier load.... The Wild Asses of the Devilare loose, and there is no restraining them. What is the good,Wilkins, of pretending that the Wild Asses are the instrumentsof Providence, kicking better than we know? It is all evil.'
Reginald Bliss, Boon.
'There is work for all who find themselves outside the battle.'
Romain Rolland, Above the Battle.
CONTENTS
PART I. WOOD END
CHAPTER I. JOHN COMES HOME
CHAPTER II. JOHN TALKS
CHAPTER III. ALIX GOES
PART II. VIOLETTE
CHAPTER IV. SATURDAY MORNING AT VIOLETTE
CHAPTER V. AFTERNOON OUT
CHAPTER VI. EVENING AT VIOLETTE
CHAPTER VII. HOSPITAL
CHAPTER VIII. BASIL AT VIOLETTE
CHAPTER IX. SUNDAY IN THE COUNTRY
CHAPTER X. EVENING IN CHURCH
...