Black August

She screamed and with a sudden access of strength wrenched her arm free, then slogged him again and again with her clenched fist in the face. For a second he stood there, a look of stupid amazement in his eyes, his arms dangling foolishly, then he tripped and fell backwards in the roadway.

Ann screamed again and, forgetful of her weariness, ran and ran until she was clear of the hedgerows and out once more upon the open heath. There she collapsed and fell into a ditch, lying sobbing for several moments.

Rocking from side to side, moaning a little from acute bodily distress and terrified that she might fall asleep, she began to massage the aching muscles in her legs, then recognising a cottage opposite suddenly realised that she could now be no more than three miles from her goal.

As she got on her feet something rustled in the bushes at her rear, only a stoat or rabbit perhaps but, terrified by her recent experience, she dashed off down the road.

She was drunk now, drunk with terror and fatigue, but somehow she staggered on, every thought blotted out from her exhausted brain but that they meant to burn Kenyon unless she could reach Ipswich in time.

Suddenly she realised that she was no longer walking through open country. Houses were upon either side. Her mind cleared for a space, and she shook her head violently from side to side. Then as she looked round she knew that she could not be dreaming. The electric tramwires were overhead.

This was Ipswich, but the suburbs seemed interminable and her feet like leaden weights as she dragged them one after the other. There were 'lights ahead and she groped on towards them but, when she was only a few yards from the barrier which they illuminated, all strength seemed to leave her and, pitching forward on her face lay gently moaning in the gutter.

A man came forward and, stooping, gripped her by the arm. He shook her roughly and pulled her to her feet.

'You can't stay here,' he said sharply, 'you must go back where you came from unless you live in the town.'

'Communists,' muttered Ann, 'they're going to burn them.'

'Eh! what's that?' he questioned with a quick glance. 'Where have you come from?'

' Shingle Street,' she flung at him with a desperate effort. 'They'll be burnt alive unless you take me to the Town Hall.'

'All right, pull yourself together, it isn't far.'

Ann remembered nothing of the last part of her journey. Her mind was blank until she stood, supported by the man who had found her and another, before a bald man at a desk in a bare, ill lighted room.

He pressed her for her story, but her memory and even her' power of speech had almost gone. 'Communists, Mutineers, they'll burn them alive if you don't send help, Shingle Street Shingle Street,' was all that she would mutter over and over again.

Limp and utterly exhausted she sagged upon the arms of the two men until at a gesture from their superior they led her to a chair, where she flopped inert, her head lolling forward on her chest.

'Send for the Colonel,' said the bald man, and with infinite overwhelming relief Ann knew that her task was accomplished. She dozed for a moment, but just as she was going off again the thought of time flashed into her mind once more. How long had she been, and could the rescuing force reach Shingle Street before dawn.

Jerking up her head, she gazed round the room, and through dull eyes saw the face of a big white clock. Yes, she had done it, the black hands stood at a quarter to four. She had taken only three hours and a quarter to do that terrible journey.

She smiled then, wanly but happily; with horses or bicycles they would easily get to Shingle Street before six.

Next moment the door opposite to her opened, the bald man stood up deferentially at his desk, the others came to attention and a khaki figure entered. He stood there staring into her face for a second and then he stepped forward.

'Well I never! if it ain't little big eyes turned up again!' and she found herself staring into the blotched unhealthy face of Private now Communist Colonel Brisket.

24

The New Justice

For the moment Ann's state of collapse saved her. Utterly overwhelmed by the appearance of Brisket and all that his new authority portended, after the continual stresses which she had sustained in the last thirty hours she fainted. Despite her forlorn and bedraggled appearance he still regarded her with a lecherous stare from one small hot eye; the other; which she had injured three weeks before, remained hidden under a black shade.

'Take 'er away,' he said suddenly, 'over to the 'otel opposite an' give 'er a bed in one of the guarded rooms. She's an old frien' of mine, is big eyes, an' I'll enjoy a little talk with 'er ter morrer 'op to it.'

The other men jumped to obey his order and Ann was carried out, across the square and up the stairs of a small commercial hotel which had been taken over by the Ipswich Soviet. They pushed open the door of a small bedroom, flung her on the bed, and left her, locking the door behind them.

She moaned a little and came out of her faint, but hardly regained consciousness; the room was dark, her muscles at last relaxed and almost instantly she fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

'Wake up,' shouted a voice, 'wake up, will you,' and feeling her shoulder violently shaken she groaned, then opened her eyes to stare round the strange room lit by the afternoon sunshine.

Momentarily she remained dazed, then the details of her desperate but useless venture came back to her.

'You're wanted,' said the man who had woken her, 'come on now.'

With an effort she slid off the bed. Every bone in her body seemed to be racked with shooting pains, her throat was dry and parched, her head splitting. As she caught sight of herself in the mirror of the cheap dressing table, she gave a little gasp. Her clothes were torn and mud stained, her hair a matted tangle, her eyes red rimmed and swollen. Picking up a towel from the washstand she dipped it in the water jug and began to dab her face but the man pulled it away from her.

'No time for that, Colonel wants to see you,' he said sourly. Then he pushed her before him from the room, down the narrow stairs and out into the square.

The streets were nearly empty but over at the Town Hall there was considerable activity. Thirty or forty men, some in khaki, but mostly in civilian clothes, and all with a bright red sash crossing their bodies from shoulder to hip, stood leaning on their rifles or passing to and fro. Evidently a selected guard ready to deal with any emergency which might threaten the new local Government. A small group of them, obviously a detachment of cavalry, stood by a dozen horses, and as Ann was led over to the building she noticed that a line of despatch riders stood ready by their bicycles while one or two others were arriving and departing in apparent urgency.

Inside the Town Hall was swarming with people. Messengers were constantly coming and going, men with set important faces carrying bundies of papers hurried from room to room, and a motley throng, who seemed to have no particular business but whom Ann supposed to be adherents of the new movement, blocked the hallway, stairs, and passages.

Her captor forced a way through them, up the staircase and along a corridor, then he poked his head into a room, muttered something, and drawing back thrust Ann inside and slammed the door behind him.

With sick apprehension she saw that Brisket, seated with his legs crossed in a big arm chair, was the sole occupant of the room. A slow smile lit his heavy face as she appeared in the doorway.

'Well, big eyes,' he greeted her, 'feelin' better for yer nap?'

Youth, a healthy body, and eleven hours of complete oblivion had certainly restored Ann's bodily well being to a considerable extent, yet having slept in her clothes and been allowed no opportunity to bath or wash, she was feeling incredibly stale, stiff after her supreme effort, and weighed down to an unutterable degree of sadness by the fate which she had been unable to avert from Kenyon and her friends.

'I'm all right,' she answered dully, 'although I think I could have gone on sleeping for a week.'

He nodded. 'You'll soon pick up agin, don't you fret. An' I tike my 'at off to yer fer that sportin' effort of yours to sive yer pals. 'Ave a pew?' He pushed a chair towards her with his foot.

She sank down in it and passed her hand across her eyes.

'It wasn't much use, was it?' she said wearily.

'Wot's the odds,' he said, trying in a queer uncouth way to comfort her. 'They were for it any'ow. Only a question of time 'fore we mopped 'em up.'

Her long lashes trembled towards the dark hollows beneath her eyes. It was only now coming home to her that she had failed completely. Kenyon, dear Kenyon, to whom she had so stupidly denied a declaration of her love, was dead; and Uncle Timothy, and Agatha, and Gregory, and Rudd, and that funny good humoured American and the gay, generous hearted Veronica too perhaps. It seemed that she had not a single person left to care for in the world. The tragedy was so complete that she hardly thought of her own position, once more at the mercy of this loathsome soldier whom she hated and despised.

'You'll go up before the beak as a reactionary o' course,' he broke in on her sombre thoughts, 'but don't cher worry abart that, I'm not their commander 'ere worse luck, though if I plays me cards right I soon may be, but I got influence all right, an' plenty of it. They got to consider Colonel Brisket in their little game, so you leave it to yours truly; 'cause I'll tell yer, even if you did biff me one, I got a bit of a pash fer you, big eyes.'

Slowly the full significance of her appalling plight filtered into her mind but it was too numbed to respond by flaming anger to his covert offer, only a sullen determination to kill herself rather than satisfy his cravings caused her to mutter: 'You can't blackmail me, or force me to do anything I don't want to.'

'I know that,' his single eye narrowed with sudden cunning. I want yer willin', understand? I've tried aht the other gime these lars' three weeks an' it ain't worth the candle, so I'm aht to treat you right from the beginnin', see?'

'Whatever you do it will make no difference,' she cried with sudden spirit.

'But I got influence,' he argued. 'I'll be the King pin in this ahtfit 'fore I'm much older, an' you can be the Queen bee if you be'ave decent, strite, I'm tellin' yer.'

I don't care what you've got,' she responded doggedly.

'Don't cher?' He leaned forward quickly, determination in every line of his strong coarse face. 'Then what abaht that red 'eaded feller you was sweet on, I saw yer googling at 'im when 'e wasn't looking that afternoon we was 'anging orf the Margate coast. If you'd be matey I could get 'im off as well as you.'

'Kenyon!' she swung round on him, 'is he still alive?'

'Yes o' course, if that's 'is nime! Shark's orders was ter land a party fer drivin' the cattle in, an' ter bring the orficers back fer trial and execution. She made the Orwell rhand abart midday an' sent the prisoners off in boats.'

'But, but,' she stammered, 'do you mean that the destroyer was sent from Ipswich?'

'Yus, we cruised around for a bit makin' the villages on the coast corf up enough fish fer us ter live on, but we was runnin' out of fuel so we brought 'er up the river far as we could an' threw in our lot wiv this new Soviet. I 'ate ships meself so they give me a job on the Committee but, knowin' abart all the cattle wot the General pinched orf the locals, they filled the Shark up wiv oil an' sent 'er rahnd ter tike it orf 'is Mightiness.'

The door was flung open and a grey haired man pushed his head inside. 'Court's sitting, Colonel, and they'll want that woman directly will you send her down?'

'I will.' Brisket rose slowly to his feet as the door closed again and thrust his chin forward peering into Ann's strained face. 'Na wot abart it?'

A hundred new thoughts and emotions were coursing wildly through her brain. They were not dead, but here in Ipswich, and this man had it in his power to save them. How could she let them die?

She closed her eyes to shut out the eager watchful stare with which he was regarding her.

'All of them?' she said after a moment. 'All of them?'

'No, the Court 'ud kick at that.'

'All of them,' she repeated thickly, 'or I won't do it.'

He was silent for a minute then he nodded. 'All right, there'll be a rumpus I expect but I'll fix it some'ow, though only postponement of the sentence mind, I'll keep 'em on the strings as guarantee you treat me fair.'

'I can't,' she wailed suddenly springing to her feet. 'I can't. How can you ask me to knowing that I detest you?'

'You'll get over that,' he laid a heavy hand on her shoulder, 'but you're going through it anyway, see? Just think it over when you get dahnstairs. I'll tell the orderly to wite in Court so as you can send 'im up ter me if you're prepared to tike it cheerful fer the sike of gettin' off yer pals. But ter night's the night, mind, any old 'ow fer you an' me.'

He struck a hand bell and placed her in charge of the orderly, who marshalled her through the press of people down the stairs and into the lofty chamber on the right of the entrance hall.

It was the Court room, empty now of the public and the Press. Only one man sat at the long lawyer's table, and on the magistrate's bench were two men and one woman, seated beneath the red flag which had replaced the royal arms of England.

In the dock stood Gregory, still in the uniform, now ragged and torn, of a brigadier, his face unusually pale, his head bandaged. Silas stood next to him, his enormous bulk seeming to dominate the group, then Veronica, her eyes half closed, her hand on Silas's arm. Beyond her Rudd, in a slouching attitude picking his uneven teeth with a scrap of paper, and lastly Kenyon, stooping slightly, his left arm still in a sling. About them stood the only other occupants of the Court, a little group of soldiers.

Ann gave a half articulate cry and ran towards them as they greeted her appearance with amazed ejaculations, but the orderly caught her shoulder and jerked her back: 'Steady you,' he growled.

The voice of the man who occupied the centre chair on the bench came, smooth, cold, and passionless: 'Is this the woman who came from Shingle Street early this morning?'

'Yes; this is her,' the orderly nodded.

'Put her with the others in the dock.'

Two men with rifles held slackly in their hands stepped aside and Ann was pushed past them next to Gregory. One of those rare bewitching smiles lit his bloodless face. 'Hello, Ann.'

'Hello, Gregory,' she murmured, but the greetings of the others were cut short by the President of the Tribunal.

'You will please be silent,' he said sharply.

As in some awful nightmare Ann stared at him. He was frail, elderly, grey haired, clad neatly in a worn dark suit. A straggly beard covered an undeveloped jaw but his forehead was broad and lofty, his eyes large, pale and almost hypnotic in their power of penetration. He leaned forward and addressed them.

'All of you, including this woman who has just been admitted to the Court, are proved enemies of the New Order. You have without warrant robbed defenceless people of their only means of sustaining life, and on many occasions committed acts of banditry. The Government is now the people, and all property theirs to distribute in the most equitable manner; but when called upon to surrender your stolen supplies to the people's representatives, you were guilty of armed resistance which caused loss of life: you men are therefore enemies of the State and the women have aided and abetted in your crimes. It is my duty to order your execution. Have any of you any reason to state why the sentence should not be carried out?'

'You are neither magistrate nor judge,' Gregory cried quickly. 'What right have you to sentence us?'

'I have been appointed by the Committee to dispense the New Justice in this area with full powers of life and death,' the bearded man answered slowly. 'I fear that is the only answer which I can give you.'

'We haven't even had a trial,' Gregory broke out. 'You'll swing for this before you're done.'

The Chief of the Tribunal shrugged. 'Such men as you are dangerous to the New Order. Your rank of General alone would justify me in condemning you.'

'New Order be damned!' The white scar which lifted Gregory's eyebrow stood out angrily. 'We've been trying to keep the peace, not break it; and what authority have your Committee got to order killings?'

Quiet, restrained, sad almost, the Soviet judge answered patiently: 'Their authority is derived from the Central Committee in London. From the beginning it was recognised by all sane men that the old Government had failed in carrying out their first duty to the people the protection of their lives and livelihood. Five days ago the New Provisional Government was recognised.'

'By whom?' snapped Gregory.

'By the People, the final authority upon which any Government must base its power if it is to survive. By the will of the People the Glorious Revolution has been accomplished, and now their only hope is to bide absolutely by the decrees of the Central Committee. For the safety of the nation and to avoid further bloodshed, all declared reactionaries must suffer the extreme penalty therefore I condemn you.'

It was so obviously useless to protest further against the decision of this cold fanatic that Gregory gave a little shrug and with a queer twisted grin, directed as Silas, fell silent.

'You fools!' cried Veronica suddenly. 'We are for law and order every bit as much as you; surely you see that.'

The woman on the bench, grey, fifty, lean faced but fine featured, stared at her with hard, cold eyes. 'Is one of these men your husband?' she asked silkily.

'No; I have not got a husband.'

'But you have lived with one of them perhaps?'

'What is that to do with you; my body is my own to do as I like with.' Veronica's nostrils were quivering with furious anger.

'True, and the freedom of women to choose their own path of life without disgrace is one of the first things which the New Order will establish, but as a doctor of psychology, I can speak as to the results of such associations. The laws of nature are unalterable and a woman's thoughts are always coloured by those of her male partner for the time being. Your refusal to answer my question implies an admission, so you are doubtless contaminated by their theories and must pay the price.'

Veronica's voice came in a quick harsh sneer. 'Then I hope it amused you to live with a lawyer who had a secret lust for murder.'

'Get rid of em,' growled the great gross man with beady eyes who constituted the third member of the Court. 'Get rid of 'em, we're wasting time.'

As the President nodded and turned to the guard to order their removal, Ann leaned over and spoke in a sharp whisper to the orderly. If she was to suffer the last degree of torture in Brisket's arms that night, at least she might try and save the others.

'One moment,' Kenyon addressed the Chief of the Tribunal, as the orderly hurried from the room. 'I don't want to argue, but I've got a favour to ask.'

'Let me hear it then,' the man waved the guards aside.

'It's this. I don't question your authority you've won, that's all, but in every Court that's ever sat there is one right which is never denied to any prisoner who is to die.'

'Well what is it?'

'Marriage before execution; I wish to marry this lady here.' For a second he smiled at Ann. 'Can that be done?'

'It is an old custom, useful only to secure the transfer of property,' said the President. 'The abolition of private ownership and the fact that you are both to die makes it useless here.'

'Nothing can be useless which gives mental joy, however brief,' declared Kenyon firmly.

'All right then. I grant your request since it is in accordance with the established customs of humanity. But I fear you must be content with civil marriage. There can be no priest.'

'That doesn't matter; where can it be done?'

'Here,' replied the President quietly, 'and now. Under the New Order a simple declaration made before this court will be binding upon you both. Is the woman willing?'

This new development threw Ann into a fresh torment of indecision. How could she refuse Kenyon when she loved him so much, she would have said yes gladly with all her heart if they had been free or both about to die. If she refused he would think her utterly heartless; for how could she explain. Yet how could she marry him and commit adultery that very night?

With growing amazement he saw her hesitation and watched her lowered lids. Then slowly she raised large dark tear dimmed eyes. I-I can't, Kenyon,' she murmured. 'I'd like to, dear, but-​but Brisket's here, so I've promised

I've promised, he's going '

Her voice was drowned by the rattle of the rifles as the soldiers came to attention on Brisket's entry. Stocky and powerful he strode to the centre of the Court. 'The execution of these people's ter be postponed,' he declared loudly.

'What's that?' The President stiffened in his chair. 'By what authority?'

'By mine.'

'But…'

'I'm a member of the Committee, ain't I?' Brisket thrust his chin out aggressively at the magistrate.

'Your interference with the course of justice in intolerable,' the bearded fanatic cried angrily.

I got me own way o' doin' things see, an' you keep a civil tongue in yer 'ead or there'll be trouble.' With a threatening glare Brisket motioned to the guard: 'Remove the prisoners. Come on, big eyes; you come wi' me.'

In a second Kenyon had sized up the situation. Ann had made a bargain with this brute to save their lives. With a flaming face he leapt from the dock, and as the soldier stretched out a hand to take Ann by the arm, hit him a tremendous blow beneath the chin.

Brisket, taken off his guard, went crashing on the ground. Kenyon, his left arm wrenched from the sling, dived at him as he fell and caught him with both hands by the throat. The soldiers flung themselves upon him, but Rudd and Silas had both joined in the scuffle; with his immense strength the latter gripped two guards by their collars and cracked their heads violently together.

One soldier loosed off his rifle and there was a splintering of glass. The magistrates were shouting from the bench. The doors burst open, more soldiers and an excited crowd rushed in. For a few moments a wild tumult reigned in the well of the court, but when at last order was restored, and Kenyon dragged, panting, back into the dock, Brisket remained a crumpled heap upon the floor. His head had cracked like an egg in his fall against the solid dais.

The crowd stood there for a moment gaping at the body from which life had passed so suddenly, but the soldier who had fired the rifle was exclaiming, 'One of 'em's got away; after him, quick!' and dashed out of the room. He alone had seen Gregory leap to the tall window on the first sign of trouble, and dive through it to the lane which ran along the side of the Town Hall.

A detachment was sent in pursuit of the flying Gregory, Brisket's body removed, the court cleared, and then the President looked sternly at the figures in the dock. 'If there had ever been any doubt in your case, this murderous attack upon a loyal officer of the New Order would serve to condemn you a hundred times.'

'The swine! he asked for it,' Kenyon panted.

The Chief of the Tribunal smiled a little grimly. 'Perhaps such men are necessary to restore order, but their morals do no honour to our Cause, and his interference for some private reason was unwarranted.'

Then let's get back to where we left off,' said Kenyon promptly.

'You still ask for this marriage?'

'Yes, I am no less condemned than I was before.'

Ann felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Even if they were all to die she had escaped that unspeakable degradation. Willingly she gave her hand to Kenyon and in a few short sentences the ceremony was performed.

Silas bent over to Veronica, as the others signed on the first page of a new ledger. 'You know,' he said, 'it would make me very happy too.'

'What's the use, darling?' Veronica sighed.

'Well, tell me,' he pressed her. 'Just say we'd met in ordinary times would you would you have thought of becoming my wife?'

Slowly she turned and faced him. 'Yes, Silas, I would have married you. You're the only man I've ever met who has all the interests I really care about, who is kind to the verge of stupidity, yet strong enough to prevent me making a fool of myself.'

'Then let's, Veronica; it's great to know you really care that much, and it may be stupid sentimentality, but I'd like to have you Mrs. Gonderport Harker for any hours we've got.'

'Why, darling, if you want me to,' her voice cracked suddenly and two large tears trickled down her face. She rubbed them away impatiently, and gave a rueful smile. 'What idiots we are, my dear; but never mind.'

So they, too, were married, and it fell to Rudd to claim another privilege. 'I've always 'eard,' he stated loudly, 'that them 'as was due for a 'anging got a good square meal at the lars'.'

'Waste,' thundered the fat man on the bench, but the President upheld Rudd's submission and ordered an issue of rations to each of them when they had returned to their temporary prison. Then he ordered their removal.

On his way out Rudd paused before the bench and in a low voice again addressed the President: 'Er you'll excuse me, Guvnor, but 'ow long 'ave we got, if yer know wot I mean?'

'About three hours, was the soft reply. 'Executions take place at seven o'clock in the morning and the evening.'

'Coo er! that ain't long, is it. Couldn't yer make it ter morrer? It's me birfday, an' it 'ud be a kind o' celebration ter go out on what they calls yer natal day.'

'No, that is impossible.' The Chief of the Tribunal shook his head. 'Other reactionaries are constantly being arrested and your place of confinement will be needed for them.'

'Orl right, Guv'nor.' Rudd moved to follow the rest but threw a parting shot over his shoulder. 'I 'ope it keeps fine for yer when they bumps you off; an' they will, yer know, sure as me favourite dish is winkles.'

An armed escort piloted them across the square, into the little hotel where Ann had spent a portion of the night, and the morning, then up the stairs to the first floor drawing room, where they were locked in and at last able to talk freely.

'Well, we're for it all right,' Silas announced grimly, 'but you certainly are an extraordinary people. That magistrate managed to give me the impression that he had a real right to deliver judgment on us, he was that serious about it.'

'Yes, we're orderly enough,' Kenyon agreed, 'even in a revolution; it's in the blood, I suppose, but that's what makes it so horribly final. They'll take us out of this place on the tick of seven o'clock and shoot us with the same precision as if they were serving a summons on us for not having paid the dog licence.'

'Kenyon,' said Ann suddenly, 'we haven't got long kiss me.'

She was still so overwrought that she could think of nothing but his presence and her escape, the others were shadows moving in the room, and as they turned away she clung to him with pathetic passion.

Twenty minutes later their food arrived. Two potatoes apiece boiled in their jackets, a hunk of course light brown bread and an apple each. Rudd came away from the window where he had been staring out into the square. Veronica rose from her new husband's knee where she had been endeavouring to keep up a cheerful flow of banter, and Kenyon and Ann ceased to stare at each other stupidly upon the sofa.

They had not tasted food for the best part of twenty four hours so, despite the fact that they might not live to digest the meal, they set to almost ravenously, while Ann recounted her adventures and they told her of their trip crowded together in one small cabin of the Shark, in which they had been brought from Shingle Street to Pinmill on the Orwell.

After they had fed they fell silent, only the monotonous tread of the sentry as he paced up and down outside the door was audible.

'Silas, is there no way that we can get out of this place?' Veronica demanded suddenly.

He looked a little hopelessly around the old fashioned hotel drawing room. It was a low ceilinged room of moderate size filled with indifferent furniture. A spindle legged writing table stood between the windows, and a geranium plant on a pedestal occupied one corner. Antimacassars of coarse lace draped the arm chairs and sofa, the wallpaper was a hideous shade of green, and cheap prints of sentimental subjects hung on long wires from the picture rail. There was one door only, and the sole outward sign that the place' had been converted into a prison was a network of barbed wire across the windows. Silas shook his head: 'I'm afraid not, honey.'

'If you call me honey I shall scream,' she exclaimed wildly and began to pace nervously up and down the room.

Rudd stood again by the window keeping an anxious, fascinated eye upon the hands of the clock opposite. Ken yon and Ann had returned to the sofa and once more a strained unnatural silence fell upon the room.

'What's the time?' asked Veronica suddenly breaking the tension.

'Jus' turned 'arf pars' five, Miss,' reported Rudd.

'I wonder,' she said slowly, 'if Gregory got away.'

'You bet 'e did,' Rudd's belief in his master's capabilities remained unshakable.

'Yes,' said Kenyon from the sofa a little bitterly, 'he would be the one to get out in the end; I expect he'll walk to London and turn Kommissar after all.'

'Well, good luck to him if he does,' Veronica took him up sharply.

'Oh, rather,' he agreed heartily, 'and if he did I'll bet his first action would be to secure an order of release for us; the only trouble is that even Gregory couldn't get himself made a Kommissar in the hour and a quarter we have to go.'

'I wonder what is happening in London,' Ann said ruminatively.

Kenyon squeezed her hand. 'It's much the same as here I expect.'

Then there is a chance that things will settle down again.'

'After a bit perhaps, but first there will be wholesale shootings. It wouldn't be so bad if the chaps like that magistrate could keep control, the trouble is that the extremists like Brisket always get the upper hand in every revolution after the first month or two, and massacre the moderates. Once that happens it may be years before the country recovers.'

'The English are very conservative,' Silas put in. 'It wouldn't surprise me any if there were a counter revolution.'

No one contradicted him and they sank into silence again, too busy with agitated thoughts of their approaching end to enter into argument.

'What time is it now?' Veronica asked again after a little in a nervous, high pitched voice.

'Few minutes ter six, Miss,' Rudd muttered from his post of observation at the window.

'God!' Kenyon groaned, forgetful of Ann for the moment. 'We've got another hour of this.'

'Try not to think of it, my darling,' she smiled at him. 'I wish we could know if there is going to be a counter revolution though.'

Silas heaved his bulk out of the arm chair. Despite his apparent calmness he was desperately worried for Veronica, yet he could think of no way to engage her mind and quieten her restfulness. 'I wish a darn sight more that this radio was working,' he remarked, laying his large hand on the switch. 'If only we could tune in to a band it might cheer us up a little.'

Tick, tick, tick, the instrument responded with its rhythmic note.

'Good God! it is,' exclaimed Kenyon, bounding to his feet, 'That's the metronome.'

For a full minute they all stood staring at it in astonished silence, and then a clear resonant voice impinged upon their listening ears, coming to that drab, old fashioned room out of the vastness of the ether:

'This is London calling.'

25

The Devil Rarely Gets His Due

They stood with strained expectant faces, their eyes riveted upon the instrument, while the voice continued slowly and distinctly:

'I am not a professional announcer, listeners will please overlook any faults of delivery. I will, however, speak as clearly as possible for this message is of vital importance.

'As you are aware the Broadcasting Service has been suspended for nearly a month and doubtless you will have assumed this to be due to sabotage; actually, the wrecking of all stations throughout the country was deliberate and carried out, under the instructions of the late Government, by the principal executives before abandoning their plant; it being the policy of the Government to prevent facilities for propaganda falling into other hands.

'During the first fortnight in August a reign of anarchy swept the whole country. Many deaths are reported from all quarters, and owing to a complete breakdown in the distribution of supplies, the prospect of starvation drove an ordinary law abiding people to unheard of acts of savagery.

'Desperate efforts have been made however to cope with the vital questions of feeding the population, and if listeners will faithfully carry out the instructions which I am about to give there will be no further danger to any member of the community from lack of food.

'On the breakdown of the late Government only one political body in this country was sufficiently organised to offer any prospect of stability if they were placed in power; I refer to the Communist party. For many years this party has been increasing in numbers, intelligence and strength. They have watched the gradual decline of confidence among the people in the succession of so called National, Socialist National, and finally United British Governments, convinced that a time would surely come when the nation would turn to them in some great crisis as the only body offering a clear cut break from the old tradition of muddle, compromise and incompetence.

"This party was very highly organised, and every member of it fully instructed as to his duty when the expected crisis at last came; it is therefore not surprising that, on the fall of the late Government, the power of this party came to be felt very strongly, particularly in the towns, where its following was considerable.

'Faced with the country rapidly dissolving into a state of anarchy a very large proportion of the people naturally rallied to this cause, which offered the only obvious means of restoring law and order.

'Many of the principal towns of England, Scotland and Wales accepted the authority of the local Soviets a short time after the dissolution of the late Government and, although the street fighting was bitter and severe, London acknowledged a provisional Communist Government five days ago.'

'There you are darlings, just what Gregory told us, and what the greybeard said in the Town Hall,' Veronica shrugged impatiently.

'Shut up!' snapped Kenyon, 'oh hell! the battery's fading out.'

The voice had grown weaker as they leaned anxiously nearer to the instrument. Silas twiddled the knob but atmospherics intervened and they could only catch snatches of the announcer's speech here and there.

'Failure of foreign support… unable to redeem pledges… Manchester leading the way… two days and nights of massacre… first successes… three causes mainly contributing… dispatched by aeroplane… wonderful response by the United… recovery under new… food ships now… feeling of Empire never more strongly demonstrated… Canadian offer to admit… South Africa under this… difficulties of… enrolled at once… severe blow to Provisional Government… forces of the Prince Regent entered London at 3.15 a.m. this morning…'

'Good God!' cried Kenyon; 'do you understand? There has been a counter revolution!'

'Listen, listen!' muttered Ann, 'what did he say? read what?'

'Something about a proclamation,' Silas turned the knob again, the instrument crackled, hooted, and buzzed, then the voice of the announcer came clear, loud and dominant once more: '… has ever strained the heart of this great Empire, yet I am proud to say that never in their long history have the English speaking peoples given a finer demonstration of their power to unite together for the preservation of freedom and justice in the darkest hour.

'For years we have been drifting powerless in the grip of an effete system of Government. His Majesty knew it, I knew it, and the best brains in this country, who now constitute my council, knew it; moreover, in the last twenty years, I have made it my business to gather the opinions of men and women of every shade of thought and feeding in the country, rich and poor alike, and I am aware that many thousands of them realised it too, yet I was powerless to intervene.

'Had I made any premature attempt to save the country from the crisis which I foresaw I should have been instantly accused of seeking a dictatorship, thereby seriously prejudicing the goodwill of a large section of the community when the crisis came.

'I have never sought a dictatorship, and I give my assurance that as soon as law and order have been re-​established throughout the country, I shall cease to act as a dictator. In the meantime however His Majesty's condition being too grave for him to bear the strain of such a crisis, the last act of the legally constituted Government was to surrender supreme power into my hands; to refuse it would have been a cowardly neglect of my duty as your Prince.

'Parliament will reassemble in due course, for it is as much a part of the Constitution as the Sovereignty itself, and time has proved that a Constitutional Monarchy is the form of Government best suited to the British people.

'But when it reassembles, it is my intention to urge upon it the passage of bills which will make it a different body to that which we have known for many generation?. Firstly, I shall propose that hereditary Peers resign their right to sit by descent alone, and that for the future they be represented by certain members of their own order elected amongst themselves. By this means the best elements among the aristocracy will be retained and the Upper Chamber disembarrassed of those less useful.

'Secondly, that the House of Peers be strengthened to twice its remaining number by new members; men of proven worth who have served the country well in every walk of life, yet who would never prostitute themselves to enter politics by throwing out promises, impossible of fulfilment, to an ill informed electorate. These will be elected in varying proportions by the newly constituted Upper and Lower Houses, Dominions Parliaments, Councils of Crown Colonies, and on the personal nomination of the Sovereign.

'By these measures it is hoped that a body of men may be gathered together who will represent in achievement, integrity, and intellect, all that is finest, not only in Britain, but in our Empire beyond the seas.

'To such a body we could well restore the ancient powers of the Upper House, while the Lower will remain, not as it has come of late years to be, a manoeuvring ground for ambitious party leaders, and wielding an authority far beyond its rightful place in the Constitution, but an elected body to voice the opinion of the people and a stepping stone for men of talent to the Upper House.

'There will be in future no Prime Minister. That office was created solely on account of the difficulty which William of Orange experienced in speaking and understanding the English language. It is the rightful prerogative of the Crown, and, should His Majesty's condition continue to improve, as we pray it may, he will once more assume the Sovereign's ancient position at the head of the Council table. In the meantime I shall continue to act on his behalf.

'I come now to the greatest step which has so far been taken to bring prosperity back to this dear country of ours. It is a policy which should have been developed long ago, but only this great crisis made possible the removal of opposition in the domestic politics of the Dominions and inter colonial rivalries. I speak of the redistribution of the population throughout the Empire.

'At home we are faced with the tragic figures of the unemployed, while in our Dominions and dependencies there are stored enough fertility and wealth to give abundance to all the Empire's peoples. Emigration in the past has been difficult and expensive: families going out from this country have gone alone to face hardships and, in the remote parts, possible danger.

'In the early days of this crisis I used my personal influence to dispatch a number of Royal Air Force machines to various destinations, and in them sent trusted friends who knew my purpose to act as my ambassadors.

'The response to my appeal by our kindred overseas has been magnificent beyond words, and a unique example of their love for the Mother Country.

'They have agreed to open their vast territories to us, and vast tracts of fertile land, at present difficult of access, are to be brought into cultivation in many portions of the globe.

'New towns and cities are to be built which will offer employment in every type of industry. Free passage will be given to all who are willing to emigrate and accommodation on arrival in these new State owned towns at moderate rentals deducted from subsidised wages, leaving a margin sufficient to ensure a decent standard of living.

'Emigrants will be asked to sign on for three, five or seven years, and during that period they will be guaranteed a minimum wage according to their employment; special allowances in addition will be paid for wives, children and dependents. Full particulars of this great emigration scheme will be published and broadcast throughout the country.

I ask then for five million volunteers; men and women who have the courage to go upon this great adventure, and lighten the burden which is upon us at home.

'I appeal especially to the unemployed. For years now many of them have lead a tragic and humiliating existence. If they remain here their lot cannot be bettered, at least for many years to come. If they go forth in the spirit of their ancestors a useful self respecting life, in which they may once more hold up their heads, awaits them.

'I want five million volunteers, and if they will come forward they may count themselves the saviours of the country.

'And now I would urge upon every one of you, whatever your age or circumstance may be, the absolute necessity in this great crisis, the worst of which is now happily over, to stand firm in the cause of law and order. Not to do so is to betray your own family and friends to a renewed, and perhaps final, anarchy. It is therefore the duty of every freeborn man and woman in this country to obey fully and loyally such decrees as shall be issued for the protection of the State upon my Sovereign authority. God bless you all.'

There was a brief pause and then the announcer's voice came again:

'This proclamation was issued from Windsor at four o'clock this afternoon under the signature of the Prince Regent.'

'By jove, he's done it!' exclaimed Kenyon, 'and he's the only man in the kingdom who could have pulled if off.'

Silas nodded as he switched off the loud speaker: 'Five million volunteers, eh? d'you think he'll get them?'

'Why not?' Veronica laughed a little hysterically; 'they got five million volunteers to offer themselves for a killing before conscription was brought in during the Great War, and this applies to women too. He'll get them easily once it becomes the patriotic thing to do!'

'It's amazing that your Colonies should agree to this scheme, though,' Silas hazarded.

'They'll benefit too.' Kenyon began to pace up and down: 'Look at Australia, a vast continent with a population something less than that of London. They could lose a couple of million people there! Take some absorbing perhaps, but with new towns being built and Government organisation it could be done. Redistribution of population, eh? and a new bond to knit the Empire together. By God! he's cutting at the root of the trouble!'

'I wonder how many people heard the broadcast?' said Ann suddenly.

An immediate soberness descended on them all and Rudd lurched over to the window; 'Not many,' he said tersely, 'can't 'ave bin.'

'No,' Silas added, 'it was pure chance that I happened to switch it on, the damn thing's been out of action for a month, there won't be one in ten thousand listening in tonight.'

'But they can't shoot us after this!' Veronica clutched him by the arm, 'they can't!'

'They may. Ipswich is Communist still and will be perhaps until the morning.'

'It's twenty five pars' six by that there clock,' announced Rudd.

'Good God! only thirty five minutes to go.' Kenyon ran to the door and hammered on it. 'If we tell the guard what's happened he may pass on the news.'

'He won't believe you, darling,' Ann shook her head miserably.

The sentry opened the door and in a quick spate of words Kenyon poured out the news from London.

'You can tell that yarn to the marines,' said the fellow morosely, and slammed it shut again.

'What about breaking out?' cried Veronica?

'We'd all be shot, sweet, just as surely as we would have been an hour ago,' Silas told her.

'But we can't let them murder us now!'

'We'll put up a fight when they come for us,' he assured her with a quick glance at the window; 'but I only wish someone would start a riot here. Other folks besides us must have heard that radio somewhere in this town.'

'Then they'll have to make it snappy, sir,' Rudd threw over his shoulder, 'it's twenty ter seven now!'

"This is intolerable,' exclaimed Kenyon; 'to think our side is on top again yet we're to be killed off in twenty minutes' time; it's fantastic!'

'I know!' Ann's face brightened, 'let's ask to be taken before the Magistrate again.'

'That's it that's it.' Kenyon began to bang loudly on the door.

The sentry opened it a foot and thrust an angry face in; 'What the 'ell is it now?'

'We want to be taken back to the Magistrate,' Kenyon begged.

'Aw, shut up, can't you. He's busy and you've had your turn. Be quiet now!' The man jerked the door shut again with a bang.

Rudd's face was glued to the window. Orderlies on horseback and bicycles continued to arrive at the Town Hall; a little group of the new Red soldiery sat on the steps, their rifles handy, but laughing and joking over a game of cards in the late afternoon sunshine.

The gross bulky man who had made the third member of the Tribunal came hurrying out of the building; he looked furtively to right and left, then set off at a quick pace up the street. Rudd glanced at the clock again. 'It's a quarter to seven,' he said anxiously. 'We'll be for it unless someone does something pretty quick,'

As he spoke a small body of Greyshirts came round the corner, the leader held a long white paper in his hand. At their appearance the guards on the Town Hall steps grabbed their rifles and scrambled to their feet. Rudd threw up the window and leaned out, his head pressed against the barbed wire mesh.

'Silence!' cried the leader of the Greyshirts. 'If you shoot us it will be murder. I am about to read a proclamation by the Government in London.'

'Thank God!' Kenyon breathed, 'it's the message on the wireless.'

The Greyshirt held up his paper and began to read in a loud voice. The armed men on the steps shuffled uncomfortably; in some mysterious fashion news of the development had spread. A crowd of people surged out from the Town Hall, and the Square, which had been almost empty a few moments before, began to fill like magic. From every side street figures ran to block the wide open space.

'Hell!' exclaimed Veronica.

'What is it?' whispered Ann.

'That filthy woman who was on the bench.'

Then they all saw her; tall, haggard, wisps of grey hair blowing about her face, she forced her way towards the troops of the local Soviet. As they watched she issued a swift order; two men shook their heads and backed away, but the rest obediently raised their rifles., The reader of the Proclamation hesitated, faltered, stopped. For a second an unearthly silence filled the square, then the woman's voice came fierce and shrill.

'Shoot!'

There was a rattle of shots. A groan went up from the crowd; three Greyshirts dropped from sight, but their leader still stood unharmed. With a sudden shout he flourished the Proclamation and charged up the steps.

'Down with the Reds,' bellowed Kenyon. 'Long Live the Prince!'

A hundred faces in the crowd turned to stare at the windows whence this clarion call had come, and another voice took it up. 'Down with the Reds! Come on, chaps foller me!' It came from a burly carter in a leather apron.

The cry was taken up on every side. A little phalanx of blue clad policemen had appeared from somewhere and, with an inspector at their head, were thrusting their way towards the Town Hall.

The reports from the rifles of the Red soldiers echoed sharply again. The Greyshirt leader fell backwards, shot through the head, but the rest were fighting at close quarters seeking to wrest their weapons from the guards.

A solitary rifle cracked from a window at the side of the square and the woman who had urged on the Communists clutched wildly at her chest, her mouth dropped open as though to shriek, then she pitched forward under the feet of the struggling mob.

'It's jus' turned seven o'clock,' said Rudd.

Next minute a body of Communist cavalry came charging out of a side turning into the crowd. Two were pulled from their saddles, a third fell from his horse, struck on the head by a brick, but the rest cleared a wide lane through the mass and, turning at the far end of the square, galloped at full tilt again into the shrinking, struggling mob of people.

The troops on the steps poured another volley into the fleeing pedestrians, and in another minute the square was empty except for the Soviet soldiers and the wounded.

'Blimey!' exclaimed Rudd bitterly, 'if we ain't sunk after all.'

Kenyon nodded sadly. 'I'm afraid that was our last chance, and they may come for us any minute now.'

'No,' cried Ann. 'Listen! What's that?'

The sound of wild cheering came from somewhere out of sight along the street. The mob surged back into the square, and in their midst a lorry nosed its way into view.

'Troops!' yelled Veronica shrilly. 'Hell's bells! we've won!'

A machine gun stuttered, checked, and then burst into a violent chatter. The horses of the Red cavalry reared, plunged and fell: another lorry came into view, a third, a fourth, a fifth all packed with khaki figures. Under the death dealing zip of the machine gun bullets the Soviet infantry fled, jostling and fighting among themselves to be first through the doors of the Town Hall.

Careless of the barbed wire at the windows the prisoners leaned out waving and shouting wild encouragement; then Rudd's voice came above the din. 'There 'e is I knew 'e'd come back fer us. Go on, sir give 'em 'ell!'

'It is it's Gregory!' Veronica cried, almost oft her head with joy.

As he caught Rudd's stentorian shout Gregory, still in his tattered khaki, the golden oakleaves on his scarlet banded hat now frayed and grimy, looked up from the leading lorry and waved a smiling greeting. Ten minutes later he was with them in the room, answering a hail of excited questions.

'I couldn’t have done it if you people hadn't given me the chance to get away,' he told them, 'and finding out the real situation was a bit of luck, the rest was dead easy.'

'Tell us, tell us!' Veronica insisted.

'Well, when I got into that lane beside the Town Hall I knew I was certain to be hunted through the streets if I was spotted in this rig out, so I shinned up a fire ladder and scrambled over the roofs as hard as I could go, but I slipped on a loose slate and pitched, feet foremost, through a skylight that's where the luck came in!'

'Go on,' urged Ann. 'Go on!'

'Be patient, pansy face,' he chaffed her; 'the place happened to be the temporary hiding place of an Ipswich policeman. He wasn't in his uniform of course, but as soon as he saw me he came out of his shell and he was a remarkably intelligent chap. He joined a secret organisation, composed mainly of reliables in the old force, early in the troubles, and with half a dozen others had been keeping an eye on things here, and then passing on his reports to people higher up for transmission to Headquarters at Windsor. Naturally I had been racking my brains as I came over the roofs as to how to get you out of it, but this chap had all the dope about the Counter Revolution having taken place this morning; and he said that having secured the great industrial centres they would be mopping up the other towns tonight. I didn't dare to wait though, and when he told me he felt certain loyal troops would be in Colchester already, I borrowed his push bike and beat it. I was chivvied through the streets before I got out of the town but the rest was easy.'

'Easy?' echoed Veronica, raising her eyes to Heaven.

'Yes.' He smiled with his old air of superb self confidence; 'I flung my weight about a bit and, seeing all my blood stained bandages, they thought me no end of a tiger so I go away with half a company.'

'Won't you get into awful trouble now that the Government is restored?' asked Kenyon anxiously.

He laughed gaily; 'No, Old Soldiers never die. I'm just going over to the Town Hall to see that the job has been properly completed, then I propose to shed the purple, and as the song has it, gently Fade Away'

They followed him downstairs and at the entrance to the hotel he turned and smiled at them. 'You'd better stay here for the moment, I won't be long.' Then he shouldered his way into the press.

For a few moments they stood on the pavement watching the cheering jostling crowd, then Veronica seized Kenyon's arm and pointed to another lorry that was slowly entering the square.

'Look, look! on the box!' she cried, 'there's Alistair!'

"Why, so it is, old Hay Symple by all that's wonderful.'

'Alistair you brute!' shrieked Veronica; 'I adore your ugly face, come here!'

Major Hay Symple heard her shout, looked his amazement in seeing her there and, jumping down, pushed his way towards them. As he stepped on to the pavement Veronica flung her arms round his neck and Kenyon thumped him on the back; but he took it all quite calmly, surveying their ragged clothes and the unshaven faces of the men with mild amusement. His own attire was as faultless as if he had just come off the parade ground; his firm chin seemed newly shaven, and his moustache was brushed stiffly upward as of old.

'My dear, where have you been, I'm terribly glad to see you,' he smiled affectionately at Veronica.. 'Oh, everywhere,' she waved her arms, 'all over England, and Scotland too I think!'

'By Jove!'

'But tell us,' she urged, 'what's been happening, we've only heard the Proclamation on the wireless.'

'Well really, I don't know,' he stroked the fine brown moustache. 'We've just been carrying on, most of us. It's all been done from Windsor; we occupied Maidenhead for a few days, ordered there you know, then last night we were ordered back to London, and there yea are.'

'You maddening person, surely you were in the fighting?'

'Oh, rather, if you call it that, but of course it was of no value as experience to a soldier, beastly work and the men hated it as much as we did.'

Hark at him!' Veronica appealed wildly to the darkening sky. 'To hear you talk anyone would think that there had never been a revolution at all!'

'Oh, well, there was a nasty patch in the middle of last week but the sailors did most of the er laying on of hands, if you know what I mean!'

'The sailors? but I thought they'd all mutinied?'

'There was a little trouble with them in the earlier part, but when things began to look really sticky they turned themselves into special police.'

'Well done the Navy!' laughed Kenyon.

'Yes, good show, wasn't it? But tell me about yourselves quickly because I've got a job to do.'

'Darling,' gasped Veronica, 'it's been too thrilling, first we were nearly all murdered in the East End somewhere, but we were rescued and taken on board a destroyer ' She paused suddenly as Gregory appeared from behind Silas's broad back.

'Hullo!' exclaimed Hay Symple sharply.

'Hullo!' replied Gregory with a queer twisted grin.

'By God! you're the bogus Brigadier,' cried the Major, thrusting his way past Veronica. 'The crook I've been sent from Colchester to get; you're going to be court martialed my fine fellow and shot!'

26

September Moon

'Don't be a fool,' Veronica burst out; 'Gregory's been marvellous, we should all have been dead a dozen times if it hadn't been for him.'

'I'm sorry,' Hay Symple shook his well groomed head. 'You don't understand the enormity of the thing. It would have been bad enough if he had only dressed himself up in a uniform he had no right to wear, but to divert half a company of troops at a time like this is treason of the blackest kind, and, of course, the moment you mentioned a destroyer I tumbled to it that he's the chap who got away with a. platoon and the Shark a month ago. I was ordered to follow him up from Colchester and arrest him, and I shall.'

'You can't!' stormed Veronica, 'you can't.'

'My dear I'm sorry, terribly so if he's been decent to you, but you must realise that plain murder is nothing to what he has done.'

'But you don't really mean to shoot him, do you?' Kenyon asked in a shocked voice.

'Not personally.' Hay Symple beckoned to some of his men. 'But my orders are to take him back to London for court martial, and there's no doubt about the verdict or the penalty. He will undoubtedly be shot.'

As Hay Symple's soldiers surrounded him Gregory began to laugh, quietly at first, then louder, until he rocked where he stood, shaken by gargantuan bursts of laughter.

'I see nothing humorous about it,' said the guardsman acidly.

'Don't you? I do.' Gregory sighed as he wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes. 'First I'm to be shot by mutineers because they thought I was an officer; then by Communists because they thought I was a King; and now despite the fact that I've regained this town for the Government, by you, because I've got myself up in your stupid fancy dress. If that's not funny…"

Hay Symple's face turned a darker shade of red. 'You will refrain please from insulting His Majesty's uniform.'

'Go to hell, you brainless idiot,' cried Gregory with a sudden burst of fury.

Veronica flung herself between them. 'Don't take any notice of him, Alistair,' she pleaded, 'he's overwrought; we've all been through the most appalling time.'

'Then make him keep his tongue between his teeth.'

Gregory shrugged. 'I didn't mean that personally; it's just that I loathe your type.'

"There, my dear,' Veronica begged, 'do try and forget that you're a professional soldier for a moment. We're all alive, Alistair, and that's what really matters. How can we get back to London?'

The guardsman gave her half a smile. 'I've no desire to quarrel with this chap, only to hand him over to the proper authorities. As for London I've got to take him there, so

1 can take you too, if you like; that is if you don't mind going in the lorry?'

'Of course not! And you'll take the others as well?'

'Yes, I don't mind.' He glanced round quickly and his eye fell on Rudd. 'Who's this man?'

'Batman to the General, sir,' said Mr. Rudd.

'Oh, you're the minor crook, are you? Well, I'm glad we've roped you in,' he swung round on Gregory. 'You see, it happens that, quite apart from this business at Colchester, I heard all about your first exploit from the Colonel whose men you trundled off with. He's a particular friend of mine, and he'll be better pleased to see you shot than to get another bar to his D.S.O.'

'Will he?' sneered Gregory, 'he's a fool then, he'll never live this story down, you know. “The Colonel whose troops were marched off by a civilian, in a hired suit from Clarksons!” I'd hush the whole thing up if I were you.'

'And let you off Scot free? No thank you. In due course you're going to get it in the neck, my friend, so you'd better make up your mind to it. Are the subalterns from Colchester still here or have you sent them off to the War Office with another fake message?'

The ex king of Shingle Street laughed. His furious anger at being caught had given way to his habitual philosophy. This earnest soldier was more a matter for amusement than abuse. 'You'll find them in the Town Hall,' he said cheerfully, 'a nice pink faced youth, and a tall spotty one; Spotty is the senior, but the cherub's got more brains!'

'Thanks.' Hay Symple nodded to the escort. 'Put these two men in the back of the lorry while I go across and see that things are all right. You others had better make yourselves as comfortable for the journey as possible.' He turned and thrust his way into the crowd.

When he returned they were all settled among the half dozen privates on the sacking in the back of the vehicle with the exception of Veronica; despite Silas's protest she had elected to take the only place that would be vacant on the driver's seat. Hay Symple climbed up beside her.

Slowly the lorry turned and edged through the seething mass of people. The whole population of the town seemed to have congregated in the square and principal streets; they were singing, cheering, and carrying soldiers, Greyshirts and policemen shoulder high as they swayed and rocked before the Town Hall. From the windows men were making speeches which had no chance of reaching their enthusiastic audiences, others were waving Union Jacks dragged forth for the occasion.

At last the lorry crawled into Fore Street, likewise crammed with people and, passing along it at a snail's pace, reached the less congested end where it was able to put on speed and take the London Road.

When they were clear of the town Alistair Hay Symple turned to Veronica. 'The Prince makes his official entry tonight.'

'What? Of London? How positively thrilling; shall we see anything of it?'

'We might. I have to report to Wellington Barracks and that's only a stone's throw from Buck House as you know.'

'My dear, how too marvellous. But listen, Alistair, you've just got to let Gregory Sallust go. Arrange it so that it looks like an escape if you like. I'll never speak to you again if you do hand him over to the authorities.'

'Sorry, Veronica,' his voice was kind and sympathetic. 'I can understand in a way that you think he's a bit of a tiger but that doesn't alter the fact that he has twice got hold of troops, who might have been needed very urgently elsewhere, under false pretences. It was absolutely criminal and he's got to take his medicine.'

Veronica stood up in front of the lorry which was now rattling along at a good pace. 'All right,' she said firmly, 'if you feel that way you're no friend of mine. I prefer to travel with the troops.'

'Steady, steady,' he urged, catching her by the arm and pulling her down; 'I'm only doing my duty and that's got to be done.'

'I don't care a hoot in hell for your filthy little duty, and I'm going to travel in the back of this pantechnicon. Now, pull it up and let me get out.'

'Veronica, darling, don't you see that I can't help myself.'

'Help? You!' Veronica gave a sudden angry laugh. 'You wouldn't raise a finger to save your own mother from drowning if your Colonel said you were to march half a dozen men to the baths I'

'Veronica

'Yes, I mean it. You're weak and narrow; hidebound by this fossilised code which orders you to kill a man whose boots you are not fit to lick!'

'Damn it, be fair I don't want to kill him; if he's in a mess it's his own rotten fault.'

'But you admit that they'll shoot him if you hand him over?'

'Yes, they've got ample powers under the National Emergency Act, and this is a case for shooting if ever there was one.'

'Then I beg of you, Alistair, to let him go.'

'I can't,' exclaimed the unfortunate soldier, goaded beyond endurance; 'and it's rotten of you to ask me! I couldn't do it even if you promised to marry me and you know it!'

Veronica gave an angry snort. 'I wouldn't marry you in a thousand years! what's more I'm married already.'

'Good God! do you really mean that?'

'Yes, I do, and I haven't sunk to sitting beside the common hangman yet, so pull up at once, d'you hear?'

With a sullen nod Hay Symple ordered the lorry driver to slow down, but when they came to a halt he climbed out himself; 'Stay there,' he flung at Veronica, 'I'll send the other female along to keep you company.'

'Thanks, but I'd rather have my husband, he's the largest man in the back!'

The driver cast a glance of mingled fear and admiration at this wrathful lady, then smothered a grin as Hay Symple climbed in behind and Silas took the vacant seat.

Ann was sleeping with her head pillowed on Kenyon's knee; Gregory sat, hunched between his escort, with Rudd beside him, their backs against the fore part of the wagon. The wretched Major sank down beside Kenyon.

'Veronica's crazy!' he snapped, as the lorry started off again.

'Always was,' replied Kenyon lightly.

'First of all she tells me she's picked up a husband, and then she wants me to let this blackguard escape who tried to march off with the troops.'

'Tried?' Kenyon's voice was cold. 'Did, you mean, and he's a damn' fine sportsman. I'd rather serve under him than any of you hidebound professional warriors any day when there's real trouble about.'

'Oh, shut up! I know my job as well as most people.'

For a time they fell silent. The lorry rattled and clanged through the narrow lanes to the west of Colchester, Hay Symple having decided that it would be quicker to avoid the towns. The driver was getting every ounce out of his engine, and there was little danger that they would run into other vehicles as these were still almost non existent.

'What was it really like in London?' Kenyon asked after a while.

'Bloody!' replied the soldier tersely 'absolutely bloody! but the troops put up a first class performance.'

'What really happened?'

'God knows! I don't. Each of us only saw our own little bit of it, and personally, I thought the whole lot of us were for the high jump a week ago; but H.R.H. has been quite marvellous. It seems he had the whole party taped before it even started.'

'It's wonderful the hold he has on the affections of the people.'

'Well, he's earned it.'

'He has, but what's going to happen now?'

'Ask me another. All sorts of rumours are flying about; the banks are to be taken over by the state they say, and anybody who can prove their bona fides will be able to get loans, to develop property or business, on fantastically easy terms.'

Kenyon grunted. 'That sounds all right, but what about private overdrafts? My people have always treated me damn well but I bet I'd never get a penny from the state without security when I'm hard up!'

'That's true, anyhow, it's only a rumour, and another is that the great Industrialists have sunk their differences and are to pool the interests of their own trades in the future, rather like the old City Guilds did centuries ago I gather, each bunch to supervise and foster their interests for the common good. There is one bit of good news I'm pretty certain about though, I had it from a chap who is on the Prince's staff; He means to kill D.O.R.A. as dead as mutton, and the liberty of the individual is to be restored. Even our seaside places may be worth a visit in a year or two, and the tax is to be taken slap off beer!'

'Yo Ho for Merrie England!' Kenyon laughed. 'Come on Alistair, tell me more.'

'The whisky duty is to be reduced as well, and gin to somewhere about the old standard. They say it will bring in a far greater revenue and support home industries to boot. Overboard with all these fool restrictions, Empire Free Trade at last, and protection of the things we make ourselves, seems to be the line of country they mean to take.'

'And Government by Mandarins,' added Kenyon.

'Yea, like China, but the devil of it is they're so apt to be corrupt.'

'You won't find that here, and it's the finest form of Government in the world when they are straight.'

For another hour they discussed rumours and possibilities while the lorry bumped and jolted its way towards London. Here and there figures stepped out into the road, begging a, lift and food or, if they had heard the news of the re-​established Government, giving a cheer at the sight of the soldiers. Abandoned cars, tradesmen's vans, and every sort of conveyance littered the sides of the roads as they drew nearer to the capital.

Silas, on the box beside Veronica, was holding her hand in his, almost oblivious of the journey as he told her of his favourite home in Georgia, and his orange grove spread among the lakes and lagoons on the Florida coast above Miami.

At last they entered the Southend by pass, and a few miles further on came to Camden Town; here they met the first crowds. In type they were the same mixed multitude who would have kicked them to death a month ago, but now their whole bearing was absolutely different. Laughing and waving to the Tommies, they made way for the lorry with ready cheerfulness.

'Ever been to the Zoo, darling?' Veronica asked as they passed the North End of Regent's Park, 'if not I'll take you one day.'

'I've been,' he smiled, 'and it's a poor show to what I'll take you to see in Central Park.'

'That's quite enough from you, my boy. You've got to learn from now on that England has the largest and best of everything, and also that little something that others haven't got!'

'I'll bet they haven't got the largest Zoo,' grinned Silas; can you hear any little lions a roaring now, or the dog faced apes chattering on Monkey Hill?'

'Now you speak of it I can't,' she confessed.

'Of course you can't, honey they've all been eaten long ago!'

'Silas you idiot, of course you're right, but if you call me honey again I'll eat you get that? eat you alive!'

'Eat on, honey,' he squeezed her hand. 'It would be a marvellous death.'

At the top of Baker Street they met a long column of sailors.

People were lining the pavements eight and ten deep to watch them pass, and the naval men seemed to be the heroes of the hour; but as they advanced they realised how terribly the upheaval had stricken London. Smashed shop windows, now temporarily boarded over, showed on every side. On one corner of Portman Square a whole great block of flats had been burnt right out, and only the twisted girders showed clear against the sky. The streets were dark and strangely mysterious, not a single standard threw its arc of brightness in the dim half light of the summer night. Only the principal cross roads boasted flares relics of an orderly London when special precautions were taken against fog.

Selfridges’s windows lay gutted and empty, but a small army of men were already clearing away the wreckage preparatory to refitting at the earliest possible moment. In Oxford Street a vast crowd overflowed the pavements and spread across the roadway. The traffic was still practically nil only an occasional car carrying a Government official on urgent business or a line of vehicles loaded with sailors, police, Greyshirts or troops, crawled through the crowds who made way for them with cheerful badinage.

On the west side of Grosvenor Square Hay Symple halted the lorry and, getting down, walked round to Veronica. 'Want to get down?' he inquired, but she shook her head.

'No, ducky; I want to see the fireworks so you may as well take us with you. Half a minute Silas and I will come in the back now, then we shall all be together.' Her rancour at the guardsman's determination that Gregory should pay the penalty of his exploits had subsided. Old friend as, he was, she realised now that it would have been easier for him to cut his throat than to grant her request.

Ann had woken up, and smiled with some of her old merriment as Silas lifted Veronica bodily over the side. 'Do you remember the dinner we cooked in the kitchen?' she laughed, nodding her head towards the east side of the square as the lorry moved on again.

'The night you slid down the drainpipe? Do I not, my dear! We'll all go back and cook another in an hour or two.'

'If there's anything left to cook,' laughed Kenyon.

'Oh, we'll find something but darlings, I'd forgotten.'

'Forgotten what?'

'Why, it's Ann's job to say if she'll have us now I'

'What the deuce do you mean?' Hay Symple cast a curious glance at Ann, whom up to that moment he had hardly noticed.

'Let me present you, Alistair, to my lovely sister in law Major Hay Symple Lady Fane.'

'You're joking, Veronica!… I'm sorry. May I offer my congratulations and all that?'

'Thank you.' Ann sat up suddenly on her pile of sacking. 'But it wasn't a real wedding, was it?'

'It was,' said Kenyon firmly, 'you shall have another with orange blossoms and all the trappings just for fun if you like, but if you try to call it off I'll fight you in the Courts!'

'Oh, darling ' she gripped his hand impulsively and the golden eyes shone with love and laughter. 'I surrendered long ago really, and I'll never fight anywhere again.'

'I won't give you a chance,' said Kenyon with a little sigh.

'Now,' Veronica interrupted briskly, 'does your ladyship receive this evening or am I to be cast out of the ancestral home?'

'You stupid, of course I do; what's more I'll cook another dinner for you if you can find the food.'

'Leave that to me,' said Silas promptly. 'I'll find the food all right now money's worth something again in this old town.'

Veronica gave him a swift glance. 'Of course, I'd forgotten that too, you're simply lousy with money aren't you?'

'I can raise enough to buy half a dozen eggs,' he chuckled, 'or the Koh-​i -noor diamond. You've only to say if there's any little thing you're wanting any time.'

As they talked the lorry had been moving slowly through the crowds that filled Park Lane, but at Hyde Park Corner they found a solid jam. It took a good half hour and all Hay Symple's persuasion, with the assistance of Kenyon and the good humoured Silas, before they managed to crawl inch by inch across the open space and enter Constitution Hill.

That thoroughfare was black with people edging and pushing to get nearer to Buckingham Palace, before which a vast throng was already gathered in expectation of the Prince's arrival.

'We'll never do it,' said Hay Symple.

'Get as far as you can,' urged Veronica, 'we may be able to see something if we can only get as far as the corner.'

They made another two hundred yards in the next twenty minutes and then the pressure of the crowd compelled a final halt. The lorry was still in Constitution Hill, but almost at the bottom end, and the side of the Palace lay on their immediate right, strangely dark and silent. Only three windows showed any light, and those not the glare of electricity, but the soft, subdued glow of old fashioned oil lamps. They could not see the Palace frontage but, by straining over the hood of the lorry, the first floor balcony jutting out in front of the State apartments was just within their line of vision.

'We shan't see a thing after all,' moaned Veronica.

'Yus we shall, Miss,' Rudd, who was standing up between his guards, assured her, 'that's the balcony wot the Prince'll come out on I'll bet a tanner. That's where the King an' Queen come ant on the declaration o' the lars' Great War. I was in the crush meself that night, so I know!'

A murmur like the surging of a great sea came up to them as they gazed over the heads of the enormous multitude. Thousands upon thousands of people stood, jammed together, hemming them in. Behind them Constitution Hill was now impassable and the crowd overlapped, hundreds deep, into Green Park. In front, line upon line of white upturned faces stretched away, unbroken but for the memorial to Queen Victoria which stood out like an island before the Palace, fading into a greyish blur where thousands more stood massed together.

Shoulder pressed to shoulder, stretching out of sight, they packed the Mall to Admiralty Arch.

Occasionally there were bursts of cheering, and now and again sections of the crowd lifted up their voices in a patriotic song. Women hung fainting in the tight wedged mass, yet the pressure was so great that, while it prevented them from being carried away, it also saved them from being trampled underfoot.

The troops were bandying jests with the people near the lorry who clung to the sides of and occupied the bonnet. Gregory alone remained seated, hunched in a corner now at the back. Veronica left the others who were crowded near the hood and slipped down beside him.

'Fine party, isn't it?' he said, smiling at her in the darkness.

'You poor darling; it can't be much fun for you.'

'Oh, I don't know, it's good to think you're all safe out of it anyhow and that the country is going to be all right.'

'But I'm frightened for you, Gregory.'

'That's nice of you, my dear.'

'Listen. Herbert, my father, went to Windsor at the outset so he must be all right, and he's got tremendous pull in a quiet way. He's a great personal friend of the Monarch, who seems to have turned the corner now, and we can count on him to do everything in his power to get you off.'

'No,' he shook his head, 'intercession would only mean imprisonment, and I couldn't bear that.'

She gripped his hand suddenly and, leaning forward, whispered rapidly in French.

He gave a low delighted chuckle. 'You're a great woman, Veronica, but even if you did cling on to Hay Symple, and Silas and Kenyon joined in, I could never get away. Look at the crowd it's impossible to run on people's heads!'

'But my dear, we can't just let you die like this!'

'Oh, they'll out me I haven't a doubt, and I suppose I deserve it looked at from their point of view. Still I'm not unhappy; “I've taken my fun where I found it and now I must pay for my fun.” Kipling wrote that, didn't he?'

A renewed burst of cheering came from afar, but this time it did not slacken. Borne on the night wind it grew and grew, rushing in a vast wave of sound from Buckingham Palace Road to the gathered thousands before the Palace.

Veronica scrambled to her feet and saw that every face was upturned to the sky. The bright pointed fingers of the searchlights had flashed out while she was talking to Gregory and, caught in their glare, a dozen aeroplanes hovered overhead. A second dozen followed and a third; then came the wingless racing helicopter of the Prince. The searchlights concentrated upon it, shutting out the following squadrons of fast planes, as it sank easily and gracefully until lost to view, descending to its landing ground behind the Palace.

'Isn't this just grand, honey?' Silas flung his arm round Veronica's shoulder. 'Isn't it just too marvellous for anything.'

'Yes, honey,' she agreed, 'it is,' and, side by side, they stood staring at the Palace. There was nothing to be seen but the myriad upturned faces, yet the thunderous cheering continued unabated for the Prince must now be somewhere in the building; then there was a sudden lull in the roaring of the crowd. For a moment or two they swayed and muttered; then an arc lamp flared into life, throwing the first floor balcony into a dazzling patch of light.

A solitary slim figure stepped upon it. He wore no uniform, but, with the simplicity beloved by the English people, a suit of well worn plus fours. Curiously informal in his gestures he stood there bowing a little jerkily, and smiling a pleasant friendly smile as he acknowledged the deafening plaudits of the crowd.

The mighty roar of sustained cheering seemed unending as it issued from those thousands of throats, but gradually it took a lower note and, merging into strange harmony, welled up again with renewed volume upon the paean of the National Anthem.

As the last bars reverberated against the walls of the Palace, Ann squeezed Kenyon's arm and pointed: 'Look, darling,' she cried, 'do you remember that terrible prophet his month has run!'

Then Kenyon, looking upward saw, bright and clear above the Palace, the slender sickle of the September moon: 'My blessing', he drew her closer, 'we've come through Black August so, God willing, we'll have many moons together now.'

The Prince was holding up his hand for silence and, gradually, the cheering subsided; then he spoke, his voice faint but clear from the loud speakers.

'I thank you from my heart for this great demonstration of loyal feeling. With your support I now have every confidence in the complete recovery of our country, and it is my joyous duty to announce the formal restoration of law and order.

'From tonight the ancient laws for the protection of life and property will be administered with the utmost severity against all who seek to retard recovery by breaches of the peace; but, since many thousands have been led to criminal actions contrary to their nature by the stream of late events, I proclaim a general amnesty and free pardon for all such, in the heartfelt hope that they may become once more loyal and responsible citizens.'

'Gregory!' Ann cried, pulling herself away from Ken yon.

'You're free free!' shrieked Veronica.

'How perfectly splendid.' Kenyon hastened over to the prisoners.

'Yes,' Silas's cherubic smile spread over his broad face, 'I felt certain he'd get out of this jam somehow.'

But Gregory was gazing at his faithful henchman and familiar; 'I'm thundering glad,' he said huskily, 'the thought of what they might do to you is the only thing that's really been giving me hell on this journey.'

'Old soldiers never die, sir,' said Mr. Rudd.

The Prince had gone in but the thunderous cheering brought him out again. Once more, he returned bowing, smiling, waving a cheerful hand, yet they simply would not let him go. Five times more he appeared upon the balcony before he finally withdrew.

The great concourse of people would not disperse. Gaunt hungry knowing full well that tomorrow, and for many weeks to come, they would have to face life and all their individual difficulties, upon a meagre ration; perhaps to reconstruct their whole manner of living, or turn their steps from the known ways of the city to strange territories across the seas, they still remained for a new hope was born that night in England. The Prince Regent, idol of a still great and virile nation, would lead them yet into a new prosperity.

Their voices merged again into a solemn wave of sound, unrecognisable at first, yet taken up with the speed of wildfire, until the words of the famous hymn rang out clear and strong:

'Land of hope and glory Mother of the free How shall we extol thee who are born of thee Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set God, who made thee mighty make thee mightier yet God who made thee mighty MAKE THEE MIGHTIER YET.'