THE MARCH OF EVENTS
The events which I have now to record bring this narrative into this
present year of grace 1917. When I started writing, I had but little
idea of the things I should have to narrate. The drama was then only
partially acted, the story was not complete. As the reader may remember,
when I was in Exeter, shortly after I had first met Edgecumbe, and had
been telling Sir Roger Granville what little I knew of his history. Sir
Roger was much interested. He said that the whole case promised great
things, and that anything might happen to him, that he might have a wife
living, and that he might be heir to big possessions, and that when some
day his memory was restored to him many romantic things might come to
pass.
Although I did not say so at the time, his words aroused my imagination,
and when, months later, I fell in with Edgecumbe again, having some
little time at my disposal, I set down as well as my memory would serve
the story of our meeting, and what had happened subsequently.
The remainder of this narrative will, to an extent, be in the nature of a
diary, for so close are some of the events at the time of which I am
writing, that their recital becomes a record of what took place only a
few weeks ago. It is many months ago since first I took pen in hand to
set forth Edgecumbe's story, and now, as I draw near to what, as far as
this history is concerned, is its ending, I am almost afraid to write of
certain things in detail, for fear of wounding some of the people who are
yet alive, and who may feel sensitive that I am making their doings
public.
The year 1916 was drawing to an end when I received Edgecumbe's first
letter after he had returned to the front.
'It's miserably cold, miserably wet, and frightfully unpleasant out
here,' he wrote; 'still, it is better for me than it is for many others.
Would you believe it, Luscombe, but Colonel ---- has said so many kind
things about me that I find myself a marked man. I have already got my
full lieutenancy, and am down for my captaincy. Not long after I came
here, I was brought before a very "big pot," whose name I dare not
mention, but who is supposed to be the greatest artillery officer in the
British Army. He put me through the severest examination I have ever
had, and I scarcely knew whether I was standing on my head or my heels.
He was very kind, however, and by and by we got talking freely, and I
suppose I must have interested him in certain theories I had formed about
artillery work. Anyhow, I am to be given my captaincy, and all sorts of
important work is being put in my hands. There are big movements on
foot, my friend,--what they are, I dare not tell you, but if they are
successful they will, from a military standpoint, form an epoch in the
history of this war.
'With regard to our prospects out here, I am exceedingly optimistic. The
men are splendid, and although the conditions are hard, our health sheet
is exceedingly good. From the standpoint of military preparedness,
things look very rosy; but concerning the other things about which you
and I did not agree I am not at all happy. I am a soldier, and I am
inclined to think that as a boy I was trained for a soldier. I judge,
too, that I have some aptitude in that direction. I believe, too, that
the Almighty is using our military powers for a purpose, but I am sure
that if England believes that this tremendous upheaval is going to be
settled by big guns,--much as I realize the power of big guns, England
will be mistaken. Unless we recognize the moral forces which are always
at work, we shall not be ready in the hour of crisis.'
When I replied to this letter, I took no notice whatever of these
reflections; indeed, I scarcely saw what he meant. I congratulated him
most heartily on his phenomenally rapid promotion, and told him that he
would soon be colonel, and that this was only a step to higher things.
As all the world knows, the events of the 1917 have followed each other
with startling and almost bewildering rapidity. Indeed, from the time
when Edgecumbe returned to the front, it is almost impossible to estimate
the far-reaching results of what was taking place. The evacuation of
large tracts of land by the Germans, the giving up of their Somme front,
was more significant than we at the time realized. Then came the
fulfilment of the German threat that on February 1 there would be
unrestricted murder at sea, when vessels of all nationality, whether
neutral or otherwise, would be attacked. At first we could scarcely
believe it, it seemed too horrible to contemplate. War had ceased to be
war; 'rules of the game' were no longer known as far as the Germans were
concerned. Then came the Prime Minister's statement that the food
supplies of the country had become very low, and that the strictest
economy would have to be used. Appeals were made to the nation to
conserve all our food resources, while the Germans jubilantly proclaimed
that in three months we should be starved into submission.
'I suppose,' Edgecumbe wrote, 'that it is bad form on my part to say "I
told you so"; but I saw this coming months ago. Indeed, no one could
have an intelligent appreciation of German psychology without knowing
that it must come. I am told that food is now only obtainable at famine
prices at home, and that there is a cry on every hand,--"Eat less bread."
But think of the mockery of it, my friend! While there is a threatened
bread famine, beer is still manufactured. And that which was intended to
provide food for the people is being used to make beer. If the Germans
bring us to our knees, it will be our own fault. If the resources of the
nation had not been squandered in this way, we could laugh at all the
Germans say they are going to do.'
Then news came which staggered Europe and set the world wondering. The
Revolution had broken out in Russia,--the Czar and Czarina became
practically prisoners, the Russian bureaucracy fell, and although the
Revolution was practically bloodless, that great Empire was reduced to a
state of chaos. Of course our newspapers made it appear as though
everything were in our favour; that the old days of corruption and
Czardom were over, and that the people, freed from the tyranny and the
ghastly incubus of autocracy, would now rise in their might and their
millions, and would retrieve what they had lost in the Eastern lines.
Some prophesied that the Revolution in Russia was but the beginning of a
movement which should destroy all autocratic Governments and, with the
establishment of that movement, the end of war would come. Then little
by little it leaked out that liberty had become a licence,--that the
Russian Army had become disorganized,--that the Socialistic element among
the Russians had demanded peace at any price. Soldiers refused to fight,
men deserted by the thousand, while Russian soldiers fraternized with the
Germans.
'Aren't we living in great times,' Edgecumbe wrote to me,--'surely the
greatest times ever known! They stagger the imagination,--they leave our
minds bewildered,--they shatter our little plans like a strong wind
destroys castles of cards made by children. God is speaking, my friend.
Will England be wise, and hear His voice? Will we learn that, although
the voice of great guns is loud, and the power of explosives mighty, yet
they are not final in the affairs of men and nations? Why, our plans out
here have been blown to smithereens by what has taken place many hundreds
of miles away! We had everything in readiness, and, humanly speaking, it
seemed as though nothing could have stopped our advance. We had the
Germans on toast,--we took Vimy Ridge, and Lens was in our grasp,--we had
advanced miles along the Douay road, and Lille seemed but the matter of a
few days. Then God spoke, and Ecco! what were the plans of men? The
Huns, of course, took advantage of the new situation, and removed vast
hordes of men and guns from the East to the West, and now we are held up.
Of course I am disappointed;--looking at the matter from the standpoint
of a soldier, it seemed as though nothing could withstand us. But what
are the plans of men when God speaks?
'Of course you will say that I am seeming to prove that God is on the
side of the Germans and, seeing this Russian Revolution has meant our
being held up here, that God Almighty meant that we should not advance.
No, my friend, I am not such a fool as to pretend to understand the ways
of the Omnipotent, but I have no doubt that this wide and far-reaching
movement in Russia will eventually be on our side. It must be. But why
will not England learn the lesson which is so plainly written from sky to
sky? Why do not the people turn to God,--look to Him for wisdom, and
fight in His strength? Then victory would come soon, and gloriously.
'As I said, I am disappointed at our temporary check, but I am convinced
it is only temporary. God does things in a big way. He staggers our
poor little puny minds by His acts. The world is being re-made; old
systems, hoary with age, are being destroyed. The birth of new movements
is on foot, new thoughts are in the air, new dreams are being dreamed,
and the new age is surely coming. But sometimes it seems as though we
have ears, and hear not,--eyes, and see not. God is speaking to us
aloud, calling us to repentance, and yet we do not hear His voice, or
seek His guidance. Still, we are on the eve of new movements, and out of
all the confusion will come a great order, and men will yet see the hand
of the Lord.'
His letter had scarcely reached me, when the news came that America had
declared war on Germany, and was to act on the side of the Allies. This
great free people, numbering a hundred million souls, made up of all
nationalities, yet welded into one great nation, had spoken, and had
spoken on the side of freedom and righteousness. Even the few who had
been downhearted took fresh courage at America's action. The thought
that the United States, with its almost illimitable resources of men, of
money, and of potentialities, was joining hands with us, made everything
possible. I was not surprised at receiving another letter from Edgecumbe.
'At last we have had a prophetic utterance,' he wrote. 'Wilson has
spoken, not merely as a politician, or as the head of the American
nation, but as a prophet of God. His every word made my nerves tingle,
my heart warm. As an Englishman, I felt jealous, and I asked why, during
these last months, there had been no voice heard in England, proclaiming
the idealism, the inwardness of this gigantic struggle? But as a citizen
of the world, I rejoiced with a great joy. I am inclined to think that
Wilson's speech will form a new era in the history of men. That for
which he contends will slowly percolate through the nations, and peoples
of every clime will know and understand that nothing can resist the will
of Almighty God.
'What pigmies we are, and for how little do the plans of individuals
count! God speaks, and lo the pomp of the Czar becomes but as chaff
which the wind drives away! Who would have believed a few months ago
that all the so-called glory of the Imperial House of the Romanoffs would
become the dream of yesterday? All the long line of Royal sons no longer
counts. Czardom with all it meant has gone for ever. The man, whose
word a few weeks ago meant glory or shame, life or death, is to-day an
exile, a prisoner. His word no more than the cry of a puling child! And
to-morrow? God may speak again, and then Kaiserism will fall with all
its pomp and vanity.
'Of course I am but a poor ignorant soldier, and my word cannot count for
much; but I have a feeling that before many years are over,--perhaps it
may be only a matter of months--the Kaiser will either die by his own
hand, or else God, through the millions of bereaved and heart-broken
people, will hurl him from his throne.
'What is the power of autocratic kings? Only the moaning of night winds.
Yesterday it was not, and tomorrow it will not be. But God lives through
His people, and that people is slowly moving on to liberty and power.
That is why I believe the end of war is drawing near. It is never the
_people_ who long for war; it is the kings, the potentates who are ever
guilty of making it. Thus when they cease to rule, war will cease, and
there will be peace and brotherhood.
'Anyhow, President Wilson has spoken, and he has expressed the highest
feelings of the American nation, and although the end of this war may not
come as we expect, it will come in the overthrow of Junkerdom and
military supremacy.'
After this I did not hear from Edgecumbe for some time, and I began to
grow anxious at his long continued silence, then when June of this year
arrived, an event took place which overcame me with astonishment.
I had had a hard day at the training camp, and was sitting outside the
mess tent, when I felt a hand upon my shoulder, and heard a cheery voice
close by me.
'Hulloa, Luscombe, why that pensive brow?'
I looked up and saw my friend standing by me, with his left arm in a
sling, looking pale and somewhat haggard, but with a bright light in his
eyes.
'Edgecumbe!' I cried. 'Ay, but I am glad to see you! Where did you
spring from, and what have you been doing?'
'That's what I've come to tell you,' he said quietly.