E-text prepared by Al Haines
ALL FOR A SCRAP OF PAPER
A Romance of the Present War
by
JOSEPH HOCKING
Author of
"Dearer Than Life," "The Curtain of Fire," "The Path of Glory," Etc.
Fifteenth Edition
Hodder and Stoughton
London ---- New York ---- Toronto
MCMXVIII
JOSEPH HOCKING'S GREAT WAR STORIES
THE PATH OF GLORY
THE CURTAIN OF FIRE
DEARER THAN LIFE
TOMMY
TOMMY AND THE MAID OF ATHENS
OTHER STORIES BY JOSEPH HOCKING
Facing Fearful Odds
O'er Moor and Fen
The Wilderness
Rosaleen O'Hara
The Soul of Dominic Wildthorne
Follow the Gleam
David Baring
The Trampled Cross
"I then said that I should like to go and see the Chancellor. . . I
found the Chancellor very agitated. His Excellency began a harangue
which lasted about twenty minutes. He said that the step taken by His
Majesty's Government was terrible to a degree; just for a word,
'neutrality'--a word which in war time had also often been
disregarded--just for a scrap of paper. . . . I protested
strongly. . . . I would wish him to understand it was a matter, so to
speak, of 'life and death' for the honour of Great Britain that she
should keep her solemn engagement. The Chancellor said, 'But at what
price will that compact have to be kept? Has the British Government
thought of that?' I hinted to his Excellency as plainly as I could
that fear of consequences could hardly be regarded as an excuse for
breaking solemn engagements."--_Extract of Report from Sir E. Goschen
to Sir Edward Grey, August 8, 1914._
CHAPTER I
Events have moved so rapidly in our little town of St. Ia, that it is
difficult to set them down with the clearness they deserve. We Cornish
people are an imaginative race, just as all people of a Celtic origin
are, but we never dreamed of what has taken place. One week we were
sitting idly in our boats in the bay, the next our lads had heard the
call of their country, and had hurried away in its defence. One day we
were at peace with the world, the next we were at war with one of the
greatest fighting nations in the world. At the end of July, little
knowing of the correspondence taking place between Sir Edward Grey and
the Ambassadors of Europe, we tended our flocks, prepared to garner our
harvest, and sent out our fishing-boats; at the beginning of August we
had almost forgotten these things in the wild excitement with which the
news of war filled us. Placards headed by the Royal Arms were posted
at public places, calling up Army and Navy Reserves, and fervent
appeals were made to all our boys old enough to bear arms, to bid
good-bye to home and loved ones, in order to help England to maintain
her plighted word, and support her honour.
Not that we were in a state of panic, or fear, thank God. There was
nothing of that. Neither were we in doubt as to the ultimate issue.
We believed we had right on our side, and as our forefathers had fought
in every stage of our country's history, we were prepared to fight
again. But we Cornish are a quiet, Peace-loving people, and many of us
hated, and still hate with a deadly hatred, the very thought of the
bloody welter, the awful carnage, and the untold misery and suffering
which war means.
But it is not of these things I have to write. My work is to tell the
story of a lad I know, and love; the story, too, of a maid who loved
him, and what this great war, which even yet seems only to have just
begun, has meant to them.
It was on Monday, the twenty-ninth day of June in this present year,
that Robert, or, as he is generally spoken of by his friends, Bob
Nancarrow, got out his two-seater Renaud, and prepared to drive to
Penwennack, the home of Admiral Tresize. Bob had but just "come down"
from Oxford, and was now in great good spirits at the prospect before
him.
This was scarcely to be wondered at, for Nancy Tresize had asked him to
take her to Gurnard's Head, which, as all Cornish people know, is near
to the town of St. Ia, and one of the most favoured spots in the
county. Perhaps, too, the coast scenery around Gurnard's Head is among
the finest in Cornwall, while Gurnard's Head itself, the great rock
which throws itself, grim, black, and majestic, far out into the sea,
challenges comparison with even Land's End itself.
But Bob was not thinking of scenery as he got out his car. His mind
and heart were full of the thought that he was going to spend the
afternoon with Nancy Tresize, the fairest girl in a county of fair
women.
For years Bob had loved her--loved her with a love which seemed to him
all the greater because it appeared to be hopeless. As far as he could
remember, Nancy had never given him one shadow of hope, never by word
or action suggested that she cared for him in any way other than that
of a lifelong playmate and friend. But then, as Bob reflected, Nancy
was not like other girls. She was just a bundle of contradictions, and
was, as her brothers had often said, "always breaking out in new
places."
"Of course she'll not give me a chance to tell her what is in my
heart," he reflected, as the car spun along a winding lane, the hedges
of which rose high above his head; "but then I shall be with her.
That's something, anyhow."
Presently the grey, lichen-covered, weather-beaten walls of Penwennack,
Nancy's home, appeared, and Bob looked eagerly towards it as though he
were trying to discover something.
"I hope nothing has turned up to hinder her," he reflected. "I know
that Captain Trevanion is coming to dinner to-night, and people have it
that the Admiral favours him as--as a----"
But he would not, even in his mind, finish the sentence that was born
there. It was too horrible to contemplate, for to Bob, Nancy was the
only girl in the world. She might be wilful and unreasonable, she
might change her mind a dozen times in a day, she might at times seem
flippant, and callous to the feelings of others, she might even be "a
little bit of a flirt"--it made no difference to him. He knew that she
had not a mean fibre in her nature, and that a more honourable girl
never lived. Besides, even if she were, what in his moments of anger
and chagrin he called her, she was still Nancy, the only girl he had
ever loved and ever could love.
"Of course there's no chance for me," he reflected. "Trevanion is
always there, and any one can see he's madly in love with her. He
bears one of the oldest names in England too, he's heir to an old
title, and he's Captain in one of the crack regiments. And Nancy loves
a soldier. She comes of a fighting race, and thinks there's no
profession in the world worthy of being compared with the army."
Bob Nancarrow was the only son of Dr. Nancarrow, a man much respected
in St. Ia, but whom Admiral Tresize regarded as a crank. For Dr.
Nancarrow was a Quaker, and although he did not parade his faith, it
was well known that he held fast by those principles for which the
Society of Friends is known. For one thing, he hated war. To him it
was utterly opposed to the religion which England was supposed to
believe, and he maintained that it seemed to him an impossibility for
Christianity and war to be reconciled.
Admiral Tresize and he had had many arguments about this, and when the
Boer War broke out, the condemnation of the doctor was so strong that
it seemed almost inevitable that he and the Admiral should quarrel.
Indeed, a coolness did spring up between them, and but for the fact
that Mrs. Nancarrow had been a Miss Trelawney, and a direct descendant
of the most important family in the county, it is probable that the
coolness would have ended in an estrangement.
Bob, although he inherited his mother's looks, was greatly influenced
by his father's opinions. Dr. Nancarrow died when he was quite a boy,
yet his father's memory became one of the most potent influences in his
life.
His mother sent him to Clifton College, and although to please her he
joined the Officers' Training Corps, he held by his father's opinion
that war and Christianity were a direct contradiction to each other.
Bob was one of those boys who throw their hearts into everything they
take in hand, and although soldiering as a profession was repugnant to
him, he made such progress in the O.T.C. that he quite distinguished
himself. Indeed, he did so well, that Captain Pringle, with whom he
became very friendly, urged him to become a soldier.
"You would do well," urged the Captain; "you have the makings of a
first-class soldier, and if a war broke out, you'd be a valuable man."
"Not a bit in my line, I assure you," was Bob's reply. "I went in for
this thing only to please my mater, and, to tell the truth, I regard it
as little more than waste of time."
"It wouldn't be waste of time if we went to war," said Captain Pringle.
"War! who are we going to war with?"
"We may be on the brink of it now."
"Excuse me, but I don't believe in all these war scares. We are not a
military nation, and there's not a shadow of reason for believing that
while our Statesmen have level heads we shall be so mad as to embroil
ourselves."
"It may be forced upon us. Think of the Boer War."
Bob laughed. His father had often spoken of the Boer War as a crime
against humanity. As something wholly unnecessary, as a waste of life
and treasure, waged on behalf of Jew financiers rather than for any
great principle. In the doctor's eyes it had been a violation of
Christianity, and a disgrace to the country, and Bob, boy though he had
been at the time, felt that his father was right.
"I think the less we say about that the better," was his reply.
"Certainly I would never fight in such a war."
"You mean that?"
"Certainly, I do. I doubt if war can be justified anyhow; but _that_
war!" . . .
"Anyhow, the Germans are aching to be at us," replied Captain Pringle,
who, although he was regarded as a good officer, was not deeply versed
in politics.
"Who says so?"
"Everybody. They are jealous of us, and they'll be at it on the
slightest pretext."
"Don't you think the German bogey is very silly?" was Bob's retort. "I
was in Germany last summer with my mother, and we had a great time.
She knew some German families there, and we became great friends with
them. They don't want war any more than we do. All they desire is to
develop their own resources and to live their lives quietly."
"Then what is the meaning of their huge army? Why are they trying to
build a navy that shall out-match ours?"
"Of course there is a large war party in Germany just as there is in
England; but, as a people, they are as peace-loving as we are. Why, a
war with Germany is unthinkable, and it would be the greatest crime in
history to draw our sword against them. Even supposing we had a
quarrel with them, nothing could be more revolting to humanity than to
settle it by blood."
"I don't wonder that you will not go into the Army if those are your
views," replied Captain Pringle. "You talk like a peace-at-any-price
parson."
From Clifton Bob went on to Oxford, where he became known as a "reading
man." His ostensible purpose was to read for the Bar, after taking his
degree; but he secretly hoped to obtain a Fellowship at his college,
and settle down to a scholastic life.
While he was at Oxford Bob became acquainted with a Professor, named
Dr. Renthall, who had been an undergraduate there with his father.
Professor Renthall was also a Friend, and it was perhaps this fact that
first drew them together. For while Bob did not in any way profess
adherence to the Society of Friends, he greatly admired those of that
persuasion. In addition to this, too, his father's influence was still
strong upon him. The boy revered his father's memory, and treasured in
his heart those faiths by which Dr. Nancarrow had steered his life.
Indeed, during his Oxford days he often declared that the Quakers were
nearer to the ideal of Christianity than any other body.
"My father was logical at all events," he often reflected, "and as a
consequence his life was a benediction. On the other hand, religion
among most people, whether churchmen or nonconformists, seems to mean
nothing. We attend so many 'chapels' as a matter of necessity, and are
glad when they are over. As to religion having any effect on our
lives, it seems to be out of the question."
Dr. Renthall had a great influence over Bob. Although he was nearing
fifty, he was a keen sportsman. He played a scratch game at golf, and
during the cricket season he could keep his end up with the best of the
younger men. This appealed to the young fellow strongly. But, more
than this, he was one of the greatest authorities on history in the
University. He was a saint too, although he made little profession of
Christianity. He went regularly to the Meeting House, but never spoke,
while his theology was of too latitudinarian a nature, to be "sound."
Robert often went to Dr. Renthall's house, and it was during his many
visits that his hatred of war grew.
"War," said the Professor to him more than once, "cannot obtain where
there is real Christianity. That is why Christianity is dying in this
country. We are being more and more filled with the spirit of
militarism, which means the death of religion; while every new
Dreadnought, which drains the nation of its treasure, is another nail
driven into the Cross of Christ."
When Bob returned to St. Ia this summer, the influence of his father's
life, and his association with Dr. Renthall, had done their work. He
detested militarism, and he hated the thought of war. Not that the
thought of war loomed largely in the horizon. The country was at
peace, and as far as he could judge no war-cloud hung in the sky.
"Ah, there she is!" Bob exclaimed, as presently the car drew up in
front of the door of the great house, and a few seconds later he was
talking eagerly with old Admiral Tresize, at the same time casting
fervent glances towards Nancy.
It was no wonder that Bob loved her, for no fairer or better girl lived
in the land of Tre, Pol, and Pen. I, who have known her all her life,
can testify to this, and as she stood there that day, young, happy, and
beautiful, it was no wonder that his heart burned with a great love.
"You'll almost have time for a run to Land's End," said the Admiral,
looking at his watch, "and it's a glorious afternoon."
"No, we are going to picnic in the good old-fashioned way," said Nancy.
"We are going to have tea on the headland, after which we are going to
quarrel about things generally. We always do."
The Admiral laughed. He had not the slightest hesitation about
allowing Bob and Nancy to go to Gurnard's Head together. They had been
playfellows and friends all their lives, as for their being anything
else, the thought never occurred to him.
"Off you go," he said, "and mind you take great care of her, Bob."
Admiral Tresize liked Bob very much, and always welcomed him to
Penwennack. He remembered that he had Trelawney blood in his veins,
and, although his father had been a Quaker doctor, he made no secret of
the fact that he liked the boy, and he often spoke of him as a nice,
quiet, clever lad.
"Fine-looking chap too," he would add; "just the build for a soldier.
Six feet in his stockings, and forty inches around the chest. But
there, although he has the looks of a Trelawney, he has the views of
his Quaker father, and it's no use talking about it. But it's a pity
all the same, a great pity."
"Well, Bob, I hear you have done great things at Oxford. Astonished
the professors, swept everything before you, and all that sort of
thing," said Nancy, as presently they stood on the headland.
Bob laughed, and looked rather shamefaced. He was very sensitive about
his scholastic achievements, besides which he knew that Nancy thought
far more of a "blue" than of a classical scholar.
"You are fairly clever, you know, Bob," and the girl laughed as she
spoke.
"That does not count much with you, Nancy."
"How do you know? It doesn't follow that because I don't like dressing
like a frump, and because I love hunting and dancing, that I don't
admire cleverness."
"It's not that at all, Nancy. I know you admire clever people. What I
meant was," and he stammered painfully, "that--that it's--a matter of
indifference to you whether I, personally, am dull or clever."
"What reason have you for saying that?"
"Hundreds," replied Bob. "That is--you see, you are always laughing at
my desire to be 'a fusty bookworm,' as you call it, and--and, well, all
that sort of thing."
"Does that prove indifference?" she replied, and Bob thought he noted a
tremor in her voice.
"You know it does," he went on, hating himself for talking in such a
fashion, and yet unable to control his words. "Only yesterday, when we
were talking together at tea, and some one said that I should die an
old bachelor, you said that I was far more likely to die an old maid.
Then, although you saw you wounded me, you went off with Captain
Trevanion."
"Hadn't you, just before, refused to stay the evening, although I went
out of my way to persuade you? And you gave as your excuse that you
had some reading to do. As though your--your books----"
"Did you want me to stay?" asked Bob eagerly. "Nancy--did you really
care?"
The girl did not speak, but turned her eyes toward the great heaving
sea.
Robert's heart beat wildly as he looked at her. Never did he love her
as he loved her now, never had she seemed so fair to him. It was no
wonder he had fallen in love with her, for he knew that, in spite of
her love of pleasure, and her sometimes flippant way of talking, she
was one of the sweetest, truest girls that ever breathed. Although she
might be wilful, and passionate, and sometimes seemed careless whether
she gave pain or pleasure, she would give her last farthing to help any
one in difficulty.
He had been surprised when she suggested his motoring her to Gurnard's
Head that afternoon, little thinking that she did it to atone for what
she had said two days before.
"Nancy, did you want me to stay?" he repeated. "If--if I thought you
really----"
"Did it vex you that I asked Captain Trevanion to show me his new
horse?" she interrupted.
The flush on her face and the tremor of her lips set his heart beating
more wildly than ever. All caution went to the winds. The mad passion
which for years he had been trying to crush again mastered him. He
knew that his hour had come, and that he must speak and know his fate.