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Show I ?iw.S.M.Hutchihson Continued from Our Last Ibauc ft would have been uncommonly Jolly to have had Bright Bffla ae com-panion com-panion on the walks, and once or I n Ice h- did, But Mabel nhowcfl viy clearly thai this was very fai from having her approval, and on the second occasion said so. There w.im ih.- slightest possible little tiff about! j anri thenceforward tho subject Having Hav-ing boon opened therms was frequent i little paesagea over l.ffle, arising al I ways out Of his doing what. Mabel j called "forever .sticking up for her " How frequent they were, and how I much they annoyed .Mabel, he not I realize until. In the la.st week ( bls leave, and in the midst of A N'.ick-I ins: up for her scene, Stahel surprise I ingly announced. ' Woll. nnyway. I'm sick and tlrod of the girl, and I'm j sick and tlr.-d of having you nlways sticking up for her and I'm Rolni? to (jet rid of her -tomorrow." "But Mabel what will her people think "I'm sure I don't care what they I think. If you re so concerned about the precious girl. I'll tell her mother moth-er that 1 was going to make other arrangements Ui any case and that .n this was your bust week we thought we'd like io be alone together. Will! that ss 1 Ibfy you ?" , "I hope It will satisfy them. And I I hope very much indeed that you I don't do it." VII I But she did do it On the follow-; follow-; ing day Riffle left, Sabre, pretending 1 to know nothing about 1L Went for ! a lonK walk all day. When he re-I re-I turned Effle was gone. He said no-1 no-1 thiiiR. Her name was not agfcih men-I men-I tloned between him and Mabel It , happened that only the reference to h'-i sudden departure in which ho was concerned was with Twyning. Setting c.nt on his return to France I his orders were ti Join a Pustllec bal-I bal-I tallon, reporting to 14th Division he I found Twyning on the platform at Tidhorough station buying a paper. "Hullo, old man." said Twyning, "Just off? I ay, old man. old man Hrlght's very upset about Effle getting get-ting the Mick from your place like that. How was It ? " Twyning Was looking keenly at him "But a bit .sudden, wasn't It " I mean to say, 1 thought you were on such friendly terms with the girl. Why, only a couple of days before sh'i left. I saw you with her having tea In the Cloister tea rooms." "Yes, I remember; we were walt-iuy? walt-iuy? for my wife." "Oh, yes. waiting for your wife, were you?" Twyning appeared to be thinking "Well, that's what I man, 1 old man. She's seeing you off. I suppose?" sup-pose?" No. she's not She's not too well. Got a rotten cold." Twyning stared again " h. I'm sorry old man. Well, you'll want to be getting in I'M tell old Bright what you say about Bfflo. I milto understand. un-derstand. Seemed a bit funny a: 1 flrct. that's all. Goodby. old, man Jolly gopd luck He put out his hand and squeezed Sabre's in his Intensely friendly grip; and destiny put out its hand and added add-ed another and a vital hour to Sabre's Sa-bre's ultimate encounter with life. VIII His leave ended with the one thing utterly unexpected, and flagrintly impossible im-possible Arriving I" London about '-. ni stood on a street rcfugo to let by a cab coming out of the station As It passed, he saw lt occupants. two; women, an one saw lilm t'ona! Of all incredible things, S'ona! She stopped the cab and he hurried after it. "Nona!' "Marko!" I She said, "I'm hurrying to Eus- ton to catch a train. Tony's mothci is with me." How funny her n'. r w.i - "Nona, 1 you look ill. You sound 111 hit's up? Is anything wrong.'" she said, "Oh. Marko. Tony's killed " , "Nona!" I - That came careering head long, as though malignity bluer and wanton, had loosed a savage bolt. IX On the following Inornlng he crossed cross-ed to Franco, there to take up again that strange identity in whose occupancy oc-cupancy his own :-!( was held in abeyance, waiting IiIh return. Seven months passed before ho relui tied to thai waiting Identity and hp resumed resum-ed it then permanently done with the war. The tremendous fighting of 1 1917 his participation in the war, his tenancy of the strange personality' caught up In the enormous machinery machin-ery t 11 all ended for him in tho gre.it bre ik through the Hind. 11-burg 11-burg line in November. On top of a recollection of sudden shock, then of j whirling giddiness In which he was1 conscious of some enormous violence going On but could not feci it like (as he afterwards thought)--begln-' nlng to come to in the middle of a: tooth extraction under gas on the top of these and of extraordinary things and scenes and people ho could not at ull understand came .someone saying: "Well, it's goodby to the war for you. old man. He knew th.it be WIS aware -and 'Oim hi.w for -one Urn.- h:nl been aware that he wu.s in a cot in .1 ship id ' 1 got knocked out, dldn'1 I?" . . Someone was telling him some Interminable story' about someone some-one being wounded In the shoulder and in the knee Ho said, and ills voice appeared to him to bo all Jumbled Jum-bled up and thick. ' Well. 1 don't core a damn." Someone laughed PART FOUR MABEL EFFIE NONA CU V l TEH 1 I Said Hapgood that garrulous Hap-good Hap-good solicitor, who first In this book spoke of Sabre to a . mutual friend said Hapgood, heated in the comfortable comfort-able study of his flat, to that same friend, staving the night 'Well, now, old man, about Sabre, Well f tell you it h a funnv business, dashed tunny business, .he pol-tlcui pol-tlcui old I 'uz.lehe.nl S.ilire i..s got himself into. "Look here, this is April. April. 1918. Well, old Sabre got knocked out In Franco Just about five months ago. back In November. He 1 npped i vn shoulder and knee. Shoulder nothing much, knee pri ity bad. Thought they'd have to take his leg off, one time Thought better of It. thanks be; patched him up; discharged discharg-ed him from the army, and sent him home very groggy only able to put the bud leg to the ground, crutches, and going to bo a stick and a bit of a limp all his life "Very well. That s as he was when I first saw him again That was back In February. Early in February'- two months ago. There w.n.s good old m" down In Tidhorough on business arid remembering about old Sabre having been wounded and discharged, blew i .ot Knocked Out, oidn't 1 " into old Fortune and the man Twyr.-I Twyr.-I ing and found them in regard to Sabre Sa-bre about as genial and communicative communica-tive as a maiden aunt over a married suiter's new dress. Sort of banded out the impression that he'd been out j of the business so long that really they Weren't much In touch with his doingM Rather rotten. 1 thought It. Seeing that the poor beggar bad done his bit In the war and done it pretty ! thoroughly too. "Well, I hopped it over on the rail- I l way. and walked down to old Sabre's ' i Found him a bit down the road from ; his house trying out this game leg oT 1 i his By Jove, he was no end bucked i I to see me. And talk! Ho simply I Jabbered. I said. By Jove. Sabre, one 1 , would think you hadn't met anyone for a month, the way you're uu-tieltlng uu-tieltlng the sacred rites of welcome. He laughed anri said. "Well, you se. I'm a bit tied to a post with this leg of mine." 1 1 Well, old Sabre t-iok me into a room '.11 the ground floor whore they d put up a bed for him, him not being ab! I to do the stairs of course ; Well, as I say. old man, I always rather liked his wife. I always rather liked her. But somehow, as sv. went on through lunch and then on after that. I didn't like her quitv so much. Have you ever soon a wo-inan wo-inan unpicking a bit of jewing'. Al-. Al-. ways looks rather angry at it. I suppose sup-pose because It's got to be unpicked. They sort of flip the threads out. as 1 much as to nay, 'Come out of It. drm you. That's you. drat you.' Well that was the way hc .spoke to old Sabre Sort if snipped off the end of what ; he Was saying and loft It hanging. If . you follow me. "Mind you. J don't mean that ho ua.x lowed '11111 afraid lo open hi) mouth in his wife's presem e Nothing B bit like that What I got out of It was that he was starved, intellectually Starved of the good old milk of human kindness that's what I mean. Course she nia have had Jolly good reason. I daresay slu had. Still, there was, and It seonied rather rotten to me 1 , didn't like It. Damn it, the chap only had one decent leg under the I table and an uncommonly tirod-look-I ing face above it. and I felt rather ! sorry for him." "Presently ho settled himself down 1 and wo began talking. He's got some . ldeae, old Sabro has. Ho didn't talk about the war. He talked about the I effect of the war on people and on in- I I stltutlons, and that sort of guff. Dov- illsh deep, devilishly Interesting. I won't push It on to you. "Tell you ono thing, though, Just., to glvo you an Idea of the way he's been developing all thoHH years. Ho talked about how sickened he v. 1 with nil this stuff in Mie p.p.-rs ,, in tho pulpits ihout how tho nation. In this war. 1p pausing through the purg-I Ing fire of salvation md in going to emerge with higher, nobh-r, purer Ideas, and all thaL Ho sold not so "They tall: about the nation turning back to old faithB, to the old 'iod of their father. Man.' ho said, "wimt , can you M6 already" Temples pv-erywhere pv-erywhere to a new god greed profit extortion.' "1 said to him. 'What's tho remedy. Subr""' ' I niitlnurxl In Our vt Isuo) |