Non-Combatants and Others

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/></div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h1>NON-COMBATANTS AND OTHERS</h1> <h2>BY ROSE MACAULAY</h2> <h3>AUTHOR OF 'THE LEE SHORE,' 'THE MAKING OF A BIGOT,' ETC.</h3> <h3>HODDER AND STOUGHTON<br/> LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO</h3> <h3><i>Printed in 1916</i></h3> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h3>TO<br/> MY BROTHER<br/> AND OTHER COMBATANTS</h3> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">'Let the foul scene proceed:<br/></span> <span class="i10">There's laughter in the wings:<br/></span> <span class="i8">'Tis sawdust that they bleed,<br/></span> <span class="i10">But a box Death brings.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">Gigantic dins uprise!<br/></span> <span class="i10">Even the gods must feel<br/></span> <span class="i8">A smarting of the eyes<br/></span> <span class="i10">As these fumes upsweal.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">Strange, such a Piece is free,<br/></span> <span class="i10">While we Spectators sit<br/></span> <span class="i8">Aghast at its agony,<br/></span> <span class="i10">Yet absorbed in it.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">Dark is the outer air,<br/></span> <span class="i10">Cold the night draughts blow,<br/></span> <span class="i8">Mutely we stare, and stare<br/></span> <span class="i10">At the frenzied show.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">Yet heaven has its quiet shroud<br/></span> <span class="i10">Of deep and starry blue&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i8">We cry "An end!" we are bowed<br/></span> <span class="i10">By the dread "'Tis true!"<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i8">While the Shape who hoofs applause<br/></span> <span class="i10">Behind our deafened ear<br/></span> <span class="i8">Hoots&mdash;angel-wise&mdash;"the Cause!"<br/></span> <span class="i10">And affrights even fear.'<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i8"><span class="smcap">Walter de la Mare</span>, <i>The Marionettes</i>.<br/></span></div> </div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <blockquote><p>'War is just the killing of things and the smashing of things. And when it is all over, then literature and civilisation will have to begin all over again. They will have to begin lower down and against a heavier load.... The Wild Asses of the Devil are loose, and there is no restraining them. What is the good, Wilkins, of pretending that the Wild Asses are the instruments of Providence, kicking better than we know? It is all evil.'</p> <p><span class="smcap">Reginald Bliss</span>, <i>Boon</i>.</p> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <p>'There is work for all who find themselves outside the battle.'</p> <p><span class="smcap">Romain Rolland</span>, <i>Above the Battle</i>.</p> </blockquote> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2>CONTENTS</h2> <!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> <p><SPAN href="#PART_I">PART I. WOOD END</SPAN><br/><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. JOHN COMES HOME</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. JOHN TALKS</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. ALIX GOES</SPAN><br/><br/> <SPAN href="#PART_II">PART II. VIOLETTE</SPAN><br/><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. SATURDAY MORNING AT VIOLETTE</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. AFTERNOON OUT</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. EVENING AT VIOLETTE</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. HOSPITAL</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. BASIL AT VIOLETTE</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. SUNDAY IN THE COUNTRY</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. EVENING IN CHURCH</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. ALIX AND EVIE</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. ALIX AND BASIL</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. ALIX, NICHOLAS, AND WEST</SPAN><br/><br/> <SPAN href="#PART_III">PART III. DAPHNE</SPAN><br/><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. DAPHNE AT VIOLETTE</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. ALIX AT A MEETING</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. ON PEACE</SPAN><br/> <SPAN href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. NEW YEAR'S EVE</SPAN><br/></p> <!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <h2><SPAN name="PART_I" id="PART_I"></SPAN>PART I</h2> <h3>WOOD END</h3> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />