Mr. Standfast

577 Pages·2013·0.9 MB·English

Mr. Standfast
byJohnBuchan
StyledbyLimpidSoft
Contents
PART1 4
CHAPTER 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
CHAPTER 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
CHAPTER 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
CHAPTER 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
CHAPTER 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
CHAPTER 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
CHAPTER 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
CHAPTER 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
CHAPTER 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
CHAPTER 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
CHAPTER 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
2
CONTENTS
PART2 285
CHAPTER 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
CHAPTER 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
CHAPTER 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
CHAPTER 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
CHAPTER 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
CHAPTER 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
CHAPTER 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
CHAPTER 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
CHAPTER 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
CHAPTER 21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
CHAPTER 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
3
Thepresentdocumentwasderivedfromtext
provided by Project Gutenberg (document
m00016) which was made available free of
charge.Thisdocumentisalsofreeofcharge.
PART 1
5
CHAPTER 1
THEWICKET-GATE
Ispentone-thirdofmyjourneylookingoutofthewin-
dowofafirst-classcarriage,thenextinalocalmotor-car
followingthecourseofatroutstreaminashallowvalley,
andthelasttrampingoveraridgeofdownlandthrough
great beech-woods to my quarters for the night. In the
first part I was in an infamous temper; in the second I
was worried and mystified; but the cool twilight of the
thirdstagecalmedandheartenedme, andIreachedthe
gatesofFosseManorwithamightyappetiteandaquiet
mind.
As we slipped up the Thames valley on the smooth
GreatWesternlineIhadreflectedruefullyonthethorns
inthepathofduty.FormorethanayearIhadneverbeen
outofkhaki,exceptthemonthsIspentinhospital. They
gavememybattalionbeforetheSomme,andIcameout
ofthatwearybattleafterthefirstbigSeptemberfighting
with a crack in my head and a D.S.O. I had received a
C.B. for the Erzerum business, so what with these and
my Matabele and South African medals and the Legion
PART 1
ofHonour,IhadachestliketheHighPriest’sbreastplate.
IrejoinedinJanuary,andgotabrigadeontheeveofAr-
ras. There we had a star turn, and took about as many
prisonersasweputinfantryoverthetop. Afterthatwe
werehauledoutforamonth, andsubsequentlyplanted
inabadbitontheScarpewithahintthatwewouldsoon
be used for a big push. Then suddenly I was ordered
hometoreporttotheWarOffice,andpassedonbythem
toBullivantandhismerrymen. SohereIwassittingin
arailwaycarriageinagreytweedsuit, withaneatnew
suitcase on the rack labelled C.B. The initials stood for
CorneliusBrand,forthatwasmynamenow. Andanold
boyinthecornerwasaskingmequestionsandwonder-
ingaudiblywhyIwasn’tfighting,whileayoungbloodof
asecondlieutenantwithawoundstripewaseyeingme
withscorn.
Theoldchapwasoneofthecross-examiningtype,and
afterhehadborrowedmymatcheshesettoworktofind
out all about me. He was a tremendous fire-eater, and
abitofapessimistaboutourslowprogressinthewest.
I told him I came from South Africa and was a mining
engineer.
‘BeenfightingwithBotha?’heasked.
7
PART 1
‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m not the fighting kind.’ The second
lieutenantscreweduphisnose.
‘IstherenoconscriptioninSouthAfrica?’
‘Thank God there isn’t,’ I said, and the old fellow
beggedpermissiontotellmealotofunpalatablethings.
Iknewhiskindanddidn’tgivemuchforit. Hewasthe
sortwho,ifhehadbeenunderfifty,wouldhavecrawled
on his belly to his tribunal to get exempted, but being
over age was able to pose as a patriot. But I didn’t like
the second lieutenant’s grin, for he seemed a good class
oflad. Ilookedsteadilyoutofthewindowfortherestof
theway,andwasn’tsorrywhenIgottomystation.
I had had the queerest interview with Bullivant and
Macgillivray.TheyaskedmefirstifIwaswillingtoserve
again in the old game, and I said I was. I felt as bitter
assin,forIhadgotfixedinthemilitarygroove,andhad
madegoodthere.HerewasI—abrigadierandstillunder
forty,andwithanotheryearofthewartherewasnosay-
ingwhereImightend.Ihadstartedoutwithoutanyam-
bition,onlyagreatwishtoseethebusinessfinished. But
now I had acquired a professional interest in the thing,
I had a nailing good brigade, and I had got the hang of
our new kind of war as well as any fellow from Sand-
8
PART 1
hurstandCamberley. TheywereaskingmetoscrapallI
hadlearnedandstartagaininanewjob. Ihadtoagree,
fordiscipline’sdiscipline,butIcouldhaveknockedtheir
headstogetherinmyvexation.
What was worse they wouldn’t, or couldn’t, tell me
anythingaboutwhattheywantedmefor. Itwastheold
gameofrunningmeinblinkers. Theyaskedmetotake
itontrustandputmyselfunreservedlyintheirhands. I
wouldgetmyinstructionslater,theysaid.
Iaskedifitwasimportant.
Bullivantnarrowedhiseyes.‘Ifitweren’t,doyousup-
posewecouldhavewrunganactivebrigadieroutofthe
WarOffice?Asitwas,itwaslikedrawingteeth.’
‘Isitrisky?’wasmynextquestion.
‘inthelongrun—damnably,’wastheanswer.
‘Andyoucan’ttellmeanythingmore?’
‘Nothing as yet. You’ll get your instructions soon
enough. You know both of us, Hannay, and you know
wewouldn’twastethetimeofagoodmanonfolly. We
aregoingtoaskyouforsomethingwhichwillmakeabig
callonyourpatriotism. Itwillbeadifficultandarduous
task,anditmaybeaverygrimonebeforeyougettothe
9
PART 1
end of it, but we believe you can do it, and that no one
elsecan... Youknowusprettywell. Willyouletusjudge
foryou?’
I looked at Bullivant’s shrewd, kind old face and
Macgillivray’s steady eyes. These men were my friends
andwouldn’tplaywithMe.
‘Allright,’Isaid.‘I’mwilling.What’sthefirststep?’
‘Getoutofuniformandforgetyoueverwereasoldier.
Changeyourname. Youroldone,CorneliusBrandt,will
do,butyou’dbetterspellit“Brand”thistime.Remember
thatyouareanengineerjustbackfromSouthAfrica,and
thatyoudon’tcarearushaboutthewar.Youcan’tunder-
standwhatallthefoolsarefightingabout,andyouthink
wemighthavepeaceatoncebyalittlefriendlybusiness
talk. You needn’t be pro-German—if you like you can
berathersevereontheHun. Butyoumustbeindeadly
earnestaboutaspeedypeace.’
I expect the corners of my mouth fell, for Bullivant
burstoutlaughing.
‘Hang it all, man, it’s not so difficult. I feel some-
times inclined to argue that way myself, when my din-
nerdoesn’tagreewithme. It’snotsohardastowander
10