Chapter 3

Mr. TRESIDDER SHEPPARD'S _The Quest of Ledgar Dunstan_ (DUCKWORTH) is one of those half-sequels of which, while it remains true that You Can Start Here, you will get a better grip with some previous knowledge of the earlier story about the same people. Not that your hold upon the present book will, even then, be other than slightly precarious. For my own part I seldom met anything so elusive. I freely grant that it is original, thoughtful and provocative, but the effect it produces is rather like that of _Jaberwocky_ upon _Alice_ ("It fills me with ideas, only I don't know what they are!"). At first one seemed in for a comedy of disillusion. _Ledgar_ and _Mary_, united, are met with in the process of living unhappily ever after. This is clear enough, human (unfortunately) and amusing. It was, for one thing, _Mary's_ habit of misquotation that got upon _Ledgar's_ nerves. "Alas, poor Garrick!" was one of her typical lapses. Nor was _Ledgar_ himself more of a success with _Mary_, who found him (and here my sympathies went over to her) lacking in force and coherence. But as _Mary_ eloped with somebody else at the end of part one she hadn't my prolonged experience of _Ledgar's_ incomprehensibility. Nor did the question of his semi-lunatic friend worry her, or the whole problem of what, if anything, was the motive of the book. Eventually he is shown pairing off with his earlier love, _Winnie_; and I am bound to say that she too has my sympathy. I should sum up by saying that the analysis of introspective egotism, however subtly done, can make at best only an exasperating story.

* * * * *

In _By the Waters of Africa_ (ROBERT SCOTT) Miss NORMA LORIMER has described her British East African travels in a series of letters, in which she shows a very real sense of style and a delightful assumption of her own unimportance. To people suffering from the books of travellers who seem more anxious to air themselves than to give impressions of the countries through which they have passed, it will be a pure relief to find an author who suppresses herself and really gets on with her business. Thanks to her friends, whose kindness she frankly acknowledges, Miss LORIMER was able to see native life under conditions impossible to a less privileged traveller, and she misses no feature in it that is either humorous or enlightening. It is a model book of its kind, valuable up to a certain point and always pleasant to read. Some of the author's adventures might easily have excused a reckless use of notes of exclamation. But only once does she give way to this weakness, and this I pardon her, for I should always use one myself on the eve of starting for the Mountains of the Moon.

* * * * *

* * * * *

FOR THE HONEYMOON?

"Lady wants quiet summer accommodation; near bees."--_Scotsman._

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MR. PUNCH IN RUSSIA.

In the last Epilogue, where Mr. Punch was described as paying a call upon our brave soldiers in a German prison-camp, I confessed that I didn't understand how he got there in the body. To-day I have to report a far simpler enterprise. This time he has merely been on a mission to Russia. Anybody can do that, unless the Sailors' and Firemen's Union mistake him for Mr. RAMSAY MACDONALD and no one has yet made this error in respect of Mr. Punch.

His brilliant mastery of the Russian language is a harder thing to believe; but, as nothing is said of an interpreter, I must suppose that he had been quietly and painfully taking lessons in this very difficult tongue. Anyhow, you must picture him, at some spot not specified, addressing a concourse of enthusiastic Revolutionaries. I propose to give a brief summary of his speech, from which you will gather that he spoke to them like a father, and that, while he showed a cordial sympathy with the cause of Russian freedom, he did not hesitate to deliver himself of some very straight home-truths.

"Friends, Russians, Allies," he began; "I come on behalf of my fellow-countrymen" (you know his touching way of regarding himself as the medium of the best intelligence to be found in the British Empire) "to convey their affectionate sympathy with you in your triumph over the tyranny of Tsardom. At first we took the natural and hopeful view that your Revolution, supported by all that was noblest in all ranks of your society, was the result of bitter dissatisfaction with the conduct of the War, and with the secret and sinister enemy influences which were at work to ruin your chances in the common fight against Kaiserism.

"Yet it was immediately followed by wholesale desertions from the firing-line and a general disintegration of military discipline. It seems, then, that we were wrong; for otherwise it would be a curious irony that a movement designed for the better conduct of the War should produce a complete stagnation on your fighting fronts; or, to look at it from another point of view, that a Revolution which owed its success to the War, since, in such a war as this, the Army and the nation are one, should have, for its immediate consequence, an apparent failure on your part to remember the purpose for which the War is being fought.

"No doubt many motives were at work, and it was perhaps natural that in the joy of your new-found freedom you should be tempted to forget the conditions that had made it possible, and to regard the War as something outside and remote, and its importance as small compared with the achievement of internal liberty.

"Well, we have tried patiently to see things with your eyes, and now you in your turn must please make an effort to see them with ours. From the first, when we in England took on this War, we recognised that the country which was bound to get most good out of it was Russia. For her we hoped that it was to be in the fullest sense a War of Liberation. Your Allies would win liberty from external menace, but you would also see the bonds of internal tyranny broken. The TSAR, the little father of his people, had a chance, such as falls to few, of giving to his nation something of the true freedom that we in England know.

"He missed his chance. We will not ask why, but he missed it. Yet by other means the War has been for you a War of Liberation, and, if you break your pledge to see it through, you do not deserve your freedom. Nay more, you run the risk of losing it; or, if, through the steadfastness of your sworn Allies, you keep it, then you keep it at the cost of sacrificing the friendship and sympathy of all free nations who are fighting in the cause of liberty; and, on those terms, your own freedom is not worth having.

"Some of you argue that Russia's pledge to her Allies was an Imperialist pledge and that you have the right to ignore it. Have you forgotten so soon that the prime cause of Russia's entry into this quarrel was that Austria had threatened to crush a free nation, Serbia, whose race and faith are yours? Besides, a pledge like that is still a pledge, though governments may change. Would you have it so that no people, from this time on, shall trust the word of Russia for fear that a new _régime_ might repudiate it?

"We have been patient and made allowances. We know that a great nation like yours cannot overthrow an age-long tyranny without being shaken through every fibre of its being. Time was needed for you to recover your balance and to resume a sane view of your obligations to others than yourselves. So we have been patient, and are patient still, though the inaction on your Front and your withdrawal from your part in the common struggle have made our burden in France far harder to bear.

"If you fail us, we shall no less fight on, we others. 'We shall march prospering--not through your presence.' We shall fight on till the ideals of Kaiserism, your worst enemy, are crushed. America, that great Republic that loves peace as passionately as you, will take your place, will fill up the gap that you leave in the ranks of those who fight for freedom. And we shall fight till we get the true peace that we want--not the peace which some of you have advocated, fraternising with the common foe, listening to the specious pleas of those who shirk the one test of their honesty when they are asked to revolt against a tyranny as least as deadly as that which you have yourselves overthrown.

"But you will not fail us, I know. Your hearts, as a nation, were once in this War; heavy as our sacrifices have been, yours have been heavier still. Why should you change? Why should the birth of your own freedom be the death of your sympathy with the cause of the freedom of the world? No, you cannot fail us; you are too great for that.

"Forgive me," Mr. Punch concluded, "if, in speaking from a full heart, I have allowed myself an excess of candour. At home they have always been very kind and let me have a charter to say just what I think; and I have been doing it, without much distinction of persons, for seventy-five years and more. If to you, who have been dumb so long, this seems beyond belief, permit me to offer you, with sincere affection and regard, a visible proof of my privilege in the shape of my

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SECOND VOLUME."

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CARTOONS.

PARTRIDGE, BERNARD. Against Tyranny, 369 Also Ran, 157 Answer to Peace Talk (An), 9 Blighted Prospects, 109 Breath of Liberty (The), 211 Cancelled, 183 Catch of the Season (The), 225 Comfort in Exile, 401 Dawn of Doubt (The), 25 Dead Frost (A), 77 End of the Thousand-and-One Nights (The), 289 Erin takes a Turn at her own Harp, 353 For Services Rendered, 337 Greater Need (The), 171 His Latest, 321 "I am the Man", 58-59 Judgment of Paris: Latest Inversion (The), 417 Last Throw (The), 125 Price of Victory (The), 305 Road to Victory (The), 93 Snowing him under, 41 "Swooping from the West", 257 Victory First, 241 Waning of Faith (The), 273 Who Follows?, 141 Word of Ill Omen (A), 385

PEGRAM, FRED. Plain Duty (A), 87

RAVEN-HILL, L. Alimentary Intelligence, 235 Bad Dream (A), 315 Breaking of the Fetters (The), 179 Cannon-Fodder--and After, 267 Central Isolation, 167 Common Ideals, 379 Donnerwetter, 299 Dynastic Amenities, 251 Freedom of the Sea (The), 151 Good Riddance (A), 411 Great Uncontrolled (The), 347 Hoist with his own Petard, 395 Hypnotist (The), 331 Invaders (The), 191 Playing Smaller, 363 Rational Service, 103 Retort Celestial (The), 135 Rumourists (The), 219 Self-Protection, 283 Short Way with Tino (A), 19 War-Savings, 119 White House Mystery (The), 3

TOWNSEND, F.H. Apple of Discord (The), 51 Bankrupt Bravos (The), 35 Unmade in Germany, 71

ARTICLES.

ALLEN, INGLIS. Adjutant on Leave (The), 292

ANDERSON, Miss E.V.M. Way not to pay Old Debts (A), 52

BARFIELD, A.O. Air-Castles, 101

BERKELEY, Capt. R.C. Jollymouse, 259

BIRD, Capt. A.W. Edward, 79 Fruit Merchant (The), 214 More Discipline, 1 New Danger (A), 108 Over-weight, 24 Tragedy of the Sea (A), 134

BLAIKLEY, Miss Editha L. Gems from the Juniors, 282

BLAIR, Miss F.K. Romance of Rations (A), 150

BRAHMS, Miss M. National Service, 317

BRETHERTON, CYRIL Back to the Land, 254 Charivaria, weekly Food Question (The), 272 His Master's Voice, 10 Oxford Revisited, 130 Plot Precautionary (The), 187 Reventlow Ruminates, 334 To Smith in Mesopotamy, 373 To Towser, 92

BROWN, A. HILTON Tyrtæus, 327

BROWNE, Miss Forward Minx (A), 113

BROWNLEE, LEIGH D. Signs of the Times, 123

BRYMER, CECIL J. Two Constables (The), 318

CHANDLER, Miss BLANCHE W. Hardships of Billets (The), 82, 122, 215

CHAYTOR, Rev. H.J. Autre Temps--Autres Moeurs, 237 Fore and Aft, 276

CHERRILL, Miss A.L. Lucid Explanation (A), 64

CLARKE, E.F. Infantryman (The), 76

COBB, THOMAS Broken Soldiers (The), 134

COLEMAN, R. Most important Thing (The), 268

DARK, RICHARD Emily's Mission, 358

DARLINGTON, W.A. De Profundis, 213 Three Augusts, 74 Ways and Means, 346

DENNIS, G.P. Diplomatic Notes, 298

DOWN, Capt. Personal Pars from the Western Front, 50

DRENNAN, MAX Meditations of Marcus O'Reilly, 372 Recent Truce (The), 112

DRENNAN, W. ST. G. On the Spy-Trail, 316

DU CANN, C.G.L. As Others see Us, 102

ECKERSLEY, ARTHUR Choking them off, 12 Docking the Drama, 301 New Note in Theatrical Advertising (The), 269 Problems for Pétroleuses, 139 Seasonable Novelties, 74 Spoop, 238

ELIAS, FRANK. Fashions in Book-wear, 37 Our New Army of Women, 78 War's Romances, 107

ELLIOT, W.G. Weighed in the Balance, 254

ELLIS, D.C. Lions at Play, 62

FARJEON, MISS ELEANOR. Nursery Rhymes of London Town, 11, 26, 79, 106, 121

FISH, W.W. BLAIR. Cautionary Tales for the Army, 252, 309, 387 Co-operative Advertisements, 228 Herbs of Grace, 165, 178, 212, 227, 240 Mab Dreams of May, 276 Songs of Food Production, 86, 105, 129, 150, 355 Wars of the Past, 8, 29, 54

FOX-SMITH, MISS C. Admiral Dugout, 224 'Ead-work, 55 "In Prize", 404 Jolly Bargeman (The), 320 "Let her go!", 205 Short way with Submarines (A), 378 Song of the Mill (The), 155 Tale of a Coincidence (A), 90

FYLEMAN, MISS ROSE. Best Game the Fairies Play (The), 377 Fairies, 341

GARSTIN, CROSBIE. Château in France (A), 318 Dream Ship (A), 46 Mud Larks (The), 86, 178, 218, 308, 330, 364, 382 Regimental Mascot (The), 21

GARVEY, MISS INA. Blanche's Letters, 234, 396

GLASGOW, EDWIN. Personal Triumph (A), 278

GLASGOW, MRS. ROBERTSON. Winged Victory, 184

GRAVES, C.L. At Rest, 272 Booming of Books (The), 122 Classical America, 160 Diary of a Co-ordinator (The), 410 Flapper (The), 30 Fritz's Apologia, 222 Good old Gothic, 97 Hot Weather Correspondence, 362 House-Master (The), 357 Jill-of-all-Trades and Mistress of Many, 323 Joy-rider at the Front (The), 182 Maxims of the Months, 243 Ministerial Wail (A), 307 Missing Leader (The), 138 Musings of Marcus Mull (The), 381 My Watch, 162 Piccadilly, 384 Purified Prussian (The), 56 Random Flights, 330 Smile of Victory (The), 75 Song of Food-Saving (A), 173 Spiritual Sportsman (The), 14 Strife of Tongues (The), 278 To F.-M. Sir Douglas Haig, 419 To Mr. Balfour on his Return, 404 To my Godson, 193 Topical Tragedy (A), 213 To Stephen Leacock, 114 Travel without Trains, 81 'Twas Fifty Years Ago, 295 War's Surprises, 40

HARRIS, A. Double Entente, 277

HERBERT, A.P. Ballade of Incipient Lunacy, 382 Open Warfare, 400 Zero, 336

HOLMES, W. KERSLEY. Apology of a Warrior Minstrel, 149 Only Steggles (The), 30 Vicarious Reprisals, 368

HOWELL, E.B. Muscat, 6

IMAGE, MRS. Rations, 190

INCE, R.B. Paper Problem (A), 275

JAY, THOMAS. Charivaria, weekly

JENKINS, A.L. Inn o' the Sword (The), 66

LANGLEY, CAPT. F.O. Watch Dogs (The), 4, 72, 120, 154, 192, 236, 286, 348, 415

LEHMANN, R.C. Fate of Umbrellas (The), 66 Francis Cowley Burnand, In Memoriam, 288 From Lord Devonport's Letter-Bag, 230 German Measles, 246 Hat and the Visit (The), 406 Heart-to-Heart Talks, 18, 70, 102, 118, 162, 185, 250, 356, 414 Helping Lord Devonport, 146 Hexameters, 375 Peas and Pledges, 342 Proper Proportion (A), 266 Recognised (The), 215 Recognition, 34 School, 310 Tasty Dishes, 326 Tipinbanola (The), 98 Ultimus, 13

LETTS, MISS W.M. General Post, 294

LIPSCOMB, W.P. Lessons of the War, 394 Weather-Vanes, 136

LOCKER, W.A. Essence of Parliament, weekly during Session

LOUIS, EDWARD. Follow-up Method (The), 44

LUCAS, E.V. Art of Detachment (The), 128 Compliment (The), 144 Dissuaders (The), 398 Earlier Food Problems, 229 Ella Reeve, 180 Everlasting Romance (The), 169 Favorite (The), 194 Fifteen Tridges (The), 359 First Lines, 253 God-Makers (The), 388 Hints to Grosvenor House, 302 Italian in England (The), 244 Law Courts Theatre (The), 334 London's Little Sunbeams, 6 Loss (A), 222 Misgivings, 46 Misnomer (A), 270 More News from the Air, 277 One of our Difficulties, 324 Our Correspondence College, 80 Political Notes, 53 Revivals and Revisions, 284 Solace (The), 152 Taxis and Talk, 94 Three Dictators (The), 104 What did Mr. Asquith do?, 28 Who shall decide?, 370

LAFONE, H.C. Just Sailors, 412

MCCLELLAND, W.E. Letters from Macedonia, 38, 64, 88

MCKAY, HERBERT. Children's Tales for Grown-ups, 154, 173, 177, 193, 222, 240, 270, 288, 310

MACLEOD, L.R. Charivaria, weekly

MANDERS, MRS. Old Rhymes for Ration Times, 221

MARTIN, N.R. Current Event (A), 260 Extra Special (An), 2 Great Investment (The), 130 Local Food-Controller (A), 398 Whitehall Whisperings, 304

MENZIES, G.K. General (The), 258 Scotland Yet, 214 Super-Char (The), 90

MILNE, A.A. From a Full Heart, 285 Gold Braid, 181 Hereinafters, 314 Miniature (The), 36

MITCHELL, MISS G.M. "It", 254

MORROW, GEORGE. Privilege, 161

NAISMITH, J.K.B. Acting-Bombardier, 140

OGILVIE, W.H. Bunny's Little Bit, 139 Call to the Cow Ponies (A), 349 Comrades, 237 First Whip (The), 168 Song of the Woodland Elves (A), 97 Top-o'-the-Morning, 22 Troop Horses, 302 Wimmin, 413

OVERTON, JOHN. Pan Pipes, 398

PING, MISS LILIAN G. Dolls that did their Bit (The), 340 Mon Soldat et mon Curé, 170 Tactics, 13

PLATT, F.W. To France, 269

PLUMBE, C.C. My American Cousins, 339 Sherwood Foresters (The), 351

POSTLETHWAITE, H.A. Secrets of Heroism (The), 351

PRESTON-TEWART, A. Emergency Rations, 244 Fleeting Detachment (A), 61

PUCKRIDGE, W.H. Poultice (The), 205

RIGBY, REGINALD Petherton and the Pluralist, 42 Petherton's Donkey, 106 Petherton's Publications, 350

ROBERTS, P.V. Algy, 410

ROBERTS, R.H. Flowerless Future (The), 220 Seed Potatoes for Patriots, 175

SEAMAN, OWEN At the Play, 96, 186, 261, 326, 390 Faith and Doubt in the Fatherland, 34 Food of Love (The), 166 Golfer's Protest (The), 50 Great Sacrifice (The), 266 Hohenzollern Prospect (The), 218 Little Willie's Opinion of Father, 362 Mr. Punch in Russia, 421 Place of Arms (A), 330 Potsdam Altruist (The), 282 Prophetic Present (The), 346 School for Statesmen (A), 250 Stomach for the Fight, 298 Symposium of the Central Weaknesses, 234 Tactless Tactics, 102 T.M.G., 394 To Germania, 134 To Paris by the "Hindenburg Line", 190 To the German Military Picture Department, 70 To the Kaiser for his New Year, 2 Vienna-Bound: A Reverie en Route, 18 William _v._ the World, 118

SHIRLEY, J. Vision of Blighty (A), 248

SMITH, BERTRAM Ban on Racing (The), 410 Hindenburg Line (The), 256 Little Rift (The), 27 More or Less, 150 Not Wisely but too Well, 366

SMITH, C.T. Wobbler (The), 239

STEIN, CAPT. E. DE Sick, 291

SWINHOE, R. Mammal-Saurian War (The), 145

THOMAS, R.W. Infanticide (The), 405 Told to the Marines, 300

THOMPSON, PATRICK Appropriator of Tubers, 374

THORP, JOSEPH At the Play, 14, 114, 174, 186, 292

TWEEDDALE, MISS D.M. Knight-errant (A), 20

WILKES, HENRY E. Excelsior, 270

WILLIAMS, MISS HELEN Funeral of M. de Blanchet (The), 378

WILLIAMS, R. LL. Convert (The), 38

WOODWARD, MISS BARBARA National Sky-scraper (A), 166

PICTURES AND SKETCHES.

ARMOUR, MAJOR G.D., 12, 31, 83, 99, 131, 163, 231, 263, 293, 311, 327, 341, 371, 389, 407

BATEMAN, H.M., 39, 199, 210, 303, 356, 367

BAUMER, LEWIS, 15, 23, 42, 61, 121, 140, 153, 170, 182, 193, 256, 287, 352, 368, 384, 416

BELCHER, GEORGE, 7, 29, 37, 65, 111, 147, 161, 214, 261, 323, 351, 403, 413

BIRD, W., 10, 64, 173, 201, 208, 278, 281, 312, 344, 345

BRIGHTWELL, L.R., 52, 223, 246, 406

BROCK, H.M., 47, 53, 94, 104, 129, 136, 185, 200, 220, 247, 279, 285, 343, 370, 381, 405

BROCK, R.H., 245

BROOK, RICARDO, 4, 16, 28, 33, 49, 101, 120, 133, 188, 216, 217, 244, 260, 297, 316, 329, 358, 372, 408, 409

COBB, RUTH, 236

COLLER, H., 137

COTTRELL, TOM, 98, 364

DOWD, J.H., 67, 89, 115

DOWD, LEONARD P., 116

"FOUGASSE", 69, 97, 265, 284, 301, 313, 360

GHILCHIK, D.L., 392

GRAVE, CHARLES, 79, 373, 387, 412

HARRISON, CHARLES, 20, 80, 112, 294, 377

HART, FRANK, 88, 127, 200, 288, 340

HASELDEN, W.K., 14, 96, 114, 174, 186, 262, 292, 326, 390

HEATHCOTE, C.N., 17

HELPS, H., 396

HENRY, THOMAS, 117, 310, 348

JENNIS, G., 13, 139, 176, 228, 252, 276, 357

LUNT, WILMOT, 78, 230

MILLS, A. WALLIS, 258, 277

MORELAND, ARTHUR, 72, 107

MORROW, EDWIN, 44, 105, 144, 173, 213, 308, 332

MORROW, GEORGE, 32, 48, 68, 84, 100, 113, 132, 148, 164, 175, 204, 248, 264, 280, 296, 309, 319, 328, 335, 375, 383, 393, 420

NORRIS, ARTHUR, 232

PACKER, E.A., 85

PARTRIDGE, BERNARD, 1

PEGRAM, FRED, 195

PRANCE, BERTRAM, 233, 342

RAVEN-HILL, L., 36, 128, 196, 197, 206, 207, 271, 422

REYNOLDS, FRANK, 8, 21, 40, 56, 81, 91, 108, 123, 143, 155, 175, 181, 197, 203, 209, 215, 259, 307, 320, 404

ROUNTREE, HARRY, 178, 414

SHEPARD, CAPT. E.H., 166, 227, 240

SHEPHEARD, G.E., 213

SHEPPERSON, C.A., 5, 24, 45, 76, 92, 110, 124, 156, 174, 187, 190, 253, 272, 325, 336, 359, 365

STAMPA, G.L., 26, 43, 73, 145, 159, 181, 201, 221, 237, 249, 275, 291, 300, 324, 339, 380, 400

TENNANT, DUDLEY, 376

THOMAS, BERT, 55, 95, 160, 168, 180, 192, 205, 229, 243, 349, 388, 397, 419

THORP, J.H., 75, 268

TOWNSEND, F.H., 11, 27, 63, 126, 142, 152, 158, 169, 172, 177, 184, 194, 198, 202, 212, 224, 226, 239, 242, 255, 269, 274, 290, 295, 304, 306, 317, 322, 333, 338, 354, 355, 361, 386, 391, 399, 402, 403, 415, 418

WILSON, DAVID, 189