FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29  
30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   >>  
. More. Stop him! It's perdition. [He and THE DEAN go out. KATHERINE puts her arm in HELEN'S, and takes her out of the room. HUBERT remains standing by the door] SIR JOHN. I knew your views were extreme in many ways, Stephen, but I never thought the husband of my daughter would be a Peace-at-any-price man! MORE. I am not! But I prefer to fight some one my own size. SIR JOHN. Well! I can only hope to God you'll come to your senses before you commit the folly of this speech. I must get back to the War Office. Good-night, Hubert. HUBERT. Good-night, Father. [SIR JOHN goes out. HUBERT stands motionless, dejected.] HUBERT. We've got our orders. MORE. What? When d'you sail? HUBERT. At once. MORE. Poor Helen! HUBERT. Not married a year; pretty bad luck! [MORE touches his arm in sympathy] Well! We've got to put feelings in our pockets. Look here, Stephen--don't make that speech! Think of Katherine--with the Dad at the War Office, and me going out, and Ralph and old George out there already! You can't trust your tongue when you're hot about a thing. MORE. I must speak, Hubert. HUBERT. No, no! Bottle yourself up for to-night. The next few hours 'll see it begin. [MORE turns from him] If you don't care whether you mess up your own career--don't tear Katherine in two! MORE. You're not shirking your duty because of your wife. HUBERT. Well! You're riding for a fall, and a godless mucker it'll be. This'll be no picnic. We shall get some nasty knocks out there. Wait and see the feeling here when we've had a force or two cut up in those mountains. It's awful country. Those fellows have got modern arms, and are jolly good fighters. Do drop it, Stephen! MORE. Must risk something, sometimes, Hubert--even in my profession! [As he speaks, KATHERINE comes in.] HUBERT. But it's hopeless, my dear chap--absolutely. [MORE turns to the window, HUBERT to his sister--then with a gesture towards MORE, as though to leave the matter to her, he goes out.] KATHERINE. Stephen! Are you really going to speak? [He nods] I ask you not. MORE. You know my feeling. KATHERINE. But it's our own country. We can't stand apart from it. You won't stop anything--only make people hate you. I can't bear that. MORE. I tell you, Kit, some one must raise a voice. Two or three reverses--certain to come--and the whole country will go wild.
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29  
30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   >>  



Top keywords:
HUBERT
 

Stephen

 

KATHERINE

 

country

 

Hubert

 

speech

 

Office

 

Katherine

 

feeling

 
fellows

mountains

 

modern

 

fighters

 

riding

 

shirking

 

career

 

perdition

 
godless
 
mucker
 
knocks

picnic

 

people

 

reverses

 

hopeless

 

absolutely

 

speaks

 

profession

 

window

 
sister
 

matter


gesture
 
orders
 

married

 
sympathy
 
feelings
 
touches
 

pretty

 

prefer

 
commit
 
senses

dejected
 

husband

 

thought

 
motionless
 
stands
 

Father

 

daughter

 

pockets

 

Bottle

 

extreme