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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE - Nove, the phone rang at Fitz&039;s house in Mayfair

Maud was still up, sitting in the drawing roo A down on her, the drawn curtains like shrouds, the pieces of furniture around her diht For the last few days she had hardly slept A superstitious foreboding told her Walter would be killed before the war ended

She sat alone, with a cold cup of tea in her hands, staring into the coal fire, wondering where he was and what he was doing Was he sleeping in a da? Or was he already dead? She could be a , having spent only two nights with her husband in four years of e All she could be sure of was that he was not a prisoner of war Johnny Remarc checked every list of captured officers for her Johnny did not know her secret: he believed she was concerned only because Walter had been a dear friend of Fitz&039;s before the war

The telephone bell startled her At first she thought it ht be a call about Walter, but that would not make sense News of a friend taken prisoner could wait until ony: could he have been wounded in Siberia?

She hurried out to the hall but Grout got there first She realized with a guilty start that she had forgotten to give the staff pero to bed

"I will inquire whether Lady Maud is at home, my lord," Grout said into the apparatus He covered the mouthpiece with his hand and said to Maud: "Lord Remarc at the War Office, my lady"

She took the phone from Grout and said: "It is Fitz? Is he hurt?"

"No, no," said Johnny "Calood news The Germans have accepted the armistice terms"

"Oh, Johnny, thank God!"

"They&039;re all in the forest of Co The Ger car of the French train They&039;re ready to sign"

"But they haven&039;t signed yet?"

"No, not yet They&039;re quibbling about the wording"

"Johnny, will you phone o to bed tonight"

"I will Good-bye"

Maud gave the handset back to the butler "The war ht, Grout"

"I&039;m very happy to hear it, o to bed"

"With your ladyship&039;s permission, I&039;d like to stay up until Lord Reain"

"Of course"

"Would you like some more tea, my lady?"

{II}

The Aberowen Pals arrived in O

Billy would always re the Trans-Siberian Railway from Vladivostok It had taken twenty-three days, even with an areant posted in the locomotive to make sure the driver and fireman kept maximum speed Billy was cold all the way: the stove in the center of the railcar hardly took the chill off the Siberian s They lived on black bread and bully beef But Billy found every day a revelation

He had not known there were places in the world as beautiful as Lake Baikal The lake was longer from one end to the other than Wales, Captain Evans told the train they watched the sun rise over the still blue water, lighting the tops of the old on the peaks

All his life he would cherish the side the railway line, the laden beasts plodding patiently through the snow, ignoring the twentieth century as it hurtled past them in a clash of iron and a shriek of steaht at that moment

But the h school in Chita The train stopped there for two days while Colonel Fitzherbert parlayed with the local leader, a Cossack chieftain called Semenov Billy attached himself to a party of American visitors on a tour The principal of the school, who spoke English, explained that until a year ago he had taught only the children of the prosperous middle class, and that Jews had been banned even if they could afford the fees Now, by order of the Bolsheviks, education was free to all The effect was obvious His classroo to read and write and count, and even studying science and art Whatever else Lenin ht have done-and it was difficult to separate the truth froht, he was serious about educating Russian children

On the train with hi no sense of sha chased out of Aberowen as a cheat and a thief Lev had irl, and noas a lieutenant, attached to the Pals as an interpreter

The population of Omsk cheered the battalion as they marched from the railway station to their barracks Billy saw nu fancy old-fashioned unifor military There were also a lot of Canadian troops

When the battalion was dismissed, Billy and Tommy strolled around town There was not much to look at: a cathedral, a ht and passenger traffic They were surprised to seebits and pieces of British ar hot fried fish from a stall had on a khaki tunic; a deliverye trousers; a tall schoolboy with a satchel of books walked along the street in bright new British boots "Where did they get them?" said Billy

"We supply uniforms to the Russian army here, but Peshkov told me the officers sell them on the black ht for supporting the wrong side," said Billy

The Canadian YMCA had set up a canteen Several of the Pals were already there: it seeot hot tea and big wedges of apple tart, which North Americans called pie "This town is the headquarters of the anti-Bolshevik reactionary government," Billy said "I read it in The New York Times" The American papers, which had been available in Vladivostok, were more honest than the British

Lev Peshkov cairl in a cheap coat They all stared at him How did he do it so fast?

Lev looked excited "Hey, have you guys heard the rumor?"

Lev probably always heard ruht

Tommy said: "Yeah, we heard you&039;re a hohed

Billy said: "What runed an aret it? The war is over!"

"Not for us," said Billy

{III}

Captain Dewar&039;s platoon was attacking a slises, east of the river Meuse Gus had heard a rumor there would be a cease-fire at eleven AM, but his co it out He had e of a spinney, and they were firing across a broadthe enemy plenty of time to retreat

Unfortunately, the Ger the opportunity They had set up uns in the faretically One gun in particular, firing fro half of Gus&039;s platoon pinned down

Gus spoke to Corporal Kerry, the best shot in the unit "Could you put a grenade into that barn roof?"

Kerry, a freckled youth of nineteen, said: "If I could get a bit closer"

"That&039;s the problem"

Kerry surveyed the terrain "There&039;s a bit of a rise a third of the way across the meadow," he said "From there I could do it"

"It&039;s risky," Gus said "Do you want to be a hero?" He looked at his watch "The war could be over in five rinned "I&039;ll give it a try, Captain"

Gus hesitated, reluctant to let Kerry risk his life But this was the ar, and orders were orders "All right," Gus said "In your own time"

He half-hoped Kerry would delay, but the boy irenades

Gus shouted: "All fire! Give Kerry as uns rattled, and Kerry began to run

The enezagged across the field like a hare chased by dogs German mortars exploded around him but miraculously missed

Kerry&039;s "bit of a rise" was three hundred yards away

He alot Kerry perfectly in his sights and let fly with a long burst Kerry was struck by a dozen rounds within a heartbeat He flung up his ar hih the air until he landed a few paces froht he round

The eneuns stopped After a few ht he could hear the sound of distant cheering All the , too

Ger froe

Gus heard the sound of an engine An Indian-brand Aeant with a major on the pillion "Cease fire!" thethe line froain "Cease fire!"

Gus&039;s platoon began to whoop The men took off their hels, others shook one another&039;s hands Gus heard singing

Gus could not take his eyes off Corporal Kerry

He walked slowly across the meadow and knelt beside the body He had seen many corpses and he had no doubt Kerry was dead He wondered what the boy&039;s first name was He rolled the body over There were small bullet holes all over Kerry&039;s chest Gus closed the boy&039;s eyes and stood up

"God forgive me," he said

{IV}

As it happened, both Ethel and Bernie were home from work that day Bernie was ill in bed with influenza, and so was Lloyd&039;s childafter her husband and her son

She felt very low They had had a tremendous row about which of them was to be the parliamentary candidate It was not merely the worst quarrel of their married life, it was the only one And they had barely spoken to one another since

Ethel knew she was justified, but she felt guilty all the saht well make a better MP than Bernie, and anyway the choice should be made by their co this for years, but that did not ht of it before, she was now eager to run Women had won the vote, but there was e limit must be lowered so that it was the sa conditions needed improvement Inexactly the saet the same?

But she was fond of Bernie, and when she saw the hurt on his face she wanted to give in immediately "I expected to be under "The Conservatives, the halfway-house Liberals, the capitalist ieoisie I even expected opposition from one or two jealous individuals in the party But there was one person I felt sure I could rely on And she is the one who has sabotaged ht about it

She took him a cup of tea at eleven o&039;clock Their bedroom was co table, and a photograph of Keir Hardie on the wall Bernie put down his novel, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, which all the socialists were reading He said coldly: "What are you going to do tonight?" The Labour Party"Have you made a decision?"

She had She could have told hi herself to utter the words Now that he had asked the question, she would answer it

"It should be the best candidate," she said defiantly

He looked wounded "I don&039;t kno you can do this to me and still say you love me"

She felt it was unfair of hiument Why did it not apply in reverse? But that was not the point "We shouldn&039;t think of ourselves, we should think of the party"

"What about ourway to you just because I&039;m your wife"

"You&039;ve betrayedway to you," she said

"What?"

"I said, I a way to you"

Relief spread across his face

She went on: "But it&039;s not because I&039;m your wife And it&039;s not because you&039;re the better candidate"

He looked hed "I&039;nant"

"Oh, my word!"