The Truth about Vignolles
"She was risking her life to be with me. Can any woman do more?"
THE TRUTH
ABOUT VIGNOLLES
ILLUSTRATED BY
ERNEST FUHR
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1922
Copyright 1921, 1922, by
The Century Co.
PRINTED IN U. S. A.
DEDICATION
Dear I
When I came ont of the army after five happy years, you were about the only person on this side who seemed to remember that I had ever written or who cared whether I resumed that art. You really seemed to care, and as to so many of the rest, in one way or another, they were out for spoil. Whether it was a question of a roof over my head, clothing to replace my worn uniforms, or so small a matter as my artistic integrity, the general attitude seemed to be, "What can we make out of this blighter now that he has left the army?" During the war nothing was too good for us; when it was over, nothing was too bad. You were the exception that proved the rule, the one bright spot, the point of light in the Rembrandt. Bless you!
I speak of this side of the Atlantic. Across that ocean I was not entirely forgotten. I was even allowed to remember that there had been a war, and that for five variegated years I had been permitted to follow its fortunes. So it has come about that Vignolles has found a place in the American magazines, that most of my creditors are paid, and that I am still alive instead of in the dust-bin. But more even than to my American friends, this book belongs to you. It is not much of a return for so much kindness, for so much faith in me. But, such as it is, I know that you will accept it and point the way to something better. A score of unforgotten, unforgettable faces lurk behind ite pages. Neither Philip Howell, nor Boyle, nor Gerard Chowne are dead as I sit back and think of them again. The story about Saloniki will always bring back these, and Marlow who cursed me into "auction," and the incredible office of "The Balkan News." And rides into the hills above Doiran, and the sinister plain and God-forsaken lakes that held us captive. Or at Kantara I ride again with "Paddy" Myers, leading our camels out to water; or with Chandler hold my nose before Jerusalem and breathe the cleaner air of Bethlehem and all its hills. One could ramble on and find no end; and, nearer home, it may seem to you, as it has several times occurred to me, that I have to thank the author of a certain spirited autobiography for "Eve Damer," and two especially "decent" children for "The Profiteer." But to you more than to any of these this book belongs, and perhaps you'll get some fun out of it as well.
Edenbridge. A. K.
- 16—9—21
CONTENTS
page The Truth about Vignolles 3 Forbidden Fruit 59 An Honest Living 113 Eve Damer 167 Behind the Lines 255 The Profiteer 293
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
"She was risking her life to be with me. Can any woman do more?" Frontispiece FACING
PAGE"You hop off to your tent," I said, "and get your things together and come back here" 24 "I don't know what you must think of us" 340 "I'll be back as soon as they let me," he ended, "and you'll take care of her" 362
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in 1922, before the cutoff of January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1929, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 94 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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