THE STORY VINTON HEARD AT MALLORIE
In this work Miss Moseley has presented a story of the war, a narrative of the supernatural having points in common with Mr. Rhodes’s “Extra Men.” In each, there is the spirit-world visitor, in each the truth conveyed by him which gives the story its thematic character, and in each the living power of the dead made manifest. As I have pointed out in “Representative Ghosts” (The Bookman, August, 1917), and elsewhere, mankind will be interested in ghosts so long as earth endures. The most decided impetus to fiction given by the war has been, so far, in the direction of the supernatural. It is interesting to know that Mr. O’Brien considers this and Frances Gilchrist Wood’s “The White Battalion” the two most enduring legends contributed this year to the supernatural literature of the war.
Plot.
Initial Incident: Young Mallorie is killed in action.
Steps toward the Climax: His body is taken home to Mallorie Abbey, where masses are held over it. A Zeppelin appears, ready to discharge bombs just over the chapel, when an aeroplane swoops noiselessly down; the Zeppelin falls. The Germans are all killed. The aeronaut descends. He accepts the invitation to stay awhile at Mallorie Abbey and remains almost a week. Lieutenant Templar, as he calls himself, occupies dead young Mallorie’s room and wears his clothes. He plays tennis and behaves in general like a normal healthy young Englishman, but that he has unusual powers is evinced by the words of the visiting general officer, “How does he know?”
The Climax: Lady Maurya’s questions of the aeronaut terminate in the answer, “Because in me is the strength,” etc., revealing his supernatural character. He disappears.
Presentation. The single incident becomes subdued, rather than emphasized, by representing it as told to Vinton who, in turn, repeats it to Ware and Abigail. Credulity is gained in assuming for each narrator an implied or expressed belief,—“I said to her that I was the most believing man since the Dark Ages.” And their faith acts cumulatively to compel the reader’s acceptance. By rehearsing in New England the story of English background and atmosphere, Miss Moseley gains for it sharpness and, at the same time, a certain nuance. The stormy night supposedly affects the hearers’ credulity, and through them, once more, the reader’s.