In revising and partially rewriting my novel, 'Captain Desmond, V.C.,' I have been glad to make good the opportunity afforded me of bringing the Aftermath nearer to my original conception than it was in its first form. The three short chapters now substituted for the one final scene are therefore, in essence, no innovation. They represent more or less what I conceived at the time, but suppressed through fear of making my book too long; and thereby risked upsetting the balance of sympathy, which I hope the fresh chapters may tend to restore.

M. D.

CONTENTS.

[BOOK I.]
CHAP.PAGE
[I.]JUDGE FOR YOURSELF3
[II.]I WANT TO BE FIRST13
[III.]THE BIG CHAPS21
[IV.]ESPECIALLY WOMEN30
[V.]AN EXPURGATED EDITION39
[VI.]GENIUS OF CHARACTER46
[VII.]BRIGHT EYES OF DANGER55
[VIII.]STICK TO THE FRONTIER66
[IX.]WE'LL JUST FORGET80
[X.]A SQUARE BARGAIN94
[XI.]YOU DON'T KNOW DESMOND108
[XII.]NOW IT'S DIFFERENT119
[XIII.]IT ISN'T FAIR129
[XIV.]I SIMPLY INSIST140
[XV.]GOOD ENOUGH, ISN'T IT?151
[XVI.]SIGNED AND SEALED156
[BOOK II.]
CHAP.PAGE
[XXVII.]YOU WANT TO GO!167
[XXVIII.]LOVE THAT IS LIFE!177
[XIX.]IT'S NOT MAJOR WYNDHAM182
[XX.]THE DEVIL'S PECULIARITY?196
[XXI.]I AM YOURS207
[XXII.]THE CHEAPER MAN213
[XXIII.]YOU GO ALONE228
[XXIV.]I WANT LADYBIRD234
[XXV.]THE MOONLIGHT SONATA242
[XXVI.]STAND TO YOUR GUNS249
[XXVII.]THE EXECRABLE UNKNOWN259
[XXVIII.]YOU SHALL NOT—!265
[XXIX.]THE UTTERMOST FARTHING274
[XXX.]SHE SHALL UNDERSTAND285
[XXXI.]THE LOSS OF ALL298
[XXXII.]EVEN TO THE UTMOST303
[XXXIII.]THE ONE BIG THING313
[XXXIV.]C'ÉTAIT MA VIE319
[A-MATH.]AFTERMATH323

BOOK I.

"If we impinge, never so lightly, on the life of a fellow-mortal, the touch of our personality, like the ripple of a stone cast into a pond, widens and widens, in unending circles, through the æons, till the far-off gods themselves cannot tell where action ceases."—Kipling.