"There isn't much in the paper this morning," he said, and then he turned to a page of lesser news, and almost as he did so, his eye caught sight of Gilbert's name. His grip on the paper was so tight that he tore it. He stared at the paragraph with startling eyes, reading and re-reading it, as if he were unable to comprehend the meaning of the thing he read.... Then, as understanding came to him, he gaped about with vacant eyes.
"Oh, my God!" he cried, "Gilbert's been killed!"
9
He got up, half choking, and scrambled out of the field. A labourer greeted him, but he made no answer. He ran up the road, and as he ran, he cried to himself, "Gilbert's dead ... it isn't true ... it isn't true!..."
He thrust open the gate and ran swiftly up to the door.
"Mary!" he shouted. "Mary! Mary!!..."
She came running to him, followed by her mother.
"What is it?" she cried, and her heart was full of fear.
Mrs. Graham clutched at him. "It isn't ... it isn't...."
He sank down into a chair and buried his head in his hands. "Gilbert's dead," he said. "He's been killed!..."