22 
LAND & WATER 
August 3, 1916 
narrow spice from sooner or later cornering a lesser one. 
There was ihc danger. 
Backwards and forwards we padded on the soft carpet. 
He had no notion of guarding himself, and I got in a good few 
blows. Then I saw a queer thing. Every time I hit him he 
blinked and seemed to pause. I guessed the reason for that. 
He had gone through hfe keeping the crown of the causeway, 
and nobody had ever stood up to him. He wasn't a coward 
by a long chalk, but he was a bully, and had never been struck 
in his life. He was getting struck now in real earnest, and he 
didn't like it. He had lost his bearings and was growing as 
mad as a hatter. 
I kept half an eye on the clock. I was hopeful now, and 
was looking for the right kind of chance. The risk was that I 
might tire sooner than him and be at his mercy. 
Then I learned a truth I have never forgotten. If you 
are fighting a man who means to kill you, he wiU be apt to 
down you unless you mean to kill him too. Stumm did not 
know any rules to this game, and I forgot to allow for that. 
Suddenly, when I was watching his eyes, he launched a mighty 
kick at my stomach. If he had got me this yarn would have 
had an abrupt end. But by the mercy of God I was moving 
sidcwavs when he let out, and his heavy boot just grazed my 
left thigh. 
It was the place where most of the shrapnel had lodged. 
a id for a second 1 was sick with pain and stumbled. Then I 
was on my feet again but with a new feeling in my blood. I 
had to smash Stumm ot never sleep in my bed again. 
I got a wonderful power from this new cold rage of mine. 
I felt I couldn't tire, and I danced round and dotted his 
face till it was streaming with blood. His bulky padded 
chest was no good to me, so I couldn't try for the mark. 
He began to snort now and his breath came heavily. 
" You infernal cad," I said in good round English, " I'm 
going to knock the stuffing out of you," but he didn't 
understand what I was sajdng. 
Then at last he gave me my chance. He half tripped over 
a little table and his face stuck forward. I got him on the 
point of the chin, and put every ounce of weight I possessed 
behind the blow. He crumbled up in a heap and rolled over, 
upsetting a lamp and knocking a big china jar in two. His 
head, I remember, lay under the escritoire from which he 
had taken my passport. 
I picked up the key and unlocked the door. In one of 
the gilded mirrors I smoothed my hair and tidied up my 
clothes. My anger had completely gone and I had no par- 
ticular ill-will left against Stumm. He was a man of remark- 
able qualities, which would have brought him to the highest 
distinctiop in the Stone Age. But for all that he and his 
kind were back numbers. 
I stepped out of the room, locked the door behind me, 
and started out on the second stage of my travels. 
CTo be continued.) 
Union Jack Club Fund 
The following is the list of subscribers to the U.J.C. Exten- 
sion Fund for the week ending Friday, July 28th : 
£ s. d. 
Previously acknowledged . . . . • . . . . 1808 6 o 
Major G. H. Peake . . . . . . . . . . 25 o o 
J. H. Philipps, Esq. . . . . . . . . . . 10 10 o 
Fred Bowater .. .. .. .. .. 55o 
Edmond B. Fernau, Esq. .. .. .. .. 500 
M. Cartwright, Esq. .. .. .. .. .. 400 
"TheOfficers A Battery 124th Brigade R.F. A." .. 300 
G. Arthur W. Booth, Esq. . . . . . . . . 220 
Col. James Cavendish . . . . . . . . 200 
" C.W.B." .. iio 
"B.-P." .. 100 
■' F.A.G." ' .. 100 
All contributions should be forwarded to : 
The Editor, " LAND & WATER, " 
Empire House, Kingsway, 
London, W.C. 
Envelopes should be marked " U.J.C. Fund," and 
all the cheques should be crossed "Coutts' Bank." 
Life and alventures in the British merchant service form 
the theme of the stories which make up Atlantic Nights, by 
Captain Frank H. Shaw. (Cassell and Co., is. net.). There 
is a real salt water flavour about these yarns, which emphasise 
the heroism that is taken as a matter of course at sea, and 
provide plenty of thrills for the reader. Admitting that the 
author has taken exceptional rather than normal incidents, 
r,till he has managed to convey a great sense of reahty. 
The U.J.C. Extension 
IF one had set out, two years ago, to make reality 
of plans for the enlargement of such a place as 
the Union Jack Club, the movement would have 
met with sympathy and would have been accorded 
help by a certain class, who through contact with naval 
and military matters had come to realise the needs of 
the British Navy and Army. At that time these two 
forces were things apart from the ordinary life of the 
nation — the Army especially so, since every citizen had 
a part in the Navy, and had consciousness of the fact 
that it stood between himself and many possible dangers 
while the Army was regarded as a rather vague accessory 
to Naval power, a small second line, little likely to be 
called on — something that had its own organisation, it^ 
own ways of life, and its own resources and means. 
These last two years, however, have made the Army 
not merely a part of the nation, but a vital factor in the 
whole of national life. There is in the country hardly 
a household that is not cognizant of the limitations of a 
soldier's pay and resources, and the fact that his service 
is not— bearing in mind the nature of that service — 
compensated on a scale relatively equal to any form of 
civilian employ. In the relative sense, the workman, 
engaged in building, in transport work, or in any form 
of commercial activity, is far better remunerated than 
the soldier ; actually, this work which involves great 
sacrifices, and often the greatest sacrifice of all, can 
never be compensated fully, and the fact that the British 
Army is among the best-paid in the world does not alter 
the far more important fact that it is the duty of the 
nation to see that all the needs of its defensive forces 
are fully met. 
The value of such a place as the Union Jack Club in 
the case of naval men cannot be overestimated, for though 
the Army has been blent in to become one with the nation, 
the Navy is and always must remain a thing apart, by 
the nature of the service which its members are called 
on to perform. Returning home after long absence at 
sea, these men are unfamiliar with routes and ways on 
land, and a haven of which they may be certain, easy of 
access and providing such hospitality as fits their needs, 
is a necessity which must not, in their best interests, be 
denied them. Theirs, in this respect, is the greater need 
as in the interests of the Empire theirs is in the long run 
the greater task. 
Such an establishment as the Union Jack Club, de- 
pendent as it is (apart from such constructional extension 
as may be made) on the revenue derived from those 
who make use of it, could never be extended in its use 
unless voluntary assistance is rendered. The original 
plan of the club was based on the requirements of the 
British Navy and Army of two or three years ago ; 
and both military and naval requirem -nts of to-day 
have increased fiftyfold beyond what the Club is capable 
of fulfilling. It is the duty of the nation, as it should be 
the pleasure of the nation, to see that this increase of 
requirements is met by such enlargement as the Com- 
mittee of the Club asks. 
There are dangers — they have been described times 
out of number — in turning loose in London such men 
as compose our fighting forces, leaving them to find their 
own way to shelter and the common necessities of life 
when apart from their units. The Union Jack Club 
averts those dangers, obviates them, in that it forms a 
hostelry where all needs can be met, adequately, reason- 
ably, and cleanly. Night after night, with the im- 
mense increase in the demand on its accommodation, it 
is filled to the uttermost limit, and men are perforce 
turned away for lack of room — the best young-manhood 
of the nation is turned loose in London, often with not 
even elementary knowledge of what London may 
contain. 
In this sense the Club stands for the safeguarding ol 
the manhood of the nation, and for this alone, apart from 
any considerations of humanity or benevolence, it is 
a national duty to see that the present appeal for funds 
for enlargement of accommodation, and facilities for 
increased usefulness, shall be answered fully and un- 
hesitatingly by those whom the Navy and Army protect 
HiLAiRE Belloc 
A. H Pollen 
