Of Faith and Gentlehood,
Of Service and Sacrifice,
And it does not match our mood,
To turn so soon to your sophistries
That starve our land of her food.”
“The Spies’ March.” Eight stanzas and a refrain in The Literary Pageant, a Charity Magazine issued on July 12th, 1911, in aid of the Prince Francis of Teck Memorial Fund for the Middlesex Hospital. A few lines are quoted here:
[“ The outbreak is in full swing and our death-rate would sicken Napoleon. . . .
Dr. M died last week and C on Monday, but some more medicoes are coming. . . . We don’t seem to be able to check it at all. . . . Villagers panicking badly. ... In some places not a living soul. . . . But at any rate the experience gained may come in useful, so I am keeping my notes written up-to-date in case of accidents. . . . Death is a queer chap to live with for steady company.” — Extract from private letter.]
“There are no leaders to lead us to honour, and yet without leaders we sally,
Each man reporting for duty alone — out of sight — out of reach of his fellow.
There are no bugles to call the battalion, and yet without bugle we rally
From the ends of the earth to the ends of the earth to follow the standard of yellow!
Fall in! O fall in! O fall in!
“What does He next prepare?
Whence will He spring the attack?
By water, earth or air?
How shall we head Him back?
“Can we starve Him out if we burn Or bury His food-supply?
Creep through His lines and learn — That is the work of a spy! “
“A Burgher of the Free State.” The fourth of the uncollected “ Stories of the War.” Published in the Daily Express for June 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and July 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 1900. A series of pictures of Bloemfontein during the early stages of the war written round the person of Allen, foreman printer of the Bloemfontein Banner. He is the burgher, a dour Scot, who has come to regard the Orange Free State as home by reason of forty years’ sojourn. The paper belongs to Mrs. Bergmann, and is edited by Dessauer, her nephew, both being under Transvaal influences. Allen foresees that the entity of the Orange Free State may be sacrificed by war. He loathes the proposals to instigate the blacks against the British, and hopes that the statements published in the Banner, that the English are utilising the Indian Army against the Boers, is inaccurate. Presently the town is occupied, the office is taken over by the war correspondents, from whom Allen learns that the tales about the Indian troops are lies, printed with intent to deceive the burghers. A
proclamation, which was to have been issued to the Basutos, is discovered in the racks, but Allen so conducts himself that the Englishman in charge suppresses what Corbett, an American journalist in the company, recognises as a scoop of the biggest kind imaginable.
“The Enlightenments of Pagett, M.P.” Not collected in the English edition, but included in “In Black and White,” the Oversea Edition. It appeared originally in The Contemporary Review for September, 1890. Pagett is spending New Year’s Day with Orde, a former schoolmate who has “ become a cog-wheel in the machinery of the great Indian Government.” Orde seizes the opportunity to bring Pagett face to face with facts calculated to remove some of the misconceptions the English M.P. has formed. Pagett complains about the treatment meted out to him by Dawlishe, a judge with whom he had foregathered, and who had listened to his, Pagett’s, theories and bluntly called them tommy rot. Orde explains, and later a Mr. Edwards calls, who throws light on certain notions, also erroneous, which the M.P. has formed about the working classes in India. Orde also shows his visitor sketches by Bishen Singh, a craftsman in wood-carving, to whom Pagett is introduced. Bishen Singh knows nothing about the “ National Congress Movement,” which is near to Pagett’s heart and his imagination. The next person to pay a duty-call on Orde is Rasul Ali Khan, a Mohammedan landholder, who intimated “ with a smile which even Mohammedan politeness could not save from bitter scorn “ that he also was indifferent to the movement. The next visitors are a dozen cultivators, headed by Jelloo, who have a grievance against the people in a village adjacent to their own, but they none of them had ever heard of Pagett’s National Congress. At last a youthful student, Mr. Dina Nath, is introduced, who is left alone with the M.P. He at least knows all about the matter, but the interview only serves to show Pagett how entirely wrong are his views. Mr. Reginald Burke, the hero of a Bank Fraud and “ no politician but a business man,” expresses the opinion emphatically that that “ kind of agitation is anything but wholesome for the country.” Finally, Dr. Eva McCreery Lathrop opens the man’s eyes to the great need for more protection for the native woman.
“Erastasius of the Whanghoa.” The first story in “ Abaft the Funnel.” Erastasius, a tailless Japanese cat, falls down the ventilating funnel of the “ Whanghoa,” and is brought up from the stokehole in a bucket. While he cleans himself, the captain tells the passengers how Erastasius saved a quarter of a million dollars, by giving warning, on one voyage, that a cargo of Chinese in the steerage were plotting mischief.
“Fables for the Staff.” During the S.A. War, Kipling acted as associate editor of The Friend, a Bloemfontein journal, edited by the war correspondents with Lord Roberts’s force. For that publication Kipling wrote “ King Log and King Stork” (March 24th, 1900), “ The Elephant and the Lark’s Nest “ (March 24th, 1900), “The Persuasive Pom-Pom,” “ Vain Horses,” and Nos. five and six not entitled. In the issue of April 2nd, 1900, was a poem entitled “ A Song of the White Man,” of which Julian Ralph states in “War’s Brighter Side” that it was written “to be read at a dinner in Canada.” The first line runs: “ Now this is the cup the white men drink.” Before Mr. Kipling “ joined the staff “ he sent a contribution, “ St. Patrick’s Day “ (March 17th, 1900), beginning, “ Oh! Terence, dear, and did you hear the news that’s going round?” Two four-line stanzas constituted the first issue, but six days later the whole of the poem, five stanzas of eight lines, was printed. The Friend also contains two series of “ Kopje-Book Maxims,” compiled “ with suggestive help from Perceval Landon,” the now famous traveller and author. These maxims relate to horse, foot, guns, etc. Those last named are ascribed to the two journalists mentioned and A. H. Gwynne. The editorial in The Friend of April 2nd, 1900, bids farewell to Mr. Kipling on his return to Cape Town. The contributions to “ The Friend” are reprinted in Julian Ralph’s “War’s Brighter Side,” published in 1901. The book contains a portrait of Mr. Kipling with the three other associate editors.
“Folly Bridge.” The second of the four uncollected “ Stories of the War.” Published in the Daily Express of June 15th and 16th, 1900. McManus, an African banker, is summoned to Bloemfontein by the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and the High Commissioner to help to disentangle the finances of the State. His passports require that his progress is to be facilitated by every means. At Folly Bridge, which has been blown up, McManus and others have to walk from one point to another to make connection. The military orders are that none are to be sent forward from one side unless their passes are countersigned by the officer, one Smith, behind. He, it happens, is taking his bath when the party arrives. McManus goes ahead on foot, but is held up by the officer on the other bank of the Orange River. The situation is saved by the candid comments of others of the party, including an officer in charge of the “ Little Man’s “ private mail.
“For One Night Only.” Uncollected from Longman’s Magazine of April, 1890. A slight and somewhat farcical story of an evening spent at the theatre by a certain Mrs. Skittleworth and her friends.
“Half a Dozen Pictures.” Printed, according to the late Professor F. York Powell, in the Civil and Military Gazette of Lahore, September 3rd and 5th, 1892.
“Haunted Subalterns.” Horrocks and Tesser of the Inextinguishables are bothered with ghosts in the quarters, which turn their room upside-down and break the strings of one man’s banjo. Neither Tesse
r nor Horrocks, alone or together, can get at the bottom of the matter, and when Tesser goes off with a junior to a fort, his ghost, with a banjo, follows him. The junior subaltern declares he will not stay with Tesser, and is relieved by Horrocks. The two men still fail to find what is wrong, though they discover that Horrocks’s ghost is local, while the banjo-player is personal. This story is included in the Outward Bound Edition, but is not in the English.
“The Horse Marines.” An uncollected story which appeared in Pearson’s Magazine, October, 1910, with illustrations by Charles Crombie. The preface is an extract from a daily paper regarding a question put to the Right Honourable R. B. Haldane, Secretary of State for War, on April 18th, 1910 (Haldane of the Spiritual Home). Lord Ronaldshay asked if rocking-horses were to be supplied to all the county regiments for teaching recruits to ride. Mr. Haldane, replying, described the dummy horses on rockers, which had been tested with satisfactory results. . . . The rocking-horses were made at Woolwich and were quite cheap. Kipling’s story is a satirical comment upon the practice. Therein are reintroduced Lieutenant Morshed, Pyecroft, and Leg- gatt, along with a contingent of Boy Scouts, and a French sailor named Jules. The four men, under Morshed’s leadership, contrive to introduce a rocking-horse into the camp where army manoeuvres are in progress. This they place on a pile of mangold-wurzels, and call attention to it by letting off fireworks. The result is an encounter between the men, in which the roots serve as missiles.
“The Lamentable Comedy of Willow Wood.” An uncollected dialogue published in The Fortnightly Review, May, 1890. He and She, riding on the downs, discuss their hosts the Deeleys, and their fellow-guests Oulthorp, Miss Julia Massing, Mr. and Mrs. Dollins, and Mr. Warbstow.
“The Last Relief.” An Indian story which appeared in the first number of The Ludgate Monthly, May, 1891. It was illustrated by Mr. Frederick Waddy, and has not been included in any book. A very poignant story that Kiplingites greatly admired, and still admire.
“The Legs of Sister Ursula.” A story, not collected, from The Idler, of June, 1893, where it was illustrated by Hal Hurst. A nursing sister steps out on to a corridor, and the door closing after her, she finds that she is cut off from her patient, who is suffering from a nervous mental breakdown. She succeeds in getting back to her duty by ascending the fire-escape ladder, but in so doing attracts the attention of Cott Van Cott, a violinist possessing a Strad. He thinks there is a fire, and follows the nun. The humour of the adventure strikes the patient, and helps him to throw off the depression which had almost led him to commit suicide.
It was published also in McClure’s Magazine, March, 1894.
“Mrs. Hauksbee Sits Out.” An “ un- historical extravaganza,” published in The Illustrated London News Christmas Number for 1890, fully, and admirably, illustrated by A. Forestier. The main idea is that May Holt, staying with an aunt, Mrs. Scriffshaw, at Simla, wishes to go to a Volunteer ball. Mrs. Scriffshaw withholds permission, and May seeks the help of Mrs. Hauksbee, and persuades her uncle, Lieutenant-Colonel J. Scriffshaw, to accompany her. At the ball, Mrs. Hauksbee takes charge. May is taken over by Charles Hilton Hawley, with whom she is in love. Mrs. Scriffshaw is kept occupied by Major Decker, an Irishman with a persuasive tongue, and afterwards by H.E. The Viceroy. When the inevitable collision occurs, Mrs. Hauksbee contrives to transfer May to the Viceroy and lets Hawley tackle the aunt. By sheer bluff he reduces the lady to a condition in which she will grant him anything, to the delight of His Excellency, who overhears the conversation, and places the boy on his staff for a month. The story is not in the English Collection, but is included in the Outward Bound Edition.
It is in dialogue largely, and contains some delightful verses explaining or commenting upon the actions and intentions of the characters in the extravaganza — as the Chorus does in Greek Drama. Thus when the horses of the lovers are brought together, the Little Blind Devil of Chance sings :
“On a road that is pied
As a panther’s hide
The shadows flicker and dance,
The leaves that make them
My hand shall shake them,
The hand of the Devil of Chance,
The Little Blind Devil of Chance
“My Personal Experiences with a Tiger.” This title is presented in Guthrie’s “ Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature” as having been published in The Ladies’ Home Journal (American), January, 1902. Not collected. Other titles mentioned by the same authority are “ New Auld Lang Syne,” “ The Rovers,” and “ Things and the Man.” These cannot at present be traced. It may be that future research will bring them to light.
“The Outsider.” The Third of the uncollected “ Stories of the War.” Published in the Daily Express for June 19th, 20th, and 21st, 1900; also in McClures Magazine, July, 1900. Part I. introduces Gentleman Cadet Walter Setton, of the Royal Rutlands, his clerical father and mother; also in another part of the globe, Mr. J. Thrupp, the highly efficient foreman mechanic in a South African mine. Part II. is concerned with the early training of Lieutenant Setton, of his scorn for “ outsiders,” and the circumstances which lead to his being in charge of a station hard by a bridge which the Boers had destroyed. Thither comes a party belonging to Phil Ten- broek’s Railway Pioneer Corps, in charge of one Hagan, with Private Jerry Thrupp among his gang. Hagan wants to restore communications between the mines and the coast. To all of Setton’s remarks he has only one reply : “ I want to get back to the Rand.” The way the man
disregards him irritates the young officer. Tenbroek recalls Hagan for work on another section, and Thrupp is left in charge at a critical time. The spans across the river are in place and are being riveted up, when Setton interferes, draws off the soldiers on the derricks, and in consequence the rivets are sheared and the two girders drop. Jerry’s remarks are designated “ insolence,” and he is put under arrest. Later there appears Colonel Palling, E.R., and Hagan, who take in the situation. Lieutenant Setton is transferred.
The Outward Bound Edition. The preface to this American edition of Mr. Kipling’s works, which was begun in 1897 (Charles Scribners Sons), indicates that “ Bitters Neat” and “ Haunted Subalterns” are included in “ Plain Tales from the Hills”; “Mrs. Hauksbee Sits Out “ with “ Under the Deodars “; and “ The Enlightenments of Pagett, M.P.” with “ In Black and White.” The first volume has for a frontispiece a full- face portrait of Mr. Kipling executed in photogravure. Thirty-six illustrations from pictures in relief in clay by Mr. J. Lockwood Kipling enrich the edition. There is an introduction addressed “ To the Nakhoda, or Skipper, of this venture,” and has for a sub-title, “A Letter or Bill of Instruction from the Owner,” wherein is set forth, in terms and sentences reminiscent of the East, how the aforesaid Nakhoda may dispose the cargo to attract the men who would trade, and women who should know “ that many of the cloths are double and treble-figured, giving a new pattern in a shift of light.” Moreover, it is enjoined that when “ the little children come down to the beaches” the Nakhoda is “to hide away that which is uncomely . . . and spare nothing of the painted clay figures, the talking apes ... to give them pleasure.”
“Some Notes on a Bill.” A set of verses contributed to The Author of July ist, 1891, at a time when the author was suffering from American piratical publication of his work. It is delightfully frank, and has some naive, illuminating foot-notes. It has not been collected. A few of its quaintest lines are here quoted:
“Softly sang the British Author, for a dream was in his brain Of landaus from Long Acre and of houses in Park Lane; But ere he went to Tattersall’s or changed his modest dwelling He explained, per Western Union, his objections to their spelling.
“‘Oh, my Largest Reading Public,’ thus the coded cable came, 1 You drop one (hell) in “travelling” and — get there just the same : If to Webster and to Worcester, and your sauce at large I grovel, It will vulgarize our fiction — taint the Holy British Novel.’”
“An Unqualified Pilot.” An uncollected s
tory of the Hugli river, printed in The Windsor Magazine of February, 1895. Four illustrations and a tail-piece by Cecil Aldin accompany the text. The story is concerned with Martin Trevor, the senior pilot on the Hugli, whose young son resolves, in spite of his father’s wishes and threats, to become a pilot. He proves his capacity by steering a Chinese craft with six pigtails while as many Celestials handle the tiller, making a stalking horse of his father. As a result he was turned over to his father’s friend, McEwen, for a proper training.
“The Way That He Took.” The first of some uncollected stories of war. Published in the Daily Express of June 12th, 13th, and 14th, 1900. Reprinted in The Cosmopolitan Magazine, November and December, 1900. Part I. introduces a Major and a Captain of Mounted Infantry guarding a railway station. To them comes a hospital train carrying, besides doctors and others, Sisters Dorothy and Margaret. The train is delayed by a leaking boiler, giving the nurses, doctors, and officers an opportunity for tea and intercourse. In the course of a stroll Sister Margaret explains to the Captain that she is of South African birth; that she loves the veldt, but that it was an injunction of her youthful days never to “go back by the way we had come.” Part II. shifts the scene to a Boer camp, and lays bare a plot to trap a company of British soldiers. Part III. shows how. the Captain of Mounted Infantry walked into the trap, discovered his mistake, remembered the nurse’s words, and by going back a different way won out safely; reported that it was a draw to his superior officer, who demanded whether “ you expect an officer of my experience to believe that.”
NOTES UPON SCHOOL BOOKS, ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS, AND OTHER PERSONAL MATERIAL OF R. K.
(In An American Collection.)
MERIVALE (Charles). The Roman Triumvirates. Map. i8mo, cloth (small piece torn from half-title). London, 1877.
Used by Kipling when at school. His name is printed in ink on the fore- edge, there are a few notes on the margins, and a list of references at the back.
Complete Works of Rudyard Kipling (Illustrated) Page 984