accursedlife；andTHERE——somewherelosttome——thingswerehappening——momentous，terriblethings……Ilivedatnights——mydays，mywakingdays，thislifeIamlivingnow，becameafaded，far-awaydream，adrabsetting，thecoverofthebook。“
Hethought。
“Icouldtellyouall，tellyoueverylittlethinginthedream，butastowhatIdidinthedaytime——no。Icouldnottell——Idonotremember。Mymemory——mymemoryhasgone。Thebusinessoflifeslipsfromme——“
Heleantforward，andpressedhishandsuponhiseyes。Foralongtimehesaidnothing。
“Andthen？“saidI。
“Thewarburstlikeahurricane。“
Hestaredbeforehimatunspeakablethings。
“Andthen？“Iurgedagain。
“Onetouchofunreality，“hesaid，inthelowtoneofamanwhospeakstohimself，“andtheywouldhavebeennightmares。Buttheywerenotnightmares——theywerenotnightmares。NO！“
Hewassilentforsolongthatitdawneduponmethattherewasadangeroflosingtherestofthestory。Buthewentontalkingagaininthesametoneofquestioningself-communion。
“Whatwastheretodobutflight？IhadnotthoughtthewarwouldtouchCapri——IhadseemedtoseeCapriasbeingoutofitall，asthecontrasttoitall；buttwonightsafterthewholeplacewasshoutingandbawling，everywomanalmostandeveryothermanworeabadge——Evesham’sbadge——andtherewasnomusicbutajanglingwar-songoverandoveragain，andeverywheremenenlisting，andinthedancinghallstheyweredrilling。Thewholeislandwasawhirlwithrumours；itwassaid，againandagain，thatfightinghadbegun。
Ihadnotexpectedthis。IhadseensolittleofthelifeofpleasurethatIhadfailedtoreckonwiththisviolenceoftheamateurs。
Andasforme，Iwasoutofit。Iwaslikeamanwhomighthavepreventedthefiringofamagazine。Thetimehadgone。Iwasnoone；
thevaineststriplingwithabadgecountedformorethanI。Thecrowdjostledusandbawledinourears；thataccursedsongdeafenedus；
awomanshriekedatmyladybecausenobadgewasonher，andwetwowentbacktoourownplaceagain，ruffledandinsulted——
myladywhiteandsilent，andIaquiverwithrage。SofuriouswasI，IcouldhavequarrelledwithherifIcouldhavefoundoneshadeofaccusationinhereyes。
“Allmymagnificencehadgonefromme。Iwalkedupanddownourrockcell，andoutsidewasthedarklingseaandalighttothesouthwardthatflaredandpassedandcameagain。
“’Wemustgetoutofthisplace，’Isaidoverandover。’Ihavemademychoice，andIwillhavenohandinthesetroubles。Iwillhavenothingofthiswar。Wehavetakenourlivesoutofallthesethings。Thisisnorefugeforus。Letusgo。’
“Andthenextdaywewerealreadyinflightfromthewarthatcoveredtheworld。
“AndalltherestwasFlight——alltherestwasFlight。“
Hemuseddarkly。
“Howmuchwasthereofit？“
Hemadenoanswer。
“Howmanydays？“
Hisfacewaswhiteanddrawnandhishandswereclenched。Hetooknoheedofmycuriosity。
Itriedtodrawhimbacktohisstorywithquestions。
“Wheredidyougo？“Isaid。
“When？“
“WhenyouleftCapri。“
“Southwest，“hesaid，andglancedatmeforasecond。“Wewentinaboat。“
“ButIshouldhavethoughtanaeroplane？“
“Theyhadbeenseized。“
Iquestionedhimnomore。PresentlyIthoughthewasbeginningagain。Hebrokeoutinanargumentativemonotone:
“Butwhyshoulditbe？If，indeed，thisbattle，thisslaughterandstressISlife，whyhavewethiscravingforpleasureandbeauty？
IfthereISnorefuge，ifthereisnoplaceofpeace，andifallourdreamsofquietplacesareafollyandasnare，whyhavewesuchdreams？Surelyitwasnoignoblecravings，nobaseintentions，hadbroughtustothis；itwasLovehadisolatedus。Lovehadcometomewithhereyesandrobedinherbeauty，moregloriousthanallelseinlife，intheveryshapeandcolouroflife，andsummonedmeaway。Ihadsilencedallthevoices，Ihadansweredallthequestions——
Ihadcometoher。AndsuddenlytherewasnothingbutWarandDeath！“
Ihadaninspiration。“Afterall，“Isaid，“itcouldhavebeenonlyadream。“
“Adream！“hecried，flaminguponme，“adream——whenevennow——“
Forthefirsttimehebecameanimated。Afaintflushcreptintohischeek。Heraisedhisopenhandandclenchedit，anddroppedittohisknee。Hespoke，lookingawayfromme，andforalltherestofthetimehelookedaway。“Wearebutphantoms，“hesaid，“andthephantomsofphantoms，desireslikecloudshadowsandwillsofstrawthateddyinthewind；thedayspass，useandwontcarryusthroughasatraincarriestheshadowofitslights，sobeit！
Butonethingisrealandcertain，onethingisnodreamstuff，buteternalandenduring。Itisthecentreofmylife，andallotherthingsaboutitaresubordinateoraltogethervain。Ilovedher，thatwomanofadream。AndsheandIaredeadtogether！
“Adream！Howcanitbeadream，whenitdrenchedalivinglifewithunappeasablesorrow，whenitmakesallthatIhavelivedforandcaredfor，worthlessandunmeaning？
“UntilthatverymomentwhenshewaskilledIbelievedwehadstillachanceofgettingaway，“hesaid。“AllthroughthenightandmorningthatwesailedacrosstheseafromCapritoSalerno，wetalkedofescape。Wewerefullofhope，anditclungaboutustotheend，hopeforthelifetogetherweshouldlead，outofitall，outofthebattleandstruggle，thewildandemptypassions，theemptyarbitrary’thoushalt’and’thoushaltnot’oftheworld。
Wewereuplifted，asthoughourquestwasaholything，asthoughloveforoneanotherwasamission……
“EvenwhenfromourboatwesawthefairfaceofthatgreatrockCapri——alreadyscarredandgashedbythegunemplacementsandhiding-placesthatweretomakeitafastness——wereckonednothingoftheimminentslaughter，thoughthefuryofpreparationhungaboutinpuffsandcloudsofdustatahundredpointsamidstthegrey；
but，indeed，Imadeatextofthatandtalked。There，youknow，wastherock，stillbeautiful，forallitsscars，withitscountlesswindowsandarchesandways，tierupontier，forathousandfeet，avastcarvingofgrey，brokenbyvine-cladterraces，andlemonandorangegroves，andmassesofagaveandpricklypear，andpuffsofalmondblossom。AndoutunderthearchwaythatisbuiltoverthePiccolaMarinaotherboatswerecoming；andaswecameroundthecapeandwithinsightofthemainland，anotherlittlestringofboatscameintoview，drivingbeforethewindtowardsthesouthwest。
Inalittlewhileamultitudehadcomeout，theremoterjustlittlespecksofultramarineintheshadowoftheeastwardcliff。
“’Itisloveandreason，’Isaid，’fleeingfromallthismadness，ofwar。’
“Andthoughwepresentlysawasquadronofaeroplanesflyingacrossthesouthernskywedidnotheedit。Thereitwas——alineoflittledotsinthesky——andthenmore，dottingthesoutheasternhorizon，andthenstillmore，untilallthatquarteroftheskywasstippledwithbluespecks。Nowtheywereallthinlittlestrokesofblue，andnowoneandnowamultitudewouldheelandcatchthesunandbecomeshortflashesoflight。Theycamerisingandfallingandgrowinglarger，likesomehugeflightofgullsorrooks，orsuch-likebirdsmovingwithamarvellousuniformity，andeverastheydrewnearertheyspreadoveragreaterwidthofsky。
Thesouthwardwingflungitselfinanarrow-headedcloudathwartthesun。Andthensuddenlytheysweptroundtotheeastwardandstreamedeastward，growingsmallerandsmallerandclearerandcleareragainuntiltheyvanishedfromthesky。AndafterthatwenotedtothenorthwardandveryhighEvesham’sfightingmachineshanginghighoverNapleslikeaneveningswarmofgnats。
“Itseemedtohavenomoretodowithusthanaflightofbirds。
“Eventhemutterofgunsfarawayinthesoutheastseemedtoustosignifynothing……
“Eachday，eachdreamafterthat，wewerestillexalted，stillseekingthatrefugewherewemightliveandlove。Fatiguehadcomeuponus，painandmanydistresses。Forthoughweweredustyandstainedbyourtoilsometramping，andhalfstarvedandwiththehorrorofthedeadmenwehadseenandtheflightofthepeasants——
forverysoonagustoffightingsweptupthepeninsula——withthesethingshauntingourmindsitstillresultedonlyinadeepeningresolutiontoescape。O，butshewasbraveandpatient！Shewhohadneverfacedhardshipandexposurehadcourageforherself——andme。
Wewenttoandfroseekinganoutlet，overacountryallcommandeeredandransackedbythegatheringhostsofwar。Alwayswewentonfoot。
