Chapter VII (5)

_Steps toward the Dramatic Climax_: He signs a Hazelton picture,
which is immediately accepted and acclaimed. The two artists decide
to keep the secret, as the best way out of what has become an awkward
situation. Hazelton decides to go on with his “darker” method. Some
months later the two men make another bargain--De Vilmarte buys a
painting of Hazelton. The traffic continues, whenever De Vilmarte
needs a picture or Hazelton needs money. (Notice the motivation for
the needs.) Hazelton, having transferred his affection to his second
manner, feels a mad sense of rivalry. On the occasion of the next
exhibition De Vilmarte wins the second medal. Hazelton has only
one picture on the line. Raoul is sorry; Hazelton says the thing
must stop. But now De Vilmarte’s mother urges a private exhibition.
Hazelton bargains once more, but with the statement that one of
the four must die--he, his wife, De Vilmarte, or De Vilmarte’s
mother.--“There is death in our little drama.” De Vilmarte falls in
love; his agony increases. Hazelton paints an unusually fine picture.
Raoul signs it but declares that it is the end; he has defiled
himself too long.

_Dramatic Climax_: The supposed artist receives the Legion of Honor.
Mme. de Vilmarte comments on the resemblance between her son’s “work”
and Hazelton’s, “as though you were two halves of a whole, a day and
night.” Hazelton gives up his thought of exposing De Vilmarte.

_Steps toward the Climax of Action_: The struggle continues;
Hazelton, at intervals, threatens De Vilmarte; the latter plans to
kill Hazelton, then himself. But he decides to wait until his mother
dies. Affairs have reached this state when war breaks out, and France
claims both artists. Hazelton writes to Raoul that he must not fear
for his mother, if he comes to harm. Both are engaged for some time
in fighting.

_Climax of Action_: Wounded, they meet in a hospital. Hazelton learns
that De Vilmarte’s right hand is injured; he dies in an ironic burst
of laughter that Raoul’s luck holds to the end.

The details of plot are presented chronologically, from the
omniscient author’s point of view. Do you see any value in the
author’s exercising omniscience over the mind of first one character
then the other? Would the story gain if she had invaded only Raoul’s
mind? Hazelton’s?

CHARACTERS. In Hazelton, the dominant character, Mrs. Vorse presents an interesting study of dual personality. She gains the reader’s sympathy for him chiefly by showing that his better nature, as revealed in his “first manner,” lacked appreciation from the artistic world. He was, in a measure, forced to rely upon his “second” or “darker” manner. In this respect the narrative offers a novel divergence from other stories of the type. At the same time, the contrasting features in the man’s physical appearance, in his craftsmanship, and in his behavior toward De Vilmarte testify to the indubitable presence of light and shade in his intrinsic make-up.

De Vilmarte is only a foil, but sufficiently vitalized to share, proportionately, the reader’s interest.

SETTING. Nowhere except in France could the development of events be so easily compassed. From the salon of the beginning to the hospital at the close, the setting is an integral part of the story.

THE WHITE BATTALION

STARTING POINT. “It was in those intolerable days of 1917 when Russia had fallen away and America seemed perilously unready; when German intrigue helped by treachery behind the allied lines in France, England and Italy was winning the war for Germany; intolerable to those of soldier blood whose years put them beyond the dead line of enlistment requirements and who could do nothing more than work and earn and give over here.

I was haunted interminably by the suffering of the women of France whose men had died on the field of honor--wasted suffering if, in the end, the German won. I knew the women would fight against any--is there a stronger adjective of horror now than _Germanic_ odds? How could these widowed women, or even the dead bear it--and in a flash “The White Battalion” came.

Always the supernatural stories “flash” in this way, apparently in answer to a long sub-conscious demand for justice beyond human power to compass. Other stories build more or less painfully, save for the big scene.”--_Frances Gilchrist Wood._

PLOT.

_Initial Impulse_: Widows of certain heroic Frenchmen, petitioning
to be entered and drilled as the --nth Battalion of Avengers, are
accepted and trained.

_Steps toward the Dramatic Climax_: Each woman adds a packet of
potassium cyanide to her equipment. They request, further, to be
assigned to the position which will be in the course of advance to
retake the ground held to the death by their men. Major Fouquet
commands them. Order comes for the attack, and they go over the top,
eagerly, gripping their bayonets as they follow the barrage across No
Man’s Land. When the barrage lifts the women see “thrust shield-wise
above the heads of the Huns--frightened and sobbing--hundreds of
little children!” (This is a minor climax.) The women recognize they
must either betray a trust or cut through the barricade of children.
After an instant only the woman captain makes the sign of the cross
and stumbles forward--on her wrist bound the packet of death! They
will charge, her followers understand, but the poison will erase the
hideous memory forever. The captain falls....

_Dramatic Climax_: As the women grip to thrust, there sweeps down
a battalion of marching shadows in a blur of gold and blue that
outstrips the advance of the Avengers. There is a flash of charging
steel and the waving colors of the old --nth as they sweep over the
untouched children into the trench.

_Steps toward the Climax of Action_: The bravest man in the old --nth
bends over the fallen captain; there is a smile of recognition, then
the woman’s figure springs to his side and sweeps forward with the
Battalion.

_Climax of Action_: The old soldiers of the --nth, led by “a shining
one,” save their women from the “last hellish trap set by fiends”!
The Avengers and the White Battalion retake the ground for which the
--nth gave their lives.

_Dénouement_: Fouquet and Barres, having seen the field from
different angles, report the episode.

PRESENTATION. The rehearsal of this dramatic occurrence, so shortly after the event, scarcely detracts from its stirring qualities. So striking are they, in fact, that presented directly they would probably suffer from over-emphasis and consequent lack of conviction. Moreover, reality is conveyed through

1. The curiosity of the foreign officers over losing contact with the
French forces;

2. The colloquial way in which the history of the --nth Battalion is
given;

3. The establishing of truth through the mouths of two witnesses;

4. The emphasis on the forty seconds, which under the conditions of
presentation gains significance;

5. The assurance that the children have been sent to the rear to be
cared for.

CHARACTERIZATION. The individual characters of the main incident are lost in the group--save for the bright passage about the dead woman captain. Avenging their dead, righting a wrong, holding sacred a trust, keeping faith with the Fatherland, dying in performance of duty--of all these the avenging women were nobly capable. The _struggle_, in its relation to woman nature, is one of the most psychologically true found in fiction. It was all over in forty seconds; yet the so-called instinct of woman--in reality her ability to judge and decide quickly--terminated the struggle between tenderness and trust, with ample time left over. Faith would be kept, even at the expense of their mortal bodies and of their immortal souls.--The characteristic of the White Battalion is the spirit of protection. The characteristics of Fouquet and Barres are simplicity, honesty and an almost homely every-day-heroic quality, all of which work to the conviction of the reader. Because of the family relations, the fundamental notions of honor, and elemental ideals exhibited, this story is destined to last. Founded on bed-rock principles of life itself, it towers into the realm of spirit.

* * * * *

“The short-story is, of course, the recountal of some struggle or complication so artistically told as to leave upon the reader one dominant impression. Perhaps the ‘artistic’ is redundant, for can a story leave such an impression unless it be artistically told? Even geniuses must master their vehicle of expression or remain dumb. To win the sought for reaction to a short-story, painting, play or oratorio, one learns either in the hard, blind school of ‘rejection slips’ or by the intelligent method of skilled critic and master, but learn one must.

“The high water mark in story writing is reached most often for me by the dramatic story, objectively told. It is the genius who selects just the right, again the artistic, material which limns the personality of the character and reveals it to us through that unconscious tell-tale, the character himself; whose story-people talk in just the tone that makes even the impossible carry conviction; and who last, or perhaps first, has a story to tell and an unhackneyed way of telling it.

“Suggestion and restraint in a story appeal to me most strongly.... And when in ‘the joy of working’ one masters the writer’s art, genius as well as mere talent, the reaction will come; the audience will laugh or cry--or both, if the gods are kind.”--_Frances Gilchrist Wood._

Transcriber’s Notes

Hyphenated words WITHIN CHAPTERS were standardized, but not across chapter lines.

The author’s italics were left as printed even when inconsistent.

Pages 29 and 30: The last 6 paragraphs were moved to align with the left margin to conform with the author’s format of other chapters.

Spelling and punctuation have been preserved as printed in the original publication except as follows:

1. Page 19: Changed printing error of “h s” from “Take account of h s acts,” to “Take account of his acts,”

2. Page 61: Added accent to DERNIÈRE in chapter title to match it with Contents page.

3. Page 127: Changed “in a multiude of stories.” to “in a multitude of stories.”

4. Page 157: Changed “as she breaks down pyhsically,” to “as she breaks down physically,”

5. Page 166: Changed “Matt’s” to “Nat’s” in this sentence: “The story impulse lies, dormant, in the business of Nat’s funeral.”

6. Page 196: Changed “he hears her says” to “he hears her say”

7. Page 200: Changed “this wild empre” to “this wild empire”