Tales of the Long BowChesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)
General
Tales of the Long Bow
Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith)
English fiction -- 20th century; Short stories, English
“It is said that the men of the Long Bow carried their mediæval
symbolism so far as to wear Lincoln green as their uniform when they
retired to the woods in the manner of Robin Hood. It is certain that
they did employ the weapon after which they were named; and curiously
enough, as will be seen, by no means without effect. But it must be
clearly understood that when the new agrarian class took to the woods
like outlaws, they did not feel in the least like robbers. They hardly
even felt like rebels. From their point of view at least, they were
and had long been the lawful owners of their own fields, and the
officials who came to confiscate were the robbers. Therefore when Lord
Eden proclaimed Nationalization, they turned out in thousands as their
fathers would have gone out against pirates or wolves.
“The Government acted with great promptitude. It instantly voted
£50,000 to Mr. Rosenbaum Low, the expenditure of which was wisely
left to his discretion at so acute a crisis, with no more than the
understanding that he should take a thorough general survey of the
situation. He proved worthy of the trust; and it was with the gravest
consideration and sense of responsibility that he selected Mr. Leonard
Kramp, the brilliant young financier, from all his other nephews to
take command of the forces in the field. In the field, however,
fortune is well known to be somewhat more incalculable; and all the
intelligence and presence of mind that had enabled Kramp to postpone
the rush on the Potosi Bank were not sufficient to balance the
accidental possession by Crane and Pierce of an elementary knowledge of
strategy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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