THE ANGELS OF MONS
occurs to me, and in the consideration of this no abstruse learning is required. There is one palmary and striking difference between the evidence of the two soldiers and the mass of foolish gossip which I have treated in the former part of this introduction. The gossip, as I still believe, derived proximately or remotely from the story of "The Bowmen." In "The Bowmen" heaven is implored and the help of heaven granted when the British Army and the whole cause of the Allies were, by the hypothesis of the tale, entering on their agony. The need was dire, the cause admitted of no delay: "dignus erat vindice nodus." Help came to earth from heaven when earth was helpless.
And so all the derived fictions which pretended to be facts followed their original in this matter. Many of these tales have slipped out of my memory, I
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