THE NEW LODGING - The Roll-Call

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The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Roll-Call, by Arnold Bennett

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THE ROLL-CALL

BY

ARNOLD BENNETT

THIRD EDITION

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

NOVELS

A Man from the North
Anna of the Five Towns
Leonora
A Great Man
Sacred and Profane Love
Whom God hath Joined
Buried Alive
The Old Wives' Tale
The Glimpse
Helen with the High Hand
Clayhanger
Hilda Lessways
These Twain
The Card
The Regent
The Price of Love
The Lion's Share
The Pretty Lady

FANTASIAS

The Ghost
The Grand Babylon Hotel
The Gates of Wrath
Teresa of Watling Street
The Loot of Cities
The City of Pleasure

SHORT STORIES

Tales of the Five Towns
The Grim Smile of the Five Towns
The Matador of the Five Towns

BELLES-LETTRES

Journalism for Women
Fame and Fiction
How to become an Author
The Truth about an Author
How to Live on Twenty-Four Hours a Day
Mental Efficiency
The Human Machine
Literary Taste
Those United States
Paris Nights
Friendship and Happiness
Married Life
Liberty
Over There
The Author's Craft
Books and Persons
Self and Self-Management

DRAMA

Polite Farces
Cupid and Common Sense
What the Public Wants
The Honeymoon
The Great Adventure
The Title
Judith
Milestones (in collaboration with EDWARD KNOBLOCK)

(In collaboration with EDEN PHILLPOTTS)
The Sinews of War: A Romance
The Statue: A Romance

THE ROLL-CALL

BY

ARNOLD BENNETT

THIRD EDITION

_LONDON: HUTCHINSON & CO.
PATERNOSTER ROW_

NOTE
This novel was written before "The Pretty Lady", and is the first of the author's war-novels.
A.B.

CONTENTS

PART I

CHAP.

I. THE NEW LODGING

II. MARGUERITE

III. THE CHARWOMAN

IV. THE LUNCHEON

V. THE TEA

VI. THE DINNER

VII. THE RUPTURE
VIII. INSPIRATION

IX. COMPETITION

PART II

I. THE TRIUMPH

II. THE ROLL-CALL

III. IN THE MACHINE

THE ROLL-CALL

PART I

CHAPTER I

THE NEW LODGING

I

In the pupils' room of the offices of Lucas & Enwright, architects, Russell Square, Bloomsbury, George Edwin Cannon, an articled pupil, leaned over a large drawing-board and looked up at Mr. Enwright, the head of the firm, who with cigarette and stick was on his way out after what he called a good day's work. It was past six o'clock on an evening in early July 1901. To George's right was an open door leading to the principals' room, and to his left another open door leading to more rooms and to the staircase. The lofty chambers were full of lassitude; but round about George, who was working late, there floated the tonic vapour of conscious virtue. Haim, the factotum, could be seen and heard moving in his cubicle which guarded the offices from the stairs. In the rooms shortly to be deserted and locked up, and in the decline of the day, the three men were drawn together like survivors.

		The world must be made safe for democracy. Thomas Wilson Woodrow