"I hope we'll meet again on the other side of fear, but should this damn war choose otherwise then all we can do is bear it ..." Lew and Russ, Grant and Alan have been caught up in the Great War, which governs their coming together and their moving apart; which has sucked them into the machine and seems reluctant to spit them out. When at last the Armistice comes, three out of the four survive; but how many will survive the peace?