and more she missed Major Guthrie, and yet the thought of him
brought discomfort, almost pain, in its train. With every allowance
made, he was surely treating her in a very cavalier manner. How odd of
him not to have written! Whenever he had been away before, he had always
written to her, generally more than once; and now, when she felt that
their friendship had suddenly come closer, he left her without a line.

Her only comfort, during those strange days of restless waiting for news
which never came, were her daily talks with the Dean. Their mutual love
and knowledge of Germany had always been a strong link between them, and
it was stronger now than ever.

Alone of all the people she saw, Dr. Haworth managed to make her feel at
charity with Germany while yet quite confident with regard to her
country's part in the War. He did not say so in so many words, but it
became increasingly clear to his old friend and neighbour, that the Dean
believed that the Germans would soon be conquered, on land by Russia and
by France, while the British, following their good old rule, would
defeat them at sea.

Many a time, during those early days of war, Mrs. Otway felt a thrill of
genuine pity for Germany. True, the Militarist Party there deserved the
swift defeat that was coming on them; they deserved it now, just as the
French Empire had deserved it in 1870, though Mrs. Otway could not
believe that modern Germany was as arrogant and confident as had been
the France of the Second Empire.

Much as she missed Major Guthrie, she was sometimes glad that he was not
there to--no, not to crow over her, he was incapable of doing that, but
to be proved right.

There was a great deal of talk of the mysterious passage of Russians
through the country. Some said there were twenty thousand, some a
hundred thousand, and the stories concerning this secret army of
avengers grew more and more circumstantial. They reached Witanbury Close
from every quarter. And though for a long time the Dean held out, he at
last had to admit that, yes, he did believe that a Russian army was
being swiftly, secretly transferred, _via_ Archangel and Scotland, to
the Continent! More than one person declared that they had actually
_seen_ Cossacks peeping out of the windows of the trains which, with
blinds down, were certainly rushing through Witanbury station, one every
ten minutes, through each short summer night.

All the people the Otways knew took great glory and c