fateful beginning of August, when, with appalling suddenness, the
blow was dealt which shattered the peace of Europe and convulsed the
whole world.

Then the Fools' Paradise in which England had so long luxuriated
crumbled beneath her feet, and left her face to face with stern
realities. Nothing was the same, or ever would be the same, again.
Issues, causes, topics, which scarcely a week before had seemed of such
vital and engrossing importance, shrivelled into insignificance or
extinction under the scorching blast of war.

And so it followed that Gablehurst entirely forgot its previous
curiosity concerning the private affairs of the Wibberley-Stimpson
family, thereby relieving them from a strain on their inventive powers
which they had begun to find extremely wearing.

The crisis afforded Mr. Stimpson a long-desired occasion for taking a
spirited part in politics. At the suggestion of his wife, who reasoned
that in so Conservative a neighbourhood it would be popular to condemn
any steps a Radical Government had taken, he summoned a public meeting
to protest against the British Ultimatum to Germany, on the ground that
England's safety and interests alike depended on her preserving the
strictest neutrality under any circumstances whatever. As his sole
supporter on the platform was a recently naturalised British subject
with a pronounced German accent, the result of this patriotic endeavour
was, as he admitted afterwards, "a little unfortunate." Mrs.
Wibberley-Stimpson herself was compelled to recognise, as she led him
home with two black eyes and only one coat-tail, that she had been less
correct than usual in estimating the local sentiment, though, of course,
she ascribed his treatment entirely to the lack of tact and ability with
which he had handled his subject. However, they have long since
succeeded in living all that down. Mr. Stimpson very soon recognised
that his views of the situation had been mistaken, and made haste to
publish his conviction of the righteousness of our cause. No one now
enlarges with more fervour on the ruin and disgrace that would have
overtaken us if we had been induced to stand aside by persons he refers
to as "those infernal cranks and pacifists."

Moreover, he acquired further merit by his generous contribution of two
thousand pounds to the Prince of Wales' Fund--a contribution which
caused a sensation among many who could give a fairly shrewd guess at
the income he drew as a partner