newspaper extras and hurried down to
the bulletin-boards on the _Times_ and _Herald_ buildings. He
pretended that he was a character in one of the fantastic novels about
a world-war when he saw such items as "Russians invading Prussia,"
"Japs will enter war," "Aeroplane and submarine attack English
cruiser."

"Rats!" he said, "I'm dreaming. There couldn't be a war like that.
We're too civilized. I can prove the whole thing 's impossible."

In the world-puzzle nothing confused Carl more than the question of
socialism. He had known as a final fact that the alliance of French
and German socialist workmen made war between the two nations
absolutely impossible--and his knowledge was proven ignorance, his
faith folly. He tentatively bought a socialist magazine or two, to
find some explanation, and found only greater confusion on the part of
the scholars and leaders of the party. They, too, did not understand
how it had all happened; they stood amid the ruins of international
socialism, sorrowing. If their faith was darkened, how much more so
was Carl's vague untutored optimism about world-brotherhood.

He had two courses--to discard socialism as a failure, or to stand by
it as a course of action which was logical but had not, as yet, been
able to accomplish its end. He decided to stand by it; he could not
see himself plunging into the unutterable pessimism of believing that
all of mankind were such beast fools that, after this one great sin,
they could not repent and turn from tribal murder. And what other
remedy was there? If socialism had not prevented the war, neither had
monarchy nor bureaucracy, bourgeois peace movements, nor the church.

* * * * *

With a whole world at war, Carl thought chiefly of his own business.
He was not abnormal. The press was filled with bewildered queries as
to what would happen to America. For two weeks the automobile business
seemed dead, save for a grim activity in war-trucks. VanZile called in
Carl and shook his head over the future of the Touricar, now that all
luxuries were threatened.

But the Middle West promised a huge crop and prosperity. The East
followed; then, slowly, the South, despite the closed outlet for its
cotton crop. Within a few weeks all sorts of motor-cars were selling
well, especially expensive cars. It was apparent that automobiles were
no longer merely luxuries. There was even a promise of greater trade
than ever, so rapidly were