silk clothes, and he
consulted a dingy little packet of notes as he spoke. They put him out.
He explained that he had never spoken from notes before, but that this
occasion was exceptional.

And then King Egbert spoke as he was expected to speak, and Leblanc's
spectacles moistened at that flow of generous sentiment, most amiably
and lightly expressed. 'We haven't to stand on ceremony,' said the king,
'we have to govern the world. We have always pretended to govern the
world and here is our opportunity.'

'Of course,' whispered Leblanc, nodding his head rapidly, 'of course.'

'The world has been smashed up, and we have to put it on its wheels
again,' said King Egbert. 'And it is the simple common sense of this
crisis for all to help and none to seek advantage. Is that our tone or
not?'

The gathering was too old and seasoned and miscellaneous for any great
displays of enthusiasm, but that was its tone, and with an astonishment
that somehow became exhilarating it began to resign, repudiate, and
declare its intentions. Firmin, taking notes behind his master, heard
everything that had been foretold among the yellow broom, come
true. With a queer feeling that he was dreaming, he assisted at the
proclamation of the World State, and saw the message taken out to the
wireless operators to be throbbed all round the habitable globe. 'And
next,' said King Egbert, with a cheerful excitement in his voice, 'we
have to get every atom of Carolinum and all the plant for making it,
into our control....'

Firman was not alone in his incredulity. Not a man there who was not a
very amiable, reasonable, benevolent creature at bottom; some had been
born to power and some had happened upon it, some had struggled to get
it, not clearly knowing what it was and what it implied, but none was
irreconcilably set upon its retention at the price of cosmic disaster.
Their minds had been prepared by circumstances and sedulously cultivated
by Leblanc; and now they took the broad obvious road along which King
Egbert was leading them, with a mingled conviction of strangeness and
necessity. Things went very smoothly; the King of Italy explained the
arrangements that had been made for the protection of the camp from any
fantastic attack; a couple of thousand of aeroplanes, each carrying a
sharpshooter, guarded them, and there was an excellent system of relays,
and at night all the sky would be searched by scores of lights, and the
admirable Leblanc gav