usiness at all.

All this is disappointing; and I don't see what to do but to go on.
I can't keep from hoping that the big battle may throw some light
on the subject; but there's no telling when the big battle will
end. Nothing ends--that's the trouble. I sometimes feel that the
war may never end, that it may last as the Napoleonic Wars did, for
20 years; and before that time we'll all have guns that shoot 100
miles. We can stay at home and indefinitely bombard the enemy
across the Rhine--have an endless battle at long range.

So, we stick to it, and give the peach trees time to grow up.

We had a big day in London yesterday--the anniversary of our entry
into the war. I send you some newspaper clippings about it.

The next best news is that we have a little actual sunshine--a very
rare thing--and some of the weather is now almost decent....

Affectionately,
W.H.P.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 68: Mr. Henry Morgenthau, American Ambassador to Turkey,
1913-16, an American of Jewish origin who opposed the Zionist movement
as un-American and deceptive.]

[Footnote 69: American member of the Supreme War Council. Afterward
member of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace.]

[Footnote 70: Sir Henry Wilson had recently succeeded Sir William
Robertson as Chief of the Imperial General Staff.]

[Footnote 71: First Lord of the Admiralty.]

[Footnote 72: Secretary of Agriculture.]

[Footnote 73: See Chapter XXIV.]

[Footnote 74: This meeting, on April 6, 1918, was held at the Mansion
House. Page and Mr. Balfour were the chief speakers.]

CHAPTER XXVI

LAST DAYS IN ENGLAND

In spite of the encouraging tone of the foregoing letters, everything
was not well with Page. All through the winter of 1917-1918 his
associates at the Embassy had noticed a change for the worse in his
health. He seemed to be growing thinner; his face was daily becoming
more haggard; he tired easily, and, after walking the short distance
from his house to his Embassy, he would drop listlessly into his chair.
His general bearing was that of a man who was physically and nervously
exhausted. It was hoped that the holiday at St. Ives would
help him; that he greatly enjoyed that visit, especially the
westward--homeward--outlook on the Atlantic which it gave him, his
letters clearly show; there was a temporary improvement also in his
health, but only a temporary one. The