THE END

Page came home only to die. In fact, at one time it seemed improbable
that he would live to reach the United States. The voyage of the
_Olympic_, on which he sailed, was literally a race with death. The
great-hearted Captain, Sir Bertram Hayes, hearing of the Ambassador's
yearning to reach his North Carolina home, put the highest pressure upon
his ship, which almost leaped through the waves. But for a considerable
part of the trip Page was too ill to have much consciousness of his
surroundings. At times he was delirious; once more he lived over the
long period of "neutrality"; again he was discussing intercepted cargoes
and "notes" with Sir Edward Grey; from this his mind would revert to his
English literary friends, and then again he was a boy in North Carolina.
The _Olympic_ reached New York more than a day ahead of schedule; Page
was carried down the gangplank on a stretcher, propped up with pillows;
and since he was too weak then to be taken to his Southern home, he was
placed temporarily in St. Luke's Hospital. Page arrived on a beautiful
sunshiny October day; Fifth Avenue had changed its name in honour of the
new Liberty Loan and had become the "Avenue of the Allies"; each block,
from Forty-second Street north, was decorated with the colours of one of
the nations engaged in the battle against Germany; the street was full
of Red Cross workers and other picturesquely clad enthusiasts selling
Liberty Bonds; in its animated beauty and in its inspiring significance
it formed an appropriate setting for Page's homecoming.

The American air seemed to act like a tonic on Page; in a short time he
showed such improvement that his recovery seemed not impossible. So far
as his spirits and his mind were concerned, he became his old familiar
self. He was able to see several of his old friends, he read the
newspapers and discussed the international situation with his customary
liveliness. With the assistance of his daughter, Mrs. Loring, he even
kept track of his correspondence. Evidently the serious nature of his
illness was not understood, for invitations to speak poured in from all
quarters. Most of these letters Mrs. Loring answered, but there was one
that Page insisted on attending to himself. The City of Cleveland was
organizing some kind of a meeting dedicated to closer relations with
Great Britain, and the Mayor wrote Page asking him to speak. The last
thing which Page wrote with his own hand was his reply to