did
not stop to think that such a sum would replace any edifice in Vienna,
even if it had been wiped off the face of the earth.

"The Treasury was damaged, of course, but the cost of repairs will not
be great. No, my child, it is a much more disturbing affair than the
destruction of any state house in the Empire. What has made the Premier
ill, and what is worrying my poor husband into an untimely grave, is
nothing less than the loss of the war chest."

"The war chest!" echoed Jennie, "what is that?"

"My dear, every great nation has a war chest. England has one, so has
France, Germany, Russia--no matter how poor a nation may be, or how
difficult it is to collect the taxes, that nation must have a war
chest. If war were to break out suddenly, even with the most prosperous
country, there would be instant financial panic; ready money would be
difficult to obtain; a loan would be practically impossible; and what
war calls for the very instant it is declared is money--not promises
of money, not paper money, not silver money even, but gold; therefore,
every nation which is in danger of war has a store of gold coin. This
store is not composed mainly, or even largely, of the coins of the
nation which owns the store; it consists of the sovereigns of England,
the louis of France, the Willems d'or of Holland, the eight-florin
pieces of Austria, the double-crown of Germany, the half-imperials of
Russia, the double-Frederics of Denmark, and so on. All gold, gold,
gold! I believe that in the war chest of Austria there were deposited
coins of different nations to the value of something like two hundred
million florins. My husband never told me exactly how much was there,
but sometimes when things looked peaceable there was less money in the
war chest than when there was imminent danger of the European outbreak
which we all fear. The war chest of Austria was in a stone-vaulted room,
one of the strongest dungeons in the Treasury. The public are admitted
into several rooms of the Treasury, but no stranger is ever allowed into
that portion of the building which houses the war chest. This room is
kept under guard night and day. For what happened, my husband feels that
he is in no way to blame, and I don't think his superiors are inclined
to charge him with neglect of duty. It is a singular thing that the day
before the disaster took place he of his own accord doubled the guard
that watched over the room and also the approaches to it. Th