s, and the dull roar of the
immense crowds in the street, now swelling and now retreating, floated
up to him. His thoughts flew to the far West, and everywhere he could
see the eager, industrious Asiatics pouring like a yellow flood over his
country. He saw Togo's gray ships, with the sun-banner of Nippon,
ploughing the waves of the Pacific; he saw the tremendous many-hued
picture of a great international struggle; he saw regiments rush upon
each other and clash on the vast prairies; he saw bayonets flashing in
the sun; and he saw glittering troops of cavalry galloping over the
bleak plains. High up in the air, over the two great opposing hosts, he
saw the white smoke of bursting shells. He saw this gigantic drama of a
racial war, which caused the very axis of the earth to quiver, unraveled
before his eyes, and with ardent enthusiasm he seized his pen, at last
master of himself once more.

Suddenly his mood of exaltation vanished; it seemed as though the sun
had been extinguished, and cold, dark shadows fell across the brilliant
picture of his imagination, subduing its colors with an ashy light. He
began slowly to realize that this did not only mean war, but that it was
his war, his country's war--a bitter struggle for which they were but
poorly prepared. At this thought he shivered, and the man who had
weathered many a storm laid his head down on both arms and cried
bitterly. The mental shock had been too great, and it was in vain that
they knocked at and shook his door. It was some time before John
Halifax recovered his self-possession. Then he lifted his head bravely
and proudly, and going to the door with a firm step, gave directions to
the staff with the calmness of a veteran general.

_Chapter V_

FATHER AND SON

Mr. Horace Hanbury paced restlessly up and down his study, and presently
stopped before a huge map on the wall and carefully traced the long
lines of the trans-continental railroads across the Rocky Mountains.
"Will Harriman sell? No, he'll buy, of course he'll buy; he'd be an
idiot if he didn't. Of course he'll buy, and Gould and Stillman will
buy, too. Well, there'll be a fine tussle in Wall Street to-day." Thus
he soliloquized, puffing thoughtfully at his short pipe. Then he picked
up the heap of narrow tape on his desk containing the latest news from
the West, and read the reports once more as the paper slipped through
his fingers.

"This fiendish plot of the yellow curs seems to be a pr