t the lure of the
Eternal Waterway gripped us, and we were a-fidget to be there.

"Have eyes to see this idea also," said the Colonel, who was a Tory
of Tories. "England dominates Gibraltar and Suez, the doors of the
Mediterranean; let her complete her constellation by winning from
the Turk the lost star of the Dardanelles, the only other entrance
to the Great Sea."

This roused the jingo devil in us, and we burst into applause.

Knowing thereby that he had won his audience, the Colonel beamed
with inspiration. He rose, as though so enthralling a subject could
only be dealt with standing, and cried:

"See this greater idea. For 500 years the Turk, by occupying
Constantinople, has blocked the old Royal Road to India and the
East. He is astride the very centre of the highways that should link
up the continents. He oppresses and destroys the Arab world, which
should be the natural junction of the great trunk railways that,
to-morrow, shall join Asia, Africa, and Europe in one splendid
spider's web. You are going to move the block from the line, and to
join the hands of the continents. Understand, and be enthusiastic. I
tell you, this joining of the continents is an unborn babe of
history that leapt in the womb the moment the British battleships
appeared off Cape Helles."

"By Jove, the Colonel's great!" thought I, as my heart jumped at his
magnificent words. "Where are his scoffers to-day? He's come into
his own." Lord, how small my little vanities seemed now! A fig for
them all! I was going out to build history. The Colonel had one at
least who was with him to the death.

"So much for secular interest," continued the Colonel, dropping
his voice. "Now, boys, follow me through this. You're not
over-religious, I expect, but you're Christians before you're
Moslems, and your hands should fly to your swords when I say the
Gallipoli campaign is a New Crusade. You're going out to force
a passage through the Dardanelles to Constantinople. And
Constantinople is a sacred city. It's the only ancient city purely
Christian in its origin, having been built by the first Christian
Emperor in honour of the Blessed Virgin. Which brings us to the
noblest idea of all. In their fight to wrest this city from the
Turk, the three great divisions of the Church are united once more.
The great Roman branch is represented by the soldiers and ships of
France: the great Eastern Orthodox branch by the Russians, who are
behind the fight: the gre