h the proper urging? Of course, the impulse must come from
the people themselves. We must seem to resist it, the better to arouse
it." He bent the paper-knife into a bow with fingers that were rigid.
"Times are hard, factions are bitter, our cabinet is in danger, with
economic and political chaos from overpopulation in sight," he
continued. "We hunger for land, for fresh opportunities for development.
An outburst of patriotism, concentrating every thought of the nation on
war!--is that the way out?"

Westerling had only answered questions so far. Here was his cue for
argument.

"We were never so ready," he said. "War must come some time. We should
choose the moment, not leave it to chance. The nation needs war as a
stimulant, as a corrective, as a physician. We grow stale; we think of
our domestic troubles. The old racial passions are weakening and with
them our virility. Victory will make room for millions in the place of
the thousands who fall. The indemnity will bring prosperity. Because we
have had no war, because the long peace has been abnormal, is the reason
you have all this agitation and all these strikes. They will be at an
end. Those who are fit to rule will be in power."

"And you are sure--sure we can win?" the premier asked with a long,
tense look at Westerling, who was steady under the scrutiny.

"Absolutely!" he answered. "Five millions against three! It's
mathematics, or our courage and skill are not equal to theirs
Absolutely! We have the power, why not use it? We do not live in a dream
age!"

The premier sank deeper in his chair. He was silent, thinking. He who
had carried off so many great coups with rare ease was on the threshold
of one that made them all seem petty. He had heard random talk that some
of the officers of the staff considered Westerling to be lath painted to
look like steel. There was a reported remark by Turcas, his assistant,
implying that the ability to achieve a position did not mean the ability
to fill it. Jealousy, no doubt; the jealousy of rivals! The premier
himself was used to having members of his own cabinet ever on the watch
for the vulnerable spot in his back, which he had never allowed them to
find. Yet, there was the case of Louis Napoleon. He had the ability to
achieve a position; he had been the lath painted to look like steel. He
had all the externals which the layman associates with victory until he
went to the supreme test, which ripped him into slivers of rot