Galland library, where the long-distance telephone
was installed, Westerling was talking with the premier in the Gray
capital.

"Your total casualties are eight hundred thousand! That is terrific,
Westerling!" the premier was saying.

"Only two hundred thousand of those are dead!" replied Westerling. "Many
with only slight wounds are already returning to the front. Terrific, do
you say? Two hundred thousand in five millions is one man out of every
twenty-five. That wouldn't have worried Frederick the Great or Napoleon
much. Eight hundred thousand is one out of six. The trouble is that such
vast armies have never been engaged before. You must consider the
percentages, not the totals."

"Yet, eight hundred thousand! If the public knew!" exclaimed the
premier.

"The public does not know!" said Westerling.

"They guess. They realize that we stopped the soldiers' letters because
they told bad news. The situation is serious."

"Why not give the public something else to think about?" Westerling
demanded.

"I've tried. It doesn't work. The murmurs increase. I repeat, my fears
of a rising of the women are well grounded. There is mutiny in the air.
I feel it through the columns of the press, though they are censored.
I--"

"Then, soon I'll give the public something to think about, myself!"
Westerling broke in. "The dead will be forgotten. The wounded will be
proud of their wounds and their fathers and mothers triumphant when our
army descends the other side of the range and starts on its march to the
Browns' capital."

"But you have not yet taken a single fortress!" persisted the premier.
"And the Browns report that they have lost only three hundred thousand
men."

"Lanstron is lying!" retorted Westerling hotly. "But no matter. We have
taken positions with every attack and kept crowding in closer. I ask
nothing better than that the Browns remain on the defensive, leaving
initiative to us. We have developed their weak points. The resolute
offensive always wins. I know where I am going to attack; they do not. I
shall not give them time to reinforce the defence at our chosen point. I
have still plenty of live soldiers left. I shall go in with men enough
this time to win and to hold."

"The army is yours, Westerling," concluded the premier. "I admire your
stolidity of purpose. You have my confidence. I shall wait and hold the
situation at home the best I can. We go into the hall of fame or into
the gutter together, y