Storyteller.

White Ribbon, Volume 26, Issue 311, 18 May 1921, Page 7

Storyteller.

THE EAST WEAPON.

(Continued.)

CHAITEK VJU. Woe to tin* rebellious children, said the Lord, that take counsel, hut not u! Me; and that cover with a covering, hut not of My Spirit; that thej may add sin to sin; that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at My mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in tlie shadow of Egypt. “Therefore shall the strength of Egypt he your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.” Sir Joshua gathered his papers together, laid them in accurate order, and then, swinging round his de.sk chair, he lighted a cigar. In a few moments the small private conference he had invited would assemble, and he would know exactly where he was. He looked round the well-furnished study with complacency, for it was in this great city house that he had thought out so much that had made him great. Sir Joshua Power was. as he himself knew’, one of the most influential men of his day. He had but to express the wish, and Court, Church. Palace, City Office. Castle, or Popular Platform was open to him. Though not officially connected with the Government, he was unofficially within its most intimate counsels, and in this supreme hour of his country’s peril he held the last word of wisdom on behalf of its harassed rulers. For war was Sir Joshua's speciality. For a quarter of a century he had felt the pulse of the world, and had quickened or calmed its fever, as he chose. Sir Joshua possessed a giant mind and a giant outlook, and he understood accurately that in the self-seeking fear of nations he possessed his most reliable asset for the great business concerns with which he was connected. Tn his personal relations he was kindhearted and generous, and his great wealth was unstintedly used for the philanthropic 1 schemes to which his wife was devoted, but in his profession Sir Joshua was an enthusiast, and he was now’ living through his supreme hour of 1 riumphant opportunity.

National fears had forced down all barriers, and the storm had come. Having through his immense international enterprises armed friend and foe alike, it was necessary that he should now judiciously concentrate himself on the welfare of his own country, and he had consequently become the idol of a people recklessly pouring its wealth and its poverty down at his feet. True, inutterings and grumblings of discontent rose spasmodically to the surface, but in fierce times of terror it is not safe to allow mutiny against the one power that can save. Nevertheless. Sir Joshua had felt for some tunc a sense of dissatisfaction that through his very success in the past, h«* was unable to lead his country on to a more decisive victory. A new question, vital beyond dreams, was now facing him, and for the first time in his experience he- was troubled with a certain doubt as to whether his country would follow him. Would they brand him as a devil, or lift him on high as the saviour of his race, like his gallant namesake of old? That his country should have any real doubt as to the proposal he was about to make would be merely stupid, but it had to he remembered that Dame Prejudice has an awkward way with her at times. Sir Joshua turned suddenly in his chair and glanced behind him. Then he swung round and peered into a far corner of the room. For a moment ho had an uncomfortable impression that he was not alone. But he neither saw the Child standing under the portrait of the greatest General the world had ever known, nor one of the Sons of Fear, who had taken his place so near him that he might have felt hi rcith upon his cheek. Tin* door opened, and a visitor was announced. “Ah—come in. my Lord!” exclaimed Sir Joshua, genially, as he rose and grasped the hand of one of the most prominent Rulers of the Great Church, and led him to a chair of honour. “I am afraid 1 am rather before my time,” apologised the Ruler, “and to interrupt a busy man like yourself. Sir Joshua, Is a crime." “We are all busy men,” returned Sir Joshua cordially, “and frankly, I am delighted to have the chance of n word with you. Ruler, before the othe-s come in ” The Church Ruler inclined his head, and then gave a sigh.

“These are dark times, indeed, when everything we hold dear is trembling in an awful balance!’’ "Exactly!" admitted Sir Joshua, deferentially. “But in the first place, allow me to tell you. Ruler, how immensely I was struck with your grand appeal to the Nation last night." “You were there?” asked the other, with a startled gratification. Sir Joshua smiled. “Yes, 1 took special care to be present. 1 wished to hear what line you would take, and J may tell you that 1 was completely satisfied. Such a message from a man in your responsible position is worth—well, everything that is necessary to inspire a great Empire to the noblest effort of which it is capable.” “I did but speak as 1 felt called to speak,” said the Ruler modestly. "Therein lies the power of the me.ssage. If I remember right, you urged that if any of us fail in this awful hour to give our uttermost support to the God of Battles, we deserve to Is* ranked as traitors to the Highest, and worthy of the scorn and contempt of mankind.” “That is indeed my sincere opinion,” said the Ruler earnestly, "because all for which we in the Great Church have ever hoped and prayed for is at stake.” “Our armies and navies have worked wonders!” said Sir Joshua musingly. “And month by month, through the good providence of the Almighty, w’e have managed to keep ahead in the use of every invention of force which offers predominance. Whatever new power has l»een revealed to us. whether of force or strategy, we have accepted w ith gratitude, and painstakingly developed it on behalf of Almighty God and our beloved country. That, Ruler, you will admit, is the only logical autcome of the position we have taken up?” “Yes—yes.” said the Ruler, a little puzzled. “You mean that w’e must keep up-to-date at nil casts or wc are lost ?" “Exactly! Of course, I gather from what you have both written and preached. that you take this view’, and that Is why I ’phoned you to join a small private conclave. You will —Ah—l hear the others coming. Rnt what T have said will suggest to you the line you will naturally take when T make myself clearer.” The door opened, and four other visitors were announced.

The I Unhess of Moorland, the thiest worn: o in the Empire, kc» n. ulert. patriotic, domineering, and po sewing a charming personality and groat social influence, entered first. Rehind her followed a pale, fairhaired man, with keen eyes and a low forehead. He was evidently a foreigner, and possibly shy, and Sir Joshua introduced him with curious respect as Mr Rotensen, a friend from Neutral in. The third was a stout, self-opinionat-ed little man. He rubinsl his hands together as he entered the room, and Sir Joshua welcomed him deferentially, for the Rev. TheoKald Rogers had influence amongst hundreds of thousands of the professed Followers of the Christ Clod, who had broken away from the Great Church. Sir Joshua could not afford to neglect the Rev. Theobald Rogers. Sir Joshua had a way of setting quite incongruous people at their ease, and for a minute or two the little company broke into pleasant chat. Then Michael Forward, proprietor and editor of one of the leading newspapers, was announced, and close on his her Is came John Dissart, perhaps the busiest and mast practical member of the King’s Government. “Our little company is now complete,” said Sir Joshua, “and we had better get to business; but before calling upon my friend. Mr Rotensen, to make his statement, I should like to offer one or two explanations. "This gathering is, as you will understand, absolutely ennfldentinl, and 1 cannot thank you all enough for honouring nic in such a consultation, for 1 Indievc, I may venture to say. that upon the decision we now come to the fate of our beloved country may depend. "Rriefly, then, we have arrived, as we are all aware, at a pasition in this war when any sudden accession of power to one side or the other would mean a victory, and probably a crushing victory for the fortunate possessors of that power. “Our own country has not always been sufficiently keen to avail herself of possible* new forees, owing to —well we need not go into the sore subject—and he smiled reassuringly. “I have myself known for some time that there was a world force- latent, which would, if we could only arrive at

it. turn everything we call arms and munitions In waste paper. Mr Kotensen, an honoured citizen of Neutralia, has now proved to me conclusively that I am too late in my experiments, and that I have )x*en working on wnong lines. This new force is now without doubt discovered, and he has made it his duty to come over to our countr> to place the matter liefore me, that 1 may secure it for our Government, arrange terms, and in the Anal event, explain the project to the People and put the discovery to the supreme test. "That is the object of our conference, and you will readily see that whichever nation secures the exploitation of this new force must have the whole world, civilised and uncivilised, at its feet. And more than that, 1 understand that within a few weeks —days, I might almost sav, Mr Rotensen?—of our getting to work, this war, with all its horrors, will l>e over. As for the price ” “The price would be neither heie nor there, surely?" said the Duchess with eager impatience. “You know. Sir Joshua, that our country i> prepared to pay any price to defeat the enemy and rescue our people', our women and children, out of their bloodthirsty hands!” “In money, yes. Duchess!" admitted Sir Joshua, "hut we must also have the nation's moral support. That if why I have felt it desirable to gather 'his precise company together, for we should lx helpless without the support of the Great Church, the other powerful religious bodies, the Press, the world of fashion, and—l need hardly add—His Majesty’s Government!*’ John Dissart bowed gravely. It had been at his suggestion that the others had been called. “With almost unanimous kicking.” Sir Joshua continued, "this new force could he rushed upon the country and popularised without—well, frankly- it is of such a nature that though its use is merely the logical outcome of the great principles upon which our Kmpire rests, one fears lest some sections of the public-and we can easily guess of whom they would consist —might cause serious trouble and prejudice, if not ruin the effort we are about to make for the salvation of our country and the whole civilised world. Rut Mr Rotensen hnd better explain the matter himself." (To he Continued.)