Page:The Prime Minister by Hall Caine.djvu/133

Rh  Yes.  That's it. While you have been away this brutal war has been going from bad to worse. Whole towns, cities, provinces, continents swept utterly away. The world has never before seen the like of it. Destruction and desolation everywhere—in the land, in the air, on the sea, under the sea. It is too much. Flesh and blood cannot bear any more. Our country wants peace—an honourable peace and the reconciliation of the peoples. The English want peace, too, but their Minister will not permit of it. We must all be crushed first, ruined, exterminated.  [Breathing hard.] Well?  Well, if our people are not to be wiped out of the world this enemy must himself be wiped out of it, and therefore——  [As before.] Yes?  Therefore our Club has tried him, found him guilty, and—sentenced him to death.  [Rising.] Death?  [Drawing her down.] Strong hearts do not shrink from acts that are necessary, Margaret. Our Council