Page:The Prime Minister by Hall Caine.djvu/43

Rh  Perhaps that is——  Hush!  [Taking up receiver and listening.] Denham again? —well?—No interruption?—Continental wires kept clear all evening?—Continue to stand by—Ring up again the moment you hear anything. [Again ''puts up the receiver. The voices of the men drop to hushed whispers.''

 What time now?  [Watch in hand.] Five minutes to eleven.  [With same fixed gaze.] I seem to hear the tramp of twenty millions of men.  Yes, and the scream of shell and the roar of cannon.  [As before.] I see villages and cities given up to the flames—cathedrals devastated—harvests trodden into the earth—only sons falling in battle—the world bleeding to death—women and children slaughtered— whole nations homeless, houseless, on the roads.  Terrible! Terrible! 