The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Page 9

the South Americans who, tired of pacing the deck, had
dropped in to hear what the gringoes were saying, they were turning
into Spanish the witticisms and licentious anecdotes awakened in the
memory by a superabundance of beer. Julio was marvelling at the ready
laugh of all these men. While the foreigners were remaining unmoved,
they would break forth into loud horse-laughs throwing themselves
back in their seats. And when the German audience was growing cold,
the story-teller would resort to an infallible expedient to remedy his
lack of success:--
"They told this yarn to the Kaiser, and when the Kaiser heard it he
laughed heartily."
It was not necessary to say more. They all laughed then. Ha, ha, ha!
with a spontaneous roar but a short one, a laugh in three blows, since to
prolong it, might be interpreted as a lack of respect to His Majesty.
As they neared Europe, a batch of news came to meet the boat. The
employees in the wireless telegraphy office were working incessantly.

One night, on entering the smoking room, Desnoyers saw the German
notables gesticulating with animated countenances. They were no
longer drinking beer. They had had bottles of champagne uncorked,
and the Counsellor's Lady, much impressed, had not retired to her
stateroom. Captain Erckmann, spying the young Argentinian, offered
him a glass.
"It is war," he shouted with enthusiasm. "War at last. . . . The hour has
come!"
Desnoyers made a gesture of astonishment. War! . . . What war? . . .
Like all the others, he had read on the news bulletin outside a
radiogram stating that the Austrian government had just sent an
ultimatum to Servia; but it made not the slightest impression on him,
for he was not at all interested in the Balkan affairs. Those were but the
quarrels of a miserable little nation monopolizing the attention of the
world, distracting it from more worthwhile matters. How could this
event concern the martial Counsellor? The two nations would soon
come to an understanding. Diplomacy sometimes amounted to
something.
"No," insisted the German ferociously. "It is war, blessed war. Russia
will sustain Servia, and we will support our ally. . . . What will France
do? Do you know what France will do?" . . .
Julio shrugged his shoulders testily as though asking to be left out of all
international discussions.
"It is war," asserted the Counsellor, "the preventive war that we need.
Russia is growing too fast, and is preparing to fight us. Four years more
of peace and she will have finished her strategic railroads, and her
military power, united to that of her allies, will be worth as much as
ours. It is better to strike a powerful blow now. It is necessary to take
advantage of this opportunity. . . . War. Preventive war!"
All his clan were listening in silence. Some did not appear to feel the
contagion of his enthusiasm. War! . . . In imagination they saw their
business paralyzed, their agencies bankrupt, the banks cutting down

credit . . . a catastrophe more frightful to them than the slaughters of
battles. But they applauded with nods and grunts all of Erckmann's
ferocious demonstrations. He was a Herr Rath, and an officer besides.
He must be in the secrets of the destiny of his country, and that was
enough to make them drink silently to the success of the war.
Julio thought that the Counsellor and his admirers must be drunk.
"Look here, Captain," he said in a conciliatory tone, "what you say
lacks logic. How could war possibly be acceptable to industrial
Germany? Every moment its business is increasing, every month it
conquers a new market and every year its commercial balance soars
upward in unheard of proportions. Sixty years ago, it had to man its
boats with Berlin hack drivers arrested by the police. Now its
commercial fleets and war vessels cross all oceans, and there is no port
where the German merchant marine does not occupy the greatest part
of the docks. It would only be necessary to continue living in this way,
to put yourselves beyond the exigencies of war! Twenty years more of
peace, and the Germans would be lords of the world's commerce,
conquering England, the former mistress of the seas, in a bloodless
struggle. And are they going to risk all this--like a gambler who stakes
his entire fortune on a single card--in a struggle that might result
unfavorably?" . . .
"No, war," insisted the Counsellor furiously, "preventive war. We live
surrounded by our enemies, and this state of things cannot go on. It is
best to end it at once. Either they or we! Germany feels herself strong
enough to challenge the world. We've got to put an end to