She smiled, patted his shoulder and promised to improve. But he appeared
to be in a gloomy mood.
"I believe we ought to go, anyhow," he went on. "In my opinion this war
is going to spread like a prairie fire. The Kaiser got back to Berlin
yesterday. He'll sign the mobilization orders to-day as sure as fate.
For the past week, on the Berlin Bourse, Canadian Pacific stock has been
dropping. That means they expect England to come in."
He gazed darkly into the future. It may seem that, for an American
statesman, he had an unusual grasp of European politics. This is easily
explained by the fact that he had been talking with the bootblack at the
Carlton Hotel.
"Yes," he said with sudden decision, "I'll go down to the steamship
offices early Monday morning."