when the war would be a thing of the past. But then
he would see a more terrible army than any that had
taken the field fully armed, for its heart would be
cankered by disillusion. Great angers would rise up
to shake the earth — angers sown on the once reeking
fields of battle; great hatreds long fostered in those
who must slay —hatreds that would leap forth to
rend their masters. The lust of blood laid on the
unborn child from the moment of its wanton begetting.
Poverty grown in the soil of greed by those who
despised the fruits of forgiveness. Misery masquerad-
ing as joy to bemuse the minds of those who were
joyless. Immense and unreasoning discontents that
sprang from the weariness of the fleshy despair that
sprang from the ills of the spirit. And wandering
through this vast desolation as a beggar who must
plead for the means of subsistence, would be many
an one who had grandly endured, who had sought to
illumine the darkness with courage. In his worn and
threadbare livery of death such an one would very
terribly point to himself: cLook well, all you who pass
by, look well! I am he who lives on for the world's
indictment/
Appalled, and at moments helplessly bewildered,
Christophe would crave the solace of friendship.
He would try to speak of these things to Jan, but in the
end would have said very little. "There must be
something. . . the gospel of Christ. . .war could not
exist if it were accepted, if they realized its magnifi-
cence. It is splendid yet fearful, the gospel of Christ,
because like God Himself it is gentle * . . no, no, not
quite that... I cannot explain. But if, having faith,
a man should rise up and show the love of God to the
world. . * .'
Jan would shake his head: 'We would still be at
war. If there is good there is also evil. The evil
must be crushed that the good may live —this has
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