were moving so rapidly
during the dying days of German military might that keeping pace with
them was literally out of the question. That Germany was a mere shell,
most people who had followed the course of the war believed; and that
she must accept dictated terms of armistice from the allies, regardless
of their severity, was growing clearer day by day.

Events of last Friday made it quite plain that the armistice offered by
the allied nations through Marshal Foch was to be signed by Germany
within the specified 72 hours. This position was strengthened Saturday
afternoon when positive word came that the Kaiser had abdicated. It
was the beginning of the definite end. It revealed a power in Germany
greater than the power of the Hohenzollerns--the power of an outraged
people rising after long years of oppression.

From that hour of mid-afternoon on Saturday when the abdication of the
Kaiser was "flashed" to the _Sentinel_ over its Associated Press wire,
there was no relaxation in its plant. In the press room--which must be
ready at a second's notice--men were on guard for every minute until
the Kaiser's hour struck on Monday morning at 2.45 o'clock. It
mattered not to them that a bed between two rolls of paper was the
softest they could find, for couches and easy chairs are no part of a
newspaper establishment. Sometimes the thought comes that "newspaper"
is but a synonym for "slavery."

With the coming of Sunday morning, without the expected word, the vigil
was taken up in other directions. The composing, telegraph, and
editorial rooms joined in keeping guard. The wire began to tick off
its code messages of riots in Berlin, further spreading of the "Red"
revolt in the army and navy, the flight of the dethroned Kaiser to
Holland, and the other numerous signs all pointing to positive
assurance that Germany must sign the armistice terms read to its
representatives by Marshal Foch, no matter how stern they might be. In
mid-afternoon came a brief message plucked from the air--a Berlin
wireless--that the signing of the armistice was expected momentarily.
But the hours wore on into late evening, and then came through a
dispatch from Washington saying that the delay of the German courier in
crossing the line might result in an extension of the 72-hour limit.
Cold water never had a chilling effect equal to that. One by one the
afternoon papers began to click out "good night" to the main office
until only a few remai