war!' You are visionaries. When will you become thinkers? The
thinkers do not look for power and strength from any of the dreams which
constitute military art: tactics, strategy, fortifications, artillery,
and all that rubbish. They do not believe in war, which is a phantasy;
they believe in chemistry, which is a science. They know the way to put
victory into an algebraic formula."

And drawing from his pocket a small bottle, which he held up to the
meeting, Prince Istar exclaimed:

"Victory--it is here!"

CHAPTER XXVII

WHEREIN WE SHALL SEE REVEALED A DARK AND SECRET MYSTERY AND
LEARN HOW IT COMES ABOUT THAT EMPIRES ARE OFTEN HURLED
AGAINST EMPIRES, AND RUIN FALLS ALIKE UPON THE VICTORS AND
THE VANQUISHED; AND THE WISE READER (IF SUCH THERE BE--WHICH
I DOUBT) WILL MEDITATE UPON THIS IMPORTANT UTTERANCE: "A WAR
IS A MATTER OF BUSINESS"

The Angels had dispersed. At the foot of the slopes at Meudon, seated on
the grass, Arcade and Zita watched the Seine flowing by the willows.

"In this world," said Arcade, "in this world, which we call a cosmos,
though it is but a microcosm, no thinking being can imagine that he is
able to destroy even one atom. At the utmost, all we can hope for is
that we shall succeed in modifying, here and there, the rhythm of some
group of atoms and the arrangement of certain cells. That, when one
thinks of it, must be the limit of our great enterprise. And when we
shall have set up the Contradictor in the place of Ialdabaoth, we shall
have done no more.... Zita, is the evil in the nature of things or in
their arrangement? That is what we ought to know. Zita, I am profoundly
troubled----"

"Arcade," replied Zita, "if to act we had to know the secret of Nature,
one would never act at all. And neither would one live--since to live is
to act. Arcade, is your resolution failing you already?"

Arcade assured the beautiful angel that he was resolved to plunge the
demiurge into eternal darkness.

A motor-car passed by on the road, followed by a long trail of dust. It
stopped before the two angels, and the hooked nose of Baron Everdingen
appeared at the window.

"Good morning, my celestial friends, good morning," said the capitalist.
"Sons of Heaven, I am pleased to meet you. I have a word of importance
to say to you. Do not remain idle--do not go to sleep. Arm! Arm! You may
be surprised by Ialdabaoth. You have a big war-fund. Employ it without
stint. I ha