rawford,' said I,--for I will never give in to her, Mrs. Dr.
dear--'God himself cannot make two hills without a hollow between them,
as I have heard it said, but that is no reason why we should not take
the good of the hills when we are on them.' But Cousin Sophia moaned
on. 'Here is the Gallipolly expedition a failure and the Grand Duke
Nicholas sent off, and everyone knows the Czar of Rooshia is a
pro-German and the Allies have no ammunition and Bulgaria is going
against us. And the end is not yet, for England and France must be
punished for their deadly sins until they repent in sackcloth and
ashes.' 'I think myself,' I said, 'that they will do their repenting in
khaki and trench mud, and it seems to me that the Huns should have a
few sins to repent of also.' 'They are instruments in the hands of the
Almighty, to purge the garner,' said Sophia. And then I got mad, Mrs.
Dr. dear, and told her I did not and never would believe that the
Almighty ever took such dirty instruments in hand for any purpose
whatever, and that I did not consider it decent for her to be using the
words of Holy Writ as glibly as she was doing in ordinary conversation.
She was not, I told her, a minister or even an elder. And for the time
being I squelched her, Mrs. Dr. dear. Cousin Sophia has no spirit. She
is very different from her niece, Mrs. Dean Crawford over-harbour. You
know the Dean Crawfords had five boys and now the new baby is another
boy. All the connection and especially Dean Crawford were much
disappointed because their hearts had been set on a girl; but Mrs. Dean
just laughed and said, 'Everywhere I went this summer I saw the sign
"MEN WANTED" staring me in the face. Do you think I could go and have a
girl under such circumstances?' There is spirit for you, Mrs. Dr. dear.
But Cousin Sophia would say the child was just so much more cannon
fodder."

Cousin Sophia had full range for her pessimism that gloomy autumn, and
even Susan, incorrigible old optimist as she was, was hard put to it
for cheer. When Bulgaria lined up with Germany Susan only remarked
scornfully, "One more nation anxious for a licking," but the Greek
tangle worried her beyond her powers of philosophy to endure calmly.

"Constantine of Greece has a German wife, Mrs. Dr. dear, and that fact
squelches hope. To think that I should have lived to care what kind of
a wife Constantine of Greece had! The miserable creature is under his
wife's thumb and that is a bad place