happened since.

"Shortly after that Germany started to blockade England with submarines
to starve her out, and began to sink all sorts of ships. They bagged a
fine and large lot including some Americans--just sunk 'em on sight,
asking no questions."

"Did America buck up, Nap?" I asked.

"Don't ask me, Jefson--that's the sick part. I want to dodge that. Let
me get on--where was I? Oh, yes, Germany's submarine piracy; but that
didn't do much harm, and she got tired of that stunt after a month or
so. Then her fleet came out of Kiel to make a grand attack: at least, a
bit of it came out, but only a bit of that bit got back again.

"Turkey, in the meantime had butted in and went for the Suez Canal, but
your Australian fellows, who had been dropped at Egypt, made those bucks
hike back quick and lively, then your Australians helped to chase them
off the banks of the Dardanelles: and the British and French Fleets,
smashing their way through, had threatened Constantinople--and then
Turkey got the axe.

"All through February, March and April, Belgians, British and French
held that line from Ostend to Nancy, getting a trench to-day and losing
it to-morrow, all the while Kitchener was waiting for the winter to
break and the Spring to come along and dry the roads for the cavalry and
the big guns.

"In the east the Russian Army was just sitting like a rock. The Germans,
relying on their idea of attack, were simply chucking themselves away on
that Russian rock and smashing up like spray.

"Kitchener had six great armies waiting, but during May, June and July
those armies doubled! The French and Russian Armies also practically
doubled and streams increased from Australia and Canada.

"It was the most extraordinary thing of the war--and a young woman did
it!

"She is a Belgian. She saw her mother being outraged by a German
soldier. She slipped in, took up his bayonet, and skewered him, shot his
companion, and with the weapon escaped to France. Through France and
England she preached a crusade of Revenge. Crowds came to hear the
sweet-faced woman speak frankly of unprintable horrors, and the fire of
her tongue as she preached in her simple country dress with the
bloodstained bayonet in her hand, won thousands of recruits. On top of
her crusade out came the official report, that among other awful things,
over 4000 Belgian women who had been maltreated by German soldiers would
become mothers this year. Men with memories of dea