rattle of small arms, the harsh, grinding
roar of the machine guns, the hurrahs of the defenders, and the cries
of rage and agony from the baffled and decimated assailants, rose
unceasingly to their ears as they passed over the last battlefield of
the Western nations, where the Anglo-Saxon, the Russ, and the Gaul
were locked in the death struggle.

"There is some awful work going on down there," said Arnold, as they
headed away towards the south, where, from behind the Surrey hills,
soon came the sound of some tremendous conflict. "For the present we
must leave them to fight it out. They don't seem to have had such
easy work of it to the south as we have had to the north; but I
didn't expect they would, for they have probably detached a very much
larger force of French and Italians to attack the Army of the South
than the Russian lot we had to deal with."

"Is all this frightful slaughter really necessary?" asked Natasha,
slipping her arm through his, and looking up at him with eyes which
for the first time were moistened by the tears of pity for her
enemies.

"Necessary or not," replied Arnold, "it is the Master's orders, and I
have only to obey them. This is the day of vengeance for which he has
waited so long, and you can hardly expect him to show much mercy. It
lies between him and Tremayne. For my part I will stay my hand only
when I am ordered to do so.

"Still, if any one can influence Natas to mercy, you can. Nothing can
now stop the slaughter on the north, I'm afraid, for the Russians are
caught in a hopeless trap. The Londoners are enraged beyond control,
and if the men spared them I believe the women would tear them to
pieces. But there are two or three millions of lives or so to be
saved at the south, and perhaps there is still time to do it. It
would be a task worthy of the Angel of the Revolution; why should you
not try it?"

"I will do so," said Natasha, and without another word she turned
away and walked quickly towards the entrance to the saloon.

CHAPTER XLV.

ARMAGEDDON.

On the southern side of London the struggle between the
Franco-Italian armies and the troops of the Federation had been
raging all night with unabated fury along a curved line extending
from Bexley to Richmond.

The railways communicating with the ports of the south and east had,
for their own purposes, been left intact by the commanders of the
League; and so sudden and utterly unexpected had been the invasion of