o distinction between diplomatic and
naval action. On 18 September M. Guillemin informed Admiral Dartige du
Fournet that M. Venizelos was sailing for the islands, and orders were
given for a French escort. But at the last moment M. Venizelos did not
sail. He hesitated. The French Secret Service urged the National Leader
to lead, instead of being prodded from behind; but he resisted their
pressure and their plain speaking.[13] When questioned by the Associated
Press Correspondent if there was any truth in the reports that he was
going to put himself at the head of the revolutionary forces, he replied:
"I cannot answer now. I must wait a little while yet and see what the
Government propose to do."

It is possible that this was the reason why M. Venizelos paused
irresolute on the brink. It is possible that he suffered, as the
disrespectful Frenchmen hinted, from one of those attacks of timidity to
which he was subject in a crisis. It is possible that the ambiguous
attitude of England damped his martial spirit. For the rest, to make a
revolution is a matter that may well give the strongest-minded pause.
What wonder if, reckless, obstinate, and unscrupulous as he was, M.
Venizelos, when faced with the irrevocable, felt the need to weigh his
position, to reconsider whether the momentous step he was taking was
necessary, was right, was prudent?

However, events soon put an end to his hesitation. The decisive
event--the hair which turned the scale--according to M. Venizelos
himself, was supplied, appropriately enough, by a barber. One day,
whilst the Leader of the Liberals wrestled with his soul, a friend called
and reported to him a talk he had just had with his hairdresser, "a
terrible Venizelist, who spoke thus: 'We here, simple folk, say that
Venizelos bears a heavy responsibility: he tells us we are going to the
dogs. Eh, well then, why doesn't he stop us?' This conversation shook
me deeply. My friend gone, I said to myself: 'Indeed, this barber speaks
wisely, and my hesitations to discharge my duty to the end must vanish,
because they may possibly spring from purely egotistical motives. Sir, I
said to myself, having laid up from many struggles and many successes
{130} a capital above the average, you don't wish to risk it and think it
better to sit quiet, choosing to enjoy the moral satisfaction of seeing
the fulfilment of your prophecies rather than make an effort to prevent
it.'" [14] It is always inter