sing bitterness; Austen Chamberlain with a minority following was
fighting Walter Long to lead the Tories and on this troublesome sea Sir
Max Aitken's barque bobbed up and down with the skipper's eyes keenly
alert. He saw the possibilities in Bonar Law. When Chamberlain and Long
created a deadlock, Beaverbrook advocated Bonar Law as leader of the Tory
Party. To make his voice heard more distinctly he purchased the _Daily
Express_ and backed his candidate with a powerful but (then) not very
profitable newspaper. Law has the reputation for modesty, but his
fellow-Canadian led him to the barrier, started him off and when he
stopped running he found himself leader.

For some time it had seemed as if Asquith's Coalition Government would
survive the war, but late in 1917 it was obvious that the old ship was
leaking badly. Carson was the first to propose scuttling the frigate.
The others argued that even a sinking ship was better than no ship at
all, so the Irishman went overboard and sailed away on his own raft.
Bonar Law representing the good old Tory element kept on working the
pumps; Mr. Asquith kept on assuring the crew that all they needed was to
"wait and see"; and Lloyd George was wondering whether he had better take
a hand at the pumps as well or throw both Asquith and Bonar Law into the
sea.

At this juncture a sail was sighted. It was Max Aitken's barque that
"hopped aboard" and took in the spectacle of his old Maritimian sweating
at the pumps; and noticed with a critical eye the extremely able
appearance of that able-bodied politician, Lloyd George.

Beaverbrook thought the situation over--swiftly. He saw that the genial
Micawber on the Bridge could not be routed as long as Bonar Law and Lloyd
George stuck to him. But even if they could be persuaded to heave the
skipper overboard, could they sail the ship and keep the crew loyal as
well?

He decided that Carson had to be brought back to the fold, so jumping
into his little craft he scoured the political sea and returned shortly
with the uncrowned king of Ireland on board.

But Lloyd George, Bonar Law and Sir Edward Carson loved each other as
much as three Prima Donnas. They all agreed that Asquith was sailing to
disaster, but they weren't sure that they didn't prefer disaster under
the Old Chief to prolonged life in each other's company.

Beaverbrook had seen a vision and he knew that Lloyd George was the only
man in England capable of forming a mini