g as common sense," interrupted Vane.
"Surely the matter can be put in front of them so that they will
understand? . . . If not, it's a pretty useful confession of
ineptitude."

Sir James laughed shortly. "There are several floating round at the
moment. . . . But it isn't quite as easy as all that, my dear fellow.
In times of unrest power comes automatically more and more into the
hands of the man who can talk; men like Ramage, and others of his
kidney. A few meaningless but high flown phrases; a few such parrot
cries as 'Down with the Capitalist and the Future is for the Worker,'
and you've got even the steadiest man unsettled. . . . Especially if
he's one of a crowd; mob psychology is the devil. . . ." Sir James
paused and stared out of the window. "I don't fear for the decent
fellow in the long run; it's in the early stages he may get
blown. . . ."

"What are you two men talking about so busily?" Aunt Jane once again
presented her trumpet to Vane.

"Labour trouble, Miss Devereux," he roared. "Trouble in the labour
market."

The old lady's face set grimly. "My convictions on that are well
known," she boomed. "Put them in a row against a wall and shoot them."

"My sister's panacea for all evil," said Sir James with a smile.

"There are others as well as Miss Devereux who would recommend the same
thing," said Vane with a short laugh.

"Shoot 'em," rasped the old lady; "shoot 'em, and go on shooting till
there are no more left to shoot. I'm sure we'd get along very well
without the brutes."

"What's going to stop 'em?" Sir James returned to his former question.
"Nothing--until they've tried everything, and found they're wrong. And
while they're finding out the simple fact that no employer can pay a
guinea for a pound's worth of work the country will crash. We'll have
anarchy, Vane--Bolshevism like Russia, unless a miracle saves us. . . .
Financed by the Boche probably into the bargain."

"Dear old Daddy," laughed Joan. "You're such an optimist, aren't you?"

"It's no laughing matter, my dear," snorted her father. "There's a
wave of madness over the world . . . absolute madness. The more you
give into them--the more decently you treat 'em--the more they
want. . . . People talk about the old order changing; what I want to
know is what they're going to put in its place? When they've broken up
the Empire and reduced England to a fifth-rate Power, they'll probably
want the old order back. . . .