“He may. On the other hand he may not. He is a great and daring thinker, and he declares there are hidden forces in the universe that man is about to harness in the way he has already harnessed electricity, which, by the way, less than a hundred years ago was a madman’s dream.” “I hear he is subsidized by the government.” “He takes no payment for his services. He believes our cause to be that of civilization. Two of his boys are with the French Army, as he says, ‘doing their bit to keep a lien on the future.’” “His country can be proud of him.” Brandon could not repress a smile. The assumption of the tone was so typical of the man who used it that he was tempted to look at him in his relation to those events which were tearing the world in pieces. Had any man a right to sit in judgment on the actions of others in that calm, confident way? There was something far down in Brandon which asked the question, something deeper still which answered it. The self-complacency of this sublime noodle was not a thing to smile at after all; he had a sudden craving for a tomahawk. “It seems to me,” said Brandon after a pause, “that modern materialism has at last managed to produce the kind of man it has been looking for. This charming church-going American says he hopes presently to be able to establish war on a scientific basis. So far, he says, man has only been toying with the subject.” “If he can bring the end of this war a stage nearer, all honor to him,” said the vicar in a measured tone. “He certainly hopes to do that. He says that his committee of Allied scientists, which sits every day in Whitehall, is already applying Murdwell’s Law to good purpose. It has every hope of finding a formula, sooner or later, which will put the Central Empires permanently out of business.” “Really!” said the vicar. “He says that so awful are the potentialities of self-destruction inherent in Murdwell’s Law that future wars may involve the planet, Earth, in cosmic suicide.” “Really!” said the vicar. “He says that science sees already that warfare cannot remain in its present phase. Moreover, at the present moment it is an interesting speculation as to which side can first carry it a step further. Enemy scientists are already groping in the direction of the new light. They will soon have their own private version of Murdwell’s Law; they know already the forces latent in it. If we are the first to find the formula we may be able to say a long farewell to the Wilhelmstrasse, and even to deep, strong, patient Germany herself. And if they find it first it may be a case of ‘Good-by, Leicester Square,’ because the first intimation the world may have is that there is a small island missing in Europe.” “Really!” said the vicar.