"I am here to ask you to return to the palace, sir," he said. "The crisis is over. The strike has failed. The success of the protective measures which we judged necessary has been overwhelming. Within an hour of the declaration of Martial Law and the operation of the 'Gamma' scheme, all the revolutionary leaders of the strike conspiracy were in custody. They are now at sea, on board the _Iron Duke_. I could not resist that little pleasantry. The _Iron Duke_ sailed under sealed orders--for Bermuda, sir. The strike leaders will be interned there. "The police have carried out their orders throughout with a skill, and a discretion, worthy of the highest praise. The military have been welcomed, with open arms everywhere. So far as we are aware, up to the present, law and order have been maintained with hardly a casualty. It has, in fact, been not so much a battle of the police and of the military, as of propaganda, sir. Our control of communications has been the foundation of our success. From the first, by a series of official bulletins, we have been able to put the facts of the situation before the whole nation, with a minimum of delay. "There can no longer be any doubt, sir, that we were correct in our assumption that the great majority of trades unionists, up and down the country, had been deceived into the belief that the strike had been called for purely industrial reasons. Once we had succeeded in convincing them, by our bulletins, that they had been betrayed into the hands of a little group of foreign, revolutionary extremists, the strike was doomed. The anger of the deceived trades unionists has, ironically enough, been one of our few embarrassments. In many parts of the country, the military have had to protect the local trades union leaders, many of whom appear to have been as grossly deceived as anybody else, from the loyal fury of their followers. "Mark that word loyal, sir! A great outburst of loyalty to you personally, sir, has been the outcome of the crisis. That you should have been subjected to such a crisis, before you had been given any opportunity to show your worth, has outraged the whole nation's sense of fair play. From all sections of the community, both here at home, and in the Dominions, messages of the most fervent loyalty have been pouring into Downing Street, during the last twenty-four hours. At the moment, you are the most popular man in the Empire, sir. The fact that, as soon as I had assured you that law and order would be maintained, you left the palace, and withdrew at once into the country, rather than take any part in the conflict, has greatly strengthened your hold on the people, sir. You left the palace, and withdrew to an unknown address, in the country, yesterday, sir, until the will of the people should be made known. You will return to the palace, today, sir, on the crest of a wave of enthusiasm, unparalleled, I think, in our history."