Its promoters deserve all the credit which has been paid them for the introduction of this famous measure; and I take the more pleasure in admitting this by token that the chief among them has publicly recorded his opinion that the man primarily responsible for the introduction of the Discipline Bill was John Crondall. At the same time it should not be forgotten that we have John Crondall's own assurance that the Bill could never have been made law but for that opening and awakening of the hearts and minds of the British people which followed the spreading of the gospel of Duty by the Canadian preachers. XIX THE GREAT ALLIANCE Truly ye come of the Blood; slower to bless than to ban; Little used to lie down at the bidding of any man. . . . . . Deeper than speech our love, stronger than life our tether; But we do not fall on the neck nor kiss when we come together. . . . . . Draw now the threefold knot firm on the ninefold bands, And the law that ye make shall be law after the rule of your lands. RUDYARD KIPLING. During all this time I was constantly with John Crondall, and saw a good deal of Constance Grey; yet the announcement that I had once expected every day, the announcement which seemed the only natural sequence to the kiss of which I had been an unwilling witness, never came. Neither did any return come, in John Crondall, of his old frank gaiety of manner. There remained always the shadow of reserve, of gravity, and of a certain restraint, which dated in my mind from the day of my inadvertent intrusion upon the scene between himself and Constance. Knowing John Crondall as I knew him then, it was not possible for me to think ill of him; but he perplexed me greatly at times. For at times it did seem to me that I read in Constance's face, when we three were together, a look that was almost an appeal to my chief--a half-sorrowful, half-abashed appeal. Then I would recall that kiss, and in my puzzlement I would think: "John Crondall, if you were any other man, I should say you----" And there my thought would stop short. Of what should I accuse him? There was the kiss, the long silence, John Crondall's stiffness, and then this look of distress, this hint of appeal, in the face of Constance. Well! And then my intimate knowledge of my chief would silence me, giving me assurance that I should never be a good enough man justly to reproach John Crondall. But it was all very puzzling, and more, to me, loving Constance as I loved her. You may judge, then, of my surprise when Crondall came into my room at _The Citizens'_ headquarters office one morning and said: "You have been the real secretary for some time, Dick, not only mine, but _The Citizens'_; so there's no need for me to worry about how you'll manage. I'm going to America." "Going to America! Why--when?"