We should present ourselves to him apologetically, as men for whom the burden of reforming mankind had grown too heavy. We should give the Colonel the impression that he and we were pioneers in advance of our age, stationed at the outposts of progress; that where we stood to-day, the world would stand to-morrow. But in the meantime.... “You see, Sir,” I should say, “there are only four fellows learning Finnish, and none of them, if I may say so, seem to me the sort of fellows we really want. They’re more of the class of chap who learns a language merely to be able to say he knows it, and really, Sir, I don’t know if it’s worth our while to spend so much time on them. You were talking the other day about conservation of energy, Sir.” The Colonel would bend confidingly. So far this catchword had not suggested itself to him. But it was surely only a matter of time. “And,” I should continue, “we thought we’d be really doing better if we were to learn a language ourselves. Stone thought the same, Sir, but he said, ‘We must ask Colonel Westcott first.’” “Ah, quite right, quite right, it’s no use wasting our forces. If fellows won’t back you up, well, it’s their fault, not yours. You’ve done your best.” And doubtless in that moment the Colonel’s thoughts would be flying forward tentatively to the grey days of demobilisation, to the sundering of the one river into its many streams. And he could see himself standing there at the parting of the ways, his averted eyes turned back to the pleasant pastures, to the unity and harmony of war. He could see himself as the last relic of a more golden era, of a cleaner if not more clever world. “And you really think, Sir, that we have done our best?” “No doubt about that, oh, none at all,” he would sigh. “I only wish we had a few more like you in the camp. It’s the right spirit.” And we should acknowledge the panegyric with a smile, and leave him to his dreams and aspirations, his Pan-Saxon Utopia. * * * * * But it could not be done. In actuality the scheme would lose its glamour, its wayward charm. It was better to let it remain in the imagination, the fresh counterpart of some less noble phenomenon. _Aimez ce que jamais on ne verra pas deux fois._ CHAPTER VI THE GERMAN ATTITUDE