"You don't understand, Otto. You look only at the outside. It's empire they think of over there; it's liberty here. An empire with an autocrat at the head, even a half-way one, may be orderly. Liberty is apt to look pretty untidy and mixed up in comparison, I know, Otto. But don't make any mistake; a country that has set out like this one of ours to show that all men that come to its shores are free, that never for a moment has dreamed of ruling other peoples, asks nothing of newcomers but that they don't interfere with other people's freedom. Oh, that country may not look as trim on the outside as Germany, its people may not spend their money as sensibly--probably they don't; and I know we think a good deal more about our own affairs than about public affairs; but don't you get it into your head that we're not a nation and have no central enthusiasm. If it came to the test I imagine you would find that the right of every man to mind his own business and of every nation to do the same, would make a pretty strong tie in the United States. You would see, if it came to a test, that we have a core over here." "Words, Father, words; you've talked this democratic patter so long you think it means something. A nation must have a visible expression of power to be great and feel great. She must have an army, a navy--that is what makes a nation feel great." But Rupert Littman shook his head. "You don't understand, Otto, you don't understand." And Otto didn't understand, and Sabinsport continued to irritate and humiliate him. The war coming when he was still in this mood aroused his enthusiasm. Now the world would have a demonstration of what greatness in a nation meant. They would see again on earth a real empire rise. So filled was Otto with this sense of the magnificence of German destiny, he felt no criticism for anything that Germany could do, no doubt of anything she said. If she invaded Belgium it was because France was already about to do so, and she beat her to it. If she burned Louvain, it was for the unanswerable reasons that the Emperor himself condescended to give to the American people.