Ruth, in the dark at the foot of the stairs, heard, gave a great gulp, and crept back to the kitchen.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE COLONEL FACES DEFEAT
The Colonel, who throughout his life while making a great show of radical opinions in the mess for the benefit of his brother-officers had always voted quietly for the Conservative party on the ground that they made upon the whole less of a hash of Imperial affairs than their Liberal opponents was profoundly troubled by the proceedings in Ulster.
"The beggars are undermining the morale of Ireland," he told Mr. Trupp. "And only those who've been quartered there know what that means."
"If you said they were undermining the foundations of Society I'd agree," the other answered. "Geddes says they've poisoned the wells of civilisation, and he's about right."
The Presbyterian minister, indeed, usually so sane and moderate, had been roused to unusual vehemence by the general strike against the law engineered by the Conservative leaders.
"It's a reckless gamble in anarchy with the country's destiny at stake," he said.
"And financed by German Jews," added Joe Burt.
As the Campaign developed and the success of the Unionists in tampering with the Army became always more apparent, the criticisms of the two men intensified. They hung like wolves upon the flank of the Colonel, pertinacious in pursuit, remorseless in attack.