Mr. Blair laughed. “Now we are seeing what is really ‘made in Germany’ by your friend Kuno Kleist and the others.�
Black Mayo shook his head. “Not Kuno, not the will and heart of him. They may have his body—I hope not, I hope not—as a cog in this terrible military machine, crushing helpless nations and people with its awful policy of frightfulness.�
“They ought all to be killed, them German scoundrels ought,� wheezed old Mr. Tavis. “They ought to be treated like they treat the Belgians and them other people Will Blair reads us about in his newspaper.�
“No and no!� Black Mayo said emphatically; then he went on, looking not at Mr. Tavis, but at David and Dick: “The worst thing that could happen to the world, to us, would be to be infected by the germ of hate.�
“But the Germans do such mean things, Cousin Mayo. How can we not hate them?� Patsy looked up with a frown. “Father read in the paper to-day that two more relief ships have been sunk, ships loaded with food for the starving Belgians.�
“And I gave all my money to buy it,� said Sweet William, indignantly. “I’m saving my sugar for the poor little Belgians. Do you reckon the Germans’ll sink that, too?�
“Relief ships!� said David. “Why, they sink hospital ships, with wounded soldiers and doctors and nurses; and ships with women and babies. Remember the Lusitania!�
“I think we ought to hate them,� said Anne.
“No, dear, no,� said Black Mayo. “We ought to fight fair and hard and without hate, for our own rights and the rights of all people, the Germans, too. Why, the German people had no voice in making this war. It was declared by the kaiser without consulting the Reichstag in which the people are represented.
“Remember, children, most wars are made by governments, against the wishes and interests of the people. War is a disaster, a scourge; war, more than famine, is the seven blasted ears of corn, the seven lean-fleshed kine, destroying the full and the well-favored. All the waste and woe of this World War will be worth while if they make people realize the horror and wickedness of war and put an end to it forever.�