There was a pause, while another salvo burst overhead. Then Jim Nichols asked:—
“Colonel, just why are you so sure? Is Peace really on the way?”
(Certainly, the question was worth asking. Within the past five days the following rumours have reached us, seriatim, supported by every variety of unreliable testimony:—
(1) Austria is trying to quit.
(2) The German Fleet has come out and surrendered.
(3) Kiel is in the hands of mutineers.
(4) The Kaiser and the Crown Prince have abdicated.
(5) Germany has asked for Peace, and Foch has given her seventy-two hours to accept his terms.)
“Not peace,” replied the Colonel, “nor anything like it. But an armistice may come any day. From all accounts the Hun is willing to submit to almost any terms so long as he can get out now, while the going is any good at all. That looks as if his military discipline were growing shaky—or else his civilian morale. Perhaps both. Anyway, he seems suspiciously anxious to quit. The real question is, What are we going to do about it?”