"I say, Tom," said a man whose three sons were in the army, "are you going to stay home like a coward?"
"I'm noan a coward," replied Tom.
"Then what do you mean by not doing your duty?"
"I have my own views," replied Tom. "Look here, Elijah, I'm not such a fool as to go over there and get killed; th' other chaps'll lick the Germans all right."
"That's the answer of a coward," replied Elijah Butterworth; "if everybody said that, the country would be robbed from us, and we should have those German devils ruling over us."
"No fear of that," laughed Tom, and yet he felt uncomfortable.
"Aren't you an Englishman?" cried Elijah, "and don't you care for the old country?"
"Ay, I don't know," replied Tom, "the Germans are just as well off as we are."
Meanwhile the real facts of the situation became more apparent. The Germans were not to be beaten easily. Russia, in spite of all that had been said about her power as a great steam-roller, could make no real headway; while France and England combined could not drive the Huns from the line they occupied. People tried to explain the situation, but the dreadful logic still remained: the country we had sworn to protect and save was in the hands of the enemy. The industrial part of France was held in a grip of iron; while Russia was powerless against the hosts of Germany.
First there were talks about the war being over by Christmas, but that delusion quickly vanished, and when a member of the Cabinet came to Manchester, and said that it might take years to drive the enemy from his position, people stared in bewilderment. More and more men were asked for, while some of the newspapers began to talk about conscription.