"And therefore you hoped, by piling error upon error, to remedy your original fault?"
"Solely in the interests of Your Majesty, sire."
"And have placed me in a quandary. Germany must either become the laughing-stock of the whole world or else command respect at the point of the sword. Look at the present state of this affair. The English are clamouring for war. History will tell you that their ancestors demanded and obtained a declaration of hostilities against Spain simply on account of the loss of a man's ear. I know them; they are a peculiar nation. Their ministers of state are ever proclaiming their desire for peaceable relations with us; yet, in spite of their vaunted boast to act fairly and squarely with all the world, they would deny us the right to develop as a healthy nation ought and must. Am I not right, Von Rhule?"
"Yes, sire. Take the latest case in point—Damaraland."
The Emperor's brow darkened. He remembered the incident only too well. A few months ago two Alsatian recruits had been drafted with others to German South Africa. The men, bullied and ill-treated by their officers, deserted and escaped into Walfisch Bay. The German officer in command dispatched troops in pursuit, and the latter, possibly unwittingly, entered British territory. A native, refusing to give information, was ordered to be beaten, and in retaliation a number of Kroomen stoned the German soldiers. Meanwhile the British authorities refused to give up the deserters on the grounds that they were political refugees, and ordered them to be sent on to Cape Town.
For a few moments the Emperor looked fixedly at the Chancellor, then in low, emotional tones he asked:
"Are we ready?"
"Yes, sire; to the last——"
"Stop!" exclaimed the Emperor. "Was not a similar reply given to the Emperor of the French half a century ago? You know what that led to? Have we the Reichstag solidly at our backs?"
"All, sire, except the Socialists on the extreme left. But they need not be taken into account. Later on they will be dealt with as their stubbornness merits."