You may end by (think of it!) looking on We
As only a sort of They!
ON THE GATE
A Tale of ’16
ON THE GATE
A Tale of ’16
If the Order Above be but the reflection of the Order Below (as that Ancient affirms, who had some knowledge of the Order) it is not outside the Order of Things that there should have been confusion also in the Department of Death. The world’s steadily falling death-rate, the rising proportion of scientifically prolonged fatal illnesses, which allowed months of warning to all concerned, had weakened initiative throughout the Necrological Departments. When the War came, these were as unprepared as civilised mankind; and, like mankind, they improvised and recriminated in the face of Heaven.
As Death himself observed to St. Peter who had just come off The Gate for a rest: “One does the best one can with the means at one’s disposal but——”
“I know,” said the good Saint sympathetically. “Even with what help I can muster, I’m on The Gate twenty-two hours out of the twenty-four.”
“Do you find your volunteer staff any real use?” Death went on. “Isn’t it easier to do the work oneself than——”