step; the solidarity of their movement. The stamp of their army service
in youth could not be easily removed. He realized the advantage of
heading an army in which defence was not dependent on a mixture of
regulars and volunteers, but on universal conscription that brought
every able-bodied man under discipline.

These reservists, in the event of war, would hear the call of race and
they would fight for the one flag that then had any significance. Yes,
the old human impulses would predominate and the only enemy would be on
the other side of the frontier. They would be pawns of his will--the
will that Marta Galland had said would make him chief of staff.

Wasn't war the real cure for the general unrest? Wasn't the nation
growing stale from the long peace? He was ready for war now that he had
become vice-chief, when the retirement of His Excellency, unable to bear
the weight of his years and decorations in the field, would make him the
supreme commander. One ambition gained, he heard the appeal of another:
to live to see the guns and rifles that had fired only blank cartridges
in practice pouring out shells and bullets, and all the battalions that
had played at sham war in manoeuvres engaged in real war, under his
direction. He saw his columns sweeping up the slopes of the Brown range.
Victory was certain. He would be the first to lead a great modern army
against a great modern army; his place as the master of modern tactics
secure in the minds of all the soldiers of the world. The public would
forget its unrest in the thrill of battles won and provinces conquered,
and its clatter would be that of acclaim for a new idol of its old
faith.