And while their
minds--at first dazed and stunned by the thought of such appalling armies,
battles, death and desolation--slowly cleared and they strove to think, and
Roger thought of business shivered to atoms in every land, and Deborah
thought of schools by thousands all over Europe closing down, in cities and
in villages, in valleys and on mountain sides, of homes in panic
everywhere, of all ideals of brotherhood shaken, bending, tottering--war
broke out in Europe.
"What is this going to mean to me?"
Millions of people were asking that. And so did Roger and Deborah. The same
night they left for New York, while Edith with a sigh of relief settled
back into her family.
* * * * *
The next morning at his office Roger found John waiting with misery stamped
on his face. John had paid small heed to war. Barely stopping for sleep in
the last two days he had gone through scores and hundreds of papers,
angrily skipping all those names of kings and emperors and czars, and
searching instead for American names, names of patrons--business! Gone!
Each hour he had been opening mail and piling up letters cancelling
contracts, ordering service discontinued.
Roger sat down at his desk. As he worked and figured and dictated letters,
glancing into the outer rooms he saw the long rows of girls at tables
obviously trying to pretend that there was work for them to do.
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