moneys will be kept intact till the end of the war.
Still, I doubt very much whether your bankers would
allow you to draw on that probability, even if you
were willing to pay a high rate of interest. German
credit is likely to suffer greatly before this war is
over."

"But Major Guthrie? I don't suppose you know
what this means to me and to Rose. Why, more than
half of everything we have in the world is invested
in Germany!"

"I know that," he said feelingly. "In fact, that was
among the first things, Mrs. Otway, which occurred
to me when I learnt that war had been declared. I
expected to find you very much upset about it."

"I never gave it a thought; I didn't know a war
could affect that sort of thing. What a fool I've been!
Oh, if only I'd followed your advice -- I mean two
years ago!" She spoke with a great deal of painful
agitation, and Major Guthrie felt very much distressed
indeed. It was hard that he should have had to be
the bearer of such ill tidings.

"I blame myself very, very much," he said sombrely,
"for not having insisted on your putting that money
into English or Colonial securities."

"Oh, but you did insist!" Even now, in the midst
of her keen distress, the woman's native honesty and
generosity of nature asserted itself. "You couldn't
have said more! Don't you remember that we nearly
quarrelled over it? Short of forging my name and
stealing my money and investing it properly for me,
you couldn't have done anything more than you did do,
Major Guthrie."

"That you should say that is a great comfort to

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