"The  metallic  sinews  of  war,  my  boy — just  as  the  boys
of  Adamsville  and  the  country  are  the  human  sinews.  I
understand  your  feelings,  Judson ;  but  can't  you  see  that
they  are  spreading  the  same  ideal  of  democracy  that  your
comrades  work  for?"

"I  hope  some  good  will  result;  it's  not  easy  to  see
clearly,"  Pelham  answered  slowly.
As  the  commissioner  left,  the  son  of  Adamsville  placed
his  arm  around  Jane.  "And  our  mountain  did  all  of  this !
What  pawns  it  made  of  us !  We  flung  up  here,  the  miners
scattered,  endless  change  and  turmoil.  ...  I  used  to  say
the  mountain  mothered  me ;  but  it  flung  me  out  like  my
father  too.  Perhaps  it  embodied  all  of  us.  Perhaps" —
a  sudden  surge  of  bitter  memory  turned  the  drift  of  his
thinking — "perhaps  autocracy  would  suit  the  mountain,
as  well  as  democracy."

"I  think  not,"  Jane  replied  slowly.  "When  its  products
are  washed  away  by  the  streams,  they  quicken  the  whole
soil.  Humanity  can  afford  culture  now  for  all ;  all  must
win  their  chance  at  it."

"The  war  sets  us  back.  .  .  ."

"And  pushes  us  on  too.  After  it  is  over,  these  metallic
and  human  sinews  will  rebuild  a  world  democracy  at
peace.  Men  have  failed ;  the  women  come  to  their  tasks
now."

"Yes ;  the  aching  past  surely  has  taught  us  something.
