Page 798 - of-human-bondage-

XCVIII

nd now it happened that the fortunes of Philip Carey,
Aof no consequence to any but himself, were affected by
the events through which his country was passing. History
was being made, and the process was so significant that it
seemed absurd it should touch the life of an obscure medical
student. Battle after battle, Magersfontein, Colenso, Spion
Kop, lost on the playing fields of Eton, had humiliated the
nation and dealt the death-blow to the prestige of the aris-
tocracy and gentry who till then had found no one seriously
to oppose their assertion that they possessed a natural in-
stinct of government. The old order was being swept away:
history was being made indeed. Then the colossus put forth
his strength, and, blundering again, at last blundered into
the semblance of victory. Cronje surrendered at Paardeberg,
Ladysmith was relieved, and at the beginning of March
Lord Roberts marched into Bloemfontein.
It was two or three days after the news of this reached
London that Macalister came into the tavern in Beak Street
and announced joyfully that things were looking brighter
on the Stock Exchange. Peace was in sight, Roberts would
march into Pretoria within a few weeks, and shares were go-
ing up already. There was bound to be a boom.
‘Now’s the time to come in,’ he told Philip. ‘It’s no good
waiting till the public gets on to it. It’s now or never.’