THE PRIME MINISTER
21
Sir Robert.
[At window, in a toneless voice.] Yes?
Hallam.
Can you see the clock of St. Stephen's from there?
Sir Robert.
[Without turning.] No.
Hallam.
When it strikes can you hear it?
Sir Robert.
Yes.
Lord Burnley.
[As before.] It is just as if the whole world were on
tip-toe—waiting for the thunder-stroke of fate.
Carfax.
If the telephone rings even now, it may still be
peace.
Dundas.
But if not——
Lord Burnley.
[Listening, raising his hand.] Hush!
[Through the awful stillness comes the deep booming of "Big Ben," striking eleven. Boom! Boom! Boom!
[No one moves until the last of the eleven strokes has gone reverberating through the silence of the night.
[Then Sir Robert returns to the head of the table. All rise.
