With a slight incredulity the
conference which was to begin a new order in the world, gathered itself
together. Leblanc summoned it without arrogance, he controlled it by
virtue of an infinite humility. Men appeared upon those upland slopes
with the apparatus for wireless telegraphy; others followed with tents
and provisions; a little cable was flung down to a convenient point
upon the Locarno road below. Leblanc arrived, sedulously directing every
detail that would affect the tone of the assembly. He might have been a
courier in advance rather than the originator of the gathering. And
then there arrived, some by the cable, most by aeroplane, a few in other
fashions, the men who had been called together to confer upon the state
of the world. It was to be a conference without a name. Nine monarchs,
the presidents of four republics, a number of ministers and ambassadors,
powerful journalists, and such-like prominent and influential men, took
part in it. There were even scientific men; and that world-famous old
man, Holsten, came with the others to contribute his amateur statecraft
to the desperate problem of the age. Only Leblanc would have dared so to
summon figure heads and powers and intelligence, or have had the courage
to hope for their agreement.
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