And what enthusiasts we were! What visionaries to imagine that in such an hour of emergency a man might discover himself to be fitted for some work of national utility without that preliminary wire pulling which was essential in humdrum times of peace! How we lingered in long queues, and stamped up and down and sat about crowded, stuffy halls waiting only waiting to be asked to do something for our country by any little guttersnipe who happened to have been jockeyed into the requisite position of authority.