It is only to the eyes that see through long-distance glasses,
the minds that regard the present as nothing more nor less
than an inevitable link joining the future to the past, that
this distant, debatable land stands out in its true political
significance.
To the average reader of news the statement of Russia's move
seemed scarcely more important than had the first report of
the border risings in January, but to the men who had watched
the growth of the disturbance it came charged with portentous
meaning. Through the entire ranks of the opposition, from
Fraide himself downward, it caused a thrill of expectation
--that peculiar prophetic sensation that every politician has
experienced at some moment of his career.
In no member of his party did this feeling strike deeper root
than in Loder. Imbued with a lifelong interest in the Eastern
question, specially equipped by personal knowledge to hold and
proclaim an opinion upon Persian affairs, he read the signs
and portents with instinctive insight.
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