The dead season for all outdoor games was upon them and the men, losing touch with each other and with their captain, who was engrossed in studying his new duties, began to spend their leisure hours in loafing about the streets or lounging in the pool rooms.
All over the country the groundswell of unrest was steadily and rapidly rising.

The returned soldiers who had failed to readjust themselves to the changed conditions of life and to the changes wrought in themselves by the war, embittered, disillusioned and disappointed, fell an easy prey to unscrupulous leaders and were being exploited in the interests of all sorts of fads and foolish movements.

Their government bonuses were long since spent and many of them, through no fault of their own, found themselves facing a situation full of difficulty, hardship, and often of humiliation.
Under the influence of financial inflation and deceived by the abundant flow of currency in every department of business, industries by the score started up all over the land.

Few could foresee the approach of dark and stern days.

It was in vain that financial leaders began to sound a note of warning, calling for retrenchment and thrift.