That was the summer when the epidemic of infantile paralysis swept over the larger part of the United States.

The young bride was stricken; the case was unusually rapid and unusually severe; at the moment of the Pages' arrival, they were informed that there was practically no hope; and Mrs.Frank Page died at two o'clock on the afternoon of the following day.

The Pages had always been a particularly united and happy family; this was the first time that they had suffered from any domestic sorrow of this kind, and the Ambassador was so affected that it was with difficulty that he could summon himself for the task that lay ahead.
In a few days, however, he left for Washington.

He has himself described his experience at the Capital in words that must inevitably take their place in history.

To appreciate properly the picture which Page gives, it must be remembered that the city and the officialdom which he portrays are the same city and the same men who six months afterward declared war on Germany.