ce should be
destroyed.

"That, if you will pardon the expression, was a piece of bluff. You
love Miss Parmenter perhaps as much as, though not possibly more
than, I do, and therefore you would certainly not destroy the world
as long as she was alive in it. You would be more or less than man
if you did, and I don't believe you are either, and therefore I
think you will understand the proposition I am going to make to
you.

"Granted hypothesis that the world will come to an end by means of
this comet on a certain day, and granted also that you are able to
save it with this cannon of yours, I write now to tell you that,
whether the war stops or not in obedience to your threat, I will
not allow you to save the world unless Miss Parmenter consents to
marry me within two months from now. If she does, the war shall
stop, or at anyrate I will allow the British forces to conquer the
whole of Europe on the sole condition of giving independence to
Ireland. They cannot win without my fleet of _Flying Fishes_, and
if I turn that fleet against them they will not only be defeated
but annihilated. In other words, with the sole exception of my own
country, I offer England the conquest of Europe in exchange for the
hand of one woman.

"In the other alternative, that is to say, if Miss Parmenter, her
father and yourself do not consent to this proposal, I will not
allow you to save the world. I can destroy your cannon works at
Bolton as easily as I destroyed the forts at Portsmouth and Dover,
and as easily as I can and will kill you, and wreck your
observatory. When I have done this I will take possession of Miss
Parmenter by force, and then your comet can come along and destroy
the world as soon as it likes.

"I shall expect a definite answer to this letter, signed by Mr
Parmenter and yourself, within seven days. If you address your
letter to Mr James Summers, 28a Carlos Street, Sheerness, it will
reach me; but I must warn you that any attempt to discover why it
will reach me from that address will be punished by the bombardment
and destruction of the town.

"I hope you will see the reasonableness and moderation of my
conditions, and remain, yours faithfully,
"JOHN CASTELLAN."

CHAPTER XX