unnecessary and
would simply have the effect of provoking military reprisals. If we, by
any chance in the future, were drawn into war, our navy would be at the
service of our allies. What more could any country ask than to have
assured for them the absolute control of the sea?"

"That's all very well," Norgate assented. "It might be our fair share on
paper, and yet it might not be enough. What about our navy if Antwerp,
Ostend, Dunkirk, Calais, Boulogne, and Havre were all German ports, as
they certainly would be in an unassisted conflict between the French and
the Germans?"

They were within hearing now of the music of the band. Hebblethwaite
quickened his pace a little impatiently.

"Look here," he protested, "I came down here for a holiday, I tell you
frankly that I believe in the possibility of war just as much as I
believe in the possibility of an earthquake. My own personal feeling is
that it is just as necessary to make preparations against one as the
other. There you are, my German spy, that's all I have to say to you.
Here are your friends. I must pay my respects to the Prince, and I should
like to meet your charming companion."

Anna detached herself from a little group of men at their approach, and
Norgate at once introduced his friend.

"I have only been able to induce Mr. Hebblethwaite to talk to me for the
last ten minutes," he declared, "by promising to present him to you."

"A ceremony which we will take for granted," she suggested, holding out
her fingers. "Each time I have come to London, Mr. Hebblethwaite, I have
hoped that I might have this good fortune. You interest us so much on the
Continent."

Mr. Hebblethwaite bowed and looked as though he would have liked the
interest to have been a little more personal.

"You see," Anna explained, as she stood between the two men, "both
Austria and Germany, the two countries where I spend most of my time, are
almost military ridden. Our great statesmen, or the men who stand behind
them, are all soldiers. You represent something wholly different. Your
nation is as great and as prosperous as ours, and yet you are a pacifist,
are you not, Mr. Hebblethwaite? You scorn any preparations for war. You
do not believe in it. You give back the money that we should spend in
military or naval preparations to the people, for their betterment. It is
very wonderful."

"We act according to our convictions," Mr. Hebblethwaite pronounced. "It
is our earnest hope that