ed. "Your message just caught
me. I am dining with the worshipful tanners--turtle soup and all the rest
of it. Don't let me miss more than I can help."

Mr. Hebblethwaite walked to the door to be sure that it was closed and
came back again.

"Look here, Wyatt," he exclaimed, "what the devil have you been up to?"

Wyatt whistled softly. A light broke across his face.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"You know perfectly well what I mean," Hebblethwaite continued. "Five
weeks ago we had it all out at a Cabinet meeting. You asked Parliament to
lay down six battleships, four cruisers, thirty-five submarines, and
twelve torpedo boats. You remember what a devil of a row there was.
Eventually we compromised for half the number of battleships, two
cruisers, and the full amount of small craft."

"Well?"

"I am given to understand," Hebblethwaite said slowly, "that you have
absolutely disregarded the vote--that the whole number of battleships are
practically commenced, and the whole number of cruisers, and rather more
than the number of smaller craft."

Wyatt threw his cocked hat upon the table.

"Well, I am up against it a bit sooner than I expected," he remarked.
"Who's been peaching?"

"Never mind," Hebblethwaite replied. "I am not telling you that. You've
managed the whole thing very cleverly, and you know very well, Wyatt,
that I am on your side. I was on your side in pressing the whole of your
proposals upon the Cabinet, although honestly I think they were far
larger than necessary. However, we took a fair vote, and we compromised.
You had no more right to do what you have done--"

"I admit it, Hebblethwaite," Wyatt interrupted quickly. "Of course, if
this comes out, my resignation's ready for you, but I tell you frankly,
as man to man, I can't go on with my job, and I won't, unless I get the
ships voted that I need. We are behind our standard now. I spent
twenty-four hours making up my mind whether I should resign or take this
risk. I came to the conclusion that I should serve my country better by
taking the risk. So there you are. What are you going to do about it?"

"What the mischief can I do about it?" Hebblethwaite demanded irritably.
"You are putting me in an impossible position. Let me ask you this,
Wyatt. Is there anything at the back of your head that the man in the
street doesn't know about?"

"Yes!"

"What is it, then?"

"I have reasons to believe," Wyatt announced deliberately, "reasons
whi