"Well, you could scarcely expect us to hide, could you, Major Thomson?"
he remarked. "In any case, there is not one of us who is not prepared
to share what the other citizens of London have to face. The country
for the women and children, if you please. We gather, sir, that it
is chiefly through you that we are in the fortunate position of being
prepared to-night."

"It was through my action in a matter which I understand has been
subjected to a great deal of criticism," Thomson replied.

"I admit it frankly," the statesman acknowledged. "That particular
matter, the matter of your censorship of a certain letter, has been
the subject of a grave and earnest conference here between us all. We
decided to send for you. We telephoned first of all to the Chief but he
told us that you were entirely head of your department and responsible
to no one, that you had been--forgive me--a brilliant success, and that
it was his intention to interfere in no possible way with any course you
chose to take. I may say that he intimated as much to me when I went to
him, simply furious because you had removed a certain person from the
list of those whose correspondence is free from censorship."

"What can I do for you, gentlemen?" Thomson asked.

"Listen to us while we put a matter to you from a common-sense point of
view," Mr. Gordon Jones begged. "You see who we are. We are those upon
whose shoulders rests chiefly the task of ruling this country. I want to
tell you that we have come to a unanimous decision. We say nothing about
the moral or the actual guilt of Sir Alfred Anselman. How far he may
have been concerned in plotting with our country's enemies is a matter
which we may know in the future, but for the present--well, let's make a
simple matter of it--we want him left alone."

"You wish him to continue in his present high position?" Thomson said
slowly,--"a man who is convicted of having treasonable correspondence
with our enemy?"

"We wish him left alone," Mr. Gordon Jones continued earnestly, "not
for his own sake but for ours. When the time comes, later on, it may be
possible for us to deal with him. To-day, no words of mine could explain
to you his exact utility. He has a finger upon the money-markets of the
world. He has wealth, great wealth, and commands great wealth in every
city. Frankly, this man as an open enemy today could bring more harm
upon us than if any neutral Power you could name were to join the Triple
Alli