a guess that the keys were for sending messages, and the white
sheet for receiving them.

"Any news?" said the General suddenly.

The secretary did not move or answer. His hands were before him,
hidden, and he appeared entirely absorbed.

It must have been a minute before he turned round, drawing out as
he did so from before him a slip of paper like those he had
already brought in.

"This is from Rye, sir," he said shortly. "They too have lost
communication with Parliament Square. That is all, sir. I must
take this in at once."

The two passed on, still without speaking; and it was not until
they were going slowly up the long covered staircase that ran
inside the skirting wall that connected the keep with the more
modern part of the castle that Monsignor began----

"I'm very ignorant," he said. "Can you tell me the
possibilities?"

The General paused before answering.

"Well," he said, "the worst possibility is a riot, engineered by
the Socialists. If that is successful, it means a certain delay
of at least several years; and, at the worst, it means that the
Socialists will increase enormously throughout Europe. And then