"The _Euphrosyne_ was slowly dipping her flag. Richard raised his hat.
Convulsively Clarissa squeezed Rachel's hand.

"Aren't you glad to be English!" she said.

The warships drew past, casting a curious effect of discipline and
sadness upon the waters, and it was not until they were again invisible
that people spoke to each other naturally. At lunch the talk was all
of valour and death, and the magnificent qualities of British admirals.
Clarissa quoted one poet, Willoughby quoted another. Life on board a
man-of-war was splendid, so they agreed, and sailors, whenever one met
them, were quite especially nice and simple.

This being so, no one liked it when Helen remarked that it seemed to her
as wrong to keep sailors as to keep a Zoo, and that as for dying on a
battle-field, surely it was time we ceased to praise courage--"or to
write bad poetry about it," snarled Pepper.

But Helen was really wondering why Rachel, sitting silent, looked so
queer and flushed.





Chapter V


She was not able to follow up her observations, however, or to come to