really coming."

"And what will the end be?" Hamel enquired eagerly.

Kinsley shrugged his shoulders and paused while their glasses were
filled with wine.

"It will be in the nature of a diplomatic coup," he said presently.
"Of that much I feel sure. England will be forced into such a
position that she will have no alternative left but to declare war.
That, of course, will be the end of us. With our ridiculously
small army and absolutely no sane scheme for home defence, we shall
lose all that we have worth fighting for--our colonies--without
being able to strike a blow. The thing is so ridiculously obvious.
It has been admitted time after time by every sea lord and every
commander-in-chief. We have listened to it, and that's all. Our
fleet is needed under present conditions to protect our own shores.
There isn't a single battleship which could be safely spared. Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, India, must take care of themselves.
I wonder when a nation of the world ever played fast and loose with
great possessions as we have done!"

"This is a nice sort of thing to hear almost one's first night in
England," Hamel remarked a little gloomily. "Tell me some more
about this conference. Are you sure that your information is
reliable?"

"Our information is miserably scanty," Kinsley admitted. "Curiously
enough, the man who must know most about the whole thing is an
Englishman, one of the most curious mortals in the British Empire.