someone is coming again when darkness falls, and there will be
another message.'

He had turned his head away. 'You are talking nonsense. No
submarine could land on this coast.'

I could see that he was trying me.
'This morning,' I said, 'I swam in the deep-water inlet below us.
It is the most perfect submarine shelter in Britain.'

He still kept his face from me, looking the way he had come. For
a moment he was silent, and then he spoke in the bitter, drawling
voice which had annoyed me at Fosse Manor.

'How do you reconcile this business with your principles, Mr
Brand? You were always a patriot, I remember, though you didn't
see eye to eye with the Government.'

It was not quite what I expected and I was unready. I stammered
in my reply. 'It's because I am a patriot that I want peace. I think
that ... I mean ...'

'Therefore you are willing to help the enemy to win?'

'They have already won. I want that recognized and the end
hurried on.' I was getting my mind clearer and continued fluently.
'The longer the war lasts, the worse this country is ruined. We
must make the people realize the truth, and -'

But he swung round suddenly, his eyes blazing.