That young man who has just left the room is in the pay of Germany. So is his uncle.""What, Sir Alfred Anselman?" she exclaimed. "Are you mad, Hugh?""Not in the least," he assured her. "These are bald facts.""But Sir Alfred Anselman! He has done such wonderful things for the country.
They all say that he ought to have been in the Cabinet. Hugh, you can't be serious!""I am so far serious," Thomson declared grimly, "that an hour ago we succeeded in decoding a message from Holland to Sir Alfred Anselman, advising him to leave London to-day. We are guessing what that means. We may be right and we may be wrong. We shall see. I come to beg you to leave the city for twenty-four hours. I find Granet on the same errand.""But they may have warned him--some personal friend may have done it," she insisted. "He is a man with world-wide friends and world-wide connections.""They why didn't he bring the warning straight to the Admiralty?" Thomson argued. "If he were a patriotic Englishman, do you think that any other course was open to him? It won't do, Geraldine. I know more about Captain Granet than I am going to tell you at this moment. Shall we leave that subject? Can't we do something to persuade your mother to take you a little way from town? You can collect some of your friends, if you like. You ought to take Olive, for instance. We don't want a panic, but there is no reason why you shouldn't tell any of your friends quietly."The door was suddenly opened. The Admiral put his head in.
"Sorry!" he apologised. "I thought I heard that young Granet was here.""He has been and gone, father," Geraldine told him. "You'd better see what you can do with father," she added, turning to Thomson.
"What's wrong, eh? What's wrong? What's wrong?" the Admiral demanded.
"The fact is, Sir Seymour," Thomson explained, "we've had notice--not exactly notice, but we've decoded a secret dispatch which gives us reason to believe that a Zeppelin raid will be attempted on London during the next twenty-four hours. I came round to try and induce Geraldine to have you all move away until the thing's over.""I'll be damned if I do!" the Admiral grunted. "What, sneak off and leave five or six million others who haven't had the tip, to see all the fun? Not I! If what you say is true, Thomson,--and I am going straight back to the Admiralty,--I shall find my way on to one of the air stations myself, and the women can stay at home and get ready to be useful."Geraldine passed her hand through her father's arm.
"That's the sort of people we are," she laughed, turning to Thomson. "All the same, Hugh, it was very nice of you to come," she added. "I couldn't see us scuttling away into the country, you know. I shall go round and persuade Olive to stay with me. I am expecting to return to Boulogne almost at once, to the hospital there, to bring some more wounded back. I may get a little practice here."Thomson picked up his hat.
"Well," he said quietly, "I cannot complain of your decision. After all, it is exactly what I expected."He made is adieux and departed. The Admiral sniffed as he glanced after him.
"Very good chap, Thomson," he remarked, "but he doesn't quite understand. Ibet you that fine young fellow Granet would never have suggested our running away like frightened sheep! Come along, my dear, we'll go and dine."
