“Nonsense！“criedPatriciaindignantly。“Jacktookmeyesterdaytoseethework。Heshowedmealltheplansandwewentoverthegrounds。Itisamostsplendidthing，Mamma！Heislayingoutathleticgroundsforhismen，withaclubhouseandallthatsortofthing。Theyaregoingtobeperfectlysplendid！Doyoumeantosaytheywereblaminghimforthis？Whowas？“AndPatriciastoodreadyforbattle。
“Kamerad！“criedVic，holdinguphishands。“Notme！However，Jackwasexonerated，foritappearshesentthemalettertwoweeksago，tellingthemwhatheproposedtodo，towhichlettertheyhadraisednoobjection。“
“Well，whatthen？“inquiredPatricia。
“Oh，theusualthing。Theyallresolvedtostandpat——nosurrender——
or，rather，letthewholelineadvance——youknowthestuff——whenintothiswarlikeatmospherewalkedthedeputationfromtheMinisterialAssociation。ItgavetheE。D。C。aslightshock，somyDadsays。TheDoctorfiredthefirstgun。Mygovernorsaysthatitwaslikeabreathfromanotherworld。Hisfacewasenough。