wanted to see the C.O. of the rebel army. So the sentry
blindfolded him----"

"What on earth for?"

"In civilized war," said Power severely, "envoys with flags of truce
are invariably blindfolded. I told you at the start that our war was
properly conducted; but you wouldn't believe me. Now you can see for
yourself that it was. The sentry led that officer into the council,
which was sitting in the court house. I told you, didn't I, that the
court house was the rebel H.Q.?"

"You didn't mention it, but it doesn't matter."

"It does matter. And you'll see later on it's most important Well,
O'Farrelly was frightfully polite to the officer, and asked him what he
wanted. The officer said that he had come to demand the unconditional
surrender of the whole of the rebel army. O'Farrelly, still quite
politely, said he'd rather die than surrender, and everybody present
cheered. The officer said that the town was entirely surrounded and that
there was a gun on top of one of the hills which would shell the place
into little bits in an hour if it started firing. O'Farrelly said he
didn't believe all that and accused the officer of putting up a bluff.
The officer stuck to it that what he said was true. That brought the
negotiations to a dead-lock."

"Why the devil didn't they shell the place and have done with it,
instead of talking?"

"That's what would happen out here," said Power. "But as I keep telling
you our war was run on humane lines. After the officer and O'Farrelly
had argued for half an hour my dad dropped in on them. He's a popular
man in the place and I think everyone was glad to see him. He sized up
the position at once and suggested the only possible way out O'Farrelly,
with a proper safe conduct, of course, was to be allowed to go and see
whether the town was really surrounded, and especially whether there
was a gun on top of the hill, as the officer said. That, I think you'll
agree with me, Waterhouse, was a sensible suggestion and fair to both
sides. But they both boggled at it. The officer said he'd no power to
enter into negotiation of any kind with rebels, and that all he could
do was take yes or no to his proposal of unconditional surrender.
O'Farrelly seemed to think that he'd be shot, no matter what safe
conducts he had. It took the poor old dad nearly an hour to talk sense
into the two of them; but in the end he managed it O'Farrelly agreed to
go if the safe conduct was signed by my dad as well as the