"

"Oh, yes, he's most friendly."

"He's in the Navy, I suppose?"

"He's retired from active service, but he is still one of the most
influential men in our Admiralty."

"Ah, yes, but I'm afraid I have but little knowledge of these things.
I am a man of peace. I hate war of every sort. I am at one with what
you English people call--Quakers. But ah, it looks like war again now."

"You mean the Servian trouble?"

"Yes. At first I thought the Austrians were going to be kind and
reasonable. But they have Germany behind them, and now, I suppose,
they've sent impossible demands to Servia. It is here in the evening
paper. It seems, too, that Russia is going to back up Servia, and that
will mean trouble."

"How?"

"I am not an authority on European politics, but I am sure that if
Russia espouses the cause of Servia, Germany will throw in her lot with
Austria. Don't you see what follows?"

"You mean that Germany would declare war on Russia too?"

"Yes, and that is not all. France, my own country, although I am an
Alsatian, is bound to be dragged in. And I am a man of peace. I hate
war."

"I am with you there," cried Bob eagerly. "War was born in hell."

"Ah, you say so, and you are a young man! That is good! But still you
need not fear. England, in spite of the _Entente Cordiale_, holds to
her policy of splendid isolation. She will not be dragged into the
turmoil?"

"No, I think that is impossible. You see we are not a military nation,
in spite of a section of the community. Our Army is small, and will, I
hope, remain small."

"Stick to that, my friend--stick to that. Big armies only breed war,
and war is a crime. But about my desire to buy Tre-Trelyon--ah, your
English names are hard to pronounce--do you, who know the owner, this
bluff John Bull, Admiral--what do you call him?"

"Admiral Tresize."

"Admiral Tresize, yes. Do you think it would be possible for me to see
him?"

"I'm quite sure it would be," replied Bob, who remembered what the
Admiral had said. "I'm dining at his house to-morrow night. I'll tell
him what you have said."

"Ah, that is kind, friendly of you; but I must not detain you longer.
Good evening."

"What a friendly old fellow," reflected Bob, as he walked away. "Yes,
I can quite imagine how one who is a Frenchman at heart would be
treated in Alsace," and then he forgot all about him.

As day followed day, disquieting news came from the Near East. It
seem