“That’s so,” said Fraser. “That opens some very interesting possibilities.”
He thought a while, and scratched more diagrams on the ground, developing a few applications of this method. Evans discussed and questioned and led him on. The wax was now plastic in his hands. With acute suspense he watched Fraser’s mind work. Had he made the premises suggestive enough, and would the main idea strike home? A false step now might forever block the path to success. But what was this preposterous thing he was doing? A vista opened before his mind’s eye revealing vast armies stretching in unbroken line for hundreds of miles across the continent of Europe while the whole world watched in agonized suspense, and the colossal industries of the Western Hemisphere, working feverishly, poured their great stream of food and supplies across the ocean; and there on the placid sea before him lay the great fleet, the keystone of an arch that spanned the world. And he, a gunner, was seeking to sway the mind of the chief of staff of that fleet. For a moment he felt weak and foolish in his impudence. But then again he saw the picture in a larger perspective, and all that was at stake spurred him on. The wax was indeed plastic in his hands; a leading question, a veiled hint, and he saw Fraser’s mind working toward the scheme he had outlined to Mortimer in the autumn. As the plan evolved and took shape in the rough diagrams he was scratching on the ground, Fraser’s enthusiasm grew till he was as keen as a schoolboy learning a new game. Then he brought himself back to earth and said:
“The trouble is, to get away with it, you’d have to have the enemy in just the right place, and then if the wind was wrong you’d lose most of your advantage through the wrong kind of visibility.”
“We got the enemy, or part of him, just about where we wanted him last month,” said Evans.
“In the submarine round-up,” said Fraser. “That’s so.”
“There may still be possibilities in the same general technique,” continued Evans. “As for weather, Commander Jeremy can tell us a surprising amount about what the wind and visibility are going to be like for several days ahead. Did you ever talk with him about that?”
“No,” said Fraser. “I had an idea that the weather-prophet business beyond twelve to eighteen hours was still pretty much guesswork. And, anyway, be you ever so wise you can’t control the weather.”
“No, but you can choose it,” said Evans. “You’d find it worth while to talk with Jeremy. He has really done some remarkable work, and I believe he could help you a good deal.”
Fraser thought a moment.
“But to get back to your placing battleship divisions by radio compass,” he said at last; “don’t you think it would be too complicated and uncertain to rely on in all the stress of a naval action?”