"Have you seen the papers this morning?" he asked suddenly.
"No!" I answered. "Is there any news?"
"Our Channel Squadron," he said, "has received a very courteous invitation to visit Kiel during its forthcoming cruise."
"They will go?" I exclaimed.
"They leave in three weeks' time."
"If they enter German waters," I said, "not one of them will ever return.
The bay will be sown with mines. It is part of the Great Plot."
"Yesterday's paper," Gilbert continued, "remarked upon the warm reception of the Prince of Normandy at the Berlin Court!"
"Ah!" I ejaculated.
"And the Daily Oracle," Gilbert went on, "had a leading article upon the huge scale of the impending German manoeuvres. Three days ago, the Kaiser made a speech declaring that the white dove of peace was, after all, more glorious than the eagle of war!"
"That settles it," I declared. "Gilbert, can you see the Prime Minister this morning?"