"You've hit the nail on the head, Edith," he declared approvingly.
"England could never have been beaten except by her own sons. And
England's navy has always ruled the seas."
"How about Dewey wiping out the Spanish fleet at Manila?" demanded
Roger still huffily.
"That reminds me," said Win coolly. "I believe it was an English admiral who backed Dewey up at Manila when the Germans tried to butt in. After that battle somebody wrote a poem about it and wrote the truth, too. This is what he said:
"'Ye may trade by land, ye may fight by land,
Ye may hold the land in fee;
But go not down to the sea in ships
To battle with the free;
For England and America
Will keep and hold the sea!'"
As Win concluded, Edith's high color lessened and Roger looked less pugnacious. Presently, each stole a sly glance at the other, both were caught in the act and simultaneously laughed. So the party reached the Manor without disruption by the way.
Constance, with a soft green sweater over her frock, came to meet them.
"All ready for the fray? Leave your hats in the hall. You will need your woollies for we are going where sunlight never comes. There's good store of candles and two lanterns. Anything else needed, Win?"
"A hammer perhaps," suggested Win. "We may want to sound walls."
"A hammer there shall be," and Constance rang the bell to order it. "Dad says he will come down if we make any startling discovery, but being an elderly person, he's a bit shy of damp."
Provided with lights and the hammer, the gay party started, filing through a kitchen so fascinating with its red-bricked floor and shining copper cooking utensils that Fran found it hard to pass. Several maids and a jolly cook smiled on them as they vanished down the cellar stairs.