"I think I agree with you," said Admiral Heyworth as he left the room.
"Well, Grayne, what do you think of our friend, John Dene?" inquired Sir Bridgman as he lighted a cigarette.
"He's rather abrupt," said Sir Lyster hesitatingly, "but I think he's a sterling character."
"You're right," said Sir Bridgman heartily. "I wish we had a dozen John Denes in the Service. When the colonies do produce a man they do the thing in style, and Canada has made no mistake about John Dene. He's going nearer to win the war than any other man in the Empire."
"Ah! your incurable enthusiasm," smiled Sir Lyster.
"What I like about him," remarked Sir Bridgman, "is that he never waits to be contradicted."
"He certainly does seem to take everything for granted," said Sir Lyster, with a note of complaint in his voice.
"The man who has all the cards generally does," said Sir Bridgman drily. "Dene will always get there, because he has no axe to grind, and the only thing he respects is brains. That is why he snubs us all so unmercifully," he added with the laugh that always made Sir Lyster wish he wouldn't.
"Now I want to consult you about a rather embarrassing question that's on the paper for Friday," said Sir Lyster.
Unconscious that he was forming the subject of discussion with the heads of the Admiralty, John Dene, on leaving the First Lord's room, turned to the right and walked quickly in the direction of the main staircase. As he reached a point where the corridor was intersected by another running at right angles, the sudden opening of a door on his left caused him to turn his head quickly. A moment later there was a feminine cry and a sound of broken crockery, and John Dene found himself gazing down at a broken teapot.