"I would rather meet them on their own ground."
"It's a big risk. If there should be an attack, we couldn't hold them."
"Thirty thousand against twenty-five would be rather long odds," Peter Gross assented, smiling.
"You're going to use the fort garrison, too, aren't you?" Carver asked quickly.
"I shall take just two people with me," Peter Gross announced.
"My God, Mr. Gross! You'll never get back!" Carver's face was tense with anxiety.
"Three people will be just as effective as twenty-six, captain," Peter Gross declared mildly. "The victory we must gain to-day is a moral victory—we must show the natives that we are not afraid."
"But they're bound to break loose. A show of military force would restrain them—"
"I think it would be more a provocation than a restraint, captain. They would see our helplessness. If I go alone they will reason that we are stronger than they think we are. Our confidence will beget uncertainty among them."
Carver had long since learned the futility of trying to dissuade his chief from a course once adopted. He merely remarked: