"If you please, sir, the galleys on the river—"
"Yes?" asked the worried colonel.
"They've got to be sunk."
"We have no bombs," the colonel answered. "We're just a toy army here, in the middle of the continent."
"No bombs!" The lieutenant was nonplussed for a moment, and hung his head in study. "Will you leave it to me, sir? Somehow—"
"Good fellow. Thank you," said the colonel, very much relieved. "Your orders are, then, to sink the galleys."
"Come!" The lieutenant said to John.
"Me?" gasped John.
"Don't you want to?" the lieutenant asked. "Men are scarce. I need help. You're the closest. And you've got a level head."
"Just give me a chance," John said eagerly.