Miss Archer was the daughter of an ex-colonel, which will account for her simile.
There was dead silence for a full minute after she ceased speaking, and the faces in that quiet room would have been an interesting study for a physiognomist.
Then Rose Tuttle sprang to her feet and held out her hand to her friend.
"I wonder who is 'game' now?" she cried, in a ringing voice.
Miss Archer's eyes flashed with sudden inspiration.
"Here! give me a pencil, somebody; I've broken the point off mine," she said, as she moved her chair to a table and drew a blank sheet of paper towards her.
Half a dozen were handed her, and, selecting one, she continued:
"This is going to be a voluntary surrender. I'm not going to wait to be summoned before my superior officer and 'given an opportunity.'"
She wrote rapidly for a few minutes, while her companions regarded her in curious silence.
"Hear now," she finally commanded, as she threw down her pencil, and, lifting her paper with an impressive flourish, read: