"Well, I calculate you've got to believe a lady of title," concluded the young American between two spoonfuls of soup. "If you can't rely upon your old aristocracy to tell the truth in this country, who can you rely on?"
"Better ask the Honourable Jim!" laughed Miss Vi Vassity. "And now tell us who's the lady."
"Another acquaintance of yours, Miss Vassity," announced Mr. Jessop, giving the title with an air. "Lady Haye-Golightly!"
Another little buzz of comment greeted the name of the lady whom I had always called "the cobra-woman."
And then Mr. Jessop turned from this surprising theme to something that seemed nearer still to his heart. "Well, and, Cousin Nellie, here's a bit of good news. I guess that bomb-dropper of mine is a cinch. Your authorities over here are taking it up all right. They're going to use it all right!"
"Oh, are they, Hiram?" said my young mistress in the indulgent tone of a grown-up person discussing its toys with some child. She always adopts this tone towards her cousin's invention. "And what do they think they're goin' to use it for, eh?"
The young American looked round the table at each of the faces turned towards him.
Then, in a detached tone, he made the announcement of that which was to make all the difference in the world to all of us.
"I guess they'll use it--in this coming war!"
Well, of course we'd seen "rumours of wars" in the day-old papers that had reached us in our wet Welsh valley. But a houseful of women recks little of newspaper news--or did reck little. It all seemed as far away, as little to do with us as, say, the report of some railway accident in Northern China!
Now the young inventor's simple words brought it home to us!
WAR--European war was at our very doors, and it seemed more than likely that England was going to join in, Mr. Jessop said.
He went on, quite quietly, to inform us that it would find him ready, he guessed. He'd sent in his application early to the Royal Flying Corps, and he guessed that next time we saw him he'd be an Army aviator all right, in training for using his own bomb-dropper----
Here his young cousin dropped her soup-spoon with a clatter.
"What?" cried Miss Million sharply. "You? If there is any war, shall you start fighting the Germans?"