Powart himself carried a copy of the manifesto to Mona. He found her
superintending the work of her gardeners. She did suggest going into
the house, but offered him a seat on the grass beside her. He stood
instead.
"It seems to be the only thing to do," commented the surgeon, after
reading the document in silence. She had not the remotest idea, of
course, that the whole thing was based upon pure fraud. "Are you
sure that this bombardment will not cost a good many lives?"
"I doubt if there will be any loss at all," he replied. "It is my
intention to communicate with Alma just before the first shot is
fired, and warn them what to expect; so that they can keep away from
the spot we shall aim at, and get supplies ready for repairing the
break."
"I see. Your plan is to keep them so busy mending breaks that they
will lose all interest in their proposed invasion." She laughed a
little. "Really, it is a rather comical sort of warfare. But you
certainly deserve a great deal of credit for finding such a humane
way out of the difficulty.
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