fellow, and your friend also. If you are over here on such a mission then I hope you will, both of you, consider yourselves my guests. I've a big barn beyond the stables where I can garage your machine quite well.'
Then I told him of the trio who were on their way to the King's Head, in G.
'I shall only be too delighted to be their host,' he replied at once. 'I know Sir Herbert and Lady Lethmere well, but I don't believe I've ever met their daughter.'
Then he introduced his wife, a rather youngly-dressed woman, whose eyes were 'made-up' and the artificiality of whose cheeks were just a trifle too transparent. But artificiality seems fashionable to-day.
We duly put the machine away into the barn and later, when we sat at tea in the drawing-room, the conversation naturally turned upon Zeppelins.
Colonel Cator, for such we had found our host's name to be, held rather sceptical views regarding the power of aeroplanes to combat airships, and he waxed distinctly humorous as we sat together.
'There have been so many fables told us about aircraft,' declared the erect old man, 'that one does not really know what to believe.'
'There have been a good many improvements recently in aircraft of all sorts, so that most of the pre-war types have been already scrapped,' I said.
'Yes, yes, I know,' exclaimed our host. 'But what I object is to the fairy-tales that we've been told in the past—how we've been reassured.'
'But does the past really affect the present very much?' I queried.
