Page:The food of the gods, and how it came to earth.djvu/299



"Poison?"

"Yes. Poison. The Food--"

"Herakleophorbia?"

"Yes, Sir. Mr. Caterham, Sir--"

"You are beaten! Of course that beats you. It's Cossar I What can you hope to do now? What good is it to do anything now? You will breathe it in the dust of every street. What is there to fight for more? Rules of war, indeed! And now Caterham wants to humbug me to help him bargain. Good heavens, man! Why should I come to your exploded windbag? He has played his game ... murdered and muddled. Why should I?"

The young man stood with an air of vigilant respect.

"It is a fact, Sir," he interrupted, "that the Giants insist that they shall see you. They will have no ambassador but you. Unless you come to them, I am afraid, Sir, there will be more bloodshed."

"On _your_ side, perhaps."

"No, Sir--on both sides. The world is resolved the thing must end."

Redwood looked about the study. His eyes rested for a moment on the photograph of his boy. He turned and met the expectation of the young man. "Yes," he said at last, "I will come."

IV.
His encounter with Caterham was entirely different from his anticipation. He had seen the