'Sir,' Merrill began, addressing him apologetically, 'my friend here, Mr. Ambrose Lavendale, who was in the American Embassy for some time, has brought Mr. Daniel Hurn of Chicago to have a word with you.' The General dropped his eyeglass and sighed. 'An invention?' he asked patiently. 'Something of the sort,' Mr. Hurn admitted briskly. 'Do I understand that you are a General in the British Army?' 'I am, sir,' General Bembridge admitted. 'Very well, then,' Mr. Hurn proceeded, 'I am here to tell you this--I can end your war. When you're through with smiling at me, you'll probably say 'Prove it.' I will prove it. There's a row of taxicabs down below. Take me outside this city of yours to where there's a garden and a field beyond. Afterwards we'll talk business. You'll want to, right enough. It'll take about an hour of your time--and I can end the war!' There was a moment's silence. The two clerks who had been writing at the table, had turned around. General Bembridge was looking a little curiously at his unusual visitor. 'Mr. Hurn,' he said, 'I will be frank with you. The average number of visitors who present themselves here during the day with devices which will end the war, is twenty. To-day that average has been exceeded. I have already spoken to twenty-four. You make, you see, the twenty-fifth. If we were to go out in taxicabs and watch experiments with every one of them----' 'Pshaw! I'm not one of those cranks,' Mr. Hurn interrupted. 'Read this.' He handed a half sheet of notepaper across to the General, who adjusted his eyeglass and read. The heading at the top of the notepaper was '_The Chicago School of Chemical Research_' and its contents were brief: '_Mr. Daniel H. Hurn is a distinguished member of this society. We recommend the attention of the British War Office to any suggestion he may make._' 'Here's another,' Mr. Hurn went on. 'This is from the greatest firm of steel producers in the world--kind of personal.' General Bembridge glanced at the historic name which recommended Mr. Hurn to the consideration of the Government. Then he sighed. 'I am going to-morrow morning at ten o'clock,' he said, 'to inspect a battery at Hatton Park, three miles from Hatfield, on the road to Baldock. You can meet me at the lodge gate at a quarter to ten and I will give you a quarter of an hour.' 'This afternoon would have been better,' Mr. Hurn observed, buttoning up the letters in his coat, 'but to-morrow morning it shall be.' The General waved them away. Merrill glanced curiously at the American as the three men walked down the corridor. 'Those letters did the trick,' he remarked. 'Forgive me if I hurry, Lavendale. Don't let your friend be a minute late to-morrow morning or he'll lose his chance.'