On receiving this letter I was moved by compassion, for it required no stretch of imagination to picture the life of that lonely British mother and her son; and I thought very carefully over the advisability of speaking to Harburn, and consulted the proverbs: "Speech is silver, but Silence is golden--When in doubt play trumps." "Second thoughts are best--He who hesitates is lost." "Look before you leap--Delays are dangerous." They balanced so perfectly that I had recourse to Commonsense, which told me to abstain. But meeting Harburn at the Club a few days later and finding him in a genial mood, I let impulse prevail, and said: "By the way, Harburn, you remember the Holsteigs? I had a letter from poor Mrs. Holsteig the other day; she seems terrified that they'll intern her son, that particularly nice boy. Don't you think it's time you let up on these unhappy people?" The moment I reached the word Holsteig I saw I had made a mistake, and only went on because to have stopped at that would have been worse still. The hair had bristled up on his back, as it were, and he said: "Holsteig? That young pup who was off to join the German army if he could? By George, is he at large still? This Government will never learn. I'll remember him." "Harburn," I stammered, "I spoke of this in confidence. The boy is half British, and a friend of mine. I thought he was a friend of yours too." "Of mine?" he said. "No thank you. No mongrels for me. As to confidence, Cumbermere, there's no such thing in war time over what concerns the country's safety." "Good God!" I exclaimed. "You really are crazy on this subject. That boy--with his bringing-up!" He grinned. "We're taking no risks," he said, "and making no exceptions. The British army or an internment camp. I'll see that he gets the alternatives." "If you do," I said, rising, "we cease to be friends. I won't have my confidence abused." "Oh! Hang it all!" he grumbled; "sit down! We must all do our duty." "You once complained to Holsteig himself of that German peculiarity." He laughed. "I did," he said; "I remember--in the train. I've changed since then. That pup ought to be in with all the other swine-hounds. But let it go."