He found Alice doing the dinner dishes. Flash was curled up by the fire. Old Jock was at the stables. Dave grabbed a drying towel and helped with the dishes. Then they sat by the cheerful fire. He spoke of his day’s work. “No luck,” he concluded. “Perhaps tomorrow. Brand and I are getting better with our planes every day. We’ll be fighters yet.” Alice smiled. “Tonight _they_ seemed very far away,” she said, after a moment. Her voice was low. “It’s the first time Cherry and I have been parted for long.” He knew who she meant and was silent. From outside came the sound of a car. It stopped. There was a hand on the latch. Mrs. Ramsey stepped into the room. A large, healthy, good-natured woman, on arriving it was her custom to shout a cheery greeting. Tonight there was nothing of that. “You’re here, David?” she said as she took his hand. “I’m glad.” She gave Dave her heavy coat, then took a place by the fire. “It’s a bit chilly outside tonight,” said Alice. “Quite.” Mrs. Ramsey’s voice seemed strange. “But still and peaceful,” Dave suggested. “As if there were no war.” After that for a full minute there was silence. When at last the mother spoke her voice was high-pitched and a little strained. “I don’t know how to say it,” she began. “I’m not good at such things. I’m always too blunt about my speech. ‘Out with it’, that’s been my motto. “You must know how I feel,” she went on after a pause, “So why all the beating around the bush? A rather terrible thing has happened. The Queen Bess has been attacked and sunk.” Dave started and stared, yet neither he nor Alice spoke a word. “It came to me by secret message,” Mrs. Ramsey went on. “The general public doesn’t know about it yet.” “And did—did—” Alice’s words stuck in her throat. “We have only the most meager details,” the mother said. “It was a sea raider that did it, not a submarine. The raider came in firing a broadside. Then it vanished into the night. “In twenty minutes the Queen Bess was gone, down by the bow. There was a sea on. Some of the lifeboats were swamped. The children were magnificent! Perfectly magnificent!” Mrs. Ramsey swallowed hard. “All of them sang ‘Roll out the Barrel’ through it all.” “Oh—o!” Alice breathed, then hid her face. “That’s all there is to tell.” Mrs. Ramsey rose. “I must get back. I practically ran away. There was a frightful raid last night. All our wards are full. We—we’ll hope for the best.” She was gone. They sat there in silence by the fire for a long time, the boy and the girl, in a troubled world. At last Dave rose to walk slowly back and forth across the well-worn floor. It was Alice who at last spoke. “Dave. She is not gone. She’s out there somewhere. You can’t kill such a spirit as Cherry’s. You just can’t.” “That’s right,” Dave agreed. “It can’t be done.” He meant just that. “Well,” he sighed, “I’ll be going back. Let me know about things. I—I’ll bring Brand tomorrow night if we can make it.”