Mervin Brown admitted grudgingly.
"Nevertheless, they exist," Prince Shan continued, "and they exist for
the purpose of supplying means of offence for the expedition of which I
have spoken. There is one in Germany, one in Russia, and one in China.
The three between them have produced enough armoured airships of a new
design to conquer any country in the world."
"Armoured airships?" Mr. Mervin Brown repeated.
"Airships from which one fights on land as well as in the air," Prince
Shan explained. "On land they become moving fortresses. No shell has
ever been made which can destroy them. I should be revealing no secret
to you, because I believe I am right in saying, sir, that a model of
these amazing engines of destruction was first submitted to your
Government."
"I remember something of the sort," the Prime Minister assented. "The
inventor himself was an American, I believe."
"Precisely! I believe he told you in plain words that whoever possessed
his model might, if they chose, dominate the world."
"But who wants to dominate the world by force?" Mr. Mervin Brown
demanded passionately. "We have passed into a new era, an era of peace
and the higher fellowship. It is waste of time, labour and money to
create these horrible instruments of destruction. The League of Nations
has decreed that they shall not be built."
"Nevertheless," Prince Shan declared, with portentous gravity, "a
thousand of these engines of destruction are now ready in a certain city
of China.
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