Second String. Anthony Hope

      Belfield's humorous laugh was entangled in a cough. "You'll never get that obstacle out of the way of your oratory," he managed to stutter out. "They always are! Talk rules the world—eh, Wellgood?" He was maliciously provocative.

      "We wait till they've finished talking. Then we do what we want," said Wellgood. "Force rules in the end—the readiness to kill and be killed. That's the ultima ratio, the final argument."

      "The women say that's out of date."

      "The women!" exclaimed Wellgood contemptuously.

      "They'll be in the garden," Harry opined. "Shall we move, pater?"

      "We might as well," said Belfield. "Are you ready, Wellgood?"

      Wellgood was ready—in spite of his contempt.