"
"Then do you agree with the--er Spanish Colonel, who goes about
saying that Spain's honour will never be safe until she has a fleet as
big as England's?"
"That's ridiculous. They couldn't possibly."
"Then what could Spain do in the circumstances?"
"Well, she--er--she could--er--protest."
"And would that be consistent with the honour of a small nation like
Spain?"
"In the circumstances," said the Colonel unwillingly, "er--yes."
"So that what it comes to is this. Honour only demands that you
should attack the other man if you are much bigger than he is. When a
man insults my wife, I look him carefully over; if he is a stone
heavier than I, then I satisfy my honour by a mild protest. But if he
only has one leg, and is three stone lighter, honour demands that I
should jump on him."
"We're talking of nations," said the Colonel gruffly, "not of men,
It's a question of prestige."
"Which would be increased by a victory over Spain?"
The Major began to get nervous.
Pages:
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148