



Produced by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)









                      THE SECRET OF THE LEAGUE

                      The Story of a Social War

                          By ERNEST BRAMAH


    THOMAS NELSON
    AND SONS




[Illustration: She began to unbuckle the frozen straps of his gear.]




CONTENTS.


I. IRENE

II. THE PERIOD, AND THE COMING OF WINGS

III. THE MILLION TO ONE CHANCE

IV. THE COMPACT

V. THE DOWNTRODDEN

VI. MISS LISLE TELLS A LONG POINTLESS STORY

VII. "SCHEDULE B"

VIII. TANTROY EARNS HIS WAGE

IX. SECRET HISTORY

X. THE ORDER OF ST. MARTIN OF TOURS

XI. MAN BETWEEN TWO MASTERS

XII. BY TELESCRIBE

XIII. THE EFFECT OF THE BOMB

XIV. THE LAST CHANCE AND THE COUNSEL OF EXPEDIENCE

XV. THE GREAT FIASCO

XVI. THE DARK WINTER

XVII. THE INCIDENT OF THE 13TH OF JANUARY

XVIII. THE MUSIC AND THE DANCE

XIX. THE "FINIS" MESSAGE

XX. STOBALT OF SALAVEIRA

XXI. THE BARGAIN OF FAMINE

XXII. "POOR ENGLAND"




THE SECRET OF THE LEAGUE.




CHAPTER I

IRENE


"I suppose I am old-fashioned"--there was a murmur of polite dissent
from all the ladies present, except the one addressed--"Oh, I take it as
a compliment nowadays, I assure you; but when I was a girl a young