"Is that a Home for strayed cowards?" she cried, springing up and stamping her foot, her eyes flashing indignantly.
"No, it's the best meeting place for us and a safe refuge for quixotic girls."
"They're welcome to it, then. I shan't disturb them. If you wish to make me hate you, you'll persist in all this."
"I'd rather have you hate me than that you should stop here."
"Because I mean it; every syllable of it, Nessa, on my honour."
This appeared to make some impression. She winced and paled slightly. "I've never been thought a coward before," she said after a pause, but without so much of the former snap.
"What I do think is that if what you talk of doing is cowardice, I'd rather be thought a coward than anything else."
"That means that you approve of it then?"
"On the contrary. Don't let us get at cross purposes. I must be off to this job. The thing is this. If I'm alone here, I can get through everything without risk; and I can't if you stop. It's splendid of you to wish to stick it with me; but it'll be fatal to me; fatal to both of us, indeed."
I lost patience then. "There isn't time to go over it all again, Nessa. But if you persist in this, there's no use in continuing a useless struggle to get away. I've made the arrangement; and if you won't leave, I shall go straight from here to the police, tell them I'm Lassen, and leave them to do what they will."
"You wouldn't be so mad! You're only saying it to force me to give in," she exclaimed, firing again.
"Call it what you like; but I shall do it. Keep that in mind when the time comes for you to decide;" and without waiting to give her time to reply I left her. It went against the grain to have to use such a threat, knowing that her motive was nothing but a chivalrous regard for me; but persuasion had failed, and matters were too serious to be over nice in the choice of means to convince her.
There wasn't much wrong with the bus. Vandervelt, a very decent fellow, was a good pilot, it seemed, but not much use as a mechanic. A couple of hours or so sufficed for the job; but as I hoped that Nessa would be his passenger, I went most carefully over every part and made tests until I was satisfied. This occupied a considerable time, so that I had not finished until late in the afternoon.