“I don’t care what it means.”
“I’ve got you out of this mess, but if you give Bremenhof another chance against you, you’ll have to shift for yourself. I shall be powerless to help you. I can’t tell you official secrets, but I may warn you that we are face to face with events the results of which no man can foresee. It may spell revolution and bloodshed; and to be even a suspect then will be full of hazard and peril.”
“The more reason for me to stop.”
“Bremenhof has already great power, and if a crisis comes, he will have a free hand. He hates you,—not only for what you have done to him, but for another reason. Volna Drakona is betrothed to him.”
“To that brutal bully? I can’t believe it.”
“I know what I say. If he gets half a chance at you, you’ll feel his hand. Take my advice and go.” He was very earnest.
“Not for fifty infernal Bremenhofs,” I cried passionately.
He flung the end of his cigar away and rose. “That’s your last word? It may prove a serious mistake for the girl’s sake.”
“My last word—absolutely.”
A half-quizzical smile relieved the earnestness of his look for a moment. “I believe you’ll make an awful mess of things, Bob; but it’s glorious to be young. If I can help you, I will; but——” a shrug of the shoulders and a toss of the hands finished the sentence, as he turned away to his desk.