"A fine sort of a girl you'd make, and no mistake," I replied, picking up the cap and giving it to her.
In a few moments she had it in place again, pulled the cap down over it and was once more ready.
"Come on, clumsy," she called, stepping out into the night.
And in that way we started on the journey to the frontier.
CHAPTER XXIV
NESSA'S DOWNFALL
The chief event of the hours following the railway smash was histrionic rather than serious, although Nessa regarded it as both humiliating and tragic. And tragic it might easily have been.
Her courage was wonderful. Nothing could damp her spirits nor lessen her high confidence. She laughed at the idea of risks or danger, scoffed at difficulties, and made light of every obstacle as if ours was a mere holiday jaunt. An optimist to the very tips of her pretty fingers.
To be Hans, the mechanic, was just a delightfully farcical joy; she took pride in her skill in playing the part, and was so eager to show me how carefully she had studied it that I hadn't the heart to be a candid critic and point out that it was one thing to act a part for an hour or two on an amateur stage or when we were by ourselves, and quite another to keep it for days in circumstances when even a slight trip might spell grave trouble.