"I don't care about myself."
"Then care for me. Do it for my sake."
"How would my stopping hurt you?"
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.
The arrangement was that Vandervelt should start about sunset, as that would give him time to reach his landing place before dark. He agreed readily to get Nessa to the nearest station and to see her safely off for Rotterdam. If all went well, she ought to reach there somewhere about noon the following day.
He said nothing about the passage money for Nessa, and I avoided the subject. So long as Nessa got away, it was nothing to me whether old Glocken swindled his companion or not. They could settle their own differences; and it would have been the act of a fool to set them by the ears at such a moment.
All I saw of the farmer tended to confirm the Irish-woman's estimate of him. He had blackmailed me in the matter of the payment for Nessa, and I had very little doubt that, having scooped in a thousand marks for her, he would start another attempt with me on the same lines.