"I suppose you think I'm mad?" he said patiently, with the patience of physical weariness. McCloud did not look at him.
"It was a mad thing to do, Hal, my boy."
"You won't understand it, John; you couldn't."
"I thought it was agreed that you were to wait until I could determine whether the Government would let me adopt her; make her my ward, my child."
"It would have been too late. She sent me word: 'Will you come for me or must I kill myself?'"
"A momentary desperation is very far from the accomplishment of such an act in a young and healthy child."
"I couldn't let it happen. I couldn't take the risk. And the thought of those claws of Appah's. Well, I couldn't see straight. I couldn't leave her to a fate like that! I couldn't!"
"You want her for yourself," said the elder man with the nearest approach to sarcasm of which he was capable.
"I don't deny it. I'm mad with love for her. That's the truth."
"You took her away by force. They'll take her back by force. It's a bad business, Hal, my boy. There is only one way you can keep her now."