He shook his head at her. "Oh, no, you don't!" he said kindly. "But I see plainly that you're a self-willed young person. Association with me, and the study of my poise, will do a lot for you. By the way, you have only thirty seconds left."
"Do you want to be killed?"
She hissed the words at him.
"Good gracious, no!" Laurie spoke absently, his eyes on the watch. "Twenty seconds," he ended.
"Do you want to be maimed or crippled, or—or kidnapped?"
He looked up in surprise.
"I don't know why you imagine I have such lurid tastes," he said, discontentedly. "Of course I don't want any of those things. My nature is a quiet one, and already I'm dreading the excitement of taking you to the station. But now I must ask you to put on your gloves and button up your coat for our little journey."
"The journey you make with me," she said, with deep meaning, "may be a long and hard one."
He stood up.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he told her. "But we'll have to postpone it. Our journey to the station comes first."