"What's he come for, then, if you told him he mustn't?" Gibson asked, less angrily.
"I don't know. But Tom, Tom, don't wait here or we shall be caught. Say Yes or No. Will you take me away?"
Gibson's answer came boldly;
"Yes!"
Later on, he added: "We will go back to England and be married at once."
"I have thirty pounds," said practical Susan. "It's in Derlingham Post-office."
"I've only got nineteen pounds seven and six," said Gibson glumly. "Mine's at Derlingham too. But what the dooce does it matter?" he burst out, snatching her to him and challenging Fate with ringing pride. "Susie girl, I've got you. You're the grandest girl God ever made. It's all a lot of rot about those letters. You're giving him up all for ... me! Susie girl, if I've to slave my head off to do it, I'll make you happy. If I don't, hell's too good for me. I'll go through water and fire. Let's be off. We'll tell Maddum all about it, and she'll tell us what to do. Where's the bag?"
They turned and stooped to find it. In a twinkling, I broke through the bush, tripped over the stones, and stood on the other side of the beck.
"No," I cried. "You sha'n't go!"
Susan screamed as if she had seen a ghost, and tumbled cowering against Gibson's broad chest. As for Gibson himself, after the first shock of astonishment, he opposed to me a fearless front.