“There’s no dilemma at all,” said Davies. “You said at Bensersiel that we couldn’t hurt him without hurting her. Well, all I can say is, we’ve got to. The time to cut and run, if ever, was when we sighted her dinghy. I had a baddish minute then.”
“She’s given us a clue or two after all.”
“It wasn’t our fault. To refuse to have her on board would have been to give our show away; and the very fact that she’s given us clues decides the matter. She mustn’t suffer for it.”
“What will she do?”
“Stick to her father, I suppose.”
“And what shall we do?”
“I don’t know yet; how can I know? It depends,” said Davies, slowly. “But the point is, that we have two objects, equally important—yes, equally, by Jove!—to scotch him, and save her.”
There was a pause.
“That’s rather a large order,” I observed. “Do you realise that at this very moment we have probably gained the first object? If we went home now, walked into the Admiralty and laid our facts before them, what would be the result?”
“The Admiralty!” said Davies, with ineffable scorn.