"I couldn't help it!" said Mona. "He wouldn't go."
"What nonsense! He's gone now, I suppose?" Nan spoke irritably. The tightness of the doctor's bandages was causing her considerable pain.
"Oh, yes, he went some time ago," Mona assured her. "But he is sure to come back presently, and say good-bye."
"Say good-bye!" Nan echoed the words slowly, a dawning brightness in her eyes. "Is he—is he really going, then?" she whispered.
"He says he must go—whatever happens. It was a solemn promise, and he can't break it. I don't understand, of course, but he is wanted at Kimberley to avert some crisis connected with the mines."
"Then—he will have to start soon?" said Nan.
"Yes. But he won't leave till the last minute. He has chartered a special to take him to Plymouth."
"He knows I can't go?" said Nan quickly.
"Oh, yes; the doctor told him that last night."
"What did he say? Was he angry?"