"I believe he is capable of anything. But what else is to be done? You cannot obey this insolent demand!"
"I must--to save Harold!"
"Go out to Pretoria?--impossible!"
"I don't see that," she said fervently. "I can go to Delagoa Bay by some German ship--the German ships go there, don't they?--and from there I can take the train to Pretoria. It is quite simple. Then I will see Van Zwieten and trick him into letting Harold be under some one else's care for a time. Then I shall speak to the President and tell him all. I am sure he will help me, and I shall be able to take Harold away. Then Van Zwieten won't have a chance of shooting him, as he would have if a cable were sent. Leave the matter to me, father. I am a woman, and Van Zwieten is in love with me. I can blind him and trick him."
Her father looked at her in astonishment. She had evidently made up her mind to go out and get the better of the Dutchman, as she said.
"It is a mad scheme, Brenda!"
"It is the only scheme I can think of by which I can save my husband."
"But, Brenda, listen to reason. Think what a scoundrel Van Zwieten is!"
"All the more reason that I should save Harold from him."
"He might insist, as a condition of you husband's safety, that you and he be divorced. These things can be arranged, you know. And then he would marry you himself. He is capable of making the most impossible demands."