"Stop evading, please," she broke in. "Why are you doing this? Why don't you leave one of those Chinese here, and go with us?"
The face of Barnes twisted wryly.
"Gosh, I wish that I could!" he said almost wistfully. "Nope. Whoever stays here will have a sweet time of it. Besides, I'm good for nothing else. Those quartermasters are darned fine men, Nora; they'll see you through safe. You've got to realize that we're up against a desperate affair, and no half-way measures will serve!"
She stared into his eyes for a moment.
"Is it for the children that you're doing it?" she asked. "They aren't worth it, I tell you! Three Arab children—they aren't worth the loss of a man like you!"
"You know better, girl," he said quietly, and she shivered.
"Is it—us? Is it for her? Then, do you think she'd want to leave you? Do you think she'd want to live and know that you had died here——"
"Shut up; you'll be hysterical if you keep up this gait," interrupted Barnes. "Now, young lady, you can gamble good and hard that I don't want to stay here! Not much. If there was any way out of it, I wouldn't. I'm not hankering for a martyr's crown or any of that hero stuff, not for a minute! I'm for keeping Jim Barnes topside every time. It hurts like hell to realize that there's no other way out. But here are you girls, and the kids, and somebody has to wait here. See? It just has to be done, that's all."
"Then—then you don't believe that—we can reach the post in time?"
"Well, anything's possible," said Barnes dryly. "Sure, there's a chance! Now, I want you to get off before Ellen wakes up, see? Let her sleep as long as she will; this faint of hers is liable to go into sleep."