"I continue, then. We are making enough to lay by something for our old age. And that's the only goal which never loses its luster. But this affair!"
"Talk, talk," said Mrs. Chedsoye impatiently.
"My dear Kate, allow me to relieve my mind."
"You have done so till the topic is threadbare. It is rather late in the day to go over the ground again. Time is everything just now."
"Admitted. But this affair, Kate, is big; big with dangers, big with pitfalls; there is a hidden menace in every step of it. Mayhap death; who knows? The older I grow, the more I cling to material comforts, to enterprises of small dangers. However, as you infer, there's no going back now."
"No," assented Ryanne, his mouth hard; "not if I have to proceed alone."
She smiled at him. "You talk of danger," speaking to the Major. "What danger can there be?"
"The unforeseen danger, the danger of which we know nothing, and therefore are unable to prepare for it. You do not see it, my dear, but it is there, nevertheless."
Wallace nodded approvingly. Ryanne shrugged.
"Failure is practically impossible. And I want excitement; I crave it as you men crave your tobacco."