The ladies looked at him in surprise.
"But are you not going to Seoul?" asked Mrs. Pottle.
"Not yet, I'm sorry to say. I have something yet to do."
"We are not in a hurry. We could quite well wait a day or two."
"It is not a matter of days, unfortunately. It may be weeks or even months."
"You are not going back?" said Ethel, vainly endeavouring to conceal her anxiety. Bob afterwards remembered that there was a tremor in her voice.
"Yes," he said, "I am going north again. General Kuroki thinks I can be of some use to him, and afterwards—well, I have to find my friend Kobo."
"But, Mr. Fawcett, surely that is quixotic," said Mrs. Pottle. "You could not hope to find him. Indeed, poor man! if that villain Chang-Wo has captured him, his life will not be worth a moment's purchase. Think of the risk you would run: it is terrible."
"Yes, indeed," added Ethel earnestly. "Please do not go. Think of—of your friends."
"Believe me, I will run no needless risks, but I must do what I can to find my friend or learn his fate. Remember what I owe to him."