"Of course it's just on the cards that I might be hanged for murder, you know," he pointed out—not believing it, but for the sake of argument. "Come now; won't you at least admit for my father's sake it's better not to take that risk?"
Lettice lifted herself, straightening her shoulders. Tray in hand, brush in the other, a domesticated sibyl, she faced him and delivered her final judgment.
"I should think Mr. Gardiner would rather have you hanged than running away!"
CHAPTER XVII A GREEN THOUGHT IN A GREEN SHADE
Enter these enchanted woods,
You who dare!
The Woods of Westermain.
Gardiner bought himself an outfit at a second-hand dealer's in one of the back streets off the Vauxhall Bridge Road. His plan was to ride as far as the next station before Southampton, leave his machine at the cloak-room there, and change his clothes in some wood before going on into the town. Once among the docks, he would slip on board some outward-bound ship, if he could find one about to sail and if he could evade the night watchman, and stow away till she was at sea. Such things are still done by gentlemen whose reasons for not signing on in public are urgent. Of course the captain might hand him over to the British consul at the end of the voyage—but he preferred not to think of that.