Page:Clement Fezandié - Through the Earth.djvu/112

92 child to prefer my life to the pleasure of falling down a bottomless pit."

"I'd be willing to go, if father would let me," said Flora Curtis, who had been closely following the conversation, and who now broke in with the above startling words.

Both gentlemen turned and looked at her with astonishment. Was it possible that this young girl was willing to risk a danger that so many older persons were afraid to face? But there was no mistake about the seriousness of her proposition, for her manner was most earnest; and her father hastened to nip her project in the bud.

"Never in the world would I consent to have you go, Flora," he declared emphatically. "You may well suppose that under no circumstances could I allow you to face any danger which I myself was unwilling to meet."

Dr. Giles heartily seconded his friend. "You are a brave girl, Flora," he said, "but I could not think of letting you take this trip, as emergencies may arise which a man will be more fit to cope with than a woman, especially a young lady like yourself. I am, of course, sorry to be obliged to submit to the humiliating necessity of sending the car through without any passengers, but there seems no alternative. I regret this all the more child to prefer my life to the pleasure of falling down a bottomless pit."

"I'd be willing to go, if father would let me," said Flora Curtis, who had been closely following the conversation, and who now broke in with the above startling words.

Both gentlemen turned and looked at her with astonishment. Was it possible that this young girl was willing to risk a danger that so many older persons were afraid to face? But there was no mistake about the seriousness of her proposition, for her manner was most earnest; and her father hastened to nip her project in the bud.

"Never in the world would I consent to have you go, Flora," he declared emphatically. "You may well suppose that under no circumstances could I allow you to face any danger which I myself was unwilling to meet."

Dr. Giles heartily seconded his friend. "You are a brave girl, Flora," he said, "but I could not think of letting you take this trip, as emergencies may arise which a man will be more fit to cope with than a woman, especially a young lady like yourself. I am, of course, sorry to be obliged to submit to the humiliating necessity of sending the car through without any passengers, but there seems no alternative. I regret this all the more