He insists that he ought to either
have seized you and jumped overboard with you, in which case you
would both probably have been killed, as I pointed out to him, or
else stayed quietly with you by your side, in which case, as I also
pointed out to him, you would have had the satisfaction of seeing
him murdered. He could not deny that this would have been so, but
that in no way alters his opinion of his own conduct. I also ventured
to point out to him that if he had been killed, you would at this
moment be either in the power of that villainous Nana, or be with
hundreds of others in that ghastly well at Cawnpore. I also observed
to him that I, who do not regard myself as a coward, also jumped
overboard from your boat, and that Wilson, who is certainly a
plucky young fellow, and a number of others, jumped over from the
other boat; but I might as well have talked to a post."
Isobel sat for some time silent, her fingers playing nervously with
each other.
"Of course it seems foolish of him to think of it so strongly, but
I don't think it is unnatural he should feel as he does."
"May I ask why?" the Doctor said sarcastically.
"I mean, Doctor, it would be foolish of other people, but I don't
think it is foolish of him. Of course he could have done no good
staying in the boat--he would have simply thrown away his life;
and yet I think, I feel sure, that there are many men who would
have thrown away their lives in such a case.
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