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I was smiling now, which only added to his distress.

“My dear young lady,” he cried, “keep your courage for some wiser, finer cause. Britain needs you.... Seriously, you are not going, are you?—And the war!”

“I shall nurse the British soldiers, or else return——”

“You speak of the Turks as if you trusted them. Is this wise?”

“Indeed, yes. I know them. The only way to treat a Turk is to trust him. He has never yet let me down. Why should he now? Even at this crisis you will find there is no other way but trust with the Moslem.”

Of course he was not convinced.

“Charming theories, but dangerous in practice; above all, dangerous for you. Go home. You can see your friends again when things are more settled. Don’t think I don’t admire your pluck; I do. In all my experience I never met a woman ready for greater risk; but we value you too much to let you go.”

It was a wearisome line of attack. I could so much more easily have dealt with violence from a would-be dictator. I tried again, hoping to silence a busy man.