Well, he could reason her out of most of this, he felt. Certainly he could reassure her about Elliott, who did inspire one with confidence, who did seem, anyhow outwardly, a very fitting mate for Anna-Felicitas. But he was aghast at the agony on her face. All that he guessed she was thinking and feeling didn't justify it. It was unreasonable to suffer so violently on account of what was, after all, a natural happening. But however unreasonable it was, she was suffering. He took her by the arm. "You come right along with me," he said; and led her out of the yard, away from Li Koo and the kitchen window, towards the eucalyptus grove behind the house. "You come right along with me," he repeated, holding her firmly for she was very wobbly on her feet, "and we'll tell each other all about the things we're not minding. Do you remember when the _St. Luke_ left Liverpool? You thought I thought you were minding things then, and were very angry with me. We've made friends since, haven't we, and we aren't going to mind anything ever again except each other." But he hardly knew what he was saying, so great was his concern and distress. Anna-Rose went blindly. She stumbled along, helped by him, clutching the cat. She couldn't see out of her swollen eyes. Her foot caught in a root, and the cat, who had for some minutes past been thoroughly uneasy, became panic-stricken and struggled out of her arms, and fled into the wood. She tried to stop it, but it would go. For some reason this broke down her self-control. The warm cat clutched to her breast had at least been something living to hold on to. Now the very cat had gone. Her pride collapsed, and she tumbled against Mr. Twist's arm and just sobbed. If ever a man felt like a mother it was Mr. Twist at that moment. He promptly sat her down on the grass. "There now--there, there now," he said, whipping out his handkerchief and anxiously mopping up her face. "This is what I did on the _St. Luke_--do you remember?--there now--that time you told me about your mother--it looks like being my permanent job--there, there now--don't now--you'll have no little eyes left soon if you go on like this--" "Oh but--oh but--Co-Columbus--" "Yes, yes I know all about Columbus. Don't you worry about her. She's all right. She's all right in the office at this moment, and we're all right out here if only you knew it, if only you wouldn't cry such quantities. It beats me where it all comes from, and you so little--there, there now--" "Oh but--oh but Columbus--" "Yes, yes, I know--you're worrying yourself sick because you think you're responsible for her to your aunt and uncle, but you won't be, you know, once she's married--there, there now--" "Oh but--oh but--"