"I came away just at the crisis," she said. "I thought you would tell _me_!" "_I_ came away too," said Peter. "It doesn't matter, of course; but still I should have rather liked to know whether she meant it or not." "How can you speak of it so heartlessly, Peter? She may have been trying to frighten you; she is just the kind of girl who would. But she may have been in earnest, after all!" "You see, Sophia," said Peter, "it doesn't matter whether she was or not--it isn't as if it had ever really happened." "Not really happened? But I was _there_; I heard, I saw it--nothing could be more real!" "At any rate," he said, "it only happens when I use those cheques; and she can't possibly carry out her rash intention until I draw another--which I promise you faithfully I will never do. If you doubt me, I will burn the book now before your eyes!" With these words he went to the drawer and took out the cheque-book. "No," said Sophia, "you must not do that, Peter. There is much about this Time Bank that I don't pretend to understand, that I cannot account for by any known natural law; but I may not disbelieve my own eyes and ears! These events that have happened in the extra time you chose to defer till now are just as real as any other events. You _have_ made this girl's acquaintance; you have--I don't say through any fault of your own, but still you _have_--caused her to transfer her affections from the man she was engaged to, and, being a creature of ill-regulated mind and no strength of character, she has resolved to put an end to her life rather than meet his just indignation. She is now on the very point of accomplishing this folly. Well, badly as she has behaved, you cannot possibly leave the wretched girl there! You must go back at once, restrain her by main force, and not leave her until you have argued her into a rational frame of mind." Peter was by no means anxious to go back at first. "It's not at all necessary," he said; "and besides, I don't know if you're aware of it, but with the way these cheques are worked, it's ten chances to one against my hitting off the right fifteen minutes! Still," he added, with an afterthought, "I can _try_, of course, if you insist upon it. I can take my chance with another fifteen minutes, but that must be the last. I am sick and tired of this _Boomerang_ business, I am indeed!" Shameful as it is to state, he had altered his mind from a sudden recollection that he would not mind seeing Miss Tyrrell for just once more. He had not drawn her for several weeks. "No," said Sophia, thoughtfully; "I see your objection--fifteen minutes is not enough, unless you could be sure of getting the successors to the last. But I have an idea, Peter,--if you draw out the whole balance of your time, you can't possibly help getting the right fifteen minutes somewhere or other. I think that's logical?"