otel." She arose and silently followed him to the door. The men in the
office glanced at each other, completely mystified, Captain Hildebrand
as much so as any one.

For a long time the occupants of a certain carriage looked straight
before them as if bereft of the power of speech or comprehension. A
great abyss of thought confronted them; they were apparently struggling
on the edge, utterly unable to grasp a single inspiration or idea.

"She's been waiting a year, Tennys. Do you know what that means?"

"Yes, Hugh; I know too well. She has prayed and hoped and loved, and now
you are come to her. It means that she will be happy--oh, so happy!"
murmured his white-lipped companion, cold as ice.

"But I can't go to her and tell her what we know. It would kill her. I
can't go to her--it is impossible! I'd die if she looked at me,"
he groaned.

"You must go to her," she said intensely. "She will know you have been
rescued. She will thank God and wait for you to come to her. Think of
that poor girl waiting, waiting, waiting for you, filled with a joy that
we can never know. Oh, I will not have you break her heart. You shall
go to her!"

"I cannot, I tell you! I cannot tell her that I love you! That would be
worse than any cruelty I can imagine."

"You are not to tell her that you love me. I release you, Hugh. You were
hers first; you are hers now. I would kill myself rather than lake you
from her. Go to her--go to her at once. You must!" She was nervous,
half-crazed, yet true nobility shone above all like a gem of purest ray.

"Don't force me to go, Tennys," he pleaded, as she left him to go to her
room.

"Go now, Hugh--go if you love me," she said, turning her miserable face
from him.

"But what is to become of you--of me?" he protested.

"We must think only of her. Go! and bring her to see me here! I want to
tell her how happy I am that she has found you again;" and then she
was gone.

The dominant impulse was to rush after her, grasp her and carry her back
to the waves from which he had unwittingly saved her. Then the strong
influence that she had exerted over him, together with the spark of
fair-mindedness that remained, forced him to obey the dictates of honor.
He slowly, determinedly, dejectedly re-entered the carriage and started
toward the end.

CHAPTER XXXIV

_THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE_

Ridgeway had been directed to the home of Mr. Henry Coleman. He was
never able to describe his emotions as he