e's
heart, and now at last when we have come together, to be obliged to
part! Oh, Geoffrey, to say good-bye so soon!"

"No," he said deeply. "Not that. We'll say no good-bye. We have stuck
to our posts, but where we are going there can be no tie but the one
which binds your heart to mine. We belong! Nothing can part us. Shut
your eyes, beloved! rest against me. It's the night that is coming,--a
short night, and a nightmare dream, and then, for you and me"--his voice
swelled to a note of triumphant expectation--"_the morning_!"

"Oh, I'm so happy!" cried Meriel, trembling. "Oh, I'm so happy!"

The deck shivered and reeled. From every side rose a shrilling of
voices. The great ship reared herself on end, and plunged headlong into
the deep.

So the barrier fell!

CHAPTER EIGHT.

THE MAN WHO WISHED FOR DANGER.

Val Lessing's thirtieth birthday found him strong, handsome, prosperous,
and--discontented. This is unfortunately a common combination, but Val
acknowledged to himself that if other men in like position had small
cause to grumble, he himself had less, for while they ungraciously
demanded of fate still more than they had received, his one annoyance
was that he had enjoyed so much.

He had never desired to find himself at thirty a director of a
prosperous City firm; the thing had come about through a succession of
unforeseen events. The death of his father had made it necessary that
he should take up business immediately after leaving Oxford; that was
blow number one, for he had been promised a tour round the world before
settling down to work, and in its place found himself obliged to look
forward to yearly fortnights lengthening, as a reward of merit, to a
possible three weeks.

Val hated the work, but he set himself to it with characteristic dash
and energy. He possessed a bull-dog inability to let go of any scheme
once undertaken, which marked him out sharply from the ordinary more or
less mechanical employees, and endeared him to the principals of the
firm.

The "Chief" singled him out for special service. His salary rose
steadily year by year, and on the date on which this history begins, he
had been formally presented with a proportion of shares, and advanced to
the dignity of a Director in the Company.

"And now," said the Chief in congratulation, "your foot is safely
planted on the ladder of fortune. You can count on at least fifteen
hundred a year."

Walking towards his ho