livered from danger!" gravely replied
Abel Force, reverently bowing his head.

"Uncle, I wish to make a full confession to you now--to open my soul to
you, as if you were my father--as, in reality, you always have been in
care and affection."

"Go on, dear lad. You can say nothing, I am sure, that I shall not be glad
to hear."

"Well, then, Uncle Abel, I must tell you that after I had sent that
challenge to Col. Anglesea I went home to Greenbushes and passed the most
miserable night I ever spent in my whole life."

"I do not doubt it, lad."

"Heaven knows that it was not from cowardice----"

"Who ever accused, or dreamed of accusing, any Force of cowardice? We have
no experimental knowledge of the meaning of that word," said Abel Force.

"No, we have not. It was not the thought of death, then, for I could meet
death or deal death in the cause of duty. No; it was the foreshadowing of
a great remorse. It began with the feeling that I could not, dared not,
pray last night."

"Dear lad! But you can pray to-night, Le?"

"Yes; I can pray and give thanks to-night."

"And now you are my own dear son again, Le."

"Oh, Uncle Abel, if I might, indeed, be your son again! If I might be
reinstated in the position, the happiness, I once enjoyed in my relations,
present and prospective, with you and your family!"

"What do you mean, my dear Le? And yet I need not ask you, for I know."

"Odalite!" breathed the youth, in low, yet thrilling, tones.

"Ah, would to Heaven, my boy, that none had ever come between you!" sighed
Abel Force.

"But the intruder has gone now, and left no trace behind."

"Ah, would to Heaven he had left no trace behind! But a heart like
Odalite's does not easily recover from such a shock as she has
sustained."

"I know. And yet I think she is already recovering. Pride, duty, honor,
all will help her to recover. And of this I wish to speak to you, dear
sir."

"Le, you have the most forgiving soul I ever met! Why should you take any
further interest in your unhappy cousin?"

"Because I love her. And it is on this subject that I wish to speak to
you. I am under sailing orders for the Pacific Coast, and----"

"Le! you under sailing orders? Why, I thought you were going to resign
from the navy?"

"I should have resigned, if I could have married Odalite; but, as I could
not, I did not."

"But, even so, I thought you were now entitled to three years home
service?"

"So I was, but I could not