, while I am
at sea, doing my duty there and waiting for the time when we may, please
Heaven, be united in a dearer, closer love----"

"But, Le!" she broke out, impulsively; "I love you--I love you--I have
never ceased to love you, Le!" And then she would have given words to have
recalled the hasty, if true, words.

But they were spoken, and every tone of her voice, every glance of her
eyes, every play of her features gave such unquestionable evidence of
their truth that she never could have repudiated them.

"Then, oh, my dearest one! why were you ever beguiled into consenting to
marry that man--into thinking that you could possibly live with that
man?"

"Oh, Le, I was never for a moment beguiled! I never for one moment
imagined that I could live with him. I knew I could not do so. I knew I
should die under the upas tree of his hateful presence! I knew that it was
my life I laid down to save others whom I did love!"

"Odalite!" he exclaimed, amazed and overwhelmed by her passion.

"Le! Oh, Le! I have told you more than I meant ever to have told any one!
The truth burst from my heart unawares. Forget what I have said, Le! Oh,
forget it!"

"Never, never, never can I forget these words, dear Odalite! Those words
that have revealed to me a glimpse of a soul braver, nobler, more
self-immolating than I ever believed could live in the form of mortal man,
not to say in that of a fragile girl," said the young man, fervently,
earnestly.

"Oh, dear Le, such overpraise humbles me! Let it pass! But, oh, my dear,
as you unwittingly surprised my confidence, so respect it. Whisper it to
no human being--no, not even to yourself in your moments of deepest
solitude!" she pleaded.

"I will not, my best beloved, my only love! I will not; but I will hide it
in my heart as my secret, sacred treasure, to comfort me, to strengthen
me, to elevate me in all places and circumstances of my life--in the long,
long sea voyages, in the midnight watches on the deck, it shall be my
hope, my solace and my consolation. Always with me, until I return to
claim the greater, higher, better treasure that it promises!" exclaimed
Le, with enthusiasm.

"Oh, Le, you have twice spoken of the sea! But you will never go to sea
again! You have resigned from the navy," she said, anxiously looking in
his face for a confirmation of her words.

"No, dear," he answered, very gently. "I have not resigned. I wish now
that I had done so, but it is too late."