s a night expedition, it is a little daring, a little
valour, the risk of my life,--what is that? I could arm my country, my
brothers, against the tyrants. I could--" Rita paused, and both girls
looked at her in amazement. She had risen from the couch, and now stood
in the middle of the room; her slender form quivered with emotion; her
great eyes shone with dark fire; her voice vibrated on their ears with
new and powerful cadences.

"This girl--was alone. She needed help. With her in the house were
others, her friends, but knowing little of her heart. Their blood
flowed slowly, coldly; they were good, they were kind, but--would they
help her? Would they brave danger for her sake, for the sake of the
country that was dearer to her than life? Alone she was but one, with
their aid--

"Listen! there came one day a letter to this house by the sea; it was
for--for the person of whom I speak. Her brother was near, in a city not
far off. He had come to collect arms, he had bought them, he must find a
place to conceal them. Her dream was about to come true. She turned to
her friends, the two whom she loved! She opened her arms, she opened her
soul; she cried to them--"

"Stop!" said Margaret. She, too, had risen to her feet, and her face was
very pale. Peggy looked from one to the other in alarm. Were they going
to quarrel? Margaret's eyes were as bright as Rita's, but their light
was calm and penetrating, not flashing and glowing with passion.

"Rita," she said, "I hope--I trust I am entirely wrong in what I cannot
help thinking. I trust this is a story, and nothing else. It cannot be
anything else!" she continued, her voice gaining firmness as she went
on. "We are here in our uncle's house. He is away, he has left us in
charge, having confidence in his brothers' daughters. If--if
anything--if anybody should plan such a thing as you suggest, it would
not only be ungrateful, it would be base. I could not harbour such a
thought for an instant. Oh, I hope I wrong you! I hope it was only a
dramatic fancy. Tell me that it was, my dear, and I will beg your pardon
most humbly."

She paused for an answer, but Rita made none for the moment.

She stood silent, the very soul of passion, her eyes dilating, her lips
apart, her breast heaving with the furious words that her will would not
suffer to escape. Margaret almost thought she would spring upon her,
like the wild creature she seemed. But presently a change came over the
Cuban g