carryall had made half its daily journey, Albert pointed to
a low rock and said, "There is a spot I shall always be glad to see, for
it was there Uncle Terry first found me."

Telly made no answer; in fact she had said but little since they
started, and soon the hardest part of life and living, that of
separating from those who seem near and dear to us, was drawing near.
When they reached the little landing, no one else was there. No house
was in sight of it, and the solitude was broken only by the tide that
softly caressed the barnacled piles of the wharf and the weed-covered
rocks on either side. No boat was visible adown the wide reach that
separates Southport Island from the mainland, and up it came a light sea
breeze that barely rippled the flowing tide and whispered through the
brown and scarlet leaved thicket back of them. Over all shone the hazy
sunlight of October. It is likely that a touch of regret for the
sacrifice she had made came to Telly as she stood listening and hoping
that the boat which was due would be late in coming, for a look of
sadness came over her face, and a more than usually plaintive appeal in
her expressive eyes. "I am sorry you are going," she said; "it is so
lonesome here, and it will seem more so now." Then as if that was a
confession he might think unmaidenly, she added, "I dread to have the
summer end, for when winter comes, the rocks all around seem like so
many tombstones."

He was watching her as she spoke, and the little note of sorrow in her
voice gave him a hope that she might relent at the last moment, and give
him the promise he wanted so much. He put out his hand as if that would
aid his appeal, and as his fingers closed over hers he said, "I am
going away with a heavy heart, Telly, and when I can come back is hard
to say. Will you not promise me that some time, no matter when, you will
be my own good and true wife? Let me go away with that hope to comfort
me while I work and save for a home for us both. Will you, Telly?"

But the plaintive face was turned away, perhaps to hide the tears. Then
once more an arm stole around her waist, and as he drew her close, she
whispered, "When I am no longer needed here, if you want me then I will
come to you."

She was sobbing now, but her head was resting on his shoulder, and as he
kissed her closed eyes and unresisting lips, a boat's sharp whistle
broke the sacred spell.

"Go a little way back, my darling," he whispered, "until the