ility, "do not try to
tell him yet; wait for a few minutes till I have gained a little
self-possession, a little command over myself; but no--that may be
to risk his life--do not wait a moment--go now, go now, only----" She
started, stumbled and fell back into a low seat under a spreading palm.
"He is coming here. Do not leave me, Mr. Abbott; step back there behind
those plants. I cannot trust myself to face him all alone."

I did as she bade me. Mr. S----, with a smile on his face--the first I
had seen there--came in and walked with a quick step and a resolved
air up to Miss Calhoun, who endeavored to rise to meet him. But she was
unable, which involuntary sign of confusion seemed to please him.

"Irene," said he, in a tone that made me start and wish I had not been
so amenable to her wishes, "I thought I saw you glide in here, and my
guests being now all arrived, I ave ventured to steal away for a moment,
just to satisfy the craving which has been torturing me for the last
hour. Irene, you are pale; you tremble like an aspen. Have I frightened
you by my words--too abrupt, perhaps, considering the reserve that has
always been between us until now. Didn't you know that I loved you? that
for the last month--ever since I have known you, indeed--I have had but
the one wish, to make you my wife?"

"Good God!" I saw the words on her lips rather than heard them. She
seemed to be illumined and overwhelmed at once. "Mr. S------," said
she, trying to be brave, trying to address him with some sort of
self-possession,

"I did not expect--I had no right to expect this honor from you. I
am not worthy--I have no right to hear such words from your lips.
Besides----" She could go no further; perhaps he did not let her.

"Not worthy--you!" There was infinite sadness in his tone. "What do you
think I am, then? It is because you are so worthy, so much better than
I am or can ever be, that I want you for my wife. I long for the
companionship of a pure mind, a pure hand----"

"Mr. S------" (she had risen, and the resolve in her face made her
beauty shine out transcendently), "I have not the pure mind, the pure
hand you ascribe to me. I have meddled with matters few women could
even conceive of. I am a member--a repentant member, to be sure--of an
organization which slights the decrees of God and places the aims of a
few selfish souls above the rights of man, and----"

He had stooped and was kissing her hand.

"You need not go on,"