! I will not be bound to a
piece of flesh I abhor, for the sake of a mere kingdom--not for the sake
of a world! I will not sell my manhood! I will not sacrifice myself, nor
allow the girl I love to become a burnt-offering for a mother's sin. I
will not! Do you remember away off there," and he pointed off to the
south of them, "the little shack, and the man and the woman and--the
baby? Father Paul, I want--that! And I'm going to have it, too! Do you
blame me?"

And Verdayne threw his arm around the Boy's neck, and said, "Blame you?
No, Boy, no! And may God bless and speed you!"

And the next day they started for the South.

CHAPTER XV

It was early in the morning, a few days later, when Paul Verdayne and
his young friend reached New Orleans. Immediately after breakfast--he
would have presented himself before had he dared--the Boy called at the
home of the Ledouxs. Verdayne had important letters to write, as he
informed the Boy with a significant smile, and begged to be allowed to
remain behind.

And the impatient youth, blessing him mentally for his tact, set forth
alone.

The residence that he sought was one of the most picturesque and
beautiful of the many stately old mansions of the city. It was enclosed
by a high wall that hid from the passers-by all but the most tantalizing
glimpses of a fragrant, green tropical garden, and gave an air of
exclusiveness to the habitation of this proud old family. As the Boy
passed through the heavy iron gate, and his eye gazed in appreciation
upon the tints of foliage no autumn chills had affected, and the glints
of sun and shadow that only heightened the splendor of blossom, and
shrub, and vine, which were pouring their incense upon the air, he felt
that he was indeed entering the Garden of Eden--the Garden of Eden with
no French serpents to tempt from him the woman that had been created his
helpmeet.

He found Opal, and a tall, handsome young man in clerical vestments,
sitting together upon the broad vine-shaded veranda. The girl greeted
him cordially and introduced him to the priest, Father Whitman.

At first Paul dared not trust himself to look at Opal too closely, and
he did not notice that her face grew ashen at his approach. She had
recovered her usual self-possession when he finally looked at her, and
now the only apparent sign of unusual agitation was a slight flush upon
her cheek--an excited sparkle in her eye--which might have been the
effect of many cau