ory of the dead, and to Paula
herself, ever to take this extreme step. He spoke in glowing terms as he
described how, for the future, he purposed to devote his best powers to
his hapless and oppressed country, whether it were in the service of the
Khaliff or in some other way; and she eagerly entered into his schemes,
quite carried away by his noble enthusiasm, and acknowledging to
herself with silent rapture the superiority of his mind and the soaring
loftiness of his soul.

When, presently, they began talking again of the past she asked him
quite frankly, but in a low voice and without looking up, what had
become of the emerald he had taken from the Persian hanging. He turned
pale at this, looked at the ground, and hesitatingly replied that he had
sent it to Constantinople--"to have it set--set in an ornament--worthy
of her whom--whom he...."

But here he broke off, stamped angrily with his foot, and looking
straight into the girl's eyes exclaimed:

"A pack of lies, foul and unworthy lies!--I have been truthful by nature
all my life; but does it not seem as though that accursed day forced me
to some base action every time it is even mentioned? Yes, Paula; the gem
is really on its way to Byzantium. But the stolen gift was never meant
for you, but for a fair, gentle creature, in nothing blameworthy, who
gave me her heart. To me she was never anything but a pretty plaything;
still, there were moments when I believed--poor soul!--I first learnt
what love meant through you, how great and how sacred it is!--Now you
know all; this, indeed, is the truth!"

They walked on again, and Katharina, who had not been able to gather
the whole of this explanation, could plainly hear Paula's reply in warm,
glad accents:

"Yes, that is the truth, I feel. And henceforth that horrible day is
blotted out, erased from your life and mine; and whatever you tell me in
the future I shall believe."

And the listener heard the young man answer in a tremulous voice:

"And you shall never be deceived in me. Now I must leave you; and I go,
in spite of my griefs, a happy man, entitled to rejoice anew. O Paula,
what do I not owe to you! And when we next meet you will receive me,
will you not, as you did that evening on the river after my return?"

"Yes, indeed; and with even more glad confidence," replied Paula,
holding out her hand with a lovely graciousness that came from her
heart; he pressed it a moment to his lips, and then sprang on to h