rning kiss upon
them.

"Be my wife, then, dearest Louise," cried the Captain, "and I will
prolong your happiness until death shall strike me down!"

"Ah! Albert, men are so fickle; they become infatuated with women and
declare and, no doubt think, they could pass their lives at their
charmers' feet; but possession dulls the lustre of the brightest jewel,
and the devoted lover is speedily replaced by a careless, if not
faithless husband, who, instead of making his wife happy as he has sworn
to do, forsakes her side to bask in the smiles of sirens."

"It will never be so with me, my own, my love!" protested Joliette,
kissing her again and again. "I swear it."

"I know the value of a lover's oath, Albert," murmured Louise, with a
meaning look. "When I was the brightest operatic star of the day many of
them were breathed in my ear, but they were 'trifles light as air,'
forgotten as soon as uttered. Besides, should I consent to become your
wife, you would be forced to leave me in France and return to Africa in
obedience to the call of duty; the lovely women of Algeria are prodigal
of their beauties and endearments, and under the spell of some subtle
Arab enchantress you would either forget poor Louise d'Armilly
altogether, or remember her only as a clog upon your pleasures and
amorous delights."

"Nay, nay, you wrong me; among all the dusky sirens of Algeria there
exists not one who could make me forget you for a single instant; they
are brazen, shameless women, who love with a recklessness and boldness
that can only disgust a Frenchman."

"But they can dazzle even a Frenchman, render him delirious with passion
and, ere he is aware, weave a web around him through which he cannot
break. My heart tells me you are as susceptible to feminine wiles as the
rest of your countrymen, and that, perhaps, you have already had
half-a-dozen love-affairs in Algeria."

"Oh! Louise, Louise, it grieves me to the soul that you can thus doubt
me. Give me a chance to prove my love and you shall be more than
satisfied that I can be loyal and true."

Mlle. d'Armilly gazed at him with a singular expression on her dark
beautiful countenance; it thrilled him to the very marrow of his bones,
and caused his arm that was about her waist to tremble violently; at
that moment the former cantatrice resembled Eugenie Danglars more than
ever; her breath, was hot and convulsive as it struck his cheek, and a
faint suspicion that all was not right--tha