For Love of Country | Page 4

at her perversity, and for the first time in his
life felt an intense sympathy with devilled crabs; but he continued his
labor in silence and with great dignity.
"What am I to infer from your silence on this important subject, sir?
The subject of edibles, which everybody says is of the first
importance--to men--does not appear to interest you at all!"
He made no further reply.
The young girl gazed at his pale face at first in much amusement; but
the laughter gradually died away, and finally her glance fell to the
water by her side. A few strong strokes, strong enough, in spite of a
wounded shoulder, to indicate wrathful purpose and sudden
determination to the astute maiden, and the little boat swung in beside
the wharf. Throwing the oars inboard with easy skill, Seymour sat
motionless while the boat glided swiftly down toward the landing-steps,

and the silence was broken only by the soft, delicious lip, lip, lip of the
water, which seemed to cling to and caress the bow of the skiff until it
finally came to rest. The man waited until the girl looked up at him.
She saw in his resolute mien the outward and visible sign of his inward
determination, and she realized that the game so bravely and piquantly
played since she met him was lost. They had nearly arrived at the
foregone conclusion.
"Well, Mr. Seymour," she said finally, "we are here at last; for what are
you waiting?"
"Waiting for you."
"For me?"
"Ay, only for you."
"I--I--do not understand you."
"You understand nothing apparently, but I will explain." He stepped
out on the landing-stage, and after taking a turn or two with the painter
to secure the boat, he turned toward his captive with a ceremonious
bow.
"Permit me to help you ashore."
"Oh, thank you, Lieutenant Seymour; if I only could, in this little boat,
I would courtesy in return for that effort," she answered with tremulous
and transparent bravery. But when the little palm met his own brown
one, it seemed to steal away some of the bitterness of the moment.
After he had assisted her upon the shore and up the steps into the
boathouse, he held her hand tight within his own, and with that
promptitude which characterized him he made the plunge.
"Oh, Miss Wilton--Katharine--it is true I have known you only a little
while, but all that time--ever since I saw you, in fact, and even before,
when your father showed me your picture--I have loved you. Nay, hear
me out." There was an unusual sternness in his voice. My lord appeared

to be in the imperative mood,--something to which she had not been
accustomed. He meant to be heard, and with beating heart perforce she
listened. "Quiet that spirit of mockery but a moment, and attend my
words, I pray you. No, I will not release you until I have spoken. These
are troublous times. I may leave at any moment--must leave when my
orders come, and I expect them every day, and before I go I must tell
you this."
Her downcast eyes could still see him blush and then pale a little under
the sunburn and windburn of his face, as he went on speaking.
"I have no one; never had I a sister, I can remember no mother; believe
me, I entreat you, when I tell you that to no woman have I ever said
what I have just said to you. We sailors think and speak and act quickly,
it is a part of our profession; but if I should wait for years I should think
no differently and act in no other way. I love you! Oh, Katharine, I love
you as my soul."
There was a note of passion in his voice which thrilled her heart with
ecstasy; the others had not made love this way.
"You seem to me like that star I have often watched in the long hours
of the night, which has shown me the way on many a trackless sea. I
know I am as far beneath you as I am beneath that star. But though the
distance is great, my love can bridge it, if you will let me try.
Katharine--won't you answer me, Katharine? Is there nothing you can
say to me? 'Dost thou love me, Kate?'" he quoted softly, taking her
other hand. How very fair, but how very far away she looked! The
color came and went in her cheek. He could see her breast rise and fall
under the mad beating of a heart which had escaped her control, though
hitherto she had found no difficulty in keeping it well in hand. There
was a novelty, a difference, in the situation this time, a new and
unexpected element