"Do you think I would desert
you in the middle of the current and swim ashore?"
"But I will desert you. I am determined to desert you. I refuse to
cling to you, a millstone about your neck to drag you down. Ah,
Tunis, whether or not that girl makes her claim good, what you and
I had hoped for cannot be! An explanation must be made of your part
in this frightful affair. That, in itself, must separate you and
me."
"What explanation? There is no such explanation that can be made. I
glory in the fact that we are together in this, Sheila, and whatever
comes of it, we stand or fall together!"
"Ah, Tunis, you _are_ a man! I knew that before. But nothing you can
say will bend my determination. I withdraw all I said to you Sunday
and on Monday morning before you went away. I positively withdraw
all I promised you. It cannot be, Tunis. We cannot look forward to
any happiness when we began so unwisely."
"'Unwisely?' What do you mean?" demanded the captain of the
_Seamew_. "Chance threw us together. _Providence_, I tell you! I
needed you fully as much as you needed me. And surely these poor old
folks needed you, Sheila. Consider what you have been to them."
"It makes no difference in our association, Tunis," she said,
shaking her head.
Pages:
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250