"Well, I will not tell you!" he answered--"It might frighten you! But
by all the powers of earth and heaven, we shall not traverse such
distances apart again--not if I can prevent it!"
"And can you?" I asked, half wistfully.
"I can! And I will! For I am stronger than you--and the strongest wins!
Your eyes look startled--there are glimpses of the moon in them, and
they are soft eyes--not angry ones. I have seen them full of anger,--an
anger that stabbed me to the heart!--but that was in the days gone by,
when I was weaker than you. This time the position has changed--and _I_
am master!"
"Not yet!" I said, resolutely, withdrawing my hand from his--"I yield
to nothing--not even to happiness--till I KNOW!"
A slight shadow darkened the attractiveness of his features.
"That is what the world says of God--'I will not yield till I know!'
But it is as plastic clay in His hands, all the time, and it never
knows!"
I was silent--and there was a pause in which no sound was heard but the
movement of the water under the little boat in which he stood. Then--
"Good-night!" he said.
"Good-night!" I answered, and moved by a swift impulse, I stooped and
kissed the firm hand that rested so near me, gripping the edge of the
port-hole. He looked up with a sudden light in his eyes.
"Is that a sign of grace and consolation?" he asked, smiling--"Well! I
am content! And I have waited so long that I can wait yet a little
longer."
So speaking, he let go his hold from alongside the yacht, and in
another minute had seated himself in the boat and was rowing away
across the moonlit water. I watched him as every stroke of the oars
widened the distance between us, half hoping that he might look back,
wave his hand, or even return again--but no!--his boat soon vanished
like a small black speck on the sea, and I knew myself to be left
alone. Restraining with difficulty the tears that rose to my eyes, I
shut the port-hole and drew its little curtain across it--then I sat
down to read the letter he had left with me. It ran as follows: