It sounds friendly,
and I think our circumstances warrant a true friendship."
"Excellent. I suppose you know that my name is Arthur?"
"Yes, but I had no notion of that sort of exchange. You are the
captain, and a very serious sort of captain at times. I feel like a
little girl when you look at me and tell me not to be naughty. So
'Elsie' sounds all right, but I simply dare not call you 'Arthur.'
Just imagine what a sensation it would create in the saloon. I should
feel creepy all over. And hadn't we better be--"
"Elsie," said he, with a tender note in his voice which thrilled her
like a chord of exquisite music, "I want to tell you something. The
knowledge is forced on me that there is another man on this ship who
wishes to make you his wife. But I, too, love you, and I see no reason
why I should stand aside for any man on God's earth until you tell me
with your own lips that you prefer him to me."
"Oh!" gasped Elsie, and "Oh!" again, but not another word could she
utter, she who had been so voluble a moment ago. The bitter-sweet pain
of hearing this sudden avowal was almost overpowering.
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