"I must show you the whole of that letter," he cried, "and the others
which are tied up in the same bundle. You will see me blush, I admit,
but it will not be from a sense of perfidy. But there is one thing you
have forgotten, Elsie--" and his voice dropped to a tense whisper
again--"In telling me your secret, which is no secret, you have given
me my answer. Your heart must have crept out a little way to meet
mine, dear, or my sister's words would not have perplexed you. So that
is why you have avoided me during the past few days! But there! Now,
indeed, I am not acting quite fairly. It is unfair to ask you to
confess when I want you to wait until we win clear of our present
difficulties before you decide whether or not you can find it to your
liking to make a poor sailor-man happy."
Joey was a highly accommodating dog under certain conditions. He had
curled up so complacently that Elsie found she could hold him quite
easily with one arm. So the other went out in the darkness until it
rested timidly on her lover's disengaged shoulder.
"It is easy to confess that which is already known," she murmured.
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