Cecil began to talk to her about the love and
goodness of God. If he could only see her sheltered
in the Divine compassion, he could trust her to slip
from him into the unknown darkness of her future.
She listened earnestly.
"Your words are good," she said in her quaint phraseology; "and if trouble comes to me again I shall remember them. But I am very happy now."
The warmth and thankfulness of her glance sent through him a great thrill of blended joy and pain.
"You forget," he said, forcing himself to be calm, " that you are soon to leave your home and become the wife of Snoqualmie."
Wallulah raised her hand as if to ward off a blow, her features quivering with pain. She tried to reply, but for an instant the words faltered on her lips. He saw it, and a fierce delight leaped up in his heart. "She does not love him, it is I whom she cares for," he thought; and then he thrust the thought down in indignant self-reproach.
"I do not care for Snoqualmie; I once thought I did, but "
She hesitated, the quick color flushed her face; for the first time she seemed in part, though not alto gether, aware of why she had changed.
For an instant Cecil felt as if he must speak; but the consequences rose before him while the words were almost on his lips. If he spoke and won her love, Multnomah would force her into a marriage with Snoqualmie just the same; and if the iron despot were to consent and give her to Cecil, the result would be a bloody war with Snoqualmie.
"I cannot, I must not," thought Cecil. He rose
