make was, moreover, one that was meant for no other ears than his, and was certainly not a proper one for the public ward of the hospital. My first care, therefore, was to get him to a place where we could converse without being overheard, and so I said, "Captain, I congratulate you heartily, and I hope to have the pleasure of meeting with your lady. As you expect to have a visit from her soon, and as you will doubt less want to talk over a great number of confidential matters, don't you think that it would be better if the doctor were to move you into a private room?"
He said, "Yes; thank you for the suggestion; that is just what I would like. I wish you would tell the doctor I want to see him."
I accordingly conveyed his message with all possible despatch, and the doctor very cheerfully granted his request, and had him taken to a private chamber. A barber was then sent for, and he was shaved, and made to look as nicely as possible; and it touched me deeply to notice what pains he took to make himself presentable, in view of the expected arrival of his lady-love, whom, by the anxious manner in which he glanced at the door, he was evidently looking for every minute, and almost dreading her arrival before he was ready to receive her.
A Revelation to be Made.
So soon as we were alone together, I said gravely, "Now, captain, I have something of great importance to say to you before your sweetheart comes."
He looked at me wonderingly, evidently, impressed by my manner, and apparently half fearing that something had occurred to defeat his expectations.
I then knelt by the bedside, and taking from my pocket a picture of himself that he had sent me, and his last letter, said, "Did you ever see these before?"
He glanced at them, recognized them, and turned deadly pale. His hand trembled so that he could scarcely hold the picture and the letter, and looking at me with a scared expression, he gasped, "Yes, they are mine! Where did you get them? Has anything happened?
"No, no, captain," I exclaimed. "You must not be frightened; nothing has happened that will be displeasing to you."
