“To Captain Gordon, U. S. L. San Francisco, San Diego, Cal.
“(Due at and hold.)
“Proceed to San Francisco at once. Make no delays.
C. Scofield,
“Secretary of Navy.”
With a beating heart and a quivering lip, the girl handed it back.
“And you will obey this order?” she slowly asked.
“It is imperative,” he replied.
Almost out of the harbor, almost away from the chance of a telegram, she had become happy and cheerful once more. Now it was changed: this man would not dare, no matter how she prayed, to violate such an order.
Bursting into tears, a woman’s resource to relieve her overcharged heart, she looked into his face, and again asked:
“And you will obey these instructions?”