‘And where is your part?’
‘My part is in another land; my fortune is linked with America—that is, if I care to have a fortune.’
‘Come, come, Donogan,’ cried she, calling him inadvertently by his name, ‘men like you do not give up the battle of life so easily. It is the very essence of their natures to resist pressure and defy defeat.’
‘So I could; so I am ready to show myself. Give me but hope. There are high paths to be trodden in more than one region of the globe. There are great prizes to be wrestled for, but it must be by him who would share them with another. Tell me, Nina,’ said he suddenly, lowering his voice to a tone of exquisite tenderness, ‘have you never, as a little child, played at that game of what is called seeking your fortune, wandered out into some thick wood or along a winding rivulet, to meet whatever little incident imagination might dignify into adventure; and in the chance heroism of your situation have you not found an intense delight? And if so in childhood, why not see if adult years cannot renew the experience? Why not see if the great world be not as dramatic as the small one? I should say it is still more so. I know you have courage.’
‘And what will courage do for me?’ asked she, after a pause.
‘For you, not much; for me, everything.’
‘I do not understand you.’
‘I mean this—that if that stout heart could dare the venture and trust its fate to me—to me, poor, outlawed, and doomed—there would be a grander heroism in a girl’s nature than ever found home in a man’s.’
‘And what should I be?’
‘My wife within an hour; my idol while I live.’