"Will you?" he pleaded, with his face hidden against her breast.
"Yes," she cried, "a thousand times, yes! I've wanted you to love me as I've never wanted anything else in the world!"
"I love you with all my soul," he said simply. "I——" A catch in his throat put an end to speech, for her love-lit face, wet with tears, was very near to his. His arms closed hungrily around her, and the lips that but a moment before were quivering with sobs, were crushed in eternal pardon against his own.
CHAPTER XXI
THE LAST DAY IN THE FORT
"Sir," said a soldier; "some one is coming!"