And it is needless to say that his conscience troubled him. What right had he to accept such a sacrifice?
But the alternative was a terrible one. The lieutenant might flee with them to the United States; and then——
Clif could not finish the thought; it made him shudder.
Just then Bessie Stuart spoke again.
"Clif," she said, "I have something to say to you. And I shall speak plainly, for there is no time to hesitate. I have told you how I feel toward you; I have told you that I loved you. Neither of us would have declared our feelings, I suppose, if it had not been for this situation. But I have been with you for months, and I have never known you to do anything I could not admire. And mine is no childish fancy, Clif, for we have been doing the work of men, you and I. Clif——"
The girl choked back a sob—and then went on:
"We must stop," she said, "stop where we are."
Clif knew what was coming, and he felt his blood surging. Bessie Stuart's hand was in his and it was trembling.
For a moment she could not speak; the words would not come.
But then with that terrible self-command she sometimes displayed, she mastered her emotion and turned to look into her companion's face.