‘I shall be a servant, a slave out in Australia, a convict always, whether freed or not.’

‘Oh, swear it, Tom!’

‘They may flog me—chain me in a gang——’

‘Swear to write and tell me when you sail.’

He was silent, breathed deeply, then his eyes lighted up with love, and he exclaimed in a low voice:

‘I swear it!’

‘Would it be for you to divide us, Tom?’

He faintly smiled and answered:

‘You know me to be innocent, Marian.’

‘Yes, as I am of that crime they have charged you with.’