“‘But to be frank and give it thee again,
And yet I wish but for the thing I have.
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep: the more I give to thee
The more I have: for both are infinite.’
“‘The sentiment is very sweet, and the language appropriate and expressive, but I trust that our love will not end so sadly as did that of Romeo and Juliet.’
“In the midst of my great joy I did not forget to return my sincere thanks to the great Creator, for bestowing on me such a precious gem.
“‘Lottie, dear, I believe if you would try you could compose a sweet song suited to this occasion, and I hope you will do so, and sing it here every evening while I am far away. Make the effort, and I dare say you will compose one with sentiments as sweet as ever poet wrote; then fix an hour at which you will come to this very spot and sing it, and I will at the same hour steal away and commune with you in spirit, while I gaze on yonder bright star, and listen with my imagination to the sweet music my darling is making here for me.’
“‘Edward, I promise to make the attempt, and if I succeed, I will sing it here at this lovely spot every evening at precisely nine o’clock, when the sky is cloudless; and I will think of you while singing it.’
“‘And will my darling promise to be mine when I return, thereby making me the happiest man that ever walked on the earth?’
“‘If papa gives his consent, and if brother Harry is willing, and if you do not fall in love with, and marry, some beauteous Philadelphia belle, and if I do not die of loneliness while you are so far away from me, and if you do not withdraw the proposition, and if, upon reflection, you are willing to take me with all my imperfections, why, then, I reckon so.’
“‘Now there are a great many if’s contained in that answer, but let it rain if’s until I return, and I will surmount them all. If my path was sown thick with dragons’ teeth, and at every step producing armed men to oppose me, I would march on to secure my great prize!’
“‘Edward, can you not postpone the time set for you to start to Philadelphia for a few weeks?’
“‘Yes, and will gladly do so, for I must settle the question of the if’s before I go. I must know Mr. Rockland’s mind, as well as Harry’s in regard to our betrothal, before I leave Memphis.’”
CHAPTER X.
“Well,” said Ivanhoe to Scottie, “what was it you wished to say to me?”
“Oh, I was dying of curiosity, you see, and I thought maybe you could save my life by telling me something. I declare, something strange is going to happen; and you must tell me what it is.”
“It would be an easy task to tell you all about it, if I knew anything about it myself; but as I happen to know nothing, how can I tell you anything?”
“Pshaw! You are no true knight, Sir Ivanhoe, else you would not let a lady die of sheer curiosity, without an effort to save her. You are not like the brave knight of Ivanhoe of Sir Walter Scott’s creation.”
“Show me an enemy who fights with steel, face to face, and then you’ll have cause to change your mind. By the by, what discoveries have you made about the black domino?”
“Very little, I assure you—just enough to keep me on the rack. But have you really unearthed no secret respecting the two seedy men?”
“Just enough to keep me on the rack, too.”
“Well, aren’t you going to tell me what it is?”
“I have been setting Greek against Greek, and you know what Byron says will happen when Greek meets Greek.”
“Oh, bother Byron and his Greeks; tell me what you know?”
“I bribed the chamber-maid and set her on the track of the seedy men.”
“And, pray, what’s the result?”
“They are sure-enough detectives; that much I have discovered through my spy.”
“Good! What else?”
“They are shadowing some one on this boat.”
“They are doing what to some one on this boat?”
“Shadowing him.”
“Oh, is that all? You mean that they are keeping some one out of the sunshine.”
“No, no! I mean to tell you that they have spotted their man.”
“Spotted their man! Poor fellow! what color were the spots they put on him?”
“Ah, Scottie, I perceive that you are not posted in regard to the peculiar language usually employed by the police department; when a detective officer sees a man who he thinks is the one he wishes to catch, he begins to follow and watch him, and this is called shadowing him.”
“Ah, indeed! then what is meant by spotting their man?”
“The same thing.”
“Yes, yes, I see now; but who have they been spotting or shadowing?”
“Ingomar.”
“Goodness gracious! Is it possible?”
“It is not only possible, but it is absolutely so.”
“I declare, that is too bad! If I were a man I’d pitch ’em both overboard, so I would. They look like a brace of sneak thieves anyhow. What can they want with Ingomar?”
“That I don’t know; but you may be sure I’ll find out ere long, for I have got a clever detective on their track; in other words, I have got them spotted.”
“If a hundred witnesses were to swear that Ingomar was a criminal, I wouldn’t believe it.”
“Don’t believe anything unless you want to, but what would you think if it should turn out after all that Ingomar has murdered his rival in love?”
“Oh, horrible! Don’t speak so, I beseech you!”
“Such things have happened, and why not happen again?”
“Yes, but Ingomar is not a man of that sort; I’d risk my life on it.”
“Well, now, I have told you all I know, let’s hear about the black domino.”
“I have found out scarcely anything, except the fact that she is very sad, and is often found weeping in her state-room. I have been watching her closely, though she seems to avoid me as much as she can. I think the old gentleman with the white beard is her uncle, and I heard her say to him this morning that she could not endure it much longer.”
“Endure what much longer?”
“That was all I heard; but she was weeping as if her heart would break, and the old gentleman tried to comfort her, and I heard him say that the matter should be settled in some way soon.”
“What matter did he say should be settled?”
“How should I know? I have told you all I heard.”
“I’ll put my detectives on her track, too, and I’ll unravel this business, if it takes all the money I possess. See here, Scottie, did you know that I am dying with curiosity to know your real name?”
“Indeed, I did not.”
“Well