the hours stole on, and the one for lizzie's departure was at hand. as the sun sank slowly down to rest, on that memorable sunny june day, clouds of crimson, purple, and gold, blended in fantastic shapes, overspread the broad horizon, and attracted the most casual observer by their wondrous beauty. toward the eastern horizon the sky was blue and cloudless, blending with the water in a vast azure immensity.
the cool, crisp sea-breeze had dissipated the intense heat of the day, and crowds of gay pedestrians, and scores of liveried vehicles, were passing and repassing upon the fashionable boulevard, where the wealth and beauty of the queen city daily gathered after the heat of the day was over.
the firefly, laden with her burden, was ready at the pier, awaiting the signal to depart. lizzie heartwell's friends still lingered upon the inviting deck, reluctant to speak the parting word that must so surely come. dr. and mrs. heartwell, her uncle and aunt, judge amity and his daughter, her sabbath-school teacher, bertha, helen, and leah, the remaining ones of the "indissoluble quartette," as the school-girls termed these friends, were assembled on the deck, and with them emile le grande and her newly formed friend, george marshall. in compliance with his promise he had come to speed the parting vessel with good wishes, and watch its receding form till it was lost from view upon the trackless waters.
as the citadel gun fired its sunset signal, the planks were ordered in, friends rushed on shore, and then the firefly moved from her moorings, to plough the deep again. as george marshall spoke his last adieu, he slipped a tiny billet-doux into the hand of the departing girl, who half heeding the action, dropped it into her pocket, and sat down in loneliness upon the deck, to watch the slowly vanishing shore. fainter and dimmer grew the speck upon the deep to the friends who watched on shore, fainter and dimmer in the gathering twilight, till the bark rounded old defiance, and was divided by distance and darkness from their vision.
when lizzie heartwell, attended by the kind captain, descended below deck, she remembered the little missive, and drawing it from its hiding-place, read:
"miss heartwell: what would you think, if my wanderings should lead me, some day, to melrose? "regretfully, "g.m."
"think i should like to see you," uttered the young girl, with a smile, as she folded the note again out of sight.
as the last glimpse of the firefly faded from the vision of the sad-eyed watchers, they turned slowly from their lookout of sorrow, and bent their steps homeward.
"it's growing late, miss leah," said emile, who stood near the young jewess. "may i see you safely home?"
"thank you, but it is not too late for me to go alone," she replied; "besides, my walk will lead to my uncle jacob's, where i may spend the night; that's not very far, you know."
determined not to be baffled in his purpose to escort leah, he replied:
"'the longer the walk, the shorter the way,' with you, miss leah. allow me to attend you, i pray." his pertinacity prevailed; and falteringly she replied, "as you like, mr. le grande," resolving in her heart though, that this should be the last time. "only this morning," thought she, "what did i promise lizzie? and before the day is ended, i have broken that promise. what an irresolute creature i am! but this shall be the last. i vow it again."
"you will miss miss heartwell, i judge," began emile, as he walked forward by her side. "from your sorrowful expression, one might think she had died, instead of vanished from sight in a vessel. i trust there are yet some friends in the queen city; at least one, who will be kindly remembered in the absence of miss heartwell."
"yes, mr. le grande, i have some friends, a few, i trust, left behind; but no one, not a soul, that can supply her place in my affections. she has been more than a school-friend to me; she has been a counsellor, a sister; one who above all others comprehends my nature and sympathizes with and appreciates my character," said leah, warmly.
"indeed, miss heartwell is to be envied in possessing so much of your affection, and yet i think you speak unjustly in attributing to her alone the heart of love and sympathy you do. have i not told you of my attachment and devotion to you? and do you still require other protestations to confirm the sincerity of my confession?"
at these words-unwelcome words to leah-she colored deeply, and turning her dark, burning eyes full upon emile, said:
"mr. le grande, i pray you never let me hear you utter such a sentiment as that again. we are friends, and, if you choose, may always be; but, in all truthfulness i say it, more than friends we can never be. i confess frankly that your society is very agreeable to me, your manner fascinating, your style attractive; but i am a jewess of the strictest sect, and you a christian, and not a strict one; and these facts alone form an insurmountable barrier in the way of our being more than friends. a great gulf lies between us, over which even love cannot securely go. you cannot come to me, and i dare not cross to you. it is dishonor to god and disobedience to parents, to think of such a step. mr. le grande, i beg you, forget this passion you profess; crush it out if it exists, and remember leah mordecai, the jewess, as only a friend. do you promise?" she said, trembling from head to to foot, for it had required all the moral strength of her yielding nature to utter these words-words that could instantly quench the only taper of hope that still burned in her soul.
"do i promise?" he replied with haughty emotion. "no! i swear i will not! so long as you are free i will love you; and so long as your maidenhood gives the opportunity, i shall tell you of that love. give you up? i, who love you with a mad and foolish devotion? i promise not to love you? no! no! never, never, never, while hope lasts. what care i if you are a jewess? it's the shrine of beauty where i bow, and because a jewess breathes therein, shall i withdraw my homage? never while i live. i swear it!"
frightened at her desperate lover's words, leah walked on in silence, almost regretting that her courage had permitted her to speak her mind so freely. after a time she said, "do not be angry with me, mr. le grande, i did not mean to offend you."
"it's worse than offence, it is death," he replied.
ascending the steps of her uncle's house, by this time reached, leah extended her hand and said, "good-by. i'll tarry here to-night." clasping her soft hand, he said, "i shall see you soon. good-night."
a week after madam truxton's school closed, the term of the military academy ended. the drilling, drilling, drilling, was stopped, the graduating class of cadets had either won or lost the honors for which they contested; and the roll of candidates for military honors was handed to the world. conspicuous among the names crowned with well-won distinction was that of george marshall. a nobler, braver spirit never stepped from college walls upon life's crowded highway, or one with firmer, truer tread than he.
