I stole out on deck when others slumbered, and for a long weary hour paced to and fro.

There was a wild tumult in my soul which would not be stilled, and every restraining effort but fanned the flame that raged within.

A never-to-be-forgotten contest was waged that night, and my heart was the arena.

My guardian angel whispered low, 'Forget the past as a feverish dream; it is not well for thee; forget, forget!' But the heaven-born accents were suddenly drowned by the wild shriek of my dark destiny--'Of Lethe's waters thou shall never taste! I have shattered the goblet at thy feet, and scattered the draught to the winds of heaven! Behold the apotheosis of thine idol! At this shrine shalt thou bow evermore--evermore!' "A new impulse was implanted within me; and, impotent to resist, I was impelled onward, and onward, till a chasm yawned at my feet.

Yet a moment I trembled on the brink, then plunged desperately forward.
Mary, listen.