Wakeful and watchful, Henry Carroll still kept his post. Ever present to
his mind was the fair being over whose safety his vigil was kept. Her
image, clothed in all the gorgeous fancies which the love-sick brain
conjures up, spoke in silver tones to his heart, and the melody of her
voice thrilled his soul. Descending from the dignity of the man, he
built childish air-castles, wherein he throned his idol, and in a few
fleeting moments squandered years of happiness by her side. The perils
of the past, the sternness of the present, the responsibilities of the
future, all faded away, and from their ashes rose the bright empress of
his soul.
This, we know, was all very foolish of him; but then it must be
remembered he was in love, and men in love can scarcely be called
accountable beings.
Thus he dreamed, and thus he trod the fairy ground of imagination, nor
heeded the creaking timbers and the increasing rapidity of the puffs
from the escape-pipe. To a man not intoxicated by the dream of young
love these facts would have indicated a great increase in the speed of
the boat; but he noticed them not.
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