“Paul!—­are you listening?”

“Yes, dear!” the answer strangely muffled.

And then she purred in his ear, all the time caressing his cheek with her small white fingers:  “You see, Paul, I knew I had made some sort of impression upon you.  I must have done so or you wouldn’t have—­done that!  But any girl can make an impression on shipboard, and an affair at sea is always so—­evanescent, that no one expects it to last more than a week.  I don’t want to make such a transitory impression upon you, Paul.  I wanted you to remember me longer.  I wanted—­oh, I wanted to give you something to remember that was just a little bit different than other girls had given you—­some distinct impression that must linger with you—­always—­always!  I’m not like other women!  Do you see, Paul?  It was all sheer vanity.  I wanted you to remember!”

“And did you think I could forget?”

“Of course!  All men forget a kiss as soon as their lips cease tingling!”

Paul laughed.  “Wise girl!  Who taught you so much?  Come, confess!”

“Oh, I’ve known you a whole week, Paul, and you——­”

But their lips met again and the sentence was never finished.

At last she put her hands on each side of his face and looked up into his eyes.

“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, Paul?”

“Of course not!”

“Of course you are!”

“You misunderstood me!—­I said ’Not’!  But why?  Are you ashamed of me?”

“I ought to be, oughtn’t I?  But—­I don’t believe you can help it!”

His lips crushed hers again, fiercely.  “I can’t, Opal—­I can’t!”

She turned away her head, but he buried his face in her neck, kissing the soft flesh again and again.

“Such a slip of a girl!” Paul murmured in her ear, when he again found his voice.  “Such a tiny, little girl!  I am almost afraid you will vanish if I don’t hold you tight!”

Opal was thoroughly aroused now—­no longer merely passive—­quite satisfactorily responsive.

“I won’t, Paul!  I won’t!  But hold me closer, closer!  Crush this terrible ache out of my heart if you can, Paul!”

There were tears in her voice.  He clasped her to him and felt her heart throbbing out its pain against its own, as he whispered, “Opal, am I a brute?”

“N-o-o-o-o!” A pause.  At last, “Let me go now, Paul!  This is sheer insanity!”

But he made no move to release her until she looked up into his eyes in an agony of appeal, and pleaded, “Please, Paul!”

“Are you sure you want to go?”

“No, I’m not sure of that, but I’m quite sure that I ought to go!  I must!  I must!”

And Paul released her.  Where was this madness carrying them?  Was he acting the part of the man he meant to be, or of a cad—­an unprincipled bounder?  He did not know.  He only knew he wanted to kiss her—­kiss her....

She turned on him in a sudden flash of indignation.  “Why have you such power over me?” she demanded.