"You poor boy, do you really think that? Shall I tell you what message I sent back?" My face must have answered, for she lowered her head until her cheek rested against mine, her eyes hidden. "I--I said I would stay here with my soldier." I was still a long while it seemed to me, our hands clasped, our cheeks pressing. I could feel her soft breath, and the strands of her hair. "Billie, there is no regret, no doubt any more?" I asked falteringly. "It is all love for me?" "All love," she answered, moving just enough so that our eyes met. "You are my world forever." "And that uniform yonder--it is no barrier, dear? I am still a Federal officer." She glanced at the rags, and then back into my face. "Sweetheart," she whispered gently, "I can be loyal to the South, and to you also--you must be content with that." Content! It was as though everything else had been forgotten, blotted out. It was almost dark now, and far away the camp-fires blazed red and yellow among the trees. I lay there, gazing out through the open window, her rounded arm under my head, her cheek still pressed tightly against mine. My nerves no longer throbbed, my veins no longer pulsed with fever. She never moved; just held me there against her, and in the silence I fell asleep. THE END End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Love Under Fire, by Randall Parrish