She then in a cool, quiet, dignified manner told him that she entertained feelings for him that she did not for any other man, and which she supposed writers of romance would call love, but that he knew and she knew that there was a social chasm between them, that could not be bridged--that both knew that the laws of the State were very stringent against the races intermarrying, and that it was wrong for him to propose, or for her to accept. Being a lawyer, he pleaded that it might be a legal wrong, but that there was no moral wrong, and to get around this legal objection, they could soon go to a State that had no laws on the subject. She then told him of her humble birth--that of a slave--and of her life afterwards. He replied that he knew all, but that that did not have a feather's weight with him--that it was not birth, wealth or environment that made noble men or women; but that it was true worth and merit, modesty, beauty, accomplishments, gentleness and dignity, all of which she possessed to a most marked degree. She replied that she was created under the present environments and whether it was fortunate or unfortunate for her, she must submit to it, and that it would be wrong to question the wisdom or unwisdom as to how she was brought into existence. She then told the attorney that her future career would be one of mercy; that she thought it her duty to ameliorate as far as possible, the sufferings of mankind, and that she had decided before graduation, the Lord permitting, to join the Red Cross Society, and asked to be sent to Europe, for a position with the Russian Army, that was then waging war against Turkey. She hated to leave home--her mother, uncle--and as to friends, she had none. The attorney protested that he was her friend, lover, and would be her husband, whenever she said the word. She insisted that it would be better for them to part; but, that when in a foreign land, she would if it afforded any pleasure, carry on a friendly correspondence with him. He thanked her, telling her that that would be one grain of comfort; but begged her to reconsider, and not bury herself, as it were, in nursing those despicable Cossacks and Turks. She said her decision was unalterable. With this, he took his leave, fearing she might never return. He consoled himself with the thought that she loved him, and if she ever returned, he would still have hopes of winning her. "Hope springs eternal in the human breast." Once get a woman to love a man, and all obstacles will as a rule be overcome. CHAPTER XII. IN FOREIGN LANDS--STRATEGY--LOVE CONQUERS.