With his words there came again that sound of a great gun rolling from the direction of St. James. With a frightened cry the girl staggered to her feet, and as she stood swaying unsteadily, her arms half reached to him, Nathaniel saw only mortal dread in the whiteness of her face. "Why didn't you go? Why didn't you go with Neil?" she moaned. Her breath was coming in sobbing excitement. "Your ship is--at--St. James!" "Yes, my ship is at St. James, Marion!" His voice was tremulous with triumph, with gladness, with a tenderness which he could not control. He put an arm half round her waist to support her trembling form and to his joy she did not move away from him. His hand was buried in the richness of her loose hair. He bent until his lips touched her silken tresses. "Neil has told me everything--about you," he added softly. "My ship is bombarding St. James, and I am going to take you from the island!" Not until then did Marion free herself from his arm and then so gently that when she stood facing him he felt no reproof. No longer did shame send a flush into his face. He had spoken his love, though not in words, and he knew that the girl understood him. It did not occur to him in these moments that he had known this girl for only a few hours, that until now a word had never passed between them. He was conscious only that he had loved her from the time he saw her through the king's window, that he had risked his life for her, and that she knew why he had leaped into the arena at the whipping-post. The words she spoke now came like a dash of cold water in his face. "Your ship is not bombarding St. James, Captain Plum!" she exclaimed. Darkness hid the terror in her face but he could hear the tremble of it in her voice. "The _Typhoon_ has been captured by the Mormons and those guns are--guns of triumph--and not--" She caught her breath in a convulsive sob. "I want you to go--I want you to go--with Neil!" she pleaded. "So Casey is taken!" He spoke slowly, as if he had not heard her last words. For a moment he stood silent, and as silently the girl stood and watched him. She guessed the despair that was raging in his heart but when he spoke to her she could detect none of it in his voice. "Casey is a fool," he said, unconsciously repeating Obadiah's words. "Marion, will you come with me? Will you leave the island--and join your brother?" The hope that had risen in his heart was crushed as Marion drew farther away from him. "You must go alone," she replied. With a powerful effort she steadied her voice. "Tell Neil that he has been condemned to death. Tell him that--if he loves me--he will not return to the island." "And I?" From her distance she saw his arms stretched like shadows toward her. "And you--" Her voice was low, so low that he could hardly hear the words she spoke, but its sweetness thrilled him. "And you--if you love me--will do this thing for me. Go to Neil. Save his life for me!"