She turned her eyes to him questioningly; there was still a
half-puzzled, half-timid expression in them.
"I want to be rewarded--as well as pardoned--rewarded for my noble
sacrifice of the desire to bestow a piece of jewelry upon you."
"Rewarded?" she faltered.
He nodded.
"Yes. After the awful rebuke and scolding you have administered, you
cannot refuse to accept some token of my--some acknowledgment of my
gratitude, Miss Nell. See here----"
He felt in his waistcoat pocket, then in those of his coat, and at last
brought out a well-worn silver pencil case.
"I want you to be gracious enough to accept this," he said. "Before you
refuse with haughty displeasure and lively scorn, be good enough to
examine it. It is worth, I should say--shall I say five shillings? That,
I should imagine, is its utmost value. But, on the other hand, it is a
useful article, and I display my natural cunning in selecting it--it's
the only thing I've got about me that I could offer you, except a match
box, and, as you don't smoke, you've no use for that--because you will
never be able to use it, I hope and trust, without thinking of the
unworthy donor and the debt of gratitude which no diamond bracelet could
discharge."
During this long speech, which he had made to conceal his eager desire
that she should accept, and his fear, that she should not, Nell's color
had come and gone, but she kept her eyes fixed on his steadily, as if
she were afraid to remove them.
"Are you going to accept it--or shall I fling it into the sea as a
votive offering? It would be a pity, for it is useful, a thing of sorts,
and has been my constant companion for many a year. Yes, or no?"
He held the pencil up, as if he were offering it by auction.
Nell hesitated, then she held out her hand without a word. He dropped
the battered pencil case into it, and his bantering tone changed
instantly.
"Thank you!" he said gravely, earnestly. "I--I was afraid that you were
going to refuse, and--well, that would have hurt me. And that would have
hurt you; for I know how gentle-hearted you are, Miss Nell."
Her hand closed over the pencil case tightly until the silver grew warm,
then she slipped the thing into her pocket.
"Please observe," he said, after a pause, during which he lit a
cigarette, "that I am not in need of any token as a reminder. I am not
likely to forget--Shorne Mills."