I should have hesitated, but I simply could not consent to be dismissed
thus completely. Through the obscuring mist of the night I saw her face
dimly, and it fascinated me. Behind the quiet decision of her voice
there was a tremulousness which yielded courage. I could not part with
her like this.

"Billie," I said, and she started at the familiarity of the name, "I am
going to risk even your good opinion rather than leave in doubt. Don't
treat me like a boy." Her hand was upon the fence, and I placed both of
my own upon it. "Be honest with me. Forget the uniform, this sectional
war, and let us simply be man and woman--can you not?"

She did not answer, her hand yet held in mine, so startled by my sudden
outburst as to be helpless.

"I must know," I went on heedlessly, the very touch of her flesh making
me reckless. Our position, the danger of the night, all vanished, and I
saw only the whiteness of her face. Perhaps, had I been able to read
her eyes, their expression might have served to curb my tongue, but
nothing else could have held me silent. "I am going away, going into the
lines of a hostile army; I may not reach there alive, and, if I do, I
may fall in the first battle. I must tell you the truth first--I must.
Don't call it foolish, for it is not. Dear, I may be a Yankee, but I am
also a man, and I--"

"Oh, stop! please stop!" her fingers clasping me, her form closer. "I
can not--I will not permit you to say this. I have no right. You have
made me disloyal to my country; you shall not make me disloyal to all
else. If I should listen I would have no self-respect left. For my sake