She was silent.  Her glance fell to the fountain.  A ray of sunshine slanting across it formed a rainbow.

“But my mistake was greater than yours,” he went on, and his voice struck its minor chord; “I have no excuse for throwing away those four days.  I never can repair that, but I pledge myself to make you forget my injustice to you.”

At this she rose.  “You were not unjust—­knowing David as you did.  You taught me how fine, how great he was.  Silva—­would have been proud of his name.”

There was another silence.  Tisdale looked off again through the open door to the distant basin, and her glance returned to the fountain.  “See!” she exclaimed.  “A double rainbow!”

“Fate is with us again,” he replied.  “She’s promising a better fight.  But there is one debt more, soldier,” and, catching her swift look, he saw the sparkles break softly in her eyes.  “My ship sails for Alaska the tenth; I shall stay indefinitely, and I want you to pay me—­in full—­before I go.”

THE END