? ? ? ? 'I'm dreadfully afraid!'
? ? ? ? And I was not. Though the novelty had not yet worn off, the peaceful comportment of the seals had quieted my alarm. Maud was trembling.
? ? ? ? 'I'm afraid, and I'm not afraid,' she chattered, with shaking jaws. 'It's my miserable body, not I.'
? ? ? ? 'It's all right; it's all right,' I reassured her, my arm passing instinctively and protectingly around her.
? ? ? ? I shall never forget, in that moment, how instantly conscious I became of my manhood. The primitive deeps of my nature stirred. I felt myself masculine, the protector of the weak, the fighting male. And, best of all, I felt myself the protector of my loved one. She leaned against me, so light and lily-frail, and as her trembling eased away it seemed as though I became aware of prodigious strength.
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