"If I have ever felt it! Do I not feel it now, Mrs. Greenow? There can be no longer any mask kept upon my feelings. I never could restrain the yearnings of my heart when they have been strong."
"Have they often been strong, Captain Bellfield?"
"Yes; often;--in various scenes of life; on the field of battle--"
"I did not know that you had seen active service."
"What!--not on the plains of Zuzuland, when with fifty picked men I kept five hundred Caffres at bay for seven weeks;--never knew the comfort of a bed, or a pillow to my head, for seven long weeks!"
"Not for seven weeks?" said Mrs. Greenow.

"If I have ever felt it! Do I not feel it now, Mrs. Greenow? There can be no longer any mask kept upon my feelings. I never could restrain the yearnings of my heart when they have been strong."
"Have they often been strong, Captain Bellfield?"
"Yes; often; on the field of battle-"
"I did not know that you had seen active service."
"What! - not on the plains of Zuzuland, when with fifty men I kept five hundred Kaffirs at bay - and never knew the comfort of a bed for seven long weeks! 