dish, not the roast,
in her bill of fare, if I am any judge of character, and why does her
Laura attempt to stem the natural tide of events? It is almost wicked
of the Fates to give such a featherhead any problems to solve; she
ought to have her what's-his-name, Beckett, if she wants him,
particularly if he wants her. As for the noble Laura, I long to make
her acquaintance. I can almost hear the uncongenial stepmother, the
feverish cook, and the infuriated directors, clamoring for a
providence to remove her from their field of vision, and substitute
some thoroughly practical and ignoble person in her stead."

* * * * *

Sunday

I was very happy all the morning; so happy that I forgot my tonics,
massage, and sedative tablets; but the doctor called at noon and spoke
of the wonderful way in which my system responded to his remedies, so
I said nothing.

Cousin Sarah forwarded me a letter from Richard Morton, who is
superintending some surveying near a small town in Pennsylvania. He
knows that I am not well and away from home on a visit to the country,
but, of course, he is not aware of my exact whereabouts. It was just
one of his gay, friendly letters, with an undertone of something
warmer in it. Among other things he said:

How weak a thing is man! Now that you are so far away and I am
exiled in a village where there is but one post a day I suffer
pangs of hunger for a word from you. So far the one daily mail
would have been all too ample for your desires, since you have
not written a word as yet; but there is always the hope! I have
been speculating to-night upon the frightful risks and dangers
surrounding the man who is waiting for a letter. It seems to me
the very best postal service is inadequate to take care of a
letter from you to me! Think of the uncertainties and perils to
which it is exposed in transit! You give it to a maid to drop in
a pillar post-box, but she may forget and leave it in her
pocket, or she may lose it. Or say she drops it in; it must be
removed from the box by an ordinary human being who has no
conception of the issues involved in the rigid performance of
this particular duty. The letter is then taken to the branch
office of your section, then to the general post, and then to
the railway, where new dangers menace its precious existence.
The train may b