ld make it a sunny meadow, swept by shadowy
wings, where the white and crimson clover bloomed all day.

"You give me life. You make the birds sing more sweetly for me; you make
the roses more fragrant, the moonlight more like pearl. You have
glorified the commonplace affairs of the day with your enchantment; you
have put the joy of the gods into the heart of a man.

"Do you wonder that, loving you like this, I do not make myself known?
Sweetheart, it is because I fear. Already I have more than I deserve
because you are not displeased with me, and since I wrote last I have
made progress. Would it surprise you very much if I told you I knew
where you lived?

"I fancy I see you now, with the scarlet signals flaming on your cheeks,
but, Iris, I shall never intrude. It is for you to say whether I shall
love you in silence and afar, or face to face, as I dream that some day
I may.

"I want you, dear--I want you with all my heart. Of all the women in the
world, you are the one God meant for me. Otherwise, why have I been so
strangely led to you?

"Since the first day I saw you, I have knelt at your feet. Not for one
moment have I forgotten you, so flower-like, so womanly, so dear. So
will it always be, whether I live or die. Even to my grave, I shall take
the memory of you.

"To-night my memories are few, but my dreams--they are so many that I
could not begin to tell you all. But one of them you must know--that
some day you will let me tell you how much I love you, and promise me
that I may shield you all the rest of your life.

"The wind should never make you cold, the sun should never shine too
fiercely upon you, the storm should never beat against you, if I had my
way.

"Iris, may I come? Will you let me teach you to care? So sure am I of my
love that I ask only for the chance to make you believe.

"Put a flower on your gate-post when the moon rises to-night, if you are
willing that I should come. Two flowers, if you are willing that I
should come sometime, but not now. Then, when your name-flower
embroiders the marshes, you will know who loves you--who worships
you--who offers you his all."

* * * * *

That night, when the moon swung high in the heavens, Iris tiptoed out
into the garden, with the letter--sentient, alive, and human--crushed
close against her heart. So conscious was she of its presence that she
felt it blazoned upon her breast for all the world to read.

Dew mad