eel, but
I am not sorry for the step I've taken. When I am I shall probably come
back, provided that day finds me alive."

And that was all the proud man wrote. Not one word was there for Katy,
whose eyes, which had not wept since she knew she was deserted, moved
slowly over the short letter, weighing every word, and then were lifted
sadly to her father's face as she said: "I will write and tell him all
the truth, and on his answer will depend my future course."

This she said referring to the question she had raised as to whether in
case Wilford did not come back she should remain in New York or go to
Silverton, where as yet they were ignorant of her affliction, for Uncle
Ephraim had not told of the telegram, and Katy would not alarm them
until she knew something definite.

And so the days went by, while Katy's letter was sent to Wilford,
together with another from his father, who confirmed all Katy had
protested of her innocence and ended by calling his son a "confounded
fool" and telling him to throw up his shoulder straps, which "only honest
men had a right to wear, and come home where he belonged."

To this there came an angry, indignant answer, bidding the father attend
to his own business, and allow the son to attend to his. To Katy,
however, Wilford wrote in a different strain, showing here and there
marks of tenderness and relenting, but saying what he had done could not
now be helped--he was in for a soldier's life of two years, and should
abide his choice. At the idea of Genevra's being alive he scoffed; he
knew better than that, and even if she were why need Katy have gone with
it to Morris. Surely she should have had the discretion to keep
something to herself.

This was the purport of Wilford's letter to Katy, who when she had
finished reading said, sorrowfully:

"Wilford never loved me. It was a mere fancy, a great mistake, and I
cannot stay in his home, knowing that I am not trusted and respected as
a wife should be. I will go to Silverton. There is room for me there. I
shall write to Helen to-day."

Meanwhile at Silverton, Uncle Ephraim, still keeping the telegram a
secret, grew more and more anxious as there came no news of Katy. What
did the silence mean? Uncle Ephraim pondered the matter all day long,
holding conversations with himself upon the subject, and finally making
up his mind to the herculean task of going to New York to see what was
the matter. To the family, who asked the reason of