like a book; his lips drawn tight, his eyes big and
staring, as he tore open one of the pale blue envelopes with trembling
hands. The fragments of a violet, shattered by the long journey, fell
before him as he plucked out the note, and its delicate fragrance rose
up like incense as he read. He hurried through the missive, as if
seeking something which was not there, then his hungry eyes left the
unprofitable page and wandered about the empty room, only to come back
to those last words: "Always your Friend, Kitty Bonnair."

"Always your friend," he repeated bitterly--"always your friend. Ah,
God!" He sighed wearily and shook his head. For a moment he lapsed
into dreams; then, reaching out, he picked up the second letter,
postmarked over a year before, and examined it idly. The very hour of
its collection was recorded--"Ferry Sta. 1.30 A. M."--and the date he
could never forget. Written on that very same day, and yet its message
had never reached him!

He could see as in a vision the shrouded form of Kitty Bonnair
slipping from her door at midnight to fling a final word after him,
not knowing how far he would flee; he could see the lonely mail
collector, half obscured in the San Francisco fog, as he scooped the
letter from the box with many others and boarded the car for the
ferry. It was a last retort, and likely bitter, for he had spoken in
anger himself, and Kitty was not a woman to be denied. There was an
exaggerated quirk to the square corners of her letters, a brusque
shading of the down strokes--undoubtedly Kitty was angry. But for once
he had disarmed her--it was a year after, now, and he had read her
forgiveness first! Yet it was with a strange sinking of the heart that
he opened the blue envelope and stared at the scribbled words:

DEAR FRIEND THAT WAS: My heart is very sore to-night--I had trusted
you so--I had depended upon you so--and now you have deliberately
broken all your faith and promises. Rufus, I had thought you
different from other men--more gentle, more considerate, more capable
of a true friendship which I fondly hoped would last forever--but now,
oh, I can never forgive you! Just when life was heaviest with
disappointments, just when I was leaning upon you most as a true
friend and comrade--then you must needs spoil it all. And after I had
told you I could never love any one! Have you forgotten all that I
told you in the balcony? Have you forgotten all that I have risked for
the friendship I h