s almost prepared for this, and
thus am not wholly disappointed. In a day or two more you will discover
your mistake, which, so far as I can learn, has done no particular
harm. If you wish to find me, there is only one way to seek me; should
I tell you what it is, I should run the risk of losing you--that is, I
should preclude the manifestation of a certain quality which I hope to
find in the man who may--or, rather, must--be my friend. This sounds
enigmatical, yet you have read enough of my nature, as written in those
random notes in my sketch-book, to guess, at least, how much I require.
Only this let me add: mere guessing is useless.

"Being unknown, I can write freely. If you find me, I shall be
justified; if not, I shall hardly need to blush, even to myself, over a
futile experiment.

"It is possible for me to learn enough of your life, henceforth, to
direct my relation toward you. This may be the end; if so, I shall know
it soon. I shall also know whether you continue to seek me. Trusting in
your honor as a man, I must ask you to trust in mine, as a woman."

I _did_ discover my mistake, as the Unknown promised. There had been a
secret betrothal between Fisher and Miss Danvers, and, singularly
enough, the momentous question and answer had been given in the very
ravine leading to my upper dell! The two meant to keep the matter to
themselves; but therein, it seems, I thwarted them; there was a little
opposition on the part of their respective families, but all was
amicably settled before I left Wampsocket.

The letter made a very deep impression upon me. What was the one way to
find her? What could it be but the triumph that follows ambitious
toil--the manifestation of all my best qualities as a man? Be she old
or young, plain or beautiful, I reflected, hers is surely a nature
worth knowing, and its candid intelligence conceals no hazards for me.
I have sought her rashly, blundered, betrayed that I set her lower, in
my thoughts, than her actual self: let me now adopt the opposite
course, seek her openly no longer, go back to my tasks, and, following
my own aims vigorously and cheerfully, restore that respect which she
seemed to be on the point of losing. For, consciously or not, she had
communicated to me a doubt, implied in the very expression of her own
strength and pride. She had meant to address me as an equal, yet,
despite herself, took a stand a little above that which she accorded to
me.

I came back to