y foolish and romantic thing of answering them as my heart
dictates and signing my own name to them, which on the surface looks
unwise when the man in the case keeps his identity in the background;
but since he knows me and knows my name it seems useless to do anything
else: and answer these letters I shall and must; because every one of
them is to me a strong light thrown on John Gilman. Every time one of
these letters comes to me I have the feeling that I would like to reach
out through space and pick up the man who is writing them and dangle him
before Eileen and say to her: "Take HIM. I dare you to take HIM." And my
confidence, Linda, is positively supreme that she could not do it.

You know, between us, Linda, we regarded Eileen as a rare creature, a
kind of exotic thing, made to be kept in a glass house with tempered air
and warmed water; but as I go about the city and at times amuse myself
at concerts and theaters, I am rather dazed to tell you, honey, that
the world is chock full of Eileens. On the streets, in the stores,
everywhere I go, sometimes half a dozen times in a day I say to myself:
"There goes Eileen." I haven't a doubt that Eileen has a heart, if
it has not become so calloused that nobody could ever reach it, and I
suspect she has a soul, but the more I see of her kind the more I feel
that John Gilman may have to breast rather black water before he finds
them.

With dearest love, be sure to remember me to Katherine O'Donovan. Hug
her tight and give her my unqualified love. Don't let her forget me.

As ever,

MARIAN.

This was the letter that Linda read once, then she read it again and
then she read it a third time, and after that she lost count and reread
it whenever she was not busy doing something else, for it was a letter
that was the next thing to laying hands upon Marian. The part of the
letter concerning the unknown man who was writing Marian, Linda pondered
over deeply.

"That is the best thing I ever did in my life," she said in
self-commendation. "It's doing more than I hoped it would. It's giving
Marian something to think about. It's giving her an interest in life.
It's distracting her attention. Without saying a word about John Gilman
it is making her see for herself the weak spots in him through the very
subtle method of calling her attention to the strength that may lie
in another man. For once in your life, Linda, you have done something
strictly worth while. The thing for you to