ddressed to Mr. W. Thompson, Hollenden Hotel,
Cleveland, Ohio, and later redirected in another hand to the firm by
which Mr. Thompson was employed. The unhappy husband explained:

"Our men generally stop at the Hollenden when they are in Cleveland. I
never was there in my life. But Hudson, one of our fellows, blew in
one night and noticing a letter directed to W. Thompson, he knew, of
course, it must be for me. That's just the sort of 'buttinski' that
Hudson is. If he'd run across a tombstone with W. Thompson on it, he'd
have expressed it to me before he'd eaten his dinner. So he told the
clerk he knew me and sent the letter on to the main office. Now,
perhaps you'll appreciate the rest of my story better, if you'll read
the letter."

Gratified by the permission, for young Mr. Thompson had succeeded in
piquing her curiosity, Persis drew the enclosure from the envelope and
for an instant studied the monogram at the head of the sheet. When her
gaze dropped to the address, her eyebrows lifted.

"Yes, I know," murmured young Mr. Thompson. "'Tommy darling.' Tommy
is short for Thompson, I suppose. Tommy-rot, I call it. You might
read it aloud if you don't mind. It'll help me to have a realization
of what I'm up against."

Persis complied.

"Tommy darling:

"Here I am writing you again for all I promised myself that I
wouldn't--not ever. It makes me feel so dishonorable when I think of
Her. And then, dear, I think of you and everything else is forgotten
for a little while.

"That lovely, sad, happy, heart-breaking afternoon together! I've
lived on the memory of it ever since. I thought when we said good-by
that it was for the last time. I really meant it, dear. But now the
thought of never seeing you again is like a great black wall shutting
out everything bright and beautiful. I'm not brave enough to bear it.

"Tell me when and where we can see each other, Tommy. I'm not going to
think of Her, but only of you and me and the joy of loving and being
loved.

"Enid."

"She seems," observed Persis Dale, folding the letter carefully, "to be
of a real affectionate disposition." Young Mr. Thompson passed the
comment over without remark.

"They gave me the letter at the office. It was pretty near a month
after it was written and I judged the two of them had seen each other
before that, and one lost letter wouldn't matter. And then it occurred
to me that I'd have a little fun with Molly. Get