ce. Kate has at last inveigled
her mother into letting her have an all-black dress which we rather
suspect was bought with the especial purpose of impressing you with her
advanced age and dignity! Mother came in just as I wrote this and says to
tell you she has a new recipe for chocolate cake that is even better than
her old one, and that you had better have a piece added to your belt
before you come home. Carrie will write you very soon, she says, and we
all send love.

"Affectionately,
"Ruth."

=THE LETTER NO GENTLEMAN WRITES=

One of the fundamental rules for the behavior of any man who has the
faintest pretension to being a gentleman, is that never by word or gesture
must he compromise a woman; he never, therefore, writes a letter that can
be construed, even by a lawyer, as damaging to any woman's good name.

His letters to an unmarried woman may express all the ardor and devotion
that he cares to subscribe to, but there must be no hint of his having
received especial favors from her.

=DON'TS FOR CORRESPONDENCE=

Never typewrite an invitation, acceptance, or regret.

Never typewrite a social note.

Be chary of underscorings and postscripts.

Do not write across a page already written on.

Do not use unmatched paper and envelopes.

Do not write in pencil--except a note to one of your family written on a
train or where ink is unprocurable, or unless you are flat on your back
because of illness.

Never send a letter with a blot on it.

Never sprinkle French, Italian, or any other foreign words through a
letter written in English. You do not give an impression of cultivation,
but of ignorance of your own language. Use a foreign word if it has no
English equivalent, not otherwise unless it has become Anglicized. If
hesitating between two words, always select the one of Saxon origin rather
than Latin. For the best selection of words to use, study the King James
version of the Bible.

CHAPTER XXIX

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF GOOD BEHAVIOR

Far more important than any mere dictum of etiquette is the fundamental
code of honor, without strict observance of which no man, no matter how
"polished," can be considered a gentleman. The honor of a gentleman
demands the inviolability of his word, and the incorruptibility of his
principles; he is the descendant of the knight, the crusader; he is the
defender of the defenseless, and the champion of justice--or he is not a
gentleman.

=DECENCIES O