ews of
his voyage. His wife read it in the retirement of her own room, but
she might have proclaimed it from the rostrum, so impersonal was its
nature. He had made an attempt, however, to meet what he conceived to
be feminine requirements in a correspondent, for the handwriting was
neat, and the facts he recorded of an unscientific nature. He
described his cabin in the vessel, also his fellow passengers; not
humorously, but with an appreciation of their peculiarities Deena had
not anticipated; he introduced her to flying fish, and then to the
renowned albatross, and he conducted her up the river Platte to
Montevideo, which he described with the ponderous minuteness of a
guide book. At the end he made a confidence--namely, that even his
summer flannels had proved oppressive in that climate--but the
intimacy of his letter went no further, and he omitted to mention any
personal feelings in regard to their separation.

It was an admirable family letter, instructive and kind, and rather
pleasanter and lighter in tone than his conversation. Deena was glad
that no exhortations to economy made it too private to show to French
when he called that afternoon. She but anticipated his object in
coming. He also had a letter which he had brought for her to read, and
they sat on opposite sides of the fire, enjoying their exchanged
correspondence.

But what a difference there was in the letters; Deena's had three
pages of pretty handwriting; Stephen's six of closely written scrawl.
In Deena's the ideas barely flowed to the ink; in Stephen's they
flowed so fast they couldn't get themselves written down--he used
contractions, he left out whole words; he showed the interest he felt
in the work he left behind in endless questions in regard to his
department; he thanked Stephen more heartily than he had ever done by
word of mouth for suggesting him for the appointment, and finally he
gave such an account of his voyage as one intelligent man gives
another.

Deena recognized her place in her husband's estimation when she
finished his letter to Stephen, and said, with pardonable sarcasm:

"Simeon saves the strong meat of observation for masculine digestion,
and I get only the _hors-d'oeuvres_; perhaps he has discriminated
wisely."

The mere fact of being able to exchange letters with Deena was a
revelation to French, and as he walked home from their interview his
fancy was busy putting himself in Simeon's place. The paths that lead
thro