papers are talking about the
dangers of a Cooked Food Trust!"

They were friends old and tried, and happy in mutual affection. Diantha
had many now, though none quite so dear. Her parents were contented--her
brother and sister doing well--her children throve and grew and found
Mama a joy they never had enough of.

Yet still in her heart of hearts she was not wholly happy.

*****

Then one night came by the last mail, a thick letter from Ross--thicker
than usual. She opened it in her room alone, their room--to which they
had come so joyously five years ago.

He told her of his journeying, his lectures, his controversies and
triumphs; rather briefly--and then:

"My darling, I have learned something at last, on my travels, which
will interest you, I fancy, more than the potential speed of all the
guinea-pigs in the world, and its transmissability.

"From what I hear about you in foreign lands; from what I read about you
wherever I go; and, even more, from what I see, as a visitor, in many
families; I have at last begun to grasp the nature and importance of
your work.

"As a man of science I must accept any truth when it is once clearly
seen; and, though I've been a long time about it, I do see at last what
brave, strong, valuable work you have been doing for the world. Doing it
scientifically, too. Your figures are quoted, your records studied, your
example followed. You have established certain truths in the business of
living which are of importance to the race. As a student I recognize and
appreciate your work. As man to man I'm proud of you--tremendously proud
of you. As your husband! Ah! my love! I am coming back to you--coming
soon, coming with my Whole Heart, Yours! Just wait, My Darling, till I
get back to you!

"Your Lover and Husband."

Diantha held the letter close, with hands that shook a little. She
kissed it--kissed it hard, over and over--not improving its appearance
as a piece of polite correspondence.

Then she gave way to an overmastering burst of feeling, and knelt down
by the wide bed, burying her face there, the letter still held fast. It
was a funny prayer, if any human ear had heard it.

"Thank you!" was all she said, with long, deep sobbing sighs between.
"Thank you!--O--thank you!"

End of Project Gutenberg's What Diantha Did, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHAT DIANTHA DID ***

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