mer friendship. From a practical point of view this may seem
superfluous, as the matter has been definitely settled. I have no
desire to find fault with you; on the contrary, I wish to set myself
right with regard to my own actions, and to assure you of my good
wishes. In other words, since we must part, I would rather we parted
friends than enemies. If nature and society--or Fate, to put it
another way--have decreed that we cannot live together, it is
nevertheless possible that we may carry into the future a pleasant
though somewhat sad memory of a past friendship. Will you not grant me
one interview? I appreciate the difficulty of arranging it; I have
found it almost as hard to communicate with you by letter. I will suit
myself to your convenience and meet you at any time and place you may
designate. Please answer by bearer, who I think is trustworthy, and
believe me, whatever your answer may be,

Respectfully yours,
G. T.

The next day but one Tryon received through the mail the following
reply to his letter:--

GEORGE TRYON, ESQ.

Dear Sir,--I have requested your messenger to say that I will answer
your letter by mail, which I shall now proceed to do. I assure you
that I was entirely ignorant of your residence in this neighborhood, or
it would have been the last place on earth in which I should have set
foot.

As to our past relations, they were ended by your own act. I frankly
confess that I deceived you; I have paid the penalty, and have no
complaint to make. I appreciate the delicacy which has made you
respect my brother's secret, and thank you for it. I remember the
whole affair with shame and humiliation, and would willingly forget it.

As to a future interview, I do not see what good it would do either of
us. You are white, and you have given me to understand that I am
black. I accept the classification, however unfair, and the
consequences, however unjust, one of which is that we cannot meet in
the same parlor, in the same church, at the same table, or anywhere, in
social intercourse; upon a steamboat we would not sit at the same
table; we could not walk together on the street, or meet publicly
anywhere and converse, without unkind remark. As a white man, this
might not mean a great deal to you; as a woman, shut out already by my
color from much that is desirable, my good name remains my most
valuable possession. I beg of you to let me alone