cuses her of
fickleness.

A man's letters to a girl are very frequently shown to her most intimate
friend, if they are sufficiently ardent, but a man never shows the
letters of a woman he truly cares for, unless he feels the need of some
other masculine intellect to assist him in comprehending the lady of his
heart.

"Nothing feeds the flame like a letter. It has intent, personality,
secrecy." But that is love indeed which stands the test of long
separation--and letters.

[Sidenote: A Single Drop of Ink]

With a single drop of ink for a mirror, the old Egyptian sorcerer
promised to reveal the past and foretell the future. The single drop of
ink with which a lover writes may sadly change the blissful future of
which he dreams.

The written word is so sadly different from that which is spoken! The
malicious demon concealed in the ink bottle delights in wrecking love.
Misunderstandings and long silences follow in rapid succession,
tenderness changes to coldness, and love to bitter regret.

Someone has said that the true test of congeniality is not a matter of
tastes, but of humour. If two people find the same things amusing, their
comradeship is a foregone conclusion, but even so, it requires unusual
insight to distinguish the playful parts of a letter from the serious
passages. If the separated lovers would escape the pit of destruction,
let all jokes be plainly marked with a cross or a star.

A letter is an unfair thing. It follows its own mood blindly without
reference to others. If penned in sadness it often makes a sunny day a
cloudy one, and if written in jest it may be as inopportune as mirth at
a funeral.

[Sidenote: Misunderstood]

A letter betraying anger and hurt pride may often crystallise a yielding
mood into determination and summon evil spirits which love cannot
banish. The letter asking forgiveness may cross the path of the one
which puts an end to everything. It would seriously test the power of
the Egyptian to foretell what might result from a single letter, written
in all love and tenderness, perhaps, but destined to be completely
misunderstood.

Old love letters often mean tears, because they have been so wrongly
read. Later years, with fine irony, sometimes bring new understanding of
the loving heart behind the faulty lines. After all, it is the
inexpressible atmosphere of a letter which is felt, rather than the
meaning which the phrases ostensibly convey.

[Sidenote: The Postman]