letter, which is sailing along with me, that I am going to Japan to
be as near him as possible. I hope he will appreciate my
thoughtfulness in saving him all the bother of saying no. Or it
might be that my slightly dampened spirits come from the discussion
I am still having with myself whether it 's the part of a dutiful
wife to present herself a wiggling sacrifice to science, or whether
science should attend to its own business and lead not into
temptation the scientifically inclined heads of peaceful households.

You 'll say the decision of what was best lay with Jack. Honey,
there 's the error of your mortal mind! In a question like that my
spouse is as one-sided as a Civil War veteran. Say germ-hunt to
Jack and it 's like dangling a gaudy fly before a hungry carp.

I saw Jack off at the station, and went hack to the little house.
Charity had sent the cook home and with her own hands served all
the beloved dainties of my long-ago childhood, trying to coax me
into forgetfulness. As you remember, Mate, dinner has always been
the happiest hour of the day in our small domain. Now? Well,
everything was just the same. The only difference was Jack. And
the half circle of bare tablecloth opposite me was about as
cheerful as a snowy afternoon at the North Pole. I wandered around
the house for awhile, but every time I turned a corner there was a
memory waiting to greet me. Now the merriest of them seemed to be
covered with a chilly shadow, and every one was pale and ghostly.
All night I lay awake, playing at the old game of mental solitaire
and keeping tryst with the wind which seemed to tap with unseen
fingers at my window and sigh,

"Then let come what come may