"Neither. I destroyed it simply and solely because it was the earnest
request of the writer, that I should commit it to the flames."

"_Par parenthèse!_ from the beginning of time have not discord,
mischief, trouble--been personified by females? Has there been a
serious _imbroglio_ since the days of Troy without some vexatious
Helen? Now don't scold me, if in this case I conjecture,--He? She?
It?"

"The letter was from a mother, pleading for her child, whom I several
years ago promised to protect and to befriend. Subsequent events
induced me to hope that she would never exact a fulfilment of the
pledge, and I was unpleasantly surprised when the appeal reached me."

"Let me understand fully the little that you wish to tell me. Do you
mean that you were unprepared for the demand, because the mother had
forfeited the conditions under which you gave the promise?"

"You unduly intensify the interpretation. My promise was
unconditional, but I certainly have never expected to be called upon
to verify it."

"What does it involve?"

"The temporary guardianship of a child ten years old, whom I have
never seen."

"He? She? It?"