We must not think of each other in any way but as co-workers in a
great labor; we must simply know that our love is rooted deeply, and
the harder we work the more firm it will be. There is no reason why
we should not go to the altar with just this sternness, and from now
on preserve this attitude until the day when we have earned the
right to consider what love means. Can you do it? I will prove to
you that I can.

IV

MY DEAR THYRSIS:

I am trying very dreadfully, and go away alone and pound at the
German as if my life depended upon it. I go to bed every night with
a tight feeling in my head, but I do not mind, as I take it for a
guarantee that I have not rested.

And oh, my dearest, dearest and best, I am trying not to think of
you too much--that is too much in a way that does not help me to
study. But I love you really, yes, truly, and I know I would follow
you anywhere. I am not particularly joyful, but then I do not expect
to be for a great many years.

V

DEAR THYRSIS:

Only a few words. I have been hovering to-day between spurts of
hopeful energy, and the most indescribable despair. It positively