buying a mustache-cup--there now, don't blush; perhaps it was slippers,
or a smoking-cap. Anyhow, it was for him. Ah; so you do remember me.
But why do you call him Mr. Smith, now? It was Jack, then. You never
regarded him as anything but a friend? Of course not; but, my dear,
when young people begin to look upon each other as friends--you see
I accent it right--it is very apt to be the overture to a very
difficult opera which is as likely to end with the curtain descending
to the strains of slow music as any other way. I like to see the young
interchanging gifts at holiday times, but I might be allowed to suggest,
as the result of the observation of an old man, be careful of what you
write in sending them. You have seen pictures of Cupid--so healthful,
so chubby and rosy, and such promise of long life. It is a mistake;
I know of no greater invalid--none of the gods whose health is so
frail. I have known a cold word to give him a fatal chill. I have seen
him fly, never to return, from a mere scent--a cigarette breath. I
have known him taken incurably ill at the bad fit of a Jersey or the
set of an overcoat. And I have seen him lie down and die without a
word and nobody ever knew the reason why; even if he knew it himself,
which I very much doubt. So, you see, it will be a very wise precaution
in dealing with such an uncertain god to be prepared for everything.
And one preparation is to be careful of what you put on paper. Many
a young girl and many a young man, in an effort to write their little
notes, sending or receiving holiday presents, often overstep the mark
in trying to strike the proper elevated key. Don't abound in literary
gush, no matter what are your sentiments in giving or receiving; if
you write at all, write a plain, brief, dignified note which you can
read five years after with perfect satisfaction. Notes are often
misunderstood, sometimes we don't exactly understand ourselves when
we write them, and so it is always safer to be on the conservative
side. It will often save a good deal of vain regret and many wishes