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 he wants me to go around some, and have experiences, and write to him about them. He says it will be good practice and—and—" Bess stopped.

I laid down the cleat and looked at her. I someway felt as if I had suddenly caught a glimpse of something very wonderful,—something I'd known was there all the time, but had not really sensed; and I felt awed and startled. I suddenly knew that the type-written letters that Bess had sent to me, were not interesting only because they were from some one I knew and liked, but because they were clever and full of unusual things; and I knew that the things in them which had made me laugh, were the sort of things that would make others laugh, and the things that had made me swallow hard, would make lumps come in the throats of other people. I think I felt a little afraid of Bess for a moment.

By and by I took a long breath. "Is that what you want to do, Bess?" I asked, soberly.

Bess clasped her hands so tightly that there were little white spots where her fingers came. "Oh, if I only could, Chee!' she said, sort of choked.