Irma  Delwin  had  said  that  her  note  needed
no  reply,  as  she  should  soon  arrive.  Why  had
she  thought  of  coming  so  far  to  see  a  girl  with


178         THE  THREE  BIRCHES

whom  she  had  never  been  intimate  ?  Overtopping
all  the  petty  annoyances  was  the  fact  of  Jack's
absence,  and  his  silence.  Yet  she  constantly  asked
herself  why  she  so  looked  for  a  letter,  a  word
from  him?  Had  she  not  told  him  that  he  must
not  write  to  her  unless  he  could  do  so  without
pleading  with  her  to  abandon  the  old  house  and
whatever  bit  of  property  went  with  it,  and  give
herself  at  once  to  him?  Had  she  not  also  said
that  he  must  remain  away  from  her  unless  he  could
then,  also,  refrain  from  making  his  plea  even  more
urgent  ?

How  glad  she  had  been  when  he  had  arrived
in  the  midst  of  the  tempest,  had  taken  her  in  his
strong  arms  and  hushed  her  fears,  had  whispered
the  loving  words  that  he  could  so  tenderly  say;
and  then,  oh,  how  harsh  he  had  been  when  he
had  found  her  firm,  and  unyielding  in  her  de-
termination to  withstand  all  his  pleading?  Not
a  day  passed,  however,  that  she  did  not  look
with  quickening  heart-beat  for  a  letter  from  Jack,
and  when  two  and  three  letters  from  others  were
placed  in  her  hands,  the  disappointment  was  so
deep,  so  harsh,  that  she  wished  that  she  had  sent
Aunt  Zilla  for  the  mail.
She  thought  she  could  have  borne  the  depres-
sion easier  in  her  own  room  than  out  in  view  of


AN  UNWELCOME  CALLER     179

the  group  of  idlers  that  always  lounged  around
the  store  and  watched,  with  lynx-like  eyes,  the  re-
cipients as  they  took  the  letters  given  them.
