“There will not be the least bit of harm in taking a trip down there, at least,” urged Jerry Gaines. “That will not necessarily oblige you to marry against your desire, I’m sure.” Hazard Ballou heartily coincided in this opinion, and between them they were so persistent that he should pursue this course that at last, for the sake of peace, John Dinsmore promised to take the trip, especially as his doctor had suggested that when he was able to leave Newport he should take a trip South, to some mild climate, where his recuperation would be complete. Neither Ballou nor Gaines would be satisfied until he had answered the child’s letter, as they termed Jess. When he had gotten as far as addressing it, he was met by the fact that Jess had asked him to communicate his response to Mrs. Bryson, instead of herself; therefore he sent the following brief epistle to that worthy woman, whom he remembered, though very indistinctly, as having seen when he was taken on a visit to Blackheath Hall, as the place was called, many years ago, when he was a small lad of five years. “It makes me feel rather ancient to remember that that was a quarter of a century ago,” he remarked, with a smile, as he looked over the brief epistle, which ran as follows: “To MRS. BRYSON, Blackheath Hall, Greenville, Louisiana: “MY DEAR MADAM: After many years, I shall be again in your vicinity within the course of a fortnight. May I hope that your hospitality may be extended to me for a few days; I promise not to trespass upon you longer than that. “With best wishes for the welfare of yourself and all the inmates of Blackheath Hall, I remain, “Yours very truly, “JOHN DINSMORE.” “Short, but to the point,” remarked Jerry Gaines, as John handed it to him wearily to fold up and place in the envelope. An hour later the letter was duly on its way toward the sunny South, where it was destined to create such havoc in the old Louisiana home. “It is best that I should travel about for a little while, at least,” ruminated John Dinsmore, long after his tried and true friends had left him; “for the reason that my soul is filled with such bitter unrest that I will find bearing the burden of life more and more intolerable as the weeks roll on. “Nearly a month has passed, and in a few short weeks more Ray Challoner will lead the only girl I shall ever love to the altar, for I heard her promise to be his bride two months from that day. Those were the cruel words which broke my heart as I listened to them, unable to speak or move, or make my presence known on the other side of those broad palms which screened me from my faithless idol’s sight. “When the marriage occurs, I want to be so far away that no intelligence of it can reach me; for God knows, strong man though I am, I think I should go mad to hear or read of it. “Heaven pity a man who loves a girl as I have loved, and always will love, Queenie Trevalyn.