When he had accomplished half the distance he found himself out of breath, and sat down for a little while on the carriage block in front of a private residence to rest. When he started on again he walked more slowly. The clock in the tower of the City Hall, a mile away, tolled out the hour of eleven. He heard it and walked faster. And when he finally reached the Lewis home he found the house dark, and no one in the neighborhood. He leaned against the gate where he had left young Lewis the night he had given him the letter, and wondered what he should do. Plainly there was but one thing for him to do, and that was to go home. It would be absurd and unpardonable to rouse the members of the Lewis household for the purpose of his errand. He faced back toward the way by which he had come, but before he had moved from his place he heard the echo of footsteps on the pavement, and discovered a dim form approaching him. It was a man, and, as he drew near, Chick heard him whistle softly to himself. He decided to wait till the man should go by. But the man didn’t go by. He stopped at the gate and looked inquiringly at the figure standing there. “Chick!” “Corp’al Lewis!” The recognition was mutual and simultaneous. “Chick, are you waiting to see me?” “Yes, they’s somethin’ I kind o’ want to ast you.” “All right! Go ahead and ask it. You’ll never find me in a more genial frame of mind.” “Well, do you ’member ’bout that letter I found, to a girl name o’ Rachael?” “Do I remember about it! Chick, the finding of that letter has made me the happiest man on earth.” “That so?” Chick seemed to be a little incredulous at first, but when he looked into the beaming face of the young man, as the light from the incandescent lamp at the corner fell on it, he no longer doubted his words. “Yes, let me tell you.” Young Lewis came closer and lowered his voice, although the street was quiet as an African desert, and every house in the block was closed and locked for the night. “You see, I took that letter with me when I went there this evening, and I told her about how you had found it and given it back to me; and, naturally, she wanted to see it; so, after a while, I let her read it. And that sort o’ broke the ice, and--well, Chick, that girl by the name of Rachael has promised to be my wife.” He straightened up, threw back his head and shoulders, and assumed a wholly monarchical air. “That’s fine an’ dandy,” said Chick, not knowing what else to say. “Yes; and let me tell you what she said, Chick. She said that if any one else had found the letter, and had shown it, and it had become public property, as it were, and people had identified me as the writer and her as the proposed recipient, she wouldn’t have married me in a thousand years; just to punish me in the first place for my crass negligence, and in the second place to spite the gossips.” Chick laughed a little. “She’s got some spunk, ain’t she?” he said.