Putnam died. It might be years from now before the time
came to destroy that letter, and he could not, until then, disclose to
Alice the secret that Lindy had confided to him. Yes, it would come out
all right in the end, for it might be if Alice thought he was in love
with Lindy that she would give more thought to him. He had read
somewhere that oftentimes the best way to awaken a dormant love was to
appear to fall in love with some one else.
Somewhat reconciled to the situation by his thoughts, he sat down to
read his letters. The first one that he took up was from the
confectioner. It informed him that his order would receive prompt
attention, and the writer thanked him for past favors and solicited a
continuance of the same. The second was from Ernst. It was short and to
the point, and written in his characteristic style. It said:
"Dear Quincy:--Pseudonym received. Bruce Douglas is a name to conjure
with. It smacks of 'Auld Lang Syne.' The Scotch are the only people on
the face of the earth who were never conquered. You will remember, if
you haven't forgotten your ancient history, that the Roman general sent
back word to his emperor that the d----d country wasn't worth conquering.
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