When this condition of affairs had existed for two weeks, the Colonel arose
one morning from a sleepless bed with a fixed idea in his mind. He sat down
to a table in his room, pulled out some writing-paper, and set to work.
After many sheets had been covered and destroyed, he finally decided upon
the following:
"DEAR MISS BRAXTON,--I am going away from Lexington to-morrow, probably
never to return. Will you be at your father's gate at three o'clock this
afternoon, as I would like to say good-bye to you before I go?
"Your sincere friend,
"WILLIAM JARVIS"
After he had finished this epistle it seemed to him entirely too cold; but
the others, which he had written in a more sentimental vein, had appeared
unduly presumptuous. He finally sealed it and gave it to Pete, with
terrific threats of personal violence in case of anything preventing its
prompt delivery. While Pete was galloping off to Lexington at breakneck
speed, the Colonel was wondering what the answer would be.
"I'll just say good-bye to her," he muttered, moodily, "and then I'll never
see her again. I suppose I belong with the horses, anyhow, and that old
bottle-nosed General has me classed all right!"
When Pete returned he handed the Colonel a dainty little three-cornered
note.
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