“Just a moment, please. Do you stand by the bargain?”
“Absolutely.”
He gave it to her, laughing at her disappointment at finding it empty.
“Fraud!” she exclaimed. “How long has it been empty?”
“Do you really want to know?” he asked, suddenly grave.
“Yes; but not if you’d rather not tell me.”
“I can’t give the exact date, but you can approximate it for yourself. Do you remember the first time I wrote you—from St. Louis? It seems aeons ago!”
“Yes; I’ll never forget that.”
“Well, that night I took out and destroyed a little photograph I’d carried there for a good many years. I’ll leave you to guess why I didn’t care for it any more.”
“Your wife’s picture?”