Look at the device on the seal,
and I am sure you will find it's _Tarry not_!" And he flung the letter
on the grass.
"Upon my word, you had better open it," I said.
"If I were to open it and read my summons, do you know what I should do?
I should march home and ask the Oberkellner how one gets to Smyrna, pack
my trunk, take my ticket, and not stop till I arrived. I know I should;
it would be the fascination of habit. The only way, therefore, to wander
to my rope's end is to leave the letter unread."
"In your place," I said, "curiosity would make me open it."
He shook his head. "I have no curiosity! For a long time now the idea
of my marriage has ceased to be a novelty, and I have contemplated it
mentally in every possible light. I fear nothing from that side, but I
do fear something from conscience. I want my hands tied. Will you do me
a favour? Pick up the letter, put it into your pocket, and keep it till
I ask you for it. When I do, you may know that I am at my rope's end."
I took the letter, smiling. "And how long is your rope to be? The
Homburg season doesn't last for ever."
"Does it last a month? Let that be my season! A month hence you will
give it back to me."
"To-morrow if you say so.
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