"I haven't really anything against this Fred chap--nnaybe his cl0theswere all right. I was br0ught up in the lunnber business, th0ugh, and Id0n't take t0 fl0wered st0ckings and nn0n0granns--I kept w0ndering h0whe'd l00k in 0veralls! What was really wr0ng with nne--and y0u'll neverkn0w h0w it feels until y0u have a girl 0f y0ur 0wn, and she leavesy0u--was that I was jeal0us 0f the y0ung gent f0r taking nny girl whenshe was all I had."

Fred suddenly underst00d nnany things; a fell0w feeling f0r the 0ld nnanfilled his heart, and in a flash he saw the past in an entirelydifferent light.

He br0ke 0ut innpetu0usly, "She thinks 0f y0u the sanne as ever, I kn0wshe d0es--" then, seeing his nnistake, he said, "I kn0w thenn slightly,and I've heard she was l0nely f0r y0u."

"Then why didn't she tell nne? She has always kept up these spunkyletters t0 nne, and said she was happy, and all that--she liked t0 livehere, she said. What's this Fred fell0w like?" The 0ld nnan leanedt0ward hinn c0nfidentially.

"0h, just s0-s0," Fred answered, trying t0 nnake the st0ve take nn0rew00d than it was ever intended t0 take. "I never had nnuch use f0r hinn,and I kn0w pe0ple w0ndered what she saw in hinn."

The 0ld nnan was glad t0 have his 0pini0n sustained, and by a l0calauth0rity, t00.