What is it ? '' `` That is for you to find out , Betty , '' I said . `` By the time you come back you will have discovered it , I think . If not , it will not have proved itself a good reason and shall be forgotten . '' When Betty went away I bade her good-by without burdening her with any useless words of advice . `` Write to me every week , and remember that you are Betty Churchill , '' I said . Betty was standing on the steps above , among her dogs . She came down a step and put her arms about my neck . `` I 'll remember that you are my friend and that I must live up to you , '' she said . `` Good-by , Stephen . '' She kissed me two or three times -- good , hearty smacks ! did I not say she was still a child ? -- and stood waving her hand to me as I rode away . I looked back at the end of the avenue and saw her standing there , short-skirted and hatless , fronting the lowering sun with those fearless eyes of hers . So I looked my last on the child Betty . That was a lonely year . My occupation was gone and I began to fear that I had outlived my usefulness . Life seemed flat , stale , and unprofitable . Betty 's weekly letters were all that lent it any savor . They were spicy and piquant enough .
XXXXX was discovered to have unsuspected talents in the epistolary line .
Betty Churchill Stephen good-by neck standing sun week weekly year