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 . Betty was discovered to have unsuspected talents in the epistolary line . At first she was dolefully homesick , and begged me to let her come home . When I refused -- it was amazingly hard to refuse -- she sulked through three letters , then cheered up and began to enjoy herself .
But it was nearly the end XXXXX the year when she wrote : `` I 've found out why you sent me here , Stephen -- and I 'm glad you did . ''
If So about among at in of through to without