The girl was lonely in Plainfield ; she had no companions or associates such as she cared for ; the Maple Leaf Club represented all that her life held of outward interest , and she longed for something more . Only one answer came to `` Ellen Douglas , '' and that was forwarded to her by the long-suffering editor of `` The Maple Leaf . '' It was from John Lincoln of the Bar N Ranch , Alberta . He wrote that , although his age debarred him from membership in the club -LRB- he was twenty , and the limit was eighteen -RRB- , he read the letters of the department with much interest , and often had thought of answering some of the requests for correspondents . He never had done so , but `` Ellen Douglas 's '' letter was so interesting that he had decided to write to her . Would she be kind enough to correspond with him ? Life on the Bar N , ten miles from the outposts of civilization , was lonely . He was two years out from the east , and had not yet forgotten to be homesick at times . Sidney liked the letter and answered it . Since then they had written to each other regularly . There was nothing sentimental , hinted at or implied , in the correspondence . Whatever the faults of Sidney 's romantic visions were , they did not tend to precocious flirtation . The Plainfield boys , attracted by her beauty and repelled by her indifference and aloofness , could have told that . She never expected to meet John Lincoln , nor did she wish to do so . In the correspondence itself she found her pleasure . John Lincoln wrote breezy accounts of ranch life and adventures on the far western plains , so alien and remote from snug , humdrum Plainfield life that Sidney always had the sensation of crossing a gulf when she opened a letter from the Bar N . As for Sidney 's own letter , this is the way it read as she wrote it : `` The Evergreens , '' Plainfield . Dear Mr. Lincoln : The very best letter I can write in the half-hour before the carriage will be at the door to take me to Mrs. Braddon 's dance shall be yours tonight . I am sitting here in the library arrayed in my smartest , newest , whitest , silkiest gown , with a string of pearls which Uncle James gave me today about my throat -- the dear , glistening , sheeny things ! And I am looking forward to the `` dances and delight '' of the evening with keen anticipation .
You asked me in your last XXXXX if I did not sometimes grow weary of my endless round of dances and dinners and social functions .
companions correspondence delight girl gown interest letter miles pleasure visions