  We have calculated the energy per site for the ground state of
antiferromagnetic quantum spin chain with variable range exchange
$h(j-k)\propto \sinh^2 a \sinh^{-2}a(j-k)$ in the framework of the asymptotic
Bethe ansatz. By expanding it in powers of $e^{-2a}$, we have confirmed the
value of the second-neighbor correlator for the model with nearest-neighbor
exchange obtained earlier in the atomic limit of the Hubbard chain.
