ate enough in me to be a good fighter."
"Disappointed? How little you know me! It's my life now to be with you.
Whatever you say or do is right to me. I think it's all for the best; I
wouldn't have you stay here after what has passed."
May meant all she said, and more. At the bottom of her heart she was
not sorry that he was going to leave Tecumseh. If she thereby lost the
pleasure of appearing as his wife before the companions of her youth, on
the other hand, he would belong to her more completely, now that he
was cut off from all other sympathy and no longer likely to meet Miss
Gulmore. Moreover, her determination to follow him in single-hearted
devotion seemed to throw the limelight of romance upon her disagreement
with her father, which had been much more acute than she had given
Roberts to suppose. She had loved her father, and if he had appealed
to her affection he could have so moved her that she would have shown
Roberts a hesitation which, in his troubled and depressed condition,
might have brought about a coldness between them, if not a rupture of
their relations. But Hutchings, feeling that he was in the wrong, had
contented himself with depreciating Roberts by sneer and innuendo, and
so had aroused her generous partisanship. The proceedings of the Faculty
naturally increased her sympathy with her lover, and her enthusiastic
support did much to revive his confidence in himself. When they parted
in the evening he had already begun to think of the preparations to be
made for his journey Eastwards.
A few weeks later a little knot of friends stood together one morning on
the down-platform of the Tecumseh station, waiting for the train to come
in. Professor Roberts was the centre of the group, and by his side stood
dainty May Hutchings, the violet eyes intense with courage that held the
sweet lips to a smile. Around them were some ten or a dozen students and
Krazinski, all in the highest spirits. They were talking about Roberts'
new appointment at Yale, which he attributed to Krazinsk's influence.
Presently they became aware of an unwonted stir at the entrance-door
behind them. As they turned in wonder they saw that the negro hands had
formed a lane through which, heralded by the obsequious station-master,
Mr. Gul-more, with his daughter on his arm, was coming towards them.
Heedless of their astonishment, the Boss walked on till he stood in
front of Roberts.
"Professor, we've heard of your good fortune, and
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