," Tom added.

"Yes," said Nancy, somewhat faintly, from the curtains. Nancy seemed
very much upset. Tom knew that Furbush had been a frequent visitor at
her house, and probably she had grown fond of him. He was not at all
aware, however, that Furbush's affair with Mary had progressed so far.
He could not picture Furbush marrying Mary--or anyone else, for that
matter--and he doubted whether Furbush would have married her. Still, it
appeared that Mary had cared for him, and now her little romance was
over.

"It's awfully hard on Mary, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Furbush was gone. Who would take his place? His place, an Assistant
Professorship--there was now a vacancy! A flood of excitement swept
through him. But how foolish to expect that it would fall to him. He had
taught but one year, and he was only twenty-five. People still spoke of
Harry Spear's having been given his Assistant Professorship at the end
of three years as a record-breaking performance. He knew perfectly well,
furthermore, that he had not made a startling success of it; not the
kind of success that makes a man jump from a Captaincy to a
Brigadiership. Still, he thought he stood quite as well as the other
young instructors in the department; and his "outside connections" were
considerably better. After all, a man's career in college counted for
something. And so, although he knew that the thing was impossible and
that what they would do would be to go outside for an older man, he
luxuriated for a moment in the picture of the Dean congratulating him on
his success. An Assistant Professorship and Nancy! The two were linked
in his mind as the sum-total of desire; and since he could think of
Nancy without thinking of the Assistant Professorship, but could not
think of the Professorship without thinking of Nancy, it is to be
supposed that Nancy came first.

And there she was now, over by the window, painfully aware of the garden
and fidgeting ever so little with the curtain. Perhaps this might not be
such a bad time to repeat his question, after all. Had she not of her
own free will come to the Norris house, at which she knew that he was
almost a daily visitor? There was in that something to give him heart.
As if he hadn't enough evidence without it!

"You will admit, though, Nancy, that it was an awfully stupid thing for
him to eat the cherries and milk, won't you? Everyone knows that it
can't be done." Tom moved over nearer to her, but she did not answer
h