with foreign languages I truly want to try it. I am
studying German now, and if it will put any resonant rhythm into that
language it will be very interesting.'

"I made a hasty and indefinite promise, and gladly saw the front door
shut behind Miss Sarah Castle.

"That night I did not sleep; in fact, I did not go to bed. The words
Mary Armat had spoken to me in Burmese should have completely engrossed
my every thought, but they did not. For one moment my mind was filled
with rapture by the knowledge that I was loved by this lovely girl; and
in the next I was overwhelmed by anxiety as to what should be done to
make it impossible for her to know that I knew she had spoken those
words. But whether my thoughts made me happy or distressed me, there
seemed to be but one way out of my troubles; I must be content with
Mary's love, that is, if I should be so fortunate as to secure it. There
might be doubts about this; women are fickle creatures, and Mary had
been very much provoked with me when I parted from her."

"I see what is coming," here interrupted the Next Neighbor, "and I don't
approve of it at all!"

"It would be hard," continued the Old Professor, after pausing for
further remarks, "to turn my back upon the golden future which my
invention would give to Mary and me; but I must win her, golden future
or not. I sat before my study fire, and planned out my future actions.
As soon as I could see Mary alone I would tell her my love, and I would
explain to her why I had not spoken when I first saw her. But in order
to do this I should have to be very careful. I would say nothing but the
truth, but I would be very guarded in telling that truth. She must not
imagine that anything she had said had made me speak. She must not
imagine that I thought she expected me to speak.

"I would begin by asking her pardon for worrying her with my invention
when I knew she disliked problematic mechanics. Then I would tell her,
in as few words as possible, that I had expected this little instrument
to give me fame and fortune, and therefore I wanted her to know all
about it; and then, before she could ask me why I wanted her to know
this, I would tell her it was because I wished to lay that fame and
fortune at her feet. After that, in the best way my ardent feelings
should dictate, I would offer myself to her without fortune, without
fame, just the plain John Howard who loved her with all his heart. If
she accepted me, I would tell her