ut as pretty as a girl may grow to be,
and sometimes they grow that way amazingly. She was clever, too, and
good, and Professor Morgan had not known her for half a year when it was
all up with him. It became essential for his permanent welfare, mental,
moral and physical, that this particular young woman should be his, to
have and to hold, and he did not deny the fact to himself at all.
Without going into detail, it may be added that he did not deny the fact
to her, either, and so exerted himself and improved his opportunities
that before much time elapsed he had secured a strong ally in his
designs. This ally was the young lady herself, and it will be admitted
that Professor Morgan had thus made a fair beginning. But all was not to
be easy for the pair, however faithful or resolved they were.

College professors generally are not much addicted to either the
accumulation or the love of money, but Professor Macadam was rather an
exception to the rule. Sixty years of age, noted as a great
mathematician and astronomer, he had long had a good income from his
teaching and his books, and had hoarded and made good investments, and
was a rich man. Lee, being an only child, was in fair way some day of
coming into a fortune, and her father was resolved that it should not go
to any poor man. He had often expressed his opinion on this subject; it
was well known to the lovers, but this did not prevent Professor
Morgan, who was just beginning and had only a fair salary with no
surplus, from asking the old man for his daughter.

The interview was not a long one, but there was a good deal of low
barometer and high temperature to it, meteorologically speaking.
Professor Macadam fumed, and flatly declined to consider the subject of
such an alliance. "It is absurd!" he said. "What would you live on?"

Professor Morgan intimated that two people might sustain themselves in a
modest way on the salary he was getting.

"Nonsense, sir! Nonsense!" was the retort. "My daughter has been
accustomed to a better style of living than you could afford her, and I
decline to consider the proposition for a moment. You're in no condition
to support a wife, sir! Figures do not lie, sir! Figures do not lie!"

Professor Morgan suggested that figures sometimes did give a wrong
impression.

"Then it is because they are used by an incompetent person. I am
surprised that you, sir, assistant professor of astronomy in a great
institution of learning, should a