ad thought of all possible rivals. Miss Nermal was habitually
so indifferent to young men that they had not considered her as a
possibility. They were quite surprised, to say the least, to hear her
speak more enthusiastically of Belton than any of the rest had done.
If Miss Nermal was to be their rival they were ready to abandon
the field at once, for the charms of her face, form, and mind were
irresistible when in repose; and what would they be if she became
interested in winning the heart of a young man?

When school was dismissed that afternoon Belton saw a group of
teachers walking homeward and Miss Nermal was in the group. Belton
joined them and somehow contrived to get by Miss Nermal's side. How
much she aided him by unobserved shifting of positions is not known.

All of the rest of the group lived nearer the school than did Miss
Nermal and so, when they had all dropped off at respective gates, Miss
Nermal yet had some distance to go. When Belton saw this, he was a
happy fellow. He felt that the parents of the teachers had shown such
excellent judgment in choosing places to reside. He would not have
them change for the world. He figured that he would have five evenings
of undisturbed bliss in each week walking home with Miss Nermal after
the other teachers had left.

Belton contrived to walk home with the same group each evening. The
teachers soon noticed that Miss Nermal and Belton invariably walked
together, and they managed by means of various excuses to break up the
group; and Belton had the unalloyed pleasure of escorting Miss Nermal
from the school-house door to her own front yard. Belton secured
the privilege of calling to see Miss Nermal at her residence and he
confined his social visits to her house solely.

They did not talk of love to one another, but any one who saw the
couple together could tell at a glance what was in each heart. Belton,
however, did not have the courage to approach the subject. His passion
was so intense and absorbing and filled him with so much delight that
he feared to talk on the subject so dear to his heart, for fear of
a repulse and the shattering of all the beautiful castles which his
glowing imagination, with love as the supervising architect, had
constructed. Thus matters moved along for some time; Miss Nermal
thoroughly in love with Belton, but Belton prizing that love too
highly to deem it possible for him to be the happy possessor thereof.

Belton was anxious for som