ry quiet, until he sent me North to
school last fall."

"You're so well now you'll be going about a lot. Any young people in the
house with you? It's a boarding-house, isn't it?"

"Yes, a small one. There are no young people in it except Mrs.
Livingstone's son."

"How old a fellow?"

"Twenty-one, I believe."

"I suppose you're great friends with him?" said Jeff suspiciously.

Evelyn looked at him quickly and laughed, flushing a little. "Why, we're
naturally very good friends," she said.

"Evelyn," said Jeff, sitting up straight again, "I'm absolutely bursting
to tell you some news, and I can't seem to lead up to it. I've got to
bring it out flat. The only thing I'm anxious about is whether it's
going to be as good news to you as it is to me."

She looked at him with a quickening of her pulses, his expression had
become so very eager. "Please don't keep me in suspense," she begged.

"Well"--Jeff did his best to speak coolly, as if the matter were really
of no great importance, after all--"you know it's been a question with
me all along as to just what I was going to do when I got out of
college. I wanted tremendously to get to work, and a lot of the usual
things didn't seem to appeal to me at all. I haven't enough of a
scientific turn to go into any of the engineering courses. I didn't care
for a mercantile berth. In fact, while my brother Lanse has had his
future cut out for him since he was fourteen, and Just, at sixteen, is
body and soul in for electrical engineering, I've been the family
problem. Father's had the sense not to assert his wishes for a moment.
He saw from the start, I suppose, that the family traditions were not
for me--I could never begin by studying law and end by wearing the
ermine, as a lot of my grandfathers and uncles have done. So--"

Jeff paused and drew a long breath. He had been looking off down the
river as he talked, but now he brought his eyes back to Evelyn's face,
and his spirits leaped exultantly as he saw with what eager attention
she was listening.

"You really care to hear all this, don't you?" he asked, happily, and
went on before she could do more than nod. "Well, the short of it is
that through Doctor Forester I got to know a friend of his who is a
railroad magnate--the real thing--and to please the doctor he seemed to
take an interest in me. He's offered me a position in one of his
offices, provided I take a year to study practical railroading first. Of
course I'm on