'THE HESPERIAN
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spoke to her than she had before; sho made
fewer mistakes in her experiments; the odor
of the cnemicals came to have a half roman
tic suggestion to her. Then one day sho
found herself.
Sho was working at her desk happily.
Things had gone well; her work was all up
and the assistant had spoken of the improve
ment in hor papers. Sho had cleaned up
her desk ami looked it. Now sho stood at
the hood smoothing hor hair The sliding
window made a very handy mirror agaiit
the darkness behind it When sho turned
to go she found the assistant behind hor with
a paper.
"It is a telegram" ho said "for you."
Jean read it quietly and without knowing
why held it out to him
'My mother is sick," she said with a lit
tie break in her voice "I will have to go
homo."
As sho turned away sho whispered it all
to herself with a pang of remorse:
UI euro more for him than for hor, now,
even when she is sick, my own mother."
o
When Jean came back to school in Feb
ruary to catch up as best sho could the thread
of hor year's work, sho began with a cur
ious apathy. What did sho euro about school
or lovo now, utter that awful burial Why
didn't people understand and lot hor stay at
homo to think
The first day sho wont around to hor cl.ts.es,
saw curious glances at her changed face and
black dross, received the unsnll'orablo sym
pathy of people who turned from her to
laugh about their Latin verbs. The second
day it was the same bitter round, except that
today thoro were audiblo whispoisof pitying
comment.
In the laboratory sho dreaded to take up
hor work Sho felt something of her first
fear and dislike for the assistant. Sho told
herself recklessly that she was cursed becauso
she had loved him too well. Sho hated him
now. Sho could not hour to have him come
to hor and ask hor, perhaps lightly, why she
had made her visit homo so long. Perhaps
he had not heard. Sho would toll him her
self. So sho wont to his desk when sho
came into the laboratory.
"I have come back," alio said listlessly.
"My mother died when I was home."
The assistant raised his oyes with a keen
sympathetic glance
kl had heard about it," he said gently.
With a sudden impulse he rose and
stretched out his hand to her. Just for a
moment sho felt his lingers close over her
own. He did not speak again except after
wards to tell Jean about her work. But
suddenly .lean felt the old eagerness in her
face and the old glow about her heart bhe
loved him And sho knew more; he loved
hor.
To Hilton the clasp of Joan's hand had
been a pledge. To a young girl, motherless,
to Jean, ho pledged himself, the best ho
could make of himself.
o
The rest worked itself out. Hilton could
walk homewith her from tho laboratory, not
very often, once in a long time. Ho came
one day and brought her a handful of white
wind flowers from tho prairie. Later ho
came with wild roses. The last time ho
caino in tho evening just at sunsot. Ho was
tired, he said, and wanted to talk. It was a
tall narrow house whore Jean boarded and
the sunset played little part in its atmos
phero. There was just a narrow streak of
rod light across tho carpet and even that
vanished as they talked, and loft them in
quiot dimnoss. They talked of school and
Jean's home, the work in Gorman univer
sities whero Hilton was to study for the
next three years and then just a little of the
two weeks that wore left of school.
.Joan congratulated herself, laughing, be
cause sho had but two more afternoons in
that hateful old laboratory. And Hilton
said gravely tint ho would not bo sorry when
his work as assistant was over. Ho would
not have easy wot k in Germany though Ho
would probably bo glad onough to get away
from that, too, and got back homo again.
When ho had loft tho house Joan put down
two lies in tho account book of her conscience,
one for herself and cno for the assistant.
Sho was quite snro that neither of them was
glad tho end of school had come.
On Jean's last laboratory day sho worked
silently the first part of tho afternoon. It
had boon hard work for hor to finiwh all the
experiments. Today sho had two to make
up and her ilesk to clear out, then sho would