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 "Do you intend to go out West again, Mr. Hart?" she began,—"after your graduation, I mean, of course."

"I've been thinking that I would never be graduated at all," was the return.

"Goodness me!" exclaimed Mrs. Bliss, raising her eyebrows, "why this determination?"

Hart paused before replying.

"I 've been going over it all," he said at last, "and I think I may be happier if I go back right away."

"You must have some strong reason," Mrs. Bliss suggested, becoming intensely interested.

"Yes, perhaps I have. I don't mean 'perhaps'—I have a strong reason."

For an instant Hart was tempted to unbosom himself, and tell all about Mabel, but he was deterred from this by the entrance of the rest of the family, and they went in to dinner.

The glimpse of the delightful home surroundings and the affection that the Bliss family had for one another was comforting to Hart, and the way they received him into their circle put him at his ease. The conversation at dessert took a turn, however, that threw him into a peculiar mood. They were talking of some