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 gone to bed and the rest of the house was quiet, he leaned back in his chair, no longer able to concentrate his thoughts on his reading.

At such moments, his mind usually went to Alice; he would close his eyes and see her. To-night he tried to direct his thoughts to her but they would not go.

What he kept seeing was a shaft of the sun with a girl glorious upon the edge of it; what he felt was the lilt of her step beside him. Clearly he saw the line of her profile with her pretty, provoking nose which shortened so fascinatingly when she smiled.

He got up and suddenly realized he was not so tired; it was as if, in those moments, he had rested a long time.

The clock in old University tower boomed the twelve of midnight. Unconsciously he reckoned, "In eight hours I'll see her again." Then he came to himself.

"What's the matter with me? That was the trouble between Alice and me. I know it. She did."