under the apple-boughs, could not wholly banish a tendency to give a
scientific cast to the mood and fancies of the hour.

His aunt now summoned him to the supper-room, where he was formally
introduced to Miss Grace St. John, with whom his first meal under his
relative's roof was destined to be taken.

As may naturally be supposed, Graham was not well furnished with small
talk, and while he had not the proverbial shyness and awkwardness of
the student, he was somewhat silent because he knew not what to say.
The young guest was entirely at her ease, and her familiarity with the
hostess enabled her to chat freely and naturally on topics of mutual
interest, thus giving Graham time for those observations to which all
are inclined when meeting one who has taken a sudden and strong hold
upon the attention.

He speedily concluded that she could not be less than nineteen or
twenty years of age, and that she was not what he would term a society
girl--a type that he had learned to recognize from not a few
representatives of his countrywomen whom he had seen abroad, rather
than from much personal acquaintance. It should not be understood that
he had shunned society altogether, and his position had ever entitled
him to enter the best; but the young women whom it had been his
fortune to meet had failed to interest him as completely as he had
proved himself a bore to them. Their worlds were too widely separated
for mutual sympathy; and after brief excursions among the drawing-
rooms to which Hilland had usually dragged him, he returned to his
books with a deeper satisfaction and content. Would his acquaintance
with Miss St. John lead to a like result? He was watching and waiting
to see, and she had the advantage--if it was an advantage--of making a