"Yes," breathed Elnora.
"That being the case," said Professor Henley, "it just occurred to me as you had expected that, you might require a little time to secure them, and you are too fine a mathematician to fall behind for want of supplies. So I telephoned one of our Sophomores to bring her last year's books this morning. I am sorry to say they are somewhat abused, but the text is all here. You can have them for two dollars, and pay when you get ready. Would you care to take them?"
Elnora sat suddenly, because she could not stand another instant. She reached both hands for the books, and said never a word. The professor was silent also.
At last Elnora arose, hugging those books to her heart as a mother grasps a lost baby.
"One thing more," said the professor. "You can pay your tuition quarterly. You need not bother about the first instalment this month. Any time in October will do."
It seemed as if Elnora's gasp of relief must have reached the soles of her brogans.
"Did any one ever tell you how beautiful you are!" she cried.
As the professor was lank, tow-haired and so near-sighted that he peered at his pupils through spectacles, no one ever had.
"No," said Professor Henley; "I've waited some time for that; for which reason I shall appreciate it all the more. Come, now, or we shall be late for opening exercises."
