I wanted to congratulate the lady, but Jacobi said that would do later on; his sister wished the engagement to be kept quiet, she had not been a widow for many weeks, and so on; so of course I took my cue.

I am bound to say that Miss Jacobi seemed in unusually good spirits." "And this is all you have to tell me ?" asked Malcolm hurriedly.
"Well, now, I call that ungrateful, Colonel," with a droll look at his host; "here I have been talking myself dry for the last hour." "And I am infinitely obliged to you," returned Malcolm, trying to smile.

"The question is what are we to do next--there seems no time to be lost." And then, before any one could speak, he added, "I think it would be best for me to go down to Oxford at once." And as they all agreed that this would be the wisest course to pursue, Malcolm settled to go down by an early afternoon train.
They went out on the terrace after this, and Hugh Rossiter entertained them with a description of his adventures in Colorado, to which Malcolm listened some-what absently; but once, when Colonel Godfrey had left them for a moment together, the American broke off his story rather suddenly.
"Look here, Mr.Herrick," he said quickly, "I want to give you a straight tip.

If the youngster will not listen to reason, and you find yourself in a fix, just talk to the girl herself." "To Miss Jacobi ?" for he was naturally surprised at this piece of advice.
"Yes, to the fair Leah herself.

Oh, the girl is not so bad, considering her antecedents and the way she has been educated.