“It is better to put aside all bitterness—the war was a terrible thing, and there were mistakes on both sides, and now that peace has been restored, it is far better to let by-gones be by-gones. Have your parents ever been North?” Gladys tried to speak in a general and unconscious way, but it was very hard with those admiring eyes fixed so earnestly upon her. “No; they have been in Europe, and my father has been on the Pacific coast several times, but they have yet to visit this portion of the country.” “Without doubt, then, they will improve the opportunity to do so when you leave college. It would be natural for them to desire to be present when you take your honors.” “Those will be very few, I fear,” young Mapleson replied, with a flush. “I am not a good student.” He did not love study, although he was quick to learn, and brilliant in recitation, when he chose to apply himself. “I do not believe you really mean that,” Gladys said. She could not believe that anybody could be a poor student who so closely resembled Geoffrey, who excelled. She imagined that he must be like him mentally as well as physically. “Do you think it pays to get a reputation for good scholarship?” he asked. “Perhaps not the reputation alone, but the knowledge pays. If I was a college boy I believe I should strive to attain the top round of the ladder.” “It is not every one who can do that.” “True, but every one can at least try to excel, and even if one does not, he has the satisfaction of knowing that he has done his best.” “Are you going to be first in your class at Vassar, Miss Huntress?” Everet Mapleson asked, studying her eager face earnestly. Gladys flushed again, and laughed. “I am doing my utmost, Mr. Mapleson, to come forth from my school an honor to my class; and Geoffrey is bending all his energies toward the same object; indeed, I surmise that he is trying to gain a year, by his being so zealous for study during the recesses.” A startled look shot into Everet Mapleson’s eyes. If Geoffrey Huntress did gain a year he would graduate at the same time with himself, and the thought was anything but pleasant to him. “He will have to be very smart to do that,” he said, with a skeptical curve of his lips. “Geoffrey is smart; he has achieved wonders during the last few years, and I predict for him a brilliant college career. I am very proud of him.” The beautiful girl’s face glowed, and her eyes gleamed as she said this, while her glance rested more fondly than she was aware, on the manly form that was standing beside his hostess, quietly conversing with her while they watched the dancers. Her companion was so nettled by this, that for a moment he could not control his voice to reply. “I should judge that the young man must be a prodigy,” he said, at length, with a covert sneer. Gladys lifted her eyes searchingly to his face. His tone was not pleasant to her, but he looked as innocent as if he had spoken in all sincerity.