invasion of the asparagus beds at the foot of the garden.  But the vicar was too practical a man to waste time in speculating upon the occult relations of seemingly disconnected facts.  He applied himself with diligence to the work of preparing John Short to compete for the minor scholarship.  The labour was congenial.  He had never taken a pupil so far before, and it was a genuine delight to him to bring his own real powers into play at last.  As the summer wore on, he predicted all manner of success for John Short, and his predictions were destined before long to be realised, for John did all he promised to do and more also.  To have succeeded in pushing the Honourable Cornelius through his entrance examination was a triumph indeed, but an uninteresting one at best, and one which had no further consequences.  But to be the means of turning out the senior classic of the University was an honour which would not only greatly increase the good vicar’s reputation but would be to him a source of the keenest satisfaction during the remainder of his life; moreover the prospects which would be immediately opened to John in case he obtained such a brilliant success would be a very material benefit to his unlucky father, whose talents yielded him but a precarious livelihood and whose pitiable condition had induced his old schoolfellow to undertake the education of his son.

Much depended upon John’s obtaining one or more scholarships during his career at college.  To a man of inferior talents the vicar would have suggested that it would be wiser to go to a smaller college than Trinity where he would have less competition to expect; but as soon as he realised John’s powers, he made up his mind that it would be precisely where competition was hottest that his pupil would have the greatest success.  He would get something—­perhaps his father would make a little more money—­the vicar even dreamed of lending John a small sum—­something would turn up; at all events he must go to the largest college and do everything in the best possible way.  Meanwhile he must work as hard as he could during the few months remaining before the beginning of his first term.

Whether the lady ever wrote to Mr. Ambrose, John could not ascertain; she was never mentioned at the vicarage, and it seemed as though the mystery were never to be solved.  But the impression she had made upon the young man’s mind remained and even gained strength by the working of his imagination; for he thought of her night and day, treasuring up every memory of her that he could recall, building romances in his mind, conceiving the most ingenious reasons for the solitary visit she had made to the vicarage, and inwardly vowing that if ever he should be at liberty to follow his own inclinations he would go out into the world and search for her.  He was only eighteen then, and of a strongly susceptible temperament.  He had seen nothing of the world, for even when living in London, in a dingy lodging, with his father, he