"Mr. Waldstricker," began Frederick, "you were so kind to my mother and so was Madelene. I'm not fit to marry your sister."
"Pshaw, boy, you're too modest!" Waldstricker laughed good-naturedly. "If she's satisfied, that's all there is to it."
Turning back to the desk, he seated himself.
"Sit down again, Fred," he continued. "Have you planned to get married immediately?"
Frederick shuddered. It seemed as if a great gulf were opening under his feet and he were about to be swallowed up.
"Well, we hadn't considered that," he hesitated embarrassedly. "Probably not for two years yet, until I get through college."
Here was a ray of hope. Lots of things could happen in two years.
"Nonsense!" was Waldstricker's prompt rejoinder. "Why should you bother with college? You'd better get married right along and go to Europe for your honeymoon. Then when you come back, take your place in my business and help me. I need some smart young fellow, and there's no sense in wasting your time at college. It isn't as though you had your own way to make."
Frederick sought to make objections to these plans, but Waldstricker impatiently got to his feet and stood looking down at the boy in the chair.
"It's settled then, isn't it? Say no more about it," he said with finality. "Run along and hunt up Madelene and tell her what I've said."