"I haf something very particular to say to you, Mees Ruth," said the Professor, gazing fondly at her through his green goggles.
"Indeed!" returned Ruth, in great surprise.
"Yes, Mees Ruth, I haf been feeling very lonely. I am tired of living at a boarding-house. I wish to have a home of my own. Will you marry me? Will you be my frau—I mean my wife?"
Ruth Canby stopped short. She was "like to drop," as she afterwards expressed it.
"Marry you!" she repeated, in a dazed way.
"Yes, Mees Ruth, dear Mees Ruth, I want you to be my wife."
"But, Professor, I could never think of marrying a man so——" old she was about to add, but she feared it would hurt the Professor's feelings.
"I know what you would say, Mees Ruth. You think I am too old. But I am strong. See here!" and he smote his large breast vigorously. "I am sound, and I shall live many years. My father lived till eighty-five, and I am only sixty-five."
"I am only twenty."