Of course this was the better way; he gained in mental strength and self-reliance by it, and he accomplished more in three years than the ordinary school-boy would in six.
Aside from his pride and sensitiveness in this respect, he was ever ready and eager to be with Gladys.
Wherever she went, after school hours, he was her constant and devoted attendant, and no service was too hard or disagreeable to be performed for her.
And she enjoyed having him with her. He was outgrowing the delicate, almost effeminate look which he had had when he first came to them; an air of manliness and strength had taken its place, while there was a natural gallantry and manliness about him that made him a very agreeable escort.
Another year passed, and he made even more rapid strides in his studies than before; still it was a great trial to him that he had only completed the studies of the second year of the high school course, and Gladys was ready to graduate.
He was present at her examination, and also at the exercises of the class when it graduated, and it was evident, from his flushed cheek and glittering eye, that some bitter struggle was going on within him.
He watched the beautiful girl’s every movement, he eagerly drank in every word that she uttered, and was as proud of her as he could be, yet all the time miserably conscious of his own deficiency.
That evening he shut himself within his own room and fought a terrible battle out with his pride and wretchedness.
“I am nineteen years old, and she is seventeen,” he said, bitterly. “I am two years behind her, and I should be two years in advance—there are four years of my life lost; no, not lost, either,” he added, with sudden energy, “for I will make them up, I will gain them. Can I do six years work in four? Harder work, too, than I have ever done before? Yes, I will!”
He sat down to his table and began to look over his books, making calculations as to how much ground he could get over in a given time, while every few moments he would consult some catalogues that lay beside him.