DAVE decided, two days later, to see no more of Fidelia Netley. Of course it was impossible for him literally to carry out this decision; for as long as he stayed in college, and she did, he was certain to meet her, not only daily, but; probably several times a day.
What he meant was that he would not seek her but I would avoid her as much as possible; and he would put her out of his mind.
He succeeded in this to the extent that he refrained from meeting her on the walks, when she was bound in the same direction as himself, but he spoke to her in the college halls and every morning he spent the hour from eleven to twelve in her splendid presence.
She did not always sit in the shaft of the sun; and frequently the sun did not shine, but she always gave him a sensation of splendor of color and of strength.
He forbade himself to glance often at her but it did no good to forbid himself to think about her; he could not help it. Although he kept up his habit of taking notes on the lecture, he did it only mechanically and seldom knew what he was writing. He could not keep his mind on Danton, Robespierre or even Marie Antoinette with Fidelia Netley nearly at his side.
He tried the alternative of thinking about Alice, who was nearer than Fidelia, but this was only more dis-
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