shoulders. 'The female cerebrum averages two ounces less in weight than the male. No doubt there are exceptions. Nature is always elastic.'
'But the heaviest thing is not always the strongest,' said Mrs. O'James, laughing. 'Isn't there a law of compensation in science? May we not hope to make up in quality for what we lack in quantity?'
'I think not,' remarked the Professor, gravely. 'But there is your luncheon-gong. No, thank you, Mrs. Esdaile, I cannot stay. My carriage is waiting. Good-bye. Good-bye, Mrs. O'James.'
He raised his hat and stalked slowly away among the laurel bushes.
'He has no taste,' said Mrs. Esdaile—'no eye for beauty.'
'On the contrary,' Mrs. O'James answered, with a saucy little jerk of the chin. 'He has just asked me to be his wife.'
As Professor Ainslie Grey ascended the steps of his house, the hall-door opened and a dapper gentleman stepped briskly out. He was somewhat sallow in the face, with dark, beady eyes, and a short, black beard with an aggressive bristle. Thought and work had left their traces
