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CHAPTER VII.

In which Professor Higginson goes on tasting them.

Professor Higginson was glad to get back to his lodgings on that Thursday night; he was beginning to feel the weariness of the Lion.

I will not deny that some vanity had arisen in him, for he felt the approach of a little local fame. Now vanity, especially when it is connected with the approach of a little local fame, is not good for Professors, even in this world; for their chances in the next it is fatal. It is a foible only too acceptable as an instrument to the Enemy of Souls.

Full of this vague sensation of well-being, it was a shock to Professor Higginson to find Geoge Babcock waiting for him in his rooms.

Hidden in the right-hand pocket of George Babcock's coat was the letter. It was not type-written. It was a familiar letter. It was