THE PROFESSOR'S COURTSHIP.
"What a guy!"
The busy day at Macy's was over. Troops of young women passed through
the doors, in street costume, and laughing and chatting, made their way
up or down Sixth Avenue, or turned into Twenty-third street. Among them
was Ruth Canby, and it was to her that her friend Maria Stevenson
addressed the above exclamation.
Ruth turned to observe the figure indicated by her friend, and was
almost speechless with surprise.
At the corner leaning against the lamppost was a figure she knew well.
The rusty overcoat with its amplitude of cape, the brown crushed hat,
the weather-beaten face, and the green goggles were unmistakable. It was
Prof. Poppendorf. He was peering in his short-sighted way at the young
women emerging from the great store with an inquiring gaze. Suddenly his
eyes brightened. He had found the object of his search.
"Mees Ruth!" he exclaimed, stepping forward briskly, "I haf come to walk
home with you."
Ruth looked confused and almost distressed. She would gladly have found
some excuse to avoid the walk but could think of none.
"Maria!" she said, hurriedly, "it is an old friend of the family. I
shall have to leave you."
Her friend looked at the rusty figure in amazement.
"Oh, well, Ruth," she said, "we will meet to-morrow. So long!"
This was not perhaps the way in which a Fifth Avenue maiden would have
parted from her friend, but Maria Stevenson was a free and easy young
woman, of excellent heart and various good qualities, but lacking the
social veneering to be met with in a different class of society.
"How provoking!" thought Ruth, as she reluctantly took her place beside
the Professor, who, unlike herself, seemed in the best of spirits.
"I haf waited here a quarter of an hour to meet you, Mees Ruth," he
said.
"I wish you hadn't," thought Ruth, but she only said, "I am sorry to
have put you to so much trouble."
"It was no trouble, I assure you, Mees Ruth," said her elderly companion
in as genial a tone as his bass voice could assume.
"Let us cross the street," suggested Ruth.
She wished as soon as possible to get out of sight of her shop
companions, who were sure to tease her the next day.
"With all my heart," said the Professor. "I should wish to be more
alone."
They crossed Sixth Avenue, and walked down on the west side. Ruth was
wondering all the while what on earth could have induced the Professor
to take such pains to offer her his escort. She did not have long to
wait.
"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."
"True! you are much younger, but no young man would love you so fondly."
"I don't know," said Ruth.
"Perhaps you think I am poor, but it is not so. I haf a good income, and
I haf just been appointed to gif lectures on philosophy in Miss Green's
school on Madison Avenue. We will take a nice flat. I will furnish it
well, and we will haf a happy home."
"Thank you very much, Prof. Poppendorf," said Ruth, hurriedly. "Indeed
I feel complimented that such a learned man and great scholar should
wish to marry me, but I am only a simple girl--I have not much
education--and I should not make a suitable wife for you."
"Do not think of that, Mees Ruth. I will teach you myself. I will teach
you Latin and Greek, and Sanscrit, if you please. I will read my
lectures on philosophy to you, and I will make you '_une femme
savante_,' so that you can talk with my brother Professors who will come
to see me. You can cook, can you not, Mees Ruth?"
"Yes, I know how to cook, but--"
"Ah, that is well," said the Professor, in a tone of satisfaction. "All
the German ladies can cook. Frau von Bismarck, the wife of my old
friend, is an excellent cook. I haf dined at Bismarck's house."
"But," said Ruth, firmly, "I can not think of becoming your wife, Prof.
Poppendorf."
"Ach, so!" said the Professor, in a tone of disappointment. "Do not make
such a mistake, my dear Mees Ruth. Is it nothing to become Mrs.
Professor Poppendorf. You will take a good place in society. For I
assure you that I am well known among scholars. I am now busy on a great
work on philosophy, which will extend my fame. I will make you proud of
your husband."
"Indeed, Prof. Poppendorf, I do not doubt your learning or your fame,
but I can not marry a man old enough to be my grandfather."
"So, I am not so sure about that. I am old enough to be your father,
but--"
"Never mind! We will not argue the point. I hope you will say no more. I
can not marry you."
"Ah! is there another? Haf I a rival?" demanded the Professor, frowning
fiercely. "It is that Dr. Fenwick?"
"No, it is not."
"I do not think he would care to marry you."
"And I don't want to marry him, though I think him a very nice young
gentleman."
"Who is it, then?"
"If you must know," said Ruth, pettishly, "it is that young man who took
supper with us not long ago."
"The young man from the country?"
"Yes."
"But what do you see in him, Mees Ruth. He is a _yokel_."
"A what?"
"He is a very worthy young man, I do not doubt, but what does he know?
He is a farmer, is he not, with no ideas beyond his paternal acres?"
"Prof. Poppendorf, I will not have you speak so of my Stephen," said
Ruth, while a wave of anger passed over her face.
"Ah, that is his name. Stephen. Pardon, Mees Ruth! I do not wish to say
anything against this rural young man, but he will never give you the
position which I offer you."
"Perhaps not, but I like him better."
"Ach, so. Then is my dream at an end; I did hope to have you for my
frau, and haf a happy home and a loving companion in my declining
years."
His tone seemed so mournful that Ruth was touched with pity and remorse.
"Prof. Poppendorf," she said, gently, "you must not be too much
disappointed. There are many who would appreciate the honor of marrying
you. Why do you not ask Mrs. Wyman?"
"She is a butterfly--a flirt. I would not marry her if there were no
other woman living."
The young woman from Macy's quite agreed with the Professor, and it was
not without satisfaction that she heard him express himself in this
manner.
"Well," she continued, "then there is Miss Blagden. She is of a more
suitable age."
"The Disagreeable Woman. What do you take me for, Mees Ruth? She is too
strong-minded."
"Perhaps so, but I am sure she has a kind heart."
"I should never be happy with her--never!" said the Professor,
decidedly.
"Were you ever married, Professor?" asked Ruth with sudden curiosity.
"Yes, I was married when I was thirty--but my Gretchen only lived two
years. I haf mourned for her more than thirty years."
"You have waited a long time, Professor."
"Yes; till I saw you, Mees Ruth, I never haf seen the woman I wanted to
marry. Perhaps," he added with sudden hope, "this young man, Stephen,
does not wish to marry you."
"He will be only too glad," said Ruth, tossing her head. "He offered
himself to me a year ago."
"Then there is no hope for me?"
"None at all, Professor."
They had reached Waverley Place, and so there was no time for further
conversation. As they came up the stoop Mrs. Wyman saw them through the
window. She was in waiting in the hall.
"Have you had a nice walk _together_?" she purred.
"How I hate that woman!" said Ruth to herself.
She ran up stairs and prepared for supper.