Josephine Chase

“ Leila nodded slowly. “Seeing this crowd of girls today brought back memory of the Sans. In this Miss Norris I saw myself again, leading my crowd, and behaving like a villain. You know what a lot of trouble I managed to stir up, at the Hall, and on the campus. I have a hunch that history is going to repeat itself; not on the campus. The battle for democracy has been fought and won there, thanks to Marjorie and you girls who stood by her so faithfully. Here at the Hall—look out.” Leslie laughed in her odd noiseless way. ”

“ Miss Susanna had never spoken of it to her, and Marjorie had delicately forborne making any inquiry to Miss Hamilton concerning it.
“It’s just as he left it.” Miss Susanna’s brisk tones had softened. She and Marjorie were gazing into the interior of the now open bookcase at the orderly disorder of the overcrowded shelves. There were books, thick and thin, large and small, even to tininess, leather and cloth bindings, standing in uneven rows upon the dusty shelves. On top of the rows were yet 172more books, in little piles of twos and threes, a true sign of an ardent book lover. ”

“ I cannot write plays, and it is all I can do to manage my own affairs.’ ‘Be aisy,’ I said with a fine touch of brogue. ‘You are not my idea of either.’ ‘Thank goodness,’ she said, not at all peevish. ‘I feel that I was intended to be a playwright,’ I said. ‘I am that temperamental!’ ‘Something like that,’ she said. ‘I have no genius for managing,’ I confessed. ‘I cannot contradict you,’ said Midget. ‘You had best turn that delicate little job over to someone else who has.’”
Leila paused. Her genial smile flashed broadly into evidence. Her eyes strayed inquiringly to Marjorie. ”

“ Leslie answered rather brusquely.
“But you must know most of the students at Hamilton,” came insistently from the other girl.
“I know the majority of the students at Wayland Hall, but, with the exception of a few friends, such as Miss Harper and Miss Mason, I know little of their personal affairs, or financial circumstances. The social side of Hamilton is delightful, at the same time, it is decidedly democratic. Cleverness, and initiative, count for more at Hamilton than does money.” ”

“ It’s so perfect”—Marjorie paused—“as perfect as love. It’s true love’s own symbol.”
“True love,” Jerry repeated musingly. “I never dreamed for a minute when Danny and I used to squabble and play jokes on each other as high school pals that I’d ever love him enough to marry him. You know I always said I was never never going to be married.” For a moment she bent her face over the mass of exquisite white blooms, hiding it from view. She presently raised it from the bouquet with: “Times have certainly changed, Beanie. They certainly have changed.” ”

“ Jerry, by asking me to be one of her bridesmaids, and Leila, by asking me to be business manager of the Playhouse. I’m beginning to feel at home with Leila, but with Jerry, somehow, it seems almost as though there was a barrier still standing between us. I get it dimly that she hasn’t, perhaps, ever forgiven me for the contemptible things I once tried to put over on you. I felt really pleased with myself about this car business, until I began thinking that she might not be pleased at all. You understand what I mean. It’s hard to try to explain.” Leslie fixed suddenly somber eyes upon Marjorie. ”

“ Lucy made vigorous protest. “Oh, there’s Miss Archer.” She bolted from the group with heightened color for a point across the hall where the principal of the Sanford High School stood talking with Mrs. Dean. A subdued ripple of merriment followed her escape from further teasing on Leila’s part. It was privately conceded among her Hamilton chums that President Matthews’ son was in love with Lucy. Whether, or not, Lucy cared for him was a matter for cogitation among them. Never by word or sign had she betrayed, even to Marjorie, anything other than an ordinary friendly interest in the young man. ”

“ She stepped forward a little, standing between the diminutive freshman and the row of silent dominos. “My dear Miss Ogden,” she began, “it has long been the custom in almost every college for the unjust to persecute the just. You have been summoned here tonight by a certain group of girls who have yet to learn how to live, or how to let others live.” ”

“ Miss Ogden subsided meekly, her black eyes fixed hopefully upon Leslie.
Leslie began a thoughtful survey of the room, her glance roving from one to another of its luxurious appointments. “The chaise longue will have to go. I’ll give it to Miss Remson,” was her mental decision. “She’ll have to have a day bed like mine, and a chiffonier. I won’t give up my color scheme, though I am giving up half my room. Good-bye to a happy life. Hard luck, Cairns II. The dress closet’s large, thank goodness. I can get along with half of it. We can use the same dressing table. Hope she hasn’t the mirror habit.” ”

“ Down the platform toward the astonished trio of post-graduates the diminutive figure of a girl was advancing at a brisk walk. Dressed in a pleated frock of bright green pongee which missed her knees by at least an inch, a close-fitting green hemp hat pulled down over her ears, she came on, confidently, surveying the three Hamilton girls with a pair of bright, jet-black eyes.
“Good afternoon,” she saluted with an air of calm assurance. Her bright, bird-like eyes continued to rove from one to another of the three post-graduates. “You are upper-class students, aren’t you? ”

“ Leslie nodded. “Frankly, Marjorie, that New York freshie crowd bores me silly. So does Jewel Marie, at times. But she’s of the people, all democrat underneath her ridiculous idea of caste. I can see where I’m going to run into trouble if I don’t watch my step while trying to win over a bunch of girls that she’s down on. Just the same, Mrs. Macy,” Leslie purposely took on Jerry’s matter-of-fact tone, “it will have to be done. Yes siree; it will have to be done, and it’s up to Cairns II to tackle it, and get away with it.” ”

“ Miss Remson looked up smilingly from the cloth-bound, ledger-like book over which she had been poring. Leslie recognized it at a glance as the manager’s “Room” book. In it she kept a register of the names of students living at the Hall, together with the numbers of the rooms and such other data as her position of manager demanded.
“I am sorry for that little Miss Ogden, Leslie,” she began in low tones as Leslie sat down in a chair near her. “She seems nothing but a child, in spite of her self-assertive manner. ”

“ Fixing her eyes upon the latter with a certain ridiculous expression which always made Lucy giggle, she said: “Luciferous Warniferous, you are positively stunning. You are enchanting, imposing, arresting, resplendent—wait a minute till I think up a few more glowing terms. Oh, yes, you are celostrous, Luciferous, absolutely and undeniably celostrous—and that lets you out. Be very very careful of yourself this evening. Some worshipping young man may fall hard for you, and try to kidnap you.”
60“Oh-h, Jeremiah Macy,” Lucy brandished her bouquet at Jerry, laughing, but looking half vexed. ”

“ She was a faithful satellite of Stephanie’s, far more in harmony with the latter’s high-handed methods than was Laura. “I’ve written to Mother to send me the program. It was so artistic I kept it as a Paris souvenir. I know I’m right about it,” she finished emphatically.
“A common trapeze performer,” Arline Redmond said with infinite disdain. “That is the limit. No wonder she behaved like a wild cat to you at the frolic, Steve. She certainly doesn’t belong at Hamilton. There are colleges, of course, suited to such ambitious persons.” ”

“ She looked up triumphantly from the book, then read, “‘Have decided to offer the fifty-thousand conditional gift to Hamilton through the medium of “the one who may arise” in my college. I shall ask Norris to handle the matter for me. I can rely upon him for integrity, and at the same time be of financial service to him since he is hard put at present in his law business. I shall go to his office to talk things over with him tomorrow.’”
“This little book is a precious find to me, girls.” Miss Hamilton’s hands were trembling with the excitement of what she had just read. ”

“ A “QUEER CATCH” “And from today on we shall be driven slaves, bound by the order of good-intentioned Travelers to the ill-fare and welfare of Hamilton,” Leila Harper proclaimed dramatically to Leslie Cairns as she entered Room 15 at Wayland Hall in answer to Leslie’s call of “Come.”
“I can stand it if you can,” Leslie returned imperturbably as she gave a final pat to her smartly-coiffed head and viewed the effect with commendable satisfaction. “Thanks to a permanent wave. I’m not quite so ugly as I used to be,” she told Leila with a half sardonic smile. ”

“ Marjorie shook her head gravely. “No one deserves to be happier than you and Danny are going to be. You two just simply drifted beautifully into love. There haven’t been any misunderstandings, or heartaches, in your romance. It’s been ideal.”
“That’s so.” Jerry considered Marjorie’s assertion with a half embarrassed flush. It was the witching, intimate hour for confidences between the chums. “I guess we began to miss each other a lot at about the same time. I missed Danny dreadfully during my senior year at Hamilton. ”

“ He had heard a good deal about Marjorie as a shining light at Hamilton, but he believed his daughter might go her one better. It took time and patience to get these unlovely facts from him, but I persevered with him and got them. He understands that his position is serious. He is willing to make any amend he can, financial or other, because of his love for his daughter. He wishes her never to know that he has been other than above reproach. You have the facts. What shall you do about him, Miss Susanna? ”

“ Jerry made blunt response. “I mean, not until that summer we were at Severn Beach.” Jerry became silent, an absent gleam springing into her merry blue eyes. “And I’m going home day after tomorrow to get ready to be married to Dan-yell,” she suddenly broke out with a half humorous inflection. “Can you beat that?”
“No, I can’t.” Marjorie shook a smiling head. “I think it’s——”
“There’s the mail man!” Jerry sang out, the absent gleam in her eyes changing to one of eager expectation. “Come on.” She sprang up from her chair, and ran down the steps, waving a beckoning arm to Marjorie. ”

“ I’d rather stand aside in favor of the unmarried girls,” Marjorie said simply. “Let me see. You’re going to have Leila, Vera, Leslie, Lucy, Helen Trent and Robin Page as your bridesmaids.” She wrinkled her dark brows in a reflective frown. After a moment’s silence she spoke: “Jerry, why don’t you have Lucy as your maid of honor? Next to the Big Six, she’s 20really nearest to us all. It would make her wonderfully happy.”
“Luciferous?” Jerry eyed Marjorie with a contemplative squint. “I never thought of her. I was thinking just this minute that I might ask Helen Trent to take Muriel’s place. ”

“ Vera was already bowing Delia back into her rocker. “Stay seated most magnificent and highly-esteemed Delia,” she directed grandly.
“Te, he, he,” Delia chuckled at the flowery encomium.
“Oh, Delia! I forgot you’d never before met Leslie. This is Leslie Cairns, Delia. Leslie shake hands with Delia.” Marjorie gaily performed the introduction. “Leslie is going to be our neighbor at Carden Hedge, at Christmas, Delia. Won’t that be fine?”
“It will,” Delia nodded, all smiles. “The more of Miss Marjorie’s friends that come to live near her, the better it is for her. ”

“ Leila and Vera immediately began to busy themselves with the preparation of a spread, leaving Marjorie and Leslie to the discussion which had seemingly narrowed down to they two.
“This crowd of Miss Norris’s are doing their level best to upset the democratic peace of Wayland Hall,” Leslie said emphatically. “They can’t possibly win in the long run, but they can keep things here disagreeably stirred up, perhaps all year, unless their activities are nipped in the bud. Last year Muriel’s show turned the tide in my favor when Miss Ferguson and Dulcie Vale tried to down me. ”

“ Marjorie glanced from Leila to Leslie with twinkling eyes.
“We are but poor playhouse managers, and, at that, far from marvelous. It is one thing to manage mummers, in a make-believe drama. They are pleased to be managed. But to attempt to manage freshies, in a real drama, who have no taste for being managed, is quite another.” Leslie made a deprecatory gesture. “These New York freshies, Beauty, are an innovation 200at Hamilton. They are a gay, noisy set in their rooms, going back and forth to them through their end of the hall with plenty of laughter and commotion. ”

“ Leslie earnestly petitioned.
“Peter? I never once thought of him!” Miss Susanna exclaimed, brightening visibly. “He’s the very man I need to help me. I should be eternally grateful to him, if he would.”
“He will,” Leslie promised.
“There’s more to this than appears on the surface.” Miss Hamilton’s lips set themselves in severe line. “Granted we find the secret drawer, the finding of the data relating to the honor fund may only serve to prove treachery to his trust on Lawyer Norris’s part. ”

“ They are sober, quiet, good-living people who are obliged to take the best possible care of themselves so as always to be in good physical trim for their work, which is generally dangerous. I’m not ashamed of my circus life, or of my circus friends. It’s not that.” She shook her black head almost vehemently. “It’s only that I’ve said good-bye to that life. I shall never again do professional trapeze work. Entering Hamilton is the beginning of my new life. I want to be like the girls are who come from aristocratic families. I’m not. I understood that much soon after I’d entered Warburton. ”

“ The courteous dignity of Leila’s tone checked the other’s discourteous speech midway in utterance. “We are post-graduates, and live at Wayland Hall, one of the campus houses. We are always glad to be of service, when we may, to entering freshmen. You have evidently made a mistake regarding Hamilton Hall. Perhaps we can help you.”
“Yes; I’ve made a stupid mistake.” The freshman pettishly shrugged her slim, green-clad shoulders. She made no effort at explaining her mistake to the nonplussed trio of would-be helpers. ”