point of your story, Judy. Who extinguished her?” ejaculated Margaret Wakefield, impatient of such slipshod methods of narration.
“How can I tell a tale when I’m interrupted by forty people at once?” exclaimed Judy. “Besides, I haven’t the gift of language like you, old suffragette.”
Margaret laughed. She was entirely good-natured over the jibes of her friends about her passion for universal suffrage.
“Well, the Beta Phi crowd of seniors,” went on Judy, “were walking across the campus in a row. I don’t suppose Miss Higgins had any way to know this soon in the game that they represented the triple extract of concentrated exclusiveness at Wellington. Anyhow, she knows it now. She came rushing up behind them and gave Rosomond a light, friendly slap on the back. If you could have seen Rosomond’s face! But Miss Higgins was entirely dense. She began something about ‘Hello, girls, have you heard the news about Prexy – ’ but she never got any further. Rosomond gave her the most freezing look I ever saw from a human eye.”
“What did she say?”
“That was it. She never said anything. Nobody said anything. Eloise Blair carries tortoise-shell lorgnettes – ”
“She doesn’t need them,” broke in Nance.
“She only does it to make herself more haughty.”
“Anyway, Eloise raised the lorgnettes.”
“Poor Miss Higgins,” cried Molly.
“There was perfect silence for about a minute. Then they all walked on, leaving little Higgins standing alone in the middle of the campus.”
“And where were you?” asked Margaret.
“Oh, I was with the seniors,” answered Judy, flushing slightly. “I had been over to Beta Phi to see Rosomond about something.”
It was impossible for Judy’s friends not to make an amiable unspoken guess as to why she had visited the Beta Phi circle. It had been evident for some time that she was working to get into the “Shakespeareans,” the most exclusive dramatic club in college. There was an awkward silence as this thought flashed through their minds. Molly felt embarrassed for her chum. After all, she was no worse than Margaret Wakefield, who had managed to get herself elected three years in succession as president of her class.
“What was the other extinguisher Miss Higgins had, Judy?” asked Molly.
“Oh, yes. That was even worse. It came from your particular friend, Professor Green. She interrupted him in the middle of a lecture with one of those unnecessary questions new girls ask to show how much they know. And then she said something about methods at Mill Town High School.”
“Really?” chorused the voices. “And what did he say?”
“He looked very much bored and replied that they were not interested in Mill Town High School, and he would be obliged if she would pay attention to the lecture. It was a public rebuke, nothing more nor less.”
“The mean thing,” exclaimed Molly.
“Now, Molly,” interposed Margaret, “you know very well that girls of that type ought to be taken down. They are never tolerated at college. A conceited boy at college is always thoroughly hazed until there’s not a drop of conceit left, and it does him good. And since we can’t haze, we simply have to extinguish a fresh freshie. Miss Higgins may develop into a very nice girl in a year or two, but at present she’s the veriest little upstart – ”
“Do be careful,” said Molly cautiously. “I’ve invited her this afternoon to drink tea – ”
“Molly Brown,” they cried, pummeling her with sofa cushions and beating her with her own slippers.
“Really, Molly, you must restrain your inviting habits,” said Judy.
“I’m sorry,” apologized poor Molly.
“Why did you do it, pray? You know perfectly well no one here wants her.”
“I know it, but I was sorry for her. She seemed so brash and lonesome at the same time. I thought it might help her some to mingle with a few fine, intelligent, well-bred girls like you – ”
“Here, here! Don’t try to get out of it that way.”
“She appears to be very learned,” continued Molly, turning her blue eyes innocently from one to the other. “I thought it would be nice to pit her against Margaret and Edith. She discusses deep subjects and uses big words I can only dimly guess the meaning of – ” There was a tap at the door. “Now, be nice, please.”
“Come in,” called Nance, in a tone of authority, and Minerva Higgins appeared in their midst.
She had done honor to the occasion by putting on a taffeta silk of indigo blue, and by pinning on some of her most conspicuous gold medals acquired at intervals during her early education.
Judy shook her head over the indigo blue.
“Only certain minds could wear it,” she thought.
Molly rose, but before she could frame a cordial greeting, the new guest was saying:
“How do you do, Molly? Awfully nice of you to ask me. You don’t mind my calling you by your first name, do you? My name is Minerva but the girls at Mill Town High School called me ‘Minnie.’ I hope you’ll do the same.”
“I shall be glad to,” answered Molly, rather taken back by this sudden intimacy.
After she had performed all necessary introductions, wicked Katherine Williams remarked:
“Minnie is a very charming name, but I insist on calling you ‘Minerva’ after the Goddess of Wisdom. She never wore gold medals, but then it wasn’t the fashion among the early Greeks.”
Minerva’s face was the picture of complacency.
“In Greece she would have been ‘Athene,’” she observed.
There was a loud clearing of throats and Judy, as usual, was seized with a violent fit of coughing.
“Sit down here, Miss Higgins – I mean Minnie,” said Molly hastily. “The tea will be ready in a minute.”
“You have been to college before, Minerva?” asked Edith Williams solemnly.
Minerva looked somewhat surprised.
“Oh, no. Not college. I am just out of High School. Mill Town High School is a very wonderful educational institution, you know. Perhaps you have heard of it. A diploma from there will admit a girl into any of the best colleges in the country. I could have gone to a private school. My father is professor of Greek at the Academy in Mill Town, but I preferred to take advantage of the high standards of the High School, which are even higher than those of the Academy.”
“I suppose your father’s taste in Greek caused him to name you Minerva,” observed Judy.
“But Minerva isn’t Greek, Julia,” admonished Katherine.
Again Molly interceded. It was cruel to make fun of the poor girl, although there was no denying that Minerva had a high opinion of herself.
“Have
