"What would those freshmen say if they heard you making such a comparison?" said Teddy. "What shall I do with the tea-leaves, Janet?"
"Teddy's practical mind is already devoting itself to the domestic side of life," said Janet. "Chuck them in the fireplace, Ted. We'll have a fire there some day, and burn up all the trash. An open fireplace covers a multitude of sins. By the way, girls, that is another perfectly lovely way of spending our time. When it gets colder, we can cook all sorts of things over the open fire. I wish we had a crane like those our forbears used. Yes, I foresee great satisfaction from this fireplace."
"Janet has her heart's desire now," said Edna. "She has been yearning for a hearthstone ever since we first came to college. I think life ought to seem complete to her now."
Janet vouchsafed no reply but began to gather up the cups and saucers preparatory to washing them, while Cordelia and Lee declared they must get back to their rooms.
[CHAPTER XVII]
SNOWDRIFTS
This year a secret ambition of Janet's was fulfilled. She was chosen president of her class, and the honor influenced her more than she realized. While she had never been a "grind," she had kept up a fairly good record, which had improved from year to year as she grew more seriously interested in her work and as her character developed. As she, with Cordelia, Lee, and Teddy had been the leaders in fun-making during their freshman year, now Janet aspired to be leader in more solid things, and she turned zealously to her work. Cordelia followed her, a close second, Lee advanced uncertainly, while Teddy plodded along showing never as brilliant work as Lee's at her best, nor as weak as Lallie Patton's. Charity worked industriously, but as Lee said, her results were wooden. They lacked fire and originality while Lee's were sometimes startling in the latter quality.
As the cool days came on, there were many of the girls who were glad to seek the cozy rooms occupied by Janet and Teddy, and scarcely a day passed but some one appeared, glad to sit before the open fire to discuss college matters or problems of life, or to engage in nonsensical talk. There were evenings, too, when bubbling messes seethed over the coals and sent up an agreeable odor. Sometimes it was panuche or fudge, again the plainer molasses candy, while on occasions there would be a grand feast, when oysters were roasted, chops broiled, or chickens cooked by suspending them by a string in front of the fire.
Several times frat meetings were held in the rooms, and so fascinating did Teddy and Janet make their accounts of these, that finally Cordelia and Lee who had held out through the mid-year's at last entered the fraternity, and added to the jollity of the meetings.
It was one evening when the days were at their shortest, that there came a tap at the door of the room where Janet sat luxuriously toasting her feet before the blaze. She wore a crimson dressing-gown, and a pair of red Turkish slippers. Her little head with its crown of dark hair showed effectively against the olive green cushions of her Morris chair. She was so entirely comfortable and content that she hesitated to reply to the rap, feeling that any interruption of her quiet would be unwelcome.