On the grassy bank beneath a low-hanging willow tree Gale sat down to view the water and to think.
Last night they had been met at the door by a welcoming committee of two Juniors. She remembered her own and Phyllis’ surprise at the odd things which they saw on their journey to their room on the third floor.
Some delightful soul had christened the staircase the “Golden Stairs,” but whether they led to heaven or not the girls had not yet discovered. On the landing of the second floor was a huge poster which might have been the street sign for a Boulevard proclaiming “Senior Avenue.” On each floor the corridor was named and some of the rooms themselves had names.
Phyllis and Gale found themselves in “Sunshine Alley” but there was no name tacked upon their door.
“How come?” Phyllis wanted to know.
“You have to do something to deserve a name. Then a special committee of sorority girls gets together and selects one for you. For instance, next door to you, you have the champion swimming team of last year’s Freshman class. Their room is named ‘Mermaid Mansion.’ Get the idea?”
“Also farther up the hall is ‘Harmony Heaven,’” the other upper classman informed them. “That was so named because the girls there are forever quarreling. The name anything but fits them.”
It was a little confusing to Gale and Phyllis. They could not immediately adapt the terms for the different floors and rooms in the house. At dinner when someone asked them what floor they were on, they innocently said “Third,” and were made to run around the table three times for not using the correct title “Sunshine Alley.”
For the most part, though, the girls were friendly. The two were shown about with due ceremony and the rules carefully explained. The house mother, Mrs. Grayson, who had charge of the building was most courteous and the girls immediately liked her. Next they met the sorority president, Adele Stevens. They were at once taken under her wing.
Gale dangled the end of a willow branch in the swirling lake water. The water at this point was flowing rapidly toward a waterfall where it joined a rushing river and went on to the sea.