“Well, I’ve heard a few things. I tell you, there must be plenty of athletics to make school or college life interesting.”
“Athletics? My dear boy, didn’t you see the big gym at Oak Knowe? Not a day passed but we girls performed our little feats on rings and bars, and as for games in the open air, Oak Knowe abounds with them. Look at me! Did you ever see a more rugged picture of health?”
“You seem to be in good condition, all right,” Jim confessed.
“Seem to be? I am,” corrected Dorothy.
“Well, just as you say. I won’t argue the point. I’m very glad to know you’ve become interested in athletics. That’s one good thing Miss Muriel Tross-Kingdon has done for you, anyway.”
“Jim, I don’t like your tone. Do you mean to insinuate that otherwise my course at Oak Knowe has been a failure?”
“No, no, Dorothy; you misunderstood me. You’ve benefited greatly, no doubt—at least, you’ve upheld the honor of the United States in a school almost filled with English girls. And that’s something to be proud of.”
“Not all were English, Jim. Of course, Gwendolyn Borst-Kennard and her chum, Laura Griswold, were members of the peerage. But the majority of the girls were just everyday folks like you and I have been used to associating with all our lives. Even Millikins-Pillikins was more like an American than an English girl.”
“‘Millikins-Pillikins’!” sniffed Jim. “What a name to burden a girl with!”