"That's true, Dora. I wish I were rich enough to send you myself. But school teachers are not wealthy, you know."
"Oh, I don't want anybody to give me the money, Uncle John. I want to earn it. Don't you know of something that's more profitable than berry-picking?"
"I'll think about it, Dora."
This conversation took place in 1878, when Dora's Uncle John, who was a high school principal in New Jersey, was spending his Christmas vacation at Dora's home in a little village on the Maine coast. Nothing more was said about the college money then; but when Uncle John came again in February, he showed that he had interested himself in the ambitious plans of his little niece.
Wellesley College in 1886.
"Dora," he inquired, "do you want to go to college as much as ever?"
"Yes, more, Uncle John. Have you thought of anything for me to do this summer?"
"I know something you can do, Dora, if you want to."
"Oh, Uncle John, what is it?"