“And you never even wakened!”
A little later, two new fountain pens were busily scratching away at the first letters home. This was Hilary’s:
Dearest Mother and Father:
Just a few lines before breakfast to tell you that I arrived safe and sound and am pretty well settled. Miss Randolph has put me in a lovely suite looking on the lake, with a sweet roommate, too, (Gordon will groan at that pun, I suppose),—Cathalina Van Buskirk, from New York. I suppose she belongs to one of those old Dutch families. I heard her mention “Aunt Knickerbocker” and Somebody Van Ness. I think she is about my age, perhaps a little younger. She has blue eyes, and light brown hair and is very pretty. You would call her very much of a lady and I’m sure we shall get along. She has never been to school before and dreads to recite with the other girls.
My trip did not have any startling happenings. I felt so fine in my new suit and with that elegant traveling bag Father gave me, and I did enjoy the cooler air as we came near the lake. It is perfectly great here! I wish you all could come too. I shall write more later and may send a note to Aunt Hilary today.
Recitations begin today. I will tell you about them and send you my schedule, so you can pin it up, as you said, and know what I am doing almost every hour.
Thank you all so much for everything. Give my love to June, Gordon and Tommy, and hug my little Mary for her old Hilary! Tell June that I’ll write her very soon. The breakfast bells—gong—will ring in a minute, so goodbye for this time.
Your loving and grateful,
Hilary.
P. S. We met a lot of girls and roamed all over the place yesterday. Miss Randolph is not what I imagined a preceptress, or dean would be, tall, stately and commanding. I rather guess she could be commanding, though. She is nice to everybody now and has a beautiful voice and quite an “air” about her, if she isn’t very tall.