“Just think of it!”
“My own experience goes back to 1886 when we moved into Fay House. But it was so different then. I sometimes wonder if you students of to-day realize your advantages.”
“I rather think that we have more fun,” said Polly. “I am afraid that you used to take life too seriously.”
The older girl smiled.
“We had to be very much in earnest because we felt that if we made our college work secondary to social interests we were likely to be criticised. The college girl was not so numerous then as she is now, and she was a target for almost any one who wished to criticise her. But I don’t blame you undergraduates for getting all the fun you can, and your music and your athletics in many ways must be very beneficial.”
“She means you, Clarissa. She has heard what an ornament you are to the R. A. A.,” cried Polly.
“Oh, no; you mean Polly, do you not?” asked Clarissa of the graduate. “You have heard of her prowess as an actor, and then you know she’s written nearly all the book for the operetta. The rest of us have just put in a few jokes.”
“I have had my eye on you both,” responded the older girl, “and I approve of you, for you have not yet begun to make study secondary to fun.”
Nor was the graduate wrong in her criticism. While work may have been to a certain extent neglected by the actors and singers in the operetta in the weeks immediately preceding the performance, they all knew that when the rehearsals were over they would work with redoubled energy.
The advance sale of tickets was so good that Ruth went about with a beaming face. She was interested in the North End reading-room to a rather unusual extent, and had set her heart on their clearing five hundred dollars from the two performances.