That the young girls for whom it is written may see in “Brenda’s Cousin” a clear picture of Radcliffe College undergraduate life is the sincere wish of the author, who hopes also that her fellow-graduates may overlook the one or two slight anachronisms necessary to a contemporary picture.
CONTENTS
Chapter Page I. [New Acquaintances] 1 II. [The Freshman Reception] 12 III. [The First “Idler”] 22 IV. [Pamela’s Perseverance] 29 V. [College Callers] 38 VI. [Setting to Work] 47 VII. [All Kinds of Girls] 56 VIII. [The Mid-years] 66 IX. [Two Catastrophes] 76 X. [Discussions and Discussions] 90 XI. [Efforts to Help] 100 XII. [Harvard Class Day] 115 XIII. [Various Ambitions] 130 XIV. [In Disguise] 143 XV. [Angelina] 157 XVI. [Who Wrote It?] 168 XVII. [A Private Detective] 180 XVIII. [Work and Play] 189 XIX. [The Operetta] 201 XX. [Juniors] 211 XXI. [A Fortunate Accident] 222 XXII. [Annabel and Clarissa] 233 XXIII. [Clouds Cleared Away] 243 XXIV. [Seniors All] 255 XXV. [A Strange Meeting] 268 XXVI. [The House Party] 280 XXVII. [Nearing Class Day] 293 XXVIII. [Commencement—and the End] 311
ILLUSTRATIONS
From Drawings by Alice Barber Stephens
[“One morning half a dozen girls clustered before the bulletin board”] Frontispiece [“‘An American girl’—she spoke with emphasis—‘is her own best chaperon’”] Page 85 [“Clarissa moved about the room, explaining”] ″ 174 [“Lois made the bandage and put it on with a professional air”] ″ 225 [“‘Julia,’ said Ruth the next morning, as the two sat in the conversation room”] ″ 274
BRENDA’S COUSIN AT RADCLIFFE
I
NEW ACQUAINTANCES
A drop of ink splashed on the cover of Julia Bourne’s blue-book.
“Oh, I beg your pardon, I wasn’t thinking,” murmured an apologetic voice, as Julia glanced up in surprise. A small, pale girl standing beside her desk had evidently held her fountain pen point down with disastrous result.
“Oh, it did no great harm,” responded Julia, dexterously applying her blotter. Like the other girl, she spoke in an undertone, for silence was still the rule of the room.