“Why, Radcliffe has a pretty good standing in this part of the world.”
“You don’t speak with enthusiasm.”
“Oh, I was only thinking that a good education can be obtained in a Western college. I’ve lived in the West myself,” she explained.
“Let me embrace you,” cried the Western girl, impulsively, fortunately without suiting the action to the word.
“You see it makes me tired the way people here pretend not to know anything about the West; but I honestly believe that you realize where Kansas is, and that St. Louis and Chicago are a few miles apart, and that the Mississippi is east of the Rocky Mountains.”
“Oh, you could probably give me points in Western geography.”
“Perhaps, but let me introduce myself. My name is Clarissa Herter, and my home is Kansas. My age is a little more than it ought to be—for a Freshman—for I’ve wasted a year at college elsewhere.”
Julia smiled at this frank inventory, and she felt that she could do no less than tell Clarissa something about herself.
“So you’re an orphan!” cried Clarissa, “and you’ve lived with relatives for two years or more. Well, you must have had a pretty good disposition to stand all the wear and tear. There’s nothing so hard as living with relatives—except one’s parents. As to your personal appearance, it suits me right down to the ground—don’t look at your boots,” she added. “I include them in the list.”
Just then a proctor approaching introduced to the two the timid girl who had blotted Julia’s book.