“Only that it’s against the rule,” replied a Junior. “But in your day the girls who played men’s parts used to wear real clothes, didn’t they?”
“Yes, real clothes,” and all laughed at the undergraduate’s slip.
“Yes, men’s real clothes,” the graduate added, “borrowed usually from some brother or cousin at the University. Really, some girls made up wonderfully like Harvard men.”
“I should like to have seen them. I hate our present stage dress for men; it is neither ancient nor modern.”
“Yet it’s very proper!” interposed Clarissa sarcastically. She had just joined the group.
“But why was manly attire given up? Since only girls saw the plays, it couldn’t have done any great harm.”
“Oh, it was a man who spoiled it all, you know; they deserve their reputation of marplots. I can’t vouch for the story, but they say that a Senior who came once to an Open Idler thought it necessary to express his gratification to some one in authority.”
“No one could find fault with that.”
“No, but he was awkward. ‘I’m delighted to be here,’ he said, ‘for I’ve often hoped to visit Radcliffe. My clothes have been here many times at the Idler dramatics, but this is the first opportunity that I have had for coming myself.’”
“What a stupid creature!”