Gincy swung down and began dressing without another word. She would interview Talitha at breakfast; perhaps they could arrange to room together after all. Urilla looked too sober for a roommate. “Whar you from?” Gincy asked finally, rolling up her hair.
“Jackson County,” Urilla answered promptly. “I rode twenty miles yesterday and the road was might rocky. Where’d you come from?”
“Over in Clay,” Gincy smiled into the tired face as she answered. “I should think you’d be plumb tickled to be back. Seems like you couldn’t stay away from here nohow, but I heerd you say your mammy war sick,” she added, anxious not to appear lacking in friendly interest.
“Not bed sick, or I couldn’t have come. She’s up, but I keep studying about her and wondering if Sallie—that’s my next sister—will keep her from working. Mother’s had a spell of fever and don’t seem to get strong.”
Apparently, Urilla was fumbling in the little trunk on the floor for some article of wearing apparel, but Gincy saw the teardrops, and instantly her tender heart warmed. She stooped over and took the pale face between her two hard little palms. “You mustn’t fret, honey, mammy had the fever a couple of years back, and she’s robustious as kin be now.”
Urilla looked the thanks her lips were unable to speak. In a minute she had regained her composure, and by the time the breakfast bell sounded, her few belongings were carefully hung in her half of the little closet, the bedclothes airing, and the tiny dresser in perfect order.
Together they went down the long flights of stairs, but not to the same dining-room. Gincy had been assigned to a table in the Annex where Martin and Talitha ate, but the latter had not arrived. Silently she waited for the blessing, and then catching Martin’s eye, “Whar’s Talitha?” she inquired.
“I don’t know—exactly,” he answered with hesitation and truthfully, he thought. She might be anywhere between Clover Bottom and Lost Creek by this time.
Gincy ate her oatmeal without suspicion. Why should Martin know after all, when he roomed halfway across the campus? Another thought came to her. Perhaps Talitha had volunteered to go to one of the cottages that she might stay in the hall. It was just like her to be so unselfish.
This was the morning for registering, and Gincy felt very new indeed. In the absence of Talitha, Urilla and Kizzie Tipton offered to act as escorts. It seemed hours before her end of the line reached the desk and she was assigned to an examination in the Industrial Building a block away. Her sunny face was quite woe-begone as they started.