“I don’t know either of them,” evaded Elizabeth. “I have heard they were clever in a diggy way. Do tell me more of what they said. I am interested in this dormitory idea. I shall contribute five hundred dollars at least, maybe more, to help build it. It won’t mean that much to me.” She snapped her fingers grandly. She flattered herself into believing that Leslie could not have acted more cleverly.
As Marian was limited to twenty-five dollars a month spending money, Elizabeth’s affluence impressed her deeply. She outdid herself in trying to please the crafty junior. Nor could she guess that her every word was being stored up in Elizabeth’s mind. Later, in the privacy of the junior’s room, it would be transferred to paper. She would not be able to see Leslie for two or three days, so she resorted to notes, fearful lest she might forget a part of what she had heard.
On the same Wednesday on which Marjorie and Robin called at the office of Charles Cutler, the real estate agent, Elizabeth met Leslie Cairns at the Lotus. Neither pair crossed each other’s paths. The information Elizabeth gave Leslie caused her to laugh often in her silent hob-goblin fashion. Elizabeth marked this with a little uneasiness.
“Why does what I am telling you strike you as so funny, Leslie?” she inquired suspiciously.
“Because it does,” was Leslie’s cool response. “I can just imagine those infants taking a job like that boarding house proposition on their shoulders. I am willing to contribute to it, but I am afraid they will fall down on it. That’s all.”
Marjorie and Robin, however, were floating on the top wave of hope as they talked with the agent, a tall, spare man with honest blue eyes and gentle manners.
“I do not know what the owner of these properties wants for them,” he said. “Five years ago he offered them for twenty-eight thousand dollars. There are seven houses in the block which you girls wish to buy. That was at the rate of four thousand apiece. Real estate has increased in value since then, but not much in this section. He might ask thirty-five thousand, but not more than that. You could sell the houses for old lumber. They would have to be torn down. That would net you something. It would be a relief to see the last of them. I always thought that whole row so unsightly in contrast to the beauty of the campus. Pity the others will have to stand. If you will call one week from today I can let you know the owner’s price. I expect him here within a few days.”
“Isn’t that great news?” exulted Robin, when they had left the office. “Thirty-five thousand is five thousand less than we figured. But, oh, my goodness, what a job we have undertaken! If we buy those properties, not a thing can be done about tearing them down until college closes. The off-the-campus girls must have a place to live. Then there’s next fall to think of. The dormitory wouldn’t be built so soon. It will take all summer to tear down the houses.”
“‘Sufficient unto the day’,” quoted Marjorie optimistically. “We will have to solve all those problems as we come to them. We could arrange for places for such students as couldn’t find accommodations in the campus houses to live in the town of Hamilton. We would have to make arrangements then with the jitney men to carry them back and forth, morning and night. There would have to be a luncheon provided for them near the campus. Signor Baretti might do that at a special price. This is only tentative. Still it shows that where there’s a will there’s a way.”
“You deserve your name of Marvelous Manager. Jerry made no mistake when she gave it to you,” declared Robin admiringly. “Honestly, Marjorie, I can’t tell you when I have felt so happy! It is so wonderful, this plan of ours! I was half afraid that Mr. Cutler would say, first thing, ‘No, the owner doesn’t care to sell.’ Now we are fairly sure of getting what we want. The minute we hear we can have it, I am going to give a party in my room to the Nineteen Travelers. A year ago I would have given it at Baretti’s. Not now. I have to practice economy. I’m a promoter of large enterprises.”