CHAPTER IV.
A BUSY DAY.
The next day was always a chaotic one in Molly’s memory—a jumble of new faces and strange events. At breakfast she made the acquaintance of the freshmen who were staying at Queen’s Cottage—four in all. One of these was Julia Kean, “a nice girl in neutral tints,” as Molly wrote home to her sister, “with gray eyes and brown hair and a sense of humor.” She came to be known as “Judy,” and formed an intimate friendship with Molly and Nance, which lasted throughout the four years of their college course.
“How do you feel after your night’s rest?” she called across the table to Molly in the most friendly manner, just as if they had known each other always. “You look like the ‘Lady of the Sea’ in that blue linen that just matches your eyes.” She began looking Molly over with a kind of critical admiration, narrowing her eyes as an artist does when he’s at work on a picture. “I’d like to make a poster of you in blue-and-white chalk. I’d put you on a yellow, sandy beach, against a bright blue sky, in a high wind, with your dress and hair blowing——” And with eyes still narrowed, she traced an imaginary picture with one hand and shaped her ideas with the other.
Molly laughed.
“You must be an artist,” she said, “with such notions about posing.”
“A would-be one, that’s all. ‘Not yet, but soon,’ is my motto.”
“That’s a bad motto,” here put in Nance Oldham. “It’s like the Spanish saying of ‘Hasta mañana.’ You are very apt to put off doing things until next day.”
Julia Kean looked at her reproachfully.
“You’ve read my character in two words,” she said.