Orphea. 'Tis poor old Tom again.
Kate. But how essay it in the street and hall?
Orphea. Well, there's the gown to help. 'Twill cover all.
Kate. And then the cap? But that I do not mind;
My Derby hat has used me to a style
A trifle jaunty, and a hard stiff crown;
So if my hair prove not too trying
I yet may like to wear the "mortar-board,"
If still they wear such things.
Orphea. Oh, Kate, it is an awful risk!
Kate. Awful, my dear; but poor mamma
Thinks I'm an awful girl.
If she but knew—
Yet might I plead that men and women oft
Have done the same before; poor Joan of Arc;
Portia; and Rosalind. And I have heard
That once Achilles donned the woman's garb:
Then why not I the student's cap and gown?
ACT II.
SCENE 1.—A bedroom in a Toronto boarding-house. KATE BLOGGS in bed.
Enter boarding-house mistress.