Webster - When Patty Went to College

When Patty Went to College
First published in 1903.

ISBN 978-1-775417-14-9

2009 THE FLOATING PRESS.

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TO 234 MAIN AND THE GOOD TIMES WE HAVE HAD THERE

"Paper-weights," observed Patty, sucking an injured thumb, "wereevidently not made for driving in tacks. I wish I had a hammer."

This remark called forth no response, and Patty peered down from the topof the step-ladder at her room-mate, who was sitting on the floordragging sofa-pillows and curtains from a dry-goods box.

"Priscilla," she begged, "you aren't doing anything useful. Go down andask Peters for a hammer."

Priscilla rose reluctantly. "I dare say fifty girls have already beenafter a hammer."

"Oh, he has a private one in his back pocket. Borrow that. And,Pris,"Patty called after her over the transom,"just tell him tosend up a man to take that closet door off its hinges."

Patty, in the interval, sat down on the top step and surveyed the chaosbeneath her. An Oriental rush chair, very much out at the elbows,several miscellaneous chairs, two desks, a divan, a table, and twodry-goods boxes radiated from the center of the room. The floor, as itshowed through the interstices, was covered with a grass-green carpet,while the curtains and hangings were of a not very subdued crimson.

"One would scarcely," Patty remarked to the furniture in general, "callit a symphony in color."

A knock sounded on the door.

"Come in," she called.

A girl in a blue linen sailor-suit reaching to her ankles, and with abraid of hair hanging down her back, appeared in the doorway. Pattyexamined her in silence. The girl's eyes traveled around the room insome surprise, and finally reached the top of the ladder.

"II'm a freshman," she began.

"My dear," murmured Patty, in a deprecatory tone, "I should have takenyou for a senior; but"with a wave of her hand toward the nearestdry-goods box"come in and sit down. I need your advice. Now, there areshades of green," she went on, as if continuing a conversation, "whichare not so bad with red; but I ask you frankly if that shade of greenwould go with anything?"

The freshman looked at Patty, and looked at the carpet, and smileddubiously. "No," she admitted; "I don't believe it would."

"I knew you would say that!" exclaimed Patty, in a tone of relief. "Nowwhat would you advise us to do with the carpet?"

The freshman looked blank. "II don't know, unless you take it up," shestammered.

"The very thing!" said Patty. "I wonder we hadn't thought of it before."

Priscilla reappeared at this point with the announcement, "Peters isthe most suspicious man I ever knew!" But she stopped uncertainly as shecaught sight of the freshman.

"Priscilla," said Patty, severely, "I hope you didn't divulge the factthat we are hanging the walls with tapestry"this with a wave of herhand toward the printed cotton cloth dangling from the molding.

"I tried not to," said Priscilla, guiltily, "but he read 'tapestry' inmy eyes. He had no sooner looked at me than he said, 'See here, miss;you know it's against the rules to hang curtains on the walls, and youmustn't put nails in the plastering, and I don't believe you need ahammer anyway.'"

"Disgusting creature!" said Patty.

"But," continued Priscilla, hastily, "I stopped and borrowed GeorgieMerriles's hammer on my way back. Oh, I forgot," she added; "he says wecan't take the closet door off its hingesthat as soon as we get oursoff five hundred other young ladies will be wanting theirs off, andthat it would take half a dozen men all summer to put them back again."

A portentous frown was gathering on Patty's brow, and the freshman,wishing to avert a possible domestic tragedy, inquired timidly, "Who isPeters?"

"Peters," said Priscilla, "is a short, bow-legged gentleman with a redVandyke beard, whose technical title is janitor, but who is reallydictator. Every one is afraid of himeven Prexy."

"I'm not," said Patty; "and," she added firmly, "that door is comingdown whether he says so or not, so I suppose we shall have to do itourselves." Her eyes wandered back to the carpet and her facebrightened. "Oh, Pris, we've got a beautiful new scheme. My friend heresays she doesn't like the carpet at all, and suggests that we take itup, get some black paint, and put it on the floor ourselves. I agree,"she added, "that a Flemish oak floor covered with rugs would be a greatimprovement."

Priscilla glanced uncertainly from the freshman to the floor. "Do youthink they'd let us do it?"

"It would never do to ask them," said Patty.

The freshman rose uneasily. "I came," she said hesitatingly, "to findoutthat is, I understand that the girls rent their old books, and Ithought, if you wouldn't mind"

"Mind!" said Patty, reassuringly. "We'd rent our souls for fifty cents asemester."

"Itit was a Latin dictionary I wanted," said the freshman, "and thegirls next door said perhaps you had one."

"A beautiful one," said Patty.

"No," interrupted Priscilla; "hers is lost from O to R, and it's alltorn; but mine,"she dived down into one of the boxes and hauled out achunky volume without any covers,"while it is not so beautiful as itwas once, it is still as useful."

"Mine's annotated," said Patty, "and illustrated. I'll show you what asuperior book it is," and she began descending the ladder; butPriscilla charged upon her and she retreated to the top again. "Why,"she wailed to the terrified freshman, "did you not say you wanted adictionary before she came back? Let me give you some advice at thebeginning of your college career," she added warningly. "Never choose aroom-mate bigger than yourself. They're dangerous."

The freshman was backing precipitously toward the door, when it openedand revealed an attractive-looking girl with fluffy reddish hair.

"Pris, you wretch, you walked off with my hammer!"

"Oh, Georgie, we need it worse than you do! Come in and help tack."

"Hello, Georgie," called Patty, from the ladder. "Isn't this room goingto be beautiful when it's finished?"

Georgie looked about. "You are more sanguine than I should be," shelaughed.

"You can't tell yet," Patty returned. "We're going to cover thewall-paper with this red stuff, and paint the floor black, and have darkfurniture, and red hangings, and soft lights. It will look just like theOriental Room in the Waldorf."

"How in the world," Georgie demanded, "do you ever make them let you doall these things? I stuck in three innocent little thumb-tacks to-day,and Peters descended upon me bristling with wrath, and said he'd reportme if I didn't pull them out."