Heppner gazette. [volume] (Heppner, Morrow County, Or.) 1892-1912, 1909-11-25
EnBOrrOWed
PlurnaSe
The Coilege Cloakroom Maid
and The University Porter
BY JANE OSBORN.
Copyright, 1909, by Associated Lit
erary Press.
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BY JANE OSBORN.
Copyright, 1909. BY Associated Lit

When ThoU6y college opened las
autumn there was n new maid in tn,
cIoakroom. Something about her dark
close lifting dress, her small. ruiiet
apron and her parted hair, tied with ;
big black bow AT the back Of her neck
suggested Il French maid much more
than 4 student But the fact was thai
Molly Dodge really was Il poor south
eru girl working her way through the
woman's department of this big uni
VerSity.
During the three or four hours that
Molly was not attending lectures she
had to stay in the stone foored, locker
lined clOakroom and be ready at any
time 10 get students hats and coats or
put them away in their owners lock-
erS.
At first it had seemed not at all bad.
for Molly had Il soft. lovabe. southern
way Of talking and honest brown eyes
that made ali the girls like her. But as
the months passed they became accuS-
toned to seeing her every day, and
they passed her thoughtlessly by. 1t
would not have been so hard if Molly
had been intellectual, but she was not
at all fond Of books. In fact. if she
had had a chance she would probably
have been a little frivolous.
But there We're two things that made
Moily's life bearable. One was the
daily visit of the university porter, and
the other was the appearance now and
then Of new ard pretty hats and
wraps Molly had little mirror over
her desk in the cloakroom. and when
ever any specially charming hat ap-
reared on the clothing counter she
would wait till the girls had left the
room and then with it on her own pref
ty head steal an admiring glance at
herself over her desk.
And the porter. Well. he used to
come over from the university every
day with the students mail. which it
was Molly's duty to sort and distrib-
ute OF course a woman student Of
Thornby college ought not to have
firted with so humble parsonage as
the university porter, but Molly was
only half a student The half that was
cloakroom maid looked forward with
impatience to the daily visitation Of
the porter's cheerful smile and conta-
Eious laugh.
On rainy days Molly had to handle
countless damp and muddy rubbers
and galoches and dripping umbrellas
That alone would have made her dis
like the rain, but besides that students
always wore their old hats when it
raiGed.
She was looking out Of the iron bars
of her basement window at the gloomy
sky one dark day in March when all at
once there swept in stately senior, a
yeritable billow of soft black furs. She
carelessly slipped them off, smiled at
Molly and hurried off to her class.
What dream thought Molly.
''And on a day like this! But what
does it matter when one has car
riage"
Molly raised the soft pieces gently
from the counter and started to put
them in their locker. But the tempta-
ton was too great. She came back and
replaced them lovingly on the counter.
Then very carefully she pinned the
toque over her piquant little face and
glanced approyingly at her image in
the mirror over her desk. If only she
could see the rest, she wished. In a
fash she jumped over the counter.
closed the door into the hall and slip
ped into the luxurious coat. Then she
stepped up to the students long pier
glass.
IF only it were a little longer" she
thought. And then, turning around at
the sound Of the opening door. she
faced the porter. He closed the door
quickly and stood against it. Then he
turned to Molly and laughed. But Mol
1y didn't laugh back. She slipped out
of the furs. sprang over the counter
and. with a guilty blush. took the
morning mail.
The next day when the porter came
Molly was deep in a volume of Horace
Nice book you're reading. Molly"
remarked the porter. and Molly, the
student, smiled codly without raising
her eyes.
After that the porter left off the
molly" from bis mornings sautation,
and Molly had no difficulty in repress-
ing him. IN fact. she was a little dis
appointed that he took his squeching
80 Willingly.
About a month after the episode Of
the furs there was a dance in the col
lege gymnasium. and Molly, as was her
custom on such occasions. took her
place as maid in the dressing room.
Here she buttoned gloves and slippers
and arranged ruffies and bows for her
more favored colleagues till her fingers
were numb. Then during the long
hours Of the dance she was supposed
70 sit and guard the wraps and lend
her aid in case OF u dilapidated coiffure
or torn ruile. But tonight strains Of
the dance music took possession Of
Nolly's soul and started her dainty
feet tapping on the stone fOOr. Her
curiosity and her loneliness had the
upper hand. and she slipped out Of the
dressing room. ran along the corridor
and up the wide stone stairs toward
the gallery overlooking the gymnasium
AS she was hurrying timidly along
she had to pass one Of the lecture
rooms. which had been converted for
the occasion into a mems checking |
room. Three young men were standing |