The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1921-02-28
Chapter 1.
TWO CHuMS.

No two girls ever looked less alike
than Ruth O'Neil and Myra Weed. yet
no two girls were ever greater friends
Ruth, who was the more romantic of
the two, liked to think that their
friendship was ideal in every way. and
she quite adored the golden-haired,
sray-eyed girl with whom she had play
ed and studied for years.
Myra responded to Ruth's alteration,
but in quite different way. She ap-
preciated her chum-at least she ap-
preciated her usefulness. In school,
for instance, it was Ruth who dug for
the hardest problems, who managed to
conjugate the most irregular verbs,
and who trained Myra in these essen
tials when an examination was i'm
minent. To Myra, skipping merrily
over the surfaces of life, Ruth was a
fine, substantial rock to cling to-.
And this. both girls decided, was to
go on forever and forever! 1t is so
easy for 18 to spell "forever!"
We'll have house together, Ruth, ''
Myra often said. I'VE can take one
of those two-story brick cottages on
Hill street-you know they rent aw-
fully cheap"
Are they? how much?" Ruth, the
practical minded, looked up from her
Virgil
Myra mentioned the rent-some.
thing like IS a month. For in those
days rents were not what they are
today, and Marketown, Pa, where the
girls lived, was small place with low
taxes.
That's cheap, you know" Myra
went on. There's a bit Of yard in
front and quite large one in back
enough to bleach clothes in and to
have a little vegetable garden and
there are five rooms in each house
Father says the rents are low because
so many people are going to the big
cities to work, and it drains the small
towns"
The two were silent for awhile
The big cities"-that was a magic
phrase. Each one longed with all hen
heart to spend some time in one large
city-their dreams took them some
times to Chicago, sometimes as faI
as far as San Francisco, or to Boston
or delphia-especially when they
were studying American history. But
mostly, perhaps it was New York that
called them--New York which was
near enough so that even little Marke
town felt family it's cosmopolitan vi
brations.
Il see mother letting me go of
housekeeping by myself or with you,
Ruth said, with a little laugh. as she
turned the page of her book.
But wouldn't it be fun? We could
give little parties-and have the boys
down sometimes-and-" Myra's voice
trailed off. She was picturing raptur
ously and Independent existence.
Without your small brother tc
come around and tease you," Ruth
said, filing out the thought, if no
the sentence.
And the difference here-this con
versation happened when both girls
were barely 17-was that Myra quite
believed it would come true, whereas
Ruth knew that it wouldn't, tha
neither conventional family would con
sent to their daughters setting VI
a separate establishment, even If il
could be afforded. f..
However, as it neared the time fol
them to graduate from the high school
dreams of home together were super
seded by definite talk as to college.
Ruth's father has always talked
vaguely about when you go to col
lege," and it was not until a few
months before graduation that Rutf
realized that this, too, was only an
other one of the dear mans visions
He had so many and such beautiful
ones-all of the things they were tt
4 4No~ +''o nh o"Os thOv were Il