Clara shared the good news with Julia and privately3 Doris and Leslie shared it with Clara. As a result of Leslie’s little “flier” in human happiness Doris made a special luncheon4 engagement with Marjorie Dean on purpose to confide5 to Marjorie what Leslie had done. Marjorie in turn confided6 the story of the girl who had obeyed the command of Christ, “Love your enemies,” to the letter.
“She deserves a citation7,” was Miss Susanna’s hearty8 opinion. “I will have a maxim9 hung for her at the college. Peter Carden and I will go over to chapel10 together that morning. She is a dear courageous11 child and deserves to be honored. That will put her on a splendid basis on the campus and she will have won the right to have her father named as the giver of the Leila Harper Playhouse.”
227“And we can have the presentation of the theatre to Leila made in the chapel during Commencement week,” Marjorie planned joyously12. “The theatre will be completed then. Mr. Graham said yesterday that he hoped to have it ready not later than the twentieth of June. You see, Goldendede, Hal has promised that we shall come down from our camp in the Adirondacks for Commencement at Hamilton.”
“It is a good thing he has promised that you shall.” Miss Susanna put on a mildly threatening air which vanished in a smile.
“Which motto are you going to give Leslie, Goldendede?” Marjorie inquired interestedly. The two fond comrades were strolling about the grounds of the Arms in the early spring sunshine.
“I’ll let you choose.”
“Then I know exactly the one I’d like for Leslie. It suits her so well. I mean the way she has tried this year on the campus to be a credit in all ways to her Alma Mater. The motto I’d like for her is the single one that hangs over near the portrait of him: ‘A truly great soul is never dismayed.’”
“I wondered if you would choose that. It is in my mind, too, for her, Marvelous Manager. We had better have the citation this week so that Leslie may have that much longer to enjoy her glory on the campus. Saturday afternoon I think we’d better give a luncheon for her at the Arms and invite the three chapters of Travelers.”
228“You are always planning happiness for someone, dearest Lady of the Arms. Let’s have Leslie here to tea this afternoon and make a fuss over her. We’re not supposed to know about what she did for Julia Peyton. Wait until after the citation. Then I am going to tell her quietly that she has been found out,” Marjorie declared, her eyes dancing.
“You are always planning happiness for someone, Marvelous Manager.” Miss Susanna gave a fond imitation of Marjorie’s tone.
“Oh, you!” Marjorie made one of her usual merry rushes at the old lady and the pair hugged each other with a will. Both were supremely13 happy over the way Leslie Cairns had turned out.
“All this means that I’ll soon have Peter as my next-door neighbor,” the mistress of the Arms exhibited the utmost satisfaction at the prospect14. “Peter has turned out to be a man worth while; a man in a hundred thousand. Perhaps I shall have him teach me the finance game,” she added, jokingly. “At least he and Leslie will be good company.”
Undreaming of the honor in store for her, Leslie walked into chapel on the following Friday morning after Marjorie’s talk with Miss Susanna and met with a surprise which made her gasp15. Up in front with President Matthews, who it seemed was to conduct the services that morning, sat her father and Miss Susanna. Why Peter the Great should be there she could not guess. She could only surmise16 229that he and Miss Hamilton had been invited to the morning exercises by Prexy.
She saw her father’s keen dark eyes search the rows of young women until he had found her. Their eyes met and the smile of comradeship which passed between them was a beautiful thing to see. It thrilled Leslie with a pride in herself which before that morning she had hardly dared recognize. Peter the Great need no longer be ashamed of her. She had tried to redeem17 her past offenses18 and she had not failed entirely19. She had discovered in the methodical living over of her senior year at Hamilton that she was, after all, a person of small consequence. She had long since discarded her belief in money as power. She knew from her own earnest efforts in the right direction that work alone counted. It was not she personally who mattered. It was the earnest spirit within that was to be considered.
When, presently, Doctor Matthews announced that three citations20 were on the program of the morning exercises Leslie immediately jumped to the conclusion that Barbara Severn and Phyllis Moore were to be honored. She generously hoped that Doris Monroe might be the third student for the honor. Doris was so charming to her fellow students. She had changed from indifferently proud to calmly sympathetic in the past year, and was rapidly coming to be liked as much for her graciousness as she had formerly been admired for her beauty.
“The maxims21 which Miss Susanna Hamilton has 230chosen to hang in various parts of Hamilton College in honor of the three young women she has chosen as deserving of a citation are maxims by Brooke Hamilton, framed and hung separately about his historic home, Hamilton Arms.” President Matthews gave out the information to a breathlessly interested chapel full of girls.
Then Phyllis Moore was asked by him to rise. After he had accorded her a friendly commendation which made her cheeks burn he quoted the maxim to be hung in her honor, at the same time stating the place at Hamilton which it would occupy. It was: “Harmony followed in her footsteps.” As a last touch he added: “This maxim was hung by Brooke Hamilton in his study as a tribute to Miss Angela Vernon, his fiancee, who died shortly before the date set for her marriage to Mr. Hamilton.”
Barbara’s maxim was “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine,” and she was particularly complimented upon her sunny outlook on life.
As the applause attending Barbara’s citation died out, Leslie listened eagerly for the name of the third student. She could not believe the evidence of her own ears when she heard Doctor Matthews requesting her to rise, then continuing:
“It is with great pleasure that I name Miss Leslie Cairns as the third student to have earned a citation. In our opinion Miss Hamilton has made a singularly happy choice of maxim.” Then he quoted the motto 231Miss Susanna and Marjorie had chosen: “A truly great soul is never dismayed.”
As she stood listening in stupefaction to the announcement she could see in all the chapel nothing but her father’s face. He was smiling at her with a light in his dark eyes that repaid her a thousand times over for the effort she had made toward restitution22. She was ready to break down and weep unrestrainedly. Nevertheless she did not. She controlled herself with an effort and received the honor as a true daughter of Peter Cairns might be counted upon to do. What amazed her, even more than the citation, was the tumultuous applause which broke out as she resumed her seat.
After the chapel the students held an impromptu23 reception outside the chapel in which she and Phil and Barbara were the center of an admiring and congratulatory crowd. Leslie had already clasped hands with her father and had heard his hearty: “Good work, Cairns II.” It was the only commendation she craved24.
“You are to be at Wayland Hall this afternoon at four o’clock,” Muriel informed her as she shook hands vigorously with Leslie. “I am going to conduct a citation there for the benefit of Jeremiah Macy. She is in line for honors, too. She doesn’t know it yet. It is up to Marjorie to drag her to the scene on time.”
That Marjorie succeeded in dragging Jerry to Muriel’s room was apparent that afternoon. At 232precisely four o’clock she marched her into the midst of a giggling25 throng26 of girls who were awaiting her arrival in exuberant27 spirits.
“What is the matter with you girls?” she demanded as she glanced comically from one to another of the laughing company. “What sort of joke do you think you are going to play on me?”
“It isn’t a joke, Jeremiah, that we have in store for you,” Ronny assured in a soothing28 tone. “You are in line for a citation; a very great honor, you know.”
“No. I don’t know. I can guess just about how great an honor it will be,” Jerry retorted suspiciously.
“You are going to know this instant, Jeremiah. Vera is ready and waiting to laud29 and praise you. Now, Vera.” Ronny made an impressive signal to Vera.
Vera came forward, bearing in her hands a medium-sized square book, thin as to pages and bound in soft dark blue leather. On the outside of the cover was printed in gold lettering the pertinent30 title: “Jingles31 to Bean. By Jeremiah Macy.”
Vera thereupon began a speech which was drowned by laughter most of the time during the utterance33. She concluded the presentation speech by opening the book and proudly disclosing to Jerry a kodak photograph of Jerry in the act of reciting a jingle32. She was even shown with her mouth open and one hand out in a flamboyant34 gesture.
233“How did you ever manage to catch me?” was Jerry’s wondering query35 after she had laughed over the little book, which contained as many of the Bean jingles as the girls had been able to gather at the time when Jerry had improvised36 them.
“It was that afternoon on the campus when Leila had her camera and was taking pictures of the campus. She went out with it and you, on purpose. She planned with Marjorie to come over to the campus unexpectedly.”
“Do not you remember I said to you, ‘Since you are so glad to see Beauty then why do you not spout37 a jingle’!” Leila broke in, laughing. “While you were spouting38 it Vera walked off a little way with the camera and snapped the picture of our Jeremiah at the height of inspiration.”
“Yes, I remember now. You crafty39 things!” Jerry pretended disapproval40 for a brief second. “It’s celostrous,” she said. “I’d rather have it than even a citation in chapel. But I’ve had that. I’m really embarrassed with riches. I shall keep my Bean Jingle Book as my most precious possession. I shall—”
“Put it on your parlor41 table when you become Mrs. Daniel Seabrooke,” Muriel slyly supplemented.
“Who told you? Oh-h!” Jerry clapped a hand to her lips.
It was too late. She was surrounded by a buzzing, laughing, congratulatory mob.
Ronny stood back a little from the group watching 234the tumultuous reception of Jeremiah’s news with an odd little smile. She was wondering what her friends would say if they knew a certain dear secret of which she had been in wondering possession only a few days. Ronny had fulfilled Marjorie’s prediction. She had tumbled into love and with the last person she had dreamed she might come to care for.
Due to her love of dancing she had willingly consented to help Professor Leonard with his work as physical instructor42 at Hamilton by taking a class in folk dancing. Through her association with him she had learned to know and care for him. She had not believed, however, that he cared for her. Naturally secretive, she had never by a shade of tone or expression betrayed her secret to anyone. She had been deeply incensed43 with herself for having yielded to love in the least.
Then had come an afternoon when they two had been deep in planning the usual May Day procession on the campus. She had never known just how it all happened, except that he had told her the story of his early life. His mother, who had died in his boyhood, had been a Spanish Mexican. His father, a professor in a Mexican university, had been an American. From them he had inherited a desire to help the poor of the country of his birth. His one dream was to place himself financially in position where he might some day go about the welfare work 235of his heart. It would take years of self-denial and economy, but he was willing to work and wait.
Then he had told Ronny he loved her, but would not ask her to live a life of privation with him. Ronny had said that nothing in the world except love mattered. So they had sworn faith to each other. Privately Ronny was possessed44 of a certain knowledge which would make the way clear. It had long been her father’s dream to establish a welfare station in Mexico by the planting of a great fruit ranch45 upon which the unfortunate, poverty-stricken Mexican peons might find work the year round at living wages. What Mr. Lynne wished most was the right man to put in charge of the proposed vast charitable enterprise. Ronny had regarded the idea as one which might become her life work. Now she knew that it would be, but that she would not go to it alone.
Thus the Sanford five who had so gayly entered into the land of college had all found love and betrothal46 except Lucy Warner. It was hanging over sedate47 Lucy, however. And in the time of June and roses she was to hear the old, old story from the only young man with whom she had ever managed to feel on easy terms. Lucy was destined48 some day to acknowledge dignified49 President Matthews as father-in-law.
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1
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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7
citation
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| n.引用，引证，引用文；传票 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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maxim
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| n.格言，箴言 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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supremely
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| adv.无上地，崇高地 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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offenses
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| n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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citations
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| n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬 | |
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maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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restitution
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| n.赔偿；恢复原状 | |
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impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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craved
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| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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giggling
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| v.咯咯地笑( giggle的现在分词 ) | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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exuberant
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| adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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laud
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| n.颂歌；v.赞美 | |
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pertinent
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| adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的 | |
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31
jingles
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| 叮当声( jingle的名词复数 )； 节拍十分规则的简单诗歌 | |
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jingle
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| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
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33
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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flamboyant
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| adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的 | |
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query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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improvised
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| a.即席而作的,即兴的 | |
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spout
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| v.喷出，涌出；滔滔不绝地讲；n.喷管；水柱 | |
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38
spouting
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| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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39
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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instructor
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| n.指导者，教员，教练 | |
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incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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47
sedate
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| adj.沉着的，镇静的，安静的 | |
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48
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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49
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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