FOR LESLIE
Ringing the bell with a brave little air Marjorie waited. She recalled
the first visit she had ever made to the president’s house. On that
occasion she had been a messenger for Miss Humphrey the registrar. That
had been long ago, in her sophomore year. Since that day, her first
personal meeting with President Matthews, Marjorie had become a welcome
visitor and guest at Prexy’s home. The maid, a stolid Swedish girl with
pale gold hair and round blue eyes broke into smiles at sight of her.
“Gude afternoon, Miss Dean. How you ben all sommer?” she greeted
Marjorie with pleased effusion.
“Good afternoon, Hilda. How have you been? I have been very well, and
very happy.”
“Tha’s gude. I am pritty gude, too. We go sea shore, you know. Nize
place. I go tak the bathe in the oshin. I gat awful much sunburn. Ha,
ha!” Hilda showed her white teeth enjoyingly over her calamity. “You
come see Mrs. Matthews? She is gone away this afternoon. The president
is here. May-bee you come see him?”
“I hope your sunburn is all well now.” Marjorie smiled at the jolly pink
and white maid. “Yes, I came to see President Matthews. Is he busy?”
“He see you.” Hilda nodded confidently. “You come in, pleese, Miss Dean.
I tell him.” She ushered Marjorie into the colonial reception hall and
disappeared into the room at the right, the president’s office. She was
back in an instant with: “The president pleese to see you, Miss Dean.”
“Good afternoon, Miss Marjorie. This is a most unexpected pleasure.”
President Matthews met Marjorie at the door of his office and warmly
shook her by the hand. She saw that he was alone in the office.
“Good afternoon, President Matthews. I am very glad to see you. Miss
Susanna and I are coming to make a social call upon Mrs. Matthews and
you as soon as you are fairly settled again after your summer away from
the campus. I came today on business of my own. I hoped to find you here
and not too busy to see me.” Marjorie’s color heightened a trifle as she
made the frank statement.
“I am at your service, Miss Marjorie.” The president bowed her into a
chair in his courtly fashion and sat down opposite her in his own. “What
can I do for you?”
“I will give you a direct answer, and explain things afterward.”
Marjorie raised candid eyes to those of the president. “I wish you would
give Leslie Cairns an opportunity to return to Hamilton College, and
earn the degree she forfeited when she was expelled from Hamilton.”
A dead silence followed her straight-forward request. President Matthews
regarded her with contemplative gravity.
When he spoke it was to say: “You astonish me. Still I am confident you
realize the peculiarity of the request you have just made.” He continued
to regard Marjorie as though half curious to learn what strong motive
had prompted her amazing plea for reinstatement of the girl who had
despitefully used her.
“Yes, I understand fully how much I am asking of you. Can it be done for
Miss Cairns?” Again she came directly to the point.
“You mean from the standpoint of my permission and that of the Board?”
he interrogated with equal directness.
“Yes.” Marjorie inclined her head in affirmation.
“Well,” President Matthews paused briefly; “such a thing has never been
done at Hamilton. I do not say that it could not be arranged. Let me ask
you, Miss Marjorie, what I regard as a most pertinent question: Why
should such a sweeping favor be granted Miss Cairns? She furnished in my
opinion, the most glaring example of bad conduct of any Hamilton culprit
with whom I have ever had occasion to deal. However, I know you would
not be here today with such a request except under strong conviction of
right.” He paused again, looking at her as though inviting an
explanation.
“Miss Cairns has undergone a great change of mind and heart, President
Matthews. I should like to tell you as much as I know of it,” Marjorie
returned. She was resolved to be frank, yet to choose her words so
carefully as to spare Leslie so far as she could.
“I never knew Miss Cairns personally when she was a student at
Hamilton,” she began, “but last spring we became acquainted by chance.”
Marjorie thus magnanimously bridged over her years at Hamilton which
Leslie Cairns had made so troublous for her.
Followed the interesting story of Peter Carden who had run away from
Carden Hedge and made a name in finance for himself as Peter Cairns. She
felt the intensity of President Matthews’ interest as she continued to
tell of Leslie’s humiliating business mistake of having paid sixty
thousand dollars for a garage site, the ground of which had already
belonged to her father. Again Marjorie omitted all reference to the
intended spitefulness of Leslie’s business venture as in relation to the
Travelers’ dormitory enterprise. Nor was she to learn until long
afterward that President Matthews had been in possession of the true
state of Page and Dean’s dormitory set-backs at the time when she made
her earnest plea for Leslie.
Generously ignoring the past Marjorie chose to dwell instead upon
Leslie’s great affection for her father and of her desire for
re-instatement at Hamilton solely on his account.
“I came to you upon my own responsibility, and unbeknown to Miss Cairns.
Miss Susanna Hamilton and six of my best friends know this. Last night
we met informally at Wayland Hall and discussed the matter. We are ready
to help Miss Cairns in any way that we can should she be permitted to
return to Hamilton. When she told me, on the way home from California,
about her call upon you, I felt that she had not done herself justice.
You were not in possession of the real facts of why she wished to come
back to Hamilton. She could not put them before you as I could. So I am
here.” Her smile of kindly resolution was very beautiful.
“I am regarding Miss Cairns in a more favorable light; far more
favorable than I had ever expected to regard her,” the president
admitted slowly.
“Oh, I forgot to mention one very important point,” Marjorie added. “I
have talked with Miss Remson about Miss Cairns. I know her to be
great-spirited. She wishes to help Leslie.”
“My own belief,” came the hearty reply. “After all, Miss Marjorie, the
burden of Miss Cairns’ offenses were against yourself, Miss Remson and
myself.” The president smiled rather wryly. “You have chosen to
eliminate yourself in the problem. I can do no better than to emulate
your fine example of true Christian spirit. It remains for Miss Remson
to speak her mind. In confidence I will say that the personal side of
Miss Remson’s and my grievances against Miss Cairns were never brought
before the Board. Miss Cairns was expelled from Hamilton College
together with her student confederates for hazing—and nothing other than
hazing.”
“Oh!” Marjorie could not repress the quick anxious ejaculation. She was
suddenly seeing a dim light of hope, very faint, but a light,
nevertheless.
The man saw the flash of hopeful eagerness spring into her face. His
next speech was even more reassuring.
“You know how bitterly I am opposed to hazing,” he said. “My attitude
toward the students who were expelled from Hamilton for hazing you was
implacable. It was perhaps more severe than that of my colleagues. A
plea to the Board on my part for re-instatement for Miss Cairns may meet
with success. I will call a meeting of the members soon. Considerable
time has elapsed since the affair. Your wish in the matter——”
“Pardon me. Must my name be mentioned?” Marjorie questioned in a tone of
dismay.
“Yes, since you wish to help Miss Cairns. It will be one of my strongest
arguments in favor of re-instatement. While her desire to return to
college because of regard for her father is commendable, this, in
itself, may not impress the Board members. They may maintain that she
should have thought of her duty to her father before she defied the
rules of the college.”
“If they could only know what such a re-instatement would mean to her!”
was Marjorie’s involuntary exclamation. “There is her side of it too. It
is the side I intended to present to you in case you had not been in
sympathy with me,” she added naively.
“Indeed?” President Matthews regarded her with interested, half-amused
eyes. He was thoroughly admiring her invincible spirit. “Will you tell
me Miss Cairns’ side of it?” he requested gently.
“Can you imagine anything harder than for Miss Cairns to re-enter
Hamilton College under a cloud?” Marjorie’s voice rang with appealing
earnestness. “Her story is well known on the campus even though many of
the students who were at Hamilton when she was there have been
graduated. The Travelers will stand by her and try to make other
students understand and respect her motive, should she be permitted to
return. But she will undoubtedly be subjected to many humiliations. It
will be a question of ethics, and there are so many different codes.”
Marjorie made a gesture expressive of futility. “Could she choose a
thornier path of restitution?”
“True enough.” The doctor bowed agreement. “It is you, rather than I,
who should put Miss Cairns’ case before the Board,” he said, half
smiling. “You have the courage of your convictions.”
“Oh, no!” Marjorie looked her alarm. “I beg your pardon,” she apologized
in the same breath. “I didn’t mean—I meant—” She stopped, rosy with
confusion. “I am sure no one else could explain Leslie’s case to the
Board as you could, Dr. Matthews,” she rallied with confidence. “It was
easy for me to come to you because you are my friend. I would go before
the Board, in order to help Leslie, if there were no other way open for
me to do. But I should not like to do so.” Her sunny smile flashed out
with the confession.
“I understand your attitude in the matter, better, perhaps, than you may
guess. I shall respect it, and try to present Miss Cairns’ case to the
Board members as sympathetically as you have presented it to me.” The
president answered her smile, his grave features lighting.
Marjorie breathed again at the reassurance. She was recalling the one
occasion on which she has appeared before the Board. It had had strictly
to do with expelling Leslie Cairns from Hamilton College. She was glad
to remember now that her testimony then had added no weight to the
evidence against Leslie.
“You underestimate your own powers, Miss Marjorie.” She came back from
remembrance of that dark day to hear the president saying. “Of all
persons whom I know you have the best right to ask of and receive from
the executives of Hamilton College the concession which you ask. You
have accomplished for Hamilton that which I believe no one else could
have done.”
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