LETTER NUMBER TWO.
"Come in!" called a brisk, familiar voice, as Ronny knocked lightly on
the almost closed door. Filing decorously into the rather small office,
the nine girls grouped themselves about the manager's chair.
"Take seats, friends," she invited. "Four of you can use the settee.
There are chairs enough for the others. Will you see that the door is
tightly closed, Helen. This matter is strictly confidential. It's rather
early for eavesdroppers," she added, with biting sarcasm.
"The door is closed, Miss Remson." Having complied with the manager's
request, Helen seated herself beside Jerry on a wide walnut bench which
took up almost a side of the room.
"Thank you. You know, my dear young friends," Miss Remson began, with
out further preliminary, "that, last March, after Miss Dean's trouble
with the Sans Soucians, I expressed myself as being heartily sick of
their lawless behavior. I stated then that I should take up the matter
with President Matthews. I believed he would respect my point of view. I
had made up my mind that I did not wish them to return to the Hall this
year. Wayland Hall is the oldest and finest house on the campus.
Naturally, it is hard to obtain board here. I have been here longer than
any other manager of any other Hamilton campus house. I have rarely made
complaint against a student. Miss Dean was anxious that I should not put
her case before President Matthews. I could only respect her wishes, as
the matter was strictly personal. There were many other reasons why the
Sans Soucians, as they call themselves, were undesirable boarders."
Miss Remson ceased speaking momentarily, as she separated a letter from
two or three others on her desk.
"These girls, of whom I disapproved, made the usual application to
retain their rooms. I made a list of the undesirables and went over to
the president's house to have a confidential talk with him. I have known
him and his family for years. Unfortunately, he was not at home. He had
been invited to make an address at the Commencement of Newbold, a
western college for women, and would be away for a week. As his return
would be so near Commencement here, I decided to write him and ask for an
early appointment. I wrote to him as soon as he returned. He answered
my note personally and made an appointment with me.
"I laid my complaint before him," she continued, "and he was indignant
at the way I had been treated. He asked me to leave with him the names
of the young women against whom I had made complaint. He promised they
should be reprimanded by him and notified to make other arrangements for
this college year. Further, they would also be warned that any new
complaints against them from another manager would mean a second summons
to his office, with a more severe penalty attached.
"I waited, expecting a storm when these girls received their
notification and learned what I had done. I had not given them an answer
regarding their rooms for next year, as I was waiting for Doctor
Matthews to act. Judge my surprise when, five days after I had talked
with the doctor, I received a cool note, dictated to his secretary,
stating that he was inclosing a typed copy of a letter which he had
received. He went on to say that, as there seemed to be as much
complaint against me, by the young women of whom I had complained, he
would suggest that we get together and try to adjust the matter at the
Hall. He believed that the course I had requested him to pursue would
result in such useless ill-feeling that he preferred not to adopt it.
He had no doubt that an internal friction, such as appeared to exist at
Wayland Hall, could be easily adjusted by me, if I adopted the proper
methods. He wished the subject closed."
"Why, that isn't a bit like Doctor Matthews!" exclaimed Helen. "He has
the reputation of being a stickler for justice."
"My dear, I know it," replied Miss Remson, in a hurt voice. "I felt
utterly crushed after I had read his note. There was nothing more to be
done unless I resigned. I did not wish to do so. I have every right to
retain my position here. It is my living and I do a great deal for my
sister's two sons, whom I am helping put through college. The copy of
the letter, inclosed with the president's note, was written by Miss
Myers. I shall read it to you verbatim."
Unfolding the copied letter which she held in her hand, she hastily read
the formal heading then went on more slowly:
"Dear Doctor Matthews:
"It has been intimated us that we are not to be granted the
privilege of remaining at Wayland Hall during our junior year.
We understand the reason for this injustice and wish you to
understand it also. Miss Remson, the manager of the Hall, has
taken sides with a certain few students in the house who have a
fancied grudge against a number of young women whose interests I
am now representing. Miss Remson has allowed these students to
place us in the most humiliating of positions; has even aided
and abetted them in putting us in a false light. She has also
reprimanded us frequently for offenses of which we are not
guilty. We are willing to overlook all this and try even more
earnestly in future to please Miss Remson. This, in spite of
the harsh way in which we have been treated by all concerned.
We are not willing to leave the Hall. We came here to live as
freshmen and we object to being thrust from it after two years'
residence in it. We have been given to understand that
complaint against us is to be lodged with you by Miss Remson.
Will you not take up the matter summarily with her and see that
we obtain justice?
"Yours sincerely,
"Joan Myers."
A united gasp arose as Miss Remson finished the reading of Joan Myers'
letter and laid it on the desk.
"Can you beat that?" inquired Jerry, in such deep disgust everyone
laughed. "Of all the cast-iron, nickle-plated nerve, commend me to the
Sans."
"Outrageous!" Leila's black brows were drawn in a deep scowl. "And they
are clever, too," she nodded with conviction. "That letter is the kind
a man of Doctor Matthews' standing detests. It gives the whole affair
the air of a school-girl quarrel. Very hard on your dignity, Miss
Remson," she glanced sympathetically at the little manager.
"Not only that. I am practically cut off from my old friendly standing
with the president." Miss Remson's usually quick tones faltered
slightly. "I would not appeal to him for justice again if these lawless
girls brought the Hall down about my ears. You can understand my
position."
She appealed to her youthful hearers In general. "It was my belief that
you should be told this by me, as I had assured you last spring that I
would not have these trouble-making, untruthful students at the Hall
this year, if I could help it. They are coming back wholly against my
will. We were into Commencement week last June when this occurred, so I
said nothing to any of you. It would have been an annoyance to you
during the summer every time you happened to recall it."
"Who told the Sans that you weren't going to allow them to come back to
the Hall?" was Marjorie's pertinent question. "I can answer for every
one of us in saying that we never repeated a word outside of our own
intimate circle."
"That is a question I have pondered more than once during the summer,"
Miss Remson responded with alacrity. "I did not suspect one of you for
an instant. I do not see how anyone could have overheard the remarks I
made on the subject, as I made them in this office with the door always
closed. President Matthews is, of course, above suspicion. His secretary
would not dare repeat his official business, even to an intimate friend.
I mailed my letter to the president. It went through the postoffice.
This precludes the possibility of it having been tampered with."
"Perhaps the Sans guessed that you would refuse them admittance to the
Hall this year because you called the meeting in the living room," was
Muriel's plausible surmise. "You had had a good deal of trouble with
them and they knew they were in the wrong; that you disapproved of them.
They may have scented disaster and taken the bull by the horns. They
calculated, perhaps, that you might appeal to President Matthews and
thought they would secure themselves by reporting us and accusing you of
favoritism."
"That would be typical of the Sans," agreed Leila energetically. "Not so
much Leslie Cairns. She bribes and bullies her way to whatever she
wants. Joan Myers wrote the letter. She is considered very clever among
her crowd. She may have made the plan. Dulcie Vale is too stupid and Nat
Weyman is wrapped up in herself."
"A clever letter, contemptible though it is," pronounced Veronica. "The
writer has put a certain amount of force in it which passes for
sincerity."
"It reads as though she had been informed that Miss Remson was going to
turn the Sans down and was honestly sore over it." Jerry added her
speculation to Ronny's.
"It is too bad!" exclaimed Helen Trent, indignantly. "I mean for you,
Miss Remson. You can soon find out for yourself whether they simply
guessed you were down on them or really had information. When the Sans
come back to the Hall, if they are snippy and insolent from the start,
that will mean, I think, that they had warning of it. If they are rather
subdued and fairly civil, for them, then they only made a daring bluff
and are not sure, up to date, whether their suspicion was correct."
"Great head!" laughingly complimented Jerry. "There is nothing the mater
with Helen's reasoning powers."
Miss Remson nodded slowly as she considered Helen's words. "That is very
likely the way it will be," she said. "The matter will have to remain
closed, because President Matthews wishes it to be so. I shall not adopt
his suggestion of a personal talk with these girls." A glint of
belligerence appeared in her eyes. "I have been here at the Hall many
years and seen many young women come and go. I am not a bad judge of
girl character and motive. It will not take me long to fathom these
girls' deceit in this affair, if the letter Miss Myers wrote was based
on supposition. If, in some unprecedented manner, they really received
information, then they must have learned the outcome of the affair from
the same source. All I can do is to remain mute on the subject. They
will, undoubtedly, ridicule me behind my back. If they attempt to
belittle me to my face, I shall resign my position here." The humiliated
little manager's lips compressed into a tight line.
"I think the whole business is shameful; simply shameful!" burst forth
Vera, her blue eyes flashing. "Imagine President Matthews taking such an
extremely unjust stand!"
"It is too bad you cannot go to him and have the matter out with him.
No; I understand that you wouldn't, under the circumstances," Jerry
added quickly, as Miss Remson made a hasty gesture of dissent. "I
wouldn't either, if I were you."
"I believe there is more to this than appears on the surface," Marjorie
gave steady opinion. "We hardly know President Matthews, as we were
merely freshies last year. Still he seems to be such a fine man. A man
in his position ought to be above anything even touching on injustice."
"There you are! 'Seems to be,' and 'ought to be,'" repeated Leila
cynically. "May I ask you, Miss Remson, do you know the signature to the
president's letter to you to be by his own hand? I would not hesitate to
set a trumped-up letter down to the Sans' mischief-making bureau."
"Yes; it is President Matthews' signature; unmistakably his," answered
Miss Remson. "I am satisfied Doctor Matthews wrote the letter. It is
written much as he would write if he were thoroughly annoyed. Neither
Miss Myers nor her friends could write it. You spoke of there being more
to this than appears on the surface, Miss Dean. Pardon me for
disagreeing. I hardly think so."
Marjorie never forgot the hurt look that crept into the manager's
usually cheerful face as she bravely disagreed. It was as though she had
caught a glimpse of the plucky little woman's grieving soul. She
realized that Miss Remson had found it hard to give even them her
confidence. She guessed also that the manager would be grateful if left
to herself.
"I know what it means to feel dreadfully hurt over something untrue that
has been said of one, Miss Remson," she consoled in her sincere,
gracious fashion. "That's the way it was with me last March. Thanks to
my friends, the clouds blew away and the sun came out again. We are your
true friends, and we would like to do as much for you as we know you
have done for me, and would do for any of us who needed your support. We
solemnly promise," she went on, turning to her chums for corroboration,
"to regard your confidence as binding. Not one of us will forget the
hurt that has been dealt you. We shall do our best to make it easier for
you at the Hall by keeping clear of the Sans."
"Miss Remson, I feel positive that Doctor Matthews will realize, later,
what a serious mistake he has made. Sometimes the very finest men make
just such blunders because they are irritated by something else
entirely." Katherine spoke with deep conviction. "I acted as secretary
one summer to a naturalist who was of that type."
"There is one thing I intend to do." Lucy Warner spoke for the first
time since entering the office. She had listened with the gravity and
attention of a judge to all that had been said. "I shall make it a point
to see what President Matthews' secretary looks like. A secretary has a
good deal of opportunity to make trouble, if she chooses to make it. She
knows so much of her employer's private affairs. I've been a secretary
long enough to tell you that. She might have quietly told the Sans of
Miss Remson's letter to the president, asking for an interview."
"But, my dear child, I did not mention the object of my interview in my
note to President Matthews," declared the manager. "The secretary would
have nothing to tell these girls of any moment. She would naturally
attach no importance to such a letter."
"That is true." Lucy looked abashed for an instant. Her old shyness
seemed about to settle down on her. She cast it off and sat up very
straight, her green eyes gleaming with her initial purpose. "I believe I
will look her up, at any rate. She might be a friend of the Sans."
"Hardly," differed Muriel. "The Sans don't make a friend of a girl under
the million mark, Lucy."
"Unless it happens to suit their purpose," flatly contradicted Lucy,
with no intent to be rude. "They are the very persons who would pretend
friendship with a poor girl if they thought she would be useful to them.
There are girls who would feel highly flattered to be taken up by them.
I can't pass opinion upon this secretary until I have seen her. Perhaps
not until I have seen her a number of times."
"Luciferous Warniferous, the world's great private investigator."
Despite the seriousness of the occasion, Muriel could not refrain from
venturing this pleasantry.
"You needn't make fun of me." Lucy laughed with the others. "It won't
do any harm, at least, to view her from afar."
"I thank you all for your interest in me and for your promise." Miss
Remson surveyed the group of youthful sympathizers through a slight
mist. "Don't keep this in mind, girls," she counseled. "It is better
forgotten. I shall try to get along with this disagreeable flock of
students with the least possible friction. If they take advantage of
this victory, which they have gained unfairly, and attempt to override
my authority at the Hall, I shall resign at once."