Katherines Sheaves | Page 6

mischievous flash in
her dark eyes.
"I shall be very glad to call you Jennie, if you wish, and my name is
Katherine, with a 'K,'" said that young lady, with an inviting smile.
"I'm sure there isn't any 'harum-scarum' about you," said the girl,
gravely, as she searched the sweet, brown eyes.
"That depends upon what you mean by the term," responded Katherine,
with a ripple of mirthful laughter. "I assure you I love a good time as
well as any other girl."
"U-m--p'rhaps; but I guess it would have to be a--a--genteel good time.
There's one thing I don't need to 'guess' about, though--you just know
how to stand firm on your heels when you need to."
"What do you mean by that?" questioned Katherine, with a look of
perplexity.
"Nobody will ever make you take a back seat--not even his highness
downstairs, when you know you're right. I say, though"--she interposed,
eagerly--"weren't you mad, through and through, at what he said to you

just now?"
"Mad?" repeated Katherine, flushing, and wondering if she had
unconsciously manifested anything that had seemed like anger or
temper during the recent interview.
"Yes; didn't you feel as if you'd just like to go at him with 'hammer and
tongs'"--doubling up her fists and striking out suggestively right and
left--"for being so crusty with you about your religion? I did."
Katherine laughed out merrily at the girl's strenuous espousal of her
cause, and with a sense of relief to know that she had shown no feeling
unworthy of a Christian Scientist.
"No, dear," she gently replied, "I could not feel anger or resentment
towards any one because of a mere difference of opinion."
"U-m! well, you didn't show any, that's sure. You just faced him, sweet
as a peach, but like a--a queen who knows she's on her own ground. I
thought, though, you might be just boiling over inside; but if you say
you weren't, I believe you, for I think you're 'true blue,' and I think Prof.
Seabrook might have learned a lesson from you, for I never saw him
quite so upset over a little thing before. I never had any use for
Christian Scientists myself; don't know anything about 'em, in fact. But
if they're all like you, I don't believe they'll ever do much harm in the
world. Here we are, though--this is Sadie's room. She's an orphan, too,
but she is very rich, and I tell you she just knows how to make her
money fly--isn't a bit stingy with others, either," the voluble girl
concluded, as she paused before a door at the head of the stairs in the
second story of the west wing and rapped vigorously upon it for
admittance.
"Come in," responded a good-natured voice, whereupon Jennie opened
the door and entered a sunny, inviting apartment, the sight of which
instantly gave Katherine a homelike feeling.
She also saw two pretty beds, on one side of the room, piled high with
a motley assortment of dresses and finery that made her wonder how

one person could ever make use of so many things, while an attractive
girl was sitting upon the floor before the one dressing case, her face
flushed and perplexed as she tried to pack another promiscuous
collection into the insufficient space that would henceforth belong to
her.
"Miss Minot," said Jennie, advancing farther into the room and thus
revealing her companion, "this is Miss Minturn, who is to room with
you. Prof. Seabrook sent me to show her here and to introduce her to
you."
Miss Minot sprang to her feet and came forward with outstretched hand,
her manner characterized by true Southern hospitality.
"Come in, Miss Minturn," she said, cordially; "come right in and sit
down," and releasing the hand she had grasped, she whisked two or
three skirts off a rocker, tossing them upon the heap on one of the beds.
"I knew you were coming, and I've been working right smart to get
ready for you. I've had full swing here so long I've filled every nook
and cranny of the place, and now"--with a shrug and a deprecatory
smile--"I shall have to learn to be very orderly to keep from
encroaching upon your territory. But there's lots of time. The things can
wait while we get acquainted a little. Jennie, you'll have to take the
trunk," she concluded, with a careless glance at the girl.
"I haven't time to sit down, Miss Minot; I've my algebra lesson to learn
for to-morrow morning," and Jennie, flushing with sudden anger at
being so cursorily consigned to a trunk, turned to leave the room.
Katherine put out a detaining hand.
"Thank you, Jennie, for coming up with me," she said, with a friendly
smile, adding: "And I hope there will