.. fried potatoes and a cold slab of steak ... and
a big Westerner who wore a sombrero and had a stupid, kindly, boyish
face, showed me to a bed ... which also cost but a quarter for the night
... with a scattered ambuscade of bedbugs thrown in for good measure.
In the morning, fried pork chops, pancakes and two cups of coffee--and I
set out for the hill.
The place buzzed with activity. The fall term was already in full swing,
and students poured in lines up and down both sides of the steep street
that led to the college ... girls and boys both, for it was
co-educational. They were well dressed and jolly, as they moved in the
keen windy sun of autumn.
I was not a part of this. I felt like an outcast, but I bore myself with
assumed independence and indifference. I thought everybody was looking
at me. Most of them were.
* * * * *
Langworth enrolled me as a special student. He himself paid my tuition
fee, which was a nominal one. I enrolled in Philosophy, Economics,
German, Latin.
My patron, furthermore, slipped a ten-dollar bill into my hand. "For the
books you will need."
He directed me to the Y.M.C.A. employment bureau. "They will see that
you get work at something, so you can be sure of board and room ... in
the early days we did not have things so well arranged. I worked my way
through college, too.
Pages:
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352