The Gavelyte, November 1910

11 ~;t '11., n I h • group .-, 1 ,•,·I ur I:, I h go ,d Jllcl '" ilmn t rr n t 1nu ii ly. fnc•, lllcl •t•I 1 1 t'Jl •llnnl orw. It 11 11 •r 1 1 t II ,,rl, 1 i hly cl ,• •cl, h, ut • c> tlw hrurwll«' tvp . 111111 111 r h' gr up o whr ·h h • w th •n;"r with I t 1r • of 111" J> •ri •nr.l' o h •1 , md nnt lw of th· tlrtll, d t l th. 1llr tl'I d liy th• rirl. \ •it, bu 11rp i Pd t,, hc•nr h, r tingm n•nrnrh1 :incl •1rl' m :it om• point11. lw w 1tchPd h •r fru • aw .II o ;1 look of di t' mt •nl :ind al lim •H k •p i ·i m and cl ·t •rrntnc d lo 1111 k ht•r :wqu ,in an • it p ibl nnd cli11r.ov1•r ttw ·au •, \ . th, girl . p •rat•(\ for lhl' night sh' wn intruduc,•d o thP obj• t nf hn stu ly, who sh• learn •cl wa l~s •lla Koch and her roornmal for the• y ·ar. Th, nc. · t f •w cl 1ys w •r • 1hys of r •vela i,ms n wand undr am ·cl of h •for•. 'fh, f, •ling of b •wildcrm •nt and Ion •lin ss s on wor • off as sh becam a ·riuain– t d and h•r studi s wcr h•r unbou,Hlcdd•light. But thos fir. tday. wn•day of di:al\u:ionm •nt al "J. B th wa a simple, sincer>, warmh art d girl fill •d with a br ad sympa_thy and a d sir to h Ip h r fellow. stud. nts ancl she was amaz •d at th in ·inc •r1ty, half h •artedn ss and lack l aim or ideal m so many of th• girl . Pl •a ure anri th pr s nt seemed to be their only concern. he clisgu t– •dly rem,\rkcJ to Estella one night that so many of the girl were "shallow", that th r was nothing much beneath the surfac . It i a t nishing sometimes what a chance remark will lead to. Elizab th had oon learned that Estelle was subject to fi of despondency and of brooding and uch wa the case on the night on which Beth spok so freely her opinion· of so many ar und her. he was s ,rprised at the oulbur t of fe ling from Es– telle. Then it wa she learn cl of the lonelin s of the favorit. of the school and of her d ;ssat;sfacti n. Then also she 1 arn d the reason for Estelle's dis– tru ·t. clo•1bt and skeptici ·m. Her story wa so n told. Reared in a home wher . carcely any atl2ntion was pa:,; d t') her training she wa left to her own re– ource and companion . Early mshecl into society she learned the ways of th uperficial !if of those around her. Unfortunate in her friendships she had grown distru tful, had lost faith in t'.10se who called themselves her friends but who had shown by their actions how fa) e were their statement and had be– come skeptical as t1 the sincei ity of any. Feeling- utterly alone in her surround– ing and tired of the life she was living, she determined to enter a school, altho her education had been completed, in order, if possible to find some simple heart d friend who c uld understand, and to prepare for some service by m ans of , hich she c uld find comfort. 'And that" she finisheJ "is the reason for this shallowness you accuse u of. So many of the girls are like me. They have no deep rooted faith in their fellowmen." And there it was that Estella Kock discovered the jewel in the rough in her room-mate. Carefully, lovingly, Beth talked to her far into the night, trying hard to bani h the cloud of doubt about her fri nd and turning the silver side out for her to see. Gradually she saw that the hadow was lifting and a ray of unshine had penetrat~d the morbid mi1\d. And it lodged nd grew and as the days passed the girls wondered at the change in Estella. None could tell v. hat it was and few knew the cause but all agreed that whereas she had alway been attractive, now she was lovable. And just as great, tho not as noticable was the change in Beth. Life was not to her the ideal existence it had seemed a month ago, but he had seen a serious ide, a side which awed her somewhat, but a side which called forth all her effort to be a real help and a sincere friend of all those who knew her.