for books. She had always hoped to take a
college course.

"But I was ignorant of everything," she sighed.

Ruth gathered, too, that the aunt, who was at the nominal head of the
Frayne household, was also ignorant. This Aunt Emmy seemed to be an
empty-headed creature who thought that the most essential thing for a
girl in life was to be fancifully dressed, and to attain a position in
society.

Aunt Emmy had evidently filled Rebecca's head with such notions. The
girl had come to Ardmore with a totally wrong idea of what it meant to
be in college.

"Why! some of these girls act as waitresses," said Rebecca. "I couldn't
do _that_ even to obtain the education I want so much. Oh! Aunt Emmy
would never hear to it."

"It's a perfectly legitimate way of helping earn one's tuition," Ruth
said.

"The Fraynes have never done such things," the other girl said
haughtily.

And right there and then Ruth decided that Rebecca Frayne was going to
have a very hard time, indeed, at Ardmore unless she learned to look
upon life quite differently from the way she had been taught at home.

Already Ruth Fielding had seen enough at Ardmore to know that many of
the very girls whose duties Rebecca scorned, were getting more out of
their college life than Rebecca Frayne could possibly get unless she
took a radically different view of life and its comparative values from
that her present standards gave her.

The girls who were waitresses, and did other work to help pay for their
tuition or for their board were busy and happy and were respected by
their mates. In addition, they were often the best scholars in the
classes.

Rebecca was wrong in scorning those who combined domestic service with
an attempt to obtain an education. But Ruth was wise enough to see that
this feeling was inbred in Rebecca. It was useless to try to change her
opinion upon it.

If Rebecca were poverty-stricken, her purse could not be replenished by
any such means as these other girls found to help them over the hard
places. In this matter of the tam-o'-shanter, for instance, it would be
very difficult to help the girl. Ruth knew better than to offer to pay
for the new tam-o'-shanter the freshman could not afford to buy. To make
such an offer would immediately close the door of the strange girl's
friendship to Ruth. So she did not hint at such a thing. She talked on,
beginning to laugh and joke with Rebecca, and finally brought her out of
her tears.

"Cheer up