s. The intense
competition in the trade demanded it.

The Empire State Express, the fastest train in the world, carried
Gertrude and Lucille through New York state with speed and ease to
delightful New England. Secretly Gertrude loved George, and she
resolved to study chemistry and electricity and keep pace with his
studies, and if ever asked to become his wife, to aid him in every
possible way. She thought that she discovered in him the material for
a noble man, a statue which she hoped to chisel. Too often marriageable
young women and their anxious mothers demand the complete statue at the
outset, and are not content to accept and chisel granite.

At Smith College the months sped rapidly, as earnest study and bright
expectations occupied Gertrude's time and satisfied her heart. Every week
brought a letter and a reply was promptly sent. George wanted to write
twice a week, but Gertrude checked him, saying that both needed their
time, and that too frequent correspondence, like too much intimacy, often
brings disfavor.

"More details of the doings at the steel mills," wrote Gertrude. She
cared more about the welfare of her father's employees and their families
and George Ingram's plans than to know the latest fad in society. George
was equally anxious to keep her informed, and to learn of her
intellectual advancement, what books she read, and her views on the
leading topics of the day.

Her first letter began, "My Coatless Friend," a reference to the loss of
a linen coat or duster, when the last ride at Harrisville was taken. The
second letter began "Friend George," and the third, "My dear Friend."
Gertrude and George never addressed each other twice alike in their
whole correspondence. The weekly letters were always torn open by each in
haste, and both noticed a gradual increase of warmth in these addresses.
The fact that Gertrude was an heiress neither hindered nor helped his
devotion. His heart was attracted by her many charms.

At Smith College Gertrude occupied rooms in the Morris Cottage among the
apple tree blossoms. Much of her spare time was spent in the scientific
library and laboratory of Lilly Hall, or with the professor and his
telescope in the observatory.

On clear nights, aided by the telescope, Gertrude gazed into the
immensity of space, whispering sometimes to her own soul, "How grand this
vast world-making, this frightful velocity of the giant dynamos in their
elliptical pathways through space!"