chafed. Not having been a
woman of means or of any particular position, she had been somewhat
self-conscious in mixing with the great ones of the place. She had, at
length, however, after a residence of nearly twenty years, decided that
to live so was nothing; and she had boldly called upon Mrs. Robert
Lee-Satterlee. She had found the great lady all charm and friendliness;
but when, upon leaving, she had expressed the hope that Mrs. Robert
Lee-Satterlee might be inclined to return her call, Mrs. Robert
Lee-Satterlee had replied, "Thank you." "Is it 'Thank you, yes' or
'Thank you, no'?" the rash woman had persisted. To which Mrs. Robert
Lee-Satterlee had bowed, "Well, since you insist, I'm afraid it will
have to be 'Thank you, no.'" Mr. Brainerd had felt the snub perhaps more
than his wife, although he was most convincing in reassuring her that
upon trying again, say with some one of the Whitman family, there would
be small danger of such a rebuff. Mrs. Brainerd, however, had not tried
again and had, with what stoicism she could command, resigned herself to
the path God had ordered for her feet. So Mr. Brainerd's end at
Woodbridge was not a brilliant one, but he did not shrink or cry aloud,
and it was generally recognized that dear old Burt Brainerd was a good
sport.

The other Assistant Professor in Freshman English has already been
mentioned--Jerome Furbush. He was a young man, a classmate of Henry
Whitman, and rather intimate in consequence. He was, quite decidedly, a
striking figure. Whereas the average member of the Faculty might have
been taken for an ordinary business man in his working clothes, Furbush
was obviously a man of temperament. Tall and lean, he had allowed his
beard to grow into something of patriarchal proportions, or, more
exactly, into one of those healthy spade-like growths which the French
know so well how to develop. That it was a rich red only added to its
distinction, and to his. He was noted for being a hard worker and a wit,
but feeling about him was sharply divided. One could not be neutral;
either one hailed him as a prophet and seer, or one hated him as an
abandoned cynic, a vicious and arbitrary egoist whose presence in the
community was a menace. There appeared to be evidence in support of
either view. It was true that the Dean's office was frequently absorbed
by problems of his making. He had a weakness, to illustrate, for calling
his students liars and cheats upon, frequently, tenuous