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  A BOOK OF
  BRYN MAWR
  STORIES

  EDITED BY

  MARGARETTA MORRIS AND
  LOUISE BUFFUM CONGDON

  [Illustration]

  =PHILADELPHIA= GEORGE W JACOBS
  AND COMPANY =ANNO DOMINI MCMI=




  Copyright, 1901, by
  GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO.




A Book of Bryn Mawr Stories




Preface


In compiling a volume of Bryn Mawr stories, the editors have been
conscious that such a book could never adequately represent the college
life. Its strong subtle character that commands the devotion of every
Bryn Mawr student is something difficult if not impossible to depict.
Yet there comes a time in the life of a college, as of an individual,
when self-expression is inevitable. Such a time, the editors believe,
has come for Bryn Mawr. And this conviction has induced them to bring
out the present volume.

Until now the literary efforts of the students have concerned themselves
with external matters rather than with introspection. Perhaps this is
due to an instinctive reticence we Bryn Mawrtyrs have wherever our
feelings are deeply stirred. We can joke about ourselves and our
traditions as we do in _The Fortnightly Philistine_. But when we come to
speak seriously to the outside world, as in _The Lantern_, we confine
ourselves for the most part to subjects of general literary interest,
practically ignoring the college atmosphere. At last, however, the ice
is broken, and Bryn Mawr talks about herself.

In the earliest days, when the college had only two buildings and
forty-four students, even in that first year it had a character and a
spirit all its own. And fifteen years of rapid growth have seemed but to
strengthen its individuality. To show the college unity in diversity the
editors have carefully chosen authors from the older and younger alumnae
and from the undergraduates. They hope that in this way a truer
impression of the college life may be given than would be possible if
the whole book were written by one person.

Some readers may ask which of the many heroines in these tales is the
typical Bryn Mawr girl. The reply is no one, but all. Bryn Mawr students
come from all parts of the country, from all sorts of different
surroundings, and on entering college they do not, popular prejudice to
the contrary, immediately drop their individuality and become samples of
a type. We have among our number the pedant, the coquette, the athlete,
the snob, the poser, the girl who loves dress and prettiness, and she
who affects mannish simplicity, the all-round girl, the serious-minded,
and the frivolous. Yet none of these is the Bryn Mawr girl _par
excellence_. That mythical personage can be known only by comparing and
contrasting her various incarnations.

This book is an attempt to show some of her incarnations and some
typical scenes of Bryn Mawr life. College life is not dramatic and
college stories have no great dramatic interest, unless they introduce
elements foreign to the campus. Those who look to these stories,
therefore, for entertainment may be disappointed, since most of them are
serious in tone, and in their appeal to the reader depend largely upon
the charm of local colour.

If in the mind of any one the spirit portrayed in this book is unworthy,
if it falls short of the ideal of what college life should be, let it be
remembered that this is a first attempt, and let the expression be
blamed but not the Bryn Mawr spirit.

All of the following stories are new, and were written for this book,
except _Studies in College Colour_, which are reprinted from _The
Lantern_ of 1893. One of these studies, the description of Chapel, has
appeared also in _Cap and Gown in Prose_. For permission to use this
last the editors are indebted to the courtesy of Messrs. L. C. Page &
Company.

                                                      _M. M. 1900._
                                                      _L. B. C. 1900