of all cliques, clubs and classes in Redmond to her; and where she went Anne
and Priscilla went, too. Phil “adored” Anne and Priscilla, especially Anne. She
was a loyal little soul, crystal-free from any form of snobbishness. “Love me,
love my friends” seemed to be her unconscious motto. Without effort, she took
them with her into her ever widening circle of acquaintanceship, and the two
Avonlea girls found their social pathway at Redmond made very easy and
pleasant for them, to the envy and wonderment of the other freshettes, who,
lacking Philippa’s sponsorship, were doomed to remain rather on the fringe of
things during their first college year.
To Anne and Priscilla, with their more serious views of life, Phil remained the
amusing, lovable baby she had seemed on their first meeting. Yet, as she said
herself, she had “heaps” of brains. When or where she found time to study was a
mystery, for she seemed always in demand for some kind of “fun,” and her home
evenings were crowded with callers. She had all the “beaux” that heart could
desire, for nine-tenths of the Freshmen and a big fraction of all the other classes
were rivals for her smiles. She was naively delighted over this, and gleefully
recounted each new conquest to Anne and Priscilla, with comments that might
have made the unlucky lover’s ears burn fiercely.
“Alec and Alonzo don’t seem to have any serious rival yet,” remarked Anne,
teasingly.
“Not one,” agreed Philippa. “I write them both every week and tell them all
about my young men here. I’m sure it must amuse them. But, of course, the one I
like best I can’t get. Gilbert Blythe won’t take any notice of me, except to look at
me as if I were a nice little kitten he’d like to pat. Too well I know the reason. I
owe you a grudge, Queen Anne. I really ought to hate you and instead I love you
madly, and I’m miserable if I don’t see you every day. You’re different from any
girl I ever knew before. When you look at me in a certain way I feel what an
insignificant, frivolous little beast I am, and I long to be better and wiser and
stronger. And then I make good resolutions; but the first nice-looking mannie
who comes my way knocks them all out of my head. Isn’t college life
magnificent? It’s so funny to think I hated it that first day. But if I hadn’t I might
never got really acquainted with you. Anne, please tell me over again that you
like me a little bit. I yearn to hear it.”
“I like you a big bit—and I think you’re a dear, sweet, adorable, velvety,
clawless, little—kitten,” laughed Anne, “but I don’t see when you ever get time
to learn your lessons.”
Phil must have found time for she held her own in every class of her year.
Even the grumpy old professor of Mathematics, who detested coeds, and had