September 24
Dear Kind Trustee Who Sends Orphans to College,
Well, here I am at college!
I traveled for four hours on the train.
I never rode on a train before.
College is the biggest, most confusing place I've ever been!
I get lost whenever I leave my room.
It seems strange to write letters to someone I don't know.
Actually, it seems strange to be writing letters at all.
I've only written three or four in my life.
So please forgive me if my letters aren't perfect.
Before I left, Mrs. Lippett and I had a very serious talk.
She told me how to behave for the rest of my life.
Including how I should behave toward you.
"Jerusha, you must be very respectful to the kind gentleman who's doing so much for you," she said.
"But how can I be respectful to someone who wants to be called John Smith?
I wish he'd chosen a more interesting name.
I might as well write letters to Dear Hitching Post."
"Jerusha!" Mrs. Lippett was shocked.
"That is not respectful!"
I thought about you a great deal this summer.
You've taken an interest in me.
That makes me almost feel that I have a family.
It seems as if I belong to somebody now, and I like that feeling.
But when I think about you, I have very little to work with.
I only know three things about you:
1. You are tall.
2. You are rich.
3. You hate girls.
I suppose I could address you as Dear Mr. Girl Hater. But that's rather insulting to me.
Or Dear Mr. Rich Man, but that's insulting to you.
That sounds like money is the only important thing about you.
Besides, maybe you won't stay rich for your whole life.
Lots of wealthy men lose all their money in the stock market.
But at least you'll stay tall all your life!
So I've decided to call you Daddy Longlegs. I hope you won't mind.
It's just a private nickname.
Please don't tell Mrs. Lippett!
Let me tell you about my room, which is in a tower in Fergussen Hall.
It used to be part of the infirmary before the college built the new one.
There are three other girls on the same floor.
There's a senior who wears glasses.
She's always telling us to be quiet.
And two freshmen, Sallie McBride and Julia Rutledge Pendleton.
Sallie has red hair and is quite friendly.
Julia comes from one of wealthiest families in New York.
She hasn't noticed me yet.
Sallie and Julia room together, but the senior and I have singles.
Usually freshmen can't get singles.
But I got one without even asking.
Maybe the college was worried about my behavior around girls raised by proper families.
So there are advantages to being an orphan!
I'm going to enjoy my own room.
Especially after spending 18 years in one room with 20 roommates!
Sallie is the most entertaining person in the world, and Julia is the least entertaining person.
Sallie thinks everything is funny, and Julia is bored with everything.
Julia never makes the slightest effort to be friendly.
She believes that if you're born a Pendleton, you deserve only the best things.
She and I were born to be enemies!
I've fixed up my room with Sallie's help.
She has lived in a real house all her life, so I trusted her advice.
"Let's go to the senior auction," she said the other day.
"The seniors will be selling things they don't want anymore."
When we got to the auction, I had no idea where to begin.
But Sallie steered me toward a wooden desk.
"You should bid on that. It's very nice."
"What about that brown rug over there?" I said.
But when we looked at it, we noticed an ink spot.
"The ink spot will make it less expensive." Sallie looked around.
"And with the money you save, you could buy that wicker chair.
Then you could put the chair over the spot."
So I bought all three items as well as some yellow curtains and cushions.
You can't imagine how fun it is to shop, and get change back after paying!
Especially since I've never had more than a few cents in my life.
I assure you, Daddy dear, I do appreciate the allowance.
Well, it's time for me to end my first letter. One more thing . . .
Sallie just poked her head in my door.
She said, "I'm so homesick that I simply can't stand it. Do you feel that way?"
I smiled a little. "No, I think I'll be all right."
I've never heard of anyone being orphanage sick. Have you?
Yours most respectfully,
Jerusha Abbott