This story was serialized in The Youth's Companion magazine over ten issues in 1914. It was mentioned by Josephine Belding 1902 in the October 1917 issue of the Alumnae Quarterly in an article entitled "Women's Colleges in Fiction." Belding said the story "depicted Mount Holyoke life much more skillfully and gracefully, and as completely as the limits of a ten-chapter serial would permit."
The story mentions uniquely Mount Holyoke landmarks such as Brigham Hall, Safford Hall, Prospect Hill, Williston Hall, and Rocky Hall, but never mentions the name of the college. The closest mention is in chapter seven, where the basketball jerseys have a letter "H" on them. The freshman class is called Nineteen Blank in chapter nine, but since we know the freshman class color is red (chapter seven), it would appear she is implying the freshmen heroines of this story are in the class of 1918. There is a photo of the 1918 class tree in the 1918 Llamarada on page 117. I looked at earlier Llamies, but saw no mention of a class tree, so chapter two may be telling an lightly fictionalized, but basically accurate story about the beginning of the class tree tradition.
I did chuckle over the name of one of the faculty members, Miss Chemistry Ford. A professor in the chemistry department in this era was Emma Perry Carr. It makes me wonder if this was a well-known nickname for Miss Carr, or whether Beth Gilchrist invented it for this story.
I. Chapter One
II. Chapter Two
III. Chapter Three
IV. Chapter Four
V. Chapter Five
VI. Chapter Six
VII. Chapter Seven
VIII. Chapter Eight
IX. Chapter Nine
X. Chapter Ten