Page:Poor White.djvu/183

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had given her thoughts form, who had indeed started her thinking of the inadequacy of her life. The brother, a studious, quiet man, worked as a chemist in a manufacturing plant somewhere at the edge of town. He was a musician and wanted to become a composer. One evening during the winter his sister Kate had brought Clara to the apartment where the two lived, and the three had become friends. Clara had learned something there that she did not yet understand and never did get clearly into her consciousness. The truth was that the brother was like a woman and Kate Chan- celler, who wore skirts and had the body of a woman, was in her nature a man. Kate and Clara spent many evenings together later and talked of many things not usually touched on by girl students. Kate was a bold, vigorous thinker and was striving to grope her way through her own problem in life and many times, as they walked along the street or sat together in the evening, she forgot her companion and talked of her- self and the difficulties of her position in life. " It's absurd the way things are arranged," she said. " Be- cause my body is made in a certain way I'm supposed to accept certain rules for living. The rules were not made for me. Men manufactured them as they man- ufacture can-openers, on the wholesale plan." She looked at Clara and laughed. " Try to imagine me in a little lace cap, such as your aunt wears about the house, and spending my days knitting baby stockings," she said. The two women had spent hours talking of their lives and in speculating on the differences in their na- tures. The experience had been tremendously educa- tional for Clara. As Kate was a socialist and Colum-

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