Mrs. St. Peter glanced up. “You mean Washington City? I didn’t know you had ever been so far east.”
There was no denying that the young man looked uncomfortable. He frowned and said in a low voice: “Yes, I’ve been there. I suppose I don’t speak of it because I haven’t very pleasant recollections of it.”
“How long were you there?” his hostess asked.
“A winter and spring, more than six months. Long enough to get very homesick.” He went away almost at once, as if he were afraid of being questioned further.
The subject came up again a few weeks later, however. After Tom’s graduation, two courses were open to him. He was offered an instructorship, with a small salary, in the Physics department under Dr. Crane, and a graduate scholarship at Johns Hopkins University. St. Peter strongly urged him to accept the latter. One evening when the family were discussing Tom’s prospects, the Professor summed up all the reasons why he ought to go to Baltimore and work in the laboratory made famous by Dr. Rowland. He assured him, moreover, that he would find the atmosphere of an old Southern city delightful.
“Yes, I know something about the atmosphere,” Tom broke out at last. “It is delightful, but it’s all wrong for me. It discourages me dreadfully. I used to go over there when I was in Washington, and it always made me blue. I don’t believe I could ever work there.”
“But can you trust a child’s impressions to guide you now, in such an important decision?” asked Mrs. St. Peter gravely.