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 Chanceller, 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 herself and the difficulties of her position in life. "It's
absurd the way things are arranged," she said. "Because 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 manufacture
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 natures.
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