The Plastic Age, Percy Marks [top 10 books of all time TXT] 📗

Campus Was Ringing With Shouts As Freshmen Entered

Fraternity Houses,  Each Freshman Being Required To Report At Once To The

Fraternity Whose Bid He Was Accepting.

 

When Carl And Hugh Walked Up The Nu Delta Steps,  They Were Seized By

Waiting Upper-Classmen And Rushed Into The Living-Room,  Where They Were

Received With Loud Cheers,  Slapped On The Back,  And Passed Around The

Room,  Each Upper-Classman Shaking Hands With Them So Vigorously That

Their Hands Hurt For An Hour Afterward. What Pleasant Pain! Each New

Arrival Was Similarly Received,  But The Excitement Did Not Last Long.

Both The Freshmen And The Upper-Classmen Were Too Tired To Keep The

Enthusiasm At The Proper Pitch. At Nine O'clock The Freshmen Were Sent

Home With Orders To Report The Next Evening At Eight.

 

Carl And Hugh,  Proudly Conscious Of The Pledge Buttons In The Lapels Of

Their Coats,  Walked Slowly Across The Campus,  Spent And Weary,  But

Exquisitely Happy.

 

"They Bid Me On Account Of You," Carl Said Softly. "They Didn't Think

They Could Get You Unless They Asked Me,  Too."

 

"No," Hugh Replied,  "You're Wrong. They Took You For Yourself. They Knew

You Would Go Where I Did,  And They Were Sure That I Would Go Their Way."

 

Hugh Was Quite Right. The Nu Deltas Had Felt Sure Of Both Of Them And

Had Not Rushed Them Harder Because They Were Too Busy To Waste Any Time

On Certainties.

 

Carl Stopped Suddenly. "God,  Hugh," He Exclaimed. "Just Suppose I Had

Offered The Alpha Sigs That Cash. God!"

 

"Aren't You Glad You Didn't?" Hugh Asked Happily.

 

"Glad? Glad? Boy,  I'm Bug-House. And," He Added Softly,  "I Know The Lad

I've Got To Thank."

 

"Aw,  Go To Hell."

 

       

 

The Initiation Season Lasted Two Weeks,  And The Neophytes Found That The

Dormitory Initiations Had Been Merely Child's Play. They Had To Account

For Every Hour,  And Except For A Brief Time Allowed Every Day For

Studying,  They Were Kept Busy Making Asses Of Themselves For The

Delectation Of The Upper-Classmen.

 

In The Nu Delta House A Freshman Had To Be On Guard Every Hour Of The

Day Up To Midnight. He Was Forced To Dress Himself In Some Outlandish

Costume,  The More Outlandish The Better,  And Announce Every One Who

Entered Or Left The House. "Mr. Standish Entering," He Would Bawl,  Or,

"Mr. Kerwin Leaving." If He Bawled Too Loudly,  He Was Paddled; If He

Didn't Bawl Loudly Enough,  He Was Paddled; And If There Was No Fault To

Be Found With His Bawling; He Was Paddled Anyway. Every Freshman Had To

Supply His Own Paddle,  A Broad,  Stout Oak Affair Sold At The Cooperative

Store At A Handsome Profit.

 

If A Freshman Reported For Duty One Minute Late,  He Was Paddled; If He

Reported One Minute Early,  He Was Paddled. There Was No End To The

Paddling. "Assume The Angle," An Upper-Classman Would Roar. The

Unfortunate Freshman Then Humbly Bent Forward,  Gripped His Ankles With

His Hands--And Waited. The Worst Always Happened. The Upper-Classman

Brought The Paddle Down With A Resounding Whack On The Seat Of The

Freshman's Trousers.

 

"Does It Hurt?"

 

"Yes,  Sir."

 

Another Resounding Whack. "_What?_"

 

"No--No,  Sir."

 

"Oh,  Well,  If It Doesn't Hurt,  I Might As Well Give You Another One."

And He Gave Him Another One.

 

A Freshman Was Paddled If He Forgot To Say "Sir" To An Upper-Classman;

He Was Paddled If He Neglected To Touch The Floor With His Fingers Every

Time He Passed Through A Door In The Fraternity House; He Was Paddled If

He Laughed When An Upper-Classman Told A Joke,  And He Was Paddled If He

Didn't Laugh; He Was Paddled If He Failed To Return From An Errand In An

Inconceivably Short Time: He Was Paddled For Every And No Reason,  But

Mainly Because The Upper-Classmen,  The Sophomores Particularly,  Got

Boundless Delight Out Of Doing The Paddling.

 

Every Night A Freshman Stood On The Roof Of The Nu Delta House And

Announced The Time Every Fifteen Seconds. "One Minute And Fifteen

Seconds After Nine,  And All's Well In The Halls Of Nu Delta; One Minute

And Thirty Seconds After Nine,  And All's Well In The Halls Of Nu Delta;

One Minute And Forty-Five Seconds After Nine,  And All's Well In The

Halls Of Nu Delta," And So On For An Hour. Then He Was Relieved By

Another Freshman,  Who Took Up The Chant.

 

Nightly The Freshmen Had To Entertain The Upper-Classmen,  And If The

Entertainment Wasn't Satisfactory,  As It Never Was,  The Entertainers

Were Paddled. They Had To Run Races,  Shoving Pennies Across The Floor

With Their Noses. The Winner Was Paddled For Going Too Fast--"Didn't He

Have Any Sense Of Sportsmanship?"--And The Loser Was Paddled For Going

Too Slow. Most Of The Freshmen Lost Skin Off Their Noses And Foreheads;

All Of Them Shivered At The Sight Of A Paddle. By The End Of The First

Week They Were Whispering To Each Other How Many Blisters They Had On

Their Buttocks.

 

It Was A Bitterly Cold Night In Late February When The Nu Deltas Took

The Freshmen For Their "Walk." They Drove In Automobiles Fifteen Miles

Into The Country And Then Left The Freshmen To Walk Back. It Was Four

O'clock In The Morning When The Miserable Freshmen Reached The Campus,

Half Frozen,  Unutterably Weary,  But Thankful That The End Of The

Initiation Was At Hand.

 

Hugh Was Thankful For Another Thing; The Nu Deltas Did Not Brand. He Had

Noticed Several Men In The Swimming-Pool With Tiny Greek Letters Branded

On Their Chests Or Thighs. The Branded Ones Seemed Proud Of Their

Permanent Insignia,  But The Idea Of A Fraternity Branding Its Members

Like Beef-Cattle Was Repugnant To Hugh. He Told Carl That He Was Darn

Glad The Nu Deltas Were Above That Sort Of Thing,  And,  Surprisingly,

Carl Agreed With Him.

 

The Next Night They Were Formally Initiated. The Nu Delta House Seemed

Strangely Quiet; Levity Was Strictly Prohibited. The Freshmen Were Given

White Robes Such As The Upper-Classmen Were Wearing,  The President

Excepted,  Who Wore A Really Handsome Robe Of Blue And Silver.

 

Then They Marched Up-Stairs To The "Goat Room." Once There,  The

President Mounted A Dais; A "Brother" Stood On Each Side Of Him. Hugh

Was So Much Impressed By The Ritual,  The Black Hangings Of The Room,  The

Fraternity Seal Over The Dais,  The Ornate Chandelier,  The Long Speeches

Of The President And His Assistants,  That He Failed To Notice That Many

Of The Brothers Were Openly Bored.

 

Eventually Each Freshman Was Led Forward By An Upper-Classman. He Knelt

On The Lowest Step Of The Dais And Repeated After The President The Oath

Of Allegiance. Then One Of The Assisting Brothers Whispered To Him The

Password And Taught Him The "Grip," A Secret And Elaborate Method Of

Shaking Hands,  While The Other Pinned The Jeweled Pin To His Vest.

 

When Each Freshman Had Been Received Into The Fraternity,  The Entire

Chapter Marched In Twos Down-Stairs,  Singing The Fraternity Song. The

Initiation Was Over; Carl And Hugh Were Nu Delts.

 

The Whole Ceremony Had Moved Hugh Deeply,  So Deeply That He Had Hardly

Been Able To Repeat The Oath After The President. He Thought The Ritual

Very Beautiful,  More Beautiful Even Than The Easter Service At Church.

He Left The Nu Delta House That Night Feeling A Deeper Loyalty For The

Fraternity Than He Had Words To Express. He And Carl Walked Back To

Surrey 19 In Silence. Neither Was Capable Of Speech,  Though Both Of Them

Wanted To Give Expression To Their Emotion In Some Way. They Reached

Their Room.

 

"Well," Said Hugh Shyly,  "I Guess I'll Go To Bed."

 

"Me,  Too." Then Carl Moved Hesitatingly To Where Hugh Was Standing. He

Held Out His Hand And Grinned,  But His Eyes Were Serious.

 

"Good Night--Brother."

 

Their Hands Met In The Sacred Grip.

 

"Good Night--Brother."

 

Chapter 13

 

To Hugh The Remainder Of The Term Was Simply A Fight To Get An

Opportunity To Study. The Old Saying,  "If Study Interferes With College,

Cut Out Study," Did Not Appeal To Him. He Honestly Wanted To Do Good

Work,  But He Found That The Chance To Do It Was Rare. Some One Always

Seemed To Be In His Room Eager To Talk; There Was The Fraternity Meeting

To Attend Every Monday Night; Early In The Term There Was At Least One

Hockey Or Basketball Game A Week; Later There Were Track Meets,  Baseball

Games,  And Tennis Matches; He Had To Attend Glee Club Rehearsals Twice A

Week; He Ran Every Afternoon Either In The Gymnasium Or On The Cinder

Path; Some One Always Seduced Him Into Going To The Movies; He Was

Constantly Being Drawn Into Bull Sessions; There Was An Occasional

Concert: And Besides All These Distractions,  There Was A Fraternity

Dance,  The Excitement Of Prom,  A Trip To Three Cities With The Glee

Club,  And Finally A Week's Vacation At Home At Easter.

 

Worst Of All,  None Of His Instructors Was Inspiring. He Had Been

Assigned To A New Section In Latin,  And In Losing Alling He Lost The One

Really Enjoyable Teacher He Had Had. The Others Were Conscientious,

More Or Less Competent,  But There Was Little Enthusiasm In Their

Teaching,  Nothing To Make A Freshman Eager Either To Attend Their

Classes Or To Study The Lessons They Assigned. They Did Not Make The

Acquiring Of Knowledge A Thrilling Experience; They Made It A Duty--And

Hugh Found That Duty Exceedingly Irksome.

 

He Attended Neither The Fraternity Dance Nor The Prom. He Had Looked

Forward Enthusiastically To The "House Dance," But After He Had,  Along

With The Other Men In His Delegation,  Cleaned The House From Garret To

Basement,  He Suddenly Took To His Bed With Grippe. He Groaned With

Despair When Carl Gave Him Glowing Accounts Of The Dance And The

"Janes." Carl For Once,  However,  Was Circumspect; He Did Not Tell Hugh

All That Happened. He Would Have Been Hard Put To Explain His Own

Reticence,  But Although He Thought "The Jane Who Got Pie-Eyed" Had Been

Enormously Funny,  He Decided Not To Tell Hugh About Her Or The Pie-Eyed

Brothers.

 

No Freshman Was Allowed To Attend The Prom,  But Along With The Other Men

Who Weren't "Dragging Women" Hugh Walked The Streets And Watched The

Girls. There Was A Tea-Dance At The Fraternity House During Prom Week.

Hugh Said That He Got A Great Kick Out Of It,  But,  As A Matter Of Fact,

He Remained Only A Short Time; There Was A Hectic Quality To Both The

Girls And The Talk That Confused Him. For Some Reason He Didn't Like The

Atmosphere; And He Didn't Know Why. His Excuse To The Brothers And To

Himself For Leaving Early Was That He Was In Training And Not Supposed

To Dance.

 

Track Above All Things Was Absorbing His Interest. He Could Hardly Think

Of Anything Else. He Lay Awake Nights Dreaming Of The Race He Would Run

Against Raleigh. Sanford Had Three Dual Track Meets A Year,  But The

First Two Were With Small Colleges And Considered Of Little Importance.

Only A Point Winner In The Raleigh Meet Was Granted His Letter.

 

Hugh Won The Hundred In The Sophomore-Freshman Meet And In A Meet With

The Raleigh Freshmen,  So That He Was Given His Class Numerals. He Did

Nothing,  However,  In The Raleigh Meet; He Was Much Too Nervous To Run

Well,  Breaking Three Times At The Mark. He Was Set Back Two Yards And

Was Never Able To Regain Them. For A Time He Was Bitterly Despondent,

But He Soon Cheered Up When He Thought Of The Three Years Ahead Of Him.

 

Spring Brought First Rain And Slush And Then The "Sings." There Was A

Fine Stretch Of Lawn In The Center Of The Campus,  And On Clear Nights

The Students Gathered There For A Sing,  One Class On Each Side Of The

Lawn. First The Seniors Sang A College Song,  Then The Juniors,  Then The

Sophomores,  And Then The Freshmen. After Each Song,  The Other Classes

Cheered The Singers,  Except When The Sophomores And Freshmen Sang: They

Always "Razzed" Each Other. Hugh Led The Freshmen,  And He Never Failed

To Get A Thrill Out Of Singing A Clear Note And Hearing His Classmates

Take It Up.

 

After Each Class Had Sung Three Or Four Songs,  The Boys Gathered In The

Center Of The Lawn,