Chicora College for Women - Nods and Becks Yearbook (Columbia, SC)

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Prophecy of Class of 1913 O NE Wednesday afternoon, as I was worrying over writing this prophecy and trying to think of something original, Randolph rushed in, saying: “Lewis, do stop bothering with that prophecy and be sociable. Hurry up, get ready, and let’s ‘be going’ to the fortune teller’s. We Seniors have permission to go this afternoon.” “Fortune teller’s?” “Yes, didn’t you know there will be a grand one in town to-day and to-morrow? Here’s where Senior privileges come in. Child, did you ever hear of anything so grand?” “Say, let’s go early so we can shop a little. This prophecy can wait for a more convenient season.” I was ushered into a small inner room, heavily curtained, where the semi-darkness and the odor of the burning josh-sticks filled my very soul with awe. After I had crossed Madam Eda’s palm with silver, she glad¬ dened my heart with the assurance that I would be a physician, the dream of my girlhood hours. A number of girls had gathered in the reception room, and as I was waiting for Randolph to have her future “read,”—for someone else was now in the room,—I caught sight of a long passage. Wandering down this hall I spied a door, and upon turning the knob it yielded. I stealthily pushed it open only to find myself facing thick curtains. But what was that I heard? Was it not Madam Eda’s voice? Here was my oppor¬ tunity to satisfy my curiosity as to the fortunes of the other girls. I could hear the monotonous voice continue its wierd chanting and these words fell upon my listening ears: “And behold under the guiding influence of the great instructor Philippe you shall become a potent factor in the musical world.” At first I could not recognize the vo ice of the recipient of such a for¬ tune, but at last the proverbial, “Oh, how cute,” and I knew this must be Mabel’s promise for the future. I could hear Mabel’s distant footsteps grow less distinct, then a laugh, a heavy tread, and I knew Catherine had entered the room. There was silence for a few moments, during which time I supposed Catherine was performing the necessary preliminaries. Then again the low mumble, but this time I could not distinguish the words. She spoke for it seemed an indeterminable length of time, then I could hear Catherine exclaim: “Am I going to be an editor? And of a paper called Wit and Humor?

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a grand success. The second event was the cordial invitation from Clem- son College to be their guests on their annual field day. Never was a happier, merrier company of girls than our Chicora clan on that memo¬ rable day. We were greeted with a royal welcome and were entertained with every courtesy and kindness possible to be shown. As Seniors, we have now reached the summit of all our ambitions. We are on the mountain top. “The traveler owns the grateful sense Of sweetness near, he knows not whence, And pausing takes with forehead bare The benediction of the air.” We stand with our talismans untarnished, on the threshold of actual life. For we shall go out as trained workers into the harvest fields of the world. Comrades of 1913, the future is before us! “Press on! 7 ' here’s no such word as fail. Press nobly on! the goal is near. Ascend the mountain; breast the gale! Look upward, onward—never fear!” Tone Rowell, Historian.

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I hink of it!” [A laugh.] “Well, I ' ll stick to the suffragettes if I’m going to work under their auspices.” A peal of laughter greeted my listening ears as Catherine told the girls her fate. In an instant after Catherine’s departure, another was ushered in. Who could not recognize by the rapid flow of speech that this was Mar¬ garet Floyd? Madam’s voice was again indistinct, but I caught the re¬ mainder of the last sentence “—happily ever afterward in a manse shall you dwell.” Margaret must have pushed Mary Mitchell into the room, for there was scarcely a pause in Madam Eda’s tone, “Extend your left palm” [a pause] “I see here marked literary talents. You shall be a Lyceum inter¬ preter of Shakespeare. Your power of expression will enable you to portray the characters as the great dramatist intended.” Becoming weary of my cramped position, I cautiously stole back into the reception room, before my absence had been noted by my comrades. I reached there just as Frances reappeared. All of us exclaimed upon seeing the shocked expression on her countenance. With an impatient gesture Frances exclaimed: “I don’t ever expect to go to another fortune teller. Madam Eda is a fake. They’re all fakes. The very idea of my being directress of a dancing school, with fancy dancing my specialty. It makes me perfectly furious.” As yet Randolph’s fate had not been foretold. She said she was going to stay and watch the varied expressions of the girls and make them relate to her their fortunes. Essie was now the occupant of the inner room, and we anxiously awaited her coming. She told us Madam decreed that she should found a musical conservatory at Georgetown. At first the lady could not tell any¬ thing about the name of the city where the conservatory would be located except George—something, so Essie asked if it were Georgetown and Madam Eda then said that was the exact name she saw. As Ethelyn was being escorted into the sanctum, I slipped unobserved into my former hiding place. Before I was settled in a comfortable position, Madam had com¬ menced Ethelyn’s fortune, but her voice was so low that I could get no inkling of what she was foretelling until Ethelyn in astonishment exclaim¬ ed, “Lullabies!” I was so amused, and the effort not to laugh and thus betray my pres¬ ence was so great that I did not hear Ethelyn’s departure or anyone”s en¬ trance until someone’s saying, “I’m mighty proud to be having you tell my fortune, Madam Eda” directed my attention again to the fortunes. Any-