College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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Prophecy I AWOKE. It was morning, and cold as blazes. I rubbed my eyes to make sure they were open, flopped my arms to start the blood in circulation, and, with a yawn, climbed over the fence at the corner, where I had spent the night, and started off down the track. I was within a mile or so of a small railway station, and as I approached it, I heard the shrill whistle of a westbound freight. They were whistling down brakes, and I knew they were going to stop ; so hurrying along, I hid myself in the thick underbrush which lined each side of the track, and as the freight rolled in sight from around the bend and roared along in front of my hiding place, finally stopping before the station, I sprang up and prepared to nail her. I made a dash for a box car, whose side door was open. Placing my hands upon an iron bar, I vaulted in. The train, starting as I sprang, threw me backward with a thump, which nearly knocked me unconscious. Half dazed, I struggled to my feet, and as I did so a man rolled up from the corner, and with a terrified yell, started for the open door. He evidently thought I was the brakeman. He had reached the door and was about to leap from the freight, when I caught a front view of his face, and as I did so, I made a flying tackle for his knees and brought him down. Hello, Jess Ewell, old boy ! Are you an ordained gentleman of leisure like myself ? Well, I ' ll be hanged ! ' John Sharp ' Williams ! Give me your hand, old boy. Give me something to smoke. You have a mighty good-looking coat. I glanced down at my new broadcloth coat and grinned as I thought of that minister back down the road who was quietly working in his garden as I passed along, and whose coat, which hung over the fence, I had carefully appropriated, leaving mine instead. I reached into an inside pocket and to my delight pulled out half a dozen cigars. Cigars! shrieked Jess. The first I have seen for six months. I scarcely get a chance at anything but a cigarette. Exports too. Here ; give me a match. T did so, and a broad grin spread over the face of my old college chum as he drew in a mouthful of the smoke and then blew rings upward to the ceiling. 26

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things worth doing, and we now add to that statement the phrase with ease. We make only one exception to the above statement — we will not say that even a Senior can get his degree with ease. You can ask any one of the lordly A. M. ' s if theirs came easy, and all will tell you that it is a great undertaking. We refrain from naming our politicians, gas-bags and possessors of other vicious traits, for we have been too strongly urged upon at an executive session to withhold all such names. All would have gotten some place on the list, but it was voted down, because the class wanted no unfavorable influences brought to bear upon the high( r powers, the dispensers of degrees, etc. But we cannot refrain from referring to the Echo Election as witness to the truth of our statements. Some got the places they deserved, none got undeserved places, but some failed to get the places they deserved, possibly because others do not know them as well as we do. We cannot omit mentioning one of our festive occasions, — that which took place during the holidays, when some of our class had an eggnog supper and smoker. On this occasion the majority, memory carrying them back to Sophomore experiences, hazed the minority, and then they turned their atten- tion to the poor, innocent Sophomores. We hope that our festive boards in the future may be more orderly, as doubtless will be the case, for all A. M. ' s, Juniors, Sophomores, Freshmen and Preps, will be religiously excluded. The rest of our history is veiled in uncertainty. We can only say that we are laboring on, putting up all the bluil we can, and hoping to be lucky enough to land a sheepskin. But whether we succeed or not, most of our niimber will doubtless not return. Four years of college life spent at old William and Mary will, however, make us cherish her historic lore, and ever bear in mind the inspiration given us at the shrine of our nation ' s history; and there will be a double bond of union between us, — first, that we were all students at old William and Mary, and, secondly, that we cherish the memory of the years spent together in the classroom and outside, — the years of youth, the happiest of life. May the Class of ' 08 ever succeed, and may fortune at times bring us together while laboring on through the path of life, and may the hopes and longings aroiised in youthful hearts blossom forth in reality, despite the blows of a relentless world ! Though we may part and our paths of life may never bring us together again, let us still remember the faces and cherish the friend- ships of our classmates. And with this invocation, the historian ' s task is done. HiSTOKIAN. 24

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Where did you get thoni, old cbaj) ? said he, aa he laid his hand affection- ately u|)on lay shoulder. I related to him my adventure of the coat. Before I had finished, he broke into a loud roar, shaking his head and slapping his knees in his laughter. What ' s th(! matter? T cried, astonished. Do you know who that minister was ? No, and I don ' t care. That was old Bismarck Frank. I felt my conscience smite me, and wiped a tear from my eyelid. Jess laid both hands uptm my shoulders consolingly, and said in his feminine voice: Cheer up, old chap; the parish will vote him another one. So T cheered up, for I smelt chicken, and was hungry. Come on, Jess ! I smell chicken. Where have you got it ? The smile grew radiant upon my old chum ' s face as he said, Come on, old boy; they are as fat as butter. And they were. I seized upon a drumstick and began gnawing ravenoiisly. Where did you get them, Jess ? The gift of a farmer, he smiled. Oh ! Jess, old boy, I fear you have been up to your old tricks. He gi ' inned. Do you remember old S. A. McDonald ? Yes, I managed to mutter. These chickens came from his poultry farm. I tried to appear astonished, but was choked. Does he live ai ' ound here? Yes, he is married now, and is running a big poultry ranch down the road a little way. He found the poultry business so profitable while at college, he felt he could not give it up. I am glad he didn ' t ; aren ' t you ? Jess and I continued our conversation. He had found an old William and Mary Magazine in McDonald ' s yard when he swiped the chickens, and, thinking it would be good to start a fire with, had crammed it into his pocket. He had torn off most of the leaves, but the alumni notes were still in, and the following claimed our attention. We quote from the magazine : H. G. Carter, ' 08, who has made a fortime from his oyster beds, and then, like Alexander, desiring new fields to conquer, organized a baseball team, which last summer won the woi ' ld ' s championship. For the winter, however, Mr. Carter will attend to his large oyster business. We undei ' stand that he 26