University of the South - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Sewanee, TN)

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®he ®ctp attb ©ottnt 17 That was nice of Jim, and Miss Angelica gave roe a kind, bewildering look. We must give Mr. Initoo a blue ribbon, said Miss Jemima. Miss Je- mima ' s hair was red. By this time I began to find some self-confidence, and was capable of collecting a few more items about Sewanee. I found that Mr. Mac, the umpire, was an assistant in the Grammar School. That the Grammar School was the place were kidlets were made into Juniors. That soon this department would be moved a mile or two away, as it annoyed the Juniors. An emancipated chicken does not like to see its old shell, I suggested mildly. Everybody laughed, and I pushed my inquiries further. I found that Juniors became Gownsmen, and that of this company Smithy Tomp- kins, and Smith were Gownsmen. After supper we returned to the piazza, and Smith brought his guitar. I moved my chair into the yard, for I thought I had never seen such stars -save in Egypt. A dreamy feeling came over me as the young people sang. My big, splint-bottomed arm-chair rocked itself slowly, and the smoke from my cigar floated away in effortless rings. I think I must have fallen asleep, for I was in the act of crowning Jack and the brakesman with golden crowns when the bell that had rung for supper sounded again. Nine o ' clock, I heard Smith remark, and all the young men save Tomp- kins, who sat with Miss Jemima at the far end of the piazza, went away. I went in to talk to Miss Angelica after this. I was. not afraid of her somehow, and I gained more information about Sewanee. The bell I had heard was the chapel bell. It rang all the hours for classes; it rang for fires, for all occasions of joy or sorrow. It rang at Jiine and ten o ' clock for the benefit of Juniors. And where is the University? I asked once more. You expected grand material things? she said; we have some per- manent buildings. I will show you them to-morrow if you like. But if you will stay here long enough you will be very much amused when you .hear people ask that question. Why? Because you will be a piece of it yourself, yet you will not like to say, ' I am the University. ' So? I said, and looked at Miss Angelica as hard as the half light would permit.

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16 ©he ( ap anh (SSonm. piazza. Here I sat down carefully on the edge of a chair. I had reached that point where the impossible seemed more than probable, and the usual had tapered off into the uncertain. I had never felt so bewildered since the time when I studied Hegel. Would Sewanee illustrate the great prop- osition that Being and Non-Being were one? For Sewanee seemed to be, yet where was it? I felt doubtful even about sitting down on the splint-bottomed chair that looked so innocent. I was not at all sure that it would not turn into something else — a bicycle, perhaps, or the chapel, or the man who preached. I could think of Sewanee as nothing but an Jt with a capital I. Or, perhaps Itness would be better. Presently the bell rang again ; then from every side I heard clanging, and dashing, and tinkling. ' A fire, or dinner, ' I said, in quotation marks. Certainly everything had waked up. People seemed suddenly to be moving in every direction ; even the cows stepping along move briskly. Young fellows bolted into the yard, sobered their gaits, and touched their hats as they passed me ; then my hostess appeared and asked me in to supper. I was glad, for, besides being very hungry, I saw the young women with prayer-books approaching. Everything in the dining-room was plain, but, as I remember it, the food was simple and good. My hostess introduced some of the young fel- lows who were nearest— Smith, and Brown, and Jones, of course, and Tompkins, and Simpson — nice fellows they seemed. The young ladies came in next, Miss Jemima and Miss Angelica. The atmosphere became blurred, and I bolted a whole glass of milk. I saw little Brown dig Smith in the ribs furtively, and had an unhappy consciousness that I was making things stiff, and while pondering some airy remark Miss Angelica said, in a slow little voice, How is the nine, Mr. Brown ? The breaking of a mill-dam was nothing to the rush of talk that fol- lowed. Splendid and magnificent were the mildest adjectives I heard, and Smith was positive that the Sewanees would be victorious the next day. You mean the base-ball nines? I said to little Brown in an undertone. Of course. Won ' t you be a Sewanee? At this request there fell an appalling silence, all waiting for my answer. Yes — yes, I gasped: 1 promised the hackman as I came up. What hackman? came in chorus. Jim. Good for Jim!

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18 ©h£ QLap anh ©orem I would not make that explanation to everybody, Miss Angelica went on with divine simplicity, for it is not everybody who suits Sewanee. And if a person does not suit Sewanee he might live here a century and be no more a part of it than a barnacle is part of the ship ' s bottom. And after a while these barnacles get scraped off. Many have come and gone,, saying Sewanee was ' too this ' or ' too that, ' but it was not Sewanee, you know, it was they who were out of tone. Do not think that we treated them unkindly ; we usually take more trouble for complaining people.. We feel so sorry for them that they can not rise above material things and love Sewanee that feeds and fosters all that is high. You know a pig or a dog might hear the most beautiful music for a thousand years, and never feel spiritually uplifted or see the use of beautiful music ; and to explain it to them would be a waste of breath. Just so it is with people and Se- wanee. If they have not that higher side to them that can feel the place, they had better go — they will never like it. But I think you will suit Sewanee. Thank you, I said earnestly. I would not like you to think of me as a pig or a dog, nor yet as a barnacle. Miss Angelica laughed. Don ' t tell on me, she said, for you will not be able, just at first, to know who is what, and you might tell it to a barnacle. I am safe. But let me ask you something. The hackman said that the University was the chapel where Mr. Somebody preached. Mr. Gailor. That was a very good explanation to give to a Philistine, smiling. Jim is cleverer than I thought. You will hear Mr. Gailor on Sunday, and can judge for yourself. The professors will come to see you presently, and will invite you to the E. Q. B. Club. If you play tennis, Mr. Smith will take you to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon court or the Delta Tau Delta court, or Mr. Tompkins will take you to play billiards at the Phi hall. But all the faculty will be out at the game to-morrow after- noon. What, do such old gentlemen care for ball? Miss Angelica laughed. It is rather funny to see the old fellows being hauled out and propped up, she admitted, but they go to keep order. Our games are played in perfect silence. You may say any thing, I answered. Sewanee is such a revelation that I swallow all assertions as one swallows raw oysters ; but to think of