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

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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

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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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©he ( ap anb GSoum. 19 the old chumps where 1 was educated takiug interest in ball is a difficult matter. It is unusual, hut our men do it. Think of an old man all over Greek roots, she went on, and a decrepit ' Modern Languages ' with a Compar- ative Philology in every baggy pocket and History and Litei ' ature bent double, with his wig on one side ! And as for Metaphysics and the Proc- tor, who are always together, they are so old and weak that one is be- come knock-kneed and the other bow-legged. And Mr. Gailor — He is the man who preaches? Yes. He is very old, and has asthma so dreadfully that you can scarcely hear him speak. How does he preach, then? 0 we have sounding boards and one thing and another so that we can hear him. And why do you have such old men? We are too poor to pay young ones. And the professors ' club you spoke of? The E. Q. B. ? ' Ecce Quam Bonum ' is its motto. It is formed of the whole teaching force. They meet at their club-house every fortnight, and one man makes a lead on any subject he likes, and they discuss it. After that they have a supper, chiefly ' spoon-wittles then they mumble moss- grown jokes. That sounds thrilling. I believe it is — women don ' t go. Is everything here done for the men? Everything. Here women are distinctly the weaker sex. When we are not working in kitchen, or pantry, or sewing-rooin, we are strictly orna- mental. We may not even attend lectures. This is the most refreshing thing I have heard yet, I said, with a sigh of relief, really domestic women without facts — charming! You are unkind. On the contrary, I consider it a compliment. Here the ten o ' clock bell rang, and we said good-night. I do not think I ever slept as earnestly as I did that night, and, announcing the fact at breakfast next morning, Mrs. Z. said it was a sign that the climate suited me. Miss Angelica would not let me go to chapel that morning, as she wanted my first service to be on Sunday. Of course I obeyed her just as I had obeyed Jim and Dan, and to reward me she took me to walk.