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

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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.

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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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20 ®he (§ap ant OSonm We went first to the Bubbling Spring, and, leaving that, we climbed uj: and down through the woods to the chalybeate spring path that ran along a thickly-wooded ridge. On either side ravines broke away, opening vis- tas through the black stems of the trees ; and the silence was made mu- sical by the whispering of hidden streams and the voice of the wind that crept so softly up the mountain. Steeper grew the path, winding down over rocks and roots, through tangles of vines and wild hydrangeas, along the banks of a tumbling stream that, dashing its mimic waves high among the roots of the gnarled calmias, foamed between the crowding stones, and with a parting laugh slipped away over the shelf of rocks underneath which lay the chalybeate spring. The last few yards of the descent we made in a half run, catching finally by a poplar tree that seemed provi- dentially placed to save us from going headlong into the stream. Under the rocks, behind a veil of falling water, far back where all was moss-cov- ered — where the ferns lived, and grew, and died in green content — where the ground ivy crept with its scarlet berries shining out like little flecks of fire, I saw a wooden trough and the water trickling slowly. There was a break in the veil of water, where a great rock lodged above divided the falling stream, and before I realized it Miss Angelica had gathered up her skirts, and, stepping lightly across the slippery stones, looked like a little ghost against the green background. You should have let me do that, I said when she came back and handed me the cup. There is only room for one, she answered, and strangers usually fall in. Will you have these ? I drank all the water, feeling duty bound, then took from her hand the ideal ferns she had gathered— delicate, exquisite! I have them still. Returning, I marked well the way, that I might come again, for I thought how easy to dream the day to death in such a scene. Miss Angelica pointed out St. Luke ' s Hall and Convocation House, both built of the beautiful pink sandstone, and the latter possessing a tower such as 1 had not seen outside of England. Next was the Walsh Memo- rial, going rapidly toward a beautiful completion. I found very little that was artificial anywhere; every thing was natural, and roughly so in a great many instances, but this only made the whole thing more unique. The gowned and capped students wandering in the primeval wood that is wherever a house is not, made an unusual picture that pleased me. By this time, however, the water or the walk had made me awfully