Dickinson College - Microcosm Yearbook (Carlisle, PA)

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the life of the College, she must surely have died of loneliness and a broken heart. I believe the others appreciated this, for they seemed to address their remarks in that direction, as if by common consent. As is prudent in one so young, she held her tongue in the presence of superiors. One by one they dropped out and left Old West to carry on the talk, though whether from weariness of or deference to the eldest, I shall not attempt to say. After all, these days are not to be compared to those that have gone and he emphasized his sentiments till he shook all over and set the belfry a-toppling. Those earliest .lays when the hard-listed Presbyterians owned me, and I stood alone upon the campus, were none too pleasant, but in time there was a change to the Methodists, and then they built South, and later thought they had improved his homely face, when they topped him off with that hideous, white cap. He and East, who soon followed, were just to keep me company. If I hadn't soon had a companion, I should '1'hsfv'SDfwvymvd IUSHOFH. Six D:-yea Week certainly have lost the power to talk. Talking to oneself grows monotonous, you know. During the next few decades, the College grew immensely, as I suppose you know, and in the days just before the War, she was second to none in the State. Weren't we proud of ourselves then, Old East, my gray friend ? But there was no answer, and I surmised that he was snoozing. His interlocutor was enjoying his own conversation too much to be offended, and so continued. The students of forty or fifty years ago and more, were so much more individualistic than now, in their fun. I must confess that I'm of the old school and try in vain to adapt myself to the ways of the present and take the lively interest in college pranks that I once did. The Senior Professor fwho occupied my West end and had his flower and vegetable garden out beyondj, and occasionally some other, lived within my walls, and so I had reason to know of every secret joke played upon them-how their sleep was disturbed by sudden, unexplainable rumblings in the corridor, and how the H2 S bottle always lacked a cork when deposited behind the bureau. 'It is impossible but that oifences will come: but woe unto him through whom they come !' So thought the faculty, when the aggrieved victim made known the crime. Some of the presidents, too, like Dr. Peck, because of his pompousness, and Dr. Johnson, because of his leanness, came in fora share in the persecution. I remember how I laughed when it was known that they'd hustled old 20

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Iwas just about to slip in again as quietly as I had come, when a deep, persuasive sound swelled out across the trees, so much like a real, human voice fthough on a very large scalej, that I stopped and looked around in wonderment. Yes, somebody was talking, fora voice was inquiring, Say, Old West, is it safe to talk now? and after a moment another, more ancient and sedate, replied, Yes, I believe so. But keep a watch out for those stu- dents who just went up the street. They'll be back and catch us, if you're not careful. Robert just turned in as usual, and so we're alone. I leaned back in the darkness against a tree trunk, too amazed to more than barely breathe, and fearful, lest those, whose very voices were so solemnly impressive, should spy me out. Now it was another that sounded forth directly over my head, it seemed, and spoke in a high, cracked voice, that reminded me strongly of that of the French professor we had when I attended College. I almost forget now, but I think his name was Super. They called him the Lithomes of Dickinson-whatever that means. Perhaps some of you may be curious enough to look it up. But there I go on another of my tangents. I listened carefully, for this was so near at hand that I couldn't be mistaken. The spirit of Old East was communicating with its consorts, and I was the unbidden guest, the eavesdropper. I felt guilty, but dared not stir for fear of detection. I wish, it went on to explain, that you and South wouldn't talk so much these nights. I've all I can do to make up for the sleepl lost at the first of the year, when scraps were frequent, and they threw beds and pitchers and cannon-balls down my poor stairs. And then there's Levy and his violin ! Do have a little pity ! All the others f for I saw they all had joined inj began to laugh, but Bosler interrupted and bade them cease, for if he hadn't the violin to endure, he had at least to put up with Davenport's horn six mornings every week, which would sadly disturb him, if it were during sleeping hours. Thus they went on in a droll and clumsy kind of way, bantering one another and taking sides on every discussion. My dread of exposure had now disappeared, and intense interest had taken its place. As is customary with old people, they soon waxed reminiscent, and from some things they said, I should judge that they lived chiefly in the past and derived all their satisfaction from retrospect. Of course, Denny must be excepted, which, wretched thing, had but little past on which to gloat. If she hadn't held a prominent place in And Levy's Fiddle, Too I9

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Peck, dignity and all into a foolish house down in Virginia, Years later came Herman Johnson, stoop-shouldered, tall and spare. The boys all called him 'shad-belly,' and said he was so tight that he made his family live on salt herring. To the older generations, hazing was unknown, but they used to ' facultize ' unduly obstreperous Freshmen over in North College. They tore him down, poor old chap, to make way for the gymnasium. fPerhaps I ought to state that the buildings all seemed to hold a grudge against the gymnasium, and I believe it was because of his taciturnity. I rather imagine that he keeps himself busy supplying hot air to the others, with none to spare in unnecessary speech.j The punishment that they indicted was mental rather than physical. I remember hearing told of the lengthy ceremonies of the ' Thousand and One,' while the exhausted initiate held out the heaviest book in the library for the oath-taking, of the welcoming speech delivered in Choctaw by the ' head geezer,' and lastly the in1pressive debate on 'When a house burns, does it burn up or burn down ?' or 'Does a Prep have a soul ?' But nothing was quite so amusing as to see a delegation waiting on some unsuspecting soul with a message from the faculty to appear at once. Over he would hasten and when the door was opened at his knock would wave his hands in peculiar circles around his head in imitation of the couutersign they had given him. They used to have all their athletics right out in front of me, and I always considered it a mark of respect on their part. The trees, my child CDeuny, as I mentioned before, was the one addressedl, I would have you to understand, were much fewer than now, and down the long sward to the railroad track they played every pleasant afternoon. But whether it was shinny or rugby, everybody was given a chance to play. This matter of the few in tl1e game, while the many have naught to do but howl and cheer, seems a shabby one. I regarded every one of the boys as my special care, and only once did any try to rob me of my dignity. A certain bold youth actually succeeded in kicking his football over my head, which always seemed to me an act of the direst impudence. I blush to speak it, but I learned with no misgivings that something inside of him had become unhitched by his violence, and he had died. In later years, an attempt was made to defame me by fastening an unmentionable object to the mermaid on my hat, but a good professor bid the culprit come down, and I was saved. Denny didn't seem to appreciate the last but several of the others giggled considerably, and I remember I did, for the affair was well known at the time. I never thought the faculty were wise in making chapel hour so much later in the day, though I would have you to know, young friend, that, so greatly 2l I,over's Lan: - Campus.