The Plastic Age by Percy Marks (best fiction books to read TXT) 📕

On Their Chests Or Thighs. The Branded Ones Seemed Proud Of Their

Permanent Insignia,  But The Idea Of A Fraternity Branding Its Members

Like Beef-Cattle Was Repugnant To Hugh. He Told Carl That He Was Darn

Glad The Nu Deltas Were Above That Sort Of Thing,  And,  Surprisingly,

Carl Agreed With Him.

The Next Night They Were Formally Initiated. The Nu Delta House Seemed

Strangely Quiet; Levity Was Strictly Prohibited. The Freshmen Were Given

White Robes Such As The Upper-Classmen Were Wearing,  The President

Excepted,  Who Wore A Really Handsome Robe Of Blue And Silver.

Then They Marched Up-Stairs To The "Goat Room." Once There,  The

President Mounted A Dais; A "Brother" Stood On Each Side Of Him. Hugh

Was So Much Impressed By The Ritual,  The Black Hangings Of The Room,  The

Fraternity Seal Over The Dais,  The Ornate Chandelier,  The Long Speeches

Of The President And His Assistants,  That He Failed To Notice That Many

Of The Brothers Were Openly Bored.

Eventually Each Freshman Was Led Forward By An Upper-Classman. He Knelt

On The Lowest Step Of The Dais And Repeated After The President The Oath

Of Allegiance. Then One Of The Assisting Brothers Whispered To Him The

Password And Taught Him The "Grip," A Secret And Elaborate Method Of

Shaking Hands,  While The Other Pinned The Jeweled Pin To His Vest.

When Each Freshman Had Been Received Into The Fraternity,  The Entire

Chapter Marched In Twos Down-Stairs,  Singing The Fraternity Song. The

Initiation Was Over; Carl And Hugh Were Nu Delts.

The Whole Ceremony Had Moved Hugh Deeply,  So Deeply That He Had Hardly

Been Able To Repeat The Oath After The President. He Thought The Ritual

Very Beautiful,  More Beautiful Even Than The Easter Service At Church.

He Left The Nu Delta House That Night Feeling A Deeper Loyalty For The

Fraternity Than He Had Words To Express. He And Carl Walked Back To

Surrey 19 In Silence. Neither Was Capable Of Speech,  Though Both Of Them

Wanted To Give Expression To Their Emotion In Some Way. They Reached

Their Room.

"Well," Said Hugh Shyly,  "I Guess I'Ll Go To Bed."

"Me,  Too." Then Carl Moved Hesitatingly To Where Hugh Was Standing. He

Held Out His Hand And Grinned,  But His Eyes Were Serious.

"Good Night--Brother."

Their Hands Met In The Sacred Grip.

"Good Night--Brother."

To Hugh The Remainder Of The Term Was Simply A Fight To Get An

Opportunity To Study. The Old Saying,  "If Study Interferes With College,

Cut Out Study," Did Not Appeal To Him. He Honestly Wanted To Do Good

Work,  But He Found That The Chance To Do It Was Rare. Some One Always

Seemed To Be In His Room Eager To Talk; There Was The Fraternity Meeting

To Attend Every Monday Night; Early In The Term There Was At Least One

Hockey Or Basketball Game A Week; Later There Were Track Meets,  Baseball

Games,  And Tennis Matches; He Had To Attend Glee Club Rehearsals Twice A

Week; He Ran Every Afternoon Either In The Gymnasium Or On The Cinder

Path; Some One Always Seduced Him Into Going To The Movies; He Was

Constantly Being Drawn Into Bull Sessions; There Was An Occasional

Concert: And Besides All These Distractions,  There Was A Fraternity

Dance,  The Excitement Of Prom,  A Trip To Three Cities With The Glee

Club,  And Finally A Week'S Vacation At Home At Easter.

Worst Of All,  None Of His Instructors Was Inspiring. He Had Been

Assigned To A New Section In Latin,  And In Losing Alling He Lost The One

Really Enjoyable Teacher He Had Had. The Others Were Conscientious,

More Or Less Competent,  But There Was Little Enthusiasm In Their

Teaching,  Nothing To Make A Freshman Eager Either To Attend Their

Classes Or To Study The Lessons They Assigned. They Did Not Make The

Acquiring Of Knowledge A Thrilling Experience; They Made It A Duty--And

Hugh Found That Duty Exceedingly Irksome.

He Attended Neither The Fraternity Dance Nor The Prom. He Had Looked

Forward Enthusiastically To The "House Dance," But After He Had,  Along

With The Other Men In His Delegation,  Cleaned The House From Garret To

Basement,  He Suddenly Took To His Bed With Grippe. He Groaned With

Despair When Carl Gave Him Glowing Accounts Of The Dance And The

"Janes." Carl For Once,  However,  Was Circumspect; He Did Not Tell Hugh

All That Happened. He Would Have Been Hard Put To Explain His Own

Reticence,  But Although He Thought "The Jane Who Got Pie-Eyed" Had Been

Enormously Funny,  He Decided Not To Tell Hugh About Her Or The Pie-Eyed

Brothers.

No Freshman Was Allowed To Attend The Prom,  But Along With The Other Men

Who Weren'T "Dragging Women" Hugh Walked The Streets And Watched The

Girls. There Was A Tea-Dance At The Fraternity House During Prom Week.

Hugh Said That He Got A Great Kick Out Of It,  But,  As A Matter Of Fact,

He Remained Only A Short Time; There Was A Hectic Quality To Both The

Girls And The Talk That Confused Him. For Some Reason He Didn'T Like The

Atmosphere; And He Didn'T Know Why. His Excuse To The Brothers And To

Himself For Leaving Early Was That He Was In Training And Not Supposed

To Dance.

Track Above All Things Was Absorbing His Interest. He Could Hardly Think

Of Anything Else. He Lay Awake Nights Dreaming Of The Race He Would Run

Against Raleigh. Sanford Had Three Dual Track Meets A Year,  But The

First Two Were With Small Colleges And Considered Of Little Importance.

Only A Point Winner In The Raleigh Meet Was Granted His Letter.

Hugh Won The Hundred In The Sophomore-Freshman Meet And In a Meet With

The Raleigh Freshmen,  So That He Was Given His Class Numerals. He Did

Nothing,  However,  In The Raleigh Meet; He Was Much Too Nervous To Run

Well,  Breaking Three Times At The Mark. He Was Set Back Two Yards And

Was Never Able To Regain Them. For A Time He Was Bitterly Despondent,

But He Soon Cheered Up When He Thought Of The Three Years Ahead Of Him.

Spring Brought First Rain And Slush And Then The "Sings." There Was A

Fine Stretch Of Lawn In The Center Of The Campus,  And On Clear Nights

The Students Gathered There For A Sing,  One Class On Each Side Of The

Lawn. First The Seniors Sang A College Song,  Then The Juniors,  Then The

Sophomores,  And Then The Freshmen. After Each Song,  The Other Classes

Cheered The Singers,  Except When The Sophomores And Freshmen Sang: They

Always "Razzed" Each Other. Hugh Led The Freshmen,  And He Never Failed

To Get A Thrill Out Of Singing A Clear Note And Hearing His Classmates

Take It Up.

After Each Class Had Sung Three Or Four Songs,  The Boys Gathered In The

Center Of The Lawn,  Sang The College Hymn,  Gave A Cheer,  And The Sing

Was Over.

On Such Nights,  However,  The Singing Really Continued For Hours. The

Glee Club Often Sang From The Union Steps; Groups Of Boys Wandered Arm

In Arm Around The Campus Singing; On Every Fraternity Steps There Were

Youths Strumming Banjos And Others "Harmonizing": Here,  There,

Everywhere Young Voices Were Lifted In Song--Not Joyous Nor Jazzy But

Plaintive And Sentimental. Adeline'S Sweetness Was Extolled By Unsure

Barytones And "Whisky" Tenors; And The Charms Of Rosie O'Grady Were

Chanted In "Close Harmony" In every Corner Of The Campus:

                "Sweet Rosie O'Grady,

                 She'S My Pretty Rose;

                 She'S My Pretty Lady,

                 As Every One Knows.

                 And When We Are Married,

                 Oh,  How Happy We'Ll Be,

                 For I Love Sweet Rosie O'Grady

                 And Rosie O'Grady Loves Me."

Hugh Loved Those Nights: The Shadows Of The Elms,  The Soft Spring

Moonlight,  The Twanging Banjos,  The Happy Singing. He Would Never,  So

Long As He Lived,  Hear "Rosie O'Grady" Without Surrendering To A Tender,

Sentimental Mood; That Song Would Always Mean The Campus And Singing

Youth.

Suddenly Examinations Threw Their Baleful Influence Over The Campus

Again. Once More The Excitement,  But Not So Great This Time,  The

Cramming,  The Rumors Of Examinations "Getting Out," The Seminars,  The

Tutoring Sections,  The Nervousness,  The Fear.

Hugh,  However,  Was Surer Of Himself Than He Had Been The First Term,  And

Although He Had No Reason To Be Proud Of The Grades He Received,  He Was

Not Particularly Ashamed Of Them.

He And Carl Left The Same Day But By Different Trains. They Had Agreed

To Room Together Again In Surrey 19; So They Didn'T Feel That The

Parting For The Summer Was Very Important.

"You'Ll Write,  Won'T You,  Old Man?"

"Sure,  Hugh--Surest Thing You Know. Say,  It Don'T Seem Possible That Our

Freshman Year'S Over Already. Why,  Hell,  Hugh,  We'Re Sophomores."

"So We Are! What Do You Know About That?" Hugh'S Eyes Shone. "Gosh!"

Carl Looked At His Watch. "Hell,  I'Ve Got To Beat It." He Picked Up His

Suit-Case,  Dropped It,  Shook Hands Vigorously With Hugh,  Snatched Up His

Suit-Case,  And Was Off With A Final,  "Good-By,  Hugh,  Old Boy," Sounding

Behind Him.

Hugh Settled Back Into A Chair. He Had Half An Hour To Wait.

"A Sophomore.... Gosh!"