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

Don'T Want To Give You Much Advice,  But Your Mother Feels That I Ought

To Tell You A Little More About College Before You Leave. As I Have Told

You Before,  Sanford Is A Splendid Place,  A--Er,  A Splendid Place. Fine

Old Traditions And All That Sort Of Thing. Splendid Place. You Will Find

A Wonderful Faculty,  Wonderful. Most Of The Professors I Had Are Gone,

But I Am Sure That The New Ones Are Quite As Good. Your Opportunities

Will Be Enormous,  And I Am Sure That You Will Take Advantage Of Them. We

Have Been Very Proud Of Your High School Record,  Your Mother And I,  And

We Know That You Will Do Quite As Well In college. By The Way,  I Hope

You Take A Course In The Eighteenth-Century Essayists; You Will Find

Them Very Stimulating--Addison Especially.

"I--Er,  Your Mother Feels That I Ought To Say Something About The

Dissipations Of College. I--I'M Sure That I Don'T Know What To Say. I

Suppose That There Are Young Men In college Who Dissipate--Remember That

I Knew One Or Two--But Certainly Most Of Them Are Gentlemen. Crude

Men--Vulgarians Do Not Commonly Go To College. Vulgarity Has No Place In

College. You May,  I Presume,  Meet Some Men Not Altogether Admirable,  But

It Will Not Be Necessary For You To Know Them. Now,  As To The

Fraternity...."

Hugh Forgot To Pinch His Leg And Looked Up With Avid Interest In His

Face. The Nu Deltas!

Mr. Carver Leaned Forward To Stir The Fire With A Brass Poker Before He

Continued. Then He Settled Back In His Chair And Smoked Comfortably. He

Was Completely At Ease Now. The Worst Was Over.

"I Have Written To The Nu Deltas About You And Told Them That I Hoped

That They Would Find You Acceptable,  As I Am Sure They Will. As A

Legacy,  You Will Be Among The First Considered." For An Hour More He

Talked About The Fraternity. Hugh,  His Embarrassment Swallowed By His

Interest,  Eagerly Asking Questions. His Father'S Admiration For The

Fraternity Was Second Only To His Admiration For The College,  And

Before The Evening Was Over He Had Filled Hugh With An Idolatry For

Both.

He Left His Father That Night Feeling Closer To Him Than He Ever Had

Before. He Was Going To Be A College Man Like His Father--Perhaps A Nu

Delta,  Too. He Wished That They Had Got Chummy Before. When He Went To

Bed,  He Lay Awake Dreaming,  Thinking Sometimes Of Helen Simpson And Of

How He Had Kissed Her That Afternoon,  But More Often Of Sanford And Nu

Delta. He Was So Deeply Grateful To His Father For Talking To Him

Frankly And Telling Him Everything About College. He Was Darned Lucky To

Have A Father Who Was A College Grad And Could Put Him Wise. It Was

Pretty Tough On The Fellows Whose Fathers Had Never Been To College.

Poor Fellows,  They Didn'T Know The Ropes The Way He Did....

He Finally Fell Off To Sleep,  Picturing Himself In The Doorway Of The Nu

Delta House Welcoming His Father To A Reunion.

That Talk Was Returning To Hugh Repeatedly. He Wondered If Sanford Had

Changed Since His Father'S Day Or If His Father Had Just Forgotten What

College Was Like. Everything Seemed So Different From What He Had Been

Told To Expect. Perhaps He Was Just Soft And Some Of The Fellows Weren'T

As Crude As He Thought They Were.

Hugh Was By No Means Continuously Depressed; As A Matter Of Fact,  Most

Of The Time He Was Agog With Delight,  Especially Over The Rallies That

Were Occurring With Increasing Frequency As The Football Season

Progressed. Sometimes The Rallies Were Carefully Prepared Ceremonies

Held In The Gymnasium; Sometimes They Were Entirely Spontaneous.

A Group Of Men Would Rush Out Of A Dormitory Or Fraternity House

Yelling,  "Peerade,  Peerade!" Instantly Every One Within Hearing Would

Drop His Books--Or His Cards--And Rush To The Yelling Group,  Which Would

Line Up In Fours And Begin Circling The Campus,  The Line Ever Getting

Longer As More Men Came Running Out Of The Dormitories And Fraternity

Houses. On,  On They Would Go,  Arm In arm,  Dancing,  Singing Sanford

Songs,  Past Every Dormitory On The Campus,  Past Every Fraternity

House--Pausing Occasionally To Give A Cheer,  Always,  However,  Keeping

One Goal In Mind,  The Fraternity House Where The Team Lived During The

Football Season. Then When The Cheer-Leaders And The Team Were Heading

The Procession,  The Mob Would Make For The Football Field,  With The Cry

Of "Wood,  Freshmen,  Wood!" Ringing Down The Line.

Hugh Was Always One Of The First Freshmen To Break From The Line In His

Eagerness To Get Wood. In an Incredibly Short Time He And His Classmates

Had Found A Large Quantity Of Old Lumber,  Empty Boxes,  Rotten Planks,

And Not Very Rotten Gates. When A Light Was Applied To The Clumsy Pile

Of Wood,  The Flames Leaped Up Quickly--Some One Always Seemed To Have A

Supply Of Kerosene Ready--And Revealed The Excited Upper-Classmen

Sitting On The Bleachers.

"Dance,  Freshmen,  Dance!"

Then The Freshmen Danced Around The Fire,  Holding Hands And Spreading

Into An Ever Widening Circle As The Fire Crackled And The Flames Leaped

Upward. Slowly,  Almost Impressively,  The Upper-Classmen Chanted:

                "Round The Fire,  The Freshmen Go,

                 Freshmen Go,

                 Freshmen Go;

                 Round The Fire The Freshmen Go

                 To Cheer Sanford."

The Song Had A Dozen Stanzas,  Only The Last Line Of Each Being

Different. The Freshmen Danced Until The Last Verse Was Sung,  Which

Ended With The Sanford Cheer:

                "Closer Now The Freshmen Go,

                 Freshmen Go,

                 Freshmen Go;

                 Closer Now The Freshmen Go

                 To Cheer--

                 Sanford!

                 Sanford! Rah,  Rah!

                 Sanford! Sanford!

                 San--San--San--

                 San--Ford,  San--Ford--San--Ford!"

While The Upper-Classmen Were Singing The Last Stanza The Freshmen

Slowly Closed In On The Dying Fire. At The First Word Of The Cheer,  They

Stopped,  Turned Toward The Grand Stand,  And Joined The Cheering. That

Over,  They Broke And Ran For The Bleachers,  Scrambling Up The Wooden

Stands,  Shoving Each Other Out Of The Way,  Laughing And Shouting.

The Football Captain Usually Made A Short And Very Awkward Speech,  Which

Was Madly Applauded; Perhaps The Coach Said A Few Words; Two Or Three

Cheers Were Given; And Finally Every One Rose,  Took Off His Hat If He

Wore One--Nearly Every One But The Freshmen Went Bareheaded--And Sang

The College Hymn,  Simply And Religiously. Then The Crowd Broke,

Straggling In Groups Across The Campus,  Chatting,  Singing,  Shouting To

Each Other. Suddenly Lights Began To Flash In The Dormitory Windows. In

Less Than An Hour After The First Cry Of "Peerade!" The Men Were Back

In Their Rooms,  Once More Studying,  Talking,  Or Playing Cards.

It Was The Smoker Rallies,  Though,  That Hugh Found The Most Thrilling,

Especially The Last One Before The Final Game Of The Season,  The "Big

Game" With Raleigh College. There Were 1123 Students In Sanford,  And

More Than 1000 Were At The Rally. A Rough Platform Had Been Built At One

End Of The Gymnasium. On One Side Of It Sat The Band,  On The Other Side

The Glee Club--And Before It The Mass Of Students,  Smoking Cigarettes,

Corn-Cob Pipes,  And,  Occasionally,  A Cigar. The "Smokes" Had Been

Furnished Free By A Local Tobacconist; So Everybody Smoked Violently And

Too Much. In Half An Hour It Was Almost Impossible To See The Ceiling

Through The Dull Blue Haze,  And The Men In The Rear Of The Gymnasium Saw

The Speakers On The Platform Dimly Through A Wavering Mist.

The Band Played Various Sanford Songs,  And Everybody Sang. Occasionally

Wayne Gifford,  The Cheer-Leader,  Leaped Upon The Platform,  Raised A

Megaphone To His Mouth,  And Shouted,  "A Regular Cheer For Sanford--A

Regular Cheer For Sanford." Then He Lifted His Arms Above His Head,

Flinging The Megaphone Aside With The Same Motion,  And Waited Tense And

Rigid Until The Students Were On Their Feet. Suddenly He Turned Into A

Mad Dervish,  Twisting,  Bending,  Gesticulating,  Leaping,  Running Back And

Forth Across The Platform,  Shouting,  And Finally Throwing His Hands

Above His Head And Springing High Into The Air At The Concluding

"San--Ford!"

The Glee Club Sang To Mad Applause; A Tenor Twanged A Ukulele And Moaned

Various Blues; A Popular Professor Told Stories,  Some Of Them Funny,

Most Of Them Slightly Off Color; A Former Cheer-Leader Told Of The

Triumphs Of Former Sanford Teams--And The Atmosphere Grew Denser And

Denser,  Bluer And Bluer,  As The Smoke Wreathed Upward. The Thousand Boys

Leaned Intently Forward,  Occasionally Jumping To Their Feet To Shout And

Cheer,  And Then Sinking Back Into Their Chairs,  Tense And Excited. As

Each Speaker Mounted The Platform They Shouted: "Off With Your Coat! Off

With Your Coat!" And The Speakers,  Even The Professor,  Had To Shed Their

Coats Before They Were Permitted To Say A Word.

When The Team Entered,  Bedlam Broke Loose. Every Student Stood On His

Chair,  Waved