United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
The college year swept rapidly to its close, so rapidly to the seniors
that the days seemed to melt in their grasp. The twentieth of June would
bring them their diplomas and the end of their college life. They felt a
bit chesty at the thought of that B.S. or A.B., but a little sentimental
at the thought of leaving "old Sanford."
Suddenly everything about the college became infinitely precious--every
tradition; every building, no matter how ugly; even the professors, not
just the deserving few--all of them.
Hugh took to wandering about the campus, sometimes alone, thinking of
Cynthia, sometimes with a favored crony such as George Winsor or Pudge
Jamieson. He didn't see very much of Norry the last month or two of
college. He was just as fond of him as ever, but Norry was only a
junior; he would not understand how a fellow felt about Sanford when he
was on the verge of leaving her. But George and Pudge did understand.
The boys didn't say much as they wandered around the buildings, merely
strolled along, occasionally pausing to laugh over some experience that
had happened to one of them in the building they were passing.
Hugh could never pass Surrey Hall without feeling something deeper than
sentimentality. He always thought of Carl Peters, from whom he had not
heard for more than a year. He understood Carl better now, his desire
to be a gentleman and his despair at ever succeeding. Surrey Hall held
drama for Hugh, not all of it pleasant, but he had a deeper affection
for the ivy-covered dormitory then he would ever have for the Nu Delta
House. He wondered what had become of Morse, the homesick freshman.
Poor Morse.... And the bull sessions he had sat in in old Surrey. He
had learned a lot from them, a whole lot....
The chapel where he had slept and surreptitiously eaten doughnuts and
read "The Sanford News" suddenly became a holy building, the building
that housed the soul of Sanford.... He knew that he was sentimental, that
he was investing buildings with a greater significance than they had in
their own right, but he continued to dream over the last four years and
to find a melancholy beauty in his own sentimentality. If it hadn't
been for Cynthia, he would have been perfectly happy.
Soon the examinations were over, and the underclassmen began to
depart. Good-by to all his friends who were not seniors. Good-by to
Norry Parker. "Thanks for the congratulations, old man. Sorry I can't
visit you this summer. Can't you spend a month with me on the farm...?"
Good-by to his fraternity brothers except the few left in his own
delegation. "Good-by, old man, good-by.... Sure, I'll see you next year
at the reunion." Good-by.... Good-by....
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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