and, unless I advise him strongly to the contrary, he thinks he will give them an affirmative answer. I tell him I have given all the objections I have to the club, and that he must decide for himself, which he immediately proceeds to do; for he announces that evening his intention to join the "Eli Bananas" at their next meeting.
Here I have represented a man who has the honor offered him,—does not run after it. But, I am sorry to say, this is by no means universally the case; for some men will toady, fawn upon, and cringe in the most disgusting manner to those whose influence they wish to employ in getting into this club. Fortunately, fellows of this sort rarely meet with success in their endeavors, but only with the just contempt of their companions and the loss of such good standing as they had possessed before their vain attempt to soar to higher heights. Popularity, here as elsewhere, must seek, not be sought.
Since I have succeeded in getting my young friend into the "Elis," I think that he is now fully able to take care of himself; and, as his life after this is exactly like that of all the rest, I shall abandon him, and hereafter speak in a more general manner.
There is comparatively little interest taken in athletics of any kind; still, we have a gymnasium fairly well equipped, and out-door sports in which some very good records are made; and we had some years ago a boat club whose crew carried off the challenge cup at the State Regatta five times in succession. But since the cup was lost in '84 no crew has been sent to represent the university at the annual meeting of Virginia oarsmen. There is a base-ball team, chosen from really good material, but they and the rest of the college men take so little interest in the national game that they hardly ever practise, and won't go to the necessary trouble to have their grounds put in good order. The professors discourage the students going away from the university to play, and the natural consequence is that the game soon loses interest and supporters, since there is no competition.
The average man's daily routine commences with breakfast at half-past seven, and from that time until eleven or twelve at night he is hard at work, either preparing or reciting his lectures, with the exception of an hour for dinner and another for supper, and in most cases a third for exercise.
His opportunities for enjoyment are few, consisting of perhaps an hour's chat and smoke in some companion's room immediately after supper, and an occasional entertainment or visit to some of his lady friends. As a great many of the young ladies in the neighborhood live in the professors' houses, they are almost our next-door neighbors, and it takes little time to pay a call. I have frequently paid two calls after
