sing, or, what was more common, to make a speech. And no matter how hard he tried, the sophomores were never pleased. If he danced, they laughed at him, guyed him unmercifully, called attention to his legs, his awkwardness, urged him to go faster, in¬ sisted that he get some “pash” into it. If he sang, and the frightened freshman usually sang off key, they interrupted him after a few notes, told him to sing something else, interrupted that, and told him “for God’s sake” to dance. The speech¬ making, however, provided the most fun, especially if the freshman was cleverer than his captors. Then there was a battle of wits, and if the fresh¬ man too successfully defeated his opponents, he was dropped into a watering-trough that had stood on the campus for more than a century. Of justice there was none, but of sport there was a great plenty. The worst scared of the freshmen really enjoyed the experience. By a strange sort of in¬ verted logic, he felt that he was something of a hero; at least, for a brief time he had occupied the public eye. He had been initiated; he was a San¬ ford man.
One freshman, however, found those two weeks harrowing. That was Merton Billings, the fat man of the class. Day after day he was captured by the sophomores and commanded to dance. He was an earnest youth and entirely without a sense of humor. Dancing to him was not only hard work
