Part 20 (1/2)
”The clothes of those engaged in the row must have been in a pretty bad condition,” remarked Harold.
”Yes, of course; and they had some fine tailors' bills to pay before they were again presentable.”
”A shameful waste of good food provided by our Heavenly Father, that someone's hunger might be satisfied,” remarked Grandma Elsie gravely.
”Surely the young men engaged in it must have forgotten the teaching of our Saviour when he said, 'Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.'”
”Mamma! I had forgotten that,” exclaimed Walter, blus.h.i.+ng vividly.
”A poor excuse, my son,” she replied. ”'Remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them.' Those are his own words given to Moses to speak unto the Children of Israel. Jesus was and is G.o.d; therefore what he commanded is the command of G.o.d. And since he had just proved his ability to create abundance of food, his command to avoid waste must have been given for the benefit of his hearers; and can you think he would have approved of the waste of good, nouris.h.i.+ng food of which you have just been telling?”
”No, mother; I am convinced that it was not right; that it was, in fact, wicked waste. I must own that I had a share in it; but I promise you I will never be guilty of the like again. It does seem very wrong when one thinks of the mult.i.tudes of people in different parts of the world who are actually starving.”
”Yes, I hope you will be more thoughtful in future--will use your influence against such objectionable sport; surely bright young men and boys should be capable of finding or making better or less blameworthy fun. You may feel a.s.sured, however, that your mother is interested in all that interests you. So if you have anything more to tell of your college experiences we will be glad to hear it.”
”You found the Sophs rather domineering, didn't you?” asked Herbert.
”About as much so as they dared to be, I should say,” laughed Walter.
”For instance, they won't let the Freshes wear white duck trousers till some time in May. Nor will they allow them to wear the colours gold and black till just at the close of their Freshman year.”
”Well, that is tyranny!” exclaimed Lucilla, ”and if I were a Freshman I wouldn't stand it.”
”Ah! but if you didn't you might have something worse to stand,” laughed Walter. Then he went on, ”I must tell you about the cane spree. They have it at the time of the first full moon. The players are three men from each cla.s.s--one light-weight, one middle, and one heavy-weight. The students of all cla.s.ses gather in a circle around them to watch the sport. First the light-weights try a tussle for the cane; then the middles, and lastly the heavys. It is not so much strength as skill that wins, and the victors keep their canes as trophies, and are proud to show them for the rest of their lives.”
”Well, really,” laughed Maud Dinsmore, ”it does not strike me as anything worth taking particular pride in.”
”Mayhap that is because you are only a girl, Maud,” remarked Chester teasingly.
”Yes,” she returned sportively, ”if I were only a boy I might be as silly as the others.”
”Does it strike you as very silly, Gracie?” asked Walter.
”Well, no; not for boys,” she returned doubtfully, ”but rather so for a man. There are so many other things in which--at least it seems to me--it would be better worth while to excel.”
”Yes; so there are,” he agreed with a thoughtful look. ”And yet an occasional bit of sport is a good thing even for a man.”
”That is very true,” said Harold; ”and certainly as true for brain-workers as for any who toil with their hands.”
”Doesn't it seem pleasant to be at home again, Walter?” asked Grace.
”Yes, indeed!” he exclaimed. ”There is no place like home--especially home with mother in it.”
”Or with father in it,” added Grace as, at that moment, Captain Raymond joined the circle.
”Such a father as ours,” said Lucilla, looking up at him with a smile of proud, fond affection. He returned it, accepted an offered seat, and asked Walter if he had been entertaining the company with tales of college doings and experiences.
”Yes, sir,” returned the lad. ”I suppose it is the usual thing for a Freshman to do on coming home at the end of his year.”
”Quite; his head being pretty full of them,” was the playful rejoinder.