Smith College Stories Part 1

Smith College Stories.

by Josephine Dodge Daskam.

THE FIRST STORY

_THE EMOTIONS OF A SUB-GUARD_

I

THE EMOTIONS OF A SUB-GUARD

Theodora pushed through the yellow and purple crowd, a sea of flags and ribbons and great paper flowers, caught a glimpse of the red and green river that flowed steadily in at the other door, and felt her heart contract. What a lot of girls! And the freshmen were always beaten--

"Excuse me, but I _can't_ move! You'll have to wait," said some one.

Theodora realized that she was crowding, and apologized. A tall girl with a purple stick moved by the great line that stretched from the gymnasium to the middle of the campus, and looked keenly at Theodora.

"How did you get here?" she asked. "You must go to the end--we're not letting any one slip in at the front. The jam is bad enough as it is."

Theodora blushed. "I'm--I'm on the Sub-team," she murmured, "and I'm late. I--"

"Oh!" said the junior. "Why did you come in here? You go in the other door. Just pa.s.s right in here, though," and Theodora, quite crimson with the consciousness of a hundred eyes, pulled her mackintosh about her and slipped in ahead of them all.

Oh, _here's_ to Ninety-_yellow_, And her _praise_ we'll ever _tell_--_oh_, Drink her _down_, drink her _down_, drink her _down_, _down_, _down_!

the line called after her, and her mouth trembled with excitement. She could just hear the other line:

Oh, _here's_ to Ninety-_green_, She's the _finest_ ever _seen_!

and then the door slammed and she was upstairs on the big empty floor.

A member of the decorating committee nodded at her from the gallery.

"Pretty, isn't it?" she called down.

"Beautiful!" said Theodora, earnestly. One half of the gallery--her half--was all trimmed with yellow and purple. Great yellow chrysanthemums flowered on every pillar, and enormous purple shields with yellow numerals lined the wall. Crossed banners and flags filled in the intervals, and from the middle beam depended a great purple b.u.t.terfly with yellow wings, flapping defiance at a red and green insect of indistinguishable species that decorated the other side. A bevy of ushers in white duck, with _boutonnieres_ of English violets or single American beauties, took their places and began to pin on crepe paper sunbonnets of yellow or green, chattering and watching the clock. A tall senior, with a red silk waist and a green scarf across her breast, was arranging a box near the centre of the soph.o.m.ore side and practising maintaining her balance on it while she waved a red baton. She was the leader of the Glee Club, and she would lead the soph.o.m.ore songs. Theodora heard a confused scuffle on the stairs, and in a few seconds the galleries were crowded with the rivers of color that poured from the entrance doors. It seemed that they were full now, but she knew that twice as many more would crowd in. She walked quickly to the room at the end of the hall and opened the door. Beneath and all around her was the hum and rumble of countless feet and voices, but in the room all was still. The Subs lounged in the window-seats and tried to act as if it wasn't likely to be any affair of theirs: one little yellow-haired girl confided flippantly to her neighbor that she'd "only accepted the position so as to be able to sit on the platform and be sure of a good place." The Team were sitting on the floor staring at their captain, who was talking earnestly in a low voice--giving directions apparently. The juniors who coached them opened the door and grinned cheerfully. They attached great purple streamers to their shirt-waists, and addressed themselves to the freshmen generally.

"Your songs are great! That 'Alabama c.o.o.n' one was awfully good! You make twice the noise that they do!"

The Team brightened up. "I think they're pretty good," the captain said, with an attempt at a conversational tone. "Er--when do we begin?"

"The Subs can go out now," said one of the coaches, opening the door importantly. "Now, girls, remember not to wear yourselves out with kicking and screaming. You're right under the President, and he'll have a fit if you kick against the platform. Miss Ka.s.san says that this _must_ be a quiet game! She _will not_ have that howling! It's her particular request, she says. Now, go on. And if anything happens to Grace, Julia Wilson takes her place, _and look out for Alison Greer_--she pounds awfully. Keep as still as you can!"

They trotted out and ranged themselves on the platform, and when Theodora got to the point of lifting her eyes from the floor to gaze down at the soph.o.m.ore Subs across the hall in front of another audience, the freshmen were off in another song. To her excited eyes there were thousands of them, brilliant in purple and yellow, and shouting to be heard of her parents in Pennsylvania. A junior in yellow led them with a great purple stick, and they chanted, to a splendid march tune that made even the members of the Faculty keep time on the platform, their hymn to victory.

_Hurrah!_ _hurrah!_ the _yellow_ is on _top_!

_Hurrah!_ _hurrah!_ the _purple_ cannot _drop_!

_We_ are Ninety-_yellow_ and our _fame_ shall never _stop_, _'Rah_, _'rah_, _'rah_, for the _freshmen_!

They sang so well and so loud and strong, shouting out the words so plainly and keeping such splendid time, that as the verse and chorus died away audience and soph.o.m.ores alike clapped them vigorously, much to their delight and pride. Theodora looked up for the first time and saw as in a dream individual faces and clothes. They were packed in the running-gallery till the smallest of babies would have been sorely tried to find a crevice to rest in. A fringe of skirts and boots hung from the edge, where the wearers sat pressed against the bars with their feet hanging over. They blotted out the windows and sat out on the great beams, dangling their banners into s.p.a.ce. She could not see the Faculty behind her, but she knew they were adorned with rosettes, and that the favored ones carried flowers--the air where she sat was sweet with violets. A group of ushers escorted a small and nervous lady to the platform: on the way she threw back her cape and the soph.o.m.ores caught sight of the green bow at her throat.

Oh, _here's_ to Susan _Beane_, She is _wearing_ of the _green_, Drink her _down_, drink her _down_, drink her _down_, _down_, _down_!

they sang cheerfully.

Just behind her a tall, commanding woman stalked somewhat consciously, decked with yellow streamers and daffodils. The junior leader consulted a list in her hand, frantically whispered some words to the allies around her box, and the freshmen started up their tribute.

Oh, _here's_ to Kath'rine _Storrs_, Aught but _yellow_ she _abhors_, Drink her _down_, drink her _down_, drink her _down_, _down_, _down_!

Miss Storrs endeavored to convey with her glance, dignity, amus.e.m.e.nt, toleration of harmless sport, and a repudiation of the personality involved in the song; but it is to be doubted if even she was satisfied with the result. Theodora wished she had seen the President come in. She had been told how he walked solemnly across the hall, mounted the platform, unb.u.t.toned his overcoat, and displayed two gorgeous rosettes of the conflicting colors--his official and exclusive privilege. And she had heard from the Team's retreat the thunder of applause that greeted this traditional rite. She wondered whether he cared who won: whether he realized what it was to play against a team that had beaten in its freshman year.

A burst of applause and laughter interrupted her meditations. She felt herself blushing--was it the Team? No: the soph.o.m.ore Subs were escorting to the middle of the floor a child of five or six dressed in brightest emerald green: a child with a mane of the most remarkable brick-red hair in the world. She wore it in the fashion of Alice in Wonderland, and it grew redder and redder the longer one looked at it.

She held a red ribbon of precisely the same shade in her hand, and at the middle of the floor the soph.o.m.ores suddenly burst away from her and ran quickly to their seats, revealing at the end of the ribbon an enormous and lifelike green frog. The child stood for a moment twisting her little green legs undecidedly, and then, overcome with embarra.s.sment at the appreciation she had evoked, shook her flaming locks over her face, and dragging the frog with her, sometimes on its side, sometimes on its head, fled to the soph.o.m.ores, who bore her off in triumph.

"They got her in Williamsburgh," said somebody; "they've been hunting for weeks for a red-haired child, and that frog was from the drug store--oh, my dear, how _perfectly_ darling!"

Alone and unabashed the freshman mascot took the floor. He was perhaps four years old and the color of a cake of chocolate. His costume was canary yellow--a perfect little jockey suit, with a purple band on his arm adorned with Ninety-yellow's cla.s.s numerals. He dragged by a twisted cord of purple and yellow a most startling plum-colored terrier, of a shade that never was on land or sea, with a tendency to trip his master up at every step. In the exact middle of the floor the mascot paused, rolled his eyes till they seemed in danger of leaving their sockets, and then at a shrill whistle from the balcony pulled his yellow cap from his woolly head and made a deep and courtly bow to his patrons. But the storm of applause was more than he had been prepared for, and with a wild look about the hall and a frantic tug at the cord he dragged the purple and protesting animal to a corner of the room, where a grinning elder sister was stationed for his comfort.

Theodora's heart beat high: theirs was the best! Everybody was laughing and exclaiming and questioning; the very soph.o.m.ores were shrieking at the efforts of the terrier to drag the little darkey out again; one member of the Faculty had laughed himself into something very like hysteria and giggled weakly at every twitch of the idiotic purple legs.

"It was Diamond Dyes," Theodora heard a freshman just above call out excitedly, "and Esther Armstrong thought of it. They dyed him every day for a week--"

The mascot and the dog had trotted up again, and as they ran back and the animal gave a more than ordinarily vicious dart, the poor little boy, yielding suddenly, sat down with exquisite precision on his companion, and with distended eyes wailed aloud for his relative, who disentangled him with difficulty and bore him away, his cap over his ear and his little chocolate hands clutching her neck. In the comparative silence that followed the gale of laughter some bustle and conference was noticed on the soph.o.m.ore side, and suddenly the leader rose, lifting her green and red stick, and the front line of soph.o.m.ores and seniors intoned with great distinctness this thrilling doggerel:

I never saw a purple pup: I never hoped to see one: But now my mind is quite made up-- I'd rather see than be one!

This was received favorably, and the gallery congratulated the _improvisatrice_, while Theodora wondered if that detracted at all from the glory of the freshmen! The chattering began again, and she drummed nervously with her heels against the platform, while the Centre, sitting next her, prophesied gloomily that Grace Farwell felt awfully blue, and that Miss Ka.s.san had said they were really almost too slight as a team--the soph.o.m.ores were so tall and big. Harriet Foster had said that she was perfectly certain she 'd sprain her ankle--then who would guard Martha Sutton? It was all very well for Caroline Wilde to say not to worry about that--_she_ hadn't been able to guard her last year! She was just like a machine. Her arm went up and the ball went in; that was all there was to it. And Kate was as bad. They might just as well make up their minds--

"Oh, hush!" cried Theodora, her eyes full of nervous tears; "if you can't talk any other way, just keep still!"

"Very well," said the Centre, huffily, and then the chattering died away as Miss Ka.s.san made mysterious marks on the floor, and the coaches took their places with halves of lemon and gla.s.ses of water in their hands. A door opened, and in a dead hush the soph.o.m.ore team trotted in, two and two, the Suttons leading, bouncing the big ball before them. There was such a silence that the thudding feet seemed to echo and ring through the hall, and only when Martha suddenly tossed it behind her at nothing and Kate from some corner walked over and caught it did the red and green burst forth in a long-drawn single shout: "Ninety-gre-e-e-e-e-n!"

Miss Ka.s.san looked apprehensive, but no _'Rah, 'rah, 'rah!_ followed; only,--

Here's to _Sutton M._ and _K._ And they'll _surely_ win the _day_, Drink 'em _down_, drink 'em _down_, drink 'em _down_, _down_, _down_!

Theodora set her teeth. "Humph! Will they?" she muttered savagely.

"Here they come!" cried the Centre, and they ran in, the big yellow numerals gleaming effectively against their dark suits, their braids bobbing behind them. Grace Farwell was quite pale, with one little spot of red in each cheek, but Harriet Foster was crimson with excitement, and the thick braids of auburn hair that fell over her breast b.u.mped up and down as she breathed. The thunder of recognition died away, and they tossed the ball about nervously, with an eye on Miss Ka.s.san, who handed a ball to her a.s.sistant and took her place on the line to watch fouls.

"All ready!" said the a.s.sistant. There was a shuffling about, a confusion in the centre, a concentration of eyes. Harriet Foster took her place by Martha Sutton and sucked in her under lip; Grace lined up with Kate in the centre, clasping and unclasping her hands. Near her stood a tall slim girl with green numerals on her sleeve. Her soft dark hair was coiled lightly into a Greek knot--it seemed that the slightest hasty movement must shake it over her sloping shoulders. It grew into a clean-cut widow's peak low on her smooth white forehead; below straight, fine brows two great, sad, gray eyes, wide apart, wondered at life; her oval face was absolutely colorless and threw out the little scarlet mouth that drooped softly at the corners. Her hands lightly folded before her, she swayed a little and looked dreamily over the heads of the others; she seemed as incongruous as a Madonna at a bull-fight.

"Who is that lovely girl in the middle?" said some one behind Theodora.

"That is a Miss Greer," was the reply. "She is one of the best--"

"Play!" called the a.s.sistant, and the big ball flew out of her hands into Kate Sutton's. Kate gave an indescribable twist of her shoulder, the ball rose in the air, pa.s.sed over an utterly irrelevant scuffle in the centre, and landed in Martha's hands. Martha balanced it a moment and threw it into the exact middle of the basket, while the soph.o.m.ores howled and pounded and the freshmen looked blankly at one another.

They had not been accustomed to such simple and efficacious methods.