The Plastic Age Percy Marks (read full novel txt) 📖

to bids all that day and the night before. Several times groups of fraternity men got into a room, closed the door, and then talked to him until he was almost literally dizzy. He was wise enough not to make any promises. His invariable answer was: “I don’t know yet. I won’t know until Saturday night.”

Carl was having similar experiences, but neither of them had been talked to by Nu Deltas. The president of the chapter, Merle Douglas, had said to Hugh in passing, “We’ve got our eye on you, Carver,” and that was all that had been said. Carl did not have even that much consolation. But he wasn’t so much interested in Nu Delta as Hugh was; Kappa Zeta or Alpha Sigma would do as well. Both of these fraternities were making violent efforts to get Hugh, but they were paying only polite attention to Carl.

On Friday night Hugh was given some advice that he had good reason to remember in later years. At the moment it did not interest him a great deal.

He had gone to the Delta Sigma Delta house, not because he had the slightest interest in that fraternity but because the Nu Deltas had not urged him to remain with them. The Delta Sigma Deltas welcomed him enthusiastically and turned him over to their president, Malcolm Graham, a tall serious senior with sandy hair and quiet brown eyes.

“Will you come upstairs with me, Carver? I want to have a talk with you,” he said simply.

Hugh hesitated. He didn’t mind being talked to, but he was heartily sick of being talked at.

Graham noticed his hesitation and smiled. “Don’t worry; I’m not going to shanghai you, and I’m not going to jaw you to death, either.”

Hugh smiled in response. “I’m glad of that,” he said wearily. “I’ve been jawed until I don’t know anything.”

“I don’t doubt it. Come on; let’s get away from this racket.” He took Hugh by the arm and led him upstairs to his own room, which was pleasantly quiet and restful after the noise they had left.

When they were both seated in comfortable chairs, Graham began to talk. “I know that you are being tremendously rushed, Carver, and I know that you are going to get a lot of bids, too. I’ve been watching you all through this week, and you seem dazed and confused to me, more confused even than the average freshman. I think I know the reason.”

“What is it?” Hugh demanded eagerly.

“I understand that your father is a Nu Delt.”

Hugh nodded.

“And you’re afraid that they aren’t going to bid you.”

Hugh was startled. “How did you know?” He never thought of denying the statement.

“I guessed it. You were obviously worried; you visited other fraternities; and you didn’t seem to enjoy the attention that you were getting. I’ll tell you right now that you are worrying about nothing; the Nu Delts will bid you. They are just taking you for granted; that’s all. You are a legacy, and you have accepted all their invitations to come around. If you had stayed away one night, there would have been a whole delegation rushing around the campus to hunt you up.”

Hugh relaxed. For the time being he believed Graham implicitly.

“Now,” Graham went on, “it’s the Nu Delts that I want to talk about. Oh, I’m not going to knock them,” he hastened to add as Hugh eyed him suspiciously. “I know that you have heard plenty of fraternities knocking each other, but I am sure that you haven’t heard any knocking in this house.”

“No I haven’t,” Hugh admitted.

“Well, you aren’t going to, either. The Nu Delts are much more important than we are. They are stronger locally, and they’ve got a very powerful national organization. But I don’t think that you have a very clear notion about the Nu Delts or us or any other fraternity. I heard you talking about fraternities the other night, and, if you will forgive me for being awfully frank, you were talking a lot of nonsense.”

Hugh leaned forward eagerly. He wasn’t offended, and for the first time that week he didn’t feel that he was being rushed.

“Well, you have a lot of sentimental notions about fraternities that are all bull; that’s all. You think that the brothers are really brothers, that they stick by each other and all that sort of thing. You seem to think, too, that the fraternities are democratic. They aren’t, or there wouldn’t be any fraternities. You don’t seem to realize that fraternities are among other things political organizations, fighting each other on the campus for dear life. You’ve heard fraternities this week knocking each other. Well, about nine tenths of what’s been said is either lies or true of every fraternity on the campus. These fraternities aren’t working together for the good of Sanford; they’re working like hell to ruin each other. You think that you are going to like every man in the fraternity you join. You won’t. You’ll hate some of them.”

Hugh was aroused and indignant. “If you feel that way about it, why do you stay in a fraternity?”

Graham smiled gravely. “Don’t get angry, please. I stay because the fraternity has its virtues as well as its faults. I hated the fraternity the first two years, and I’m afraid that you’re going to, too. You see, I had the same sort of notions you have⁠—and it hurt like the devil when they were knocked into a cocked hat. The fraternity is a pleasant club: it gets you into campus activities; and it gives you a social life in college that you can’t get without it. It isn’t very important to most men after they graduate. Just try to raise some money from the alumni some time, and you’ll find out. Some of them remain undergraduates all their lives, and they think that the fraternity is important, but most of them hardly think of it except when they come back to reunions. They’re more interested in their clubs or the