sunday afternoon is by old tradition dedicated to the taking of urchins out to taste the air, and indeed there is no more agreeable pastime. and so, as the urchin sat in his high chair and thoughtfully shovelled his spoon through meat chopped remarkably small and potatoes mashed in that curious fashion that produces a mass of soft, curly tendrils, his curators discussed the question of where he should be taken.
it was the first sunday in march—mild and soft and tinctured with spring. “there's the botanic garden at the university,” i suggested. the[pg 125] urchin settled it by rattling his spoon on the plate and sliding several inches of potato into his lap. “go see garden!” he cried. with the generous tastes of twenty-seven months he cares very little where he is taken; he can find fascination in anything; but something about the word “garden” seemed to allure him. so a little later when he had been duly habited in brown leggings, his minute brown overcoat, and white hat with ribbons behind it, he and his curators set out. the urchin was in excellent spirits, for he had been promised a ride on a trolley car—a glorious adventure. in one pocket he carried his private collection of talismans, including a horse-chestnut and a picture of a mouse. also, against emergencies, a miniature handkerchief with a teddy bear embroidered in one corner and a safety pin. the expedition may be deemed to have been a success, as none of these properties were called upon or even remembered.
the car we boarded did not take us just where we expected to go, but that made little difference to the urchin, who gazed steadfastly out of the window at a panorama of shabby streets, and offered no comment except one of extreme exultation when we passed a large poster of a cow. admirably docile, he felt confident that the unusual conjunction of both arbiters of destiny and an impressive trolley car would in the end produce something extremely worth while. we sped across gray's ferry bridge[pg 126]—it seems strange to think that region was once so quiet, green, and rustic—transferred to another car on woodland avenue, past the white medley of tombstones in woodland cemetery, and got off at the entrance to the dormitory quadrangles at thirty-seventh street. we entered through the archway—the urchin's first introduction to an academic atmosphere. “this is the university,” i said to him severely, and he was much impressed. as is his way, he conducted himself with extreme sobriety until he should get the hang of this new experience and see what it was all about. i knew from the serene gold sparkle of his brown eyes that there was plenty of larking spirit in him, waiting until he knew whether it was safe to give it play. he held my hand punctiliously while waiting to see what manner of place this university was.
a college quadrangle on a sunday afternoon has a feeling all its own. thin tinklings of mandolins eddy from open windows, in which young men may be seen propped up against bright-coloured cushions, always smoking, and sometimes reading with an apparent zeal which might deceive a few onlookers. but the slightest sound of footfalls on the pavement outside their rooms causes these heads to turn and scan the passers. there is always a vague hope in these youthful breasts that some damsel of notable fairness may have strayed within the bastions. groups of ladies of youth and beauty do often walk[pg 127] demurely through the courts, and may be sure of hearing admiring whistles shrilled through the sunny air. when a lady walks through a college quadrangle and hears no sibilation, let her know sadly that first youth is past. even the sedate guardianship of scribe and urchin did not forfeit one lady of destiny her proper homage of tuneful testimonial. so be it ever!
one who inhabited college quadrangles not so immeasurably long ago, and remembers with secret pain how massively old, experienced, and worldly wise he then thought himself, can never resist a throb of amazement at the entertaining youthfulness of these young monks. how quaintly juvenile they are, and how oddly that assumption of grave superiority sits upon their golden brows! with what an inimitable air of wisdom, cynicism, ancientry, learned aloofness and desire to be observed do they stroll to and fro across the quads, so keenly aware in their inmost bosoms of the presence of visitors and determined to grant an appearance of mingled wisdom, great age, and sad doggishness! what a devil-may-care swing to the stride, what a nonchalance in the perpetual wreath of cigarette smoke, what a carefully assumed bearing of one carrying great wisdom lightly and easily casting it aside for the moment in the pursuit of some waggish trifle. “here,” those very self-conscious young visages seem to betray, “is one who might tell you[pg 128] all about the holy roman empire, and yet is, for the moment, diverting himself with a mere mandolin.” and yet, as the lady of destiny shrewdly observed, it is a pity they should mar their beautiful quadrangles with orange peel and scraps of paper.
we walked for some time through those stately courts of tudor brick and then passed down the little inclined path to the botanic garden, where irises and fresh green spikes are already pushing up through the damp earth. a pale mellow sunlight lay upon the gravel walks and the urchin resumed his customary zeal. he ran here and there along the byways, examined the rock borders with an air of scientific questioning, and watched the other children playing by the muddy pond. we found shrubbery swelling with buds, also flappers walking hatless and blanched with talcum, accompanied by urchins of a larger growth. both these phenomena we took to be a sign of the coming equinox.
returning to the dormitory quadrangles, we sat down on a wooden bench to rest, while the urchin, now convinced that a university is nothing to be awed by, scampered about on the turf. his eye was a bright jewel of roguishness, for he thought that in trotting about the grass he was doing something supremely wicked. he has been carefully trained not to err on the grass of the city square to which he is best accustomed, so this surprising and unchecked revelry quite went to his head. across and about[pg 129] those wide plots of sodden turf he trotted and chuckled, a small, quaint mortal with his hat ribbons fluttering. cheering whistles hailed him from open windows above, and he smiled to himself with grave dignity. apparently, like a distinguished statesman, he regarded these tributes not as meant for himself, but for the great body of childhood he innocently represents, and indeed from which his applauders are not so inextricably severed. with the placid and unconscious happiness of a puppy he careered and meandered, without motive or method. perhaps his underlying thought of a university, if he has any, is that it is a place where no one says “keep off the grass,” and, intellectually speaking, that would not be such a bad motto for an institution of learning.
i don't know whether doctor tait mckenzie so intended it, but his appealing and beautiful statue of young franklin in front of the university gymnasium is admirably devised for the delight of small urchins. while their curators take pleasure in the bronze itself, the urchin may clamber on the different levels of the base, which is nicely adapted for the mountaineering capacity of twenty-seven months. the low brick walls before the gymnasium and the university museum are also just right for an urchin who has recently learned the fascination of walking on something raised above the ground, provided there is a curator near by to hold his hand.[pg 130] and then, as one walks away toward the south street bridge an observant urchin may spy the delightful spectacle of a freight train travelling apparently in midair. some day, one hopes, all that fine tract of open space leading from the museum down to the railroad tracks may perhaps be beautified as a park or an addition to the university's quadrangle system. i don't know who owns it, but its architectural possibilities must surely make the city-planner's mouth water.
by this time the urchin was beginning to feel a bit weary, and was glad of a lift on a parental shoulder. then a lombard street car came along and took us up halfway across the bridge. so ended the urchin's first introduction to a university education.
