previous to the election, and thus this objection has been virtually done away with. After hesitating awhile, our friend decides to join the "Jeff." and help reform the present state of things, and possibly get the Final Presidency.
We suppose now that about a month has passed since the beginning of the session. Most of the verdancy has worn off our protégé, and he is able to scramble along for himself about as well as any one else. Some evening when he is hard at work preparing his lectures for the next day, a knock is heard at his door, and in answer to his loud "Come in," three or four of his new friends enter, and, after a "Good-evening, old fellow: are you in for some fun?" seat themselves wherever room can be found,—some on chairs, some on the bed, and one or two on the trunk,—and unfold their scheme. Within the last day or so a young fellow has arrived who is in danger of being eaten by the cows, so "green" is he, and consequently it would be a sin and a shame not to initiate him into the order of the "Sons of Confusius." The scheme is adopted unanimously. One of the men has already introduced himself to his victim, and on the first opportunity presents his friends. All are cordial and pleasant, talk a great deal about the honor of being asked to join a fraternity, and soon convince him that it is the highest aim of a university student to join one of those mystical bodies. When his mind has been prepared for the acceptance of any rite or ceremony, one of the number is chosen to "twig" him, and he gives his willing consent to be initiated, without asking about the standing of the Sons of Confusius. A night is appointed for the ceremony. At the given hour you may see ghostly figures wending their way towards the dissecting-hall, which is the scene of the initiation. The victim is brought in on the shoulders of five of the tallest men, his eyes blindfolded, and his head inclined towards the ground at an angle of about fifteen degrees. There are fifty or sixty men present, all dressed in white sheets, with their faces concealed by masks. A dim light, emanating from the eyes, nose, and mouth of a skull filled with alcohol sprinkled with salt, pervades the room. Against the wall stand three or four skeletons in the most natural attitudes. On the floor and upon the tables lie human bones. After doleful wails and cries from the spectators, the eyes of the victim are unbound, and he finds himself in a dimly-lighted room, surrounded by a crowd of spirit-like forms and face to face with a grinning skeleton. Brave must he be who does not feel a disagreeable sensation at such a moment. But, having declared his willingness to go through with the initiation, the dread of ridicule prevents him from retracing his steps. A half-hour is spent in absurd and, to the lookers-on, highly diverting ceremonies. The victim is then
