Michiganensian. [1900]

Rejuvenation.
TT was another case of "the senior taking his last glass." Jack's
room was fitted for farewells and sad thoughts, anyway. Jack had
spent four years in making that room, and as it was, it stood for a
whole college course in itself-the books of his freshman year; the
pipes and athletic ribbons of his sophomoric grandeur; the faces of his
junior loved ones in their black-wood frames; the cap and gown of his
seniority.
Jack and Bob (we call them Jack and Bob because these are
ideal college names) sat in the midst of it all before a lazy grate-fire; for
it was one of those uncertain periods of Michigan spring when midsummer and mid-winter seem to be struggling together. Outside were
rain and wind -inside were
warmth and glowing briar pipes
and a brimming cup or two,
and the low voice of one senior
telling over old tales with the
acquiescence of the other. Jack
was moralizing for the benefit
of his own conscience and that
of Bob, his neighbor. Their college course was almost at its
end, and each was wondering
what it had amounted to, as
many another senior has wondered before, and many another
will again ere old Michigan has seen her day. Jack's
words and the smoke of Jack's pipe were strangely
intermingled. Mayhap it was all a pipe dream;
but with an occasional halt for a nod of approval
or a tardy thought, Jack's story ran on steadily, until
the light flickered low on the hearth, the pipes were
out, and the cups were drained.