UNIVERSITY LIFE IN THE WEST -1857-1864 267 



during the middle of the afternoon, upon a farm-house, 

 and, being very hungry, asked for bread and milk. My 

 companion being delayed outside, cleaning the guns, the 

 farmer's wife left me and went out to talk with him. I 

 continued eating my bread and milk voraciously, and 

 shortly afterward they entered, he laughing heartily and 

 she looking rather shamefaced. On my asking the cause, 

 he declined for a time to state it, but at length said that 

 she had come out to warn him that if he did not come in 

 pretty soon "that boy would eat up all the bread and milk 

 in the house." This story leaked out, and even appeared 

 in a local paper, but never, I think, did me any harm. 



Another occurrence, shortly afterward, seemed likely 

 for a time to be more serious. The sophomore class, ex- 

 uberant and inventive as ever, were evidently determined 

 to "try it on" their young professor in fact, to treat me 

 as they had treated their tutors. Any mistake made by a 

 student at a quiz elicited from sundry benches expressions 

 of regret much too plaintive, or ejaculations of contempt 

 much too explosive; and from these and various similar 

 demonstrations which grew every day among a certain set 

 in my class-room, it was easy to see that a trial of strength 

 must soon come, and it seemed to me best to force the 

 fighting. Looking over these obstreperous youths I noticed 

 one tall, black-bearded man with a keen twinkle in his eye, 

 who was evidently the leader. There was nothing in him 

 especially demonstrative. He would occasionally nod in 

 this direction, or wink in that, or smile in the other; but 

 he was solemn when others were hilarious, unconcerned 

 when others applauded. It was soon clear to me that in 

 him lay the key to the situation, and one day, at the close 

 of the examination, I asked him to remain. When we were 

 alone I said to him, in an easy-going way, "So, F , I 

 see that either you or I must leave the university." He 

 at once bristled up, feigned indignation, and said that he 

 could not understand me. This I pooh-poohed, saying that 

 we understood each other perfectly ; that I had been only 

 recently a student myself ; that, if the growing trouble in 



