The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1872-10-12
How We Iaid for Our Fun.
ny JUDGE CLARK.

Vacation Wis over, and most Of the
old students, gitll falir sprinkling of
new ones Werf already OH hand.
A lot Of us Who Ind got in too late
for supper, wee refreshing our inward
rnan-or boy-at ChOpps,' our regular
place for irregular meals.
nWho's sem Rufe RiggsfD asked
one.
"Has ho pt back yeti" queried
another.
"Hullo!-tik Of, etc.-lere he
comes -a1,otltr returned prodigal."
| sYes,n sail u mock melancholy
looking youth, whose entrance was
greeted as alsve--'t another returned
pro.ligal, andlikely,n y he added, with
Ia g1ance at TIC half emptied dishes,
to be aboutas bounteously received
as his scriptut,l prototype would have
been, had he rot back to find the old
man dead, anl the stingy son in pos
session." s.
"Co1ne, con e, Rufe cheer urW said
a merry -facel Sophomore; IF we
haven't d fdttcl calf to offer you, here's
at least a Yealeu'let ut your sefvice." !"
IA part for The ..wlole,n said Rufe,
drawing ttp chair, and diving a
fork into the pDtfered Wand" a part
for the WHOLE by figure of speech
called metpnyhy, OF which, begging
| its pardon, / never saw the sense be-
fore"
We consilerdtely waited till lie had
blunted tile edge Of his appetite
"What fun have you hal9" at
length inquired a callow- locking
Freshman.
"Oh none; that is, none to speak
Of" answered Rufc g There ,cas a lit
tie circumstance, rfhnckling, but that
was more In the way OF business"
"Tell iti-tell it!f clliined in MI.
"Well, you see, / and Lafu Means,
out on Ii rural lark, were suddenly
brought to, money bound, in . strange
village. Following my instructions,
I4afe was taken dangerously sick. The
landlord expressed Lis regret that the
only doctor in the place was absent.
4 faet we previously knew. Lafe said
it made no difference; wnshis fam
lily physician, md lie would trust his
case to no pther. / was called III ut
once, and pronounced his malady
small -por, decision not little con-
tirmed by Lafe's pimply face. You
may gless there was q cUnllnotion. In
less tlnn forty eight hours ! had vac
cinated the whole population, with
blank matter, mt q dollar head.
divided with Lafe, whom. / pronounced
out OF danger, mud leaving him some
thing 10 keep tho disease from st,ik-
ias T. and itz1 laH atainek
exciting suspieioil by d too speedy
convalescence, ! had sudden call
elsewhere. As had luck would have
it, the local doctor returned, nosed out
the hoax, and L:,fe got veneering of
tarand feathers which will stick to him
tor a MONTH"
Rufe:didn'tseem to perceive tie dis
honesty and fraud involved in his
practical joke. In fact, he had no
moral sense, and brought up in the
Penitentiary about eight years after
he graduated.
But I've thing on hand nom,"
snid Rufe when he had finished his
outlet, "with heaps Of fun in it, if you
chaps will only help me-
We vowed we would.
"a raw student came up on the
coach with me,' he explained" the
greatest .greeny' ever caught in 4 gull
trap. We rode outside, where / had
him all to MYSELF / told him all about
the seeret societies here-tllat they
rule everything, and that to be any
body, one must belong to one--that /
was d member myself Of the best of
them, and thought / could get him i'll ;
at all events l would try, rs | had ia
ken a great fancy. to him. The upshot
is, he is burning to be initiated, and
wemust put him through tomorrow
night"
"Agrecli-agreed!" was the unani-
nous voice.
1t should be explained that secret
societies were then the rage in that
and other colleges. A fancy breastpin,
! with two or three Greek letters-nn
| matter whicil--on it, and a knowing
look on the part Of the wearer, was
about ali there was to any Of them.
| Nevertheless, to be admitted to one oi
these fraternities was esteemed high
honor, to which new students espec-
tally aspired; and it was a farorite
| trick to catch greenhorn, and initiate
him into u shan, one, with all manner
Of mock ceremonies.
Such was the process to which Rufe
Riggs proposed to subject his new ac-
quaintance, and in which we had
promised to assist.
And filter subject for hoax than
Hiram Hodge, when we came to see
him, we all agreed, had never left the
abodes of rural innocence. His capa-
city for belief was simply miraculous
When we told him of the antiquity o1
our order-that tradition carried i,
back to the ark; that Alexander, Ju.
lins Cesar, Washington, and Napoleon
Bonapartc had all been members; that
our predecessors had built the pyra-
mids, and we still had the secret o1
tire "lost arts the fellow took it in