The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-06-07

TT was commencement afternoon in
 Harvard yard. From Grays to Hol- | worthy and from Hollis to Thayer, graduates-"old grads" young grads, middle aged grads, graduates rich, grad uates poor, graduates diverse and differ Ing in every characteristic save that one which alike after 55 years, still brought them back and bound them together. Harvard's graduates held the old yard. To tiennials. sexenials and decennials, to vigesimals and quadrgeslmals, to all sorts and manners of reunions and to no especial reunions at all, the busy and idle, the far and near, all had come back to that spot for their holiday. Even the German bandmaster felt the thrill and exuberance of the spirit. Hail, hail! Harvard's here-Harvard' here!' he struck up without prompting. And as the full acquiescence of the chorus died away, from the ancient buildings all about shone out brighter the numeral standards of the classes: "99 Reunion" and "92 This Wayv' "The Class fof 'S5," "'7S Here and Here 67," and so on down to the last but dearest of all, plain "'51" showing in large figures on dark cardboard. So the seniors and all the rest but especially the seniors, whose own fresh numerals would stand so soon upon one of those same buildings, cheered the old classes again and again. Then the old classes cheered back, cheering the seniors first and then each other, again and again, because they were old grads back at the college and their privilege and impulse were one.
 Up in Hollis IS, which looked down over the best of the old yard. young Staff ford and Burton had kept one of the graduates-the oldest. With score of others who had lived between it's walls in the later years his old room had mus tered him back to it; and the juniors, then in possession, had kept him there in his old place.
 It was not just that there were no class mates to claim him away or because to him alone no numerals beckoned from across the yard It was not the pride and dlstinction that to their room-and manifestly. therefore. to them-belonged the very oldest grad" the only one whose class lowered the half-century mark, who was graduated and gone even before Proxy was freshman. It was something quite apart from his age and beyond that they did not try to an- slyze it-something quite separate which made the young juniors claim him and held him with them through the after noon in joint possession of the old room to which he had come back after more than 50 years. They had drawn very close to hlm on either side as they sat in the window and looked down into the sun-fecked yard below. It was part of haf the first small talk was said, no one spoke for some time. And then it was Burton, who had not been looking down overattentively at the crows below.
 "You-you didn't find the name you were looking for this afternoon?' he ven- tured at length.
 ''No,' the old alumnus answered ab- sently. "No; didn't" He turned quick ly' to the boy. How did you know 1 was thinking about that?" he demanded. ''Do they teach you now"
 Mind reading?" laughed Burton. NO; not yet. We don't need quite that. you see, to be able to make out vet-a Con- fcderate veteran, I should say-especially when we can get him in the transept of Memorial with all our flags and lists ana war things around him. Of course didn't know you then, but l was watch ing you go over those names You didn't seem to find the one you were looking for and went at them again. And then just now as 1 was watching you-'
 The old man sat back smiling "All right. I see," he acknowledged. And was thinking about that just then," he admitted. He pushed the white hair away from his forehead and leaned further back a little confusedly. I'm old. you see" he apologized, ''and always thinking about that sort of thing when shouldn't. But I won't here!'' he strengthened o,Iicklv and smiled again as though, with that conscious effort he could shake off the memory. He felt their touch on either side.
 'sWell?" he challenged briskly. "WellT'
 "Why shouldn't you think about it. here," the juniors demanded adroitly, "and with us?"
 "He was your classmate-the one you were looking for?" Burton urged on sug-