midnight
But after that she ceased for a time to intrude upon his life , and he admitted that his harassment was less grave than he had anticipated . There were about five hundred students in the freshman class ; he seldom saw her , and when he did it was not more than a distant glimpse of her on one of the campus paths , her thoughtful head bent over a book as she hurried to a classroom . This was bearable ; and in the flattering agitations of being sought , and even hunted , by several `` fraternities '' simultaneously desirous of his becoming a sworn Brother , he almost forgot her . After a hazardous month the roommates fell into the arms of the last `` frat '' to seek them , and having undergone an evening of outrage which concluded with touching rhetoric and an oath taken at midnight , they proudly wore jewelled symbols on their breasts and were free to turn part of their attention to other affairs , especially the affairs of the Eleven . However , they were instructed by the older brethren of their Order , whose duty it was to assist in the proper manoeuvring of their young careers , that , although support of the ` varsity teams was important , they must neglect neither the spiritual nor the intellectual by-products of undergraduate doings . Therefore they became members of the college Y.M.C.A. and of the `` Lumen Society . '' According to the charter which it had granted itself , the `` Lumen Society '' was an `` Organization of male and female students '' -- so `` advanced '' was this university -- `` for the development of the powers of debate and oratory , intellectual and sociological progress , and the discussion of all matters relating to philosophy , metaphysics , literature , art , and current events . ''