four
o'clock in the morning
By the end of the first week they were whispering to each other how many blisters they had on their buttocks . It was a bitterly cold night in late February when the Nu Deltas took the freshmen for their `` walk . '' They drove in automobiles fifteen miles into the country and then left the freshmen to walk back . It was four o'clock in the morning when the miserable freshmen reached the campus , half frozen , unutterably weary , but thankful that the end of the initiation was at hand . Hugh was thankful for another thing ; the Nu Deltas did not brand . He had noticed several men in the swimming-pool with tiny Greek letters branded on their chests or thighs . The branded ones seemed proud of their permanent insignia , but the idea of a fraternity branding its members like beef-cattle was repugnant to Hugh .