seven o'clock Saturday evening
You go Nu Delt if they ask you -- but I promise you that I wo n't go Alpha Sig even if they bid me without pay . '' He held out his hand , and Hugh gripped it hard . `` I promise , '' he repeated , `` on my word of honor . '' At seven o'clock Saturday evening every freshman who had any reason at all to think that he would get a bid -- and some that had no reason -- collected in nervous groups in the living-room of the Union . At the stroke of seven they were permitted to move up to a long row of tables which were covered with large envelopes , one for every freshman . They were arranged in alphabetical order , and in an incredibly short time each man found the one addressed to him . Some of the envelopes were stuffed with cards , each containing the freshman 's name and the name of the fraternity bidding him ; some of them contained only one or two cards -- and some of them were empty .