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Spires and Gargoyles
Necessarily,Amory’sacquaintancewithhimwasinthewayofthree-minutechats,walkingtoandfromlectures,sohefailedtopenetrateBurne’soneabsorbinginterestandfindwhatlaybeneathit.
Amorywasfarfromcontented.HemissedtheplacehehadwonatSt.Regis’,thebeingknownandadmired,yetPrincetonstimulatedhim,andthereweremanythingsaheadcalculatedtoarousetheMachiavellilatentinhim,couldhebutinsertawedge.Theupper-classclubs,concerningwhichhehadpumpedareluctantgraduateduringtheprevioussummer,excitedhiscuriosity:Ivy,detachedandbreathlesslyaristocratic;Cottage,animpressivemélangeofbrilliantadventurersandwell-dressedphilanderers;TigerInn,broad-shoulderedandathletic,vitalizedbyanhonestelaborationofprep-schoolstandards;CapandGown,anti-alcoholic,faintlyreligiousandpoliticallypowerful;flamboyantColonial;literaryQuadrangle;andthedozenothers,varyinginageandposition.
Anythingwhichbroughtanunderclassmanintotooglaringalightwaslabelledwiththedamningbrandof"runningitout."Themoviesthrivedoncausticcomments,butthemenwhomadethemweregenerallyrunningitout;talkingofclubswasrunningitout;standingforanythingverystrongly,as,forinstance,drinkingpartiesorteetotalling,wasrunningitout;inshort,beingpersonallyconspicuouswasnottolerated,andtheinfluentialmanwasthenon-committalman,untilatclubelectionsinsophomoreyeareveryoneshouldbesewedupinsomebagfortherestofhiscollegecareer.
