Vag hopped a little, and felt the satisfaction of being in step with all the Navy men. They were marching along the other side of the Yard, going toward Pierce. Hup two three four, hup two three four. Vag marched past University Hall on his way back from History 1. Hup two three four. He swerved suddenly, as precisely as possible, to avoid the three girls that were swinging along into his way.

Then Vag just stopped, and looked around the Yard, noticing the platoons of officers, and the loose, straggling groups of girls. And this was Harvard! Half the Yard girls, the other half Navy. Vag remembered those first gray September days in Matthews, when the only cheerful thing was Bill Bingham's welcoming speech. And he thought of the football afternoons, when there were sometimes a few girls around, but never like this. The Yard was a very masculine place, sort of, and now the sight of all these girls worried him.

Other things worried him too, now and then, and Vag thought he'd better hurry and get back to study. This, after all, was the summer session, the accelerated program, the mutilated term that was so intensive, so destructive of student health. As he cut in front of Widener, he couldn't help looking. He wondered whether most of those legs were in stockings or Velva Leg Film. That night still worrying, Vag wandered up to the Square for something to eat, and found himself walking through the gate between Wadsworth and Lehman. The Navy dorms were quiet, the shades down and the lights on behind them for studying. The girls' dorms weren't so quiet. It wasn't the rooms. But down in front, on the steps of Grays, and of Weld, and Wigglesworth, too, there were hordes of them. A lot of men were there, too, talking. Vag walked past Grays, looking, and wondered at all these girls giving up their summer vacations to the war effort. There were really an awful lot of girls there. And maybe a few of them were alone, or with each other. That is, not with men.

At the last entry of Grays there was a group. A healthy-looking blonde talking fast to three boys, and another girl, with two males. Vag strolled over to Weld. Weld was easy. He knew that all you had to do was walk into either entry, call "Hey, Alice" loudly, and every door in the hall gave forth with a donation of eager women students. Vag tried walking up the steps indifferently, threading his way between the couples. It couldn't be done indifferently. He went into the north entry and yelled "Alice. Hey, Alice."

On the second floor a door opened, and Vag held his breath. The high heels crossed above him, came to the stairs, and she looked down. Wellesley, sort of, or maybe Smith. Nice.

She looked at him. "Oh," she said, "Oh, I'm sorry. You're not my date." And she went back, and closed her door. Vag went outside, across Mass. Avenue into Hayes-Bick, and ordered a cup of coffee.