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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/77143-0.txt b/77143-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c70fdd2 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8000 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77143 *** + + + + +[Illustration: HASELTINE’S TRIPLE PLAY.] + + + + + JACK HALL + + OR + + THE SCHOOL DAYS OF AN AMERICAN + BOY + + BY + + ROBERT GRANT + + AUTHOR OF “FACE TO FACE,” “THE CONFESSIONS OF A FRIVOLOUS GIRL,” + ETC. + + _ILLUSTRATED BY F. G. ATTWOOD_ + + BOSTON + JORDAN, MARSH AND COMPANY + 1888 + + + + + Copyright, 1887, + BY JORDAN, MARSH & CO. + + + _The Riverside Press, Cambridge_: + Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co. + + + + + I Dedicate this Book + + TO + + MY THREE BOYS. + + + [Illustration] + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + CHAPTER I. + HOW JACK SPENT THE FORENOON OF WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY 1 + + CHAPTER II. + THE SNOW-BALL FIGHT 29 + + CHAPTER III. + A DAY OF RECKONING 65 + + CHAPTER IV. + JACK GOES TO UTOPIA 96 + + CHAPTER V. + DR. MEREDITH 120 + + CHAPTER VI. + FIRST IMPRESSIONS 162 + + CHAPTER VII. + HASELTINE MAKES HIS DÉBUT 192 + + CHAPTER VIII. + SETTLING DOWN 230 + + CHAPTER IX. + THE BIG FOUR 259 + + CHAPTER X. + UP-HILL 301 + + CHAPTER XI. + NIP AND TUCK 333 + + CHAPTER XII. + HASELTINE MAKES HIS CHOICE 377 + + + + + JACK HALL. + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + HOW JACK SPENT THE FORENOON OF WASHINGTON’S + BIRTHDAY. + + +It was a bright February morning. The sun was warm, so that the piles +of snow in the streets were in a perfect condition for snow-balling, +much to the satisfaction of a medium-sized boy of thirteen who had just +come out of the house and was standing on his doorsteps, drawing on his +mittens. His name was Jack Hall, and he wore a Scotch cap, a reefer, +and a pair of rubber boots. + +As soon as his mittens were on he cleared the last two steps with a +jump, and, plunging his hands into the nearest snow-bank, stood patting +a ball into shape while he looked around. The street on which Jack’s +house stood was a long and tolerably steep slope. There were houses on +both sides. He lived at the top, near the corner of an intersecting +street, which ran at right angles to it down to Boston Common. Opposite +to his house was a grocery shop. + +Suddenly Jack looked animated as he caught sight of another figure, +not unlike his own, on the way up the hill, and by way of welcome to +the new-comer, who was still far off, he emitted a sort of shrill +war-whoop, “Ehu――ehu――ehu!” + +Immediately there came a faint reply from the distance, “Ehu――ehu――ehu!” + +After each had twice repeated this salutation, Jack continued +contentedly to make snow-balls. He had finished two, tucking one under +either arm, and was moulding a third, when a man appeared on the +further sidewalk of the intersecting street. + +“Give me a shot, mister?” shouted Jack. + +The man, who was going towards the Common, looked back over his +shoulder and grinned, which Jack recognized as a sign that he might +blaze away, which he did accordingly. The first snow-ball went a little +wide of the mark, and struck the wall beyond with a thud; but the next +hit the man plump in the middle of his exposed arm, and evidently +convinced him that discretion was the better part of valor, for he +gathered his coat collar about his neck, and fled with precipitation +until the corner shut him out from view, pursued by Jack’s remaining +snow-ball and derisive scoffing. + +This put Jack in high humor. But before he had fully re-supplied +himself with ammunition, the area door in the wing of the grocery +shop opened, and the grocer’s clerk, a young man of about eighteen, +appeared, carrying some baskets and bundles, with which he proceeded to +load a wheelbarrow belonging to the establishment, that stood beside +the big window, paying no attention to Jack, though he perceived +him very well. For there was perpetual war between the boys in the +neighborhood and “Mustachio,” which was the name applied by them to the +grocer’s assistant on account of a feebly sprouting down on his upper +lip. + +Jack had equipped himself amply with snow-balls by the time that the +clerk, with his barrow-full of eggs and flour and other groceries to +be delivered in the neighborhood, was ready to start down the street, +and stood leaning against a tree watching the enemy. Before Mustachio +had proceeded twenty feet, Jack let drive, not at him, but at the area +door, having made sure by a glance that the grocer himself was not +looking out at the big window. Now the area door contained a pocket +about a foot square, cut in the panel and concealed by a swinging +cover, which opened inwards, and shut as soon as pressure was removed. +Through this the baker dropped his rolls in the morning into a basket +in the cellar of the store, and one of the never-tiring amusements of +the boys was to try to do the same with snow-balls. From across the +street this required some dexterity. As a consequence, the grocer had +cause to complain bitterly, both of the influx of snow into his bread +basket, and the dents in the woodwork of the door, which was apt to +need a new coat of paint as soon as the spring came. + +On this occasion Jack’s first shot hit the woodwork with a plashing +sound, for the ball was slushy. The noise affected the grocer’s clerk +as a red rag affects a bull. He stopped and, setting down his barrow, +turned towards Jack just as that young miscreant’s second ball hit the +target and disappeared. The clerk muttered something under his breath +and made a dash as though to run across the street. Jack, divining that +this was a feint, retired alertly as far as the corner, where he stood +ready to beat a more hasty and prolonged retreat if necessary. But the +clerk, thinking better of his first impulse, took up the handles of his +barrow and started off again, trundling smartly. + +This was Jack’s opportunity. He regained his former post and, aiming +with precision, sent a ball whizzing within an inch of the clerk’s +head, accompanying the shot with a vituperative cry loud enough to +arouse the neighborhood. + +“Mustachio-o-o! Mustachio-o-o!” + +Dignity was the _rôle_ which the victim assumed this time, for he +paid no heed to either insult. Yet he was doomed to be discomfited. +The second shot hit his barrow without doing any damage, but the next +struck a paper bag containing eggs and broke two, a misadventure which +would require the poor fellow to make another trip by-and-by. He turned +and glared at Jack, realizing his helplessness and yet reluctant to be +unavenged. + +So absorbed was he in righteous indignation that he had failed to +observe another small figure creeping up on the opposite sidewalk in +the shadow of the houses and obscured by the trunks and branches of the +row of trees which grew along the street. Mustachio stooped to gather +some snow which he was compressing with relentless vim into ice with +his bare hands preparatory to hurling it at Jack with all his might, +when of a sudden a ball from a new quarter and at short range struck +him with stinging force in the side of the head, plastering his ear +like a poultice. For an instant he was dazed by the shock which gave +time――but only just time――for the reinforcement over the way to shoot +past him and dive into the alley way of Jack’s house a few yards above. +Mustachio plunging into the snow had crossed the street and was at +his new antagonist’s heels in the twinkling of an eye, but too late. +The heavy back door was slammed in his face and double-bolted, and +simultaneously from behind it and from the street corner where Jack had +again sought shelter arose another triumphant cry, “Mustachio-oh-o-ho! +Mustachio-o!” + +A few minutes later, a peculiar undulating whistle given vent to by +Jack assured the prisoner that danger was passed, who, accordingly, +reappeared on the scene. The unhappy grocer’s lad, having come to the +conclusion that retribution at the moment was out of the question, was +visible down the street trundling his wheelbarrow, but out of range of +the parting snow-balls which the boys sent after him. + +“That was a beauty, Dubsy,” said Jack, by way of compliment to the shot +which had struck Mustachio’s ear. + +At that moment a booby-hut swung round the corner. As it went by each +of the boys sprang lightly on to one of the hind runners unseen by +the driver. Away they swept down hill, passing their late enemy, at +whom they grinned exultingly, and delighting in the jounces which the +sleigh made at the uneven places. It turned into the next street, and +soon they were spinning over the smooth, well-trodden snow of the +milldam, amid a host of sleighs and a gay jingling of bells. Presently +the driver pulled up the horses and they stopped before a house where +a lady got out. But they were in luck for the time being; there was +another lady to be left further on; then the booby turned and carried +them back again, which was what they had hoped for. They held on +firmly, still as mice, and well sheltered by the back of the sleigh. + +All of a sudden, just as they had reached the foot of their own street, +a voice abreast of them cried loudly, “Cut――cut behind!” + +Simultaneously, a snow-ball aimed at them skimmed along the top of the +booby and hit the driver. But the driver needed no additional stimulus; +the cry was enough. Before the snow-ball struck him he had reached for +the whip. Swish! swish! went the lash, curling round the back of the +sleigh. But the boys were quicker than he; at the first note of danger +they had let go their hold. + +Instantly they darted after the urchin who had betrayed them, a ragged +shaver, who had taken to his heels the moment after discharging the +snow-ball, and was now running like greased lightning. Their rubber +boots impeded them, and though they panted after the fugitive through +a number of streets they paused at last, pretty well winded, and had +to content themselves with firing a few harmless shots at him. He +returned the fire from the brow of the hill where he stood, and one of +his balls, which were very swift, hit Jack’s Scotch cap, although Jack +dodged, and nearly knocked it off; whereupon the enemy set up a jeer, +and exclaimed before vanishing over the hill,―― + +“I’ll bring a crowd down this afternoon and knock the stuffing out of +yer!” + +[Illustration] + +Jack and Dubsy, looking rather sheepish, turned towards home. Their +pride had received a downfall. Moreover they were heated and rather +tired. The vicinity of Ma’am Horn’s struck them, accordingly, as +providential, for it seemed as though “pickle-limes” were the only +things in creation which could relieve their outraged feelings. They +began by flattening their noses against the window-pane of the little +shop. A goodly array of small wares delighted their vision,――peg-tops, +of all sizes; marbles of every sort, from the common clay variety +known as the “twoser” and blood alleys up to wonderful mottled agates; +knives, jack-stones, jew’s-harps, and valentines. There were caramels, +pop corn balls, cream cakes, and cocoanut cakes, and, most tempting of +the whole in the way of sweets, was a tin tray of black looking sticks +of molasses candy, each about the length of a short cigar, but rather +thicker. On the counter, under the eye of Ma’am Horn, who did also a +thriving business in tapes, needles, and haberdashery, stood a dish not +unlike the bowls used for holding gold fish, half full of dark greenish +yellow spheres: these were “pickle-limes.” + +Jack had seven cents in his hand, in copper coin, as he entered. + +“Give me two pickle-limes, please, Ma’am Horn,” he said. Ma’am +Horn, a thin and rather severe looking lady, fished out the dainties +called for, one of which Jack handed to Dubsy, who had been gazing +at them despairingly, having no money of his own, and who exclaimed +with effusion, “Oh, thank you, Jack.” Together they popped them into +their mouths, and as they munched interchanged glances of rapturous +congratulation. + +Jack had five cents left; what should he buy? His eye lingered fondly +on almost every article in the store. He was sorely tempted by a +jew’s-harp, a compressible snake, and by some fascinating striped +marbles known as “Chinees.” But his appetite was far from satisfied. +Then, too, there was Dubsy, and Dubsy was out of cash; though, of +course, if he bought marbles Dubsy would not expect him to share them +with him. + +“How much is a cream cake?” he asked. + +“Five cents.” + +Jack sighed. He knew well the price of those luscious articles, but the +desire to have one made him perhaps imagine that it might have gone +down. + +“Give me two cocoanut cakes.” + +Cocoanut cakes were a cent apiece. Jack put one into his mouth and +munched it thoughtfully; then with a sigh he held the second out to +Dubsy and exclaimed monosyllabically, “Here!” + +“You’re a brick, Jack!” + +Jack licked his fingers. “I took the brownest one,” he said, +apologetically. + +There were still three cents remaining. With two of them Jack bought +some “Chinees,” but the expenditure of the last cent perplexed him. He +finally selected one of the sticks of black molasses candy; these when +fresh were so adhesive that it was common to transplant them directly +from the tray to the purchaser’s mouth, for if put in paper the paper +was sure to cling to them. Jack’s eyes closed with satisfaction as his +teeth shut down on one end of the delicious morsel. When he looked +again, he perceived Dubsy gazing at him with a manly resolve to exhibit +no envy, and yet with disappointment, or let us rather say resignation, +written on his face. + +Jack could not speak, but he grunted and held out his mouth; Dubsy +understood the signal. A moment later his teeth had hold of the other +end of the stick of candy. Now began a struggle. The two boys, chewing +vigorously and soon convulsed with laughter, tried to draw away from +one another, but the tough and ropy compound balked them. In a moment +or two, however, it began to yield, and presently the point of ambition +with Jack and Dubsy was to draw out as long as possible the strand of +stringy molasses which bound them together. At last, after they were +separated from one another by the width of the shop, the strand became +a thread. When this broke the fun was over. But, needless to say, the +mouths of the participants were a sight to behold. + +The corner from which they had originally started was the regular +meeting-place for the boys who lived within the radius of half a mile +from Jack’s house. Thither they now returned only to learn that the +other fellows had gone coasting on the Common. Accordingly, they went +into Jack’s back yard by way of the long alley already referred to, +and soon reappeared devouring an apple apiece obtained from the cook, +and dragging a double runner called “Never Say Die,” made out of +Jack’s single sleds, “Star of the East,” and “Reindeer,” with which +they proceeded to the long coast, so called, which ran from a point +opposite the State House diagonally across the Common to the West +Street gate. The coast was in fine condition and crowded with sleds of +every description, from the most diminutive type to huge double runners +capable of holding eight or ten big boys. Some of these last named, +elaborate with carpet laid over the main board and a bell which sounded +at intervals to warn people to get out of the way, seemed to Jack and +Dubsy the most desirable things in the world, and made their own double +runner appear very insignificant by comparison. + +However, theirs went tolerably fast, quite fast enough to be safe for +such small boys as they. Jack went down in front “belly flounders,” or +“belly bumps,”――the phrase used to denote lying flat on one’s stomach; +little Bill French, whom they had picked up on the way, came next in +the same posture, grasping Jack firmly by the legs just above the tops +of his rubber boots, and on the end squatted Dubsy, “butcher” fashion, +with one foot hanging out behind for extra steering purposes. The coast +was like glass. They positively flew; and it was no easy work to +guide their course so as to avoid running down the small sleds ahead +of them, to say nothing of getting safely over an ugly rut half way +from the top, which jounced and was apt to upset the unskillful. At the +bottom of the hill, where a crowd of spectators was collected, another +jounce was caused by a plank walk which crossed the coast. This passed +without mishap, the sleds sped along the smooth mall so long as their +velocity could hold out. Thanks to Jack’s cleverness in handling, the +“Never Say Die” made an excellent showing the first time down, being +landed by dint of strenuous coaxing and nursing three inches ahead of +a considerably larger competitor, to the great satisfaction of our +trio. Then came the climb up hill with the prospect of another glorious +descent to deter them from lagging. + +It was great sport, and a boon to the hundreds of boys of every size +and class who could thus spend their holiday out of harm’s way in +healthful exercise. + +Jack and his friends went down half a dozen times without a mishap, and +even beat their first record, running to a point on the path which none +but the very largest double-runners had succeeded in reaching. But +on the seventh trip they came to grief, though the fault was scarcely +theirs. Jack was in front as usual, and with both his hands clasped +over one of the iron-shod points of “Reindeer,” was urging the “Never +Say Die” on for all she was worth in point of speed, when, of a sudden, +a lady started to cross the coast about half way down. You boys who +know the Common do not need to be told that there is a more or less +traveled path which intersects the long coast at this point. + +The lady had been waiting on the edge of the coast for several minutes +for a chance to cross. She was very nervous and at the same time in +a hurry to catch a horse-car. There were a number of other people +standing in line as spectators and what with so many sleds on the way +down, and the stream of boys coming up hill dragging sleds behind them, +she doubtless got confused, lost her head, and started just at the +wrong time. It was too late to help her before the bystanders realized +her danger. Jack was seized with horror as she loomed up on the track +just ahead of him. The “Never Say Die” was going like a locomotive. + +“Clear the lulla! Clear the lulla-a-a!” Jack shouted, as loud as he was +able. + +He made one frantic effort to wrench “Reindeer” aside, but to no +purpose. The lady turned her head at his cry, and just then the points +of the foremost sled struck her amidships, as sailors would say, and +she fell with a despairing shriek on to Jack’s head and shoulders, her +legs flying from under her. Her clothing blinded Jack’s eyes so that +he could perceive nothing ahead. At the same moment, the hinder part +of the “Never Say Die,” as a consequence of the check in front, slued +violently and swung nearly at right angles across the coast, a certain +target for those coming after. Bump! Crash! Another double runner and +a single sled struck them simultaneously, and the wreck of all three, +mingled together and twisted awry by the ugly rut which by this time +they had fallen into, flew asunder. Somehow or other Jack got free +from the lady in time to dodge his head just as “Reindeer,” torn apart +from her mate, smashed into a tree and upset. The unhappy cause of the +catastrophe was tossed a few feet behind him into the gutter. “Star of +the East” darted off to the other side of the coast, but, handicapped +by the remains of the board which ordinarily united her with +“Reindeer,” capsized immediately and rolled over and over with poor +Dubsy. Little Bill French, being light and small, was lifted like a +shuttlecock off the “Never Say Die” by the prow of the “Iceland Queen,” +but only to be thrown a moment later into the middle of the coast by +the violent slueing of that semblance of royalty, from which dangerous +predicament he managed to crawl away unharmed. “Iceland Queen” wobbled +about for a few minutes longer, but upset at last into the gutter; +while the boy with the single sled, violently thrown out of his path, +shot between the trees over the crust of the adjacent field, where he +succeeded in coming to a halt without further mishap. Altogether it was +a dire experience. + +Fortunately the lady was merely shaken up a little though a good deal +frightened. The injuries to the three boys were also slight, consisting +of a scratch on Dubsy’s cheek, a lame shoulder received by Jack from +contact with the tree, and a general wetting and begriming of them all. +Jack’s chief concern, after being satisfied that neither the lady +nor either of his companions was dead, was for the “Never Say Die,” +which, to tell the truth, was pretty far gone; for not only was her +main board splintered, but one of the runners of “Star of the East” was +nearly twisted off. Nothing was left, therefore, but to convey what +was left home, which was done by the boys ruefully, inasmuch as such +an occupation on Washington’s Birthday seemed the essence of misuse of +time. + +Jack, in common with the other boys of the city, was rejoicing in the +consciousness that there would be no school until Monday, this being +only Friday morning. Washington’s Birthday was to be followed by some +civic celebration on the morrow, thus affording them two days of +vacation in succession, with Sunday to boot. But though there was so +much time at his disposal, every minute of it was precious to Jack. +Accordingly, as soon as the “Never Say Die” was reëstablished in the +back yard preliminary to sending her to a carpenter for repairs, the +question arose, what to do during the hour and a half left before +dinner. + +To begin with, the three boys sauntered into the grocery on the corner +and were weighed, a process which they were apt to inflict upon its +long-suffering proprietor whenever there was nothing else in particular +to do. For after getting off the scales it was rather pleasant to +wander about the store peering into the barrels, stroking the cat, and +perhaps, when there was a chance, “hooking” a dried apple or a handful +of beans. On this occasion, Bill French stood treat to figs, which he +charged to his father with an audacity that seemed admirable to Jack. +Bill, though the smallest of the three, was their equal in age, and +more than their equal in sly ways; for whereas Jack was full of animal +spirits and very mischievous, and Dubsy (as the boys called him, for no +reason that was ever discovered, his real name being Samuel) Perkins +was not a model of obedience, they were both straightforward boys. +But they looked up to Bill as knowing a thing or two, and accordingly +listened with avidity when, after they had pretty well exhausted the +resources of the shop, he suddenly exclaimed in a confidential whisper, +“I know what let’s do, fellows.” + +“What?” they asked together. + +Without disclosing his purpose, Bill led the way out of the store, +up the intersecting street, into one parallel with that on which Jack +lived, and up the back stairs of his house into the garret, stopping +on the way at his own room for a minute, from which he reappeared with +some pieces of stick and a box of matches which he exhibited with a +wink to his companions. + +“What are they for?” Jack asked. + +“I know,” said Dubsy, after an instant. + +“Mum’s the word,” answered Bill, putting his finger on his lips. +Thereupon he mounted a short ladder leading to the skylight, pushed +open the skylight, through which he crawled on to the flat, graveled +roof, followed immediately by the others. This was a lark in itself. To +be able to look over the tops of the houses and to discern the harbor +and the forts and the shipping, or to see the horses and people in the +streets below looking pigmy-like, was a genuine treat. + +“Swanny!” cried Jack, with a burst of enthusiasm; “I can see Nahant!” + +“And there’s Bunker Hill,” said Dubsy, who was looking in another +direction. “The flags are flying everywhere. That’s because it’s +Washington’s Birthday.” + +Their attention was suddenly diverted by seeing Bill light a match +under cover of the chimney wall and apply it to one of the pieces of +stick which protruded from his mouth; then he drew in his breath, +puffed, and blew out a little smoke. + +“She’s going,” he said, gleefully. “Have a weed?” He pointed to the +other sticks which lay near by. + +Jack looked a little awestruck. “What is it?” he asked, “sweet-fern?” +He had, sometimes, while skating on the ponds, seen older boys when it +was dusk flying about with lighted cigarettes in their mouths, which he +had been told were made of sweet-fern. + +“No,” said Bill. “Rattan, greeny.” + +Jack hated of all things to be considered green. “Oh,” he said, +doubtfully. + +Dubsy had already taken one of the sticks and was lighting it. + +“It’s bully,” said Bill. “Charley Buck has smoked real cigarettes and +says they’re no better. Don’t be stumped by Dubsy, Jack! How is it, +Dubsy?” + +“First rate,” said Dubsy. “But mine doesn’t draw very well, Bill.” + +“I’ll fix it all right,” answered the master of ceremonies. Whereupon +he took his knife and worked it a few times in the unlighted end of +Dubsy’s cigarette. “There! try that.” + +The operation acted like a charm; Dubsy was enabled to emit a cloud of +smoke which filled Jack’s doubting soul with envy. To be stumped by +Dubsy was more than he could bear, though he felt very sure that his +mother would disapprove of his smoking. + +“It’s better’n hay-seed,” said Dubsy, who had seated himself on a ridge +of the roof beside Bill, and was swinging his foot jubilantly. + +“I never smoked hay-seed,” replied poor Jack. “Which end do you light?” +he asked defiantly, taking up one of the pieces of rattan. + +“It makes no difference,” said Bill. “Bully for you, Jack.” + +A moment later they were all three seated side by side, puffing like +little Turks. + +“Yesterday was my birthday,” continued Bill. “See what father gave +me.” He drew out of his pocket an open-faced silver watch, which he +exhibited with pride. + +“My eye!” exclaimed Jack. “Does it really go?” + +“Go? I guess she _does_. You ought to hear her tick at night. Father +says I shall have a hunter when I’m fifteen, and a gold repeater when +I’m twenty-one.” + +The other boys were silent with envy. + +“My father’s got lots of money,” went on Bill. “He could buy both your +fathers out, I guess, and have a pile left.” + +“My father’s dead, you know,” answered Jack. + +“So he is; I wasn’t thinking. Well, then, he could buy your mother out.” + +“Let’s see the works,” said Dubsy. + +Bill opened the inside cover with his thumb nail in response to this +request, and the three heads were immediately in close proximity +studying the internal arrangements of the watch. + +“That’s a jewel,” said Bill, indicating a colored spot among the cogs +and wheels. + +The heads went lower in mute admiration. + +“It isn’t a very big one, anyway,” said Jack, glad of what seemed an +opportunity for criticism. + +“There are fourteen, mostly rubies,” replied Bill. “Don’t breathe so +hard, Dubsy. Father says it hurts the works to breathe on them.” + +“Wind her up,” cried Jack. + +Bill fumbled in his pocket and produced a key. “She’s mostly wound,” he +said. “I wound her last night and again just after breakfast.” One or +two turns was all the watch would stand at the moment without danger to +the mainspring; so this exhibition was unsatisfactory. + +“My father has a stem-winder,” said Dubsy, after a moment; “I’ve heard +him say that a watch with a key was more bother than it was worth.” + +“I shouldn’t care for one that _wasn’t_ a stem-winder,” said Jack, +stoutly. + +“Sour grapes,” said Bill, with a sneer. + +“You feel awful big, don’t you, because you’ve got a watch,” retorted +Jack. + +“Oh, come off,” said Bill, contemptuously. This was a phrase unfamiliar +to the others, which Bill had picked up in the streets. The interest +awakened by its use induced a pause, during which Jack cooled down. +He did not wish a row, and was conscious of having been unwarrantably +aggressive. But, as he would have said, he was sick of hearing Bill +blow. + +Bill, having by this time exhausted the delights of his cigarette, had +taken his knife and split the rattan open down the middle. “That’s +dried blood,” he said, holding out the pieces for inspection. + +[Illustration] + +The boys looked, and there, sure enough, running down through the pith +was a fine red thread, which resembled very much what Bill said it was. + +“Every time one smokes, blood is sucked out of the lungs and collects +like that,” he said. + +“How do you know it’s blood?” asked Jack in rather an awestruck voice. + +“Charley Buck says so.” This was strong evidence. Charley Buck was +nearly fifteen. + +“I was awfully sick the first time I smoked,” went on Bill, but his +words were not regarded by Jack, who was deep in the process of +dividing his own piece of rattan. There the red thread was, just +as in Bill’s piece. His lungs seemed all right, but his head was a +little dizzy; he coughed once or twice and patted his chest without +uncomfortable results; however, he felt grave. What would his mother +say if she knew the truth! He put the pieces of rattan carefully in his +pocket, and recollected that it was dinner time. + +Just then Bill exclaimed in a tone in which pity and satisfaction were +blended in about equal proportions, “I guess you’re sick, Dubsy.” + +Dubsy was; the poor fellow looked very white and doleful, and was +sitting still. “I feel faint, that’s all,” he answered. + +But it wasn’t all; moreover, it was a good quarter of an hour before +Dubsy was able to lift his head from the roof and be helped down the +ladder. Meanwhile, Jack and Bill sat on either side of him and tried to +cheer him up. Bill, who was able to speak from experience, assured them +that the sickness would soon subside, and that he had been much more +miserable after his first smoke. But to tell the truth, Jack and Bill +also, despite his former experiences, felt rather squeamish themselves +and not much inclined to talk. Besides, the remembrance of what he +supposed to be his dried blood haunted Jack’s mind. Altogether, it was, +on the whole, a bad quarter of an hour, as the French say. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + THE SNOW-BALL FIGHT. + + +As soon as Dubsy Perkins felt all right again, Jack and he left Bill +French’s and went home to their dinners. Jack lived alone with his +mother; he was her only child. Her husband had been killed in the Civil +War ten years before, and Jack was all she had in the world to care for +and be proud of except the memory of Jack’s father’s gallant services +as a soldier, which she was never tired of talking about to Jack. His +name had been John Hall, just as Jack’s was, and he had fallen at +the head of the regiment of which he was Colonel, in one of the last +battles of the war, when Jack was a mere baby. + +Back of Colonel John Hall was a long line of Halls, running very nearly +into Mayflower times, a good many of them John Halls or, as those who +knew them best called them, Jack Halls, though John is a good name for +any boy or man to be content with and not to wish to change. They were +a hardy, thorough-going set, these Halls, Massachusetts folk who in +Colonial times, when the days were gone by for shooting Indians, tilled +their farms and made sure that their liberties were not interfered with +by King James or King William or King George. When this was impossible +without taking arms, they were equal to the occasion. Israel Hall, +Jack’s great-great-grandfather, was one of the raw recruits composing +the Continental Army over which General Washington assumed command +under the famous old elm at Cambridge. He followed his commander +through thick and thin, became a sergeant, then a captain, was wounded, +but got well in time to be one of those who made the memorable passage +of the Delaware when our army, reduced to a forlorn band of four +thousand, fell upon the Hessians at Trenton, routed them, and plucked +up spirit and hope once more. He was shot dead, however, at the battle +of Brandywine, and, as will be the case with many brave fellows so long +as wars last, left a wife and some wee bits of children to get along as +best they could. + +It would take too long to give an account of the lives of Jack’s +ancestors in detail, but you may be interested to learn something of +the career of Israel Hall’s eldest son,――also named John,――who, having +to make his own way in the world, left the family farm and came to +Salem town in search of something to do. Now, at that time Salem was a +famous commercial port, little as one would imagine it to-day. Forty +years later its prestige was usurped and overshadowed by its near +neighbor, Boston, but from 1770 until 1820 the maritime supremacy of +Salem was unquestioned. Prior to the Revolution, the inhabitants of +the town had been noted for their commercial energy, and when war was +declared they fitted out their trading vessels with guns, and built +others to the number of over one hundred, which made great havoc among +the enemy’s commerce in the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay, +so that the rates of insurance went up amazingly among the British +underwriters. The patriotism and enterprise of the old Salem merchants +is a glowing chapter in the history of our country. + +But as soon as there was no more fighting to be done, the merchants +turned their fleet of privateers into trading-vessels again, and as +the vessels were too large for mere coasters, sent them out laden with +Spanish dollars to every nook and corner of the Oriental world,――to +Calcutta and Madagascar, and Batavia and Java, and the Celebes, and +all the chain of islands in the Indian Archipelago which you have read +about in your geographies. There the silver freight was exchanged for +pepper, spices, gums, coffee, or other Eastern products, with which +the captains would either return or would bear away to some European +port, like Marseilles, where part of the cargo was sold at a profit, +and its place supplied by wines and silk to be brought home. It was +an adventurous, exciting life for those who sailed; and meanwhile the +owners sat in their counting-houses casting up figures and waiting +for their vessels to arrive. It was often two and even three years +that they had to wait, but the ships came back at last, freighted with +merchandise, which their owners sold to their fellow townspeople at a +snug profit. Or, if by chance the ships were lost and never returned, +the underwriters reimbursed the merchants so that they were able to buy +new ones. + +It was into the counting-house of one of these merchants that Jack’s +great-grandfather, John Hall, chanced to stray one morning in search of +employment. Probably the head of the firm liked the looks of the boy +and divined that he would make a sterling sailor; at all events he took +him into his service and sent him on a long voyage in one of his ships, +which turned out very successfully for the merchant, and for John Hall +too, inasmuch as everybody had a pleasant word to say in his behalf. +From this time forward his life was one of marvelous experiences for +many years to come. One thing leads to another when a young man is +efficient. Before he was nineteen John Hall was a mate, and on his +twenty-first birthday he found himself in command of a three hundred +ton ship, which was a large one for those days. If it were his career +I was narrating, it would be easy to keep you awake many hours with +thrilling tales of what happened to him. He fought with pirates, and +had hair-breadth adventures with savage tribes, was twice shipwrecked, +and barely escaped being eaten by cannibals, only to be imprisoned in +a South American dungeon instead. But in the end he passed safely +through his perils, and settled down in Salem for the rest of his days +with seventy-five thousand dollars in hard cash, which was quite as +much as a million is now. + +Very possibly some of you may be thinking that you would like to have +lived when a career similar to that of Jack’s great-grandfather was +a natural one for an ambitious boy to follow. But though the glamour +of such adventures as his does make the blood even of those of us +who are grown up tingle as we read, it will not do to shut our eyes +to the truth. We see only the glory and forget the hardships. We +forget, too,――and their many virtues make us forget,――that resolute, +noble fellows as were the men whose enterprise and pluck built up +fortunes for themselves while supplying their country, starved and +draggled by the Revolution, with the necessities and even the luxuries +of life, these old merchant captains and their crews were rough, +ignorant people compared with what some of your fathers are to-day. +They had but little knowledge except of a practical kind acquired by +bitter experience; their one absorbing interest was the accumulation +of money, and, let us say it under our breaths, the standards of +morality by which they did business were not the highest. How could +it be otherwise? The population of the strip of seaboard States which +then composed our country had to begin existence as a nation bankrupt, +and chiefly dependent for its wants on the products of other lands. +Our great-grandfathers were down to hard pan, as the saying is, and +life meant for them a struggle for the means of existence unrelieved +by any but the most homely pleasures and tastes. There were no mills +and factories then to compete with the manufactories of Europe, no +great west with its fields of waving grain and developed mines of gold +and coal and iron, no cotton gin, no splendid libraries and broad +institutions of learning, no railroads, no telegraph. All these were +yet to come, and it is to such men as John Hall that we are indebted +for having laid the foundations of that prosperity which affords to +their descendants opportunities for usefulness and culture such as our +forefathers never dreamed of. Let us admire their courage, grit, and +perseverance; let us applaud their successes and recognize the sterling +virtues by which they won them, but their lot should no more arouse +our envy than should that of those later pioneers in the struggle of +reclaiming our west from the forest and the savage, inspired by whose +adventures as scouts and trappers so many boys have run away from home +and been very sorry afterwards. + +We left Jack going home to his dinner, for which he did not feel very +hungry at first. But a fine piece of beefsteak with potatoes and +macaroni, followed by cold rice pudding with bits of cinnamon in it, +of which Jack was especially fond, brought his appetite back again, +so that when he had finished his second plate of pudding, cleaning +the plate with his spoon until it shone, the thought occurred to him +that he would have a third help; but the well-known “Ehu――ehu――ehu” +resounding from the street told him that the fellows were beginning to +collect again, and he started up. + +Jack dined in the middle of the day, and his mother had her dinner +at night; but Mrs. Hall made a point of taking her lunch at the same +hour as Jack dined, and after he had finished eating she always tried +to beguile him into sitting still for a while, for he had a tendency, +when anything interesting was in prospect outdoors, to scurry through +his meals and leave the table with his mouth full the instant the last +course had been served. Sometimes he would bolt from his chair as soon +as he had finished his meat, crying,――merely by way of explanation for +his hasty departure,――as he seized his cap and just prior to slamming +the front door, “Don’t want any pudding.” On such occasions his mother +did not always have the heart to detain him. + +But this day he dined alone and there was no one to put a check on +his movements, for Mrs. Hall had been called away out of town to see +an old friend who was sick, and would not be back until after Jack’s +bed hour. Deeply as he loved his mother and fond as he was of having +her with him, Jack felt a certain pride in being his own master for +once. As an indemnity for being left alone for the day, he had obtained +permission to order whatever he liked for tea, and to have whomever he +chose among the boys to share it with him. He had already exercised +the second privilege by inviting Dubsy Perkins, Bill French, and Harry +Dale, another of his friends, and it was now necessary to decide upon +the viands before he went out again. This was no easy task, as he had a +number of dainties in mind which ranked very evenly in his estimation. +He felt pretty certain as to one, however. “We’ll have cream cakes, +Hannah,” he said with decision to the maid. + +“Very well, Master Jack, I’ll get six; that’ll be one and a half +apiece.” + +“How much are _éclairs_?” he asked, presently. + +“I don’t know, Master Jack. Your mamma, when she has company, buys +those at the confectioner’s.” + +“They’re bully,” he said. “I like the chocolate ones best. I guess, +though, the fellows would rather have cream cakes.” + +“Cook has a Washington pie ready.” + +“That’s hunky! Mother said that we could have quince jam and raspberry +jam, and――and――I know what we’ll have,” he cried with a wave of his +arm,――“waffles.” + +“I don’t know as the cook has a waffle-iron, Master Jack,” answered +Hannah, despondently. + +Jack looked downcast a moment. “We had them at Bill French’s, you eat +them with butter and nutmeg,” he said, with a sigh. + +“Cook makes those puff cakes very nicely,” said Hannah, who had been +thinking. + +Jack clapped his hands. “They’ll do first-rate,” he said. “I guess +that’ll be enough, with the spread bread and butter and some muffins; +don’t you, Hannah?” + +“Goodness sakes! yes, Master Jack. If you’re not all sick to-morrow, I +shall be very much mistaken.” + +At the mention of sickness Jack was pensive a moment. Then he felt +in his pocket and produced one of the pieces of rattan. “See there, +Hannah, that’s my blood,” he exclaimed. + +“Your blood! Mercy on us, what does the child mean?” she added, as she +examined the charred stick. + +“It’s dried blood out of my lungs.” + +Hannah put the rattan up to her nose, then gave a start. “You don’t +mean to tell me, Master Jack, that you’ve been smoking?” + +“What if I have?” + +“What will your mamma say?” + +“I guess she won’t mind.” + +Jack knew that this last statement was not true, but as he intended to +make a clean breast of it to his mother, he felt justified in assuming +a bold front before Hannah. + +Hannah shook her head prophetically. “It’s that Bill French, I’ll be +bound; he’s always getting you into some sort of mischief. Hadn’t you +anything better to do than go smoking that nasty stick?” + +“I only smoked a little piece,” Jack answered. “Besides, it isn’t a +stick, it’s rattan.” + +“I’d just like to get my hand on that Bill French, that’s all,” said +Hannah. “Blood out of your lungs, too! We’ll have you sick abed next, +and your mamma crying her eyes out.” + +Jack, as he went out of the house, was conscious that he had not +derived much consolation from Hannah, whose view seemed to confirm the +fearful testimony already in his possession. But on closing the front +door his attention was at once absorbed by what was going on outside. +Some half-dozen boys, including Dubsy Perkins, Bill French, and Harry +Dale, were engaged in building a huge dam. It had grown milder since +morning and was melting fast. Underneath the piles of snow on either +side of the street, the water was beginning to flow rapidly along the +gutters down hill. The boys had selected a spot a hundred yards or so +below Jack’s house, across the way, and had formed a basin by digging +up the snow until they came to the paving. The curbstone constituted +one bank, and the other, or rather the whole remaining bulwark of the +dam, was made of snow piled up and mashed with shovels until it became +firm. While constructing this they had made a temporary dam a few feet +further up, to catch the water; but just as Jack joined them Dubsy cut +a big hole in it, and the accumulated torrent poured with a rush into +the large reservoir. When the smaller dam had emptied itself, they +closed it up again in order to strengthen the resistance of the main +one. + +Most of the boys were armed with shovels obtained from home, and they +worked diligently as beavers, building the walls higher and higher +as the water increased in depth. Soon it was necessary to fortify +the curbstone with a layer of snow to prevent an overflow on to the +sidewalk. Every few minutes one of them would test the depth by wading, +and it was not long before the water came up to within half an inch of +the top of Jack’s rubber boots, so that any careless movement on his +part would be sure to let some inside. Their number was rather smaller +than usual, as some of the “crowd” which ordinarily collected in front +of the grocery shop had gone down to the Frog Pond on the Common to +see if there were any “tiddledies,” which, as all Boston boys know, +are cakes of floating ice formed during the first stages of a thaw; +the sport being to jump from one to another, until _terra firma_ is +reached, without tumbling in. This was one of the favorite pastimes of +Jack and his friends. The water of the pond was only deep enough to +give one a thorough ducking, and though whoever was so unskillful or +unlucky as to fall in was sure to be greeted with a jeer of derision, +it may be fairly doubted whether the most miserable participants were +not the boys who went home dry. + +But Jack considered himself very well employed as it was. He felt +pretty sure that if there were tiddledies to-day there would be +tiddledies to-morrow, and he was interested in making the dam as high +as his waist, if it were possible. There was such a volume of water in +the basin now that most of their active force was employed in pasting +snow against the back of the lower wall, through which there was a +steady leakage in spite of their best efforts. Two or three of them, +Jack among the number, had already gone in over their boots and wet +their trousers more or less above their knees, so that now they stood +along the sidewalk, or in the street, gazing contentedly into the +enormous pool. Perhaps they realized that there was not much more to be +done, for there began to be some fooling. Bill French introduced it by +dropping a bit of ice down Harry Dale’s back, gliding away in time so +that Harry could not get at him. Harry was just about Bill’s size, but +a little more chunky. He knew that Bill could outrun him, so he nursed +his wrath for the present, and, keeping his eyes open, bided his time. + +The spirit of playing tricks upon one another proved contagious, so +that the dam was almost forgotten in the interest of several flights +down street and subsequent tussles. Only Jack and Dubsy still worked +away at the walls now and then, piling fresh snow on top and stopping +the leaks. All of a sudden, as Jack was standing leaning on his shovel +trying to understand how a fine stream of water trickling through the +solid wall of the dam had thus been able to defy his labors, Harry Dale +made a dive at Bill French, who was just behind Jack, and who was off +his guard at the moment. Bill gave a shriek, and, to protect himself, +tried to interpose Jack between his pursuer and himself by seizing Jack +roughly by the shoulders. Jack, who had been already annoyed by Bill +several times, and had contented himself with exclaiming, “Quit your +fooling, Bill,” or, “Let up, Bill,” goaded now by what he supposed +to be a fresh attack, dropped his shovel, seized his tormentor, and +suddenly pulling him forward by a quick movement brought him to his +knees; then picking up a handful of snow he rubbed it freely over +Bill’s face. + +“That’s the sort, Jack; give him some more for me,” cried Harry. + +Bill, who was struggling with all his might, sprang to his feet the +moment he was let free, and launched himself with rage on Jack’s neck. +In an instant Jack had grappled with him in self-defense. Bill, who was +thoroughly angry and bent on upsetting his adversary, twisted one of +his legs inside of Jack’s, and being lithe and active, though small, +made it incumbent on Jack to exert himself to avoid being thrown. The +pair swayed violently for several moments, then Jack, taking advantage +of a failure of Bill’s to trip him up, retaliated in the same fashion, +and over they went with Bill undermost. They struck against the wall of +the dam, which gave way before them with a slump. Jack, realizing what +the catastrophe promised to be, tore himself by an effort of strength +from Bill’s grasp just in time to avoid more than a severe splashing, +although he fell on his hands and knees, and had a lively scramble +to get away from the deluge which came pouring down upon him as soon +as the flood-gates were removed. But poor Bill, accelerated probably +by the effort which saved Jack, fell with the wall backwards into +the deepest part of the dam, so that his head and the upper portion +of his body were completely submerged. For an instant his struggling +black legs only were visible, then these were drawn under him as he +reappeared head first above the surface, wallowing as he staggered +to his feet. But Bill was doomed to still further discomfiture, for +scarcely had he gained a footing when he slipped and fell sideways +again into the dirty, slushy water, his head this time striking the +curbstone. + +The pain of the concussion must have been tolerably smart, but anger +and mortification were sufficient to explain Bill’s facial expression +as he lay on the sidewalk after his companions had dragged him out. +His eyes were shut and his mouth was wide open, but from it at first +no sound issued. It seemed to the others as if the expected bawl were +never coming. But it came at last,――a terribly vociferous cry, preceded +by a noise like the humming of a large top, which increased in volume +until it was a yell,――bursting on them as a thunder storm bursts in +wind and rain after the silence which goes before. “Boo-ooo-ooo!” Then +it seemed as if he would never stop. Jack and the other boys, who were +rather frightened, bent over him with anxious faces, but it was soon +apparent that Bill was more mad than hurt. + +“I’m very sorry, Bill; I didn’t mean to send you into the dam,” +protested Jack. + +This attempt at consolation only induced a fresh fit of crying on the +part of the victim, which was redoubled when he saw his cap trimmed +with astrachan fished out with a shovel from the bottom of the now +largely depleted dam by Dubsy Perkins. + +“It was an accident; Jack didn’t mean to,” said one of the others. + +“Served you right for fooling so, Bill,” exclaimed Harry Dale. “We’d +all told you to quit.” Then turning to the rest, Harry said, “He ought +to go home or he’ll catch cold, fellows.” + +Bill sulkily allowed himself to be lifted to his feet. He stood +shivering and dripping like a soused pup, sobbing and snuffling, and +eying ruefully his bedraggled cap. “I’ll make you pay for this, Jack +Hall,” he blurted out. + +But Jack scarcely heard him, for just at the moment he gave a start, +and shading his eyes with one of his hands gazed intently down the +street. + +“Here come the muckers, fellows,” he cried, with excitement. + +His companions turned eagerly at his words and looked in the same +direction. Sure enough, a gang of other boys, twenty to twenty-five +in number, had suddenly emerged from a cross street at some little +distance below and was advancing up hill. As the invaders perceived +that they were recognized, they set up a derisive, triumphant yell, +and dashed onward at a rapid dog-trot, preparing snow-balls and waving +sticks. + +[Illustration] + +“There’s a regular posse,” cried Jack. “Who’ll go and tell the other +fellows?” + +“I will,” cried Harry Dale, and suiting the action to the word he +started off to warn their friends, who were running tiddledies. + +Meanwhile, Jack and the four other boys, who were all there were, for +Bill French had slipped away to change his clothes, retreated slowly as +their adversaries advanced, Jack having first, with the instinct of +destroying anything that the enemy might find pleasure in, swept away +with his shovel the remaining rampart of the dam. They were outnumbered +for the moment in the proportion of four to one, and though to retire +was ignominious, it seemed necessary under the circumstances. The +vanguard of the invading army now began to discharge their snow-balls, +the shower of which fell slightly short, but served to whet their +ardor. With another cheer and a yell the “muckers” rushed forward, +headed by a powerful-looking butcher’s boy, close by whose side ran the +ragamuffin who earlier in the day had threatened this invasion, and +who could be heard pointing out Jack and Dubsy as special objects of +vengeance. + +[Illustration] + +“Them’s the chumps, go for ’em!” he cried. + +The little band, reluctant to run, wavered and hurled back a volley of +snow-balls, which were returned with vigor. The butcher’s boy was well +known in that quarter of the city as a terror. His balls made solely +with bare hands were hard as ice, and whizzed like bullets. One of them +took Jack in the cheek and stung like mischief, so that the water ran +out of the eye on that side of his face. + +“Clean ’em out!” yelled the little instigator. + +The consciousness that the protecting alley was close at hand nerved +the boys to hold their ground for a moment longer, and the courage +displayed by them, supplemented by several skillful shots, caused their +opponents to halt and advance more deliberately. Just then there came +flying round the corner Harry Dale, at the head of the detachment of +whom he had gone in search, and whom he had found in the next street +peppering the passers-by in a listless fashion, and only too glad to +come to the succor of their friends. + +“To the rescue!” cried Dubsy, waving his arms above his head; and the +reinforcement of a dozen boys swept down upon the combatants. + +This sudden turn of affairs was too much for the backers of Joe +Herring,――that was the butcher boy’s name,――who turned and fled +precipitately, although Joe and one or two others stood their +ground manfully and tried to rally them. But the counter cheer was +disheartening to an army with victory in its very grasp. They broke and +ran helter-skelter, followed closely by Jack and his comrades. Jack +kept his eye especially on Joe Herring, whom he longed to pay back for +the blow on his cheek; but even Joe did not wait for the new victors to +get too near, but ran at last. As for the youngster who had been the +guide of the raiders, he had taken to his heels at the earliest sign +of danger, and was among the first to reach the halting-place, where +the rout finally paused, not far above the cross street from which they +had emerged. There they made a stand, while their pursuers, who were +not too flushed with success to be cautious, being still numerically +inferior, drew up at a respectful distance and held a council of war. + +These snow-ball fights were of tolerably frequent occurrence between +the boys who lived in Jack’s neighborhood and hordes from other +localities, who were apt to be styled muckers by those whose territory +they invaded. Once or twice every winter skirmishes such as the one now +in progress would develop into battles of some magnitude, enlisting +the services, on one side or the other, of all the youth in that part +of the city. Contests of this kind had traditions to encourage them. +Mr. Warren, of whom you will hear later, who had been the college chum +and dear friend of Jack’s father and was now his mother’s adviser, had +often told Jack of how, in the days long before he and Colonel Hall +were boys, there had been relentless strife between the Round-pointers +and the Nigger-hillers, and the North-enders and the South-enders, and +the Charlestown pigs, so called, which last named, in the language of a +local bard,―― + + “Put on their wigs, + And over to Boston came,” + +only to be routed and driven back without them. Jack delighted in the +accounts of these old contests, and though the names were now changed +he had no difficulty in seeing in the Anderson-Streeters and their +allies, foes no less terrible than the boys with whom his forefathers +had fought. + +But it is time to return to the immediate scene of action, where both +sides were beginning to realize that there had as yet been no real +fighting to speak of, merely a feeling of one another’s strength. +Scouts had, apparently, been sent out by the muckers to scour the +country, for recruits were coming in by twos and threes. They were a +motley-looking crew, as compared with Jack and his friends, including +some ragged specimens and several negroes, one of whom, a left-handed +lad nicknamed “Custard” on account of the lightness of his sable, was +unerring in his shots. Cardigans, for the most part, took the place +of overcoats among them, but some wore only tightly buttoned jackets, +and kept warm by kicking their toes against the curb-stones, and +alternately stuffing their hands into their pockets or blowing on +their bare fingers. + +From time to time they jeered at and insulted the other army, who, by +their pea jackets and rubber boots, suggested the solidity and dignity +of grenadiers, an impression which was heightened by the silent disdain +with which they received the vituperation showered upon them. + +But now the Anderson-Streeters, having accumulated a goodly supply of +ammunition, and being twice the numbers of their opponents, show signs +of an intention to attack. Their pickets edge up gradually on the +sidewalk, more or less sheltered by the trunks of the line of trees +which grow there. Snow-balls begin to fly, and Joe Herring at one +point and Custard at another move forward simultaneously, which is the +signal for a general advance. The grenadiers stand firm without firing +a shot. A perfect hail-storm is showered upon them, which they bear +unflinchingly. A loud yell spreads along the advancing line, and the +flower of all Anderson and Pinckney and Revere streets comes dashing on. + +“Now let them have it, fellows!” cries Jack at last, who, with General +Warren’s instruction at Bunker Hill, of which he had recently read, +fresh in mind, has waited to see the whites of the enemy’s eyes before +giving the order. + +“That’s the sort!” shouts Dubsy, as the whole volley delivered at short +range goes smashing into the faces of their foes. + +It is so deadly a volley that two or three of the muckers clap their +hands to their eyes and cry out with pain; others sputter as they +receive the big hard balls full against their teeth. Several caps are +knocked off and fall into the snow. Jack, with his attention riveted +on Joe Herring, sees, to his delight, his first shot take the leader +squarely in the forehead, so that Joe shakes his head savagely like +an angry bull; yet, putting it down, comes on in butting fashion all +the same, and hitting Jack plump in the stomach nearly sends him over. +Custard, too, apparently is not struck, or at least, if he is, does +not mind it, and though some falter he does not, but with another yell +rushes at the grenadiers. These muckers, though checked for an instant, +have good stuff in them. + +“Give it to them again!” cries Jack, who seems to be recognized as the +commanding officer. + +This volley is well delivered, too, but the on-comers are too near for +it to have full effect. The balls go over the heads of Joe and Custard +and the other leaders, and before there is time to say Jack Robinson, +the two armies are at close quarters. Joe Herring, with a bound like a +wild-cat, gets his arms round the neck of the first of the grenadiers +in his path, and over they go together, with Joe on top, and rubbing +the snow about his adversary’s neck and ears, to accomplish which to +the best advantage he squats upon the victim’s chest. This is the first +feature in a hand-to-hand scrimmage which is waged for several minutes +without apparent advantage on either side, for Jack and Dubsy and Bill +Dale, who happen to be close together, form quite as formidable a trio +as any opposed to them. The muckers fall before them like nine-pins, +and scurry out of their way. Jack gets his fingers inside the collar of +his original enemy of the morning, and shaking him as a terrier would +shake a mouse, dumps him face downward in a pile of snow and slush. +This does Jack’s heart good. The little wretch blubbers and tries to +use the stick in his hand, which Jack snatches away from him, and with +a proper contempt for so unfair a weapon in a snow-ball fight, sends +flying over the wall of a neighboring yard. Sam Willis and George Bird, +two more of Jack’s set, do yeoman service also at the other end of the +line, driving their opponents back and washing the faces of the fallen +with energy. + +As used to happen in encounters of old, when knights and other warriors +contended together, the leaders on either side seem at first to fight +shy of one another. They slaughter the weaker at the outset, making +incursions into the enemy’s line, so that often the two armies are +hopelessly confused. Indeed, Joe Herring and Custard are a hundred +yards apart from Jack and his chief allies, and between them the +rank and file are intermingled higgledy-piggledy. But presently, as +fatigue and lack of pluck begin to tell, the champions find that the +only enemies left worthy of the name are behind them, and by a common +instinct turn and eye one another, while the feebler boys draw off a +little as though waiting for the strife to be settled once and for all +by a battle of the giants. + +Jack, at a glance, perceiving that Joe Herring and Custard and one +or two others are between him and the main body of his friends, and +seized by what he feels to be an inspiration of generalship, shouts to +Dubsy and Bill, and Sam Willis and George Bird, who are close beside +him, “Cut them off! cut them off!” + +Whereupon Jack springs forward at the head of this detachment, imbued +with the idea, which they all share with him, of raking the enemy’s +vanguard fore and aft before the chief force of the muckers can come +up from behind. Inspirited by the plan, those above, among whom Bill +French appears in dry garments, present a bold front, and with a +shout charge. Joe and Custard, realizing their peril, hesitate for +an instant, while a shower of balls pours in upon them, whether to +break through the rallied array of grenadiers or to seek to rejoin +their friends; but before they can decide they are forced to defend +themselves. There are five of them, just equal in number to their +intervening enemies, who, with gritted teeth, bear down upon them. +Jack again singles out Joe Herring, who, adopting his old tactics, +lowers his head and plunges forward. But Jack does not intend to +have his wind knocked out of him a second time. He meets Joe with an +upper cut of his hand, which, though covered with a mitten, is full +of snow, and, jerking the butcher boy’s head up, grapples with him. +They wrestle fiercely; meanwhile, three of the other muckers, beset +before and behind at the same moment, are rolling on the ground. Only +Custard, with Dubsy hanging about his neck and Bill French and another +boy on his back, still struggles for freedom, shouting energetically +for his friends. They are coming by the score as fast as their legs +will carry them, but not soon enough to save their illustrious leader +from disaster. Three boys eager to leap upon Joe Herring are prevented +only by Jack’s decisive “Leave him to me,” so stand aloof ready to give +succor if it be needed. It is scarcely a fair match. Joe is nearly +a head taller and is a year older; his muscles are like steel, and, +moreover, he has thrashed everybody in the neighborhood who has ever +fought with him. If he can once shake Jack off, he will soon knock +the stuffing out of him. But Jack knows this, too, and having got a +good hold, means to have no fisticuffs if he can help it. He intends +to throw Joe if he can. He hears now, as they pitch from one side to +the other with faces scarcely an inch apart, the yells of the great +body of muckers closing in upon them, and knows that the fight is +being renewed on more even terms. Joe knows it, too, and, breathing +hard, makes one grand effort to swing his antagonist off his feet, so +as to be able to bring terror once more into the general ranks. Jack, +however, is ready for him, and, resisting stubbornly, waits until Joe +relaxes his muscles a little as the great effort proves unsuccessful, +then adroitly twists his leg about the champion’s and throws him. Down +they go together, but Jack uppermost, and――long dreamed-of triumph of +his life――able to secure a seat upon the butcher hero’s chest, and to +stuff his mouth with snow. Joe’s eyes are green as they gaze up at +him, and remind Jack of the cat whose death-throes he once witnessed +after the dogs had left her. This was the simile employed by Jack in +recounting modestly his victory that evening at the tea party. + +But victory though it was, it was too short for comfort. Before Jack +has time to rub more than a handful of slush over his victim’s face +and ears, the army of invasion, by dint of numbers, drive back the +grenadiers, disputing every inch of ground, and two big fellows throw +themselves upon him and try to drag him off Joe. Harry Dale is on +top of them in an instant, and straightway a half dozen on each side +precipitate themselves and make a pile, at the bottom of which lies +Joe Herring still gripped by Jack. A fearful tussle ensues; the two +principals are of course practically powerless to move, and feel that +they are well off if able to breathe without difficulty. The legs of +both are firmly grasped by a score of arms, which in turn are kept down +by boys on top whom others seek to tear away from the pile. As fast as +one is pulled off another takes his place; heads, bodies, and limbs are +hopelessly intermingled, and neither party seems to have the best of it. + +Just as Jack is wondering whether Joe is alive, because he is lying so +still, and whether he himself will not stifle, a shrill voice on the +outskirts of the fight pipes out, “Cheese it! Cheese it!” + +At the words every boy ceases action, those on the pile waiting for +confirmation of the news which the alarm has conveyed, and those erect +following the gaze of the small mucker who has given it, and who is +already preparing to flee down the street. As their eyes perceive at +the street corner the officer in a blue blouse with brass buttons, and +armed with a rattan, advancing upon them at a slightly quickened gait, +a dozen of the urchin’s companions repeat the cry,――“Cheese it! Cheese +it!” + +In the twinkling of an eye the pile disintegrates itself; the boys +of either faction get up and begin to scatter, the muckers hastily +and fearfully, the grenadiers more composedly, and yet unequivocally. +Jack and Joe uncovered are free to rise, which they proceed to do at +once without further hostilities. Jack, with his eye on the policeman, +mingles with the band of his friends who, gathered on the opposite +sidewalk to that on which the guardian of the peace is advancing, are +hoping to slip by him without molestation, feeling, perhaps, that +inasmuch as they are on their own territory, and merely defending +themselves against invasion, pardon may not be withheld from them. They +take care to be so far respectful in behavior as to refrain for the +moment from the insulting allusion to a cheese indulged in by their +late adversaries, which, for some reason or other, had come to be the +recognized phrase of warning and insult combined, among the youth of +the city, in referring to the constabulary; its origin――at least Jack +and his friends always supposed so――being connected with the theft, +either real or imagined, at an earlier date, of one of the commodities +in question by a member of the force. They await his coming, grouped +together, with almost an innocent air. On the other hand Joe, the +moment he is free, glances over his shoulder at the representative +of order, puts two fingers in his mouth preliminary to emitting a +piercing whistle, shouts “Cheese it!” at the top of his lungs, and +scoots down the street at full speed to the spot where he had deposited +his butcher’s basket. This regained, he continues his flight at a +more leisurely pace until distance hides him from view. His exodus +is the signal for a general stampede of his followers, who disappear +principally into the cross street by which they had come, pursued with +some swiftness by the officer, galled, perhaps, by their impertinence, +or encouraged by their pusillanimity. Jack and his grenadiers, not +having hoped in vain that the engine of the law would pass them by +unharmed, survey the retreat in complacent silence until the policeman +is comfortably remote, then at a signal raise their voices in a +prolonged, ungenerous, “Cheese it!” + +The officer turns and looks back at them angrily, and raises his cane +in so threatening a manner that some of the fainter-hearted start +to run into Jack’s alley-way. But the alarm is short-lived; their +enemy, after an instant’s hesitation, proceeds on his way, reflecting +doubtless on the ingratitude of boys. The snow-ball fight is over, and +ten minutes later the grenadiers separate to their homes. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + A DAY OF RECKONING. + + +Jack’s first thought on reëntering the house was for his tea-party, +so he went into the dining-room, where he found Hannah, to his +satisfaction, already setting the table. + +“Got the cream cakes?” he asked. + +“Yes, sir,” answered Hannah. “Sakes alive, Master Jack, where’ve you +been?” + +“Snow-balling. We’ve had an awful fight with the muckers.” + +“I guess they gave it to you, then,” replied Hannah, whose sympathies +in the matter of snow-ball fights were not, perhaps, wholly on the side +of her charge, as her home was in the vicinity of Anderson Street. +“You’re wetted from head to foot; go right up-stairs and get off those +things.” + +“They didn’t lick us any more than we licked them. I threw Joe Herring, +and they all piled on me, and that’s how we were when the ‘cheese +it’ came,” said Jack. He went to the mirror and examined his cheek, +which was beginning to feel a little swollen where the butcher boy’s +snow-ball had struck it under the eye. + +“I guess it won’t be black,” he said, under his breath. “Holloa!” he +exclaimed, as he seated himself on the edge of one of the leather +chairs. “My tails are gone.” By way of explanation he held out his +Scotch cap, from which both the ribbons which ordinarily fluttered in +the breeze had been torn off. + +Hannah sighed. “That’s the third time this week,” she said. “Get up +this minute, Master Jack,” she continued vehemently; “you’re ruining +the nice furniture. Your mamma would have a fit if she could see you.” + +The cause of this outbreak was that Jack, having plumped himself down +as described, was trying to remove one of his rubber boots by pressing +its heel against the toe of the other. It yielded suddenly, and at the +same time a quantity of loose snow was scattered over the carpet. + +“Jiminy!” exclaimed Jack. + +“Go right up-stairs the back way this minute. Why, your leg is wet as +sop as high as your knee,” said Hannah. + +“The dam was over my boots,” he answered. “We made a bully dam,” he +continued, hobbling toward the door on one leg with his bootless foot +drawn up like a stork. + +Hannah followed him up to his room, where she proceeded to pull off +the other boot. It was harder to start than its mate. Accordingly Jack +tipped himself back on the bed so that she could get a purchase with +her foot against the iron frame. + +“Golly!” he cried, as a small deluge of water flowed back over him. The +boot stuck like a vise, and came off at last amid a splutter of slosh. +Hannah was breathless. + +“Now take off every stitch of clothes, or you shan’t have a bit of +supper this blessed night,” she said with decision, as she turned to go. + +Fifteen minutes later Jack sat waiting in the parlor to receive his +friends, looking a pattern of spruceness. His broad white collar was +set off by a cherry tie; he wore knickerbockers, red stockings, and +pumps, and his hair lay smooth and neatly parted. Although he appeared +ordinarily in trousers, his mother still made an exception in favor +of knickerbockers in the case of his Sunday go-to-meeting suit. He had +walked three times round the dining-room table, with his hands in his +pockets, surveying the delicacies, so as to make sure that nothing had +been forgotten, before composing himself. But he had not long to wait; +the bell rang loudly three times in quick succession, and promptly at +the hour set for the feast the three guests and their host took their +seats at table. They all four looked very smiling, and showed no ill +results from the experiences of the day. Bill French, apparently, had +quite forgiven Jack for his ducking, though he took a mild revenge by +observing――“Your eye’ll be black to-morrow.” + +“I threw him, any way,” answered Jack, referring, of course, to Joe +Herring. + +They talked the fight over in detail, and as they discussed, the good +things disappeared with astonishing rapidity. Nothing was wanting; the +cream cakes were fat fellows, and Jack showed strict impartiality and +skill in dividing the extra two so that each of the company should get +an equal amount of the inside. + +Dubsy had received the wishbone of the chicken, which he carefully +picked and held out to Jack to pull with him. “Wish!” he cried. + +“I _am_ wishing,” said Jack, after a pause. + +The others looked on with interest while the two holders pulled +energetically to tear the forked bone apart. Not being dry, it resisted +their efforts for some moments, but at last broke on Jack’s side +just below the crotch, so that Dubsy retained the larger piece, thus +becoming the winner. + +“What did you wish for, Dubsy?” they all asked. + +“I wished that it might always be Washington’s Birthday,” said Dubsy +jubilantly. + +This seemed to every one an eminently sensible wish, though Harry Dale +qualified it by remarking, “I’d rather have every day Fourth of July.” + +“That’s so,” said Bill French. “Father’s promised me a big show of +fireworks, this year.” + +“What was your wish, Jack?” asked Dubsy suddenly. + +“That’s telling.” + +“Of course you ought to tell,” said Harry. + +“Not if I lost.” + +“It can’t come true, any way,” said Bill French. + +“How do you know?” retorted Jack sharply. + +“What was it, then?” asked Bill. + +Jack hesitated a moment. “I wished,” he said a trifle bashfully, “that +when I grew up there might be a war and I might be a colonel, like my +father.” + +The boys followed Jack’s glance at the oil portrait, over the +mantelpiece, of the handsome officer gazing down on them, whose face +and dark hair were not unlike his son’s, and became contemplative. + +“_He_ was a soldier, too,” continued Jack, pointing to a portrait +of Israel Hall at the other side of the room. “He was my +great-great-grandfather, and was killed at the battle of Brandywine.” + +“Are all these your relations?” asked Harry, indicating the half-dozen +pictures on the walls, among which the strong features of the old Salem +sea-captain looked forth stanchly. + +“Yes,” answered Jack. “The others were merchants.” + +“That’s what I mean to be when I’m a man,” said Bill French. “And when +I’m rich I mean to have a steam yacht. Father’s going to give me a +cat-boat, this summer.” + +By this time they had got to the puff cakes, which proved to be all +that Hannah had predicted. After finishing his third help, Dubsy patted +his stomach complacently and observed that he was full up to the +muzzle, which seemed to be each one’s sentiment as regards himself, +though to tell the truth there was scarcely anything left to eat on the +table. + +How to spend the evening was now the problem. For a while a bagatelle +board sufficed for their amusement, but growing weary of that, Bill +French chanced to draw up the window-shade a little and peep outdoors. +It was a fine night, with plenty of stars, but no moon. The other boys +joined him, and all four stood with their noses pressed against the +pane. + +“Golly!” exclaimed Jack suddenly, in a delighted whisper, “I know what +we’ll do.” He put his finger to his lips and proceeded to run up-stairs +two steps at a time, but noiselessly as a cat, until he reached his +room. Without needing to light the gas, for he knew the whereabouts of +everything well enough to find it blindfolded, Jack rummaged in his +tool-chest for a piece of chalk and a ball of twine. Then he started +down-stairs again, stopping in the parlor a moment to obtain a sheet +of paper from his mother’s desk. With these implements the four boys, +having put on their overcoats, slipped out the front way and carefully +closed the door behind them. + +As soon as they were outside, Jack stooped and with his piece of +chalk drew on the bottom doorstep the outline of an envelope, which +he whitened and whitened within until it stood out so distinctly that +any one opening the door would be certain to be misled. Then he rang +the bell, after which all four glided across the street to hide in the +shadow of the grocer’s shop. Hannah, who answered the bell, stared with +surprise at first, and then perceiving the envelope, as she supposed, +descended the steps to pick it up, but naturally her fingers scratched +against the cold granite. A second time she made the same attempt, +but with no better result. The chuckle which Harry Dale was just then +unable to repress was not necessary, perhaps, to make clear to her that +she was the victim of a practical joke; at any rate, she bounced up +and slammed the door indignantly behind her. + +This trick was repeated once or twice at other houses, varied by a +second of a similar character, which consisted in fastening a string +to the real piece of paper and jerking it away on to the sidewalk as +the street-door opened. The unfortunate maid-servant, supposing that +the wind had carried it away, would follow for some little distance the +paper flitting along at intervals, until the truth dawned upon her that +she had to deal with “them boys.” + +But the novelty of this mischief wore off after a few experiments, and +the culprits arranged themselves on the sill of the grocer’s large +window, like a row of sparrows, to cogitate as to what they should do +next. + +“Let’s smash lamp-posts,” said Dubsy. + +“I’ve promised my mother not to any more,” answered Jack sadly. + +“Well, I haven’t,” said Bill Dale; whereupon he aimed a snow-ball at +the corner gaslight and let drive. A crash of glass followed, and the +boys ran like deer until they were safe in Jack’s alley-way; from this +they cautiously peeped out after a moment or two, and, no policeman or +other censor being in sight, leisurely sauntered forth again. + +“I know what let’s do,” said Bill French suddenly in his confidential +tone. “Give me the string, Jack.” Taking the ball of twine, Bill went +noiselessly across the street and up the steps of the house immediately +opposite, which was occupied by a gentleman who was known to them all +as “Stiffy Bacon.” Mr. Bacon, who was regarded by his contemporaries +as a very worthy person, had thus far been unable to preserve friendly +relations with the boys who congregated at the corner, and who, as a +consequence, delighted in making his life miserable. His house and the +one adjoining fronted on a narrow terrace, some six or eight feet above +the level of the sidewalk, which was approached by a few winding stairs +at either end. + +Bill fastened the fine twine around the bell-handle, and letting it +unwind returned to the alley-way with the ball, having established a +taut line across the street at a height which would endanger the hat of +any passer. The street was pretty well deserted at this hour, but the +boys were content to wait with a patience worthy of a better cause. +It must have been five minutes before Jack exclaimed, “I hear some one +coming.” + +They listened, and could plainly distinguish footfalls and the +resonance from the ferule of a cane on the opposite side. The person +was coming up-hill, and soon, to their delight, proved to be a man +wearing a silk hat. + +“Now’s your time,” said Jack to Bill, who had hold of the string. + +Bill accordingly pulled the bell and adjusted the line to what seemed +the proper height. The mischief-makers were rewarded by perceiving the +door open and the gentleman, who was walking rather fast, come abreast +of the twine at precisely the same moment, a consummation for which +they had fondly hoped. The unwary pedestrian was brought up short; +his silk hat flew off and striking upon the bricks with a hollow thud +bumped along the street; while the other, who happened by chance to be +no one less than Stiffy Bacon himself, encountering only empty space +and then hearing the mutterings of surprise and indignation below, +stepped forward and peered over the railing. There was a gas lamp a +hundred and fifty yards away which enabled Mr. Bacon, as he thought, to +distinguish the disaster and to divine the cause. + +“What do you mean, sir, by ringing at my bell at this hour in that +condition?” he asked angrily. + +“What do _you_ mean, sir, by obstructing the highway in such an +outrageous manner?” retorted the stranger, who, having picked up his +hat, was endeavoring to smooth its nap against his coat-sleeve. + +“You are intoxicated, sir,” replied Stiffy Bacon. + +“How dare you insult a gentleman in such a fashion; you are an insolent +scoundrel, sir! I will enter a complaint against you in the morning for +obstructing the highway and for defamation of character,――yes, sir, for +defamation of character.” + +The unfortunate stranger, who drew himself up to his full height as +he delivered this speech, had such an air of injured respectability +and spoke with so much assurance that Mr. Bacon, although very angry, +peered forward a little further and exclaimed, “I obstructing the +highway? Explain yourself.” + +“What do you call this, I should like to know, but obstructing the +highway?” replied the victim, pawing the air in search of the twine +which Bill, immediately after the catastrophe, had let drop so that it +lay along the sidewalk. “Fastening a rope across the street to cut the +throats of honest folk at night is akin to manslaughter. Ah, here it +is.” + +He picked up the string at his feet, and, perceiving that it dangled +down from the terrace, shook it indignantly at his insulter. “There, +sir, what do you think of that?” + +Apprised by the rubbing of the string against his leg that something +was wrong, Mr. Bacon glanced around him and in an instant realized the +situation. + +“My dear sir,” Mr. Bacon protested, “you will excuse me. This is none +of my doing; it is the work of some bad boys who are a torment to this +neighborhood.” + +“They ought to be arrested; I’d make short work of them if I lived +here,” said the gentleman, brandishing his cane. “Another time, sir, +perhaps you will be more careful as to the aspersions which you cast on +respectable people. Good-evening, sir.” Whereupon the stranger stalked +away at his previous rapid gait. + +Meanwhile, the boys had been squatting still as mice in the dark +alley, almost afraid to breathe for fear of giving any indication as +to their whereabouts. The affair had exceeded in dramatic effect their +wildest anticipations, and there had been moments, especially when the +stranger had brandished his stick, during which they had felt a common +impulse to run into the house. But now that they had only Stiffy Bacon +to concern themselves about, terrible as he was, a feeling of relief +so far took possession of them, that the irrepressible Harry Dale, +unable to contain himself longer, chuckled again. Mr. Bacon, who had +stooped to examine the arrangement of the device by which he had been +victimized, caught the sound, and, turning in their direction, shook +his fist and exclaimed, “You young rascals, you!” + +At these strenuous words, which were delivered in what seemed to them +a tone of terrible wrath, the young evil-doers turned and fled with +precipitation up the alley, save Jack, who lingered for an instant +to pick up the ball of twine and pull the line as taut as possible +with all his might. He could hear the jangling of the bell as he +followed the footsteps of his companions, who ran through the back +yard into the house again. From the windows of the dining-room the +four peeped once more into the street, but all was still. Stiffy Bacon +had apparently retired to his lair. After watching a sufficient time +to make sure that the enemy was not lying in wait for them, Jack’s +visitors ventured to take leave of their host, as it was now half-past +nine, and in fifteen minutes more Jack himself was sound asleep. + +An hour later, Mrs. Hall returned home. Stepping into the laundry, as +was her custom every night before going to bed, to make sure that all +was safe from fire, she saw Jack’s mittens and pea-jacket hanging up to +dry, and smiled to herself as she thought of the happy day he must have +passed. Hannah, who would sooner have cut off her right hand than have +got Jack into trouble, had already reported to her mistress that the +tea party had been a great success, and smothered her own resentment +at having been made to scratch her finger-nails on the stone step. +Before entering her chamber, Mrs. Hall went into Jack’s room, and, +bending over the little iron bedstead, stood watching for some minutes +his peaceful, regular breathing. “Dear boy!” she murmured, “what +should I do without him?” She stooped and kissed his soft cheek, which +unexpectedly aroused him. + +[Illustration] + +“Is that you, mother?” he asked. + +“Yes, dear; good-night.” + +“But I’m not asleep; you mustn’t go.” He rubbed his eyes and sat up in +bed. + +“It’s late, dear; lie down again. Have you had a happy holiday?” + +“Bully, mother; sit down, I want to tell you about it. You _shall_ +stay,” said Jack, putting his arm about her neck and drawing her cheek +against his own. + +“You shall tell me all about it in the morning.” + +“No; now, mother.” + +“Well, dear?” + +Jack was silent a moment. “I smoked to-day,” he blurted out. + +“Smoked?” + +“Yes; it wasn’t tobacco, it was rattan. Dubsy and Bill French smoked +too. Dubsy was sick afterwards; I wasn’t sick, but I felt queer.” + +“Why, how came you to do that, Jack? You must have known that it was +wrong.” + +Jack said nothing, but played with his mother’s hand. + +“Didn’t you, dear?” + +“Yes,” he whispered. + +“Who put such an idea into your head?” she asked. + +“Bill French. I guess he smokes lots; we went on top of his house, so +that no one could see us.” + +“You forget, my dear, that God saw you,” said his mother. + +Jack was pensive a moment. “And Washington?” he asked. + +“Sh!” Mrs. Hall was a little doubtful how to take this observation. + +“Do you suppose,” Jack went on after a moment, “that he knows his +birthday is a holiday?” + +“I think very likely, dear.” + +Jack was again silent. “Mother?” + +“Well?” + +“Bill French says that when you smoke rattan the blood is sucked out of +your lungs; do you believe it’s true?” + +Mrs. Hall started a little, but a moment’s reflection enabled her to +answer composedly, “No, dear, certainly not; such a thing would be +impossible.” + +“He showed us the dried blood in the rattan, afterwards.” + +“Nonsense, dear. Bill French was trying to make sport of you.” + +“Charley Buck told him so.” + +“Charley Buck ought to know better, then. Charley is too old to tell +such foolish things to little boys. What he says about the blood isn’t +true; but it would make me very unhappy to have you smoke, Jack, until +you are a man. It’s a very bad habit for a boy to get into, no matter +what he smokes, rattan or anything else. But I’m very glad you told me, +Jack. If you had concealed it from me and I had found it out, I should +have been very unhappy.” + +“I didn’t want to go to sleep until I’d told you,” answered Jack, +drawing her cheek closer to his own. + +“You will promise me not to smoke again?” + +Jack promised, and then laid himself down again perfectly happy, still +clasping his mother’s hand, which she did not withdraw until he had +returned to the land of dreams. + +But while Mrs. Hall was dressing in the morning, Hannah brought word +that Jack had waked up covered with a rash, and that he complained of a +headache. The doctor was hastily sent for, but on his arrival the fears +of anything serious were promptly dispelled by the announcement that +Jack had a thorough case of measles. The loss of the holiday outdoors +seemed to be very nearly made up to the invalid himself by the news +that he could not be able to return to school for a fortnight at least; +and his mother, who sat beside his bed for a while after the doctor had +gone, was on the point of leaving him with a comparatively light heart +to his own devices, when word was brought her that Mr. Briggs, the +grocer, was down-stairs and would like to see her. + +“He has probably come to explain why his last supply of coffee is so +much poorer than I have usually had,” said Mrs. Hall to herself. + +But Mr. Briggs had come for a very different purpose. He looked very +grave and a little embarrassed as she entered the sitting-room into +which he had been shown. He was a tall and rather thin man, with a +worried expression, which became intensified as he proceeded to explain +the reason of his visit. “I’ve come, ma’am, to say that something must +be done about that boy of yours. I’ve stood it a good many years, +ma’am, and my patience is pretty much exhausted, I’m free to confess.” + +Mrs. Hall colored violently. “Are you speaking of Jack, Mr. Briggs?” + +“Yes, ma’am. If I may be so bold, he’s a very troublesome young +gentleman, and there’s plenty in the neighborhood who think as I do,” +he said respectfully. + +“Sit down, Mr. Briggs; what has he been doing now?” + +“You know it ain’t the first time I’ve had to complain,” he remarked +apologetically. + +Mrs. Hall bowed coldly. + +“If it isn’t one thing it’s another,” he continued. “I’m willing to +put up with their coming into the shop and purloining beans and dried +apples and figs which they don’t pay for, knowing as boys is boys; but +when it comes to”―― + +“What! you don’t mean to tell me that my son takes things from your +store which he doesn’t pay for!” interrupted Mrs. Hall, in a horrified +tone. “Why, that would be stealing.” + +“Yes, ma’am, strictly speaking, I suppose it would,” replied the +grocer, with a judicial air. “But as I was telling you, I’m willing to +say nothing about that for the sake of your custom, provided as no more +snow is fired into my cellar. The basket into which the baker drops the +rolls for my customers is so wet every morning that they’re mostly +spoiled, to say nothing of the dents in the door from the snow-balls +and stones which don’t go in. I only want to be reasonable, or I’d send +in a bill for my wheelbarrow which some of them broke last week by +upsetting it down the area steps. I’ve told you most of this before, +ma’am,” he continued, after a pause, “and you’ve promised to speak to +your son.” + +“I have spoken, Mr. Briggs. I have cautioned him particularly to let +your wheelbarrow alone, and not to fire snow-balls at your door. But +this stealing is a more serious affair, and shall be put a stop to at +once.” + +“It isn’t the stealing that I care about,” replied Mr. Briggs dryly. +“But if I have to put the matter in the hands of the police, as I’ve +made up my mind to do if my cellar ain’t let alone, I can’t answer for +what’ll happen. I’ve put up with their tricks as long as I can.” + +“What makes you think that Jack is still concerned in this mischief?” +asked Mrs. Hall. “I assure you that I have told him repeatedly that he +is not to molest you.” + +“It doesn’t seem to make much difference, ma’am, then, for my clerk +see him with his own eyes shy two snow-balls at the door only yesterday +morning, and one of them went through. Besides, he’s a sort of leader +of mischief hereabouts. He and the Perkins boy and the Honorable +Horatio French’s youngest son are up to all sorts of pranks, and it’s +hard to say which of them is the worst.” + +Mrs. Hall sighed and looked sad. She said presently, “I will make a +point this time of seeing that Jack avoids your premises, Mr. Briggs, +and if you will send in a bill covering whatever he has taken from your +store, and the cost of a new wheelbarrow, I will pay it.” + +“Thank you, ma’am; I should never think of doing that.” + +“I insist,” said Mrs. Hall decidedly. She felt fairly ready to cry at +Jack’s depravity. + +“Then I shall consider that from this time forth there will be a +change,” said Mr. Briggs, rising. “It’s the last time I shall speak,” +he added, as he stood with his hat in both his hands, evidently feeling +it his duty to be explicit. + +“Very well, Mr. Briggs. Let me say that at present there will be no +occasion for you to trouble yourself, so far as――as Jack is concerned, +for he has the measles.” + +“I’m sorry to hear it, ma’am; he must have been took sudden.” + +“This morning.” + +“Well, I hope he’ll get well soon. I bear no malice, ma’am, I hope +you’ll believe, and if it weren’t that I thought him a smart, likely +lad, I should have spoken to the police long since. Good morning, +ma’am.” + +“Good morning, Mr. Briggs. Oh, one moment. The last coffee you sent +was very poor,” she said, unable to forego this opportunity to put the +worthy grocer a little in the wrong. + +“Very well, ma’am; I will take it back and send you some more.” + +When she was alone, Mrs. Hall wiped her eyes, which were full of tears. +The idea of Jack’s taking what did not belong to him! Honesty was +honesty, no matter whether it were a question of dried apples or of +diamonds, and the boy who got into the habit of thinking trifles of no +importance would soon degenerate. Then, too, how often she had warned +him not to interfere with Mr. Briggs! That hole in the area door had +been a constant source of trouble ever since Jack had been able to fire +a snow-ball. What with catapults and bean blowers in addition, which +were the engines of assault when the snow was gone, poor Mr. Briggs had +ample cause to complain. It was evident that he had been goaded to a +point where he would take desperate measures unless something were done +to restrain effectually his tormentors. + +This was by no means the first occasion, as Mr. Briggs had seen fit to +remind her, that she had been called to account for Jack’s mischievous +behavior; but somehow or other she had flattered herself from time to +time that the grocer was crabbed and prone to fault-finding, and that +her son’s high spirits would moderate themselves as he learned more +clearly to recognize the rights of others. But of late it had seemed +to her that instead of improving, Jack was growing steadily worse. +Rumors of his ill-doings reached her ears from various sources, and +even Hannah had given her to understand that he had been alluded to in +neighboring kitchens as little inferior, in capacity for wickedness, +to a fiend. His clothes, alternately soaking wet, stiff with mud, or +full of rents, bore silent but eloquent testimony to the recklessness +of his conduct. She felt that she did not, of course, mind the mere +rough usage, though it entailed perpetually washing and mending; that +was to be expected, perhaps, of an active boy; but his constant return +home in a draggled condition made her anxious as to the character of +his amusements. He was perpetually in the company of Bill French, whose +family, though rich, were new-comers in that part of the city, and +to whose society she would have liked to see him less devoted. This +incident of rattan-smoking was another piece of testimony to confirm +her opinion that Bill was an undesirable crony for Jack. Dubsy Perkins +and Harry Dale seemed to her less objectionable, especially Harry, who +was a quieter and more thoughtful-looking boy than most of the others +who made a playground of Mr. Briggs’ corner. As for Dubsy, he imitated +Jack in everything, applauding all he did, and trying his best to keep +up with or even surpass him in whatever was proposed. + +Little by little, it had come over Mrs. Hall of late that the best +thing for Jack would be to send him to some school away from home. +The growing city seemed no place for a high-spirited boy, for whatever +he did was pretty sure to be mischief or against the law. Time was +when the Common had been an ample play-ground, but the crews of +children which crowded it now, to the annoyance and even peril of adult +persons, had induced the municipal authorities to consider whether +the population had not become so large as to make it imperative to +forbid ball-playing and other healthy sports to go on there. One strong +argument in favor of the proposed restriction was that the playground +was usurped by youths of seventeen and upwards, large and powerful as +men, who kept away the smaller boys. For a time the vacant lots on +the outskirts of the city had become favorite resorts, but these were +rapidly being occupied by houses. Only the streets were left, and boys +who tried to play there were involved in an incessant warfare with the +police. To keep Jack indoors was impossible, and she reasoned that if +the natural outlets for youthful energy were obstructed, others of an +unwholesome kind would be found by him. Nothing disturbed her more +than the thought of Jack becoming old before his time, one of the +knowing little gentlemen of fifteen, who sauntered about the streets in +standing collars and kid gloves with an eye to the girls. She wished to +see Jack remain an unsophisticated manly boy as long as possible, and +she feared that another year of city life might bring about a change in +him far more to be deplored than any amount of mischievousness. + +But the thought of parting with him was unbearable. He was her idol +and the delight of her existence. At present he was under her eye, at +least for a part of the time, and could not go very far wrong without +her perceiving it. Would it be possible to find a school in the country +where, in addition to the advantages of a natural boyish development, +Jack would find also the watchful care of a home? There were, she knew, +academies――some of them large ones――to which certain of her friends +had sent their boys, but she had derived the impression that at them +excellence in instruction was the chief consideration, and that the +masters were not expected to concern themselves with the morals of +the pupils――many of whom were day-scholars who lived in adjoining +towns――outside of the class-room, unless any boy became conspicuously +disreputable. She had discussed the matter somewhat with her adviser, +Mr. Warren, who agreed with her that Jack would be better off away +from the bricks and mortar, and who promised to make inquiries as to +where it was advisable to send him. He had further made her understand +that the question had only latterly been forced upon the attention +of parents by the growth of our cities. Hitherto there had been, and +there was still in the smaller places, facilities for children to +play naturally and yet to go to school at home. Our system of free +education, which dated from noble John Winthrop’s time, had properly +been our boast, and we had, accordingly, always rather regarded it +as superior to the English system of large public schools away from +the cities, without perceiving that it might not always suffice for +our needs. Home training was, doubtless, the key to many virtues, but +there was unquestionably a more preponderating danger to be feared, to +the growth of the muscles, and to the action of the liver, lungs, and +heart, and, most important of all, to the character itself, in the +cramped, unwholesome life which a boy is in danger of leading who goes +to school in a large city. + +There was another point of which Mrs. Hall had thought in this +connection. She knew that her husband had been very anxious that his +son should grow up an American, without false notions of equality, and +with pride and faith in his country. It had been his intention to send +Jack to the public schools so that he might mix early with all sorts of +boys. And yet she could remember hearing him remark shortly before he +went to the war, that it might well be a question how far, to insure +this, one would be justified in subjecting a child to the companionship +of rough or vicious boys. Since then she had discussed the matter with +Mr. Warren from this point of view. She was far from wealthy, but she +could afford to pay a reasonable sum for Jack’s tuition. Would sending +him to a school to which the mass of boys were not well enough off to +go tend to foster in him undemocratic notions? As her adviser explained +to her, it would be folly to assume that because free education was +open to all for the sake of the poor, all were obliged to take +advantage of it in order not to be regarded as aristocrats. As well say +that a man was no lover of republicanism because he lived in a more +expensive house than his neighbor. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + JACK GOES TO UTOPIA. + + +Mrs. Hall’s reflections concerning Jack were interrupted by the sound +of the door-bell. A moment later Hannah ushered in a no less formidable +personage than Mr. Bacon. A call at so early an hour was not likely to +be merely social Mrs. Hall well knew, and she began to ask herself what +Jack had done now, as her visitor made some observations on the weather +before proceeding to explain the real object of his coming. + +[Illustration: MR. BACON WAS CEREMONIOUS IN HIS GENERAL DEPORTMENT.] + +Mr. Bacon was ceremonious in his general deportment, especially toward +ladies. Indeed, his erectness, spruceness, and general starched effect, +combined with his austerity toward the boys of the neighborhood, +had won for him his nickname. Mrs. Hall had a bowing acquaintance +with him, but there was none of that familiarity between them which +encourages the friendly discussion of a serious affair. Mr. Bacon +announced in well chosen language that his patience (like Mr. Briggs’) +was exhausted. He had been badgered, so he phrased it, long enough. +Only the night before a party of boys, of which, presumably, Master +Hall was one, for the reason that they had concealed themselves in +Mrs. Hall’s alley-way, and had sought shelter in Mrs. Hall’s house, +had made a barrier across the street with a piece of twine fastened +to his door-bell at such a height as to imperil the eyesight, to say +nothing of the hats, of the passers. This sort of thing could not go +on. He had endured, with forbearance, having his windows smashed by the +careless and sometimes deliberate discharge of various missiles, having +his doorsteps dirtied by muddy feet, his wife’s pet cat tormented, and +himself insulted by offensive epithets, hoping that parental authority +might interfere. But it seemed to him as if matters were getting worse +every day instead of better. To apply to the police to protect him and +his household against his neighbors’ children was a step from which he +shrank, yet something must be done. For some reason or other the boys +appeared to pitch invariably on him as a victim on whom to practice +their pranks, though he was not conscious of having deserved their +hostility. Would not Mrs. Hall remonstrate seriously with her son, whom +he had reason to believe to be more or less of a ringleader among them? + +Mrs. Hall, who had listened with pain and mortification to this account +of Jack’s wrong conduct, was too much of a fond mother not to take +advantage of Stiffy Bacon’s reference to the fact that he had been +especially selected to play tricks upon. + +“Of course, Mr. Bacon, Jack has behaved very badly, and you must not +think for a moment that I wish to justify his actions,” she said; “but +boys will be boys, and may it not be that if you were a little better +disposed toward them they might not be so troublesome? Their annoyance +of you is indefensible, I know, still, as you yourself say, they seem +to single you out especially to play tricks upon.” + +Mr. Bacon colored violently. “I don’t know what you mean, Mrs. Hall,” +he answered. “I pride myself that my treatment of the boys who +congregate in this street has been most considerate and lenient. The +fact is, madam, I am afraid you do not appreciate what nuisances they +have become. If it be true that I have unwittingly incurred your son’s +ill will, I can scarcely be held responsible for the constant vexation +they occasion the worthy tradesman opposite by their mischievous +behavior; scarcely a day passes without some cause for complaint on his +part.” + +It was now Mrs. Hall’s turn to blush, but she answered, a little +warmly, “I think that Mr. Briggs is quite able to fight his own +battles, Mr. Bacon. As to Jack, I shall most certainly forbid him to +go upon your premises in future. There will be no chance of it at +present,” she added, rising, “as he has the measles.” + +“Oh,” said Mr. Bacon. “Very sorry to hear it, I’m sure. It is not a +serious disease, I believe.” + +“I believe not,” she answered coldly, and so they parted. But there was +further mortification in store for Mrs. Hall. + +Ten minutes later Hannah, in an awe-struck tone, informed her that +there was a policeman in the front entry. It occurred to her at once +that Mr. Briggs had repented of his leniency and sought protection from +the law without waiting for another breach of it. The sight of the tall +officer in the blue coat and brass buttons, with a number shining on +his breast, filled her with dismay. At least he would have to wait +until Jack was well before he carried him off to court. + +“The captain has sent me to say, ma’am, that this breaking of lamps +must come to an end. There’s been sixteen smashed at the corner here in +the last month,” he began. + +“Do you mean that he suspects my boy of being concerned in it?” asked +Mrs. Hall, as he seemed to be waiting for an answer. + +“Boys did it, ma’am; or rather snow-balls fired by boys, and I guess +what your son don’t know about it ain’t worth knowing,” replied the +officer confidently. + +“I feel sure that Jack has not broken any for――eh――a week,” she +faltered. “At least he promised me faithfully that he would not, and I +never knew him not to keep his word.” + +“Can’t pretend to say who did it,” he said. “If I’d seen it done while +I was on the beat, there’d been an end to it mighty quick; they take +precious good care to wait until I’m not round. All I’m saying is, +some one did it, and that some one is boys; and, what’s more, there’s +got to be an end of it, or there’ll be trouble. I’ve tried to be easy +with them, but it’s no use; the more I overlook the saucier they get, +and it’s about time to cry halt. My instructions, ma’am, are, to make +arrests, if another lamp is broken.” + +“But you can’t arrest a boy if he is innocent,” exclaimed Mrs. Hall, +who was becoming alarmed. + +“I guess there ain’t much danger of my making any serious mistakes,” +said the officer, with a grin. “I’ve been on this beat for the last +four years, and I know pretty well by this time who’s innocent and +who’s not.” + +“The boys all appreciate how lenient you have been with them,” she +said, hoping, perhaps, to mollify him by flattery. “They quite look +upon you as a friend.” + +“Maybe it would have been better if I’d been strict with them from the +first. There’s no trusting them; the moment my back’s turned they’re +making faces at me or shouting after me,” he said, somewhat bitterly, +evidently reflecting on his experience of the previous afternoon. +“There ain’t much gratitude in boys if you come to reflect upon it; +leastways, I ain’t found much so far. Well, ma’am, I bid you good +morning,” he added. “A warning’s a warning, and that’s all there is +about it.” + +“If there are any lamps broken during the next fortnight,” Mrs. Hall +hastened to say, as the officer turned to go, “it won’t be Jack’s +fault, for he has the measles.” + +“Sho! Has he though? Want to know!” he said slowly, by way of comment, +pausing between the phrases. “Well, ’tain’t as bad as scarlet fever. I +hate to see boys sick, though. _Good_ day, madam.” + +That afternoon Mrs. Hall put on her bonnet and went down town to call +on Mr. Warren, whom she always consulted when she wished advice. She +told the lawyer briefly, in rather a despairing tone, all that had come +to her ears during the morning, and ended by saying that if a good +school could be found outside the city, Jack must be sent to it, even +if her heart were broken as a consequence. Her heart was certain to be +broken if he remained at home. + +Mr. Warren listened to her patiently, and when she had finished took a +letter from his desk which he handed to her. + +“You see I have been making inquiries,” he observed, as he watched her +read. “Schools of this sort are cropping up all over the country. You +have no idea how many there are until you begin to investigate. But I +am told that this is one of the best.” + +“Utopia School. What a curious name!” said Mrs. Hall, musingly. + +“It suggests progress and hope.” + +“Decidedly. But I don’t care to have any experiments tried on Jack.” + +“Not even if he turns out a fine manly fellow as a result of them?” +asked her friend, with a laugh. “But you need have no fear that there +is anything unduly visionary in the curriculum of Dr. Meredith, my dear +Mrs. Hall. Those who know him best say that his aim is merely to turn +out his pupils, at the end of their course, gentlemen and scholars.” + +“John Meredith. That is an attractive name; how old is he?” + +“A young man, but then remember we have faith in young men in this +country. Between thirty-five and forty, I should say. By the way, he +is neither a clergyman nor a doctor; his Dr. means simply that he has +taken the University degree of Ph. D.” + +“The school was founded eight years ago, I see,” she said, referring to +a prospectus inclosed in the letter. + +“Yes,” he answered; “it started with twenty-five pupils and has now +about two hundred, who represent nearly every State in the Union. It +was founded by individual enterprise and generosity; half a dozen +wealthy men, who, very likely, were as puzzled what to do with their +sons as you are with Jack, put their heads together at the suggestion +of this young Meredith, who felt that he had ideas on the subject, and +subscribed the money to build a tasteful schoolhouse, with dormitories +for the boys, and a wing for the master’s own use, all under a +single roof. And now, not ten years later,”――Mr. Warren reached out +his hand for the prospectus, which he perused an instant to refresh +his memory,――“yes, here it is, now there are three new dormitories, +each adapted to house sixty boys, a schoolhouse where the lessons +are recited, which includes a fine library as well, a chapel, and a +gymnasium, all forming a large quadrangle. Within the quadrangle is +a foot-ball ground and a base-ball ground, and around the foot-ball +ground is a running track. Outside there appear to be lawn-tennis +courts, and not more than a quarter of a mile away, a lake a mile and +a half long and a quarter of a mile wide, on the banks of which is a +boat-house. Add to this picturesque country surroundings, good food, +and the personal supervision of the masters over the morals and health +of each boy,――you will notice that point insisted upon,――and it seems +to me that you have a paradise.” + +“I could go and see him occasionally?” + +“As often as you please, I imagine. Five or six hours in the train +would bring you to him or him to you at any time.” + +“But I shall miss him so much, Mr. Warren. In England it is a matter of +course to send boys away from home, and the parents don’t seem to mind +it; but we are more like the French, we cannot bear to be separated +from our children.” + +“I remember,” replied Mr. Warren reflectively, “being told by a +young man who had been a pupil at one of the large English public +schools,――Eton, or Harrow, or Rugby, I forget which,――that whereas +his parents, who were then living in London, came to see him a number +of times in the course of the year, it was unusual for the rest of +the boys to receive a visit from a relation from one end of a term +to another. English fathers and mothers like to affect not to have +feelings, on the theory that the display of emotion and affection tends +to make boys unmanly. They would consider one who wept on parting with +his mother rather a milksop, I imagine; and on the same principle they +consider it better discipline to keep away during term time. But we +have no such theory as yet, Mrs. Hall.” + +“I should hope not,” she replied. “I should feel very badly if Jack +didn’t shed a few tears on parting with me. As for myself, I can’t +say what I might not do in my despair. I suppose that I must bring +myself to it, Mr. Warren,” she added. “You feel sure that Jack will be +well looked after? He needs personal influence; all the floggings and +punishment in the world wouldn’t do him any good. What he requires is +to have his mind awakened to the fact that there are more important +matters in life than snow-balling and coasting and base-ball, and +to recognize that he owes something to others. At present he seems +to think that if the whim seizes him he is justified in playing the +most disagreeable tricks on people, even to the extent of ignoring the +rights of property, if Mr. Briggs is to be believed. While remaining +the manly, earnest boy that he is in many ways, I wish to see him +become more thoughtful and considerate. Do you think Utopia School will +produce those results?” + +“So I am assured. We have no very old schools of the sort in this +country, therefore the testimony must needs be imperfect as to their +value. But, as that letter informs you, Dr. Meredith’s first aim is +that his pupils should be, at graduation, high-minded youths.” + +“I suppose I must consent to it,” murmured Mrs. Hall presently, and so +her resolution was taken. + +Correspondence was at once opened with Dr. Meredith, who suggested that +Jack should come to him after the Easter recess, as there happened to +be a vacancy in the school. Before this time Jack had recovered from +his illness, though he looked somewhat pale and thin. His mother did +not inform him of her intention to send him away from home until +about a fortnight before he was to go. Jack manifested, on hearing the +news, unmitigated satisfaction, but as the day drew near which was to +separate him from his mother, he became very quiet and unlike his usual +self. He sat beside her in the evenings, his shock of dark hair nestled +upon her breast, while she gave him counsel as to what he must be sure +to do and not to do when he no longer had her to watch over him. She +made him promise to study well and to obey his new master, and he would +listen in thoughtful silence to her instructions as to keeping his +clothes neat, and not forgetting to say his prayers morning and night, +and sometimes to read his little Bible, her gift on his tenth birthday. +“And whatever you do, Jack, remember, always speak the truth and never +do anything mean.” + +“Yes, mother.” + +“Your father had a horror of falsehood above everything else; he used +to say that he had no patience with a lie. Ah, how I shall miss you, my +dear little man! You will not forget me, will you, Jack?” + +Forget her! Then was the moment for him to fling his arms about his +mother’s neck, and kissing her again and again, vow that he would +be miserable away from her, and that he would far rather stay at +home,――which whole-souled protestations sounded sweet in the poor +widow’s ears, and helped to ease the pang of parting. + +Both she and Hannah were kept very busy in getting his wardrobe ready. +There were new sets of shirts and stockings to be bought and marked, +and the old things had to be darned and generally put in order. He was +pleased beyond measure by the purchase of a leather trunk, stamped +with his initials, to carry his belongings, which were numerous, and +would have filled two or three trunks had he been permitted to carry +them all. It was difficult for Jack to decide what to leave behind; +everything was dear to him, from his discarded rocking-horse with +its moth-eaten hide to his latest treasure, a small engine, which +was operated by steam, and which he had bought by saving up his +pocket-money. His room was full of toys: there were tin soldiers and +forts in the defense of which to employ them, a splendid tool-chest, a +theatre, a magic-lantern, and an assortment of marbles, shuttlecocks, +bats, and balls, the accumulations of his childhood. He persuaded his +mother to let him take the engine, but he was compelled to see most of +the other things, which Hannah stigmatized as truck, put away to await +his return. An exception was made in favor of his favorite base-ball +bat, which he was to carry in his hand, a few tools, the shuttlecocks, +and his bag of marbles, all of which would take up but little room, and +which would be useful to him at Utopia. + +Outside the house, the news of his proposed departure had aroused +great interest among his companions, who one and all expressed their +envy of what they considered his great good-fortune. Dubsy Perkins was +inconsolable, and Bill French announced an intention of persuading his +father to let him follow Jack in the autumn. Even Mr. Briggs, when Jack +for the fourth time in three days went into the grocer’s store to be +weighed, remarked, with a commendable degree of warmth, considering +their relations toward one another, “I hear we’re to lose you soon, +Master Hall.” + +“Yes, I’m going to boarding-school, where there are two hundred boys, +next week,” replied Jack proudly. + +“I want to know,” responded the grocer, and he added a moment later, by +way of expressing his interest or gratitude,――let us believe it was the +former,――“Have some dried apples?” + +The invitation was meant to include the group of half a dozen boys +in the store at the time, who accepted it gladly, but with some +wonderment. Since the visit of Mr. Briggs to Mrs. Hall and several of +the other parents, the behavior of his tormentors had shown marked +improvement; though they still meandered about and through his premises +on the smallest pretext, the pilfering had mostly ceased, and the +snow-balls found in his bread-basket were less numerous. As, owing to +his mother’s strenuous exhortation, Jack had restrained his fingers +ever since from the barrel containing the beans and dried apples, +and the box of figs, the permit dazed him for a moment; but when he +realized that “Old Briggs” was actually “standing treat,” his heart +felt warm toward his old enemy, and some shame for his own cruel +treatment of him was mingled with his reflections. + +Indeed, Jack had also the satisfaction of parting with Stiffy Bacon +under peculiarly pleasant circumstances. That gentleman’s irate +threats, as repeated by Jack to the other fellows, had produced such +a feeling of alarm that none of them had dared to venture on his +premises ever since. On one of the few balmy days which come early in +April to herald the approach of spring, the boys, who had assembled +at the corner to enjoy the first game of scrub of the season, were +astonished to see Stiffy Bacon come down the steps of his house with +two new cricket bats and a set of wickets in his hands, with which he +advanced toward them. The boys stopped their game and gazed at him in +bewilderment, scarcely believing their eyes and half inclined to run. +The sight of a Greek bearing gifts is not apt to be assuring, but in +this case there was no cause for alarm. Mr. Bacon stopped a foot or two +away, and addressing them all, but more especially Jack, said: + +“Young gentlemen, I am very much obliged to you for being so quiet and +behaving so well during my wife’s illness, and I ask you to accept this +cricket set as a token of my good will.” Whereupon he held out the +bats and wickets to Jack, who received them mechanically, so utterly +at a loss was he in common with all the others to understand what Mr. +Bacon was driving at. The fact was, that Mrs. Bacon had presented her +husband with a fine baby a few weeks before; but this interesting +circumstance was quite unknown to the boys, who, accordingly, were +feeling very shamefaced at the praise bestowed upon them, knowing that +they had been quiet for quite another reason. + +The donor further heaped coals of fire upon their heads by producing +a cricket ball and the bails for the wickets from his pocket, in +response to which there came a feeble murmur of “Thank you, sir,” from +the group, who stood like gawks, half frightened and yet very much +pleased withal. Jack, who, as the one to whom Mr. Bacon had principally +addressed his speech, felt that it was incumbent on him to make an +appropriate acknowledgment of the gift, stood uneasily shifting his +feet and trying to think what to say. As in the case of Mr. Briggs, +such unexpectedly friendly conduct had produced a revulsion of feeling +toward his former enemy. Just as Mr. Bacon, after an awkward pause +on both sides, was turning away, Jack, seized by an inspiration, +exclaimed, “Now, fellows, three cheers for Stif――_Mr._ Bacon!” + +They were given with a will and a tiger, and at the sound of them the +gentleman in question looked back evidently much gratified and lifted +his hat, for he could not help being extremely polite even when he was +most gracious. + +“Thank you, very much, sir,” several boys cried now that the ice +was broken, and Bill French was hypocrite enough to add, “I hope +Mrs. Bacon is quite well again,” which nearly caused a titter. Jack, +congratulating himself that the word “Stiffy” had been repressed in +time, struck up the song, “For he’s a jolly good fellow,” which was +continued by all hands until Mr. Bacon was in-doors again. First and +last the affair was a most auspicious one, and let it be hoped that +henceforward a perpetual truce was observed between the boys and the +Bacon family. + +On that point Jack was never fully informed, for he left home a week +later for Utopia. When the day actually arrived he was much too elated +to feel any severe pangs at leaving the dear old street where he had +done so much mischief during the past four or five years, and even his +partings with his friends were so jolly that nothing but the delightful +prospect before him could have excused such light-heartedness. + +Mrs. Hall, like the brave woman she was, had shed her tears in secret +or was saving them up until she should be left alone, for her face was +wreathed in smiles as she clasped her darling to her bosom for one last +hug after the driver announced that there was no time to lose if he +wished to catch the train. Jack was in an exuberant state of mind, for +in addition to the proud consciousness that he was to travel alone for +the first time in his life, he had been allowed a full cup of coffee +for breakfast, which was a great treat to him. Beside Hannah, who threw +her apron over her head every minute or two to hide her eyes, there +were Dubsy Perkins and Bill French and Harry Dale in the hall to see +him off, and each had brought a parting gift. Bill French’s was a knife +with eight blades including a gimlet, a cork-screw, and other useful +devices, which, as Bill explained with pride, cost ten dollars. Beside +it Dubsy’s present looked very insignificant, but a tip-cat made by +Dubsy was regarded in the neighborhood as a work of art entitling its +possessor to the congratulations of his friends. “I made it on purpose +for you, Jack,” said the manufacturer, with a look of genuine affection +on his honest but not over-clean face. Harry Dale had brought a book +entitled “Every Boy his own Carpenter,” which gave directions how to +make everything under the sun. + +Jack’s new trunk had been strapped on behind, and all was ready. After +that last hug he ran down the steps crying “Good-by, everybody,” and +got into the carriage. The boys thrust their hands through the open +window for a final shake, and just as the driver had said “Clk!” to the +horses, Hannah came rushing out with some cold chicken and a turnover +done up in a napkin, which had almost been left behind. + +But at last he is really off, with his head out so as to wave one +more “good-by” to his mother, and after he has drawn it in out it +flies again on the other side, for in turning the corner he perceives +old Briggs in his white apron standing on the threshold of his store +grinning like a Cheshire cat. + +“Good-by, Mr. Briggs, good-by!” he shouts, while Hannah murmurs, “God +bless his heart; there isn’t a soul in the street who won’t miss him,” +a remark in which the worthy henchwoman might have found herself, it is +to be feared, in a minority, if the vote had been taken. + +Meantime, Bill and Dubsy and Harry, who being each armed with a +catapult have let fly simultaneously some tolerably large shot at the +little window in the rear of the carriage as it rolls off, one of which +just misses the driver’s ear, run to the corner and watch until the +carriage reaches the foot of the street and turns again, being rewarded +by a final wave of Jack’s arm as he catches a glimpse of them, to which +they reply with a prolonged “Ehu――ehu――ehu.” Wafted on his way by which +familiar war-whoop of his childhood, Jack Hall takes his first step +forward in the battle of life. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + DR. MEREDITH. + + +Utopia School takes its name from the small town adjoining, to reach +which Jack had to change cars and run twenty odd miles on a country +branch after traveling several hours on the main line. But time passed +all too quickly for our hero, who never wearied of looking out of +the windows at the landscape flying away behind, in the intervals of +exhausting the resources of the train peddler, a boy of about his +own age, in whose stock in trade Jack took a keen and very soon a +substantial interest. He let the books tossed on the seat beside him be +gathered up again without remonstrance, though he cast sheep’s-eyes at +a small treatise on base-ball with an illuminated cover representing +a player in the act of striking. A banana and a small drum of figs +were temptations, however, to which he succumbed, and just as he was +finishing the last of a roll of lozenges which had won him over after +these were gone, the crowning attraction of the day appeared in the +form of prize packages labeled to contain any number of useful articles +in the way of stationery and jewelry, and costing only a quarter. But +their more potent charm lay in the further inscription, well adapted to +dazzle youthful eyes,――“One package in every hundred issued contains a +hundred-dollar bill. This is guaranteed by the company. Try your luck.” + +Jack’s reasoning was, that the quire of paper, pens, pencil, +sealing-wax, and “three separate articles of jewelry,” which every +one of them was warranted to include, must be worth far more than the +price demanded. So in any event his money would not be squandered, and +there was no telling――for he was pretty lucky as a rule, having on one +occasion picked up a cameo pin in the street, and on another a silver +coin――that he might not happen on a package which had a hundred-dollar +bill in it. The one which the boy had left on the seat looked plump +and satisfactory. Jack squeezed it and held it up for a moment to the +light, but there was nothing gained by that. When the boy came back he +examined the dozen others in the basket critically. + +“Did you ever see any one get a prize?” Jack asked, when he had +completed the inspection. + +“You bet your life,” responded the peddler. “I see a young feller +aboard the train just your size find one of them hundred-dollar bills +only last week.” + +“Swanny!” said Jack; “I wish I knew which one to choose.” + +“You pays your money and you takes your choice,” answered the lad +impartially. + +“Well, I’ll take this one, I guess,” said Jack, with a sigh, at last. + +The one chosen was down at the bottom of the pile, and looked a +trifle bulkier than the others, though they were all very much alike. +The peddler had evidently little curiosity as to the result of the +selection, for he continued on his way the moment after pocketing the +quarter, rather to the surprise of the purchaser. Jack proceeded to +open the envelope with eager anticipation. The first thing he noticed +was a number of sheets of very common ruled note-paper, beside which +lay a lank pencil, a penholder of a kind which can be duplicated for +a cent, three pens, a half-dozen colored wafers, a miserable bit of +red wax, a few envelopes, a ring set with a small green glass stone, a +bangle of thin platinum, and a brass watch-chain. These were the entire +contents. Jack peeped between the sheets of paper, but no bank-bill +had been skillfully concealed there. Ruefully he began to examine the +collection of trash which he had acquired for twenty-five cents, and +was wondering whether the green stone could possibly be an emerald, +and what he should do with his purchases, when the train stopped and +the conductor called out that passengers for Utopia and certain other +places must change cars. Jack stuffed the contents of the prize package +into his pockets and obeyed orders. + +Five minutes before Jack’s train reached the station, a train from the +opposite direction had arrived with passengers from the West, one of +whom, a bright-looking lad, was already seated in the car on the branch +line which Jack entered, and it so happened that when the conductor +cried “All aboard” the two boys found themselves the sole occupiers of +it. The new-comer was neatly dressed, was a bit taller than Jack, slim +and wiry, with a wide-awake expression. + +The boys exchanged shy glances, and Jack experienced a thrill of +sympathy in observing the torn envelope of another prize package lying +at the stranger’s feet. Presently, with the restlessness common to +youth, the latter got up and, putting a hand on the arm of the seat on +either side of him, started to propel himself along the aisle in the +manner of an athlete on parallel bars, with the result that, after a +spasmodic jump or two, he fell in a heap on the floor, whereupon he +arose, and, brushing the knees of his trousers, looked at Jack and +laughed. Then he proceeded on his way, like an ordinary mortal, to +the end of the car, which, being the last in the train, commanded an +absorbing view of the road-bed over which they were spinning at ever so +many miles an hour. Here he was soon joined by Jack, and the pair stood +side by side looking at the long line of track, until the other boy +said suddenly, after a more than common oscillation of the swaying car, +which nearly upset them both,――“That’s nothing. You ought to see how +fast they go on the New York Central.” Then he added, “Going to Utopia +School?” + +“Yes,” said Jack. “Are you?” + +The boy nodded. “My name’s Frank Haseltine,” he said. “I live in +Cincinnati. My father’s in Congress, and President of the Haseltine +Iron and Steel Works. I hate school, but father says I’m to go +to Utopia for six years, and then to college. I’d rather be a +professional, wouldn’t you?” + +“A professional? I don’t know what you mean,” said Jack doubtfully. + +“A base-ball player, of course. I’d like to be on one of the champion +nines. Foxy Ricketts, who’s only five years older than I, is to be +change pitcher for the Red Stockings this season. He used to be captain +of the Rising Suns. That’s the club I belong to. I’m only third base in +the second nine, but I guess I’d have played catcher next year if I’d +stayed. What club do you belong to?” + +“The Massasoits,” said Jack. + +“Never heard of them,” answered Haseltine decidedly. “What’s your +name?” he inquired. + +“John Hall. Most people call me Jack, though.” + +“Where were you raised?” + +Jack looked puzzled. “Do you mean where do I come from? Boston.” As he +felt that his answer seemed scant in view of Haseltine’s details, he +added, “My father was a colonel, and was killed in the war.” + +“Is that so? I’ve an uncle who’s a general. He was wounded in the war +but got well again. If I can’t be a professional when I grow up, I’d +rather be a soldier than anything. What did you play on the Massasoits?” + +“Short stop.” + +“That’s a first-rate position,” responded Haseltine, patronizingly. + +After these remarks, the boys sat down side by side and were soon deep +in a cordial conversation, very early in which they emptied their +pockets for the benefit of one another. Jack’s new knife, all the +blades of which he opened admiringly, the tip-cat, and two splendid +agate marbles were matched by Haseltine with a fascinating little +compass in a shiny, round metal case, a silver-mounted whistle in the +shape of a dog’s head, and, most exciting of all to Jack, a tiny live +snake in a wooden box, which crawled and wriggled about its owner’s +hand in a most approved fashion. + +“He’s real tame,” observed Haseltine. “I’ve had it six months. He lives +on flies, and I wouldn’t lose him for anything; would I, Bill?” he +added, caressing the small reptile. + +Jack was silent a moment. Then he asked, “What’ll you take for the +snake?” + +“What’ll you give?” + +“I’ll swap one of my agates for him.” + +“Not much. Will you give me the knife?” + +“I guess _not_. That knife cost a lot of money.” + +“It’s mighty difficult to get a snake tame as Bill.” + +“Will you take both the agates?” asked Jack presently. + +“Let’s see them,” said Haseltine. He examined the marbles critically. +“What else’ll you give?” + +“I’ll throw in a blood alley.” + +“Let’s see the blood alley.” After inspection he inquired, “What else +you got?” + +“Isn’t that enough? I’m willing to let you have this, too,” Jack +said at last, indicating the watch-chain. They had already compared +experiences on the subject of prize packages. Needless to say, +Haseltine had been no more fortunate in finding a hundred-dollar bill +in his, but though they had come to the conclusion that the jewelry was +not quite up to the mark, there was sufficient uncertainty regarding +its value to make the ownership of it seem not wholly undesirable. + +Haseltine weighed the chain pensively. “See here,” he said, “if you’ll +give me the two agates, the blood alley, the chain, and the ring, you +may have Bill. Is it a go?” + +Jack hesitated; he felt that he was asked to pay a high price, but a +glance at Bill, who in response to his master’s effort to show him off +was wriggling delightfully, settled the question in his mind. “Give me +the snake,” he said, handing over the specified articles in exchange. +Jack returned the little creature to his box and deposited it in one of +his trousers’ pockets with the air of a proprietor. + +Just then the train stopped at a station, and the boys, owing to the +great uproar which was going on outside, popped out their heads. The +platform of the station was crowded with young fellows of all ages +and sizes, some of them nearly grown up. About half of them were in +uniform, part of whom wore drab flannel shirts trimmed with blue and +embroidered in the middle of the breast with a large blue =U=, +drab knickerbockers, and blue stockings; the others, armless white +shirts adorned with a flaming constellation, red belts, and nondescript +trousers, which showed clearly to the boys that they were in the +presence of two rival base-ball clubs and their respective constituents. + +“I wonder which licked,” said Haseltine excitedly, and under a common +impulse he and Jack started for the rear door. + +But here their progress is blocked, for the boys with the =U= on +their breasts and their friends are by this time clambering up the +steps and beginning to swarm into the car. There is a great hubbub +and shouting and shaking of hands between the rival factions, which +is followed by a sudden hush, for the captain of the home nine――a +strapping-looking country lad who reminds Jack of Joe Herring――has +got his men in a bunch together and now cries, “Three cheers for the +Utopias, boys! Now, one”―― + +“Hurrah!” + +“Two”―― + +“Hurrah!” + +“Three”―― + +“Hurrah!” And then at the close came a delicious “tiger-r-r,” in which +the entire juvenile population of the town joined. + +“The Utopias must have won,” whispers Haseltine. + +“Why?” asks Jack, who is really beside himself with excitement. + +“Because the others cheered first.” + +As the reverberation of the tiger dies away a handsome, bronzed, +athletic-appearing boy, with a little down on his upper lip, and who +seems to Jack a man, steps to the edge of the platform, and swinging +his cap above his head, exclaims in a dignified tone, but with great +enthusiasm, “Now, fellows, nine rousing cheers for the Foxbridge +Stars,――and any time they will come to Utopia we will give them their +revenge.” + +“’Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah!――Utopia-a-a-a!” rings +out on the air in short, sharp response. + +“Time’s up, gentlemen,” cries the genial conductor, who stands watch +in hand. “All aboard!” He waves his hand to the engineer, the engine +gives a snort and a whistle, and amid a great shouting and waving of +hats and bats and handkerchiefs the train moves slowly away from the +station, the Stars and their satellites following it on its way for two +hundred yards or so, leaping like greyhounds, until fairly distanced. + +Jack, who has had the satisfaction of interpreting to Haseltine the +cheers of the victorious nine as an imitation of the Harvard University +method, watches eagerly the body of Utopia boys as they pour into the +car and take possession of the seats. They are in tearing spirits over +their success, and for some time talk of nothing but the details of the +game, recollecting with enthusiasm the fine points of play,――Bedlow’s +pitching, Goldthwaite’s one-handed catch at second base, and, most +glorious of all, Ramsay’s home run, which won the game when the score +was tied. Ramsay is captain, the manly-looking fellow who proposed +the cheers for the Stars, and Jack feels, as he watches him leaning +back against the seat, with his hands resting on the handle of his +bat, and accepting modestly but with a smile of permissible pride the +congratulations showered upon him, that he would give anything to be +in his shoes. + +The boys are of all sizes, for at least fifty, big and little, have +come down from the school to back up the nine, and even to the smallest +they are decked with blue ribbons, stamped “Utopia” in silver letters. +No one pays attention to Jack and Haseltine, who are sitting side by +side at the end of the car with their ears open. + +“Won’t the Doctor be pleased!” exclaimed one of the players, breaking a +momentary pause in the rejoicing. + +“What a pity he didn’t come!” said another. + +To this there was a general assent, after which some one cried, “Give +us a song, Jumbo.” + +“A song! A song!” repeated several jubilantly, and then as the boy +called upon did not immediately respond, there was a universal call, +“Jumbo, Jumbo! Hit her up, Jumbo!” + +Jack and Haseltine, following the direction of all eyes, perceived an +especially fat boy in the middle of the car, who was just beginning the +words of a taking song, which was very spirited. After each verse there +came a ringing chorus, in which all joined ecstatically:―― + + “Stop that knocking; let me in; + Stop that knocking; let me in; + Oh, I tell you stop that knocking at my door.” + +This was always repeated, and every time they sang it the swell of the +voices grew louder and the enthusiasm greater, until, what with the +hammering on the floor with bats to express the knocking, together +with the increasing tendency to sacrifice harmony to sound, it seemed +as though the roof of the car would come off. It was a thorough +pandemonium; and Jack thought the occasional transposition of the first +phrase of the chorus into “knock that stopping” one of the funniest +things he had ever listened to. + +When Jumbo finished, Goldthwaite the second base, who had made the +one-handed catch, sang in a rich tenor voice, “Aunt Dinah’s Quilting +Party,” which had a sentimental refrain about seeing Nelly home by +starlight, and made Jack feel pensive, though he preferred the humorous +song. Everybody sang the chorus with a great deal of sentiment, +especially Ramsay, who sighed perceptibly when Goldthwaite pictured +Nelly’s hand as resting on her lover’s arm “light as ocean’s foam.” + +Presently there were cries for “Jack Spratt and his Wife,” presumably a +ditty, but who turned out to be two inseparable friends thus nicknamed +because one was very stout and the other unusually slim. The pair +contributed an amusing double-part song, which set everybody into peals +of laughter, and restored the spirit of hubbub subdued by passing +thoughts of Nelly. Just as the last verse came to an end, the train +began to slow up, and amid shouts of “Here we are,” every one started +to his feet and made for the door. + +“Utopia!” cried the conductor vociferously. + +“As if we didn’t know that, Henry,” responded the foremost as they +rushed out. + +Jack and Haseltine brought up the rear, and found themselves on +alighting face to face with a ponderous, hearty, red-faced man carrying +a whip, whose face was one broad grin as he listened to the joyful +tidings of the victory from a dozen lips at the same moment. + +“And won’t the Doctor be tickled to death!” Jack heard him exclaim with +a chuckle. “Mr. Percy’s yonder,” he continued, indicating with his +thumb a barge drawn by two horses, into which the majority of the boys +were already precipitating themselves. “He couldn’t wait to hear who’d +won. And so you beat ’em, did you? Well, well!” + +At the mention of Mr. Percy’s name there had been a further diversion +to the barge, and only three or four still remained, pouring a few last +details into the ears of the man with the whip, who now asked, “Has any +one of you laid eyes on the two new boys I’ve come to fetch?” + +“Your kids are all serene, Horace; I saw them aboard the train,” said a +boy in answer. + +“Master Hall,――Master Haseltine?” inquired Horace, stepping forward as +he caught sight of Jack and his friend. + +“All right,” said Jack; “I’m Hall.” + +“And I’m Haseltine.” + +“Checks, please,” said Horace. Then pointing to a vehicle half-wagon, +half-carryall, a few yards beyond, he told the two boys to get in while +he looked after their baggage. + +Before they had well seated themselves, the barge, filled almost to +overflowing with its noisy freight, started off at a goodly pace to the +accompaniment of fish-horns and fiendish cat-calls. As it swept by +the smaller conveyance a shower of beans fell rattling about the ears +of the new-comers, which caused Jack instinctively to clap his hand on +the side-pocket of his jacket in search of his catapult; but before he +could get at it the grinning faces of his assailants were out of range. + +“By gum!” Jack muttered belligerently. + +“It’s no use, any way,” said Haseltine. “If you had hit them, it would +have been all the worse for both of us afterwards. I expect to be half +killed as it is.” + +“What do you mean?” asked Jack. + +“They’ll haze us, of course. I know a fellow who was made to jump +into the river on a Christmas eve, and who, as the result of it, had +pneumonia and nearly died.” + +“At Utopia?” + +“No, it wasn’t at this school; but they’re all alike. They make you +stand on a table and recite poetry, and do all sorts of monkey tricks.” + +“I wouldn’t.” + +“You couldn’t help yourself; they’d stick pins into you if you refused, +or burn you with a red-hot iron.” + +“They should kill me before I’d do a thing,” said Jack stoutly, but, +nevertheless, he continued contemplative until their conductor arrived +with the trunks. A moment later they were off. + +“That’s great,” Horace observed with gusto, after a period of reflective +silence. + +“What is?” inquired Haseltine. + +“The ball game. Them Stars has been all-fired cocky since way back, and +boasting as how they couldn’t be beat. But they’re done for this time, +sure. Fourteen to thirteen――tidy score, too; that home-run was what +done it. Great boy, that Harry Ramsay.” + +“He’s captain, isn’t he?” asked Jack. + +“Yes, captain of the nine, and cute all round. I tell you, the Doctor’s +proud of him, and’ll be mighty sorry when he goes to Harvard next year. +He is smart at his books, too.” + +“Tell us about some of the other players,” said Haseltine. + +“Well, they’re all pretty stout. Bedlow’s a rattling good pitcher, and +when he’s in shape it takes an A 1 player to get base hits off him, +I can tell you. Goldthwaite’s good, too, at second base; and Bobby +Crosby at left field, though he goes in more for foot-ball. He’ll be +captain of the eleven, fast enough, when Burbank goes. He’s a great +hand at kicking goals. There ain’t a better nor a smarter set of boys +in the country than the boys of Utopia School, take ’em all together,” +continued Horace, giving a flick with his whip to emphasize his words; +“and as for the Doctor, there ain’t his equal anywhere that ever I see. +He’s a gentleman, if there is one, and a scholar too, for the matter of +that. What he don’t know ain’t worth knowing, I guess.” + +“What’s _your_ name?” asked Haseltine boldly. + +“Horace Hosmer. The boys, leastwise those who’ve been here any time, +call me Horace. I’ve done the driving for the school since it was first +started, and that’s a matter of close on ten years, now.” + +“Much hazing?” inquired Jack presently, in what he intended to be an +indifferent tone. + +Horace glanced sideways at his questioner before replying. “Fair to +middling,” he said gravely. “Two boys died from it last term; Doctor +called it chicken-pox; but I know better,” he added, with an ominous +nod. “I see them after they were laid out, and they were a mass of +bruises from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet.” + +[Illustration] + +Haseltine nudged Jack, who, it must be confessed, felt uncomfortable, +and who exclaimed, after a moment, “I shouldn’t think Dr. Meredith +would allow it.” + +“Well, he does try to stop it, but some of them fourth-class boys +are dreadful hard to manage. There’s Jack Spratt and his Wife, for +instance,――I tell you they’d as soon break every bone in a new boy’s +body as not,” continued Horace confidentially. + +“They were the two who sang last,” observed Jack, gloomily, to +Haseltine. + +“There’s nothing really vicious about ’em,――they’re just playful,” +Horace went on to say. “But singing or no singing, if I were a new boy +I shouldn’t want to have ’em down on me. It’s hard to say which is the +worst, Spratt or his Wife.” + +“What are their real names?” Jack inquired. + +“Tobey and Donaldson; but no one ever calls ’em anything but Jack +Spratt and Wifey; that’s because they’re so thick together. Most of +the boys have nicknames of some sort, though there ain’t much sense +in ’em if you come to think it over. There’s the Spider and the Lamb, +and the Titmouse and the Shark, and ever so many more. But you’ll know +all about it soon, for here we are,” said their mentor, as the pair of +horses turned sharply. + +They were borne swiftly through a gateway and along a smooth, graveled +avenue, under a vista of fine trees which had evidently once formed +the approach to a private residence. On either side an expanse of +level field stretched away, which was dotted with boys busy at play, +of whom Jack got a few glimpses as Horace, nodding to right and left, +exclaimed, “Lawn-tennis courts,――base-ball practice ground;” though a +bell pealing from beyond had mostly caused a cessation of the games, +and the boys in the field on the right-hand side had begun to throng +into the avenue, or to cross it into the other field. + +“It’s supper-time,” Horace vouchsafes to inform his charges, who are +craning their necks in absorbed inspection of the score of young +fellows in white flannels, with tennis rackets in their hands, +advancing at an easy jog in detachments of two and three, in response +to the reverberating summons. It is shorter for those who have been +practicing scrub in the left-hand field to keep straight on, for the +avenue winds to the left along the top of that field, until it reaches +another arched gateway situated midway between two spacious dormitories +which form one side of a large quadrangle. There is a solid stream of +boys passing through this gateway on the way to their rooms to tidy +up for supper, which will be ready in fifteen minutes in the old +schoolhouse,――the original structure built by the founders,――which +faces Jack as he is driven into the quadrangle and finds himself +squarely within school bounds. + +On his right stands the tasteful chapel, from the tower of which the +ten-minute bell is still ringing, and just beyond it the gymnasium. +Facing these, at the other end of the broad campus, is the building +devoted to schoolrooms, and still another dormitory, all exactly as +the prospectus, which Jack had read many times, described. Both the +extensive playgrounds, the one laid out for base-ball and the other +for foot-ball, lie deserted; for every one within the quadrangle has +hastened to welcome the victorious nine on the arrival of the barge, +about which a cheering throng is now collected in front of the old +schoolhouse. + +“There’s the Doctor on the steps shaking hands with ’em,” exclaimed +Horace. “I tell you he’s proud to-night. Look at that now; it’s Ramsay +they’ve got.” + +A cheer that does one’s heart good had preceded Horace’s last words, +occasioned evidently by some compliment which Dr. Meredith had paid +the modest captain, and thereupon a score of hands have seized Ramsay +and lifted him on to a phalanx of shoulders. “’Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, +rah, rah, rah, rah!――Utopia-a-a-a!” + +Off they go tearing like mad, bearing their laughing, struggling +burden, who is plainly protesting against so extravagant a tribute to +his prowess, to the ball ground and round the bases in fine style, +closely followed by another throng doing similar honors to Bedlow and +Goldthwaite, picked up together and transported side by side, each with +an arm round the other’s neck. + +Horace has reined in his horses in order to give a satisfactory view +of the ovation, which is so demonstrative and engrossing that the ten +minutes’ grace before supper would more than have slipped away had not +Dr. Meredith and two or three of the masters interfered in time to send +every one off to his room just before the second bell rings. + +It is pealing with a will when Jack and Haseltine alight and stand +hesitating on the steps of Granger Hall,――which is the name of the old +schoolhouse,――uncertain for a moment what to do. The entrance, in +front of which Horace has drawn up his horses, is on the hither side +of that where the Doctor was congratulating the nine a few minutes +ago, and leads into the domain of Betty Martin, as the housekeeper +is called, who has charge of the domestic management of the whole +institution, with headquarters at Granger. This is her wing, flanked +by the great dining-hall where the whole school breakfasts and dines +and sups together. The other wing is devoted to the Doctor’s private +apartments. A few boys still live in the old schoolhouse,――which not +so very long ago was dormitory, refectory, and class-room combined +in one,――but the mass have been relegated to the three new, roomy +dormitories, known, respectively, as Rogers, Fullham, and Dudley, after +the benefactors who gave the money to build them. + +It is Mrs. Betty Martin herself who appears, smiling, on the threshold +to relieve the uncertainty of the two boys. She is portly and motherly +in appearance, and wins Jack’s heart at once by suggesting supper in +the housekeeper’s room, and a postponement of an introduction to the +Doctor until later. They feel a little weary with their long journey +and relish the fresh milk, the honest bread and butter, and the slice +of cold beef to which they sit down, immediately after they have +dipped their faces in a basin of water under her maternal supervision. +Meanwhile the whole school has passed into the main hall, and after a +short silence,――which Jack learns by and by marks the blessing asked on +the meal by the Doctor, who always eats with the school,――there begins +a distant clattering and chattering which is pleasant music in the ears +of the two new boys as they sip the hot chocolate which Mrs. Betty has +made to warm them. This goes on for nearly half an hour; then follows a +momentary creaking and scraping of chairs and shuffling of boots that +makes one think a menagerie has got loose, after which there is a rush +for the door, which is midway between the Doctor’s and Mrs. Betty’s +entrance, and the school comes trooping out again. + +“Scrub one” + +“Two” + +“Three” + +“Four” + +“Five” + +“Six” + +“Seven” + +Twice that number of applicants are disporting themselves in the +direction of the ball ground, which, though reserved at other hours for +the work of one of the regular nines, is free after supper to the first +comers. There is room on its ample surface for several games of scrub, +and as the tide of would-be players increases, the adjacent foot-ball +ground is usurped by some who prefer knock up, two or three big fellows +sending up sky scrapers for the benefit of the many scattered over the +field. A few pass ball, and, though it is not the season for foot-ball, +there are always boys so fond of it as to like to keep their hands, or +more properly their feet, in at all times of the year. A half dozen of +these practice kicking goals over the two bars which mark either end of +the foot-ball field. Although so soon after supper, a couple of boys, +who look as if they were cut out for runners, appear in tights and +start around the running track on time. On the terraces in front of the +various halls, a number more leisurely inclined indulge in ring-taw and +various other games of marbles, which make Jack think of his agates +and wonder if Haseltine has not, in their possession, the best of the +bargain. + +All this is visible from Mrs. Betty’s threshold, where the two boys +establish themselves after supper while waiting for the Doctor to send +for them. Now and then small urchins――favorites of Mrs. Betty――slip +past them in search of a cooky, or a taste of jam, relying on the +good-nature of the buxom housekeeper, which is not altogether to be +counted on, however, for if for any reason the petitioner does not +happen to suit her he gets sent about his business in a most summary +manner and has to slink out again empty-handed. It is a lovely evening +with a promise of summer in the atmosphere, so enticing that the +Doctor’s wife is giving her baby an airing prior to putting him in +his crib, while her other child, a pretty girl of five, is skipping +about before their door like a young gazelle. Close at hand stands the +Doctor, watching contentedly the sports which nightfall must soon bring +to a close, smoking his cigar, and chatting to some of the masters +and boys. When a more than usually good bit of play on the ball field +takes his eye, he claps vigorously and cries, “Played, Longworth,” +“Well played indeed, Henshaw,” with genuine enthusiasm; and once when +the ball is knocked so vigorously that it runs out of bounds and along +the terrace up to the Doctor’s very feet, he picks it up and sends it +back again in a style that reveals abundance of muscle and a physique +second to none which any one of those whose master, guide, and friend +he is can boast. + +It seems to Jack, whose ideas of masters are not rosy, so to speak, +wonderful that the boys and Dr. Meredith are on such evidently familiar +terms, suggesting an absence of awe on one side and the existence of +an almost fatherly interest on the other. To joke with the teacher +of one’s Latin lessons would have struck him an hour ago as akin to +merriment in church, or at a funeral; and yet right before his eyes +is a state of things which startles his preconceived notions most +effectually and makes him rub his eyes, especially when the head of +the school so far abates his dignity as to pass ball with a wren of a +boy no bigger than Jack himself. Albeit a great weight is removed from +his heart, he looks on puzzled and bewildered, half expecting to hear +at any moment the thundering tone of authority assert itself and prove +what he sees to be only a deceitful lull in the conventional relations +between masters and pupils. + +But the only voice of authority which makes itself heard, scattering +masters and pupils alike, is the bell in the chapel tower, that breaks +in presently on the scene, but scarcely too soon, for the twilight is +at hand. It is time to go to the schoolrooms for an hour before the +day’s work is over. Thither the boys flock, and a few moments later +Jack and Haseltine are informed that the Doctor is ready to see them in +his study. + +Jack’s heart is sinking as he walks along the corridor, but he keeps +before his mind’s eye the picture which he has just seen, in refutation +of his fears. He knocks timidly, and in response to a cheery “Come +in” enters. It is a spacious yet cosy room, a veritable study with +books lining the walls and scattered over the centre table, but bright +too with photographs on the mantelpiece, below which a wood fire is +sputtering and snapping gaily on the hearth, and pictures, busts, and +bric-à-brac betokening that a woman’s taste has helped to decorate it. + +“This must be Hall; am I right? How d’y do, Hall? How d’y do, Haseltine? +Glad to see you both.” So exclaims the Doctor, rising to greet the two +timid youths, speaking so pleasantly, and giving them each so hearty a +grip of the hand, that they are kindled in spite of themselves and lift +their gaze to his. + +How shall I describe the head master of Utopia School? A man in the +prime of life, not quite forty, tall, stalwart, and commanding, with +a sunny smile but firm mouth, piercing eyes before which a sneak or +liar might well quail, yet in which the sincere, manly boy, the forlorn +or puzzled boy, or even the mischievous, disobedient boy who owns his +fault, might find the sympathy, encouragement, or mercy which he needs. +One sees at a glance, which requires no discrimination, that there is +nothing small or petty about him, nothing of the pedant, the martinet, +or the ceremonious prig. It is, perhaps, beyond the imagination of +boys so full of misgivings as Jack and Haseltine, to appreciate all +this at once, but their awe gives way to surprise and their tongues +are gradually loosened under the influence of his reassuring words +of inquiry in regard to their journey, their families, and their +past lives, in the course of which his wife comes in and perfects the +welcome by her sweet voice. Haseltine is the first to thaw, amusing +them all by his quaint frankness, which includes a confession of Jack’s +and his experiences in the line of prize packages, at the mention of +which the Doctor looks a trifle grave, but forbears for the present to +utter a deprecating word, deeming, without doubt, that to check the +boy in his first confidences might work far worse results than could +possibly follow from the failure on his own part to point a moral. +Haseltine goes on to tell of their barter and exhibits triumphantly the +two agates, with the exclamation, “Which of us, do you think, got the +best of the swap, Dr. Meredith?” + +This frankness amuses them all; and the Doctor asks Jack to let +them see the snake, which he produces shyly. The little reptile +vindicates――at least in his owner’s eyes――the wisdom of the trade by a +fine display of his wriggling powers; after which (the Doctor having +chosen to abstain from any expression of opinion as to whether he would +rather be in Jack’s shoes or Haseltine’s) the conversation goes on +easily for a few minutes. The Doctor’s wife, who regards Jack very +kindly, perhaps because he seems less at ease than his more forward +companion, questions him about his home and his mother, and makes him +promise that if he feels lonely he will come to her and let her know; +all of which is so contrary to what Jack had expected that he could +almost cry with pleasure. As for Haseltine, his relief is so great that +he prattles on like a mill-stream, to the evident entertainment of his +listeners, relating naively his impressions of his long journey from +the West, and his views of life in general, including his intention +to adopt base-ball as a profession when he grows up; an announcement +which causes Mrs. Meredith to put her handkerchief to her mouth to +avoid laughing outright. But it is no laughing matter to Haseltine, who +believes every word he is saying, and who proceeds to describe with +enthusiasm the exploits of the Rising Suns, and the standing of the +various players composing that formidable nine. + +[Illustration: IN THE DOCTOR’S STUDY.] + +“Base-ball is a fine game, and I don’t wish to speak a word against +it,” says the Doctor, when he sees a fair chance to get in a word. “I +dare say that you will be a great acquisition to our nine, in course +of time, Haseltine, and you too, Hall, though you tell me that your +specialty is foot-ball. That’s a fine game, too. You boys will have +plenty of chance to consider the matter during the next six years, +but I rather think that you will come to the conclusion, before you +leave us, Haseltine, that you would prefer to be in Congress, or the +manager of a railroad, or a merchant, or a lawyer, than a professional +base-ball player.” + +There was a pleasant twinkle in the Doctor’s eye as he paused, but +though Jack felt that his master’s prophecy might, perhaps, come true, +Haseltine shook his head doubtfully. + +“Both you little fellows are tired with so much travel, I know,” the +Doctor went on, a shade more seriously, “and I am going to send you +off to bed without much good advice. I shall take it for granted that +both of you are good boys, and anxious to obey the rules. You’ll be +told what they are to-morrow, when I decide upon the classes you are +to belong to. And now, before you go, I desire to say just two things: +the first of which is, that I wish to impress upon you at the start +to avoid falsehood and deceit. There are times when most boys are +tempted to lie; when those times come, be brave and speak the truth, +for, believe me, there is no vice more cowardly and degrading to the +character than any form of falsehood. It is mean, contemptible, and +unworthy of men. The principle of this school is self-government; my +desire is, as far as possible, to let the scholars govern themselves; I +trust to their honor largely, and I look to see that trust respected.” + +Jack is listening with all his ears; the room seems very still, and the +Doctor’s wife is looking gravely at the carpet. + +“The other is this,”――the Doctor glanced especially at Haseltine, +though what he is about to say is every whit as applicable to Jack’s +needs, if he did but know it,――“I believe enthusiastically in all manly +sports, and do my best to encourage a taste for them in the school; +but let me remind you that what you have been sent here for is not to +become good cricketers, oarsmen, foot-ball kickers, or even”――here he +smiled kindly――“base-ball players. To desire to be proficient in any +or all of these games is a laudable ambition, but I pity heartily the +boy who, during his stay here, thinks of nothing else; and I grieve +to say there are a few who do. Sport is an incident, not an aim of +life, even of a boy’s life. You have been sent here to learn to become +high-minded, upright gentlemen, with lofty aims and sterling good sense +in the first place; in the second,――and without this the first can +never be completely realized,――to acquire a good education by means of +faithful study. Intelligent scholarship is the promoter of many virtues +and the key to success in after-life. Do you understand me, boys?” he +asks, at the conclusion of these impressively spoken words. + +“Yes, sir,” the two lads murmur, in faint succession. + +“Then I will hand you over to Mrs. Martin, who will show you to your +dormitories,” he says, touching the bell. “Hall and Haseltine, I hope +you will each regard me as one of your warmest friends, and never +hesitate to ask my advice or assistance, if at any time you are in need +of either.” + +“Nor mine,” adds his wife, drawing Jack to her and kissing him on the +cheek, which cheers him mightily. + +“You must be good friends together, too,” continues the Doctor, looking +from one to the other. “Far East and far West! Remember we are all one +nation, and that no part of it can get on without another.” + +While, as a consequence of this recommendation, the two boys are +exchanging smiles, which, though somewhat sheepish, express cordial +good-will, Mrs. Betty arrives, under whose guidance they take their +departure, after Mrs. Meredith has impartially bestowed a kiss on +Haseltine also, and the Doctor has shaken them both by the hand in +his hearty fashion. They pass out of the old schoolhouse across the +quadrangle to Fullham Hall, where Mrs. Betty tells them they are +to be lodged. A short climb up-stairs and a turn or two through a +corridor brings them to a spacious apartment running half the length +of the building, with rows on either side from one end to the other +of what seem to Jack, at first glance, like stalls in a stable. The +partitions dividing these stalls――which a second glance proves to be +sleeping-rooms large enough to contain a bed, a bureau, and a row of +nails for clothing――rise but ten or a dozen feet. The ceiling is far +above; two lines of windows let in abundance of light, and one has +only to breathe the cool air to feel sure that care has been taken to +make the ventilation all it should be. At the end which they enter is +the comfortable-looking study of one of the masters, into which they +get a peep as the housekeeper calls him to his door to introduce her +charges to him. They are to be quartered nearly opposite to one another +on different sides of the dormitory. Their trunks have already been +brought up and placed at the foot of their beds, which have a neat and +comfortable appearance. There would be just room inside to swing a cat, +if one should so feel inclined, and it is easy to see that there can be +no difficulty in producing the effect of great cosiness by an artistic +arrangement of photographs and knick-knacks. Jack looks into several of +the little rooms and is charmed at the taste and cleverness displayed +in this respect. + +It is not quite bedtime, but a few of the little boys, tired out +doubtless by the excitement of the match, are already tucked up for +the night, or, partly undressed, are flitting between the dormitory +and the wash-room, into which Jack and Haseltine are next ushered +to be shown the excellent bathing arrangements. Each pupil has his +separate set-bowl and soap and towels, and there is a liberal number of +bath-rooms, in some of which a fine splashing is going on. At the doors +of two of these, Mr. Sawyer, the dormitory master, who has, perhaps, +made the arrival of the new-comers an excuse for an unlooked-for tour +of inspection, knocks sharply, exclaiming, “Time’s up, Rogers. Been in +that tub long enough, Dickson;” in response to which, two watery faces +peep out in respectful expostulation. + +But now the chapel bell rings again, this time for prayers, to be +followed by a dismissal of all but the oldest boys to slumber. Mr. +Sawyer has to go, but Mrs. Betty remains to see Jack and Haseltine +snugly established in bed, where Jack is very happy to be, partly +because he is very tired, and partly because the hints on the subject +of Jack Spratt and his Wife, thrown out by Horace Hosmer, have filled +his mind with grim forebodings. He reflects that if he can conceal +himself from public view, he may yet be spared from torture for another +twenty-four hours, and makes haste accordingly. + +Mrs. Betty has taken her departure only just before the boys who share +this dormitory come trooping in, making a din which puts sleep, for +the moment, quite out of Jack’s head. It seems that fifteen minutes +are allowed to undress, after which the lights are put out, all +talking is forbidden, and any one caught in another’s room is liable +to punishment. The master at one end, and one of the prefects――who +are certain of the older boys clothed with a share of authority――at +the other, keep a lookout for whispering or unlawful expeditions. By +degrees the tumult dies away, but before it has wholly come to an end +both Jack and Haseltine have ceased to notice it. The assurance, in +answer to an inquiry hazarded by Haseltine at the last moment of Mrs. +Betty, who must have wondered at the question, that Jack Spratt and his +Wife sleep in another dormitory, has done much to tranquilize them. +Though each listens intently in trepidation for some minutes, weariness +gets the better alike of fear and curiosity so soon, that Mr. Sawyer, +who draws aside their curtains to see that they are all right before +the watchman on his rounds puts out the light, is satisfied that they +are fast asleep. And so they are. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + FIRST IMPRESSIONS. + + +How many of the fathers of the boys who are reading this story look +back on their school days with any great degree of satisfaction as +concerns the time spent in the schoolroom? Not a large number, it is +safe to assert, if the truth were known. You young fellows do not +appreciate your advantages, or, at least, you have small comprehension +of what lessons and masters were like twenty and thirty years ago. +Not that we were badly treated, in one sense. Even then floggings +were in tolerable disrepute; the birch was practically discarded, +and if the ferule was employed with some frequency in extreme cases, +its popularity as an educator was on the wane. Our teachers, though +rarely genial, intended to be just, and though strict were not harsh. +Stiffness and constraint were still deemed essential to secure decorum, +but the czar-like despotism which made the pedagogues of former +generations terrible had passed away. + +On the other hand, we were one and all mere machines for the acquisition +of so much Latin, Greek, and mathematics; machines, of which some ran +faster than others and with a certain show of brilliancy, but the best +of which did their work in the mechanical, unintelligent way that +machines invariably do. Most education then was a grand system of +memorizing, of getting by rote whole pages of Latin grammar, and other +subjects, so as to be able to spin them off as fast as the tongue could +move without hesitation or mistake. If you made either, and were +ambitious, it meant disaster, for there was always some slick-haired, +pale-faced lad on the watch to pick you up anywhere and put you down a +peg in the class as a consequence. What feats of marvelous mechanism in +this line were daily performed with the dry bones of “Andrews & +Stoddard’s” and “Baird’s Classical Manual”! Ask your father, any one of +you, if he can repeat that memory-confounding list of adjectives which +have no superlatives. There are twenty-eight of them, beginning with +“_adolescens adolescentior_ young, _agrestis agrestior_ rustic.” If he +cannot, there was a time when he could, and when――at least if he were +what was called in those days a good scholar――he could rattle off, +besides, the twenty-six prepositions governing the accusative and the +nouns of the third declension with either _e_ or _i_ in the ablative, +not forgetting at the same time that “_occiput_ has only _i_, _rus_ has +either _e_ or _i_, but _rure_ commonly signifies ‘from the country’ and +_ruri_ ‘in the country’; _mel_ has rarely _i_.” + +We were expected to divine, apparently, for few hints were given us +of the beauties of Cæsar and Virgil and Ovid, of the Anabasis and the +Iliad, of the manners, thoughts, and customs of the Greeks and Romans, +and the relations of the classic tongues to ours. But every one of +us was expected, when the master gave out from that gloomy little +compilation on ancient geography, “Baird’s Classical Manual,” _Sybaris_ +for instance, to be able, if called upon, to answer like a flash: +“Proverbial for the luxury of its inhabitants;” and then to continue +in sequence: “_Thurii_ founded by the Athenians B. C. 443, with whom +were Herodotus and Lysias the orator. In the west also, on the coast +_Elĕa_, _Helĭa_, or _Velīa_, the birthplace of Zeno and Parmenides, the +founders of the Eleatic School of Philosophy;” and so on until bidden +to stop. It is no exaggeration to state that there were boys who, if +started at any point in its sixty closely printed pages, could recite +to the end without slip or falter, and yet who had no further knowledge +concerning the places or individuals enumerated than was contained in +the brief paragraphs of which those just cited are prolix examples. + +It may have been noticed by the parents, if not by the boys who have +followed Jack’s experiences up to this point, that very little has been +said on the subject of his lessons, and that consideration has been +mainly given to his sports, his snow-ball fights, his mischief-making, +and what he did in general outside the schoolroom. + +Let us look the matter squarely in the face and acknowledge that the +least said regarding his schooling before he went to Utopia the better. +But in justice to the masters who had to undergo the discouragement of +seeing their efforts to make him learn prove of no avail, it should +be stated that the fault lay neither in them nor seriously in their +system of teaching. Already the theory of cultivating the memory alone +at the expense of the other faculties had fallen into disrepute in +the public schools of his native city, and was being supplanted by +methods calculated to make boys and girls think for themselves instead +of developing into mere machines. But it is to be feared that up to +this time the advantages of living in an enlightened age had been lost +upon our hero, if the interest he took in his daily tasks be regarded +as evidence. To tell the truth, he had been incorrigibly idle; his +thoughts rarely kept themselves fixed for five minutes at a time on +any branch of knowledge disassociated with the Frog Pond, Ma’am Horn, +Joe Herring, or some one or other of the interesting localities or +personages whose acquaintance we have already made. It had always been +a moment of supreme happiness to him when the bell sounded, announcing +that he was at liberty to pitch his dog’s-eared, pencil-marked books +into his desk and to depart for the day, and the hours preceding that +welcome summons were too apt to drag heavily unless relieved by oases +of mischief. It is no easy task, be the master ever so conscientious, +to engage the interest of those boys in a large class who count the +school hours in much the same spirit that a prisoner counts the weeks +which must elapse before he is free. To one fond of his calling and +ambitious to have his pupils shine, the good scholars must inevitably +commend themselves, and he is only too likely to let the rag, tag, and +bobtail shift for themselves, feeling, doubtless, that time and energy +spent in endeavoring to make them fond of their books cannot fail to +be wasted. It was to the rag, tag, and bobtail emphatically that Jack +had belonged. With three or four other boys, among whom was the ever +faithful Dubsy, he had disputed the doubtful distinction of being at +the foot of his class, and the monthly reports which he had brought +home to his mother were monotonous in their uniform lack of excellence. + +It will, therefore, be seen that the good advice, regarding the purpose +for which he had been sent to Utopia, delivered by Dr. Meredith on +that first evening, was peculiarly adapted to Jack’s needs, and should +have sunk deep into his heart. But just as one swallow will not make +a summer, a single homily will rarely suffice to change an idle boy +into an industrious one. If the truth must be told, there is reason to +doubt whether Jack gave that part of the Doctor’s lecture――although it +impressed him greatly for a moment, I dare say, and made him inwardly +resolve to be very diligent for the future――a second thought after he +went away under the wing of Mrs. Betty. And if he neglected to consider +the matter further that night, he certainly did not think much about +it in the morning, when, having escaped molestation from Jack Spratt +and his Wife, he awoke and found himself face to face with, and fairly +entranced by, the great school world. No wonder that the master who +examined the pair after breakfast, with a view to discovering their +acquirements, held up his hands in horror upon making his report to Dr. +Meredith, and observed, pathetically, that he was at a loss to decide +which of the two had made the worse showing. + +“They both seemed bright boys when I saw them last night,” answered the +Doctor. + +“Oh, they’re bright enough,” said Mr. Percy. “I judge, however, that +neither of them has ever been made to study.” + +“Then we shall have to begin at first principles,” was the reply. + +Accordingly Jack and Haseltine were enrolled in the lowest of the six +classes into which the school was divided, but in the first of the two +divisions composing the class. As they were not to take their places +until the following morning, they were free for the rest of the day +to look about them. They were left pretty much to their own devices +during the forenoon, for until half an hour before dinner time the +whole school was busy with recitations and study. So they improved +their opportunities, to begin with, by wandering around the large +quadrangle, peering up at the buildings, stepping for a moment into +the chapel, where they admired, with bated breath, the carving and +the stained-glass windows, and bringing up finally at the gymnasium. +Here they spent some time in the inspection of the bars, weights, +rowing-machines, and other apparatus, the use of which was explained +very kindly by the superintendent, Dr. Bolles, who introduced himself +to them, and who, at the close of his instructions, invited them into +his private office that he might take their measurements. After they +had stripped themselves to the skin, Dr. Bolles――having entered their +names, age, and birthplace in a large ledger, a separate page of which +was devoted to every boy in the school――proceeded to tap their bodies +and to listen to their lungs and hearts, in a very attentive manner. +Then he weighed them, ascertained their height, and the number of +inches they measured round the chest, forearm, biceps, hips, and calves. + +Haseltine, who was the first to go through the ordeal, looked a bit +lanky, stripped, and somewhat flat-chested. There was not much flesh on +his bones, as was apparent from the manner in which his ribs stuck out. + +“You must learn to hold yourself up straight, and not to stoop, +Haseltine,” said the superintendent, scrutinizing him critically. +“You’ll become round-shouldered if you don’t have a care. You should +use the upright bars every day. Appetite good?” + +“First rate,” answered Haseltine, looking rather crestfallen at this +depreciation of his physique. + +“Food runs to muscle, then. No spare flesh here,” he observed, passing +his hand over the little fellow’s frame. “Pretty wiry. Sound as a +trivet; but those chest-muscles need strengthening; we must build you +out. Good arm, very good,” he added, as Haseltine doubled up his +biceps with a smile of conscious pride. “Base-ball, I suppose; yes, +out of all proportion to the left; I thought so. Ever been examined +before?” Haseltine shook his head. “I suppose not. You’ve come here +just in time. We’ll make a man of you yet. Now Hall.” + +Jack was all of a tremble. In the first place, the stethoscope business +was rather alarming and suggested all sorts of possibilities in the +way of broken wind and heart-disease, and then he did not relish at +all being picked to pieces before Haseltine. He wondered whether he +looked equally scraggy, and derived his first ray of consolation from +the complimentary expression of Dr. Bolles’ eye, as the superintendent +(after taking several measurements in silence) stood off and surveyed +him with evident complacency. + +“Ah, Carlisle, good morning,” Dr. Bolles exclaimed to a delicate +appearing boy who had just entered the office. “There’s a good all +round fellow for you to model yourself on. No dyspepsia in him. He +doesn’t know what nerves mean. If you don’t grow up into a healthy, +well-formed man,” he continued to Jack, “it’ll be your own fault. +You’ve got a good start; you can’t be a Hercules, there’s not enough +of you for that, but you’re cut out for health if you take care of +yourself. You’ve been looked after at home, evidently. That’s all.” + +Jack put on his clothes again, feeling proud as a peacock, and entirely +reconciled to the fact that Haseltine’s biceps was bigger than his own. +The boy addressed as Carlisle, who was sauntering about in the office +quite at his ease, gave Jack and Haseltine a critical glance from his +handsome dark eyes, and then examined for a few moments the doctor’s +entries in the ledger regarding them. He was a striking-looking lad, +with an intelligent and at the same time attractive expression, and +though he was slight and evidently far from robust, there was nothing +effeminate either in his appearance or manner. + +“How are you, to-day?” Dr. Bolles inquired of him. + +“Oh, I’m better; I feel like a fighting-cock,” was the reply. + +“You look better. But now, my dear boy, pray give yourself a chance. +You can’t do everything,――be a ball-player, good oar, crack sprinter, +and the head of your class, all at the same time, with your present +physique, and keep well. Hall and Haseltine,” the superintendent +added, “let me make you acquainted with Louis Carlisle, our champion +short-distance runner, and poet laureate. He has been in the infirmary +for the past fortnight because he wouldn’t take care of himself. I dare +say that if you two boys are so inclined, he will stroll with you up to +the lake to show you the boat-houses and enlighten you a little as to +how we live at Utopia.” + +“I shall be very glad, I’m sure,” answered Carlisle politely. “The walk +will do me good.” + +He was half a head taller than either Jack or Haseltine, and evidently +two years their senior. In a tone not unduly patronizing he proceeded +to make a running commentary on what they saw, as they accompanied him +a few minutes later on the projected tour of investigation. + +“What dormitory are you in?” he inquired at the start. + +“Fullham,” said Jack. + +“That’s mine, too. I’m to go back in a day or two. It’s dreadfully +lonely in the infirmary when no one else is sick. I caught cold after +winning the hundred-yard dash, and Dr. Bolles says I was threatened +with typhoid. There’s the infirmary,” he added, pointing to a +good-sized cottage in the field behind Granger Hall. “You can just see +it. Every one who is sick is sent there. A year ago there were eighteen +cases of measles at the same time. Can either of you leg it any?” he +inquired, eying them each in turn with a scientific air. + +“I used to run pretty fast at prisoner’s base,” said Jack. + +“I’ve practiced stealing second a good deal,” replied Haseltine. + +“There’s the track,” continued Carlisle, indicating the flagged +half-mile course which surrounded the foot-ball field. “Like to see it +near to?” + +The boys assented and followed their guide over the terrace for a few +yards, until they came to a kind of stand not unlike a witness-box, +to which they ascended. “Here’s where the judges sit and where we +finish,” he said. “We have athletic sports, that is, running and +jumping, and all that sort of thing, twice a year, once in the spring +and once in the autumn. The spring meeting comes off in about a month. +The hundred-yard dash, which I won, was an extra match got up by the +backers of Coleman, Junior. His brother, Coleman, Senior, who went to +Harvard last year, was champion of the school for three years, and he +is trying to follow in his brother’s footsteps.” + +“Were you ever licked?” asked Jack, looking up in the crack runner’s +face with respectful admiration. + +“Oh yes, often. Coleman, Senior, licked me right along until the last +time, when I beat the school record. I dare say Jessup’ll make it warm +for me before long. He’s only in the fifth, but I’d almost back him +to-day against Coleman, Junior. Are you both in the sixth?” + +The boys nodded. + +“I’m in the third; quite a patriarch, you see. There’s no reason why +both of you shouldn’t make good sprinters if you give your minds to it.” + +This prophecy sounded agreeable to Jack and Haseltine as they trotted +along, one on either side of him, on their way to the lake, passing out +of the quadrangle through the same arched portal by which they had +entered it the night before, and so over the base-ball practice field +to the main road, from which Carlisle presently diverged to take a cut +across the meadows. He explained to them, among other things, that +every one had to be inside the quadrangle at the close of the curfew, +as the supper-bell at half-past six was called, on pain of an interview +with Dr. Meredith. + +“Are you on the nine?” inquired Haseltine, who had been burning to ask +the question. + +“Not on the school nine. I was on the dormitory nine, but I’ve decided +not to play this year. I’m trying not to spread my butter too thin, as +Dr. Bolles calls it. He thinks I do too many things,” he added by way +of explanation. “You know each of the dormitories has its separate nine +and foot-ball team, and there’s great rivalry between them. Fullham +beat Dudley the first match of the season last Saturday, and plays +Rogers this afternoon.” + +This announcement was very interesting. Before they reached the lake, +Carlisle had also informed them that there was a cricket eleven, a +weekly newspaper called “The Utopian,” of which he was one of the +editors, a glee club, and four eight-oared crews,――the Atalantas, +Orions, Nimrods, and Mohicans. “There are, besides, ten single-scull +shells and several pair oars,” he said, leading the way into one of the +two tastefully built boat-houses, perched side by side on the bank of +the broad lake, each with a covered piazza in front. + +The main space in the centre, as they entered, was filled by the +eight-oared racing-boats, the sight of which lying side by side +delighted and almost awed Jack, who had never examined anything of the +sort, and who straightway made the resolution that, no matter what +else he did or did not do at Utopia, he would go in for rowing. He had +often heard his mother tell that his father had been a famous oar in +his day, and he himself was entirely at home in a dory, and able, in +his own opinion, already to scull nearly if not quite as well as the +fishermen at Nahant and Swampscott, whose companion he was wont to be +in the summer time on their expeditions after cod and haddock. He had +often wished to look at a paper shell near to, and now his ambition +was gratified. There were rests on each side of the building, reaching +nearly to the ceiling, along which the small boats were arranged in +tiers, and in one corner was a snug little room hung with flags, and +photographs of winning crews and crack oarsmen, and furnished with a +round table and chairs, where, Carlisle said, the meetings of the club +were held. In the adjoining boat-house were more boats, including an +eight-oared barge, of which, as Carlisle told them, Mrs. Meredith was +the coxswain whenever she was willing to go out on the lake. + +“It’s great fun here a little later in the season,” observed their +guide as they sat down to rest on the piazza after everything had been +inspected. “On a pleasant, still afternoon there are sometimes more +than twenty boats out, of one kind and another.” + +“Who’s the fastest rower?” asked Jack. + +“The Doctor is the crack single sculler.” + +“The Doctor? Does he row?” + +“Oh, yes, indeed. He came pretty near being beaten, though, last year. +Whitehead crawled up on him so that there wasn’t more than half a +length between them at the finish. You never saw such excitement.” + +“Wasn’t he mad?” inquired Jack, to whom the idea of a master being +beaten by one of his scholars seemed most extraordinary. + +“Who, the Doctor? Not a bit of it; he’s a true sport,” said Carlisle. +“There was no one more pleased than he at being forced to pull for all +he was worth.” + +Further inquiry revealed that the Atalantas were for the time being the +champion of the eight-oared crews; and after a score more questions, +which Carlisle answered most good-naturedly, the boys retraced their +footsteps so as to get back in time for dinner. Seeing that their +mentor was so well disposed, Jack took occasion on the way to impart a +little of what Horace Hosmer had dropped regarding Jack Spratt and his +Wife, which Carlisle listened to at first with no other comment than an +occasional sidelong glance, which struck them as far from reassuring. +Once Carlisle started to speak, but some impediment in his throat +checking him, he seemed to change his mind, until Haseltine’s remark +that they were fortunate in being in a different dormitory from the +formidable pair drew out the laconic observation, “That won’t help you +much.” + +“Why?” asked Jack. + +“Those fellows are all over the lot,” was the answer. “They’d think +nothing of snaking a new boy out of bed in the small hours of the +morning, no matter where he was.” + +“But I wonder the Doctor allows it,” said Haseltine, hoping for a more +satisfactory response to this exclamation than it had elicited from +Horace. + +“Who’s to tell him?” cried Carlisle sternly, looking straight at +the offender. “You boys may count on one thing, and that is that +tale-bearing doesn’t go down at Utopia. Any fellow who told tales here +would be hustled out of the school, and the Doctor’d be the first to +avoid him.” + +The decision with which these words were spoken caused Jack and +Haseltine to hang their heads guiltily, and presumably to reflect that +the couplet―― + + “Tell-tale tit, + Your tongue shall be slit, + And all the dogs in the town + Shall have a little bit,” + +formed a no less important part of the code of youth than of childhood. + +“It’s hard on new boys, I admit,” continued Carlisle, after a moment, +in a contemplative tone, “and if those fellows keep on in their cruel +ways they’ll kill somebody next.” + +“Horace Hosmer told us they did kill two boys last term,” said Jack, in +a stage whisper. + +“Yes,” exclaimed Haseltine; “it was reported to be chicken-pox, but he +says he helped to lay them out after they were dead, and they were a +mass of bruises from the crown of the head to the soles of the feet.” + +Carlisle looked very grave and nodded his head with an ominous air. “I +didn’t suppose Horace knew about it,” he said; “it was kept very dark.” + +“Then you knew of it?” asked Jack. + +“Bless you, yes. It ought to have taught Tobey and Donaldson a lesson,” +Carlisle added gloomily, “but it didn’t. They’re just as bad as ever, +this term.” + +“What is the best thing to do if――if they should ever happen to fix on +us?” asked Jack presently, with a slight gulp. + +Carlisle whistled reflectively. “I’ll be doggoned if I know,” he +replied at last. “I’d keep a stiff upper lip, if I were you, and be +as sandy as you can. They’ll let you off easily, perhaps, if they see +you’ve got grit; but if you funk, I wouldn’t give much for your chances +of getting through with a whole skin. I’ll say a good word for you in +advance. It may save you a broken leg or arm.” + +After the delivery of this speech, Carlisle indulged in a short, +hysterical laugh, which seemed to his listeners quite out of keeping +with their own feelings. But it was evidently a mere spasmodic +expression of sympathy, for his countenance immediately regained the +expression of deep gloom which it had worn ever since the subject of +Spratt and his Wife had been introduced. + +“Thank you very much indeed,” answered each of the boys in turn. + +“Not at all――not at all. I fear that my words cannot avail you much,” +he responded. + +They were now within school bounds again, and there was only just +time to go to their rooms before dinner. Carlisle, in keeping with +his previous kindness, announced that as it might be advisable to say +what he had to say to Tobey and Donaldson at once, he would take his +dinner with the school. Accordingly, assuring the boys that he felt +well enough for this exertion, he started off at a lively jog for the +infirmary so as to be on hand. + +Jack and Haseltine had been given provisional seats at breakfast, but +Mrs. Betty, who presided over the younger boys, now assigned them to +places not far from one another at her own table. It was an impressive +moment, and one could have heard a pin drop while the Doctor asked a +blessing in his clear, manly tones on the repast spread for his two +hundred hungry pupils, who stood behind their chairs in long lines up +and down the big hall waiting for the signal to fall to, which they +did with a vengeance you may be sure, when they got it. Dr. Meredith +and his wife, the married masters, and a few of the prefects occupied +a table on a platform at one end of the room at right angles with the +others and overlooking them all. There was a master at the end of each, +who did the carving and kept good order. + +The dinner was simple but extremely good. A clear, honest soup well +flavored with vegetables; ribs of roast beef carefully basted and +neither done to death nor so distressingly blue as some cooks are +capable of sending it up from the kitchen; potatoes, tomatoes, +macaroni, light bread, sweet butter, and for dessert a cup of baked +custard invitingly served. Everything was clean and neat, thanks to +the vigilant eye of Mrs. Betty and her assistants, and thanks, first +of all, to the founders of Utopia, who laid it down as one of the +principles of the school that so everything must be. No extravagance, +no rich dishes, no wine or beer, but plenty of blood-making, +sinew-strengthening, bone-building food, fresh, appetizing, and +unspoiled. + +I have seen school tables, and between you and me private tables also, +at which such a dinner as that just described was made thoroughly +unpalatable by the manner in which it was prepared; where the soup was +a thin, unseasoned, straw-colored fluid, the beef ruined by one of +the extremes of cooking already referred to, the vegetables greasy, +the bread clammy, the butter rancid, and the cup of custard pale +and watery. There are persons who do not think such matters worth +considering, who believe that any time devoted to making our daily +repasts savory is misspent, and that young people, boys in particular, +should eat what is set before them without asking questions, thankful +that there is anything to eat at all. + +It is easy to perceive that such doctrines are thoroughly pernicious +and unsound, if you reflect that our capabilities as men and women are +chiefly dependent on what our bodies permit us to be, and that the +component parts of these bodies are determined in the main by the food +we eat, the air we breathe, the clothing we wear, and the sleep we get. +There is no greater mistake in the world than to disregard the laws of +health under the plea that they are not worthy of notice; and if they +are thus important for those of us who are grown up to bear in mind as +essential to human wellbeing, how much more vital is it that the young +should be given every opportunity to fit themselves physically for +the battle of life. Bear this in mind, boys, and when you are served +with slovenly, unwholesome cookery, protest with all your might. Do +not be ashamed to know and recognize good things to eat. The temperate +enjoyment of the pleasures of the table is a legitimate and important +element of happiness. + +Meanwhile our young friend, Jack Hall, has been enjoying his dinner +mightily, though it is no better, in truth, than what he has been +accustomed to at home, which is not surprising if we recall the +double devotion of his mother and the faithful Hannah, whose hearts +are doubtless pretty sore at this time. When his hunger is somewhat +appeased he ventures to gaze about him a little, exchanging a few shy +words with the boys near him, all of whom seem friendly and willing to +receive him as a companion. He makes the acquaintance of Buck on one +side of him, Horton on the other, and Travers, Bailey, and Cunningham +across the table. Horton, who is a plump, talkative little chap of his +own size, points out to him the various school celebrities, including +Ramsay, Bedloe, and Goldthwaite of the nine; Burbank, the stalwart, +bearded captain of the fifteen; and little, active-looking Bobby +Crosby, who, as Jack knows, is expected to take Burbank’s place next +year; Hazelhurst, the stroke of the Atalantas and champion oar of the +school (always excepting the invincible Doctor) now that Whitehead has +graduated; and Carlisle, who nods across the room in a friendly manner +from his seat with the big second-class boys, so that Horton asks with +interest, “Do you know him?” + +“I was introduced to him this morning at the gymnasium,” replies Jack. +“He showed Haseltine and me to the boat-houses.” + +“He’s the smartest boy at Utopia,――first rate at games, head of his +class, and champion sprinter. There’s Coleman, Junior, sitting with the +third next to Jumbo,――his real name’s Blair, but every one calls him +Jumbo because he’s so fat,――he can run pretty fast, and it’s neck and +neck between him and Jessup, that boy on the right of Mr. Sawyer, but +neither of them can catch Carlisle. You ought to hear Jumbo sing; he’s +the best tenor we’ve got.” + +Most of this information is not new to Jack, but he is glad to hear the +heroes catalogued again at a time when he can take a good peep at them. +He feels proud of his acquaintance with Carlisle, and glances from +time to time in that direction, for he has not forgotten his senior’s +promise to speak a good word for him. + +“I wonder what’s up at the second form table,” says Horton presently. +“Some one or other keeps turning round and laughing. There must be a +gag on you,” he adds, turning to Jack, who has already noticed this +tendency on the part of the boys in the vicinity of his benefactor. +“Have you done anything fresh?” + +“Not that I know of,” answers poor Jack, who is feeling far from +comfortable. + +The dessert is finished, and in another minute dinner will be over. All +of a sudden Carlisle gets up, and after saying a word to the master at +the head of the table, crosses to one of those occupied by the fourth +class, and stoops to speak to two boys sitting side by side, whom Jack +recognizes instantly as Tobey and Donaldson, the redoubtable Spratt +and Wife. He has not perceived them before, though he has been on +the lookout for them, and now that he takes a glance at them they do +not strike him as very terrible in appearance. They are good-natured +looking enough, but appearances are deceitful in this world, as Jack +very well knows, and he quails as he observes the gaze of the trio +rest on him and Haseltine alternately. Carlisle’s eyes sparkle as he +talks, and he keeps his hand to his mouth so that Jack cannot judge +much by its expression. Spratt and Wifey listen for a moment or two +in judicial silence, then a broad, convulsive smile, which suggests, +at least to Jack, the hilarity of a hyena, overspreads the features of +each, only to be succeeded by a look of glowing fierceness, which seems +to the unhappy lads――for Haseltine is no less conscious of it than +Jack――to argue ill for the future. While they are still beneath its +spell the school rises from table, and the two boys are swept along to +the terrace, where Carlisle presently joins them, but only to draw them +aside and whisper the ominous tidings, “I’ve done my best for you, but +they think you look too cocky,” an announcement which makes them both +feel very miserable. + +Just then a big boy, bat in hand, and wearing a large =F= +embroidered on the bosom of his shirt, accosted their mentor with the +eager inquiry,――“Won’t you help us out, Carlisle? Dobson has a game +knee and can’t possibly play.” + +“Wish I could, Chalmers, but I’ve promised Dr. Bolles to let up on +base-ball for the rest of the term. I’m only just out of the infirmary.” + +“Yes, I know; but it’s mighty tough lines on us to have so many of our +best men knocked up. Potts had word this morning that his mother is +sick and started for home before dinner, and Plummer bust his finger +against the Stars yesterday.” + +“What’s the matter with Cochrane?” + +“Oh, Cochrane’s no good. He’ll fan himself out every time, cock sure, +on Bedloe’s pitching. We’re hard up for third base, and Cochrane’s +useless except in the field. They’ve got their strongest team,” said +Chalmers impatiently. + +“What is it?” whispered Haseltine to Carlisle. + +“Fullham against Rogers.” + +“I can play third base,” continued Haseltine, to Jack’s infinite +astonishment. + +Carlisle laughed gayly. “Here’s your chance, Chalmers,” he said. “This +new Fullhamite says he’s an artist.” + +“What’s your name?” asked Chalmers, scanning Haseltine from top to toe. + +“Frank Haseltine.” + +“Have you played much?” + +“I’ve played third base on the St. Louis Rising Suns for two years.” + +“Are you in practice?” + +“First rate.” + +There was an assurance about the applicant that evidently impressed +Chalmers. “Would you try him?” he asked Carlisle. + +“He talks well.” + +“Talk is cheap,” growled Chalmers. “Well, be on hand, then,” he said +to Haseltine. “Get into your togs as soon as you can. The game’ll be +called in fifteen minutes.” + +Haseltine looked radiant with delight as the large boy strode away. “Do +you think he’ll let me play?” he inquired beseechingly of Carlisle. + +“I guess so; he’s captain of the Fullham nine. It’s a big chance for +you, youngster, to show what you’re made of. Now run along and get +ready.” + +Jack felt rather envious, but not so much so as not to be thoroughly +glad of his friend’s good fortune. Indeed, as he sat by while Haseltine +got into his flannels, he was very well pleased to think that he was +not going to play himself. It was pretty evident from the way Haseltine +had spoken of the Rising Suns the day before, that they were a much +superior nine to the Massasoits, of which club Jack knew that he had +by no means been the strongest player, a conviction which helped to +reconcile him to being left out. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + HASELTINE MAKES HIS DÉBUT. + + +It has been, and still is, the fashion in certain circles to decry +base-ball, and to hold up to the youth of the country the superiority +of cricket, as a pastime. The arguments, such as they are,――chief +among which is the plea that cricket is a more gentlemanly game, for +the reason that one can play it with exceeding comfort after leaving +school and college as well or nearly as well as before,――need not be +reiterated, inasmuch as there is no longer room for argument. The case +is closed. The boys have heard what was to be said on either side, and +have come to a final conclusion in regard to the matter. Base-ball is +undeniably the national sport from one end of the land to the other, +and no amount of chafing on the part of those who think the decision +unwise can make the long cherished cricket of our English cousins +widely popular on this side of the water. And after all, if we examine +the reasons, the boys are not far out. Be it said with bated breath +and yet clearly and unequivocally, that it requires more skill, far +more skill to excel at base-ball, as it is played to-day, than at any +other sport. Talk of muscle, nerve, wind, quickness and correctness +of eye, fleetness of foot, temper, bottom, and grit,――what one of +these qualities is not put in training when two closely matched nines +meet to play ball? Try it, gentlemen of England, for yourselves and +see. You will have to come to the conclusion――take my Yankee word for +it――that there is more in our game than you think; and what is more, +you will know in your hearts, though you will never acknowledge it, +that an all-day cricket match under the trees, relieved by respites +for beef and beer and dawdled the whole time,――for you take things +pretty leisurely after every “over,”――is a tame affair, though a very +gentlemanly and delightful one, compared with what we are able to show +you under the head of ball-playing. Don’t mistake us, gentlemen of +England: we know that cricket is a grand old game, we have watched it +often (though it is a trifle dull to watch), played it, too, and we +continue to play it at times, but when you come to talk about muscle +and nerve and temper and bottom and grit, and all that, as we have said +already, we are ready to back our national game against the world. + +Chalmers and Hackett, the captains of the rival dormitory teams, are +tossing up to see which nine shall go in first, as the two new boys +arrive on the scene. Fullham wins and sends its opponents to the bat. +“Game called!” cries the umpire, and Haseltine has just time to throw +off his jacket and get into position at third base before Rainsford, +who is to pitch for the Fullhamites, enters the box. Rainsford is +known as “the kid” because of his slight appearance. He is only in the +fourth, but his drop balls have proved successful teasers ere this. + +See how every player on the fielding nine has his nerves taut as Billy +Douglas steps to the home plate to lead off, and poises his bat! +They are boys, of course,――they have not the experience and sinew of +professional or college teams,――but they are sturdy fellows for all +that. They mean business: so does Billy; there is blood in his eye; he +hopes to start off with a three bagger. + +“One ball!” cries the umpire. + +“Two balls!” + +That won’t do, Rainsford; you can’t afford to let him get his base on +balls. Carefully now. + +“One strike!” + +Ah, that’s better; the kid is settling down to his work. Now another! +A hit, a palpable hit! Away scuds Douglas with all the vim of his +Scotch forefathers, to get to first before the ball. No use, Billy; +Goldthwaite has it at second easy enough and pops it to Maitland, who, +as every one knows, is pretty sure to hold on to anything that comes +within his reach. A shout goes up from the Fullhamites, who to the +number of a score or more, including Jack, are grouped together on +one side of the catcher, which is answered by a bracing cheer from a +similar posse from the rival dormitory at the other side. + +Pousland, the next striker, makes a base hit, but not to much purpose, +since Hackett knocks up an easy fly for the kid to absorb without +difficulty, and Johnson succumbs on a foul tip to Chalmers catching +under the bat in his iron mask and padded gloves with an eye to second +which Pousland is hoping to steal. But the third out settles that +question, and down goes a goose-egg for Rogers. + +The formidable Bedloe is a brawny lad to look at, and he has to back +him Bobby Crosby at left field and Harry Ramsay at first, making three +of the school nine against only Chalmers and Goldthwaite on the side of +Fullham. Chalmers goes to the bat to give his team courage, and sends a +sky scraper to centre field which is captured cleverly. The kid falls +a prey to an easy grounder to short stop, and it looks as though the +innings would pan out poorly for the Fullhamites. But one can count on +nothing at base-ball until the last man is out; in testimony to which +Hamlen, who comes next in order, is given his base on called balls, +steals second by a judicious slide, and is sent to third on a fumble of +a hot liner,――a corker,――which Jackson hits to second, getting his base +thereby. Then Goldthwaite comes to the bat amid great applause, and +some one cries out, “Now for a grass-mower, Goldy!” + +Goldthwaite proves worthy of the confidence reposed in him. Two strikes +are called on him while he waits for a ball just in the right place. +He gets it at last, when Bedloe, hoping that the umpire will call +another strike (for until this year you know three strikes was the +limit), eases up and throws in a slow one. Goldthwaite swipes with all +his might and sends the ball between left and centre field, but clean +out of reach of Crosby and Plympton. A home run! No, not quite, only +a three bagger. Goldthwaite holds his third, but Hamlen and Jackson +have scored. Two runs to a goose-egg; not bad to start with. But there +is Ogden out on a foul and the innings over with Goldthwaite still on +third. + +Three innings more on either side do not vary the lead, for while +Rogers gets a run in the third, Fullham caps it with a single in the +fourth, and the score is three to one. No chance now for a complete +whitewash, which some of the enthusiasts among the lookers-on, +encouraged by the start, have hoped for. On the contrary, the shrewder +mind knows that it will be all Fullham can do to hold her lead. Rogers +has been settling down to work. Bedloe is in fine form, and is being +backed up bravely. They are getting on to the kid, too, and pound +him for a run and two base hits in the fifth, being prevented from +tying the score only by a magnificent double play of Goldthwaite and +Maitland. Then they put the Fullhamites out in one, two, three order. + +Haseltine has been doing fairly well, though as yet he has had but +two chances in the field, the first of which, a fly, went up a +moderate distance and fell so plump into his hands that he did not +have to budge. The other, a gently ambling grounder, shot between +his legs just as he thought he had it; an error which elicited from +Horton, who was sitting beside Jack, the unflattering exclamation, +“Beastly butter-fingers!” However, there is a style and general air of +knowingness about him which has attracted attention, and Chalmers has +so far continued his own confidence in him as to fling twice to third +in order to frighten men who were off their bases, on each of which +occasions Haseltine got on to the ball, and once came very near putting +the too daring adversary out. He is evidently no green hand, as he has +further shown by the way he handles the bat. Though apparently too +small to be a very formidable willow-wielder, his first whack sent the +ball far to right field, where it was taken into camp very prettily, +it must be owned. The second time he got his base on balls, but was +put out trying to steal second, in spite of a most admirable slide on +his stomach for several feet. The decision of the umpire displeased +the crowd of Fullhamites, who manifested their resentment by crying +“Not out, not out!” vociferously, and applauded Haseltine as he came +in from the base crestfallen and covered with dust. It had been in the +next innings that he muffed the grounder, and he was now feeling very +much dissatisfied with himself and eager to wipe out these spots on his +record by some brilliant stroke. + +The sixth innings adds another goose-egg to each score, in spite +of hard hitting on both sides, and the seventh begins amid a hush +of suspense. Jack can scarcely sit still, he is so nervous with +excitement, and he is hoarse with spelling out at the top of his +lungs, after every favorable play, “F-U-L-L-H-A-M! Fullham!” which is +the dormitory yell. It is anybody’s game, as Rainsford, the kid, well +knows, and he plants his feet in the box with the air of one aware that +the least let-up or carelessness will be fatal. Pousland is at the bat +again, and whacks at the first ball. It flies whizzing in Haseltine’s +direction, but out of reach, and a shout from the Rogers crowd rends +the air. But it is short-lived, for the umpire, who is watching +carefully, cries, “Foul ball!” Whereupon Pousland, who is halfway to +first, has to retrace his steps in a melancholy fashion. Had it but +struck just the other side of the line, it would have been good for two +bags. He poises his bat again viciously. + +“One strike,” calls Prendergast, the umpire, who is captain of Dudley. + +There is a roar from Fullham, and the striker, glancing round at the +umpire sulkily, strikes the tip of his bat against the ground and grits +his teeth as he makes ready for another ball. + +“Foul,――out!” + +The tick is plainly audible, and Chalmers’ gloves have closed firmly on +the ball. Pousland drops his bat and walks away in disgust. His place +is taken by Hackett, who strikes at the first two balls without hitting +either, but sends the third over second base skimming to centre, where +Ogden jumps a little and holds it above his head,――a pretty but not +very difficult catch, whereat the welkin rings. + +“Here come Dr. and Mrs. Meredith,” says Horton to Jack, as the uproar +gradually subsides. + +Sure enough, they are close at hand, having come down expressly to +see the end of the match, and are given good seats on one of the few +benches supplied for such celebrities. Several of the masters have been +watching the contest since the beginning, but the presence of the head +of the school is evidently a new incentive to every player to good +work, if any were still needed. + +Johnson is the third man at the bat. Prendergast calls one ball on +the kid, and Johnson swipes the next. It somehow or other gets past +Goldthwaite, and before Hamlen can field it to Maitland the striker is +safe at first. It is now the turn for Rogers to howl, which it does +with a vengeance,――“R-O-G-E-R S! Roger-r-rs!” + +Ferguson is to strike now. He is third base and one of Rogers’ heaviest +sluggers. Hackett goes down behind first to coach Johnson and tell him +when to try to steal second. + +“One strike!” + +“One ball!” + +“Two balls!” + +Johnson, meanwhile, is bobbing up and down hesitating whether to run or +not. The kid, just as he looks ready to pitch the fourth, turns and +makes the gesture of hurling to first. + +“Look out!” bawls Hackett, and Johnson rushes back to the base and +plumps one foot on it. + +There is no need for so much exertion, as it happens, for Rainsford’s +throw is make-believe. He has only pretended to fling the ball. +Whereupon he turns and pitches rapidly. + +“Go!” holloas Hackett, excitedly. “Go-o!” + +“Three balls!” cries the umpire. + +Johnson is scooting for second at the top of his speed. Although the +pitch was a trifle wild, the padded gloves are in the right place, +and Chalmers slams it to Goldthwaite, who claps it on to Johnson, and +holds up his hand claiming an out. But Prendergast, who has run forward +nearly to the pitcher’s box in order to see distinctly, shakes his head +and waves Johnson to hold his base, amid deafening cheers from the +Rogerines, and groans from the Fullhamites. + +Let me say right here, boys, that the trick of “downing” umpires is +cowardly, and smacks of the blackguard. Be careful, to begin with, +whom you select to act; but when your choice is made, be men enough +to keep your temper and accept his decisions without kicking. It has +come to be the fashion among the great crowds that attend base-ball +matches over the country, to abuse umpires in language worthy only of +Billingsgate, and even to threaten them with personal violence. It is a +mean and contemptible method of bullying a man in a position where he +is powerless to defend himself, and at a time when he needs to have all +his faculties bent on the game, and no gentleman will take part in it. + +Johnson holds his base, and the kid prepares to pitch again. + +“Four balls!” + +Rainsford must be getting nervous. + +“Five balls!” + +This will never do. + +“Two strikes!” + +Ah, there! Now or never! + +“Six balls! Take your base.” + +Ferguson trots leisurely to first, and his place at the diamond is +filled by Plympton, the centre field, who hits the first ball for +a clean single between short and second, letting in Johnson, and +advancing Ferguson a base. The score is tied, and the hubbub is very +disheartening to the backers of Fullham. + +“Looks sort of sick for our side,” Jack hears some one say to Carlisle, +who is squatting not far from him. + +“Game’s young yet,” is the cheery answer. + +It is Bedloe’s turn now. He advances confidently, and in imitation of +Plympton’s example lifts the first ball and drives it to left field, +where Jackson gets under it, and――sad to chronicle――drops it. Ferguson +comes in, of course, and Plympton too, although he should have been +out; but Chalmers fails to hold Goldthwaite’s swift throw from second. +Five runs to three! Those muffs were very costly. + +Bobby Crosby hits an easy grounder to Haseltine, which the little +fellow picks up neatly and throws to first. Maitland holds it, and the +Rogerines are out at last. + +Jackson is at the bat first. He hits hard, anxious, doubtless, to atone +for his error; but Hackett is on deck at second and fields beautifully +to Ramsay. There is a flutter of anticipation as “Goldy” steps to +the front. Like several of his opponents he swipes at the first ball +pitched. “Hurrah! Look――look――is it a home run?” Everybody is on his +feet following the ball to left field. Bobby Crosby, there’s your +chance. Gently now, or it will be over your head. It is going faster +than it seems. Oh, well caught, well caught, youngster, and well +judged, too, which is more than half the battle! Right over your left +shoulder and on the full run, too! O-U-T! Everybody is cheering, for +even Fullham can afford to applaud a play like that, and the Doctor, +shouting as loud as any one, waves his hat and cries, “Well caught, +Crosby!” Hard luck, Goldthwaite. It was a good crack, but not quite +elastic enough. Who’s the next victim? + +It is Ogden, who pops up a fly which falls into Bedloe’s hand, snug as +a bug, and the side is out. + +“Confound it!” says Horton, a sentiment which Jack echoes at heart. + +Ramsay begins the eighth with a single to right field. Pousland goes +out on a foul tip once more. Hackett takes a base on balls. Johnson +hits to Jackson at left, who does not muff this time. Ferguson, the +slugger, swipes hard and misses. + +“One strike!” + +“Two strikes!” + +Ramsay is on third and Hackett on second, so that if Ferguson can make +a safe hit there is a good chance for two more runs. + +“F-E-R-G-U-S-O-N! Ferguson-n-n!” + +The kid examines the ball and puts down his head to pitch. The slugger +does not move. + +“Three strikes!” cries the umpire. “Out!” + +This is better, and revives somewhat the drooping courage of Fullham. +Carlisle proposes three cheers for the kid, which are given with great +enthusiasm. + +“Now, Maitland,” says Chalmers. + +Charley Maitland waits for two called balls and one strike before he +gets the one he is hoping for. Then he hits with all his might a driver +to the inner centre field, where there is no one to catch it, and takes +his first. The kid, who receives another round of applause as he steps +to the plate, knocks one to Johnson at short, who lets it by him this +time. + +There are two on bases, Merriman. A good deal depends on you. Pshaw! +straight into Ramsay’s hands. Run, Rainsford; run, if you do not wish +to be cut off at second. Safe! but only just in time. If Ramsay had not +waited so long you were a sure out. The Rogerines are taking a turn at +muffing. Next striker. + +It is our friend Haseltine. He glances across at Jack as he goes in. + +“One strike!” calls Prendergast, though Haseltine has not moved. + +“Don’t get flustered; take your time, youngster,” says Chalmers kindly. + +“One ball!” + +This gives the ex-Rising Sun hero courage. Charley Maitland and the kid +are edging off their bases ready to proceed the instant the ball leaves +the bat. + +All of a sudden there is a terrific roar, and every one starts up +again, craning forward to see the third base line. + +“Run!” bellows Chalmers to Haseltine, who cuts away for first. But +before he reaches it, the umpire, who has shaded his eyes with his hand +so as to make no mistake, cries “Fair ball!” and on Haseltine dashes to +second and again to third. Here Chalmers stops him with an emphatic +“Hold your base!” Meanwhile, Maitland and the kid have come home. +The score is tied again, and the uproar is prodigious. Panting but +thoroughly happy, Haseltine waits at third, and Captain Chalmers takes +his turn at the bat. + +We are viewing the game through Jack’s eyes, to whom every safe +hit and every good bit of fielding seems marvelous; but though the +standard of play may be higher among some of you older boys, there +can be no denying the absorbing interest inspired at Utopia by these +yearly contests for supremacy between the respective dormitories, +second only to the occasional contests with nines from other schools. +The thrill felt by Jack as Chalmers takes his position to strike is +shared by every one of the two hundred boys and their masters present. +For by this time there is scarcely a soul in the school who is not a +spectator. Even Horace Hosmer is squatting at the further end of the +field beyond the possible reach of the ball, and Jack can see him clap +his big hands in honor of Haseltine’s three bagger. + +But Chalmers is at the bat. + +“One ball!” + +Haseltine evidently has it in mind to try to steal home, for if +Chalmers does not get his first the side will be out; but “Goldy,” who +has taken the captain’s place as coach, cautions him with “Steady now,” +and “Bide your time, youngster,” not to stray too far from the base. + +“One strike!” + +Pousland, the catcher, hurls to third to intimidate Haseltine, who +dodges back in time to get his foot on the bag before Ferguson can +touch him. + +“Two balls!” + +Well done, Chalmers! Another shout, this time louder and more +star-striking than any yet evoked, bursts forth from the Fullhamite +ranks. There is ample reason for it, too. Both Bobby Crosby and +Plympton are in full career after the ball, which is bounding beyond +them at a fearful pace. They make superhuman efforts to overtake it, +and Bobby returns it magnificently, but to no purpose, for Chalmers +has made a clean round of the bases and is safely home. As for +Haseltine, he has trotted in comfortably and is sharing with the +captain hand-shaking and back-slapping from a score of palms. He knows +that the score is now seven to five, and that he has wiped out his +early errors. His happiness, already complete, is made ecstatic by the +congratulations of the Doctor, who comes up to him just as he is on +the point of going over to Jack and says, “You’re beginning bravely, +Haseltine; if you go on at this rate you will be in training for the +school nine before long.” + +“The school nine!” Could there be a more enviable compliment to a new +boy on his first day at Utopia? He sees Mrs. Meredith smile at him from +her seat and clap her hands. He touches his cap in sheepish fashion, +and with cheeks aflame is glad to get down beside Jack and, riding his +bat, watch Hamlen strike. + +“Ah!” + +This time the cry of triumph is premature. The ball goes afield +grandly, but Billy Douglas is under it before it falls, and Hamlen +makes the third out. + +The Rogerines are rather quiet. They have only this inning in which to +win the game. But the nine is not going to give in without making a +hard fight for it, you may be certain. Two runs will tie and three put +them ahead. Not so very many to get, if fortune favors them and they +can work in a batting streak. + +Plympton is the first on the list of strikers. He is a determined-looking +fellow, with a bull-dog sort of jaw. + +“One strike!” cries the umpire. + +The Fullhamites shout, but the batsman, whatever his feelings, never +winks an eye. He is dangerously cool. + +Whack! One can hear the sound all over the field. The bat is split as +completely as ever oak was riven by the lightning. But now Rogers has a +right to shout. Another home run just in the same place as Chalmers’, +and just as perfect. The din is deafening, and the prospects for a +tenth inning look very favorable. + +“One more in the same spot will tie them,” exclaims Hackett, as Bedloe +nods at the kid to show he is ready. + +“One ball.” + +“Two balls.” + +“One strike.” + +“Three balls.” + +“Four balls.” + +“Five balls.” + +“Six balls; take your base.” + +Rogers howls once more. Bedloe has a level head, and knows enough to +play a waiting game. Perhaps he has reasoned that the kid is young, and +may lose his head in a tight place. It looks a little like it, now; if +he does, there are sluggers enough on the nine to knock him out of the +box. + +It is Crosby’s turn next to have a hack at him. + +“One ball.” + +He hits the second. It is a scorcher to short stop, which strikes one +of Merriman’s feet and bounds into the air. Merriman looks in one +direction and the ball comes down in the other. Before he can collect +himself Bedloe is safe at second and Crosby at first. + +Now, Harry Ramsay, captain of the school nine, is your chance. A +rattler from you like that you struck yesterday, ought to win the game. +One could hear a pin drop, it is so still. The excitement is almost +painful. + +“One ball,” calls Prendergast. + +“One strike.” + +“Ah-h-h!” + +That cry is because Bedloe has stolen third and Crosby second. +Chalmers, a little bewildered it may be, has hesitated until too late +which to throw to. + +Ramsay has hit the third ball. What a paste! Where is it? Where has it +gone? He is tearing to first. Great heavens! what is the matter? Is the +game over? Everybody on the Fullham side is dancing and screaming and +waving like mad. The crowd is mixing with the players, and Crosby and +Bedloe and Harry Ramsay are coming in from the bases with a shamefaced +air. + +“What is it? I don’t understand,” asks Jack of Horton, who is shouting +loud enough to burst a blood-vessel. Jack knows that Haseltine has +stopped the ball and done something big, but it was all so quick, he +cannot quite make out what. + +“A triple play――all three out,” Horton answers. + +“H-A-S-E-L-T-I-N-E――Haselti-n-n-n-e!” + +A moment later Jack understands it all. The ball from Ramsay’s bat had +gone straight into Haseltine’s hands, and though it had almost knocked +the little fellow over, he had managed to hold it, to step on to third +before Bedloe, who had started for home, realized the situation, and +then, keeping his wits still about him, put it in to Goldthwaite, at +second, with all his might, just in time to cut off Bobby Crosby, who +was between the bases. Three out――side out at one fell swoop. Bull +luck, as the Rogerines said, in speaking of the game afterwards. + +It was luck, of course, that the ball went just where it did, making +such a combination possible; but many an opportunity in life, no less +favorable than Haseltine’s, is lost every day by the inability of man +or boy to avail himself of it. The ex-third base of the Rising Suns was +equal to his emergency when it came; though, between ourselves, it was +always a wonder to him that the ball had stuck in his hands. He had +caught it before he knew it. + +So the dormitory match was over, and Fullham champion for another year, +by the close score of seven to six. It was a proud moment for Haseltine +when Harry Ramsay, the great school captain, went out of his way to +shake him by the hand and tell him that he was sure to make a strong +player in a year or two. He received quite an ovation, and made the +acquaintance on the spot of most of his own dormitory, and many from +Rogers and Dudley. Jack stood by thoroughly satisfied with his friend’s +success and proud to be the bearer of his jacket. Really, to rejoice at +another’s triumphs is quite as sterling a trait of character as to bear +modestly one’s own. + +As the two boys were returning to their dormitory in company with +several others, they were overtaken by Carlisle, who, after a few words +of congratulation on Haseltine’s play, brought a host of fears, which +the excitement of the afternoon had banished, back to the minds of both +of them by observing in a low tone,―― + +“I’m sorry to say Jack Spratt and his Wife will be all the more down on +you after this. They are Rogerines, and it’s the cockiest thing a new +boy has done for a dog’s age.” + +This was very depressing, and took the edge decidedly off the happy +frame of mind in which they would fain have remained. The game had +consumed most of the afternoon. There was an hour and a half of +recitation remaining before supper, the practice at Utopia being to +have recitations from nine until half-past twelve, and from half-past +four until six, during all but the last two months of the school +year, in order to let the boys have the best hours of sunshine on the +playground. In another week the rule was to change, and study would +follow dinner, as the afternoons were growing long and favorable for +sport. + +When supper was done there was singing twice a week, and this was +one of the evenings. All the school gathered informally in the big +schoolroom, where, sitting round anyhow and anywhere, masters and +boys mingled together, chatted, and listened to songs supervised by +the singing-master, Mr. French, but entirely spontaneous. After the +singing was over, there was a short lee-way before bedtime, and every +one was left to his own devices. Most of the boys went back to their +dormitories, but the sixth class had the run of Mrs. Meredith’s parlor +during half an hour, where there were quiet games and puzzles of +various kinds to amuse them. + +In returning to Fullham from this last-named entertainment, it was +necessary, of course, to traverse the quadrangle. When Jack and +Haseltine were about fifty yards from Granger, proceeding without +suspicions, they became suddenly aware of several figures in masks +and long cloaks, looming up ahead. At the same moment their feet were +tripped up from behind, a rope quickly and strenuously twisted around +their bodies, and a large hand compressed upon each of their mouths. +They had no time to cry out. After a few frantic, futile efforts to get +free, Jack ceased to struggle, and permitted himself to be bound by his +captors, whom he assumed with a sinking heart to be no other than the +notorious Spratt and Wife. A bandage had been fastened over his eyes +almost immediately, and, helpless as a dead man, he was borne along in +silence for a considerable distance, as it seemed to him, at a slow jog +trot. Presently the procession stopped, confronted by some obstacle, +and Jack was able to distinguish the voice of Carlisle remonstrating +with his persecutors. He heard him say distinctly, “They are good +fellows, both of them, I assure you; let them off this time.” + +“They’re too beastly cocky,” was the reply, in a shrill, hyena-like +tone. + +“That’s so,” broke in another with a no less bloodthirsty modulation, +whom Jack judged to be Wifey. “I vote we smash every bone in their +bodies.” + +“On to the torture chamber,” continued the first speaker, a sentiment +which was received with an approving Ah-h-h! by the others present. + +“I’ve done all I could to save them,” observed Carlisle, with a gloomy +sigh of resignation. + +Jack, who had been laid upon the ground during this interlude, now +felt himself being carried up a flight of winding stairs and along a +corridor, to an apartment where, after some whispering on the part +of those about him, he perceived that he was being lowered into a +narrow box. This, it suddenly occurred to him, was a coffin. A fear +which brought the perspiration out in cold patches seized him. At its +height the cover was pressed down, and he was left to his own gloomy +reflections, which included the expectation of stifling. But though the +space was contracted and the air hot, he experienced no real difficulty +in drawing breath. + +Here he lay for what seemed an eternity, listening to the preparations +which were evidently going on around him. He could hear the hum of +conversation and occasionally a smothered laugh, but the voices +had all the shrill, fiendish pitch of those which had replied to +Carlisle’s protestations. What were they going to do with him? Was he +dead already, and was this his funeral? He stirred one of his legs a +little and pinched himself to make sure that he was alive. Yes, he was +still in the flesh. The torture, then, was yet to come. Well, whatever +happened, he would die bravely. Not a groan, not a cry for mercy, would +he utter. He would be game to the last, and his tormentors should not +have the satisfaction of seeing him funk while they were breaking his +bones. A tear did come to his eye as he thought of his mother, and how +she would miss him; but he braced his nerves as he felt it trickling, +unwilling to be guilty of weakness, even under the shelter of the +coffin-lid. + +At this moment he was lifted, box and all, and placed on what might be +a table. Immediately the cover was raised, and in spite of his bandage +the fact that the room was lighted became apparent to him, while a low +chorus of groans suggestive of animals eager to slake their thirst in +human blood vibrated on his imaginative and frenzied hearing. Then +there was a hush preliminary to the dreadful remark which proceeded +from the foot of the coffin, “Are the irons red-hot?” + +“They are, your Mightiness.” + +“Let the neophyte’s arm be bared.” + +Jack, though ignorant as to the meaning of the word neophyte, did not +doubt for an instant that he was referred to. He was seized straightway +on either side and raised to a sitting posture. The rope was unbound +from his right arm and those in charge of him were about to roll up the +sleeve of his jacket, when the voice of his Mightiness enjoined,―― + +“Let the left be seared instead of the right, for in case the neophyte +chance to survive the operation he will thus not be disabled in his +base-ball arm. It is fitting that mercy should temper justice.” + +This piece of executive clemency was scarcely reassuring to poor Jack, +for the reason that there was evidently occasion to believe that he +would not outlive the torture about to be inflicted on him. He gritted +his teeth to avoid trembling, and tried to show no signs of fear, while +the assistants bared his forearm well up to the elbow. Just when they +had completed their task there came a loud knock at the door, and +whoever went to answer it announced, after a moment’s delay, with a +chuckle of exultation, “The other neophyte is dead.” + +A savage yell of pleasure followed this announcement, which was a +dagger, as it were, in the bosom of our hero. Haseltine dead! He had +been tortured, doubtless, in another chamber and had not been able to +endure the agony. + +But there was no time for reflection. A powerful wrist had grasped his +arm and was holding it out at full length. Then something which felt +like a glowing coal was pressed down on it with force and imbedded +in his flesh. Jack knew that it was the red-hot iron. The pain was +terrible and he was tempted to cry out, but by biting his lips he +managed to restrain himself. Somehow or other the suffering did not +increase after the first few moments, and as he was wondering at +the circumstance he was astounded to hear, “Let me go! let me go!” +uttered in a voice of agony close at hand. The conviction that it was +Haseltine’s voice eclipsed the consciousness of pain, and in another +instant his arm was let go, the bandage snatched from his eyes, and +Jack found himself in a blaze of light, surrounded by a host of +laughing countenances which greeted him with a roar of laughter. + +At first he was completely dazed and unable to credit his senses; then, +as he gradually took in the situation, he perceived that he was sitting +upright in an old shoe box lined with a shawl and supported by a table. +Not more than a yard away sat Haseltine in a similar predicament, +with his left sleeve rolled up, and looking extremely sheepish. On a +throne――an arm-chair surmounting a pile, the component parts of which +were concealed by a table-cloth――was perched Jack Spratt, wearing a +paper crown, bearing a cricket bat as a sceptre, and sharing royalty +with Wifey at his side in female attire, intended to simulate a queen, +but suggesting to practiced eyes a gown borrowed for this occasion only +from Mrs. Betty Martin. A row of Apollinaris bottles, in each of which +was a lighted candle, blazed along the edge of the dais, at either wing +of which stood a score of schoolboys shaking with merriment at the +appearance of the two unfortunates. + +Jack’s first reflection was one of self-congratulation that he had not +cried out. Then it occurred to him to glance at his arm, a proceeding +which was the cause of another burst of laughter. To his surprise, +there was no mark of any sort beyond a slight redness which was +scarcely noticeable. But his skin looked somewhat wet, as though water +had been brought in contact with it. + +After a moment, his Mightiness, having induced silence by a wave of his +sceptre, exclaimed with great seriousness, “The chief executioner will +read the indictment against the neophytes.” + +Whereupon, to Jack’s intense surprise, that functionary stepped forward +in the person of Louis Carlisle, fantastically attired in a black +Oxford gown and carrying a meat chopper as the symbol of his office. +Having bowed to their majesties, he gravely drew forth a manuscript and +addressed the two bewildered lads as follows:―― + +“Know all men by these presents, that you, John Hall, of Boston, +Massachusetts, and you, Frank Haseltine, of St. Louis, Missouri, are +greener than the grass when it flourisheth in the early days of summer, +fresher than paint just after it is spread on the door of a mansion, +more guileless than the kid which gambols in the pasture beside its +female parent. You have been sent here with your mouths wide open and +ready to swallow anything that is stuffed into them. Such innocence +is praiseworthy in the extremely youthful, but a time comes in the +experience of us all when it is meet to be undeceived even at the +expense of dire mortification. + +“Learn of me and be wise. Firstly and foremostly, you have been made +sport of――victimized――fooled, or, to speak more succinctly, sold. You +have been made egregious asses of, and led to believe that you were +to be the victims of physical violence, to have your bones broken, +your heads punched, and what not. You expected to be hazed and we did +not like to disappoint you; hence the midnight seizure, the rope, the +bandage, the coffin, the red-hot iron, the branding. You have been +taught to tremble at the blood-curdling names of Jack Spratt and Wifey. +Behold them in the flesh and bow before them! You came here stuffed +with old women’s yarns, and Horace Hosmer has loaded you up to the +muzzle with a fresh supply. Poor little lambkins!” + +As Carlisle paused in his sarcastic peroration the audience broke into +another shout of laughter, which caused Jack to blush vividly. He +appreciated now for the first moment that he had been the victim of a +huge practical joke. + +“Secondly,” continued the orator, with a wave of his hand, “let whoever +will search the universe from one end to the other, and I defy him +to produce two more thoroughly mild and amiable specimens of the +genus _homo_ than Tobey and Donaldson, who have been made to figure +as monsters of cruelty for your edification. In justice to them, +neophytes, I bid you approach them. Exhume yourselves, so to speak, +and go up to examine them. You will perceive that they are perfectly +harmless, and even unusually good-natured fellows. You may touch them +without fear that one of your bones will be dislocated. Approach, +neophytes, they are prepared to embrace you.” + +Again everybody laughed, while Jack and Haseltine looked at one +another, at a loss, not unnaturally, to know whether the order to leave +their coffins was to be taken seriously. But this uncertainty was +solved when his Mightiness reiterated, at the same time removing his +crown and assuming an exaggerated expression of meekness, “Approach, +neophytes, we are prepared to embrace you.” + +In a shamefaced manner, but doing their best to enjoy the laugh against +themselves, which now made the room ring, the two boys clambered down +from their boxes and walked toward the throne. Its grinning occupants +sat for a moment enjoying the confusion evinced by the poor lads before +them, then Jack Spratt put out his hand and said,―― + +“Shake, neophytes. My bark is worse than my bite.” + +“Me, too,” piped Donaldson, in semblance to a female falsetto, which +elicited a roar. + +“Thirdly and lastly,” exclaimed Carlisle, after Jack and Haseltine had +finished this hand-shaking and been relegated to their coffins, on the +edge of which they were permitted to sit,――“thirdly and lastly,” he +repeated, “there is a moral to all this, without which our efforts in +your behalf might be misunderstood, and that is, don’t be too English. +You boys――for I address you no longer as neophytes, but as Utopia +boys――must get out of your heads that an American school is just like +an English one, for it isn’t. You’ve come with the idea that we have +fagging and hazing and all that sort of thing, but it’s a mistake. +There isn’t a fag at Utopia, and if a big boy wants anything done he +has to do it himself. Every tub stands on its own bottom here, and a +sixth-class boy is just as good as a first. No running errands――no +cleaning out studies――no cuffing! That may be English; but it isn’t +American, is it, fellows?” + +“Not much,” answered several voices. + +“We’re all equals here. There may be a bully or two,――I don’t say there +is,――but there may be in any school. There’s no system of bullying, +though, and no boy thinks he has the right to order others round. If he +tried it on he’d soon find out his mistake.” + +“That’s so.” + +“And now, fellows,” continued Carlisle, whose satirical tone had +changed to a pleasant seriousness, “I tell Hall and Haseltine, in +all our names, that we’re glad to have them at Utopia; and some day +they’ll bring credit on the school, for they are both plucky boys. Hall +didn’t whimper once to-night; he was game from the word ‘go’; and we +Fullhamites haven’t forgotten that triple play of Haseltine’s, and we +shan’t for a good while to come.” + +Whereupon the chief executioner, having divested himself of his robe +of office, emphasized the plaudits of the roomful of boys by coming +forward in easy, smiling fashion to grasp the two victims of his +oratory by the hand, in which example he was being followed by every +one, when a knock at the door introduced Mr. Sawyer, the dormitory +master, who had come to ascertain the cause of the merriment. He stood +on the threshold looking round the small study――it was Carlisle’s +own――packed with boys, quite unable, it was evident, to explain the +signification of the boxes, blacking-bottles, and various paraphernalia +of royalty which met his sight. Some of the participants seemed rather +disconcerted by his appearance, but there was a general disposition to +laugh, and one boy exclaimed,―― + +“You ought to have heard Carlisle, Mr. Sawyer; he was really as good as +Dr. Meredith.” + +This necessitated an unfolding of the whole affair, which was listened +to somewhat dubiously until it appeared to the master’s satisfaction +that no real harm had been done, and that the moral deduced to justify +the high jinks was not without its value. Mr. Sawyer was fain to laugh +himself at the villainous traits ascribed to Spratt and his Wife, and +took occasion to clinch the lesson imparted by saying, as he patted +Jack on the head by way of sympathy for his discomfiture,―― + +“So you expected to be a fag, did you, my little man? We have nothing +of that sort here, you may take my word for it. Come,” he added, “it is +time for prayers and bed.” + +While they were undressing, half an hour later, Haseltine whispered to +Homer, “What was it they put on my arm which stung so?” + +“A lump of ice, you loony.” + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + SETTLING DOWN. + + +The remaining weeks of the school year passed very rapidly with Jack. +Indeed, before he had become accustomed to his new life they were gone. +After Carlisle’s peroration the two new-comers were allowed to drop +into the obscurity which befits small boys, and to find their natural +level among their associates. They made friends easily, and Jack in +his letters home described Utopia in glowing terms. The lack of a +wherry of his own seemed to be the only drawback to his happiness. So +picturesquely did he lay this want before his mother that she wrote +back that if he made a fair showing in the way of scholarship by the +end of the term he should have one, with the consent of Dr. Meredith. +Poor Jack little knew his own propensities in imagining that he would +find slight difficulty in fulfilling this condition. + +But as there were several wherries belonging to the school, he was +able within a very short time to gratify his ambition to handle the +sculls. He and Horton went down to the lake before breakfast one +morning, especially to engage two crack boats for the afternoon, as +there was a great demand for them at this time of the year. Jack +started off confidently, hoping to dazzle the occupants of the float +by the knowingness of his style, but at the third stroke caught a crab +which nearly upset him and made him extremely cautious henceforward. +After paddling about a little he managed to get the knack of keeping +his balance in the cranky concern, but he had to own to himself that he +knew very little about rowing, and must begin to learn all over again. + +This was rather a come-down for Jack, but he was not alone in his +discomfiture. In spite of Haseltine’s brilliant performance against +Rogers, his place on the Fullham nine was filled by convalescent +players, and he had to endure the mortification of becoming one of +the herd who practiced scrub. It galled his pride to be unattached. +That the ex-third base of the Rising Suns should be shunted off to +find equals among the mass on the practice-field wounded him to the +quick. However, he went in hammer and tongs to improve his game, with +a determination to be satisfied with nothing short of the captaincy +of the school-team at last. It did not take him long to convince the +younger boys that he was an authority on base-ball matters. He knew the +standing of every team, and the record of every player in the country, +and once a week he received from home a newspaper devoted to the +interests of the national game, every item in which he could repeat by +rote. + +There is a certain number of people who argue that it makes very little +difference after all whether a boy studies at school or not, provided +he is turned out at the end of the curriculum an upright, honorable +gentleman, with a clean mind, a manly tone, and generous instincts. +While, as between the alternatives of inferior training in the way of +books and neglect of the moral character, one could scarcely hesitate +which to avoid, the parent content to have his or her son graduate +merely a good-natured, well-mannered, easy-going athlete has sadly +misconceived the proper relation between master and pupil. Indeed, +it may be said that nothing can be more deplorable than a system of +education which does not stimulate excellence in scholarship, unless +it be one that promotes it at the expense of high principle. We often +hear it said that the chief benefit of school or college is the effect +on character. Very good; but surely it is no error to maintain that +the character of the boy untrained to use his mind intelligently is +not highly to be extolled. This idea, boys, of becoming easy-going and +nothing else is a very unfortunate one to entertain, especially in our +country, where every man is expected to contribute in some way toward +making the world more civilized, and a sweeter, happier place to live +in. We need to-day the services of keen, disciplined minds in active +life, and in its quiet walks those who love learning for her own sake, +and are ready to devote patient days to the pursuit of ripe scholarship. + +Fortunately for Jack――though he was slow to think it fortunate――Dr. +Meredith was determined to have as few dunces as possible at Utopia. He +was a fine scholar himself, and had to help him a corps of enthusiastic +instructors, most of them men fresh from some university. Experience +had already taught him that chronic idleness and dislike for study +cannot be cured in a fortnight. Hence he and his assistants were +content to peg away at incorrigible pupils without expecting to work +wonders all at once, but never yielding an inch nor losing ground once +gained. + +This studying business was the only part of the school programme which +Jack did not thoroughly enjoy. He started off in his old way by merely +glancing at his lessons and floundering through them as best he could, +never doubting that after a lecture or two on the subject of idleness, +he would be permitted to lag along at the foot of the class without +remark. He was used to being brought up with a round turn once a month +or so, and after the scolding was over knew that he was safe to relapse +until the next time. But he could count on that comfortable condition +of affairs no longer. The continual pegging away referred to, of which +he was now the victim, was inexpressibly irritating. His masters――he +had a different one in almost every study――excited both his resentment +and his wonder by patiently trying to make him take an interest in his +tasks. Instead of being ordered in a peremptory tone to “sit down,” +after an egregious mistake, he was kept upon his feet and not only +told the answer (generally from the lips of some other boy), but asked +to repeat it, and to remember it too at the next recitation. This was +harassing, especially so when he found himself obliged to spend part of +the afternoon in the schoolroom instead of on the playground, because +he persisted in considering his lessons of no account. His little soul +was fairly in a ferment of indignation. What was the use of study, he +would ask himself. As for books, he would be glad for his part never to +see another, unless, of course, one of adventures on the sea or in the +far West. Would Latin or arithmetic make him a better oar or a surer +short-stop? Not a bit of it, he was certain of that; and so, masters or +no masters, he was disposed to let his lessons slide. + +Accordingly, Mrs. Hall was made to feel badly by receiving, soon after +Jack went home for vacation, a report of his progress as a scholar very +far from satisfactory, accompanied by a few lines from Dr. Meredith, +calling attention to the fact that her son was inclined to be lazy, and +urging her to use her influence to correct this failing. She did, and +so persuasively, that Jack promised with sobs――and he was thoroughly +penitent――to turn over a new leaf when he went back. He got his wherry, +too, in spite of not deserving it, for his mother had not the heart to +disappoint him, which gives one the opportunity to suggest that perhaps +Jack had been a little spoiled ever since he was a baby. However, if +our mothers did not make light of and forgive our shortcomings, who +would? Nevertheless, I think he had been sent to Utopia School none too +soon for his welfare. + +There were changes, of course, when he returned in the autumn. Harry +Ramsay, Bedloe, and Goldthwaite of the nine, Burbank captain of the +fifteen, and Hazelhurst the champion oar, were gone and their places +as leaders filled by others. Bobby Crosby was, on the whole, cock of +the school, being captain of the foot-ball team and a rousing fellow +generally. The kid, who was only in the second, had been promoted to +pitch for the school nine, and Chalmers the old captain of Fullham had +succeeded Harry Ramsay, which left two vacancies on the dormitory nine, +for one of which――right field――Haseltine was selected, an unusual +honor for so young a player. + +Both he and Jack felt quite like old boys in coming back as members +of the fifth class, and entered upon the new year in the best of +spirits. Foot-ball was the school game just now, at which neither +of them was slow in acquiring some proficiency. Early in November +the autumn athletic meeting was to take place, and there was much +training among the competitors for the various events. The school +interest which had been much exercised over the two-hundred yard dash +waned greatly, however, when it became known that Louis Carlisle +had withdrawn, thereby giving a walk-over (according to the general +opinion) to Coleman, Junior. Rumor was loud in some quarters in +describing Carlisle’s action as a “squawk,” and Jack found difficulty +in understanding the reasons which the champion gave for his refusal to +run. + +It is not easy to explain the origin of friendships, but ever since the +evening when Jack had acted so pluckily in not crying out when he felt +what he believed to be the branding-iron on his arm, Carlisle had shown +an interest in him. If this were not the cause that had attracted the +older to the new boy, it may have been the lack of jealousy which our +hero had showed at Haseltine’s success against the Rogerines. At any +rate, for some reason or other Carlisle had taken to him from the very +first, evincing a liking by superintending Jack’s rowing on the lake; +asking him to walk on Sunday afternoons; and, now that as a member of +the second class he had a study to himself, by inviting his young crony +to share its comforts whenever he might see fit to do so. The good will +thus shown was duly appreciated, and the intimacy between them became +marked and firmly established. + +At first Jack was chiefly absorbed by and grateful for the instruction +in the way of handling the oars, and of making progress in the +various sports in which he was interested, which he received from +his new friend, so that he thought of very little else; but he found +it pleasant, nevertheless, to establish himself from time to time in +Carlisle’s cosy apartment and listen to his mentor prattle on about +whatever happened to be in his mind at the moment. Carlisle had a way +of ignoring the youngster’s presence and of talking as though he were +all alone, merely appealing to Jack in much the same way as one will +appeal to an imaginary second self, not expecting an answer. Indeed, +Jack was quite incapable of answering the conundrums proposed to him +in this manner, and much of what he listened to was very perplexing +to him. He enjoyed it, however, though he found it very difficult to +understand how anybody could spend so much time over books and study +as Carlisle did. His amazement found voice when, early in the term, +Carlisle announced his intention not to try for the school nine, and to +knock off from exercise of every sort except a daily row on the lake to +keep himself in condition. + +“What, not go in training for any of the running races?” asked Jack. + +“No.” + +“Why not? You’re sure to win.” + +“I think I am,” Carlisle answered, with a smile. “There’s no one that I +know of who’s come up since last year.” + +“There’s Coleman, Junior,” said Jack doubtfully. He did not suspect his +friend of funking, but the remark popped out in spite of himself. + +“Yes, I know. Some of the fellows will say I’m scared. Well, let them. +I don’t care. As I’ve told you before, Jessup will beat Coleman, if +nothing happens. I can’t afford to waste my time merely to please a few +fellows.” + +Jack could not understand speaking of winning the championship of +Utopia on the running track as a waste of time. + +“Shan’t you kick foot-ball either?” he went on. + +“No; I’ve had my fill of games for the present,” Carlisle answered, in +his soliloquizing way. “I’ve made up my mind that it pays to do a few +things well, and to stick to them instead of straying all over the lot. +I’ve kept going at full pitch in sixty different directions ever since +I was your age, and it’s time to quit. I can’t stand it, that’s the +long and short of it. ‘Je plie et ne romps pas,’ is a motto that can be +run into the ground.” + +“What does that mean?” asked Jack. “I suppose it’s French.” + +“Tough on my accent,” responded Carlisle, with a grin. “Yes, it’s +French, and means ‘I bend and do not break.’ But bending is about as +uncomfortable as breaking, in the long run, youngster.” + +“What _are_ you going to do then?” continued his interrogator, for +Jack like most American boys was not to be deterred from obtaining +information for lack of persistence in asking questions. + +“I’m going to study, chiefly.” + +“Study?” Jack stared aghast. “I shouldn’t think there’d be much fun in +that,” he added, after a pause. + +“Because you don’t know anything about it.” + +“I hate study,” observed Jack dogmatically. + +“Oh, no, you don’t.” + +“I tell you I do. I detest it!” + +“Oh, no, you don’t, for you have no conception what it is,” replied +Carlisle, laughing. “I don’t believe you ever did an hour’s real study +in your life.” + +This view of the case had not occurred to Jack, and he was not prepared +to gainsay the statement. Something prompted him to glance around the +room at the rows of books nearly covering two walls of the den, and +the three or four poetically conceived pictures in tasteful frames to +which he had never given a second thought before. On the table were +writing-materials and other paraphernalia suggestive of a student. +“You see,” continued Carlisle quietly, “I’m fond of study. I really +enjoy Latin and Greek and history. We’re just beginning Homer, and +there are parts of it that are delightful. I don’t care much for +algebra, but they say it strengthens the mind. I shan’t go in for +anything very desperately, though, this year,” he added. “I’ve been +thinking over Dr. Bolles’s numerous lectures to me on the subject, and +have decided to limit myself to three things,――study, the school paper, +and rowing,――and not to overtax myself at any one of them. If I don’t, +Dr. Bolles says there is no reason why I shouldn’t grow rugged. It’ll +be pleasant to feel at the end of each day that I haven’t used up every +spark of vitality I possess.” + +To Jack, whose ideas of responsibility were at this time excessively +vague, this sort of talk must have sounded almost unintelligible. +However, it soaked in with everything else that was part and parcel of +his daily experience; and whatever he may have thought of the views +expressed, he lived to see Carlisle’s prediction regarding Coleman +verified by Jessup’s comparatively easy victory in the two hundred yard +dash at the athletic meeting in November. + +These half-yearly meetings were great occasions at Utopia. In addition +to the foot-races, which included both long and short distances, there +was rope-climbing, fence-vaulting, standing and running high jumps, +sparring and wrestling in three classes,――feather, middle, and heavy +weight,――and a tug of war between teams from the several dormitories to +end up with. Altogether the scene was decidedly Olympian. There were +so many events that almost every boy felt that he had a chance in one +direction or another. Jack entered for the feather-weight wrestling, +but only to be thrown, after a savage tussle, flat on his back, and +to have his shoulders pinned to the ground by Carpenter, who, though +a year older, was just about his size. It was a very even contest, +though, everybody admitted. He also was one of the field of seven who +contested with Jessup the two-hundred yard race, having been advised by +Carlisle to go in just to show what he was made of, and he was rather +proud at coming in fifth, being beaten by Hopedale, of the next higher +class, only by a shave. Haseltine, who also entered, was sixth, which +was a considerable comfort to Jack. + +But the contests with the gloves were what took his fancy more than +anything else, and he was fired at once with the desire to learn +boxing. This was easy to do, for Dr. Meredith was decidedly of the +opinion that boys should understand the art of self-defense, which was +accordingly taught at the gymnasium by Dr. Bolles and his assistant, +to all who desired to receive instruction. There were a good many +competitors for distinction in this line, and the rivalry resulted in +some hitting and receiving of tolerably hard knocks, which now and +then bore fruit in the shape of a bloody nose or black eye in spite of +well-padded gloves. And yet, notwithstanding all this emulation, it +was very rarely, if ever, as Jack soon realized, that the combatants +had occasion to make practical use of the knowledge thus acquired, +so long as they were at Utopia. Indeed, it may almost be stated as a +general truth that the American boy does not go in for the deliberate +slugging contests one reads about as common among the youth of the +Mother Country. Unless from a spirit of sheer imitation, it is unusual, +I believe, for you young fellows to settle bad blood by a cut-and-dried +fight after the manner of “Tom Brown and ‘Slugger’ Williams,” with +whose thrilling set-to you should all be familiar. Plenty of you get +mad and in the heat of the moment slap a fellow’s face, or slang him +until he cuffs you; and then there is give and take for a few moments, +in the course of which science may get in an upper cut or some such +telling stroke; but your friends are almost certain to drag you apart +before much damage is done, and hold you back until you have cooled +down. The idea of forming a “ring” with backers and sponges “to fight +it out” doesn’t seem to occur to either of you, or, if it does, public +opinion――and by that I mean school opinion――is against you. I rather +think that any boy, whether a Utopian or otherwise, can count on the +fingers of a single hand the number of regular out-and-out fights in +the course of his school-days he has either participated in or been +present at. + +There must be some reason for this, and you do not need to be told that +American boys are neither effeminate nor afraid to use their fists when +occasion requires. Lack of pluck is not a national failing. We stood +up at Bunker Hill against bullets long enough to convince our enemies +that there was mettle in us, and there are graveyards within walking +distance of every lad under the stars and stripes who may read this +story, in which can be noted the tribute of posterity to those who died +in defense of their country. There is no sort of doubt that our boys +can hit straight from the shoulder whenever it is worth their while to +do so. + +I have an idea――it may be a mistaken one, though I am fatuous enough +to have faith in it――that the world in growing older has grown wiser, +and less cruel and brutish. We elders proscribed duels long ago on +the score that they were unmanly and inconsistent with the requisites +of Christian character; and dreadful as are the preparations which +even to-day are going on in so many countries of the globe with an +eye to deadly strife, there can be no doubt that civilized nations +are much less ready to plunge into war than they used to be, and much +more inclined to submit their differences to arbitration. There are +cynics――at least they seem such to me――who maintain that there must +always be wars until the end of time, if for no other reason than +to dispose of the surplus population, and that national reluctance +to engage in them proceeds from economic rather than humanitarian +scruples. But those of us who still believe that mankind is surely, +even if slowly, making progress toward a higher state of civilization, +cannot but be of the opinion that wholesale resorts to force to +settle disputes must inevitably become less and less frequent, from +the growing conviction among human beings that they are a relic of +barbarism. Already has this conviction made such headway that the most +autocratic governments would hesitate at the present day to declare war +without first invoking the aid of referees, if the matter at issue were +capable of peaceable solution. + +In like manner it is fair to believe that the doctrine of forbearance +is so much in the air that you boys have become inoculated with its +spirit, and have learned to abstain from blows until every other remedy +has failed. There is no cowardice in such a policy. Mere fighting for +the sake of fighting savors of the brute, not of the gentleman. But +this is to be borne in mind notwithstanding, though I have no doubt +that you do not need the prompting: when you _are_ struck, hit back +with all your might. Be slow to strike the first blow, or to provoke +assault, but beware of letting forbearance outrun its usefulness as a +virtue. Sunday-school teachers may argue as they will, but the world +will never learn to applaud or to respect the man or boy who allows his +rights to be trampled on without stubborn resistance. + +December brought with it ice and snow, coasting and skating, which for +the time being overruled all other sports and interests for Jack. For a +good four months the school was face to face with winter, which means +in this country something worthy of the name,――genuine stinging cold, +which makes boys’ cheeks glow if they move briskly, but numbs their +fingers if they sit still; and a roaring fire in the great schoolroom +in the evening, around which it is the fashion to group and sing. At +this last-named trysting-place serviceable friendships are formed, and, +in the case of Jack, an old one is renewed. December brought with it +Bill French, the same Bill as of yore, and yet developed, as it were, +in that he is no longer the street urchin of a year ago, indifferent +as to his clothes and hair. Bill has spruced himself eminently, and +is quite the little gentleman now in his cut and manner. He does not +take much part in sports himself, but he knows all about them, and is +eager to back this sprinter or that oarsman for anything from a nickel +up to five dollars, which is a fabulous sum at Utopia, as you may +well imagine. He has at the very outset created a profound sensation +by managing to retain greenbacks to the amount of five times that +sum about his person, in spite of the school rule that all money, +save a very small stipend for the pocket, is to go into the Doctor’s +strong-box for safe-keeping. + +“How did you manage to hold on to it?” whispered Jack, whose admiration +for Bill’s cunning ways is still deep. + +“Didn’t give it to him, that’s all.” + +“Didn’t he ask you for it?” + +“What if he did? It’s my money, not his. Father gave it to me, and I +mean to spend it as I choose.” + +This deliberate springing in the teeth of authority was something new +at Utopia, and, like most novelties, gave its originator notoriety +at once. Jack felt proud at being on such terms with the new school +favorite, who before long took upon himself the airs of a leader +among the younger boys, with revolt as a motto. The Doctor was all +very well, but he, Bill French, was not going to bend the knee to any +Doctor, no matter how wise and good. He had come there to have a good +time, and he meant to have it. + +It took Bill some months, naturally, to raise his standard. His +methods, as you know, were for the most part underground like the +mole. He did not believe in being found out, and he had no intention +of getting into open trouble with the powers that were, if he could +help it. His fad was for managing and directing, and he was content +to suggest, and to let others work out his theories without asking +for more than a tithe of the glory. Great schemes must move slowly to +insure success. + +So Bill to the ordinary eye appeared rather a desirable addition than +otherwise to the make-up of the school. He had always been rather quick +at his books, and found no difficulty now in taking a respectable +place in Jack’s class, where he kept his head above water easily, +thus hoodwinking one of the eyes of Argus. Where Bill really showed +himself in his true kidney was about the aforesaid fire on cold winter +nights, when he had an opportunity to fascinate the circle snuggled +around him by hints as to what might be done if one only dared. Many +listened, and Jack most eagerly of all. Were they not Americans? Bill +argued. And when did a true-born patriot, whether man or boy, put up +with being hedged about with laws which he despised? As a proof of what +might be accomplished in the way of resistance without difficulty, +the arch-conspirator excited the envy of all whom he took into the +secret by exhibiting on his return to school at the beginning of the +fourth-class year a pair of white mice in the corner of one of his +bureau-drawers. Nor was Bill stupid enough to let them remain there +long enough to fall under the eagle eye of Mrs. Betty, who was liable +to come prowling round at any time with power paramount to overhaul to +her heart’s content. When the little creatures, a month later, presided +over a family,――another triumph for their proprietor,――it was in the +pocket of a pair of trousers hanging harmlessly from a peg. + +The influence of genius such as this was hard to resist, and had +it stopped here, authority might justifiably have been disposed to +regard it without concern; but Bill was not always so happy in his +infringements of the law. He was wont to exhibit with pride a small +silver case in which reposed real cigarettes,――no blood-sucking +rattan subterfuges, but the genuine aristocratic article, which he +was in the habit of smoking when he could safely do so with the air +of a thorough-going sport, as any one at Utopia who witnessed the +performance would agree. At such times Bill was a decidedly agreeable +companion. In the first place he could talk knowingly by the hour on +dogs and horses, a subject which was imperfectly understood at Utopia +prior to his arrival. All the cant phrases of the stable were at his +command, and he replenished them by the perusal of a weekly sporting +paper to which he subscribed, and which put Haseltine’s base-ball sheet +completely in the shade. In his opinion, life at the school was tame, +and stood in need of thorough reorganization. + +Much as Jack admired Bill, he was not really surprised to hear Carlisle +observe, some weeks after the first appearance of that wily youth, “I +don’t care much for your new friend, youngster.” + +“Why not, Louis?” + +“I guess he’s sneaky, isn’t he? Looks it, any way.” + +“He’s mighty smart,” answered Jack evasively. + +“I dare say.” + +“You ought to like him,” pursued Jack, “for he’s a first-rate scholar. +He could stand a good deal higher if he chose to study.” + +Carlisle laughed. “I set store by study I know,” he said, “but it isn’t +a free pass to my favor, as you appear to think. Strange as it may +seem, I prefer you, idle as you are, to your industrious friend. And by +the way, Jack, you have been worse than ever, lately. You must brace up +or you will have the Doctor down on you.” + +Both were silent for a moment. It was something new for Carlisle +to lecture, as he would have called it. He had always shrunk from +preaching to his friend deliberately, intimate as were their relations, +preferring to indicate by chaff and indirect suggestions what might be +in his mind regarding Jack’s needs. But these few words were spoken so +seriously that the culprit looked at him astonished. + +There was a reason for them. Dr. Meredith, having great faith in +the influence for good which the larger boys at a school like Utopia +can exert upon their juniors, lost no occasion to impress upon his +favorites their duty in this respect. Only the day before he had +chanced upon Carlisle strolling down toward the river alone, and had +joined him. + +“You’re looking better, Louis, I’m glad to see. Your more sober life +agrees with you.” + +Somehow or other the Doctor knew the imperfect joint in the armor +of every one of his pupils, and he was no less prompt to seize an +opportunity to speak a word of encouragement, than he was courageous in +probing a weakness to the core. + +“I’m in first-rate condition, sir. Gained five pounds this term.” + +“I wish, now that your hand is in, you’d see what you could do with +Hall,” the Doctor had continued. “I am disturbed at the way the boy is +going on. He seems a manly, spirited fellow, and I like him, but he +won’t study. In fact, he’s getting more of a shirk every day.” + +“Yes, sir, he doesn’t study much, that’s a fact,” observed Carlisle. + +“A word from you, Louis, might do an immense amount of good. He’d +listen to you when he wouldn’t to me.” + +Carlisle had hung his head and remained silent. He knew very well +what Doctor Meredith meant, for had he not observed Jack’s idleness +with increasing regret, and yet been content to pass it off with an +occasional jest? All his talk during their intercourse had been about +himself, concerning which he could discourse glibly enough; but such +speculation as he was wont to indulge in, however suggestive to an +intelligent listener, was scarcely the sort of pabulum by which to +convert a hobble-de-hoy offender like Jack. He had been conscious for +some time of what with his disposition to call things by their right +names he considered his own selfishness and self-absorption, and this +solicitation of the Doctor’s thrust them forward into the light. + +“I know what you would say,” his master had continued. “You have a +horror of sermonizing. You don’t wish to spoil your relations with him, +as you think, by being serious. You are right, Louis, in that. But I +don’t believe, if you look at the matter squarely, that you would drive +Hall into his shell by letting him see that you don’t approve of his +present way of going on.” + +“He knows I approve of study.” + +“Yes, for yourself,” had answered the sagacious Doctor. “Let him +understand thoroughly that it is just as imperative for him.” + +“I’ll try, sir,” the older boy had answered, after a pause. + +“I shall be infinitely obliged to you; and while we are on the subject, +what sort of a boy is this William French? I understand that he and +Hall are old cronies. Don’t answer if you’d rather not,” had added +the Doctor, who sympathized with the code of honor which prompts a +schoolboy to abstain from speaking ill of one of his companions. + +“He doesn’t seem to me very straightforward,” had blurted out +Carlisle, instigated perhaps by a desire to protect Jack from the evil +machinations of the new-comer. + +“Indeed! That is not a pleasant trait. Thank you, Louis. Such boys as +you can do a great deal to help me, if you only will, without in any +way impairing your obligations as ‘good fellows.’” + +The first result of this conversation has been indicated. Carlisle’s +words, limited as they were, came at a moment when Jack was sorely +in need of them. Although he made no comment at the time, other than +to look grave, and though he sought to brush the remembrance of them +away as speedily as possible, he was nevertheless face to face with +the consciousness――a consciousness of which he had caught occasional +glimpses before of late――of dissatisfaction with himself. What was +more, it enthralled him like a net, and the more he struggled held +him the tighter. Vague lack of content with one’s own career is not +synonymous with an intention to reform, but it is a step in the right +direction. Jack would never be able to feel again, except through utter +callousness of soul, that satisfaction in wrong-doing which exists +before the sense of responsibility is awakened. + +There is little further to chronicle regarding the second year of +Jack’s school-life, which sped along from week to week without +revealing much outward change in his daily routine of duties and +pleasures; the former endured with unwillingness and neglected so far +as was possible, the latter participated in with untiring enthusiasm. +In the class-room he was the same mischief-making, idle urchin as +ever, distinguished for his dog’s-eared, caricature-lined books of +study, and an utter ignorance of their contents. On the playground +every faculty seemed alert, and all his energy centred in excelling at +whatever pastime he was for the moment fascinated by. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + THE BIG FOUR. + + +As a fourth-class boy Jack fairly felt his oats, and with justice, if +one considers what a satisfactory status was meant by that term at +Utopia. A fourth-classer had nothing to learn, so to speak. He knew all +the ropes. He had at his fingers’ ends every thing connected with the +ways of the school, and was entitled to regard himself as untainted by +greenness of any description. Pride and some bumptiousness were the +result, but more particularly a rattling way of doing things as though +those engaged in whatever was in hand had unlimited confidence in +themselves, as indeed they had. To be a fourth-classer, if one were a +prominent fellow, was the same as being one of the cocks of the lower +school, and a person to be deferred to whenever any matter was mooted +concerning the more juvenile half of the body politic. + +Taking the list by and large, there were no more prominent +fourth-classers in their year than the quartette who trained together +under the pseudonym of “The Big Four.” These were Jack, Haseltine, +Bill French, and Horton. In justice to Bill, his name should have been +written first, for it was he who had conceived the idea of welding +into one compact body the best material in the class, with a view to +coöperation in various directions. To his brain was due the origin of +the mysterious secret society, of which he and his three pals were the +units. At Utopia, where there had never been a secret society up to +this time, whoever referred to “The Big Four” spoke with bated breath, +as of an organization very little understood, and in awe of which it +was incumbent to stand. + +Bill came back after vacation full of the scheme, and found little +difficulty in making its merits apparent to Jack. After some cogitation +the number was swelled by the election of Haseltine and Horton. The +constitution was a sort of cross between the Declaration of Rights +and such an instrument as a community of bandits might have drawn for +mutual protection. It began as follows:―― + +“ARTICLE I. + +“This society is organized to secure to free-born American citizens the +enjoyment of their natural liberties.” + +A sentiment distinctly praiseworthy, at least on the surface, and broad +in its scope. After this general definition of usefulness and certain +provisions as to name, membership, and grip, appeared a few by-laws, +embodying a most salient code of behavior, among which was the third, +to wit:―― + +“No member shall, on pain of expulsion, kiss any female except his +mother.” + +To cap and clinch the whole, thus heading off treachery at the start, +it was laid down,―― + +“Whoever shall at any period of his existence divulge, or in any manner +make known, the secrets of this society, or shall with or without +malice-aforethought break its laws or abandon its principles, shall +suffer death with torture, to be inflicted by the members for the time +being, except as otherwise herein provided.” + +This joint production, for each of the four had a hand in its +composition, was solemnly signed and sworn to at midnight in the +lavatory where the whole society assembled by concerted action. To +make the oath more binding, the pen was dipped in the blood of the +successive signers, at Haseltine’s prompting, who fully believed at the +time that whoever should violate it could not escape a lingering death. +He even went so far as to suggest that a burning-glass focused upon the +abdomen would probably produce as exquisite suffering as any of the +appliances known to inquisitorial or savage torturers. To Jack belonged +the credit of devising the already quoted clause relating to women, +the reception of which was unequivocally enthusiastic, and seemed to +them to stamp the organization at once as a manly body, proof against +Delilahs, or all feminine influence except that prescribed by early +piety. + +“I hate girls; they’re silly little things,” continued the originator +of the by-law in question. + +“I’d like to see one of them try to kiss me!” said Haseltine. + +The latter idea did not seem so repulsive to Bill and Horton, though +they acquiesced in the provision as smacking of wisdom, on the whole. +Indeed, almost from the start, there was a difference of opinion, +scarcely perceptible at first, but constantly growing wider, as to the +real functions of “The Big Four.” + +To Jack and Haseltine it stood for freedom, and defiance of authority +in any form, and especially defiance against the Doctor, to be +evidenced by disobedience, as the spirit might move, whether in the way +of marauding expeditions or midnight feasts. Caution, more than was +absolutely necessary, was disregarded by them, and concealment was a +policy which they despised. They were indifferent, not only as to what +authority might think, but even as to whether authority was aware of +what they were up to. War to the knife, without mercy or compromise on +either side, was what they craved, proudly confident of their ability +to trample authority in the dust. + +But the other two were wiser in their generation, with the wisdom of +the serpent. They believed distinctly in lying low, and in masking the +countenance both metaphorically and literally. “Do _wrong_ by stealth +and blush to find it fame,” would have seemed to them an admirable +epitome of their views. And just as their methods savored of craft and +underhandedness, so their favorite acts of defiance――for in throwing +off authority all were united――were apt to be such as would not bear +the light of day. Vice is a parasite that flourishes best in the shade. +There Bill French’s whisper sounded most seductively, and his “I say, +fellows, I know what let’s do,” was least easy to resist. + +Such was the attraction of this new interest that Jack thought of but +little else. Not only did he begin to neglect Carlisle, but he ceased +to feel his old ambition to excel at games. At the spring athletic +meeting of the year before he had followed Carlisle’s advice to hold +off for another six months, but when the time came the following autumn +he failed to make as good a record as when he had first appeared on the +track. He was only seventh this time in a field of eight, being almost +distanced by Hopedale, whom he had pressed so close on the previous +occasion. Such were his disgust and mortification that he thereupon +had his name scratched from both the feather-weight wrestling and the +feather-weight sparring, in each of which events he had intended to be +a competitor. He felt thoroughly angry, and the secret cause of his +anger was the consciousness that it was all his own fault. He had not +taken the trouble to train, so certain was he in his self-conceit of +sweeping all before him. Now, like Achilles in his tent, he preferred +to sulk. He would cut sports altogether. The game was not worth the +candle. But in his heart was a sore spot. He had meant to win that +race. He could see Carlisle’s eyes fixed on him gravely as he slunk +away panting――and fairly blown――at the finish, and recalled his +friend’s subsequent reproof. + +“The trouble with you is that you want the earth, Jack. You can’t +expect to win without buckling down to it beforehand.” + +“I’m in first-rate condition,” Jack had growled. + +“Over-trained, then, perhaps,” had been the sarcastic answer. + +Even in rowing――his pet hobby――he could not boast of having made any +marked progress. Although in the two upper classes there was no aquatic +luminary at the moment, a very clever oarsman was developing in the +person of Tom Bonsall of the third, a clean-cut, well-shaped fellow, +some ten pounds more beefy than Jack, and at once his secret admiration +and despair. To watch Tom row, fairly goaded him into fury. He was +only a year ahead of Jack, and yet he was in the Mohicans, and, what is +more, was able to boast, after the autumn races, that he belonged to +the champion crew. The long victorious Atalantas, weakened by the loss +of Hazelhurst, were a poor second. Then and there Jack vowed, when he +realized what had taken place, that he would from this moment have but +one object in life: to transfer the laurel from his rival’s brow to his +own. + +A very pretty sentiment, and quite at variance with the cynical +communings of a fortnight earlier, when he had resolved to renounce +sport utterly. But it is one thing to make vows, another to carry them +out. Jack had not overestimated, even in his inner consciousness, his +lack of condition, both physical and moral. When one is distinctly +flabby in body and soul alike, a good resolution is too apt to resemble +one of these rockets that flare up grandly and gaudily for a moment, +only to leave the night the darker through their inability to last. +To feel virtuous and heroic during a transcendent hour is not much to +boast of, unless one has the grit to stand firm when face to face once +more with the commonplace and the every-day, those disarming begetters +of temptation. + +But one must not be too hard upon poor Jack because his vows proved +no more stable than do those of all of us at some time or other. For +at the worst he was not a very hopeless case. Even when sitting up in +the lavatory into the small hours of the morning, sipping beer and +playing “penny nap,”――the height of schoolboy dissipation,――one who +could have seen into his heart would not have despaired of him. It was +something that he did not smoke,――not because of the harm which Bill +French’s cheroots might have done him, but because he could not forget +that he had promised his mother not to smoke anything, be it rattan, +sweet-fern, or tobacco; and to break his word, and most of all to break +it to her, was synonymous in his mind, as it well should have been, +with a very abandoned moral condition. And yet curiosity in part, and +in part an unwillingness to be left behind in “knowledge of life” by +the other members of his illustrious society, induced him to follow +in whatsoever directions he was led, in spite of the fact that this +new and daily more troublesome factor in his general make-up, his +conscience, pricked him, and took away much of the satisfaction of his +discreditable doings. + +What would his mother have said if she could have seen him at one of +these cunningly devised nocturnal parties? Her constant prayer has been +that her innocent boy may not become prematurely old in the so-called +ways of the world,――a knowing little gentleman, rotten before he is +ripe, without enthusiasm, without heart, and without hope. Is there a +parent who will not sympathize with this mother’s petition to heaven? +Civilization is regarding with increasing alarm the menaces of the +uneducated poor; but its invocation rather should be, “God save us +from the educated rich,”――educated and graduated in the sloth and vice +which eats into the soul as no other canker can. Rich men’s sons who do +nothing for humanity but sneer, are a harder burden for Atlas to bear +than all the host of the starving unemployed. + +But even in his present stage, when it seemed as though Bill French’s +wisdom carried all before it in the councils of the Big Four, Jack +much preferred the life of the border ruffian to that of the sly +voluptuary. Bill’s fun, though he had his part in it, appeared tame +as compared with the ecstasy which proceeds from more obvious peril. +To carry away a quart of lager under one’s waistband, to go in debt +to the amount of half a dollar if one’s luck was bad, and to show up +next morning sallow and watery-eyed, but very spruce and stylish as +to one’s collar and tie, proud as the distinction was, did not set +Jack’s veins a-throbbing as he delighted to have them throb. If Bill +had been consulted in the premises he would doubtless have maintained +that his friend was not yet educated up to the point where he could +appreciate at their proper value the advantages open to him. To this +juvenile Epicurean the plots which the two more boisterous spirits +were constantly unfolding involved a needless waste of vitality, from +which he shrank more and more in proportion as the serpent’s wisdom +became his own. It was not policy, however, even if it were possible, +to resist at all times the expressed desire of half the society. As a +consequence, vitality ran riot in minor manifestations, such as the +pilfering of neighboring hen-roosts, the sealing up of the lock of the +schoolroom door, the firing of a tar-barrel in front of the Doctor’s +very window, and panted for more. Every one――by which is meant school +opinion――was delighted, and with finger on lip whispered mysteriously, +“Big Four.” + +As for Jack and Haseltine, they trod the earth with the demeanor of +gods, and after dark put their heads together. Presumptuous youth is +slow to be content with moderate glory. Had Phaeton escaped destruction +he would have wearied of driving his father’s horses in a fortnight, +and been thirsting for a fresh exploit. Our heroes, who had up to this +time escaped detection, were harassed by the feeling that authority +took too little heed of the cuffs they administered to it. The bonfire +had been put up with almost calmly. The next act of defiance should +be such as could not be passed over without exposing their enemies to +ridicule. + +It was not altogether easy to hit upon a device worthy of their prowess +and yet within the pale of permissible barbarity. For undoubtedly +nihilistic as were Jack’s and Haseltine’s designs, there was a limit +which they were not prepared to overstep. Although it might be that +in the estimation of them both hanging was too good for the Doctor +and his assistants, any plot endangering human life was, perchance +regretfully, but none the less firmly, discarded. On the other hand, +to burn the head master in effigy, a proposal which emanated from the +seething brain of young Horton, struck the conclave as a superficial +bit of mischief, which, however showy from its impertinence, would +nevertheless inflict no real suffering on him at whom it was aimed. + +Bill French, as was apt to be the case, even in matters outside of his +own department, so to speak, settled the question finally. + +“I say, fellows, I know what let’s do,” he said one evening, after they +had been sitting silently racking their brains for a considerable +time, “let’s blow something up.” + +“Blow what up?” queried Jack, somewhat scornfully, thus showing that +gunpowder and nitroglycerine had already entered into his day-dreams, +but had been renounced for lack of suitable material on which to +experiment. + +“The tool-house.” + +“Great Cæsar!” ejaculated our hero with enthusiasm, “the very thing! +Why have we never thought of it before?” + +Whereupon Jack, by way of further ecstasy, began to execute a muffled +clog-dance to a low whistling accompaniment. + +“Sh! You’ll have Sawyer down on us like a thousand of bricks if you +don’t let up,” objected Bill. + +The quarters of “The Big Four” were no longer in the lavatory, where +their only light had been the proverbially capricious splendor of the +moon, and where no whisper was too low for safety. At the beginning of +this school year one of the studies occupied by the two upper classes, +which had become vacant owing to the illness of its proprietor, had +been boldly appropriated by the society. A piece of cloth over the +keyhole and other appliances along the floor-line prevented the rays of +the solitary candle which illumined their meetings from betraying them; +and there they sat like four young ghouls, with masks upon their faces, +or close at hand ready to be donned at the first signal of danger. + +[Illustration] + +The tool-house referred to was a modest structure behind the gymnasium, +which served Horace Hosmer for the use which its name suggests, and +was besides a general storehouse in which to stow odds and ends out of +place elsewhere. It stood in a position well adapted to shelter from +discovery the mooted scheme on the fulfillment of which the energies of +the Big Four were now resolutely bent. To obtain the needful ammunition +required time; but on returning to school at the close of the spring +recess the united accumulations of the conspirators’ pockets were found +to be two small cans of powder, a bunch of cannon-crackers, a piece of +slow-match, and several fuses. The last-named were especially valuable +for the reason that, to insure the safety of the society, a sufficient +period must elapse between the touching off the mine and the explosion +to allow those participating to cross the quadrangle and be hauled up +again in the basket which was to be let down from the study where their +meetings were held. + +This does not look much like reform, Master Jack. Seeing you in such a +guise at twelve o’clock at night――though no one would ever recognize +you in your ferocious mask with the flowing horsehair mustache and +your coat-collar muffled about your ears――makes one wonder whether +you were really in earnest when you made your vow not to rest until +you had defeated Tom Bonsall at the sculls. No use in our moralizing +now, however, for wild horses would not keep you from your part in +the tragedy. And indeed there is something rather winning, almost +exculpating as it were, in the proud though mistaken consciousness of +a righteous cause resplendent in your every movement and gesture. One +sighs to see such energy and ardor of spirit expended in so mean a +task. Even _you_ would admit, if squarely taxed on the point, that you +have no real grievance against the Doctor except that he is determined +to make you study and to make you obey. “Yes, but that is the point +at issue,” you would doubtless answer. “We prefer idleness and +insubordination. Why should we obey?” + +On the night selected for the explosion, duly at the appointed hour +the four boys crept on tiptoe from their respective dens in the +large dormitory to the usual spot without disturbing anybody. Each +brought with him part of the necessary paraphernalia. They proceeded +immediately to draw lots to decide which two should perform the actual +deed. The other pair were to remain behind to lower the basket down and +pull it up again. It was solved by the process known as “freezing out.” +Each took a cent from his pocket and laid it on the table. There were +three heads and one tail. Bill French’s was the tail. He was therefore +by previous agreement to be one of the home-guard. With trembling hand +Jack deposited his coin for the second time. Not to be able to light +the fuse himself would rob the affair of half its sweetness for him. + +His was a head. + +“A head,” said Haseltine. + +“So’s mine,” said Horton. + +“No choice, then,” said Bill. “Toss again.” + +This time Jack got a tail. He leaned forward feverishly and perceived +that Horton had one also. + +“A head,” said Haseltine. + +“You stay with me, then,” said Bill, who was quick-witted in +emergencies. “Let’s get to work. Sooner it’s over, the better.” + +Jack’s heart gave a bound. It would have suited him to have had +Haseltine with him, and he whispered in the ear of his favorite pal +some words to that effect. It was everything, however, to be going +himself, and he was well aware that Horton was no slouch on such an +occasion. + +It takes but a few moments to adjust the rope, and the two lads, after +stowing the combustibles in their pockets, are ready to descend. +Jack is the proud bearer of a small dark lantern, which gives him an +additionally burglarish air. He flashes it once or twice playfully in +Bill’s face, much to that worthy’s dissatisfaction, who is even more +nervous than usual, going now and again to the door to listen after +enjoining silence by an agonized “sh!” + +But everything is as still as the grave. Being finally satisfied on +this score, Bill proceeds with an air of gravity to uncork a couple of +bottles of beer from which he fills four glasses, the property of the +society and kept in a cupboard in the corner. + +Each of the Big Four having doffed his mask lifts one of these from the +table and surveys his fellow-members with dignity, waiting for the word +of command from the Pater Primus, as the presiding genius is styled, +before putting the beaded beverage to their lips. + +“Brothers of the Big Four,” begins Bill. “Once again we are met +together to maintain justice and to resist tyranny. Here’s success, and +destruction to our foes.” + +“Success, and destruction to our foes.” + +As the voices echo his words the four glasses softly clink against one +another. Then the heroes drink. It is a solemn rite to Jack. His blood +is all on fire. + +“We will die game,” he utters grandiloquently, as he drains the last +drops, and slips back his mask over his face much as a warrior would +have replaced a helmet. + +He goes to the window and tries the rope. It is strong enough for six +times the necessary weight. He is putting one foot into the basket――a +large clothes-basket filched the day before from Mrs. Betty’s +department――when Bill again enjoins silence and bends his ear. + +“It’s all right, Bill,” whispers Jack. + +“I don’t half like it,” replies the Pater Primus. “If we’re caught, it +means expulsion cock sure.” + +“Who’s going to catch us? It isn’t the time to squawk now.” + +“Who wants to squawk?” protests Bill. + +“Lower away.” + +Down goes the basket slowly but surely with its living freight. +Practice in former exploits has made the descent seem less ticklish +than at first to the young aëronauts. + +Jack and Horton having reached the earth in safety walk cautiously but +rapidly across the part of the quadrangle which lies between them and +the gymnasium, pass behind that building, and a moment later are in the +tool-house. So far as danger to other property is concerned there is no +reason why the tool-house should not be blown up: a reflection somewhat +comforting to Jack, who in spite of his elation is conscious of a qualm +or two as he realizes what he is about to do. No one can possibly be +injured, he argues, and the tool-house is really of no use. + +By the light of the dark lantern they arrange the cans of powder in +such a manner as to be most effective, and lay the fuse. Then Jack, who +has lighted a bit of slow match, after taking a peep outside to make +sure that all is clear, sets fire to the train, which has been timed +to burn for ten minutes, so as to permit every one to get back to bed +before the shock comes. This done, the two imitators of Guy Fawkes slip +out into the darkness and make a bee-line for home. + +Somehow or other there is very apt to be some little flaw capable of +ruining all, even in the most skillfully arranged plot, and, happily +or unhappily, as you choose to regard it, the one in question proved +no exception to the general rule. Moreover, it was through the +carelessness of our friend Jack that matters did not turn out wholly as +was expected. Although quite aware that Argus in the person of Horace +Hosmer slept in an L of the gymnasium, the window of which commanded a +view of the premises doomed to destruction, Guy Fawkes was rash enough +not to close his lantern until just after stepping into the open +air, so that a few rays managed to shoot themselves directly into the +watch-dog’s eyes with the effect of rousing the vigilant sleeper from +his couch and inducing him to take a peep outside. It was all dark now, +but suspicion once awakened is not easily allayed in a faithful soul, +and Horace’s was of the faithful kind. Hastily pulling on a pair of +boots and diving into an overcoat, he vaulted over the window-sill, and +put in an appearance on the other side of the gymnasium before the boys +were more than two thirds across the quadrangle. + +Trepidation has eyes in the back of her head, as we well know. +Consequently this new presence on the field of night was spotted by +Horton even before Horace’s well-known stentorian voice broke in upon +the stillness with,―― + +“Come, now, what’s your business?” + +There was no time for parley. Increased speed had forestalled the bark +of Argus, and increased speed answered it. The wings of fear vibrated +fiercely in the darkness. The pursued had this advantage that they knew +that unless they reached the basket in time to get clear of _terra +firma_ before the janitor was upon them they were “gone coons.” Not +a word was spoken by either of the terror-stricken incendiaries, but +their flight was that of those who have but one hope. + +[Illustration: AN ESCAPE.] + +Jack was the first to arrive. Happily for the hunted, their companions +had not been napping, but were keenly on the watch for them. The +basket was ready. Guy Fawkes leaped into it and squatted down, closely +followed by his mate. + +“Pull for all you’re worth.” + +Those above, quick to perceive that there was mischief in the wind, +set themselves to their task with such good will that the aërial car +fairly bounded from the ground in its ascending course. But none too +soon. Hardly was it beyond the reach of a tall man when the cause +of all this undignified haste came tearing round the angle of the +dormitory. Horace made one desperate leap in the air, only, however, to +scratch his nails against the bricks in falling back. By the time he +had regained his balance the basket was at the top, and he could only +catch a confused impression of grotesque faces surmounting youthful +bodies before the masqueraders were safe indoors, and fleeing like +stealthy deer to their respective quarters, where they lost no time +in slipping off their clothes and getting into bed. So precipitate was +their flight that they neglected to return the beer-bottles and glasses +to the cupboard in which they were ordinarily concealed, an oversight +which filled the nervous Bill with dismay when it occurred to him after +his head was on the pillow. As for the basket, it fell backward from +the window-sill the moment it was empty, almost on to the head of the +astonished Horace, who examined it curiously. + +“Well, well,” he muttered, “these are fine doings. My eyes ain’t what +they used to be, but I’ve a pretty decided notion as to who you are, my +young masters, all the same. What in time were you up to, I wonder? Ha! +what’s this?” + +Horace, from a constitutional habit of thoroughness, had been passing +his hand over the bottom of the basket, and his last exclamation was +due to the fact of its coming in contact with a small article which on +inspection proved to be a pocket-knife. + +“H’m,” he chuckled, “Heaven sends biscuit to them as has no teeth, as +the minister used to say.” After which pertinent observation the honest +fellow slipped the treasure trove into his pocket and was taking up +the basket again with a view to appropriating it as evidence, when a +loud crash proceeding from the direction of the gymnasium awoke the +echoes of Utopia. + +“Holy Moses!” ejaculated the janitor, as he turned just in season +to behold a column of smoke and rubbish rise in the near distance. +Whereupon he started as fast as his legs could carry him to the new +scene of action. + +Needless to say, the four conspirators heard with mingled sensations +of joy and anxiety the reverberation which informed them that their +efforts had not been in vain. To Jack at least the noise, though +clearly perceptible, was not so loud as he had hoped and anticipated. +It had been his ambition to have not only the whole dormitory awakened, +but authority itself startled from sweet slumber and forced to put +its head out of doors in search of cause and effect. He experienced, +therefore, some little disappointment from the fact that only two or +three boys within reach of his own observation were awakened, and +even they turned over to sleep again after listening for a moment +for further developments. He was much too wide awake himself to +sleep, but lay revolving in his mind the probable consequences of +Horace’s untoward interruption. Had Argus recognized them? That was the +all-important point, uncertainty as to which was far from pleasant to +Jack, despite his boasted indifference to authority. Visions of being +dismissed from Utopia floated with disagreeable persistency before his +mind’s eye. What would his mother say? He might well ask himself that +question. + +Although the repose of authority was not disturbed, authority heard +with amazement on the following morning the news which Horace had to +tell it immediately after breakfast; and Jack could have no reason +this time to complain that authority was slow to take notice, if the +buzz of rumors floating about the school were any index of authority’s +state of mind. The impression produced on the youthful mind itself by +the announcement of what had taken place was profound. There was an +exodus at once to view the ruins, over which the faithful janitor was +presiding with a sphinx-like grin that to Jack, who had strolled down +with the rest to behold the result of his handiwork, did not seem +reassuring. + +At the first opportunity the guilty parties held a hurried consultation +for mutual encouragement and the comparing of notes. Nothing was +forthcoming except that the Doctor, after visiting the scene of the +explosion, had granted an audience to Horace Hosmer, with whom he was +still closeted. Meanwhile the ordinary school programme was going on +as usual. Such suspense, though wellnigh unendurable, was relieved in +due time. Late in the afternoon a summons came that French, Horton, and +Hall were to go to the Doctor’s room at once, but separately, and in +the order named. + +There was only time for a passing word between the trio. + +“Mind we tell the same story and stick to it,” whispered Bill in Jack’s +ear before he followed the messenger. “We never knew anything until we +heard the explosion.” + +Jack stood watching the receding figure of the Pater Primus with a +troubled air. The situation seemed decidedly perplexing. Authority, +for some reason or other of its own, saw fit that those coming after +should have no opportunity to hear what was in store for them from +friendly lips. Consequently the third conspirator on the list was +ushered into its injured presence without knowing what had been the +experience of his predecessors. + +Doctor Meredith, who was alone, greeted the culprit gravely and said, +after a moment’s hesitation, in a composed but serious tone: “During +the last six months, Hall, there have been a number of very troublesome +bits of mischief perpetrated in the school. The property of people in +the neighborhood has been molested, fireworks have been discharged in +the yard without permission, and a general disposition to break rules +on the part of a certain number of individuals has been apparent. I +have been very slow to take notice of this, hoping that the matters +complained of were merely the result of the high spirits natural to +boys. But I have been very much annoyed by it, for up to this time I +have had to deal with nothing of the sort at Utopia.” + +During the pause which elapsed before he continued, Jack was able to +congratulate himself that his previous endeavors had not been so much +ignored as he had at one time feared. + +“Last night,” his inquisitor proceeded, still more gravely, “as you +must be already aware, the tool-house was blown up by some malicious +person or persons. Doubtless it was done as a practical joke, and I +am willing to believe that whoever was engaged in the affair did not +appreciate the serious character of the act committed. But all the same +it was an abominable piece of mischief, and one which it is my duty and +intention to investigate thoroughly, with a view to putting down, once +and for all, the spirit of reckless insubordination which it is now +evident to me has broken out here.” + +Once more the Doctor paused, as though he expected some observation +from his auditor, who, having none to make, sought refuge from his own +discomfort and his master’s penetrating eye, by looking down at the +floor. + +“I have sent for you, Hall, to ask if you were concerned in the affair.” + +The room seemed painfully still to Jack, and the silence which followed +this inquiry oppressive. How should he answer the question? If the +Doctor knew all, why had he not taxed him directly with having blown up +the tool-house, instead of asking him if he was concerned in it? The +doctor evidently had suspicions merely, and was groping in the dark. +What was there to prove his guilt except his own admissions? + +During the brief interval in which these thoughts were passing through +Jack’s mind, he was conscious of his interrogator’s eye bent on him +searchingly――yet beseechingly, as it were. + +“You have not answered me, Hall.” + +“Yes, sir; I was.” + +Jack was too self-absorbed to notice the sigh of relief which the +Doctor gave vent to. One could have heard a pin drop. + +“I am very sorry to hear it. You were not alone, I judge,” added his +master, after a moment. + +“I lighted the fuse myself, sir,” was the diplomatic reply. + +“I see that you do not choose to name your associates.” + +“I have not said that I had any,” Jack answered stoutly. + +“I respect your views on that point, and shall question you no +further in the matter. As for your own conduct, there is but one +word to characterize it,” continued Dr. Meredith,――“shameful. I do +not understand what motive you can have had to destroy the property +of the school. What _was_ your motive?” Jack looked sheepish. “I +suppose it was sheer love of mischief,” pursued the Doctor, as though +soliloquizing. + +“Yes, sir.” + +“Have you not always been well treated here? Have you any cause of +complaint?” + +“No, sir.” + +“What in one sense is even a more serious matter, empty beer-bottles +and glasses were found this morning in the vacant study. They belong to +you, I take it?” + +Jack bit his lip. This charge was harder to assume the entire +responsibility for. But he was in for it now and must face the music. + +“Yes, sir,” he replied, rather dejectedly. + +The Doctor was silent for a moment. “Hall, I am very much disappointed +in you,” he said, in a manner so unexpectedly genuine that somehow or +other the words cut like a knife into the sensibilities of poor Jack, +and in a sudden flash he saw his own conduct almost in its true light. +“This is not the first time, by any means, that I have had occasion to +be disturbed at your conduct. I cannot have at this school,” he added, +“boys who drink beer on the sly and blow up buildings. I have not quite +decided what action I shall take in your particular case. You may go +for the present. When I want you I will send for you.” + +Jack stood hesitating. “May I ask a question?” he said. + +“What is it?” + +“How were we found out?――er――that is, how did you know it was I?” + +“The janitor thought he recognized you; but he was not sure. If you had +seen fit to tell a falsehood you might have escaped. I thank God, my +dear boy, that you had courage enough to resist that far worse fault +than the faults you have been guilty of.” + +There were tears in the Doctor’s eyes, and a strange tremor in his +voice, that brought drops to Jack’s own, of which he became conscious +when he was outside the study-door. He had never felt so miserable in +his life, and yet knew that he was proud of the course he had taken. + +A few minutes later he was eagerly confronted by his associates. + +“He doesn’t know anything, does he?” exclaimed Bill. + +“What do you mean?” + +“You didn’t let on, of course? He asked me if I had anything to do with +blowing up the tool-house, and I told him no. So did Horton.” + +“But you did,” said Jack. + +“Do you mean to say you gave us all away?” shrieked Bill. + +“Your names weren’t mentioned. I wasn’t going to lie about it. The +Doctor asked me if I wasn’t concerned in it, and I said I was.” + +“Hang me if you aren’t the biggest flat I ever struck!” + +“That’s so,” said Horton, who, as you must know by this time, was only +an echo of Bill, which is a pretty feeble kind of part to play in life, +as parts go. + +“If you had only kept your mouth shut we’d have been all right. Horace +only guessed at us,” continued the irate Pater Primus. “I’d back you +for a flat against the world.” + +“That’s so.” + +“Shut your head!” growled Jack. “I don’t want to hear any more guff +from either of you. I wasn’t going to lie for you or any other fellow, +Bill French.” + +“We’ll kick you out of the society, see if we don’t. You’ve broken +the oaths, and you’ll be mighty lucky if we don’t vote to make cat’s +meat of you,” persisted Bill, who, when his imagination got working, +had a nasty tongue, as the saying is. This last fling so enraged our +hero――who has become, I think, just a little bit of a hero in spite +of his shortcomings――that he made a dash at his chief insulter with a +view to slapping his face. But the prudent William had made sure of his +distance before venturing upon so exasperating a speech. + +Jack was in no frame of mind to pursue his maligners. He felt very much +down in the mouth. Now that the prospect of being sent home in disgrace +was imminent, the advantages of remaining a Utopia boy seemed very +great. He could not bear the thought of being expelled, and yet he knew +that he could scarcely hope for any less serious sentence. The others +would get off, and he would have to bear the brunt of it all. + +In his agitation he started off at a rapid pace without heeding where +he was going. Chance led him toward the lake, and a few moments later +he was in his wherry pulling fiercely from sheer desperation over the +tranquil water. There were not many scullers out this afternoon, but +he recognized in the distance the shapely figure of Tom Bonsall, whose +clean-cut, sweeping stroke it was not easy to mistake. Jack ground his +teeth as he reflected not only that he and Tom could not at present +be regarded as rivals, but that they now never could become so. Stung +by the bitterness of the thought, he plied the oars savagely with a +reckless expenditure of energy. When at last he gave in for a moment +from sheer exhaustion, his shell shot close past another, narrowly +escaping a collision. + +“Whoa, there! Hold your horses!” cried a well-known voice. + +It was Carlisle’s. At any other time Jack would have been only too +glad of his friend’s company; now his inclination was to get away from +everybody. Without remark he began rowing again with lightning speed, +evidently to the surprise of Carlisle, who, after watching him for a +moment, proceeded to follow in his wake, taking it quietly, but pulling +a long, steady stroke. Jack was determined to throw him off, but though +he struggled with all his might, his pursuer crept up on him inch by +inch without seeming to make any special exertion. So frantically did +he work to keep the lead that he soon began to splash, and finally, +to his utter disgust, caught a crab just as Carlisle was lapping him. +Before he could recover himself they were abreast. + +“My dear youngster,” began his friend without observing Jack’s face, +“you will never learn to row if you spend yourself so soon. You can’t +keep that stroke up. It’s simply suicidal.” + +“Why can’t you let me alone? What right have you to follow me?” was the +fierce reply. + +Naturally Carlisle looked completely bewildered. “No right, if +you don’t want me to,” he said quietly. Then he added, with kind +solicitude, “What’s up, Jack? Are you ill, old fellow?” + +Jack shook his head after a moment. He was looking the other way to +hide his welling tears. + +“Tell me what’s the trouble. Perhaps I can help you,” said Carlisle +presently. + +“It isn’t one thing: it’s everything,” sobbed Jack. “However, there’ll +be an end of it to-morrow,” he continued enigmatically. + +“What do you mean by that?” + +“It was I who blew up the tool-house last night.” + +“You, Jack!” Carlisle exclaimed, aghast. “How could you!” + +Then realizing instantly that this was not the occasion for reproof, he +hastened to ask, “Does the Doctor know?” + +“Yes,” said Jack, who had turned his face to observe the effect on his +friend of the first announcement. + +A few words made Carlisle familiar with the whole story. Jack did not +hesitate to inform him just how matters stood, knowing that his senior +would be in honor bound not to mention to others the conduct of Bill +and Horton. + +“There can be only one end to it,” he said, in conclusion. “He’ll make +an example of me for the good of the school. Well, let him,” he added, +his voice again breaking, “_I_ don’t care.” + +“Yes, you do care. The cowardly sneaks!” ejaculated Carlisle. + +“If they had owned up, there would have been three instead of one, +that’s all. It wouldn’t have helped me any. I’m glad of one thing, +Louis: Horace didn’t spot Hasy.” + +The other was silent a moment. “It’s all my fault,” he burst out at +last. “I ought to have protected you against that fellow. I marked him +as a low-lived beggar before he had been here a week. The trouble is, I +am so miserably selfish that I am taken up with my own affairs all the +time.” + +“Indeed, that is not true, Louis. On the contrary, you’ve been at me +all the time trying to keep me straight. It’s no one’s fault but my +own. I see it plainly now. I’ve made an ass of myself, and the result +is I shall break my mother’s heart by being expelled.” + +“Time enough to talk in that style, youngster, when it happens. I’ll +see the Doctor myself,” continued Carlisle. “Perhaps he’ll be willing +to give you another chance. There’s no harm in trying, at any rate. If +he can be made to believe that you’re ready to turn over a new leaf, +I know he’ll let you stay. But you must promise me, Jack, that if he +does, you will make a fresh deal all round,” he added, earnestly. “I’m +slack enough myself, Heaven knows, and not fitted to give advice to +any one, but I’ve lived two or three years longer than you; and have +learned at least that a fellow can’t do everything that he wants in +this world. One has to recognize it sooner or later. The trouble with +you, as I told you once before, is that you want the earth. You can’t +have it, and the sooner you make up your mind to the fact the better +for you.” + +“I will do my best, Louis, I promise you. I wish though I thought that +there was ever a chance of my being half so good as you.” + +“Nonsense, youngster. You’ve no idea,” he added, “of what a poor thing +I am.” + +“You are looking in first-rate condition this term,” responded Jack, +with a just perception of how to please his friend. “I never saw a +fellow improve so in appearance as you have in a year.” + +“It’s Dr. Bolles’ lectures,” said Carlisle, with a gratified smile. “I +owe it all to him.” + +“And if I ever improve,” observed Jack quietly, “I shall owe it all to +you, Louis.” + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + UP-HILL. + + +Three days later the whole school was called together directly after +breakfast to hear a communication from Dr. Meredith. No one knew +precisely what was in the wind, but all sorts of rumors had been +floating about ever since the morning subsequent to the explosion. The +only one of these that appeared to have substantial foundation was the +report which had gained currency within the last twenty-four hours +that Horton was to leave for good. The reason was not known beyond a +general suspicion that his departure was connected with the destruction +of the tool-house. When it was ascertained that he had actually gone +early in the morning without bidding good-by to anybody, the excitement +was at fever heat. What added to the mystery was that Jack Hall, whose +confession of the daring deed had leaked out, still remained. + +Utopia was puzzled, to say the least, and was very prompt in filing +into the schoolroom to listen to the expected solution of the enigma. +Thither the Doctor came too, on the stroke of the hour, looking sad, +and accompanied by all the masters, who ranged themselves about him +as at one of the school exhibitions. Before him on the desk lay a +suggestive ferule, the unaccustomed sight of which caused expectancy to +stand on tiptoe. + +“Boys of Utopia School,” said Dr. Meredith with solemnity, “as you +all know, an unpardonably malicious piece of mischief was committed +against the school property a few days since. It was the last and most +offensive in a series of deliberate acts of insubordination which have +caused me much annoyance, and which I have put up with too long, I +am inclined to think, for the best good of those concerned in them. +By chance,” continued the Doctor, after a moment’s delay, “suspicion +fastened itself on certain members of the school, who were sent for +by me and questioned on the subject. One boy confessed to having +been directly connected with the explosion; the others denied all +knowledge of it. As it happened, the evidence possessed by us was not +definite enough to convict as against his own word any one of those +suspected, with a single exception, and I will add that at the time +I had no knowledge which of the boys summoned this exception applied +to. The janitor who pursued the incendiaries on the night in question +found in the basket, which was left by them hanging from the window, +a penknife. This penknife,” said the Doctor slowly, “was proved to +belong, I regret with deep sorrow to state, to one of the boys who had +denied in unqualified terms any knowledge of the outrage which had +been committed. That boy is no longer a member of this school. I have +written to his parents to remove him, and early this morning he left +Utopia. + +“If there is anything that is odious to me,” he continued presently, +after the murmur which followed this announcement had subsided, +“and which I am determined to root out of this school at any cost, +it is falsehood. I made a point to caution each one of you against +it, my dear boys, at the time you entered Utopia, and my constant +prayer is that your souls may be kept clean from this deadly foe to +character. What is most threatening to-day in the outlook for the noble +development of this great democratic country of ours is the tendency +to condone too easily embezzlement, breaches of trust, bribery, and +other forms of public and private dishonesty, the kernel of which is +deceit, and in the fostering of which lies national ruin. If,” he said, +looking round the schoolroom, “there is any boy here to-day who is so +unhappy as to have a lie on his conscience, I beseech him as his master +and his friend to let it be there no longer. Any punishment that he may +be called upon to bear will be as nothing compared with the evil which +concealment will work upon his character and life.” + +As the Doctor paused and seemed to be waiting for some one to step +forward, each boy glanced at his neighbor, wondering for the most part +who was meant. Jack, who had been listening with feverish impatience +to every word, refrained from looking directly at Bill, but managed to +take a peep at him sideways. To all appearances the Pater Primus was +completely at his ease and indisposed to follow the hint thrown out to +him. No one stirred, and the silence, which became oppressive at last, +was broken by the master, who resumed rather sadly:―― + +“When the boy who was manly enough to confess his wrong-doing left my +presence the other day, I thought that it would be necessary for me in +order to maintain the dignity of the school to inflict the most serious +punishment in my power――that is expulsion. I should have hated to do +so, for I like the boy, deeply as I deplore the rank insubordination +and gross idleness of which he has been guilty since he came to Utopia. +I am ready to believe that it will be more for his good to remain among +us than to be sent away in disgrace; and I am heartily glad that the +greater fault committed by another enables me to exercise leniency +in his particular case. I have been given to understand by those +interested in him,” pursued the Doctor, “that he is sorry for his ill +behavior and anxious to turn over a new leaf. I shall give him the +chance to do so; but I am obliged nevertheless not to pass by without +serious notice the wicked breach of discipline which he committed in +wantonly destroying the property of the school. There was no excuse for +the act whatever, and it was singularly unprovoked and impertinent. +Therefore I am compelled to have recourse to a form of punishment +which, except in the most extreme cases, should not be employed by a +master. I am glad to say that never before while I have been at Utopia +has it been necessary for me to whip a pupil. I am about to do so now +because of the unusual nature of the offense of which he has been +guilty.――Hall, you will come forward to receive a public whipping.” + +There was a painful silence, and then poor Jack, who had been sent for +by the Doctor late on the previous evening and informed as to what +was in store for him, arose and walked down the aisle. His blood was +boiling with shame and anger, but at the same time he had made up his +mind to submit to the flogging and to bear it without flinching, in +acknowledgment of the kind words of encouragement and friendship which +his master had spoken to him when he told him what his punishment was +to be,――words which made Jack see more clearly than before how reckless +and foolish he had been, and resolve with bitter tears before he went +to sleep to try once more to resist temptation. Now, galling as was the +ordeal, and though the tears of mortification welled into his eyes in +spite of resolute biting of the lips, he walked quietly up to the desk. + +Dr. Meredith had risen and stood ready with the ferule. + +“Hold out your right hand, Hall.” + +Jack obeyed. + +Down came the blows――one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, +nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen;――no love pats, +but genuine hard stinging blows which were meant to hurt, and which did +hurt. + +“Now, the other hand.” + +Fifteen more followed no less scorching than their predecessors. + +“That will do. You may take your seat.” + +Jack, whose only consolation at the moment was that he had not winced, +got back to his desk somehow or other, and heard as in a daze the +faltering voice of his castigator in conclusion:―― + +“I hope to heaven, my dear boys, that it will never be necessary for me +to do such a thing again. I would much rather, believe me, that every +one of those blows had been on my own hands. The pain would have been +far less than what I suffered in inflicting them.” + +A moment later Jack knew that the school had arisen and was pouring +out of the room. He had covered his face with his hands and bent his +head upon the desk. Sob followed sob in quick succession, and his heart +seemed to be bursting. Carlisle, who had remained behind, stood over +him and stroked his head gently. After such an experience, a nature +strong and virile as Jack’s must needs find a vent for its pent-up +anguish. But bitter as were his feelings, he knew in his heart that he +had deserved his punishment. + +It was many weeks before Jack recovered his spirits. At first he walked +about with a crestfallen air, like one in disgrace. He kept apart by +himself, and instead of the spirited leader of old, seemed subdued +and unimpressionable. He did not enter for the spring events either +at the athletic meeting or on the lake, and was judged by many to +have lost all interest in sports. His changed demeanor gave a chance +to Bill French to circulate the opinion expressed at the time of his +confession, that he was a flat, and such is the tendency of boys to +deprecate what they cannot understand that there were some who in their +surprise at his apparent listlessness adopted Bill’s view of the +case. Even Haseltine was staggered at his friend’s lack of enthusiasm +over the prowess of the school nine, which, under the captaincy of the +“Kid,” had been plucking unexpected laurels from visiting and visited +teams, and rallied him on it. Hasy, by the way, had been very sore at +heart himself that Jack alone should have had to bear the brunt of the +tool-house escapade. Accordingly, after musing over the matter for a +fortnight, he had gone one day to the Doctor, without mentioning the +matter to any one, and made a clean breast of his own participation +in the affair, with the expectation and almost with the hope of being +made to suffer for it. But, quite to his astonishment, Dr. Meredith, +after hearing his story and thanking him for having had the courage +to own up, which was unquestionably the manly thing to do under the +circumstances, declined to take advantage of the confession further +than to talk to him kindly for half an hour on the desirability of a +little more steadiness and more interest in study on his part. + +“If only you felt half the concern regarding a poor recitation that +you do about muffing a fly, you would be at the head of your class, +Haseltine,” the Doctor had said genially,――a proposition which to his +listener had seemed to border almost on the ludicrous. As if, forsooth, +comparison could be made as to the relative importance of the ability +to hold on to a difficult sky-scraper and any excellence in the +class-room under the sun! + +Hasy’s opinion on this point was so unqualified that a certain +disposition to take his lessons more into account, which Jack was +beginning to show, struck the young base-ball enthusiast as stronger +evidence than any other adduced of his friend’s unnatural condition. +Not that he for a moment went over to Bill French’s faction,――indeed, +his contempt for that worthy’s behavior had been quite in proportion +to Jack’s,――but as he found it impossible to understand how his crony +could derive satisfaction from this new habit of trying to learn his +lessons beforehand instead of letting them be hammered into him in the +schoolroom, he was naturally puzzled and felt almost provoked. Indeed, +his disapproval of his friend’s behavior was so sweeping that he failed +to perceive that Jack in a quiet way was getting into very good form on +the river by force of daily practice under the tutorship of Carlisle. +Because Jack did not spurt, and appeared indisposed to tackle any +and everybody, the impression was current that even in rowing, as in +everything else, he was down on his marrow-bones. + +So far as his own feelings went, it cannot be denied that Jack was far +from cheerful during the weeks intervening between the date of his +punishment and the end of his fourth-class year; and when vacation +was at hand, he looked back on his efforts at improvement with a +glum heart. Secretly and almost sullenly he had tried hard to redeem +himself; but though others might see indications of progress, it seemed +to our hero as though he was just as much in the slough as ever. He +had always entertained the fancy that if at any time he should take +it into his head to do well at his books and become a pattern of +exemplary conduct, he would find it a perfectly simple matter to do +so. Accordingly the poor fellow was now learning the lesson which so +many have to learn, that continued neglect and frowardness can only be +atoned for by humiliation and despondency. + +These were principally experienced in regard to his lessons, as he +found slight difficulty in avoiding flagrant breaches of the rules now +that the meetings of the Big Four were discontinued. The illustrious +society had never been actually disbanded; but the transportation, so +to speak, of one of its choice spirits, and the lack of cordiality +existing between at least two of those remaining, had caused a hiatus +in its proceedings which still gaped. An overture on the part of +the Pater Primus to meet and talk matters over was rejected by Jack +and Haseltine with scorn; and though Bill would have liked to get +together by himself, as the saying is, and expel his mates with a +view to reorganization, he probably had some doubts regarding the +constitutionality of such a proceeding, or else was afraid of having +his head punched, for he abstained from action in the matter. + +But keeping up to the mark in his Latin and history and algebra was a +very different affair, as Jack realized as soon as he tried to buckle +down to work. He scarcely knew what to do in order to study, and it +seemed at first as though he used to make a better showing when he +trusted to luck, the prompting of those beside him, and the various +other straws at which struggling dunces clutch when floundering in +recitation. The exhibitions of ignorance which he made, now that he +was bent on distinguishing himself, covered him with confusion in the +presence of his instructors, and his hopeless attempts beforehand to +compass the mysteries of irregular verbs, subjunctive clauses, and +other grewsome obstacles in the pathway of learning, reduced him to +despair. He detested study more than ever, and felt as though he should +never be anywhere but at the foot of his class, struggle as he would. +Pegging away seemed to make no difference. Could any one, he asked +himself, tell from their respective showings in the schoolroom which +had prepared his lesson in advance, Haseltine or he? + +When a boy has acquired a reputation for idleness, it naturally takes +time to convince those in authority over him that he is trying to do +better. Some masters of course are quicker than others in noting the +symptoms of change, which, as has been intimated in Jack’s case, are +not apt to be obvious at the start; and the masters at Utopia were no +exceptions to this rule. Although several of them had discrimination +enough to recognize in the poor boy’s halting, blushing efforts the +germ of awakened ambition, there were one or two who, with his recent +whipping in mind, judged these signals of distress as indications +that he was obstinately continuing in his old ways. Consequently +his mistakes were treated by them with severity, which took the +form, according to the disposition of the master, of stern reproof +or of sarcasm. It was in vain that Jack’s eyes filled with tears on +such occasions, for his misguided tormentors saw in them merely the +simulated grief of the crocodile or unrighteous anger. + +The cup of his bitterness was filled to overflowing one day just +previous to the end of the term, when Mr. Opdyke, his Latin master, +called him up to recite in Virgil in the presence of some visitors. Mr. +Opdyke, though ambitious that his class should make a good appearance, +being also a very conscientious man, felt obliged to conduct the +recitation just as he would have conducted it had no stranger been +present, and consequently to call up a sprinkling of poor as well as +of good scholars, in order to give a just impression as to the general +average. + +Jack trembled in every limb as he heard the unwelcome words: + +“Hall, you may go on.” + +The class was reading the third book of the Æneid, and the passage +which had fallen to Jack’s lot began with the five hundred and +sixty-first line: + + “Haud minus ac jussi faciunt; primusque rudentem + Contorsit lævas proram Palinurus ad undas; + Lævam cuncta cohors remis ventisque petivit. + Tollimur in cœlum curvato gurgite, et idem + Subducta ad Manes imos desedimus unda. + Ter scopuli clamorem inter cava saxa dedere: + Ter spumam elisam et rorantia vidimus astra.” + +Jack managed to scan it through tolerably well, and then began to +translate. + +“Not less than commanded they did”―― + +“Mind your tense, Hall.” + +“Er――do”―― + +“Go on. ‘They do not otherwise than commanded.’” + +“At first”―― + +“Well? What does ‘primus’ agree with?” + +“Palinurus,” says Jack at length. + +“Correct. ‘And Palinurus was the first to turn,’ or, literally, +‘Palinurus first turned.’ What is ‘contorsit’ from, Hall?” + +“Contorgo,” essays Jack valiantly. + +“Nothing of the sort.――Anybody?” + +“‘Contorqueo,’” cries a small lad, who has shot up his hand. + +“Correct, Barrows. ‘Contorqueo.’ Go on, Hall.” + +“And Palinurus was the first to turn the rudder”―― + +“Where do you find anything about rudder?” inquires Mr. Opdyke, with +the irony of desperation. + +“‘Rudentem.’” + +“Indeed! Barrows, tell Hall what ‘rudentem’ means.” + +“A rope,” suggests the youth named, too elated evidently by his first +success. + +“Timmins?” + +“Don’t know, sir.” + +“Brown?” + +“Roaring.” + +“That’s right. What part of speech is it?” + +“Present participle, accusative case, from ‘rudo.’” + +“Correct,” says Mr. Opdyke. “‘Rudens’ means ‘a rope,’ Barrows. Some +authorities ascribe its derivation to ‘rudo’ on account of the rattling +noise made by a rope. Conjugate ‘rudo,’ Barrows.” + +“‘Rudo, rudire’”―― + +“Haseltine?” + +“‘Rudo, rudare’”―― + +“Brown?” + +“‘Rudo, rudere, rudivi, ruditum.’” + +“Correct; ‘rudire, to roar, bellow, bray, rattle.’ ‘Rudentem proram, +the hissing prow.’ Quite the other end of the ship to what you thought +it, Hall. You may continue.” + +There is an audible titter, which enrages poor Jack, who remembers that +he had spent a good ten minutes the night before in trying to arrive at +the meaning of “rudentem.” He staggers on through the next line by dint +of Mr. Opdyke’s explanation that “remis ventisque” means “with oars +and sails,” and is a regular phrase for “using every effort.” He gets +a little heart by successfully conjugating “tollimur” and explaining +the metaphorical use of “Manes,” his knowledge of which is directly +traceable to study, if his master did but know. He gets a cropper, +however, in endeavoring to struggle with “desedimus,” which he had +looked for in vain under the heads of desedo, desedeo, and disedeo. +When the omniscient Brown tells him that it is the preterit of desido, +Jack is ready to kick himself in his disgust. + +Only two more lines remain, over which Mr. Opdyke, believing, perhaps, +that the context is a little difficult to master, is disposed to assist +him, as, for instance, by explaining that “cava saxa” refers to “the +rocks at the bottom of the sea,” and that “ter spumam elisam,” which +Jack has not incorrectly rendered “the foam thrice dashed to pieces,” +is significant of the mariners’ seeing the sky through a curtain of +foam. + +“By the way, Hall, give the principal parts of elisam.” + +Jack flushes proudly. Again hard work is its own reward. + +“Elido, elidere, elisi, elisum.” + +Mr. Opdyke may be surprised, but he does not show it. He is the sort of +man who expects his pupils to know their lessons, and displays emotion +only when they fail. Besides, “elisam,” though a revelation to Jack, +had several times made its appearance before during the year. He merely +says shortly,―― + +“Well, finish.” + +[Illustration: “RORANTIA ASTRA.”] + +“We see,” starts off Jack, with confidence, but he is brought up short +with another “Mind your tense.” + +“We saw the foam thrice dashed to pieces and the roaring stars.” + +“What?” + +“The foam thrice dashed to pieces”―― + +“No, no; translate ‘rorantia astra.’” + +“Roaring stars,” answers Jack, a trifle less assuredly than the first +time. He had felt morally certain when he was preparing the lesson that +this must be the meaning of the phrase from the look of it. + +“Indeed!” comes again with withering scorn from his master’s lips. “Did +you ever see a star roar, Hall? I have heard of boys roaring, but never +of stars.” + +A shout of amusement from the class, which Mr. Opdyke is not very +prompt to suppress, greets this somewhat significant sally. When it has +subsided, poor Jack, who is scarlet with confusion, having been told, +“That will do,” after taking his seat hears Brown once more correct his +error by explaining that “rorantia” is the neuter accusative plural +present participle of “roro,” from “ros, dew,” and that “rorantia +astra” means “dripping stars”; as, to quote the after-remark of Mr. +Opdyke for Jack’s especial benefit, “any boy might have found out by +looking in the lexicon.” + +Jack’s heart, as he sat down, was sore within him. The visitors, +smiling in spite of themselves, had evidently heard enough, for they +now rose and began to thank profusely Mr. Opdyke, whose impassive calm +boded no good, as the class well knew, to those who had been found +wanting. In the midst of the leave-taking the bell rang, which was +the signal for the close of the recitation, and a moment later the +master turned and said, “Next time we will stop at line six hundred and +eleven. I wish to speak to Hall a moment.” + +When every one else was gone Jack approached the desk with compressed +lips and with every disposition to break down and sob. He had studied +his Virgil hard, as he thought, and though the passage which he had +been called upon to translate was the last in the lesson, he was not +conscious of having shirked it. He had done his best, and what a +pitiful showing his best was! However, although his doll seemed very +full of sawdust, he was not going to give old Opdyke the satisfaction +of perceiving his complete unhappiness. + +Accordingly the Latin master, who believed himself an adept in +reading youthful character, conceived the sullen air of determination +manifested by the culprit before him as consistent with a purpose to +remain a dunce, and, acting on this presumption, regarded the offender +sternly, and said: + +“My patience is exhausted, Hall. I have put up with your negligence +until I can do so no longer with any respect for myself or regard for +your good. I shall report your case to Dr. Meredith forthwith. There +is nothing you can say which will alter my determination,” he added +sharply, as Jack seemed about to speak. + +“Very well, sir,” Jack answered. + +Mr. Opdyke gathered up his books and was gone without bestowing a look +on his unhappy victim, who, led by that which he had just heard to +foresee his dismissal from school, went sadly to his room, bewailing +his unlucky stars――“rorantia astra.” The Doctor would surely take in +very bad part this report of neglected studies coming so soon after +his former disgrace. + +In his unhappy plight he decided to go to Carlisle, to whom he told the +story of his misfortunes and from whom he obtained the sympathy he was +in need of. For Carlisle had not failed to observe Jack’s efforts to +overcome the difficulties of the Æneid in spite of his young crony’s +unwillingness to come to him for help, and was able with sincerity to +support the dejected lad’s protestation that he had really studied hard. + +“Studied! You have studied like a Trojan, Jack. It’s an outrage in +Opdyke to accuse you of negligence. It serves you right, though, for +not letting me tutor you a bit. ‘Rudentem, the rudder,’――and what was +the other? Oh, yes,――‘roaring stars.’ Excuse my laughing, old fellow, +you outdid yourself.” + +“I don’t care so much what Opdyke thinks,” said Jack ruefully, “but I +can’t bear to have the Doctor suppose I’m the same old quarter of a +dollar. It’s no use my trying to learn anything, though. The harder I +work the worse exhibition I make. When you’re gone next year, I don’t +know what’ll become of me.” + +“But I shan’t be gone. I’m going to remain another year.” + +“Really?” exclaimed Jack jubilantly. “What has induced you to change +your mind? When did you decide?” + +“Only this morning. I’ve been talking it over with Dr. Bolles, and +he thinks it would be more sensible of me not to go to college for +another year. There’s no hurry, for I’m only seventeen, and though I’m +feeling first-rate he believes that by waiting I should build myself up +completely. So I’m to pass my entrance examinations this June and come +back to the school as assistant in Latin next fall. It’s all arranged; +and you’ll have to mind your P’s and Q’s, I can tell you, when you’re +reciting to me, youngster.” + +These last weeks of the school year were always busy ones in every +sense. Beside being examination time, at the close of which was the +annual exhibition day when the parents and friends of the boys came +often from a great distance to see their sons declaim or recite +in public, they were busy also in an athletic way. On the morning +preceding that on which the prize declamation was held it had become +an established custom for the four eight-oared crews to compete +together and subsequently for the best single scullers at Utopia to +demonstrate by a two-mile contest which could pull the fastest. During +the same week also the school nine endeavored to pit itself against the +most formidable base-ball team that could be lured to Utopia. + +This year, as you already know, Jack took no active part in either +of the aquatic tussles. He saw, as was expected, the Mohicans again +crowned cocks of the lake, chiefly owing to the dashing stroke set them +by Tom Bonsall, and heard with a feeling akin to envy the statement +go the rounds that Tom was to have a walk-over in the single-scull +contest. There were no entries against him, and by paddling over the +course he would have the right to claim the silver cup annually put up +as a prize by a generous patron of the school. Somehow or other there +was just at this time a dearth of fast scullers among the boys of the +first two years, and here was a third-classer sweeping all before him +without opposition even. + +The single-scull race had been fixed for as late as possible in +the afternoon, in order to give any one who had taken part in the +four-oared contest time to get rested. But, naturally, as few foresaw +any amusement in watching Tom go over the course alone, interest in +the event was very slight until the rumor got abroad shortly after +twelve o’clock that Carlisle was going to have a try for the cup. +It had already been announced early in the day not only that he had +come out at the head of the school, but that his standing in the way +of scholarship was proportionately higher than that of any previous +Utopian. No one was surprised at this; but the news of his entry for +the single sculls caused a veritable sensation, which found voice in +a general prediction that he would be beaten. As for Jack, when he +heard it, he waved his cap above his head and shouted himself hoarse. +He had such faith in his friend’s ability to do anything that he tried +to do, that, as astounding as the announcement was, even to him, Jack +would not permit himself to doubt the result. The odds were ostensibly +against Louis, it is true, for Tom was the pink of condition and was +open to slight criticism in the way of style, as Jack was very well +aware, and I don’t think our hero was quite able yet to appreciate to +the full the value in such an affair of steady, systematic training +void of splurge or notoriety, although familiar with the fact that his +friend was in excellent practice. And yet, notwithstanding, Jack had a +hope which from the first amounted almost to conviction that Carlisle +would win. + +It was a great race――that battle royal between Tom Bonsall and Louis +Carlisle, and properly is recorded among the famous rowing matches of +Utopia School. If this book was not devoted chiefly to the experiences +of another hero, I should like nothing better than to describe in +detail how the two oarsmen, who were well matched in point of size, +pulled an even race to within a quarter of a mile of the finish at a +pace but little below that of the best school record; how the younger +boy in his desire to overcome his antagonist increased his speed and +gained a lead of half a boat’s length, to the delight of his backers, +only to get blown and yield his advantage, inch by inch, until the +rival shells were once more abreast; and how Tom in his distress then +lost his head and began to splash, giving an opportunity for his +senior’s steady, thoroughly digested stroke to bring him to the fore +and win the race with comparative ease amid the vociferous cheers of a +rapturous crowd, among whom there was no one more wild with transport +than our friend Jack. It was a fit ending to the victor’s career at +Utopia,――a career which had won him no enemies, and gained for him +the respect and affection of masters and pupils alike, most of whom, +however, as they admired him walking up to the boat-house, apparently +still fresh and a picture of ruddy health, had but little appreciation +of how largely he owed his great increase in vigor to knowledge of +his own needs and to self-restraint――qualities whose value in the +foundation of character it would be difficult to overestimate. + +But for lack of space I might doubtless narrate also with abundant +circumlocution, and not fear to tire those of you most fond of +base-ball, how the Stars won a victory by a single run――a ten innings +game――from the school nine in spite of the stimulating presence of +applauding friends――some of them of the gentler sex――decked with +the Utopia color; and despite, too, the fact that the “Kid” was in +magnificent form, and our friend Hasy had been within a fortnight, on +account of his brilliancy at the bat and in the field, made permanently +a member of the team in the position of third-base man, which you will +remember was the same proud position he filled when with the formidable +Rising Suns. How the defeat came about it was not easy to explain, as +every one had felt sure of the game, which suggests that we are very +apt in this world to come to grief when we despise our adversaries. It +was a good thing for the “Kid,” however, and for Haseltine too, to have +the conceit knocked out of them, as I have no doubt the Doctor thought +also, seeing that the nine had carried all before it hitherto during +the term. It does not do for boys, or for men either, who wish to hold +their own and to go on improving, to get too cocky. + +Notwithstanding these diversions, Jack could not help feeling very +nervous in regard to the outcome of Mr. Opdyke’s report to the Doctor, +of which he had heard nothing, although a fortnight had now elapsed +since his pitiful recitation in Virgil. Since then he had been in to +the yearly examinations in the various subjects allotted to boys of his +year, but without feeling much encouraged to believe that he had made +a good showing. It was a new experience to him to be worrying as to +whether or not he had answered this or that question correctly, and yet +he was so wrapped up in trying not to be at the foot of the class that +he could think of nothing else. It seemed to him as though he could no +longer bear the thought of being regarded as an idle, lazy fellow. + +Before breakfast, on the morning of the school exhibition, he received +word that he was to go to Dr. Meredith’s study, a summons which made +him feel sick at heart, for he believed that he knew what was in store +for him. Greatly to his surprise he was greeted by the head master with +a pleasant smile, and could scarcely believe his ears as he listened to +these words:―― + +“Hall, your work during the past term has been a great improvement on +what you have done before. There is great room for improvement yet, my +dear boy, but if you continue as you have begun there will soon be no +cause to complain of you.” + +There can be little doubt that Jack went home for vacation with a light +heart, especially when I add that he had the satisfaction of being +assured by Carlisle, just before they parted for the summer, that if he +would only stick to his present stroke and not try to get on too fast, +he would certainly in time give that rising young oarsman, Bonsall, all +he could do to keep his laurels. + +“I’ve taught Bonsall a lesson, though, that he’ll be quick to profit +by, if he’s the clever fellow I judge him to be,” said Carlisle. +“You’ve no child’s play cut out for you, youngster; it’ll be nip and +tuck between you, and all I can say is, let the best man win when the +time comes. I hope I shall be on hand to see the struggle.” + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + NIP AND TUCK. + + +With the beginning of the third-class year Jack entered upon the +second half of his life at Utopia. One day early in the new term he +dropped into the more spacious study to which Carlisle, in his capacity +of assistant in Latin, had been promoted, and falling into a chair +exclaimed, “I say, Louis, I would like something to read.” + +“To read, my dear fellow? With all my heart. What shall it be?” + +“That’s what I’ve come to you to tell me. I’ve never read anything and +I want to begin.” + +As you have doubtless noticed, Carlisle had hitherto in his intercourse +with Jack kept in the background his most cherished tastes, and +rarely, if ever, made allusion to books or other kindred interests, +feeling sure that he would not find a sympathetic listener. But from +this time forward the scope of their friendship was greatly widened. +It was a simple matter for the older boy to gratify the desire of +his interrogator, and before many weeks had passed by Jack had become +an eager devourer of literature, held in check from proceeding too +rapidly, however, by the injunction to digest thoroughly what he read. + +“I only wish I had had somebody to impress the importance of that +upon me when I started,” Carlisle remarked to him early in their new +intercourse. “I read everything I could lay my hands on as fast as I +could see the words. Consequently I forgot half what I read.” + +“Were all these books given to you?” asked Jack, indicating the modest +little library of which his friend was the happy possessor. + +“No, indeed. I purchased most of them with what I have saved from my +spending money. Long before I was your age I used to save up every cent +I got to spend in books. I shall never forget my delight when I was +able to buy the copy of ‘The Lady of the Lake,’ above your head there.” + +Jack had never read “The Lady of the Lake.” Indeed, he had never +read any poetry in his life, and what is more, had in his ignorance +cherished the belief that poetry was silly stuff, fit only for girls +and milksops, and quite beneath the notice of a masculine individual +like himself. This belief he was obliged to confess ill-founded after +finishing the thrilling encounter between Snowdon’s knight and the +formidable Roderick Dhu. In fact, so great was his delight with both +this poem and “Marmion,” which Carlisle introduced him to immediately +after, that he saw fit to learn passages from each of them by heart, +much to the bewilderment and ill-concealed disdain of Haseltine, in +whose presence he was disposed to rehearse them. + + “‘Come one, come all, this rock shall fly + From its firm base as soon as I,’” + +he began one morning while they were dressing, assuming a martial +attitude before the bath-room door, and armed with a base-ball bat. + +“Oh, come off,” said Haseltine contemptuously. “Quit that stuff!” + +“It isn’t stuff,” expostulated Jack. “You ought to read it; it’s +immense.” + +“What is?” + +“‘The Lady of the Lake,’ by Scott. There’s ‘Marmion,’ too.” + + “‘Charge, Chester, charge! on, Stanley, on! + Were the last words of Marmion,’” + +he added, waving the bat. + +“Anything about base-ball in it?” + +“Of course not, Hasy. It’s poetry.” + +“I don’t see what difference that makes. Any way, I guess prose is good +enough for me.” + +“Will you read ‘The Lady of the Lake’ if I lend it to you?” asked Jack. +He was genuinely eager to share the pleasure of his new discovery. + +Haseltine did not commit himself on the point, but Jack left the volume +in his crony’s room, and experienced the satisfaction a few days later +of hearing him ask, carelessly,―― + +“What did you say the name of the other book was?” + +“‘Marmion.’” + +“I guess I’ll look it over now that my hand’s in.” + +This was scarcely enthusiasm, to judge by the mere words; but Jack +knew well that Haseltine must have been greatly interested in order to +have said even so much, an estimate which was confirmed a fortnight +later, when the base-ball devotee accepted an invitation to read two +hours in every week with him and Carlisle. This arrangement, which +lasted through the year, soon became a source of extreme delight to +both the boys, who listened with open ears to the various pieces of +verse which their mentor selected for their edification. Carlisle took +pains to explain that he was himself a mere student and beginner, and +to encourage diversity of opinion, and consequent discussion, in regard +to the merits of what was read. It must have been interesting to him to +note the gradual change which took place in the tastes of his auditors, +though be it said that Haseltine, to the last, refused to admit any +passage in the realm of verse to be superior to that which described +the once sneered-at duel between the Scottish king and the Highland +rebel. Both their hearts, and more particularly Jack’s, were opened, +however, to the beauties of more thoughtful poetry, which, and also +the feelings and aspirations begotten by it, became new and working +influences in their lives. + +I am quite aware that this side of Jack’s career cannot be made to +appear so attractive to you boys by means of description as some of +the more picturesque matters in which he was engaged; but if he were +called upon to-day to state what period in his school life he looks +back upon with the greatest satisfaction since going out into the busy +world, I know that he would specify that during which he acquired his +love of reading and interest in refined thought. You remember that, +though, when he went home encouraged by Dr. Meredith’s kind words at +the end of his fourth-class year, he was certainly entitled to great +credit for having made so determined a fight against his inveterate +habit of idleness, he was at the time little more than a rough, +harum-scarum sort of a boy,――a plucky one, I admit, with plenty of good +stuff in him,――but nevertheless comparatively thoughtless, and confined +in his interests to the ball field and boat-house. Before another year +had passed, while he was once more in excellent spirits, there was +something about his expression which caused the other boys to speak of +him as older-looking. But Carlisle and the ever-observant head of the +school recognized with pleasure that his graver countenance and less +flighty manner were significant of more than seniority. + +Our hero’s prowess in the way of sport was chiefly marked this year by +his selection as one of the Atalantas, in whose boat he was given the +position of number four, and had the satisfaction of doing his best to +make the crew formidable opponents of the still victorious Mohicans. +The Atalantas had fallen to the rank of third on the lake in the last +race in which the four eight-oared crews had met; but this infusion of +new blood――there were two other additions beside Jack――enabled them to +come in second in the spring contest, and not a very bad second either. +So fresh were they in fact at the finish, that Tom Bonsall had to call +on his crew for an extra spurt when he supposed the race already won. + +Jack managed also, before another twelvemonth had passed, to throw +Carpenter flat on his back and pin his shoulders to the ground in the +middle-weight spring wrestling, in retaliation for that athlete’s +victory over him when they were both classed as feather weights. He +wisely recognized his limitations on the running track, however, +which a gain of ten pounds in weight had intensified, by not trying +to compete with Jessup, who was still easily first as a sprinter. If +Hopedale, who, you will recall, had beaten him twice in previous years, +had been still at Utopia, Jack might have found it difficult to resist +the temptation of making another struggle for supremacy; but his old +antagonist was no longer at the school. It was a wise decision on his +part, for the champion succeeded in lowering Carlisle’s famous record +amid tumultuous applause. + +Jack’s general reputation at this time was as a good all-round man; +a reputation which he was urged to maintain by the intelligent +superintendent of the gymnasium, Dr. Bolles, between whom and Jack +there was mutual cordiality of feeling. Dr. Bolles, as you will +remember, had been pleased by Jack’s compact physique from the first +day he laid eyes on him, and had ever since lost no occasion to drop +valuable hints as to how it might be improved and taken care of. Jack +had long ago learned from this source the weak points in his make-up, +and was well versed in his instructor’s theory, that it was foolish for +boys to cultivate chiefly those parts of the body which were especially +well developed. In the opinion of Dr. Bolles, athletics were intended +as a means for improving the health and structure of the young, not +as an end to the pursuit of which they should devote their entire +energies; and he was emphatic in his cautions to Jack not to be led +astray in this respect. + +“Remember,” he would say, “that however important it may seem to you +to win this or the other match, the real object of exercise is to fit +you for the serious work that you will be called upon to do as a man. +The moment you sacrifice everything to sport, you are to all intents +and purposes a professional, which is the last thing you were sent to +school to become.” + +Although this view of athletics was novel to Jack, he was forced to +admit to himself that it was in keeping with the other ideas regarding +human duty and obligation which had suddenly been revealed to him as a +consequence of his more sober life and the masterpieces of intelligent +thought with which his mind was being brought in daily contact. He +was able now to understand Carlisle’s previous determination not to +dissipate his energies in too many directions, and to pursue his +training at the oar with the aim first of all of keeping in good +condition so as to be able to fulfill his school work satisfactorily. +Study did not come easy yet to Jack. Far from it, in fact. It takes a +long time to recover lost ground and cover new at the same time. Often +indeed he felt pretty well discouraged and inclined to believe that +he should never do anything at his books. Though by no means dull, he +possessed little more than average brightness, which made the contrast +which he could not help forming at times between himself and his mentor +stand out with painful distinctness. Carlisle was so quick-minded, and +acquired everything that he undertook to learn so easily, that Jack +could not help expressing openly his despair of ever coming within +understanding distance even of his friend. + +“Nonsense!” Carlisle would reply on such occasions; “you were a little +late in beginning, that’s all. Persevere, youngster, and you’ll come +out all right in the end.” + +There was good advice in this, for though Jack would never be likely +through lack of natural abilities and taste to equal his senior in +intellectual acumen, there was no reason why he should not become +an excellent scholar and graduate with distinction by means of that +very valuable quality――which is too apt to be depreciated as a +gift――known as perseverance. Some boys will always be by disposition +quicker witted and more brilliant than their fellows, but it does +not follow by any means that the prizes of after-life fall to these +“Admirable Crichtons.” Stubborn, bull-dog, up-hill climbing and +untiring determination to succeed will many a time win place and honor +when easy-going talent goes to the wall. Don’t let any one persuade +you, boys, that you can equal all at once some companion who learns +his lessons twice as easily as you do. God gives unequal gifts to +his children, and if the one you have in mind is as resolute as you, +no amount of industry will enable you to catch him. But, though your +abilities may appear commonplace to begin with, you have no idea how +many of those exasperatingly clever fellows you will leave safely in +the rear before the race of life is over, if only you make the most of +yourself by persevering unflaggingly from start to finish. + +One day not long before the summer vacation Carlisle came into his +study, where Jack who had the run of it happened to be pegging away +at some lesson, and dropping into the window-seat began to look over +the just issued copy of “The Utopian,” the school paper, of which he +had been an editor until he graduated, and to which he was still an +occasional contributor. + +“The Utopian” was conducted by a board of six taken from the three +upper classes, who solicited articles and poems from the entire +school, and was a breezy neat-looking little publication containing, +beside local items of interest and detailed accounts of the triumphs +and reverses of the nine, the fifteen, and the other athletic +organizations, numerous imaginative pieces in prose and verse. Carlisle +had for several years been one of its strongest supporters, and both in +the capacity of “funny man” and poet had done much to keep its columns +readable. Consequently he was familiar with the pseudonym and style of +the usual contributors. + +After reading out one or two stray bits of humor which he came across +and over which he chuckled contentedly, and dubbing as “dishwater” a +poem involving a love affair which doubtless he judged appertained +rather to the mind’s eye than to the experience of the narrator, he was +silent a moment. Then he said: + +“I wonder who ‘Juvenis’ is.” + +“Juvenis?” asked Jack, with apparent nonchalance, glancing at him +furtively. + +“Yes; there’s a fellow signs himself ‘Juvenis’ to some lines on the +Ocean. It isn’t a very original subject, but whoever he is, he has seen +the ocean any way and knows what it looks like. It isn’t bad at all,” +he added. + +[Illustration] + +If the ex-editor had chanced to regard his companion’s face at the +moment he must have obtained an instant clue as to the identity of the +unknown rhymester. Jack was tickled to death, so to speak, for this was +the first information he had received of the acceptance of his poem +which he had inclosed and addressed to the editors of the Utopian a +fortnight before in the secrecy of his own room, and with very little +hope of its escape from the wastepaper basket. To have in addition to +the consciousness of knowing that it was actually in print, Carlisle +of all men vouchsafe a word of praise in its behalf seemed to him like +piling Pelion on Ossa. At least he felt as much up in the world as he +could possibly have felt if standing on a pinnacle composed of those +two mountains. + +While he was deliberating whether or not to reveal his authorship, +Carlisle renewed the conversation by asking to Jack’s infinite +amusement: + +“Why shouldn’t you try your hand at something of the sort, youngster? +If poetry isn’t in your line, write prose.” + +“What’s the use?” responded our hero, with a well simulated attempt at +indifference. + +“What’s the use of anything? In the first place, composition teaches +you to systematize your thoughts and to express yourself with +clearness. I believe, too, in cultivating the imagination. Of course +every fellow who writes verse isn’t a poet and is apt to be a fool if +he thinks himself one, but his mind gets pleasure and profit out of +the exercise. Take these lines I just spoke to you about,” continued +Carlisle, “they’re not much as poetry of course.” + +“Oh, no,” interjected Jack, a little dolefully, off his guard. + +“But the author must have derived a great deal of satisfaction from +writing them, and can evidently do much better work with practice. If +you ask ‘what’s the use,’ I can’t express it to you in dollars and +cents, but I’m mighty certain that everything of that sort is good for +one, and helps one to understand life better.” + +Jack began to laugh merrily. “That’s the best rise I’ve seen for a long +time,” he said. + +“I fail to see the rise.” + +“You will, though, when I tell you that I am the author of the Lines on +the Ocean.” + +“You, Jack! Well, that’s a good one on me, I admit. You might have let +me into the secret, I think,” added Carlisle reproachfully. + +“You see it was not a very original subject”―― + +“None of that, now. You may thank your stars, youngster, that I +didn’t pitch into your verses. I might have stabbed you to the heart +unwittingly.” + +“In which case their authorship would have died with me. I knew you’d +feel obliged to tell me exactly what you thought of them if I showed +them to you, so I kept mum.” + +“Well, you’ve heard my opinion of them, and I don’t know that I +have anything to add except that for a first attempt they’re highly +creditable,” said Carlisle. + +Jack was excessively proud of his new accomplishment, and lost no time +in showing the verses to Haseltine, who, after reading them to the end, +observed laconically,―― + +“They’re not up to ‘The Lady of the Lake.’” + +Beyond this general criticism Haseltine did not choose to commit +himself, but being nowadays less disposed than formerly to sniff +at matters unconnected with base-ball, he also abstained from any +observations in depreciation of poetry writing. But though, as we +have seen, not wholly unamenable to culture, Hasy was true, heart +and soul, to his first love. No arguments had yet been able to shake +his unswerving allegiance to base-ball, and, as a consequence, his +daily increasing proficiency at that game was giving him an enviable +reputation on the diamond, so much so, that it was universally conceded +that he would succeed the “Kid” as captain of the school nine at the +beginning of the coming year. His fielding was really remarkable for +so young a fellow. He seemed to be in a dozen places at the same +moment, and the batsman who dared to let anything drive within a wide +radius of third base was sure to be discomfited. His base running was a +marvel to behold, and his batting record by no means inferior. His most +recent ambition was to pitch, and his twisters had already brought him +into repute on the several occasions when he had been called into the +box to relieve the “Kid.” In his studies he managed to tag along just +above the bottom of the class. A certain brightness, a clever knack +of guessing correctly, it might be called, saved him from absolute +disaster, and made him popular with his masters despite themselves. + +With the opening of their second-class year both Jack and he found +themselves among the leaders of the school. Its cock was now undeniably +Tom Bonsall, who, in addition to being a member of the first class, +stroke oar of the Mohicans, and champion sculler of Utopia, was justly +entitled to be styled a rattling good fellow. Tom had, however, the +air of feeling his oats, as the saying is, in spite of the lesson in +humility which Carlisle had taught him, and, if he had a fault, was +open to criticism on the score of vanity. What Tom Bonsall could not +do was not worth doing, school opinion generally held, which was a +sentiment full of danger to his career unless he chanced to possess an +uncommonly level head. + +Both Tom and Jack had filled out amazingly during this last twelvemonth. +Tom was still the heavier of the two, and was a year older to boot; but +his rival looked beefy enough and sinewy enough not to excite invidious +comparisons. Indeed, if one had looked them in turn squarely in the +face, I think he would, if a shrewd judge, have been struck by how clear +Jack’s eyes were and how fresh and free from pallor or staleness his +complexion was, slightly to the prejudice of Tom, who, to tell the +truth, had got a little into the habit of smoking cigarettes and being +careless about his condition. It is pretty hard for a fellow as popular +as Tom not to have to suit everybody more or less in order not to lose +ground, and as Bill French and two or three others of the same stamp had +a certain amount of influence in the school, he thought it good policy +to keep on the right side of them, though disapproving of their general +ways. This is a dangerous sort of game to play, and finer fellows at the +start even than Tom Bonsall have learned it to their cost. + +But little reference of late has been made to the wily Bill, for +the reason that after the tool-house episode his intimacy with Jack +perceptibly waned. But though he has not figured in these pages, it +must not be supposed that he had ceased to be a potent influence at +Utopia, or, alas! that he had changed in character. Bill’s lie set an +effectual seal on any budding virtues that may have been dormant in his +soul and crushed them hopelessly, it is to be feared. Bill was not a +villain, in the approved sense of the word. Quite otherwise, in fact. +He had plenty of good points in that he was clever, entertaining, and, +on the whole, amiable; but the trouble with him, as you have, I hope, +appreciated, was that he was a coward. His tastes and impulses led him +to avoid all that was open and above board, and to prefer just the +opposite. You remember how he displayed these traits earlier in his +career, and you will readily understand that now, instead of following +any of the pursuits which the manly boys at the school took delight +in, he found his chief gratification in posing as a flawless dandy, +by which word “flawless” I do not refer to his moral attributes but +to his personal appearance. Bill and his set――for he had a number of +more or less ardent disciples in this proclivity――aped with wonderful +precision so far as they dared, and much further in secret than the +laws allowed, the manners of weary men about town who think they know +everything about life, and are tired of what they know. Even in the +days of the Big Four this had been somewhat Bill’s drift, but he had +developed it latterly to perfection. + +I bring him before you again that you may take one last glimpse of him +and his ways, and form your own opinion regarding them both before he +vanishes from our sight forever. I wish with all my heart that I were +able truthfully to state that he came to grief before he left Utopia. +To inform you that he was sent away on account of his evil example +would be much more satisfactory from the point of view of romance and +retributive justice, than to write as I am forced to do, that, although +he was suspected and disapproved of by the masters, he managed to +keep his ill doings so dark that he was never actually found out up +to that time. But we must take facts as they are, not as we would +like to have them. I do not wish to give you the idea that Bill was +hopeless,――though I regret to add that since he graduated from Utopia +he has done little to encourage one to believe that he will ever be a +useful member of society,――but it must be borne in mind in estimating +character that the stereotyped villain such as was referred to just +now is a rare exception except in city slums, and that the sort of +person most dangerous to the welfare of our community as it exists at +present is not the cut-throat or burglar whom the policeman knows very +well how to deal with, but the sneering advocate of licentiousness +and self-indulgence and low standards of honor. Boys like Bill do not +become thoroughly bad all at once. They deteriorate gradually. One +thing leads to another, and though if no redeeming influence is brought +to bear upon them in time their degeneration is wofully certain, there +is often little about them to attract the unfavorable attention of +those who do not know them well. Sometimes they are never found out +at all by the world at large; but you may be pretty sure that, as the +years roll by, if they do not reveal themselves by their unworthy +deeds or the expression of their faces, their hearts are sad and sore. +Life has lost for them its savor even in an evil sense, and everything +seems to them as the poet says, “weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable.” +But to be anxious that vice should be its own punishment, much less +that wrong-doers should have strict justice meted out to them, is +concern unworthy for thorough-going characters to entertain. Let the +bad boys go their ways, and do not trouble your heads with wondering +when and how they will be made to suffer for their unrighteousness. +You will have plenty to do to guide your own footsteps and to steer +clear of the pitfalls which have engulfed many a lad secure in the +consciousness of his own power to resist temptation. For my part I pity +Bill French and hope sincerely that he may yet turn out a decent fellow. + +Meanwhile, with Carlisle away at college, where he had entered with +flying colors, the new year saw Jack thrown on his own resources, +which, though a doleful experience at first on account of his +separation from his dear friend, was perhaps just what he needed to +give force to his character. He had become one of the older boys of +the school, and instead of looking up to others was in a position +to be looked up to himself by the lads in the lower classes, the +consciousness of which was not slow to breed in him a sense of +responsibility as to keeping an eye on youngsters who, like himself +not so very long ago, were in need of a helping hand. He was now also +one of the six editors of “The Utopian,” an honor conferred upon +him in virtue of several articles both in prose and verse which had +emanated from his pen as a result of the favorable reception accorded +to his Lines on the Ocean. His pseudonym “Juvenis” was well known +in school circles, and his energy in securing both contributors and +subscribers never faltered. He was the means of introducing a number +of new features into the paper, most popular among which was a series +of florid, but racy and pertinent observations on the national game +appearing in every issue signed enigmatically “Third Base,” which was +merely an ostrich-like concealment of the identity of the captain of +the school nine. Haseltine had regarded the proposition to become +literary to this extent with favor from the very outset, and from +the very outset also his lucubrations were so immensely popular that +extracts from them found their way into the columns of the real press +of the county, much to the satisfaction of their author. + +But deeply in earnest as Jack had grown to be in his efforts to do +his duty and to please his mother, which two ends not unnaturally +were synonymous in his mind, and faithfully as he stuck to his school +work during his year in the second class, he was looking forward +with anxious but keen and determined anticipation to the day when he +should have the opportunity to row man for man against his rival, to +decide once for all which was the better oarsman of the two. It had +become a matter of school knowledge and discussion that these two +crack scullers――for they were now both recognized as such――were to +settle this question at the spring races, and great was the difference +of opinion as to the result. Each had his enthusiastic backers who +believed in their champion’s ability to leave his opponent far in the +rear, and but little else was talked about out of school hours but the +respective merits of Tom Bonsall and Jack Hall. + +As Tom was to graduate this year, this was Jack’s last chance to prove +himself his superior. Consequently neither of them allowed the other to +outdo him in practice, and though apparently they both avoided testing +each other’s mettle in advance, their respective shells were visible +at opposite ends of the lake at least once a day during the spring +preceding the race. + +Great preparations were made for the contest, and in order that the +scullers might be perfectly fresh, the eight-oared race was fixed for +the day after. But great as was the excitement, it was nothing compared +with what it became when, a week before the important event, Dr. +Meredith announced his intention of competing for the prize himself. + +The report ran like wildfire through the school. “Have you heard the +news?” every one asked his neighbor. “The Doctor is going in for the +single sculls against Bonsall and Hall. He hasn’t rowed in a race, you +know, since Whiteside crawled up on him so.” + +Whiteside’s struggle was, of course, merely a tradition to five sixths +of the boys, but it was one which had been handed down from class to +class as an event yet without parallel in the annals of Utopia. The +very fact that the Doctor had never entered a race since then had +been tacitly accepted as proof that there were no longer competitors +among his pupils sufficiently formidable to render a victory on his +part otherwise than easy, and it is needless to state that the present +announcement was regarded as a profound compliment to the condition of +aquatics at the school. As to what the result of the race would be, few +saw room to doubt. The Doctor was always in condition; the Doctor was +always in practice; the Doctor was sure to win. + +The opinion of the many was shared also by his two competitors, who +discussed the matter from every standpoint. Neither of them could hope +to beat the Doctor, but they were resolved that he should not carry off +the prize without pulling for all he was worth from start to finish. So +Tom and Jack vowed on the evening before the race as they stood side +by side on the boat-house flat, watching their adversary shoot over +the water in a final practice spin. If gritted teeth and determination +could be of avail, the head of the school had no sinecure in the task +which he had taken on himself. + +The appointed day dawned bright and still. Jack, who had lain awake +during the early hours of the night through excitement, was awakened +from a deep, refreshing sleep by a well-known knock, which caused him +to leap out of bed and open the door. + +“Louis, where on earth did you spring from?” + +“Jack, how _are_ you?” + +The two boys stood shaking hands and laughing delightedly for some +moments before Carlisle――it was he of course――saw fit to explain in +answer to his friend’s question that he had run up from college on +purpose to see the race. There was a leeway of three days, he said, +between two of his examinations, and he had managed to get away. + +“It was awfully good of you, Louis.” + +“Nonsense, youngster! I had promised to come if I could, you know, and +I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” + +“Have you heard whom I am to row against?” asked Jack feverishly. + +Carlisle nodded. He had been told everything by Horace Hosmer driving +up from the station, it appeared, and been waylaid moreover by half the +school, eager to know his opinion as to the result, and to give theirs. + +“Have I any show, Louis, do you think?” + +“You ought to know better than I, Jack. I haven’t seen you row for a +year.” + +“I can’t bear the idea of coming in third. Somehow I feel as if I +should have a better show if the Doctor were out of it.” + +“Too late to talk that way now,” said Carlisle. “You must brace.” + +“Oh, I’m braced, never fear. It’s merely like talking to another self +to talk to you.” + +The race had been fixed for ten o’clock. The lake was reported to be +like a mirror, and the day unexceptionable from an oarsman’s point +of view. Jack ate a fairly substantial breakfast at eight, and at +Carlisle’s suggestion remained quietly until nine in his own room, +from which he emerged in an overcoat worn over his boating costume, a +crimson and black striped jersey and crimson handkerchief,――the uniform +of the Atalantas,――and a nondescript pair of trowsers. Haseltine was +waiting before the door with a trap, borrowed from one of the farmers, +so as to spare his champion the unnecessary fatigue of a walk, in which +the three bestowed themselves. Hasy announced that the Doctor and Tom +Bonsall had already gone down to the boat-house. + +The quadrangle, as they jogged through it, looked completely deserted, +and not a head was to be seen in any of the dormitory windows, a +condition of affairs which was fully accounted for by the appearance +of the lake and its borders when they arrived. Every boy who possessed +a boat was out in it, and the water was dotted with every variety of +craft from a Rob Roy canoe to the steam launch recently presented to +the school by a fond graduate, which was occupied by Mrs. Meredith, +the judges, and some of the principal guests whom Founders’ Day――as +the annual exhibition was called――had brought to Utopia. The launch +flew proudly the school colors, blue and white, which properly were +worn to-day only by the Doctor, who was just stepping from the float +into his shell amid great applause as Jack alighted from the vehicle. +The stand, which had been erected a few rods from the boat-house, and +which was just opposite to the finish, was crowded with visitors, many +of whom were ladies in gay attire, and the members of the school, while +the country people from miles around were ranged along the shore. It +was a scene calculated to quicken the pulses of any one with a spark +of enthusiasm. As for Jack, when he started to strip off his overcoat +he was trembling all over, and could feel his heart going like a +trip-hammer. + +The course was to be two miles in all; straight away for a mile to +a flagged buoy, and back again to another flagged buoy abreast of +the boat-house. Two of the first class were to be judges, a third to +be judge at the further buoy, and Mr. Percy had consented to act as +referee in case of any dispute. Stoddard of the second class, and +stroke oar of the Nimrods, was to send the contestants off by firing a +pistol at the proper moment. + +Jack was the last of the three to get into his boat. + +“Is everything all right?” whispered Carlisle, who was bending over +him holding the shell at the float. “Don’t spurt until you have to, +remember.” + +“O K,” answered our hero. + +“Let her go, Smith,” said Haseltine jocularly. “Keep your courage up, +old man,” he added to Jack. + +Carlisle shoved the shell out, retaining his grasp on the oar nearest +him until there was clear water. Jack paddled a few rods and then shot +off at a comfortable pace up the lake, followed by the wistful gaze of +the spectators eager to gauge his powers. He caught a glimpse of Tom +Bonsall, in a white shirt with a purple star on its bosom, and a purple +handkerchief bound stylishly across his forehead, resting on his oars +and watching him. Jack had no idea of wasting his energies by showing +off. He had time just to warm himself up a bit before the signal to +get into line. He pulled steadily and quietly for a few hundred yards, +taking a last glance at his equipment to make sure that everything was +all right. + +He had scarcely turned to come back when the pistol sounded, and by the +time he reached the starting line the Doctor and Tom were in position. +According to the lots drawn that morning Jack was to be in the middle, +with Tom inside; so he paddled in between them. Stoddard spent a few +moments in making first one and then another retire or move forward a +few inches, then asked sharply,―― + +“Are you ready?” + +Jack felt almost beside himself in the short interval that preceded the +discharge, and his throat seemed parched. + +Crack! + +The three pairs of blades flashed through the water at the same moment, +and neither boat seemed to gain any decided advantage as they bounded +away from the buoy amid the cheers of everybody. + +“Hurrah for the Doctor!” + +“Hit her up, Tom!” + +“Bully for you, Jack!” + +It took our hero some minutes to get his head clear enough to be able +to perceive what he was doing, as compared with his opponents. He rowed +on and on excitedly without realizing anything. He was conscious of +rowing a rather quicker and more jerky stroke than usual. His eyes were +misty and his throat drier than ever. The cheers of the spectators were +growing fainter, and he felt that it was time to settle down to work. +He made a gulp and looked about him. On his right was Tom pulling like +grim death, at a rate which seemed to lift his boat almost out of the +water. The stern of Tom’s shell was nearly on a level with the back +sweep of his own oars, which showed plainly that Tom had not far from +half a length’s lead on him. On the other side was the Doctor in his +blue and white jersey, rowing steadily and smoothly as clockwork, neck +and neck with him. + +[Illustration: THE BOAT RACE.] + +“Softly now,” said Jack to himself. “This is too fast company for me. +If Tom can keep this racket up he’ll get there first. My only chance is +to let up a bit.” + +Accordingly he lessened the number of strokes to the minute by making +each of them longer and more sweeping, with the immediate result that +he felt in better shape, and that Tom had gained no further advantage +on him. But there was no let-up to Tom. He had the lead and was bent on +keeping it. + +They were too far off now for the shouts to reach them. Not a sound was +audible to Jack but the slight plashing of the oars in the water. Over +his shoulder Tom was struggling onward, and abreast of him, pulling +with apparently no effort whatever and watching alertly the movements +of his rivals, could be seen the dangerous Doctor. But Jack, too, felt +calm now and fresher than when he started. He can even put a little +more back muscle into his stroke, he thinks, as he feels his grip +tighten on the oars with the consciousness of growing vigor. A few more +sweeps like that will close up the gap between his out-rigger and Tom’s. + +But why does not the Doctor bend to his work to keep him company? The +Doctor is pulling a waiting race evidently, and is going to let his +rivals blow themselves against one another before he has an oar in the +fight. Otherwise surely he would not have let Jack forge ahead so that +he has to look round the corner now in order to watch him. The Doctor +is an old hand and has seen many a race lost by too lively a pace at +the start. + +“Steady,” reflects Jack, again trying to keep cool as he realizes that +he has a lead over his most dangerous enemy. “Don’t hit her up too +lively.” He appreciates the Doctor’s tactics, and is not going to fall +into the trap if he can help it, even though Tom, spurred on by swift +pursuit, has put on more steam and is holding his own bravely. They +are not far from the flagged buoy now. Jack can see it distinctly and +has in mind that he must be careful to avoid a foul. They are likely +to pass it in the order in which they are at present, about half a +length apart, and Tom has the inside water. All three are pulling like +well-oiled machines, and not a symptom of distress comes from either +boat. + +Tom turns first, and very cleverly too, close to the buoy so as to +give no one a chance to cut in, and starts for home, but the others +are at his heels and right after him. Jack in passing catches the eye +of Sampson, the judge at the turn, and feels cool enough to nod in +friendly fashion. Halfway, and he is still fresh as ever! He would like +to try to press Tom, but for fear of the cool, deliberate Doctor barely +astern. He remembers Carlisle’s caution not to spurt until he has to, +and only bends strongly and firmly to his accustomed stroke, which, +however, is losing him no ground to say the least. Tom is evidently +uneasy and is working to shake him off, forgetful, it appears, of his +experience in forcing the pace a year ago. But Tom is a better oar than +a year ago, and perhaps has taken that into account. + +Ah there! The Doctor is waking up at last, and is putting in some +stronger work; nothing very strenuous, but lively enough to warn Jack +that he must have his head about him if he hopes to keep his lead to +the end. One thing is certain now: Tom will have to row faster or give +in; after which reflection Jack slightly quickens his stroke, and +without actually spurting bends every muscle. Now or never! They are +only half a mile from home, and a waiting race may be delayed too long. +Already they are within ear-shot of the encouraging shouts of the crews +and scullers on either side of their path, who have come out to meet +them and are rowing back to be in at the finish. Now or never! Will +Tom be able to quicken his pace? That is the question. He does quicken +it, so much so that he is rowing desperately fast with short lightning +strokes, which come so rapidly that it is difficult to note the +interval between them. Brilliant, magnificent! “but,” as some one who +knew said of the famous charge of the Light Brigade, “it is not war.” +It is slaughter, my dear Tom, and simple ruination. You cannot keep it +up. Even as it is, in spite of your splendid pyrotechnics, Jack’s long +steady swing is holding you, and what is more, pressing you into the +bargain. + +“Steady now,” murmurs Jack between his teeth. He knows from Tom’s +exertions that his rival is spurting and putting all his vitality into +his pace. A terrible moment of sustained effort follows, at the end +of which the leader lashes the air with a misplaced stroke, the water +splashes, and our hero’s shell surging forward comes on a level with +its forerunner, battles with it for twenty yards of struggling agony +on the part of the doomed champion, and leaps to the front at last, +just in time to meet the sweet music of the prolonged triumphant din of +shouts and cheers sent down the breeze from afar by hundreds of voices. +Jack is ahead, and only a quarter of a mile left! + +Tom is beaten. And now for the Doctor. Where is he? What is he doing? +No need to ask that question, friend Jack, if you lift your eyes. Tom +is beaten, not only by you but by the Doctor also; and though your most +dreaded enemy is still in your rear, the nose of his boat is almost on +a line with your stern, and he is quickening at every stroke. + +What a babel of cheers and exclamations bursts forth from the waving, +transported crowd along the bank and on the benches of the densely +packed stand! They begin to know who is who now, and can tell beyond +the shadow of a doubt that the crimson and black and the blue and white +are having a noble struggle for the lead. + +“Jack Hall is ahead! Hall! Hall! No, he isn’t! Hit her up, Doctor! +Hurrah for Hall! Hurrah for the Doctor! Tom, where are you? Bonsall! +Bonsall! H-A-L-L! Hall-l-l!” + +The tumult is maddening. Can it be possible that Jack Hall, who, on +the whole, before the race was rated lowest of the three, is going to +break the school record and beat the invincible Doctor in one and the +same breath? It looks like it, if he can hold his own for two hundred +yards more. It looks like it decidedly, and there is plenty of clear +water still between the winning goal and the foremost shell; and see, +the Doctor is spurting with a vengeance――look!――look!――and is he not +gaining, too? + +“Doctor Meredith is ahead! No, he’s not――Hall’s ahead! Huzza! hurrah! +Hall, Hall, hit her up, Hall! Look out, Hall! The Doctor wins! No he +doesn’t! Hall wins! Hurrah! Jack, where are you?” + +The Doctor has crept up, no doubt about that. The nose of his shell is +now well beyond Jack’s out-rigger, and he is speeding like the wind. +Jack is feeling terribly tired, his throat that he thought parched +at the start burns as if it were on fire, and his eyes seem ready to +start out of his head. His crimson handkerchief has fallen over his +eyes, but he gives himself a shake and it falls to his neck, leaving +his brow refreshingly free. He has vanquished Tom any way. So much to +be thankful for. Tom is a length behind, struggling still like the man +he is, but hopelessly vanquished all the same. Jack turns his head, +remembering to keep cool if he can, and sights the goal. Not more than +one hundred and fifty yards left! The reverberating yells and cheers +are setting his blood ablaze. He can scarcely see, but he knows he has +not spurted yet. He is neck and neck with the Doctor now. There can be +nothing to choose between them. + +“The Doctor wins!” “Not a bit of it; Hall wins! Good on your head, +Jack! Keep it up, Doctor! Go in, Hall!” + +The time has come now, our hero knows, to put in any spurt that is left +in him. Gripping the handles of his oars like a vise and shutting his +eyes, Jack throws all his vital powers into one grand effort, which, to +his supreme happiness, is answered by a great roar from the shore. + +“Hall! Hall! Hurrah! Nobly done, Hall! Hall wins! Row, Doctor, row!” + +The Doctor is rowing with all his might, you may be sure of that; but +he has not counted on the staying powers of his adversary. He can do no +more than he is doing, and this final spurt of Jack’s, exhausting as +it must have been were the race to be a quarter of a mile longer, will +carry the day. The Doctor can hardly catch him now. + +Jack has opened his eyes and takes in the situation. The din of +applause is tremendous. If he can hold out for half a dozen strokes +more, the victory is his. + +One. + +“Hall! Hall! Go in, Doctor!” + +Two. + +“Three cheers for Hall! One,――hurrah!――Two, hurrah!” + +Three. + +“Three,――hurrah! H-A-L-L!” + +Four. + +“Hall wins! Hall wins!” + +Five. + +“Hurrah! Huzza! Hurrah! Hall! Hall! Doctor! Doctor!” + +Six. + +Panting, breathless, and bewildered by the deafening cheers, Jack is +made aware only by the sight of the flagged buoy shooting past his +oar-blade that he has won the race and is champion of Utopia. A second +later the Doctor’s shell glides beside his own, and his master is the +first to shake his hand in hearty congratulation. + +“You beat me squarely and fairly, Hall. It was a grand race. You are +the better oarsman of the two.” + +Tom Bonsall, coming up on the other side, is scarcely less generous, +though he looks a little sheepish, poor fellow, and winded and pale. +Excitement keeps Jack up, and he paddles in gamy fashion to the float, +where he is welcomed by a score of hands and lifted on to the shoulders +of his enthusiastic friends, who, cheering like mad, carry him up to +the boat-house. + +“Well, old man, you did it after all,” said Carlisle, who was grinning +like a Cheshire cat in his enthusiasm. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t +believe you could get away from the Doctor.” + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + HASELTINE MAKES HIS CHOICE. + + +A year has elapsed, and once more Founders’ day has come round at +Utopia. The exercises of the graduating class and the prize-giving have +taken place in the morning, and now every one is digesting at leisure +the excellent collation provided shortly after noontime prior to +repairing to the quadrangle to witness the base-ball match which is to +conclude the day’s entertainment. + +In one of the studies in Fullham dormitory sacred to the older classes +two boys are seated engaged in earnest conversation. The room, a +cosy little den, owes evidently much of its comfortable and somewhat +artistic appearance to the good taste of one of its owners, who, no +other than our old friend Jack, grown still more manly in figure and +with the same open countenance as when we saw him last, is discussing +with his chum Haseltine the untoward news which the latter has received +a day or two before of his father’s financial ruin. The blow has +fallen most unexpectedly on the poor fellow, and though the change in +his plans which the calamity must necessarily induce has given him but +small concern as compared with that which he has felt for his father’s +unhappiness, it is important now that he should think and talk about +what he is to do. He was to have gone to college, for which he has been +preparing himself with considerable industry during the past year, but +that is out of the question now. He has his way to make in the world, +and the only point to be considered is how he can best manage no longer +to be a burden on his family. + +“The worst thing about it,” Haseltine continued, “is that I shan’t +see any more of you, Jack. I don’t care so much about the money on my +own account, but I should like to have spent four years with you at +Harvard.” + +“It’ll spoil half my pleasure in being there to have you away,” said +Jack. “We must manage though somehow to keep up our friendship. We can +write to one another at least.” + +“I hate letters,――that is, writing them. My spelling would shock you, +Jack. If I were a literary character like you, now, it might answer.” + +“Don’t talk nonsense, Hasy.” + +“Who’d have thought three years ago that you’d have graduated third in +the class and taken a prize for a poetical translation from Ovid? If +only now I’d followed suit,” he observed somewhat sadly, “I might have +got the place of private tutor to some rich swell or other, married +my employer’s daughter, and rolled in my own carriage, while you +were still grinding at the university. As it is, I shall soon either +be breaking stones on the highway, or playing cash-boy in a retail +dry-goods store.” + +“I dare say,” responded Jack, “the Doctor could get you some place +as tutor. A few months of hard work would give you the necessary +proficiency.” + +“But I want to begin work to-morrow.” + +There was a short silence, and then Jack said slowly, “Of course, Hasy, +I suppose you’ve thought of base-ball? You ought to have no difficulty +in getting a salaried position in some club, you know.” + +“I dare say I could,” was the quiet answer. “How I should have jumped +at such a chance a few years ago!” continued the school captain, +tossing from hand to hand from force of habit the base-ball which he +held. He is in shirt and knickerbockers, ready for the game appointed +to take place in half an hour between the school nine and one of the +strongest professional teams in the country, which, on its way east, +has been induced to stop at Utopia. “I was a foolish boy then,――and +now, well, I’m foolish enough still, but I think I’ve learned something +in these six years.” + +“Oh, Hasy, I’m so glad to hear you talk so. Do you know I lay awake all +last night thinking about you, for I was afraid that with your fondness +for the game you’d jump at the chance to become a professional. Forgive +me, old fellow, I did you injustice.” + +“That’s all right, Jack. No wonder you thought so, I’m such a base-ball +crank. But I may have to jump at the chance notwithstanding. It may be +the best thing I can do. Fifteen hundred or two thousand dollars a year +is not to be met with every day in the week. It may be my duty to take +such a place if it is offered, Jack,” he said gravely. + +“I think almost anything would be better as a profession than that.” + +“I can see that it would. Whatever I used to think, I recognize that +to have to spend the best years of my life as a base-ball player would +be a terrible misfortune. This school and the Doctor have taught me +that there are more worthy ambitions than that, and though I haven’t +said much about it, I’ve looked forward to something better. However, I +mustn’t abuse base-ball, for it has been a good friend to me, Jack; and +I believe that it has done me a heap of benefit not only physically, +but in teaching me endurance and perseverance and the value of +discipline. I feel as if I could take hold first-rate from the start of +any business I entered, just because of my training at base-ball. And +if it comes to the worst,” he added, “I think I shall be able to make a +good professional.” + +“I’m sure you will, Hasy, if it comes to that. But something else will +be certain to turn up, see if it doesn’t.” + +“It’ll have to turn up pretty soon, then, I’m afraid,” replied +Haseltine. “It’s time to go,” he continued, looking at his watch. “The +game’ll be called in fifteen minutes. It may be my last for a long +time,――at least as an amateur,――and I mean to give the Gray Stockings a +hard fight to win.” + +The two friends proceed toward the quadrangle, where already a crowd +is collecting in anticipation of the match. The large stand for +spectators, which is one of the conveniences added to the grounds in +Haseltine’s day, is rapidly filling up, and just as the young captain +arrives upon the scene the Gray Stocking team show signs of emerging +from the tent erected for their comfort, where they have been dozing +since dinner. The sight of them is sufficient to restore Haseltine’s +spirits, and almost to make him feel that he would be very well +content after all to become one of them. They are strapping fellows +certainly, and the way they toss about the ball during the few minutes’ +preliminary practice allowed them is very admirable. + +And now from the main doorway of Granger Hall come out a large party +intent upon being present at the game, consisting of Dr. Meredith +and his masters, together with several patrons of the school and a +number of ladies, who troop across the field to seats reserved for +them behind the wire screen at the back of the catcher. The Gray +Stockings have won the toss and have sent the school to the bat. The +professionals, from their jocose demeanor, evidently regard the affair +in the light of a spree or picnic; and the pitcher grins convulsively +in stepping into the box, as though the idea of playing ball against a +parcel of boys struck him as a colossal jest. + +The school nine looked like striplings certainly when compared with +their sturdy opponents, but they are in the very pink of practice +and condition, and have moreover eaten sparingly of the good things +provided at the collation, so as to be fit as possible for the match. +A breathless interest pervades the audience. A game against a real +professional team is something unknown in the annals of Utopia. + +“Three out, side out,” calls the umpire, as the third striker on the +home nine knocks an easy grounder to short stop, who pops it gayly to +first base. + +It is now the visitors’ turn at the bat, and all eyes are bent on +Haseltine as he plants himself firmly to deliver the first ball. +There has never been such a pitcher as he at Utopia. As compared with +his curves, the once famous pitching of the “Kid” is remembered as +second-rate. It has hopelessly baffled not only the pertinacious Stars, +but other still more formidable clubs. It remains to be seen what these +genuine ball-tossers will do with it. + +“One strike!” + +The captain of the Gray Stockings and one of the most prominent +sluggers on the nine has swiped at the first ball and missed it, +whereat his companions smile and one of them guys him with―― + +“Even money you strike out, Bill.” + +There is a hush, and then the umpire calls―― + +“Two strikes!” + +Applause proceeds from the benches and titters from the visiting team. + +“Three strikes――out.” + +The school is too much in earnest to regard the incident as ludicrous, +and the crowd cheers rapturously to see the vanquished slugger retire +from the plate; but one of the managers of the professional nine, who +happens to be traveling with them and is sitting just in front of +Jack, bursts out into loud guffaws of amusement, which are repeated +still more abundantly when the next striker misses the first two balls +and only saves himself from a similar fate by batting the third weakly +into the very hands of short stop, who has no difficulty in disposing +of him at first. The third man hits a foul tip which the catcher holds +on to cleverly, and the inning is over. + +“That’s a great lad,” exclaims the manager, who is in a bee line with +the pitcher and so can judge of the delivery. “He can twirl the sphere +like a good one. Backus and Lawson out on strikes! That’s the best joke +of the season.” Whereupon he bursts out laughing again, so that his fat +sides shake with merriment. + +It would take too long to give the details of the great match, though +indeed there is not much to be recorded in the way of run-making on +either side. It is from first to last a pitcher’s contest, and though +the school can do nothing against the Gray Stocking battery, seven +goose-eggs represents the score of the visitors at the end of the +seventh inning. To the uproarious delight of all Utopia the heavy +hitters of the professional team come to grief one after another in +rapid succession, sometimes by striking out, and sometimes by knocking +easy balls into the field, which are without difficulty captured +by their opponents. No longer do the giants grin and turn derisive +hand-springs. An air of serious devotion to business has come over +them, and every nerve is being strained to save the game. + +“Play ball――play ball,” their captain reiterates with increasing vigor. + +But it is in vain that he beseeches or commands. Somehow or other +Haseltine’s curves are too subtle for the visitors and they go down +like nine-pins; and as in turn they sheepishly carry out their bats or +return to home plate, the manager’s derisive laughter adds a sting to +their disgust. + +Meanwhile, among the friends of Utopia, the young pitcher is the +hero of the hour, and everybody is asking questions about him in the +intervals of the frantic applause which rewards his successes. + +“A right-minded, ingenuous, capable boy,” responds Dr. Meredith, in +answer to a query of one of the patrons of the school sitting beside +him. “He has received sad news from home within the past few days, +I regret to state. His father who was reputed to be a very rich man +has failed,――disastrously though not dishonorably I am given to +understand,――and the son will not be able to go to college as he had +expected. There is a large family――seven beside this boy, I believe.” + +“Is he a good scholar?” asks the gentleman after a moment. + +“To tell the truth, he is not very fond of his books, though he has +done better at them during the last year. I think he would have been +able to pass the college examinations, but it is by no means certain. +He has plenty of ability though of the practical sort. I have often +been struck by the energy and executive talent he has shown in relation +to base-ball, which, by the way, almost amounts to a passion with him,” +says the Doctor, with a smile. + +A shout of triumph interrupts their conversation. Another of the Gray +Stockings――the first striker of the eighth innings――having in base-ball +parlance fanned the air thrice in vain, flinging his bat angrily on the +ground, walks back to his seat. + +“H-A-S-E-L-T-I-N-E! Haselti-n-n-ne!” chants the whole school. + +The manager slaps his knee. “I must have that fellow,” he exclaims +admiringly. + +Jack catches the remark. He has heard also what has passed between Dr. +Meredith and Mr. Holgate, the patron of the school, who are sitting on +the bench immediately behind him, and while he is reflecting on the +possible consequences of Haseltine’s prowess, he hears Mr. Holgate say: + +“I happen to know of a chance for an active young man who isn’t afraid +of work, on a railroad far West in which I’m interested. I’m inclined +to think that as our base-ball friend has his way to make in the world +and is not cut out for a scholar, it would be the best thing for him if +I put him into the place, though if you say the word I’ll pay his way +through college.” + +Jack’s heart gives a bound. He cannot help listening, and he awaits +eagerly the Doctor’s reply, scarcely knowing what he wishes it to be; +for deeply as he desires his friend’s companionship at Harvard, he is +able to appreciate the wisdom of Mr. Holgate’s reasoning. + +“I think,” says Dr. Meredith slowly, “that you are right, on the whole. +Haseltine will make an excellent business man. The position on the +railroad will suit him best, everything considered.” + +“It is a place in which he will have an opportunity to make himself +very useful, and if he does, promotion will be sure to follow,” +continues Mr. Holgate. “Holloa! that’s the first square base hit I’ve +seen to-day.” + +It is not only a base hit, but a two bagger in fact, which comes just +in the nick of time to let in one of the Gray Stockings, who was on +second when Captain Backus batted the ball with a vim born of triple +humiliation. Twice before in the course of the game the visitors have +had men on bases, but the terrible battery of the school boys has shut +them out from a run. But now they are able to breathe more freely. +The succession of goose-eggs is interrupted and the game theirs, if +they can prevent Utopia from scoring. But the run has come only just +in time as two of the visitors are already out. Lawson, however, not +to be outdone by the Captain, follows with a terrible drive far over +the left field’s head, who is a no whit less clever fielder than Bobby +Crosby used to be, which brings him and Backus both home, and makes the +score three to nothing in favor of the Gray Stockings, which is all +they get. The school nine amid intense excitement then go to the bat, +and though they do their best to pound the ball they are whitewashed +in one, two, three order, which brings the game to a close, as of +course the Gray Stockings, being already ahead, do not need their ninth +inning. It has been a plucky fight, though, and one which Utopia will +remember with pride for years to come. + +As Jack was about to mingle with the crowd with the view of being the +first to hug Haseltine, he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard the +Doctor’s voice exclaiming, “Hall, I should like to introduce you to Mr. +Holgate, who was one of our founders, you know.” + +Jack shook hands with the pleasant-featured gentleman, who said kindly: + +“I saw you, Hall, if I am not mistaken, among those who received prizes +this morning, as well as in the winning crew yesterday afternoon.” + +Our hero blushed with honest confusion. He was prouder of having won +the prize for a metrical translation from the classics, however, than +of having led the Atalantas to victory, for there had been no Tom +Bonsall this year to dispute it with him, and every one knew in advance +what the result would be. It had always been a source of keen regret +to Jack that Tom’s arm was so lame after the famous single-scull match +that he had been obliged to stay out of the eight-oared race. He would +have liked to have had one more struggle with his old rival just to +prove beyond the shadow of a doubt who was the better man. But now +Tom was in college, and there was no one left to dispute with him the +supremacy of the lake, for the Doctor had openly confessed his own +inferiority. + +“It was a fine game, sir, wasn’t it?” Jack said, with enthusiasm, as +the three turned at the sound of the cheers which the Utopians were +bestowing upon the victors. “Haseltine outdid himself.” + +“Hall and Haseltine are great cronies,” observed the Doctor to Mr. +Holgate. + +“Your friend seems a fine fellow,” said the gentleman. + +“He’s a splendid fellow, indeed, sir,” answered Jack. + +The Gray Stockings returned the cheers of the home nine and were +preparing to get into the vehicle which was to take them to the +train, when Jack, who had been looking through the crowd in search of +Haseltine, caught sight of him and the base-ball manager in earnest +consultation. There was an expression in his friend’s face that told +Jack even at this distance that the young pitcher was fascinated by +what was being said to him. Immediately Jack clambered down from the +stand and hastened toward them. As he came up to them the manager was +shaking hands with Haseltine, and Jack heard him say just before he +stepped into the omnibus: + +“Think it over and write me. The offer stands open as long as you like.” + +After the omnibus had driven off followed by the acclamations of the +school, Jack threw his arms ecstatically around his chum and cried, +“You did wonders, old fellow. It was glorious!” + +Haseltine made no response at first, and Jack noticed that his eyes +were full of tears. + +“Jack,” he said at length,――“he has offered me the position of change +pitcher on their nine at a salary of two thousand dollars. It’s a big +honor for so young a fellow,” he added, with an air of pardonable pride. + +“But you didn’t accept, did you?” asked our hero excitedly. + +“No; I told him I’d think it over.” + +“Hurrah!” cried Jack. + +“What do you mean?” + +“No matter. Wait, that’s all. There’s better news for you than that, +and you’ll think so too when you hear it.” + +Footsteps close at hand caused the boys to turn, and Haseltine’s hand +was cordially grasped by Dr. Meredith. + +“You out-Haseltined Haseltine, to-day, Mr. Pitcher,” the master said, +then drawing him aside out of the hearing of Jack and Mr. Holgate, he +informed him of the offer made by that gentleman, which I am sure you +will all be glad to hear he accepted. + +Five minutes later the head master and the two boys are walking slowly +over the quadrangle toward Granger Hall, where they are to take +tea with the Doctor,――their last tea at Utopia. As they reach the +threshold, Jack stops and looks back for a moment over the playground +where so many of his happiest hours have been passed, and says simply,―― + +“We shall miss the dear old school, shan’t we, Hasy?” + +“Indeed we shall, Jack.” + +“And the school will miss _you_, my dear boys,” answers the Doctor, +laying a hand on a shoulder of each of them. “It needs the example of +just such boys as you――East and West. God bless you both, and give you +strength to devote your manhood to manly deeds!” + + + * * * * * + + + Transcriber’s Notes: + + ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_); text in + bold by “equal” signs (=bold=). + + ――Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected. + + ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. + + ――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77143 *** diff --git a/77143-h/77143-h.htm b/77143-h/77143-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb3b393 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/77143-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,11037 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> + + <title> + Jack Hall | Project Gutenberg + </title> + + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + + <style> + +/* DACSoft styles */ + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +/* General headers */ +h1 { + text-align: center; 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+} + +.smfontr { + font-size: .75em; + text-align: right; +} + +/* Illustration caption */ +figcaption { + font-size: .75em; + font-weight: bold; +} + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowe2 {width: 2em;} + +/* Images */ +img { + max-width: 100%; /* no image to be wider than screen or containing div */ + height:auto; /* keep height in proportion to width */ +} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + page-break-inside: avoid; + max-width: 90%; /* div no wider than screen, even when screen is narrow */ +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poetry { + display: block; + text-align: left; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} + +.poetry .verse { + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +/* Poetry indents */ +.poetry .indent0 {padding-left: 3em;} +.poetry .indent1 {padding-left: 3.5em;} +.poetry .indent2 {padding-left: 4em;} + +/* Transcriber's notes */ +.tnote { + background-color: #E6E6FA; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + padding: 0.5em; +} + +.tntitle { + font-size: 1.25em; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +/* Title page borders and content. */ +.title { + font-size: 1.75em; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +.subtitle { + font-size: 1.5em; + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +.author { + font-size: 1.25em; + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +.works { + font-size: .75em; + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +/* Hanging indent. */ +.hang { + text-indent: -2em; + padding-left: 3em; +} + + </style> +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77143 ***</div> + + +<figure class="figcenter x-ebookmaker-drop" id="cover_sm"> + <img class="x-ebookmaker-drop" src="images/cover_sm.jpg" alt="book cover" title="book cover"> +</figure> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_frontispiece"> + <img src="images/i_frontispiece.jpg" alt="" title=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="noic">HASELTINE’S TRIPLE PLAY.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> +</div> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<h1 class="nobreak">JACK HALL</h1> + +<p class="noic">OR</p> + +<p class="noi subtitle">THE SCHOOL DAYS OF AN AMERICAN<br> +BOY</p> + +<p class="p2 noic">BY</p> + +<p class="noi author">ROBERT GRANT</p> + +<p class="noi works">AUTHOR OF “FACE TO FACE,” “THE CONFESSIONS OF A FRIVOLOUS GIRL,”<br> +ETC.</p> + +<p class="p2 noi author"><i>ILLUSTRATED BY F. G. ATTWOOD</i></p> + +<p class="p4 noic">BOSTON<br> +JORDAN, MARSH AND COMPANY<br> +1888</p> +</div> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="noic">Copyright, 1887,<br> +<span class="smcap">By</span> JORDAN, MARSH & CO.</p> + +<p class="p4 noic"><i>The Riverside Press, Cambridge</i>:<br> +Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton & Co.</p> +</div> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p class="noic oldenglish">I Dedicate this Book</p> + +<p class="noic">TO</p> + +<p class="noi author">MY THREE BOYS.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_dedication"> + <img class="illowe2" src="images/i_dedication.jpg" alt="dedication" title="dedication"> +</figure> +</div> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[v]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> + +<hr class="r5"> +</div> + +<table> +<colgroup> + <col style="width: 90%;"> + <col style="width: 10%;"> +</colgroup> +<tr> + <th> </th> + <th class="smfontr">PAGE</th> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">How Jack spent the Forenoon of +Washington’s Birthday</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">1</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">The Snow-Ball Fight</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">29</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">A Day of Reckoning</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">65</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">Jack goes to Utopia</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">96</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER V.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">Dr. Meredith</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">120</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">First Impressions</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">162</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">Haseltine makes his Début</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">192</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">Settling down</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">230</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER IX.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">The Big Four</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">259</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER X.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">Up-hill</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">301</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XI.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">Nip and Tuck</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">333</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XII.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdl hang"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">Haseltine makes his Choice</span></a></td> + <td class="tdrb">377</td> +</tr> +</table> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> + +<p class="noi title" id="JACK_HALL">JACK HALL.</p> + +<hr class="r5"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.<br> +<small>HOW JACK SPENT THE FORENOON OF WASHINGTON’S +BIRTHDAY.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>It was a bright February morning. The sun +was warm, so that the piles of snow in the streets +were in a perfect condition for snow-balling, much +to the satisfaction of a medium-sized boy of thirteen +who had just come out of the house and was standing +on his doorsteps, drawing on his mittens. His +name was Jack Hall, and he wore a Scotch cap, a +reefer, and a pair of rubber boots.</p> + +<p>As soon as his mittens were on he cleared the last +two steps with a jump, and, plunging his hands into +the nearest snow-bank, stood patting a ball into +shape while he looked around. The street on which +Jack’s house stood was a long and tolerably steep +slope. There were houses on both sides. He lived +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span>at the top, near the corner of an intersecting street, +which ran at right angles to it down to Boston +Common. Opposite to his house was a grocery +shop.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Jack looked animated as he caught +sight of another figure, not unlike his own, on the +way up the hill, and by way of welcome to the new-comer, +who was still far off, he emitted a sort of +shrill war-whoop, “Ehu—ehu—ehu!”</p> + +<p>Immediately there came a faint reply from the +distance, “Ehu—ehu—ehu!”</p> + +<p>After each had twice repeated this salutation, +Jack continued contentedly to make snow-balls. +He had finished two, tucking one under either arm, +and was moulding a third, when a man appeared on +the further sidewalk of the intersecting street.</p> + +<p>“Give me a shot, mister?” shouted Jack.</p> + +<p>The man, who was going towards the Common, +looked back over his shoulder and grinned, which +Jack recognized as a sign that he might blaze away, +which he did accordingly. The first snow-ball went +a little wide of the mark, and struck the wall beyond +with a thud; but the next hit the man plump +in the middle of his exposed arm, and evidently +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span>convinced him that discretion was the better part +of valor, for he gathered his coat collar about his +neck, and fled with precipitation until the corner +shut him out from view, pursued by Jack’s remaining +snow-ball and derisive scoffing.</p> + +<p>This put Jack in high humor. But before he had +fully re-supplied himself with ammunition, the area +door in the wing of the grocery shop opened, and +the grocer’s clerk, a young man of about eighteen, +appeared, carrying some baskets and bundles, with +which he proceeded to load a wheelbarrow belonging +to the establishment, that stood beside the big +window, paying no attention to Jack, though he +perceived him very well. For there was perpetual +war between the boys in the neighborhood and +“Mustachio,” which was the name applied by them +to the grocer’s assistant on account of a feebly +sprouting down on his upper lip.</p> + +<p>Jack had equipped himself amply with snow-balls +by the time that the clerk, with his barrow-full of +eggs and flour and other groceries to be delivered +in the neighborhood, was ready to start down +the street, and stood leaning against a tree watching +the enemy. Before Mustachio had proceeded +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span>twenty feet, Jack let drive, not at him, but at the +area door, having made sure by a glance that the +grocer himself was not looking out at the big window. +Now the area door contained a pocket about +a foot square, cut in the panel and concealed by a +swinging cover, which opened inwards, and shut as +soon as pressure was removed. Through this the +baker dropped his rolls in the morning into a +basket in the cellar of the store, and one of the +never-tiring amusements of the boys was to try to +do the same with snow-balls. From across the +street this required some dexterity. As a consequence, +the grocer had cause to complain bitterly, +both of the influx of snow into his bread basket, +and the dents in the woodwork of the door, which +was apt to need a new coat of paint as soon as the +spring came.</p> + +<p>On this occasion Jack’s first shot hit the woodwork +with a plashing sound, for the ball was +slushy. The noise affected the grocer’s clerk as a +red rag affects a bull. He stopped and, setting +down his barrow, turned towards Jack just as that +young miscreant’s second ball hit the target and +disappeared. The clerk muttered something under +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span>his breath and made a dash as though to run across +the street. Jack, divining that this was a feint, +retired alertly as far as the corner, where he stood +ready to beat a more hasty and prolonged retreat if +necessary. But the clerk, thinking better of his +first impulse, took up the handles of his barrow +and started off again, trundling smartly.</p> + +<p>This was Jack’s opportunity. He regained his +former post and, aiming with precision, sent a ball +whizzing within an inch of the clerk’s head, accompanying +the shot with a vituperative cry loud +enough to arouse the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>“Mustachio-o-o! Mustachio-o-o!”</p> + +<p>Dignity was the <em>rôle</em> which the victim assumed +this time, for he paid no heed to either insult. Yet +he was doomed to be discomfited. The second shot +hit his barrow without doing any damage, but the +next struck a paper bag containing eggs and broke +two, a misadventure which would require the poor +fellow to make another trip by-and-by. He turned +and glared at Jack, realizing his helplessness and +yet reluctant to be unavenged.</p> + +<p>So absorbed was he in righteous indignation that +he had failed to observe another small figure creeping +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span>up on the opposite sidewalk in the shadow of +the houses and obscured by the trunks and branches +of the row of trees which grew along the street. +Mustachio stooped to gather some snow which he +was compressing with relentless vim into ice with +his bare hands preparatory to hurling it at Jack +with all his might, when of a sudden a ball from a +new quarter and at short range struck him with +stinging force in the side of the head, plastering his +ear like a poultice. For an instant he was dazed +by the shock which gave time—but only just time—for +the reinforcement over the way to shoot past +him and dive into the alley way of Jack’s house +a few yards above. Mustachio plunging into the +snow had crossed the street and was at his new +antagonist’s heels in the twinkling of an eye, but +too late. The heavy back door was slammed in his +face and double-bolted, and simultaneously from +behind it and from the street corner where Jack +had again sought shelter arose another triumphant +cry, “Mustachio-oh-o-ho! Mustachio-o!”</p> + +<p>A few minutes later, a peculiar undulating whistle +given vent to by Jack assured the prisoner +that danger was passed, who, accordingly, reappeared +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span>on the scene. The unhappy grocer’s lad, +having come to the conclusion that retribution at +the moment was out of the question, was visible +down the street trundling his wheelbarrow, but out +of range of the parting snow-balls which the boys +sent after him.</p> + +<p>“That was a beauty, Dubsy,” said Jack, by way +of compliment to the shot which had struck Mustachio’s +ear.</p> + +<p>At that moment a booby-hut swung round the +corner. As it went by each of the boys sprang +lightly on to one of the hind runners unseen by the +driver. Away they swept down hill, passing their +late enemy, at whom they grinned exultingly, and +delighting in the jounces which the sleigh made at +the uneven places. It turned into the next street, +and soon they were spinning over the smooth, well-trodden +snow of the milldam, amid a host of sleighs +and a gay jingling of bells. Presently the driver +pulled up the horses and they stopped before a +house where a lady got out. But they were in +luck for the time being; there was another lady to +be left further on; then the booby turned and carried +them back again, which was what they had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>hoped for. They held on firmly, still as mice, and +well sheltered by the back of the sleigh.</p> + +<p>All of a sudden, just as they had reached the +foot of their own street, a voice abreast of them +cried loudly, “Cut—cut behind!”</p> + +<p>Simultaneously, a snow-ball aimed at them +skimmed along the top of the booby and hit the +driver. But the driver needed no additional stimulus; +the cry was enough. Before the snow-ball +struck him he had reached for the whip. Swish! +swish! went the lash, curling round the back of +the sleigh. But the boys were quicker than he; at +the first note of danger they had let go their hold.</p> + +<p>Instantly they darted after the urchin who had +betrayed them, a ragged shaver, who had taken to +his heels the moment after discharging the snow-ball, +and was now running like greased lightning. +Their rubber boots impeded them, and though they +panted after the fugitive through a number of +streets they paused at last, pretty well winded, and +had to content themselves with firing a few harmless +shots at him. He returned the fire from the +brow of the hill where he stood, and one of his +balls, which were very swift, hit Jack’s Scotch cap, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span>although Jack dodged, and nearly knocked it off; +whereupon the enemy set up a jeer, and exclaimed +before vanishing over the hill,—</p> + +<p>“I’ll bring a crowd down this afternoon and +knock the stuffing out of yer!”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p009"> + <img src="images/i_p009.jpg" alt="Knock the stuffing out of yer!" + title="Knock the stuffing out of yer!"> +</figure> + +<p>Jack and Dubsy, looking rather sheepish, turned +towards home. Their pride had received a downfall. +Moreover they were heated and rather tired. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span>The vicinity of Ma’am Horn’s struck them, accordingly, +as providential, for it seemed as though +“pickle-limes” were the only things in creation +which could relieve their outraged feelings. They +began by flattening their noses against the window-pane +of the little shop. A goodly array of small +wares delighted their vision,—peg-tops, of all +sizes; marbles of every sort, from the common +clay variety known as the “twoser” and blood alleys +up to wonderful mottled agates; knives, jack-stones, +jew’s-harps, and valentines. There were +caramels, pop corn balls, cream cakes, and cocoanut +cakes, and, most tempting of the whole in the way +of sweets, was a tin tray of black looking sticks of +molasses candy, each about the length of a short +cigar, but rather thicker. On the counter, under +the eye of Ma’am Horn, who did also a thriving +business in tapes, needles, and haberdashery, stood +a dish not unlike the bowls used for holding gold +fish, half full of dark greenish yellow spheres: +these were “pickle-limes.”</p> + +<p>Jack had seven cents in his hand, in copper coin, +as he entered.</p> + +<p>“Give me two pickle-limes, please, Ma’am +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>Horn,” he said. Ma’am Horn, a thin and rather +severe looking lady, fished out the dainties called +for, one of which Jack handed to Dubsy, who had +been gazing at them despairingly, having no money +of his own, and who exclaimed with effusion, “Oh, +thank you, Jack.” Together they popped them +into their mouths, and as they munched interchanged +glances of rapturous congratulation.</p> + +<p>Jack had five cents left; what should he buy? +His eye lingered fondly on almost every article in +the store. He was sorely tempted by a jew’s-harp, a +compressible snake, and by some fascinating striped +marbles known as “Chinees.” But his appetite +was far from satisfied. Then, too, there was Dubsy, +and Dubsy was out of cash; though, of course, +if he bought marbles Dubsy would not expect him +to share them with him.</p> + +<p>“How much is a cream cake?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Five cents.”</p> + +<p>Jack sighed. He knew well the price of those +luscious articles, but the desire to have one made +him perhaps imagine that it might have gone +down.</p> + +<p>“Give me two cocoanut cakes.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span></p> + +<p>Cocoanut cakes were a cent apiece. Jack put +one into his mouth and munched it thoughtfully; +then with a sigh he held the second out to Dubsy +and exclaimed monosyllabically, “Here!”</p> + +<p>“You’re a brick, Jack!”</p> + +<p>Jack licked his fingers. “I took the brownest +one,” he said, apologetically.</p> + +<p>There were still three cents remaining. With +two of them Jack bought some “Chinees,” but the +expenditure of the last cent perplexed him. He +finally selected one of the sticks of black molasses +candy; these when fresh were so adhesive that it +was common to transplant them directly from the +tray to the purchaser’s mouth, for if put in paper +the paper was sure to cling to them. Jack’s eyes +closed with satisfaction as his teeth shut down on +one end of the delicious morsel. When he looked +again, he perceived Dubsy gazing at him with a +manly resolve to exhibit no envy, and yet with disappointment, +or let us rather say resignation, written +on his face.</p> + +<p>Jack could not speak, but he grunted and held +out his mouth; Dubsy understood the signal. A +moment later his teeth had hold of the other end +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>of the stick of candy. Now began a struggle. The +two boys, chewing vigorously and soon convulsed +with laughter, tried to draw away from one another, +but the tough and ropy compound balked them. In +a moment or two, however, it began to yield, and +presently the point of ambition with Jack and +Dubsy was to draw out as long as possible the +strand of stringy molasses which bound them together. +At last, after they were separated from +one another by the width of the shop, the strand +became a thread. When this broke the fun was +over. But, needless to say, the mouths of the participants +were a sight to behold.</p> + +<p>The corner from which they had originally +started was the regular meeting-place for the boys +who lived within the radius of half a mile from +Jack’s house. Thither they now returned only to +learn that the other fellows had gone coasting on +the Common. Accordingly, they went into Jack’s +back yard by way of the long alley already referred +to, and soon reappeared devouring an apple apiece +obtained from the cook, and dragging a double runner +called “Never Say Die,” made out of Jack’s single +sleds, “Star of the East,” and “Reindeer,” with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>which they proceeded to the long coast, so called, +which ran from a point opposite the State House +diagonally across the Common to the West Street +gate. The coast was in fine condition and crowded +with sleds of every description, from the most diminutive +type to huge double runners capable of +holding eight or ten big boys. Some of these last +named, elaborate with carpet laid over the main +board and a bell which sounded at intervals to warn +people to get out of the way, seemed to Jack and +Dubsy the most desirable things in the world, and +made their own double runner appear very insignificant +by comparison.</p> + +<p>However, theirs went tolerably fast, quite fast +enough to be safe for such small boys as they. +Jack went down in front “belly flounders,” or +“belly bumps,”—the phrase used to denote lying +flat on one’s stomach; little Bill French, whom +they had picked up on the way, came next in the +same posture, grasping Jack firmly by the legs just +above the tops of his rubber boots, and on the end +squatted Dubsy, “butcher” fashion, with one foot +hanging out behind for extra steering purposes. +The coast was like glass. They positively flew; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>and it was no easy work to guide their course so as +to avoid running down the small sleds ahead of +them, to say nothing of getting safely over an ugly +rut half way from the top, which jounced and was +apt to upset the unskillful. At the bottom of the +hill, where a crowd of spectators was collected, +another jounce was caused by a plank walk which +crossed the coast. This passed without mishap, +the sleds sped along the smooth mall so long as +their velocity could hold out. Thanks to Jack’s +cleverness in handling, the “Never Say Die” made +an excellent showing the first time down, being +landed by dint of strenuous coaxing and nursing +three inches ahead of a considerably larger competitor, +to the great satisfaction of our trio. Then +came the climb up hill with the prospect of another +glorious descent to deter them from lagging.</p> + +<p>It was great sport, and a boon to the hundreds +of boys of every size and class who could thus +spend their holiday out of harm’s way in healthful +exercise.</p> + +<p>Jack and his friends went down half a dozen +times without a mishap, and even beat their first +record, running to a point on the path which none +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>but the very largest double-runners had succeeded +in reaching. But on the seventh trip they came to +grief, though the fault was scarcely theirs. Jack +was in front as usual, and with both his hands +clasped over one of the iron-shod points of “Reindeer,” +was urging the “Never Say Die” on for all +she was worth in point of speed, when, of a sudden, +a lady started to cross the coast about half way +down. You boys who know the Common do not +need to be told that there is a more or less traveled +path which intersects the long coast at this point.</p> + +<p>The lady had been waiting on the edge of the +coast for several minutes for a chance to cross. +She was very nervous and at the same time in a +hurry to catch a horse-car. There were a number +of other people standing in line as spectators and +what with so many sleds on the way down, and the +stream of boys coming up hill dragging sleds behind +them, she doubtless got confused, lost her head, +and started just at the wrong time. It was too late +to help her before the bystanders realized her +danger. Jack was seized with horror as she +loomed up on the track just ahead of him. The +“Never Say Die” was going like a locomotive.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span></p> + +<p>“Clear the lulla! Clear the lulla-a-a!” Jack +shouted, as loud as he was able.</p> + +<p>He made one frantic effort to wrench “Reindeer” +aside, but to no purpose. The lady turned +her head at his cry, and just then the points of the +foremost sled struck her amidships, as sailors would +say, and she fell with a despairing shriek on to +Jack’s head and shoulders, her legs flying from +under her. Her clothing blinded Jack’s eyes so +that he could perceive nothing ahead. At the +same moment, the hinder part of the “Never Say +Die,” as a consequence of the check in front, slued +violently and swung nearly at right angles across +the coast, a certain target for those coming after. +Bump! Crash! Another double runner and a single +sled struck them simultaneously, and the wreck +of all three, mingled together and twisted awry by +the ugly rut which by this time they had fallen +into, flew asunder. Somehow or other Jack got +free from the lady in time to dodge his head just +as “Reindeer,” torn apart from her mate, smashed +into a tree and upset. The unhappy cause of the +catastrophe was tossed a few feet behind him into +the gutter. “Star of the East” darted off to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>other side of the coast, but, handicapped by the +remains of the board which ordinarily united her +with “Reindeer,” capsized immediately and rolled +over and over with poor Dubsy. Little Bill French, +being light and small, was lifted like a shuttlecock +off the “Never Say Die” by the prow of the “Iceland +Queen,” but only to be thrown a moment +later into the middle of the coast by the violent +slueing of that semblance of royalty, from which +dangerous predicament he managed to crawl away +unharmed. “Iceland Queen” wobbled about for +a few minutes longer, but upset at last into the +gutter; while the boy with the single sled, violently +thrown out of his path, shot between the trees over +the crust of the adjacent field, where he succeeded +in coming to a halt without further mishap. Altogether +it was a dire experience.</p> + +<p>Fortunately the lady was merely shaken up a +little though a good deal frightened. The injuries +to the three boys were also slight, consisting of +a scratch on Dubsy’s cheek, a lame shoulder received +by Jack from contact with the tree, and a +general wetting and begriming of them all. Jack’s +chief concern, after being satisfied that neither the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>lady nor either of his companions was dead, was +for the “Never Say Die,” which, to tell the truth, +was pretty far gone; for not only was her main +board splintered, but one of the runners of “Star +of the East” was nearly twisted off. Nothing was +left, therefore, but to convey what was left home, +which was done by the boys ruefully, inasmuch +as such an occupation on Washington’s Birthday +seemed the essence of misuse of time.</p> + +<p>Jack, in common with the other boys of the +city, was rejoicing in the consciousness that there +would be no school until Monday, this being only +Friday morning. Washington’s Birthday was to be +followed by some civic celebration on the morrow, +thus affording them two days of vacation in succession, +with Sunday to boot. But though there +was so much time at his disposal, every minute of +it was precious to Jack. Accordingly, as soon as +the “Never Say Die” was reëstablished in the +back yard preliminary to sending her to a carpenter +for repairs, the question arose, what to do during +the hour and a half left before dinner.</p> + +<p>To begin with, the three boys sauntered into the +grocery on the corner and were weighed, a process +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>which they were apt to inflict upon its long-suffering +proprietor whenever there was nothing else in +particular to do. For after getting off the scales it +was rather pleasant to wander about the store peering +into the barrels, stroking the cat, and perhaps, +when there was a chance, “hooking” a dried apple +or a handful of beans. On this occasion, Bill +French stood treat to figs, which he charged to his +father with an audacity that seemed admirable to +Jack. Bill, though the smallest of the three, was +their equal in age, and more than their equal in sly +ways; for whereas Jack was full of animal spirits +and very mischievous, and Dubsy (as the boys +called him, for no reason that was ever discovered, +his real name being Samuel) Perkins was not a +model of obedience, they were both straightforward +boys. But they looked up to Bill as knowing a +thing or two, and accordingly listened with avidity +when, after they had pretty well exhausted the +resources of the shop, he suddenly exclaimed in +a confidential whisper, “I know what let’s do, fellows.”</p> + +<p>“What?” they asked together.</p> + +<p>Without disclosing his purpose, Bill led the way +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>out of the store, up the intersecting street, into one +parallel with that on which Jack lived, and up the +back stairs of his house into the garret, stopping on +the way at his own room for a minute, from which +he reappeared with some pieces of stick and a box +of matches which he exhibited with a wink to his +companions.</p> + +<p>“What are they for?” Jack asked.</p> + +<p>“I know,” said Dubsy, after an instant.</p> + +<p>“Mum’s the word,” answered Bill, putting his +finger on his lips. Thereupon he mounted a short +ladder leading to the skylight, pushed open the skylight, +through which he crawled on to the flat, graveled +roof, followed immediately by the others. +This was a lark in itself. To be able to look over +the tops of the houses and to discern the harbor +and the forts and the shipping, or to see the horses +and people in the streets below looking pigmy-like, +was a genuine treat.</p> + +<p>“Swanny!” cried Jack, with a burst of enthusiasm; +“I can see Nahant!”</p> + +<p>“And there’s Bunker Hill,” said Dubsy, who +was looking in another direction. “The flags are +flying everywhere. That’s because it’s Washington’s +Birthday.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span></p> + +<p>Their attention was suddenly diverted by seeing +Bill light a match under cover of the chimney wall +and apply it to one of the pieces of stick which protruded +from his mouth; then he drew in his breath, +puffed, and blew out a little smoke.</p> + +<p>“She’s going,” he said, gleefully. “Have a +weed?” He pointed to the other sticks which lay +near by.</p> + +<p>Jack looked a little awestruck. “What is it?” +he asked, “sweet-fern?” He had, sometimes, while +skating on the ponds, seen older boys when it was +dusk flying about with lighted cigarettes in their +mouths, which he had been told were made of +sweet-fern.</p> + +<p>“No,” said Bill. “Rattan, greeny.”</p> + +<p>Jack hated of all things to be considered green. +“Oh,” he said, doubtfully.</p> + +<p>Dubsy had already taken one of the sticks and +was lighting it.</p> + +<p>“It’s bully,” said Bill. “Charley Buck has +smoked real cigarettes and says they’re no better. +Don’t be stumped by Dubsy, Jack! How is it, +Dubsy?”</p> + +<p>“First rate,” said Dubsy. “But mine doesn’t +draw very well, Bill.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span></p> + +<p>“I’ll fix it all right,” answered the master of +ceremonies. Whereupon he took his knife and +worked it a few times in the unlighted end of +Dubsy’s cigarette. “There! try that.”</p> + +<p>The operation acted like a charm; Dubsy was +enabled to emit a cloud of smoke which filled +Jack’s doubting soul with envy. To be stumped +by Dubsy was more than he could bear, though he +felt very sure that his mother would disapprove of +his smoking.</p> + +<p>“It’s better’n hay-seed,” said Dubsy, who had +seated himself on a ridge of the roof beside Bill, +and was swinging his foot jubilantly.</p> + +<p>“I never smoked hay-seed,” replied poor Jack. +“Which end do you light?” he asked defiantly, +taking up one of the pieces of rattan.</p> + +<p>“It makes no difference,” said Bill. “Bully for +you, Jack.”</p> + +<p>A moment later they were all three seated side +by side, puffing like little Turks.</p> + +<p>“Yesterday was my birthday,” continued Bill. +“See what father gave me.” He drew out of his +pocket an open-faced silver watch, which he exhibited +with pride.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span></p> + +<p>“My eye!” exclaimed Jack. “Does it really +go?”</p> + +<p>“Go? I guess she <em>does</em>. You ought to hear +her tick at night. Father says I shall have a +hunter when I’m fifteen, and a gold repeater when +I’m twenty-one.”</p> + +<p>The other boys were silent with envy.</p> + +<p>“My father’s got lots of money,” went on Bill. +“He could buy both your fathers out, I guess, and +have a pile left.”</p> + +<p>“My father’s dead, you know,” answered Jack.</p> + +<p>“So he is; I wasn’t thinking. Well, then, he +could buy your mother out.”</p> + +<p>“Let’s see the works,” said Dubsy.</p> + +<p>Bill opened the inside cover with his thumb nail +in response to this request, and the three heads were +immediately in close proximity studying the internal +arrangements of the watch.</p> + +<p>“That’s a jewel,” said Bill, indicating a colored +spot among the cogs and wheels.</p> + +<p>The heads went lower in mute admiration.</p> + +<p>“It isn’t a very big one, anyway,” said Jack, +glad of what seemed an opportunity for criticism.</p> + +<p>“There are fourteen, mostly rubies,” replied Bill. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span>“Don’t breathe so hard, Dubsy. Father says it +hurts the works to breathe on them.”</p> + +<p>“Wind her up,” cried Jack.</p> + +<p>Bill fumbled in his pocket and produced a key. +“She’s mostly wound,” he said. “I wound her +last night and again just after breakfast.” One or +two turns was all the watch would stand at the moment +without danger to the mainspring; so this +exhibition was unsatisfactory.</p> + +<p>“My father has a stem-winder,” said Dubsy, after +a moment; “I’ve heard him say that a watch with +a key was more bother than it was worth.”</p> + +<p>“I shouldn’t care for one that <em>wasn’t</em> a stem-winder,” +said Jack, stoutly.</p> + +<p>“Sour grapes,” said Bill, with a sneer.</p> + +<p>“You feel awful big, don’t you, because you’ve +got a watch,” retorted Jack.</p> + +<p>“Oh, come off,” said Bill, contemptuously. This +was a phrase unfamiliar to the others, which Bill +had picked up in the streets. The interest awakened +by its use induced a pause, during which Jack +cooled down. He did not wish a row, and was conscious +of having been unwarrantably aggressive. +But, as he would have said, he was sick of hearing +Bill blow.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span></p> + +<p>Bill, having by this time exhausted the delights +of his cigarette, had taken his knife and split the +rattan open down the middle. “That’s dried +blood,” he said, holding out the pieces for inspection.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p026"> + <img src="images/i_p026.jpg" + alt="Every time one smokes, blood is sucked out of the lungs" + title="Every time one smokes, blood is sucked out of the lungs"> +</figure> + +<p>The boys looked, and there, sure enough, running +down through the pith was a fine red thread, which +resembled very much what Bill said it was.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span></p> + +<p>“Every time one smokes, blood is sucked out +of the lungs and collects like that,” he said.</p> + +<p>“How do you know it’s blood?” asked Jack in +rather an awestruck voice.</p> + +<p>“Charley Buck says so.” This was strong evidence. +Charley Buck was nearly fifteen.</p> + +<p>“I was awfully sick the first time I smoked,” +went on Bill, but his words were not regarded by +Jack, who was deep in the process of dividing his +own piece of rattan. There the red thread was, +just as in Bill’s piece. His lungs seemed all right, +but his head was a little dizzy; he coughed once or +twice and patted his chest without uncomfortable +results; however, he felt grave. What would his +mother say if she knew the truth! He put the +pieces of rattan carefully in his pocket, and recollected +that it was dinner time.</p> + +<p>Just then Bill exclaimed in a tone in which pity +and satisfaction were blended in about equal proportions, +“I guess you’re sick, Dubsy.”</p> + +<p>Dubsy was; the poor fellow looked very white +and doleful, and was sitting still. “I feel faint, +that’s all,” he answered.</p> + +<p>But it wasn’t all; moreover, it was a good quarter +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>of an hour before Dubsy was able to lift his +head from the roof and be helped down the ladder. +Meanwhile, Jack and Bill sat on either side of him +and tried to cheer him up. Bill, who was able to +speak from experience, assured them that the sickness +would soon subside, and that he had been much +more miserable after his first smoke. But to tell +the truth, Jack and Bill also, despite his former experiences, +felt rather squeamish themselves and not +much inclined to talk. Besides, the remembrance +of what he supposed to be his dried blood haunted +Jack’s mind. Altogether, it was, on the whole, a +bad quarter of an hour, as the French say.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.<br> +<small>THE SNOW-BALL FIGHT.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>As soon as Dubsy Perkins felt all right again, +Jack and he left Bill French’s and went home to +their dinners. Jack lived alone with his mother; +he was her only child. Her husband had been +killed in the Civil War ten years before, and Jack +was all she had in the world to care for and be +proud of except the memory of Jack’s father’s gallant +services as a soldier, which she was never tired +of talking about to Jack. His name had been +John Hall, just as Jack’s was, and he had fallen at +the head of the regiment of which he was Colonel, +in one of the last battles of the war, when Jack +was a mere baby.</p> + +<p>Back of Colonel John Hall was a long line of +Halls, running very nearly into Mayflower times, a +good many of them John Halls or, as those who +knew them best called them, Jack Halls, though +John is a good name for any boy or man to be content +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>with and not to wish to change. They were a +hardy, thorough-going set, these Halls, Massachusetts +folk who in Colonial times, when the days +were gone by for shooting Indians, tilled their farms +and made sure that their liberties were not interfered +with by King James or King William or +King George. When this was impossible without +taking arms, they were equal to the occasion. Israel +Hall, Jack’s great-great-grandfather, was one +of the raw recruits composing the Continental Army +over which General Washington assumed command +under the famous old elm at Cambridge. He followed +his commander through thick and thin, became +a sergeant, then a captain, was wounded, but +got well in time to be one of those who made the +memorable passage of the Delaware when our army, +reduced to a forlorn band of four thousand, fell +upon the Hessians at Trenton, routed them, and +plucked up spirit and hope once more. He was +shot dead, however, at the battle of Brandywine, +and, as will be the case with many brave fellows +so long as wars last, left a wife and some wee bits +of children to get along as best they could.</p> + +<p>It would take too long to give an account of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span>lives of Jack’s ancestors in detail, but you may be +interested to learn something of the career of Israel +Hall’s eldest son,—also named John,—who, having +to make his own way in the world, left the +family farm and came to Salem town in search of +something to do. Now, at that time Salem was a +famous commercial port, little as one would imagine +it to-day. Forty years later its prestige was +usurped and overshadowed by its near neighbor, +Boston, but from 1770 until 1820 the maritime supremacy +of Salem was unquestioned. Prior to the +Revolution, the inhabitants of the town had been +noted for their commercial energy, and when war +was declared they fitted out their trading vessels +with guns, and built others to the number of over +one hundred, which made great havoc among the +enemy’s commerce in the English Channel and the +Bay of Biscay, so that the rates of insurance went +up amazingly among the British underwriters. +The patriotism and enterprise of the old Salem +merchants is a glowing chapter in the history of +our country.</p> + +<p>But as soon as there was no more fighting to be +done, the merchants turned their fleet of privateers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>into trading-vessels again, and as the vessels were +too large for mere coasters, sent them out laden +with Spanish dollars to every nook and corner of +the Oriental world,—to Calcutta and Madagascar, +and Batavia and Java, and the Celebes, and all the +chain of islands in the Indian Archipelago which +you have read about in your geographies. There +the silver freight was exchanged for pepper, spices, +gums, coffee, or other Eastern products, with which +the captains would either return or would bear +away to some European port, like Marseilles, where +part of the cargo was sold at a profit, and its place +supplied by wines and silk to be brought home. +It was an adventurous, exciting life for those who +sailed; and meanwhile the owners sat in their +counting-houses casting up figures and waiting for +their vessels to arrive. It was often two and even +three years that they had to wait, but the ships +came back at last, freighted with merchandise, +which their owners sold to their fellow townspeople +at a snug profit. Or, if by chance the ships +were lost and never returned, the underwriters reimbursed +the merchants so that they were able to +buy new ones.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span></p> + +<p>It was into the counting-house of one of these +merchants that Jack’s great-grandfather, John +Hall, chanced to stray one morning in search of +employment. Probably the head of the firm liked +the looks of the boy and divined that he would +make a sterling sailor; at all events he took him +into his service and sent him on a long voyage in +one of his ships, which turned out very successfully +for the merchant, and for John Hall too, inasmuch +as everybody had a pleasant word to say +in his behalf. From this time forward his life was +one of marvelous experiences for many years to +come. One thing leads to another when a young +man is efficient. Before he was nineteen John +Hall was a mate, and on his twenty-first birthday +he found himself in command of a three hundred +ton ship, which was a large one for those days. If +it were his career I was narrating, it would be easy +to keep you awake many hours with thrilling tales +of what happened to him. He fought with pirates, +and had hair-breadth adventures with savage tribes, +was twice shipwrecked, and barely escaped being +eaten by cannibals, only to be imprisoned in a +South American dungeon instead. But in the end +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span>he passed safely through his perils, and settled +down in Salem for the rest of his days with seventy-five +thousand dollars in hard cash, which was +quite as much as a million is now.</p> + +<p>Very possibly some of you may be thinking that +you would like to have lived when a career similar +to that of Jack’s great-grandfather was a natural +one for an ambitious boy to follow. But though +the glamour of such adventures as his does make +the blood even of those of us who are grown up +tingle as we read, it will not do to shut our eyes to +the truth. We see only the glory and forget the +hardships. We forget, too,—and their many virtues +make us forget,—that resolute, noble fellows +as were the men whose enterprise and pluck built +up fortunes for themselves while supplying their +country, starved and draggled by the Revolution, +with the necessities and even the luxuries of life, +these old merchant captains and their crews were +rough, ignorant people compared with what some +of your fathers are to-day. They had but little +knowledge except of a practical kind acquired by +bitter experience; their one absorbing interest was +the accumulation of money, and, let us say it under +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span>our breaths, the standards of morality by which +they did business were not the highest. How +could it be otherwise? The population of the strip +of seaboard States which then composed our country +had to begin existence as a nation bankrupt, +and chiefly dependent for its wants on the products +of other lands. Our great-grandfathers were down +to hard pan, as the saying is, and life meant for +them a struggle for the means of existence unrelieved +by any but the most homely pleasures and +tastes. There were no mills and factories then to +compete with the manufactories of Europe, no +great west with its fields of waving grain and developed +mines of gold and coal and iron, no cotton +gin, no splendid libraries and broad institutions of +learning, no railroads, no telegraph. All these +were yet to come, and it is to such men as John +Hall that we are indebted for having laid the foundations +of that prosperity which affords to their descendants +opportunities for usefulness and culture +such as our forefathers never dreamed of. Let us +admire their courage, grit, and perseverance; let us +applaud their successes and recognize the sterling +virtues by which they won them, but their lot +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span>should no more arouse our envy than should that +of those later pioneers in the struggle of reclaiming +our west from the forest and the savage, inspired +by whose adventures as scouts and trappers so +many boys have run away from home and been +very sorry afterwards.</p> + +<p>We left Jack going home to his dinner, for which +he did not feel very hungry at first. But a fine +piece of beefsteak with potatoes and macaroni, followed +by cold rice pudding with bits of cinnamon +in it, of which Jack was especially fond, brought +his appetite back again, so that when he had finished +his second plate of pudding, cleaning the +plate with his spoon until it shone, the thought +occurred to him that he would have a third help; +but the well-known “Ehu—ehu—ehu” resounding +from the street told him that the fellows were +beginning to collect again, and he started up.</p> + +<p>Jack dined in the middle of the day, and his +mother had her dinner at night; but Mrs. Hall +made a point of taking her lunch at the same hour +as Jack dined, and after he had finished eating she +always tried to beguile him into sitting still for a +while, for he had a tendency, when anything interesting +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>was in prospect outdoors, to scurry through +his meals and leave the table with his mouth full +the instant the last course had been served. Sometimes +he would bolt from his chair as soon as he +had finished his meat, crying,—merely by way of +explanation for his hasty departure,—as he seized +his cap and just prior to slamming the front door, +“Don’t want any pudding.” On such occasions +his mother did not always have the heart to detain +him.</p> + +<p>But this day he dined alone and there was no +one to put a check on his movements, for Mrs. +Hall had been called away out of town to see an +old friend who was sick, and would not be back +until after Jack’s bed hour. Deeply as he loved +his mother and fond as he was of having her with +him, Jack felt a certain pride in being his own +master for once. As an indemnity for being left +alone for the day, he had obtained permission to +order whatever he liked for tea, and to have whomever +he chose among the boys to share it with him. +He had already exercised the second privilege by +inviting Dubsy Perkins, Bill French, and Harry +Dale, another of his friends, and it was now necessary +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>to decide upon the viands before he went out +again. This was no easy task, as he had a number +of dainties in mind which ranked very evenly in +his estimation. He felt pretty certain as to one, +however. “We’ll have cream cakes, Hannah,” he +said with decision to the maid.</p> + +<p>“Very well, Master Jack, I’ll get six; that’ll be +one and a half apiece.”</p> + +<p>“How much are <em>éclairs</em>?” he asked, presently.</p> + +<p>“I don’t know, Master Jack. Your mamma, +when she has company, buys those at the confectioner’s.”</p> + +<p>“They’re bully,” he said. “I like the chocolate +ones best. I guess, though, the fellows would +rather have cream cakes.”</p> + +<p>“Cook has a Washington pie ready.”</p> + +<p>“That’s hunky! Mother said that we could +have quince jam and raspberry jam, and—and—I +know what we’ll have,” he cried with a wave of his +arm,—“waffles.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know as the cook has a waffle-iron, +Master Jack,” answered Hannah, despondently.</p> + +<p>Jack looked downcast a moment. “We had them +at Bill French’s, you eat them with butter and +nutmeg,” he said, with a sigh.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span></p> + +<p>“Cook makes those puff cakes very nicely,” said +Hannah, who had been thinking.</p> + +<p>Jack clapped his hands. “They’ll do first-rate,” +he said. “I guess that’ll be enough, with the +spread bread and butter and some muffins; don’t +you, Hannah?”</p> + +<p>“Goodness sakes! yes, Master Jack. If you’re +not all sick to-morrow, I shall be very much mistaken.”</p> + +<p>At the mention of sickness Jack was pensive a +moment. Then he felt in his pocket and produced +one of the pieces of rattan. “See there, Hannah, +that’s my blood,” he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“Your blood! Mercy on us, what does the child +mean?” she added, as she examined the charred +stick.</p> + +<p>“It’s dried blood out of my lungs.”</p> + +<p>Hannah put the rattan up to her nose, then gave +a start. “You don’t mean to tell me, Master Jack, +that you’ve been smoking?”</p> + +<p>“What if I have?”</p> + +<p>“What will your mamma say?”</p> + +<p>“I guess she won’t mind.”</p> + +<p>Jack knew that this last statement was not true, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span>but as he intended to make a clean breast of it to +his mother, he felt justified in assuming a bold front +before Hannah.</p> + +<p>Hannah shook her head prophetically. “It’s that +Bill French, I’ll be bound; he’s always getting you +into some sort of mischief. Hadn’t you anything +better to do than go smoking that nasty stick?”</p> + +<p>“I only smoked a little piece,” Jack answered. +“Besides, it isn’t a stick, it’s rattan.”</p> + +<p>“I’d just like to get my hand on that Bill French, +that’s all,” said Hannah. “Blood out of your +lungs, too! We’ll have you sick abed next, and +your mamma crying her eyes out.”</p> + +<p>Jack, as he went out of the house, was conscious +that he had not derived much consolation from Hannah, +whose view seemed to confirm the fearful testimony +already in his possession. But on closing +the front door his attention was at once absorbed by +what was going on outside. Some half-dozen boys, +including Dubsy Perkins, Bill French, and Harry +Dale, were engaged in building a huge dam. It +had grown milder since morning and was melting +fast. Underneath the piles of snow on either side +of the street, the water was beginning to flow rapidly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>along the gutters down hill. The boys had +selected a spot a hundred yards or so below Jack’s +house, across the way, and had formed a basin by +digging up the snow until they came to the paving. +The curbstone constituted one bank, and the other, +or rather the whole remaining bulwark of the dam, +was made of snow piled up and mashed with shovels +until it became firm. While constructing this +they had made a temporary dam a few feet further +up, to catch the water; but just as Jack joined +them Dubsy cut a big hole in it, and the accumulated +torrent poured with a rush into the large reservoir. +When the smaller dam had emptied itself, +they closed it up again in order to strengthen the +resistance of the main one.</p> + +<p>Most of the boys were armed with shovels obtained +from home, and they worked diligently as beavers, +building the walls higher and higher as the water increased +in depth. Soon it was necessary to fortify +the curbstone with a layer of snow to prevent an +overflow on to the sidewalk. Every few minutes +one of them would test the depth by wading, and it +was not long before the water came up to within +half an inch of the top of Jack’s rubber boots, so +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span>that any careless movement on his part would be +sure to let some inside. Their number was rather +smaller than usual, as some of the “crowd” which +ordinarily collected in front of the grocery shop had +gone down to the Frog Pond on the Common to see +if there were any “tiddledies,” which, as all Boston +boys know, are cakes of floating ice formed during +the first stages of a thaw; the sport being to jump +from one to another, until <em>terra firma</em> is reached, +without tumbling in. This was one of the favorite +pastimes of Jack and his friends. The water of the +pond was only deep enough to give one a thorough +ducking, and though whoever was so unskillful or +unlucky as to fall in was sure to be greeted with a +jeer of derision, it may be fairly doubted whether +the most miserable participants were not the boys +who went home dry.</p> + +<p>But Jack considered himself very well employed +as it was. He felt pretty sure that if there were +tiddledies to-day there would be tiddledies to-morrow, +and he was interested in making the dam as +high as his waist, if it were possible. There was +such a volume of water in the basin now that most +of their active force was employed in pasting snow +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>against the back of the lower wall, through which +there was a steady leakage in spite of their best +efforts. Two or three of them, Jack among the +number, had already gone in over their boots and +wet their trousers more or less above their knees, +so that now they stood along the sidewalk, or in the +street, gazing contentedly into the enormous pool. +Perhaps they realized that there was not much +more to be done, for there began to be some fooling. +Bill French introduced it by dropping a bit +of ice down Harry Dale’s back, gliding away in +time so that Harry could not get at him. Harry +was just about Bill’s size, but a little more chunky. +He knew that Bill could outrun him, so he nursed +his wrath for the present, and, keeping his eyes +open, bided his time.</p> + +<p>The spirit of playing tricks upon one another +proved contagious, so that the dam was almost forgotten +in the interest of several flights down street +and subsequent tussles. Only Jack and Dubsy +still worked away at the walls now and then, piling +fresh snow on top and stopping the leaks. All +of a sudden, as Jack was standing leaning on his +shovel trying to understand how a fine stream of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span>water trickling through the solid wall of the dam +had thus been able to defy his labors, Harry Dale +made a dive at Bill French, who was just behind +Jack, and who was off his guard at the moment. +Bill gave a shriek, and, to protect himself, tried to +interpose Jack between his pursuer and himself by +seizing Jack roughly by the shoulders. Jack, who +had been already annoyed by Bill several times, +and had contented himself with exclaiming, “Quit +your fooling, Bill,” or, “Let up, Bill,” goaded now +by what he supposed to be a fresh attack, dropped +his shovel, seized his tormentor, and suddenly pulling +him forward by a quick movement brought him +to his knees; then picking up a handful of snow +he rubbed it freely over Bill’s face.</p> + +<p>“That’s the sort, Jack; give him some more for +me,” cried Harry.</p> + +<p>Bill, who was struggling with all his might, +sprang to his feet the moment he was let free, and +launched himself with rage on Jack’s neck. In an +instant Jack had grappled with him in self-defense. +Bill, who was thoroughly angry and bent on upsetting +his adversary, twisted one of his legs inside of +Jack’s, and being lithe and active, though small, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span>made it incumbent on Jack to exert himself to +avoid being thrown. The pair swayed violently +for several moments, then Jack, taking advantage +of a failure of Bill’s to trip him up, retaliated in +the same fashion, and over they went with Bill +undermost. They struck against the wall of the +dam, which gave way before them with a slump. +Jack, realizing what the catastrophe promised to +be, tore himself by an effort of strength from Bill’s +grasp just in time to avoid more than a severe +splashing, although he fell on his hands and knees, +and had a lively scramble to get away from the +deluge which came pouring down upon him as soon +as the flood-gates were removed. But poor Bill, +accelerated probably by the effort which saved +Jack, fell with the wall backwards into the deepest +part of the dam, so that his head and the upper +portion of his body were completely submerged. +For an instant his struggling black legs only were +visible, then these were drawn under him as he +reappeared head first above the surface, wallowing +as he staggered to his feet. But Bill was doomed +to still further discomfiture, for scarcely had he +gained a footing when he slipped and fell sideways +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span>again into the dirty, slushy water, his head this +time striking the curbstone.</p> + +<p>The pain of the concussion must have been tolerably +smart, but anger and mortification were sufficient +to explain Bill’s facial expression as he lay +on the sidewalk after his companions had dragged +him out. His eyes were shut and his mouth was +wide open, but from it at first no sound issued. It +seemed to the others as if the expected bawl were +never coming. But it came at last,—a terribly +vociferous cry, preceded by a noise like the humming +of a large top, which increased in volume +until it was a yell,—bursting on them as a thunder +storm bursts in wind and rain after the silence +which goes before. “Boo-ooo-ooo!” Then it +seemed as if he would never stop. Jack and the +other boys, who were rather frightened, bent over +him with anxious faces, but it was soon apparent +that Bill was more mad than hurt.</p> + +<p>“I’m very sorry, Bill; I didn’t mean to send +you into the dam,” protested Jack.</p> + +<p>This attempt at consolation only induced a fresh +fit of crying on the part of the victim, which was +redoubled when he saw his cap trimmed with astrachan +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span>fished out with a shovel from the bottom +of the now largely depleted dam by Dubsy Perkins.</p> + +<p>“It was an accident; Jack didn’t mean to,” +said one of the others.</p> + +<p>“Served you right for fooling so, Bill,” exclaimed +Harry Dale. “We’d all told you to quit.” Then +turning to the rest, Harry said, “He ought to go +home or he’ll catch cold, fellows.”</p> + +<p>Bill sulkily allowed himself to be lifted to his +feet. He stood shivering and dripping like a +soused pup, sobbing and snuffling, and eying ruefully +his bedraggled cap. “I’ll make you pay for +this, Jack Hall,” he blurted out.</p> + +<p>But Jack scarcely heard him, for just at the moment +he gave a start, and shading his eyes with +one of his hands gazed intently down the street.</p> + +<p>“Here come the muckers, fellows,” he cried, with +excitement.</p> + +<p>His companions turned eagerly at his words and +looked in the same direction. Sure enough, a gang +of other boys, twenty to twenty-five in number, had +suddenly emerged from a cross street at some little +distance below and was advancing up hill. As the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span>invaders perceived that they were recognized, they +set up a derisive, triumphant yell, and dashed onward +at a rapid dog-trot, preparing snow-balls and +waving sticks.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p048"> + <img src="images/i_p048.jpg" + alt="Jack and the four other boys, retreated slowly." + title="Jack and the four other boys, retreated slowly."> +</figure> + +<p>“There’s a regular posse,” cried Jack. “Who’ll +go and tell the other fellows?”</p> + +<p>“I will,” cried Harry Dale, and suiting the action +to the word he started off to warn their friends, +who were running tiddledies.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Jack and the four other boys, who +were all there were, for Bill French had slipped +away to change his clothes, retreated slowly as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span>their adversaries advanced, Jack having first, with +the instinct of destroying anything that the enemy +might find pleasure in, swept away with his shovel +the remaining rampart of the dam. They were +outnumbered for the moment in the proportion of +four to one, and though to retire was ignominious, +it seemed necessary under the circumstances. The +vanguard of the invading army now began to discharge +their snow-balls, the shower of which fell +slightly short, but served to whet their ardor. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span>With another cheer and a yell the “muckers” +rushed forward, headed by a powerful-looking +butcher’s boy, close by whose side ran the ragamuffin +who earlier in the day had threatened this +invasion, and who could be heard pointing out +Jack and Dubsy as special objects of vengeance.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p049"> + <img src="images/i_p049.jpg" + alt="The invaders dashed onward, preparing snow-balls and waving sticks." + title="The invaders dashed onward, preparing snow-balls and waving sticks."> +</figure> + +<p>“Them’s the chumps, go for ’em!” he cried.</p> + +<p>The little band, reluctant to run, wavered and +hurled back a volley of snow-balls, which were returned +with vigor. The butcher’s boy was well +known in that quarter of the city as a terror. +His balls made solely with bare hands were hard +as ice, and whizzed like bullets. One of them took +Jack in the cheek and stung like mischief, so that +the water ran out of the eye on that side of his +face.</p> + +<p>“Clean ’em out!” yelled the little instigator.</p> + +<p>The consciousness that the protecting alley was +close at hand nerved the boys to hold their ground +for a moment longer, and the courage displayed by +them, supplemented by several skillful shots, caused +their opponents to halt and advance more deliberately. +Just then there came flying round the corner +Harry Dale, at the head of the detachment of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span>whom he had gone in search, and whom he had +found in the next street peppering the passers-by +in a listless fashion, and only too glad to come to +the succor of their friends.</p> + +<p>“To the rescue!” cried Dubsy, waving his arms +above his head; and the reinforcement of a dozen +boys swept down upon the combatants.</p> + +<p>This sudden turn of affairs was too much for the +backers of Joe Herring,—that was the butcher +boy’s name,—who turned and fled precipitately, +although Joe and one or two others stood their +ground manfully and tried to rally them. But the +counter cheer was disheartening to an army with +victory in its very grasp. They broke and ran +helter-skelter, followed closely by Jack and his +comrades. Jack kept his eye especially on Joe +Herring, whom he longed to pay back for the blow +on his cheek; but even Joe did not wait for the +new victors to get too near, but ran at last. As +for the youngster who had been the guide of the +raiders, he had taken to his heels at the earliest +sign of danger, and was among the first to reach +the halting-place, where the rout finally paused, not +far above the cross street from which they had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>emerged. There they made a stand, while their +pursuers, who were not too flushed with success to +be cautious, being still numerically inferior, drew +up at a respectful distance and held a council of +war.</p> + +<p>These snow-ball fights were of tolerably frequent +occurrence between the boys who lived in Jack’s +neighborhood and hordes from other localities, who +were apt to be styled muckers by those whose territory +they invaded. Once or twice every winter +skirmishes such as the one now in progress would +develop into battles of some magnitude, enlisting +the services, on one side or the other, of all the +youth in that part of the city. Contests of this +kind had traditions to encourage them. Mr. Warren, +of whom you will hear later, who had been +the college chum and dear friend of Jack’s father +and was now his mother’s adviser, had often told +Jack of how, in the days long before he and Colonel +Hall were boys, there had been relentless strife +between the Round-pointers and the Nigger-hillers, +and the North-enders and the South-enders, and +the Charlestown pigs, so called, which last named, +in the language of a local bard,—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span></p> + +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Put on their wigs,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And over to Boston came,”</div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noi">only to be routed and driven back without them. +Jack delighted in the accounts of these old contests, +and though the names were now changed he +had no difficulty in seeing in the Anderson-Streeters +and their allies, foes no less terrible than the boys +with whom his forefathers had fought.</p> + +<p>But it is time to return to the immediate scene +of action, where both sides were beginning to realize +that there had as yet been no real fighting to +speak of, merely a feeling of one another’s strength. +Scouts had, apparently, been sent out by the muckers +to scour the country, for recruits were coming +in by twos and threes. They were a motley-looking +crew, as compared with Jack and his friends, +including some ragged specimens and several +negroes, one of whom, a left-handed lad nicknamed +“Custard” on account of the lightness of +his sable, was unerring in his shots. Cardigans, +for the most part, took the place of overcoats +among them, but some wore only tightly buttoned +jackets, and kept warm by kicking their toes against +the curb-stones, and alternately stuffing their hands +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span>into their pockets or blowing on their bare fingers.</p> + +<p>From time to time they jeered at and insulted +the other army, who, by their pea jackets and rubber +boots, suggested the solidity and dignity of +grenadiers, an impression which was heightened by +the silent disdain with which they received the vituperation +showered upon them.</p> + +<p>But now the Anderson-Streeters, having accumulated +a goodly supply of ammunition, and being +twice the numbers of their opponents, show signs +of an intention to attack. Their pickets edge up +gradually on the sidewalk, more or less sheltered +by the trunks of the line of trees which grow +there. Snow-balls begin to fly, and Joe Herring at +one point and Custard at another move forward simultaneously, +which is the signal for a general advance. +The grenadiers stand firm without firing a +shot. A perfect hail-storm is showered upon them, +which they bear unflinchingly. A loud yell spreads +along the advancing line, and the flower of all Anderson +and Pinckney and Revere streets comes +dashing on.</p> + +<p>“Now let them have it, fellows!” cries Jack at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span>last, who, with General Warren’s instruction at +Bunker Hill, of which he had recently read, fresh +in mind, has waited to see the whites of the +enemy’s eyes before giving the order.</p> + +<p>“That’s the sort!” shouts Dubsy, as the whole +volley delivered at short range goes smashing into +the faces of their foes.</p> + +<p>It is so deadly a volley that two or three of the +muckers clap their hands to their eyes and cry out +with pain; others sputter as they receive the big +hard balls full against their teeth. Several caps +are knocked off and fall into the snow. Jack, with +his attention riveted on Joe Herring, sees, to his +delight, his first shot take the leader squarely in +the forehead, so that Joe shakes his head savagely +like an angry bull; yet, putting it down, comes +on in butting fashion all the same, and hitting +Jack plump in the stomach nearly sends him over. +Custard, too, apparently is not struck, or at least, +if he is, does not mind it, and though some falter +he does not, but with another yell rushes at the +grenadiers. These muckers, though checked for +an instant, have good stuff in them.</p> + +<p>“Give it to them again!” cries Jack, who seems +to be recognized as the commanding officer.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span></p> + +<p>This volley is well delivered, too, but the on-comers +are too near for it to have full effect. The +balls go over the heads of Joe and Custard and the +other leaders, and before there is time to say Jack +Robinson, the two armies are at close quarters. Joe +Herring, with a bound like a wild-cat, gets his arms +round the neck of the first of the grenadiers in his +path, and over they go together, with Joe on top, +and rubbing the snow about his adversary’s neck +and ears, to accomplish which to the best advantage +he squats upon the victim’s chest. This is the first +feature in a hand-to-hand scrimmage which is +waged for several minutes without apparent advantage +on either side, for Jack and Dubsy and Bill +Dale, who happen to be close together, form quite +as formidable a trio as any opposed to them. The +muckers fall before them like nine-pins, and scurry +out of their way. Jack gets his fingers inside the +collar of his original enemy of the morning, and +shaking him as a terrier would shake a mouse, +dumps him face downward in a pile of snow and +slush. This does Jack’s heart good. The little +wretch blubbers and tries to use the stick in his +hand, which Jack snatches away from him, and with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span>a proper contempt for so unfair a weapon in a snow-ball +fight, sends flying over the wall of a neighboring +yard. Sam Willis and George Bird, two more +of Jack’s set, do yeoman service also at the other +end of the line, driving their opponents back and +washing the faces of the fallen with energy.</p> + +<p>As used to happen in encounters of old, when +knights and other warriors contended together, the +leaders on either side seem at first to fight shy of +one another. They slaughter the weaker at the +outset, making incursions into the enemy’s line, so +that often the two armies are hopelessly confused. +Indeed, Joe Herring and Custard are a hundred +yards apart from Jack and his chief allies, and +between them the rank and file are intermingled +higgledy-piggledy. But presently, as fatigue and +lack of pluck begin to tell, the champions find that +the only enemies left worthy of the name are behind +them, and by a common instinct turn and eye +one another, while the feebler boys draw off a little +as though waiting for the strife to be settled once +and for all by a battle of the giants.</p> + +<p>Jack, at a glance, perceiving that Joe Herring +and Custard and one or two others are between him +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>and the main body of his friends, and seized by +what he feels to be an inspiration of generalship, +shouts to Dubsy and Bill, and Sam Willis and +George Bird, who are close beside him, “Cut them +off! cut them off!”</p> + +<p>Whereupon Jack springs forward at the head of +this detachment, imbued with the idea, which they +all share with him, of raking the enemy’s vanguard +fore and aft before the chief force of the muckers +can come up from behind. Inspirited by the plan, +those above, among whom Bill French appears in +dry garments, present a bold front, and with a +shout charge. Joe and Custard, realizing their +peril, hesitate for an instant, while a shower of balls +pours in upon them, whether to break through the +rallied array of grenadiers or to seek to rejoin their +friends; but before they can decide they are forced +to defend themselves. There are five of them, just +equal in number to their intervening enemies, who, +with gritted teeth, bear down upon them. Jack +again singles out Joe Herring, who, adopting his +old tactics, lowers his head and plunges forward. +But Jack does not intend to have his wind knocked +out of him a second time. He meets Joe with an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>upper cut of his hand, which, though covered with +a mitten, is full of snow, and, jerking the butcher +boy’s head up, grapples with him. They wrestle +fiercely; meanwhile, three of the other muckers, +beset before and behind at the same moment, are +rolling on the ground. Only Custard, with Dubsy +hanging about his neck and Bill French and another +boy on his back, still struggles for freedom, +shouting energetically for his friends. They are +coming by the score as fast as their legs will carry +them, but not soon enough to save their illustrious +leader from disaster. Three boys eager to +leap upon Joe Herring are prevented only by +Jack’s decisive “Leave him to me,” so stand aloof +ready to give succor if it be needed. It is scarcely +a fair match. Joe is nearly a head taller and is a +year older; his muscles are like steel, and, moreover, +he has thrashed everybody in the neighborhood +who has ever fought with him. If he can +once shake Jack off, he will soon knock the stuffing +out of him. But Jack knows this, too, and having +got a good hold, means to have no fisticuffs if he +can help it. He intends to throw Joe if he can. +He hears now, as they pitch from one side to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>other with faces scarcely an inch apart, the yells of +the great body of muckers closing in upon them, +and knows that the fight is being renewed on more +even terms. Joe knows it, too, and, breathing +hard, makes one grand effort to swing his antagonist +off his feet, so as to be able to bring terror once +more into the general ranks. Jack, however, is +ready for him, and, resisting stubbornly, waits until +Joe relaxes his muscles a little as the great effort +proves unsuccessful, then adroitly twists his leg +about the champion’s and throws him. Down they +go together, but Jack uppermost, and—long +dreamed-of triumph of his life—able to secure +a seat upon the butcher hero’s chest, and to stuff +his mouth with snow. Joe’s eyes are green as they +gaze up at him, and remind Jack of the cat whose +death-throes he once witnessed after the dogs had +left her. This was the simile employed by Jack +in recounting modestly his victory that evening at +the tea party.</p> + +<p>But victory though it was, it was too short for +comfort. Before Jack has time to rub more than +a handful of slush over his victim’s face and ears, +the army of invasion, by dint of numbers, drive back +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span>the grenadiers, disputing every inch of ground, and +two big fellows throw themselves upon him and try +to drag him off Joe. Harry Dale is on top of them +in an instant, and straightway a half dozen on each +side precipitate themselves and make a pile, at the +bottom of which lies Joe Herring still gripped by +Jack. A fearful tussle ensues; the two principals +are of course practically powerless to move, and feel +that they are well off if able to breathe without difficulty. +The legs of both are firmly grasped by a +score of arms, which in turn are kept down by boys +on top whom others seek to tear away from the pile. +As fast as one is pulled off another takes his place; +heads, bodies, and limbs are hopelessly intermingled, +and neither party seems to have the best of it.</p> + +<p>Just as Jack is wondering whether Joe is alive, +because he is lying so still, and whether he himself +will not stifle, a shrill voice on the outskirts of the +fight pipes out, “Cheese it! Cheese it!”</p> + +<p>At the words every boy ceases action, those on +the pile waiting for confirmation of the news which +the alarm has conveyed, and those erect following +the gaze of the small mucker who has given it, and +who is already preparing to flee down the street. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>As their eyes perceive at the street corner the officer +in a blue blouse with brass buttons, and armed +with a rattan, advancing upon them at a slightly +quickened gait, a dozen of the urchin’s companions +repeat the cry,—“Cheese it! Cheese it!”</p> + +<p>In the twinkling of an eye the pile disintegrates +itself; the boys of either faction get up and begin +to scatter, the muckers hastily and fearfully, the +grenadiers more composedly, and yet unequivocally. +Jack and Joe uncovered are free to rise, which they +proceed to do at once without further hostilities. +Jack, with his eye on the policeman, mingles with +the band of his friends who, gathered on the opposite +sidewalk to that on which the guardian of the +peace is advancing, are hoping to slip by him without +molestation, feeling, perhaps, that inasmuch as +they are on their own territory, and merely defending +themselves against invasion, pardon may not be +withheld from them. They take care to be so far +respectful in behavior as to refrain for the moment +from the insulting allusion to a cheese indulged in +by their late adversaries, which, for some reason or +other, had come to be the recognized phrase of +warning and insult combined, among the youth of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>the city, in referring to the constabulary; its origin—at +least Jack and his friends always supposed so—being +connected with the theft, either real or +imagined, at an earlier date, of one of the commodities +in question by a member of the force. They +await his coming, grouped together, with almost an +innocent air. On the other hand Joe, the moment +he is free, glances over his shoulder at the representative +of order, puts two fingers in his mouth preliminary +to emitting a piercing whistle, shouts “Cheese +it!” at the top of his lungs, and scoots down the +street at full speed to the spot where he had deposited +his butcher’s basket. This regained, he continues +his flight at a more leisurely pace until +distance hides him from view. His exodus is the +signal for a general stampede of his followers, who +disappear principally into the cross street by which +they had come, pursued with some swiftness by the +officer, galled, perhaps, by their impertinence, or +encouraged by their pusillanimity. Jack and his +grenadiers, not having hoped in vain that the engine +of the law would pass them by unharmed, +survey the retreat in complacent silence until the +policeman is comfortably remote, then at a signal +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>raise their voices in a prolonged, ungenerous, +“Cheese it!”</p> + +<p>The officer turns and looks back at them angrily, +and raises his cane in so threatening a manner that +some of the fainter-hearted start to run into Jack’s +alley-way. But the alarm is short-lived; their enemy, +after an instant’s hesitation, proceeds on his +way, reflecting doubtless on the ingratitude of boys. +The snow-ball fight is over, and ten minutes later +the grenadiers separate to their homes.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.<br> +<small>A DAY OF RECKONING.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>Jack’s first thought on reëntering the house was +for his tea-party, so he went into the dining-room, +where he found Hannah, to his satisfaction, already +setting the table.</p> + +<p>“Got the cream cakes?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” answered Hannah. “Sakes alive, +Master Jack, where’ve you been?”</p> + +<p>“Snow-balling. We’ve had an awful fight with +the muckers.”</p> + +<p>“I guess they gave it to you, then,” replied +Hannah, whose sympathies in the matter of snow-ball +fights were not, perhaps, wholly on the side +of her charge, as her home was in the vicinity of +Anderson Street. “You’re wetted from head to +foot; go right up-stairs and get off those things.”</p> + +<p>“They didn’t lick us any more than we licked +them. I threw Joe Herring, and they all piled on +me, and that’s how we were when the ‘cheese it’ +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>came,” said Jack. He went to the mirror and examined +his cheek, which was beginning to feel a +little swollen where the butcher boy’s snow-ball +had struck it under the eye.</p> + +<p>“I guess it won’t be black,” he said, under his +breath. “Holloa!” he exclaimed, as he seated +himself on the edge of one of the leather chairs. +“My tails are gone.” By way of explanation he +held out his Scotch cap, from which both the ribbons +which ordinarily fluttered in the breeze had +been torn off.</p> + +<p>Hannah sighed. “That’s the third time this +week,” she said. “Get up this minute, Master +Jack,” she continued vehemently; “you’re ruining +the nice furniture. Your mamma would have a fit +if she could see you.”</p> + +<p>The cause of this outbreak was that Jack, having +plumped himself down as described, was trying +to remove one of his rubber boots by pressing its +heel against the toe of the other. It yielded suddenly, +and at the same time a quantity of loose +snow was scattered over the carpet.</p> + +<p>“Jiminy!” exclaimed Jack.</p> + +<p>“Go right up-stairs the back way this minute. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>Why, your leg is wet as sop as high as your knee,” +said Hannah.</p> + +<p>“The dam was over my boots,” he answered. +“We made a bully dam,” he continued, hobbling +toward the door on one leg with his bootless foot +drawn up like a stork.</p> + +<p>Hannah followed him up to his room, where she +proceeded to pull off the other boot. It was harder +to start than its mate. Accordingly Jack tipped +himself back on the bed so that she could get a +purchase with her foot against the iron frame.</p> + +<p>“Golly!” he cried, as a small deluge of water +flowed back over him. The boot stuck like a vise, +and came off at last amid a splutter of slosh. +Hannah was breathless.</p> + +<p>“Now take off every stitch of clothes, or you +shan’t have a bit of supper this blessed night,” she +said with decision, as she turned to go.</p> + +<p>Fifteen minutes later Jack sat waiting in the +parlor to receive his friends, looking a pattern of +spruceness. His broad white collar was set off by +a cherry tie; he wore knickerbockers, red stockings, +and pumps, and his hair lay smooth and neatly +parted. Although he appeared ordinarily in trousers, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span>his mother still made an exception in favor of knickerbockers +in the case of his Sunday go-to-meeting +suit. He had walked three times round the dining-room +table, with his hands in his pockets, surveying +the delicacies, so as to make sure that nothing had +been forgotten, before composing himself. But he +had not long to wait; the bell rang loudly three +times in quick succession, and promptly at the hour +set for the feast the three guests and their host +took their seats at table. They all four looked +very smiling, and showed no ill results from the +experiences of the day. Bill French, apparently, +had quite forgiven Jack for his ducking, though he +took a mild revenge by observing—“Your eye’ll +be black to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>“I threw him, any way,” answered Jack, referring, +of course, to Joe Herring.</p> + +<p>They talked the fight over in detail, and as they +discussed, the good things disappeared with astonishing +rapidity. Nothing was wanting; the cream +cakes were fat fellows, and Jack showed strict impartiality +and skill in dividing the extra two so +that each of the company should get an equal +amount of the inside.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span></p> + +<p>Dubsy had received the wishbone of the chicken, +which he carefully picked and held out to Jack to +pull with him. “Wish!” he cried.</p> + +<p>“I <em>am</em> wishing,” said Jack, after a pause.</p> + +<p>The others looked on with interest while the two +holders pulled energetically to tear the forked bone +apart. Not being dry, it resisted their efforts for +some moments, but at last broke on Jack’s side +just below the crotch, so that Dubsy retained the +larger piece, thus becoming the winner.</p> + +<p>“What did you wish for, Dubsy?” they all +asked.</p> + +<p>“I wished that it might always be Washington’s +Birthday,” said Dubsy jubilantly.</p> + +<p>This seemed to every one an eminently sensible +wish, though Harry Dale qualified it by remarking, +“I’d rather have every day Fourth of July.”</p> + +<p>“That’s so,” said Bill French. “Father’s promised +me a big show of fireworks, this year.”</p> + +<p>“What was your wish, Jack?” asked Dubsy +suddenly.</p> + +<p>“That’s telling.”</p> + +<p>“Of course you ought to tell,” said Harry.</p> + +<p>“Not if I lost.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span></p> + +<p>“It can’t come true, any way,” said Bill French.</p> + +<p>“How do you know?” retorted Jack sharply.</p> + +<p>“What was it, then?” asked Bill.</p> + +<p>Jack hesitated a moment. “I wished,” he said +a trifle bashfully, “that when I grew up there +might be a war and I might be a colonel, like my +father.”</p> + +<p>The boys followed Jack’s glance at the oil portrait, +over the mantelpiece, of the handsome officer +gazing down on them, whose face and dark hair +were not unlike his son’s, and became contemplative.</p> + +<p>“<em>He</em> was a soldier, too,” continued Jack, pointing +to a portrait of Israel Hall at the other side of +the room. “He was my great-great-grandfather, +and was killed at the battle of Brandywine.”</p> + +<p>“Are all these your relations?” asked Harry, +indicating the half-dozen pictures on the walls, +among which the strong features of the old Salem +sea-captain looked forth stanchly.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” answered Jack. “The others were merchants.”</p> + +<p>“That’s what I mean to be when I’m a man,” +said Bill French. “And when I’m rich I mean to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>have a steam yacht. Father’s going to give me a +cat-boat, this summer.”</p> + +<p>By this time they had got to the puff cakes, +which proved to be all that Hannah had predicted. +After finishing his third help, Dubsy patted his +stomach complacently and observed that he was +full up to the muzzle, which seemed to be each +one’s sentiment as regards himself, though to tell +the truth there was scarcely anything left to eat +on the table.</p> + +<p>How to spend the evening was now the problem. +For a while a bagatelle board sufficed for their +amusement, but growing weary of that, Bill French +chanced to draw up the window-shade a little and +peep outdoors. It was a fine night, with plenty of +stars, but no moon. The other boys joined him, +and all four stood with their noses pressed against +the pane.</p> + +<p>“Golly!” exclaimed Jack suddenly, in a delighted +whisper, “I know what we’ll do.” He +put his finger to his lips and proceeded to run up-stairs +two steps at a time, but noiselessly as a cat, +until he reached his room. Without needing to light +the gas, for he knew the whereabouts of everything +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span>well enough to find it blindfolded, Jack rummaged +in his tool-chest for a piece of chalk and a +ball of twine. Then he started down-stairs again, +stopping in the parlor a moment to obtain a sheet +of paper from his mother’s desk. With these implements +the four boys, having put on their overcoats, +slipped out the front way and carefully closed +the door behind them.</p> + +<p>As soon as they were outside, Jack stooped and +with his piece of chalk drew on the bottom doorstep +the outline of an envelope, which he whitened +and whitened within until it stood out so distinctly +that any one opening the door would be certain to +be misled. Then he rang the bell, after which +all four glided across the street to hide in the +shadow of the grocer’s shop. Hannah, who answered +the bell, stared with surprise at first, and +then perceiving the envelope, as she supposed, descended +the steps to pick it up, but naturally her +fingers scratched against the cold granite. A second +time she made the same attempt, but with no +better result. The chuckle which Harry Dale was +just then unable to repress was not necessary, perhaps, +to make clear to her that she was the victim +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>of a practical joke; at any rate, she bounced up +and slammed the door indignantly behind her.</p> + +<p>This trick was repeated once or twice at other +houses, varied by a second of a similar character, +which consisted in fastening a string to the real +piece of paper and jerking it away on to the sidewalk +as the street-door opened. The unfortunate +maid-servant, supposing that the wind had carried +it away, would follow for some little distance the +paper flitting along at intervals, until the truth +dawned upon her that she had to deal with “them +boys.”</p> + +<p>But the novelty of this mischief wore off after a +few experiments, and the culprits arranged themselves +on the sill of the grocer’s large window, like +a row of sparrows, to cogitate as to what they +should do next.</p> + +<p>“Let’s smash lamp-posts,” said Dubsy.</p> + +<p>“I’ve promised my mother not to any more,” +answered Jack sadly.</p> + +<p>“Well, I haven’t,” said Bill Dale; whereupon +he aimed a snow-ball at the corner gaslight and +let drive. A crash of glass followed, and the boys +ran like deer until they were safe in Jack’s alley-way; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span>from this they cautiously peeped out after a +moment or two, and, no policeman or other censor +being in sight, leisurely sauntered forth again.</p> + +<p>“I know what let’s do,” said Bill French suddenly +in his confidential tone. “Give me the +string, Jack.” Taking the ball of twine, Bill went +noiselessly across the street and up the steps of the +house immediately opposite, which was occupied by +a gentleman who was known to them all as “Stiffy +Bacon.” Mr. Bacon, who was regarded by his contemporaries +as a very worthy person, had thus far +been unable to preserve friendly relations with the +boys who congregated at the corner, and who, as a +consequence, delighted in making his life miserable. +His house and the one adjoining fronted on a +narrow terrace, some six or eight feet above the +level of the sidewalk, which was approached by a +few winding stairs at either end.</p> + +<p>Bill fastened the fine twine around the bell-handle, +and letting it unwind returned to the alley-way +with the ball, having established a taut line across +the street at a height which would endanger the +hat of any passer. The street was pretty well deserted +at this hour, but the boys were content to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>wait with a patience worthy of a better cause. It +must have been five minutes before Jack exclaimed, +“I hear some one coming.”</p> + +<p>They listened, and could plainly distinguish footfalls +and the resonance from the ferule of a cane +on the opposite side. The person was coming up-hill, +and soon, to their delight, proved to be a man +wearing a silk hat.</p> + +<p>“Now’s your time,” said Jack to Bill, who had +hold of the string.</p> + +<p>Bill accordingly pulled the bell and adjusted the +line to what seemed the proper height. The mischief-makers +were rewarded by perceiving the door +open and the gentleman, who was walking rather +fast, come abreast of the twine at precisely the +same moment, a consummation for which they had +fondly hoped. The unwary pedestrian was brought +up short; his silk hat flew off and striking upon +the bricks with a hollow thud bumped along the +street; while the other, who happened by chance +to be no one less than Stiffy Bacon himself, encountering +only empty space and then hearing the +mutterings of surprise and indignation below, +stepped forward and peered over the railing. There +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span>was a gas lamp a hundred and fifty yards away +which enabled Mr. Bacon, as he thought, to distinguish +the disaster and to divine the cause.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean, sir, by ringing at my bell +at this hour in that condition?” he asked angrily.</p> + +<p>“What do <em>you</em> mean, sir, by obstructing the highway +in such an outrageous manner?” retorted the +stranger, who, having picked up his hat, was endeavoring +to smooth its nap against his coat-sleeve.</p> + +<p>“You are intoxicated, sir,” replied Stiffy Bacon.</p> + +<p>“How dare you insult a gentleman in such a +fashion; you are an insolent scoundrel, sir! I will +enter a complaint against you in the morning for +obstructing the highway and for defamation of +character,—yes, sir, for defamation of character.”</p> + +<p>The unfortunate stranger, who drew himself up +to his full height as he delivered this speech, had +such an air of injured respectability and spoke with +so much assurance that Mr. Bacon, although very +angry, peered forward a little further and exclaimed, +“I obstructing the highway? Explain +yourself.”</p> + +<p>“What do you call this, I should like to know, +but obstructing the highway?” replied the victim, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span>pawing the air in search of the twine which Bill, +immediately after the catastrophe, had let drop so +that it lay along the sidewalk. “Fastening a rope +across the street to cut the throats of honest folk +at night is akin to manslaughter. Ah, here it is.”</p> + +<p>He picked up the string at his feet, and, perceiving +that it dangled down from the terrace, shook it +indignantly at his insulter. “There, sir, what do +you think of that?”</p> + +<p>Apprised by the rubbing of the string against +his leg that something was wrong, Mr. Bacon +glanced around him and in an instant realized the +situation.</p> + +<p>“My dear sir,” Mr. Bacon protested, “you will +excuse me. This is none of my doing; it is the +work of some bad boys who are a torment to this +neighborhood.”</p> + +<p>“They ought to be arrested; I’d make short +work of them if I lived here,” said the gentleman, +brandishing his cane. “Another time, sir, perhaps +you will be more careful as to the aspersions which +you cast on respectable people. Good-evening, sir.” +Whereupon the stranger stalked away at his previous +rapid gait.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span></p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the boys had been squatting still as +mice in the dark alley, almost afraid to breathe for +fear of giving any indication as to their whereabouts. +The affair had exceeded in dramatic effect +their wildest anticipations, and there had been moments, +especially when the stranger had brandished +his stick, during which they had felt a common impulse +to run into the house. But now that they +had only Stiffy Bacon to concern themselves about, +terrible as he was, a feeling of relief so far took +possession of them, that the irrepressible Harry +Dale, unable to contain himself longer, chuckled +again. Mr. Bacon, who had stooped to examine +the arrangement of the device by which he had +been victimized, caught the sound, and, turning in +their direction, shook his fist and exclaimed, “You +young rascals, you!”</p> + +<p>At these strenuous words, which were delivered +in what seemed to them a tone of terrible wrath, +the young evil-doers turned and fled with precipitation +up the alley, save Jack, who lingered for an +instant to pick up the ball of twine and pull the +line as taut as possible with all his might. He +could hear the jangling of the bell as he followed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span>the footsteps of his companions, who ran through +the back yard into the house again. From the windows +of the dining-room the four peeped once more +into the street, but all was still. Stiffy Bacon had +apparently retired to his lair. After watching a +sufficient time to make sure that the enemy was +not lying in wait for them, Jack’s visitors ventured +to take leave of their host, as it was now half-past +nine, and in fifteen minutes more Jack himself was +sound asleep.</p> + +<p>An hour later, Mrs. Hall returned home. Stepping +into the laundry, as was her custom every +night before going to bed, to make sure that all +was safe from fire, she saw Jack’s mittens and pea-jacket +hanging up to dry, and smiled to herself as +she thought of the happy day he must have passed. +Hannah, who would sooner have cut off her right +hand than have got Jack into trouble, had already +reported to her mistress that the tea party had been +a great success, and smothered her own resentment +at having been made to scratch her finger-nails on +the stone step. Before entering her chamber, Mrs. +Hall went into Jack’s room, and, bending over the +little iron bedstead, stood watching for some minutes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>his peaceful, regular breathing. “Dear boy!” +she murmured, “what should I do without him?” +She stooped and kissed his soft cheek, which unexpectedly +aroused him.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p080"> + <img src="images/i_p080.jpg" + alt="Mrs. Hall, bending over the bedstead, stood watching." + title="Mrs. Hall, bending over the bedstead, stood watching."> +</figure> + +<p>“Is that you, mother?” he asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes, dear; good-night.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span></p> + +<p>“But I’m not asleep; you mustn’t go.” He +rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed.</p> + +<p>“It’s late, dear; lie down again. Have you had +a happy holiday?”</p> + +<p>“Bully, mother; sit down, I want to tell you +about it. You <em>shall</em> stay,” said Jack, putting his +arm about her neck and drawing her cheek against +his own.</p> + +<p>“You shall tell me all about it in the morning.”</p> + +<p>“No; now, mother.”</p> + +<p>“Well, dear?”</p> + +<p>Jack was silent a moment. “I smoked to-day,” +he blurted out.</p> + +<p>“Smoked?”</p> + +<p>“Yes; it wasn’t tobacco, it was rattan. Dubsy +and Bill French smoked too. Dubsy was sick afterwards; +I wasn’t sick, but I felt queer.”</p> + +<p>“Why, how came you to do that, Jack? You +must have known that it was wrong.”</p> + +<p>Jack said nothing, but played with his mother’s +hand.</p> + +<p>“Didn’t you, dear?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he whispered.</p> + +<p>“Who put such an idea into your head?” she +asked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span></p> + +<p>“Bill French. I guess he smokes lots; we went +on top of his house, so that no one could see us.”</p> + +<p>“You forget, my dear, that God saw you,” said +his mother.</p> + +<p>Jack was pensive a moment. “And Washington?” +he asked.</p> + +<p>“Sh!” Mrs. Hall was a little doubtful how to +take this observation.</p> + +<p>“Do you suppose,” Jack went on after a moment, +“that he knows his birthday is a holiday?”</p> + +<p>“I think very likely, dear.”</p> + +<p>Jack was again silent. “Mother?”</p> + +<p>“Well?”</p> + +<p>“Bill French says that when you smoke rattan +the blood is sucked out of your lungs; do you believe +it’s true?”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hall started a little, but a moment’s reflection +enabled her to answer composedly, “No, dear, +certainly not; such a thing would be impossible.”</p> + +<p>“He showed us the dried blood in the rattan, +afterwards.”</p> + +<p>“Nonsense, dear. Bill French was trying to +make sport of you.”</p> + +<p>“Charley Buck told him so.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span></p> + +<p>“Charley Buck ought to know better, then. +Charley is too old to tell such foolish things to little +boys. What he says about the blood isn’t true; +but it would make me very unhappy to have you +smoke, Jack, until you are a man. It’s a very bad +habit for a boy to get into, no matter what he +smokes, rattan or anything else. But I’m very +glad you told me, Jack. If you had concealed it +from me and I had found it out, I should have been +very unhappy.”</p> + +<p>“I didn’t want to go to sleep until I’d told you,” +answered Jack, drawing her cheek closer to his own.</p> + +<p>“You will promise me not to smoke again?”</p> + +<p>Jack promised, and then laid himself down again +perfectly happy, still clasping his mother’s hand, +which she did not withdraw until he had returned +to the land of dreams.</p> + +<p>But while Mrs. Hall was dressing in the morning, +Hannah brought word that Jack had waked up +covered with a rash, and that he complained of a +headache. The doctor was hastily sent for, but +on his arrival the fears of anything serious were +promptly dispelled by the announcement that Jack +had a thorough case of measles. The loss of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>holiday outdoors seemed to be very nearly made up +to the invalid himself by the news that he could not +be able to return to school for a fortnight at least; +and his mother, who sat beside his bed for a while +after the doctor had gone, was on the point of leaving +him with a comparatively light heart to his +own devices, when word was brought her that Mr. +Briggs, the grocer, was down-stairs and would like +to see her.</p> + +<p>“He has probably come to explain why his last +supply of coffee is so much poorer than I have usually +had,” said Mrs. Hall to herself.</p> + +<p>But Mr. Briggs had come for a very different +purpose. He looked very grave and a little embarrassed +as she entered the sitting-room into which +he had been shown. He was a tall and rather thin +man, with a worried expression, which became intensified +as he proceeded to explain the reason of +his visit. “I’ve come, ma’am, to say that something +must be done about that boy of yours. I’ve stood +it a good many years, ma’am, and my patience is +pretty much exhausted, I’m free to confess.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hall colored violently. “Are you speaking +of Jack, Mr. Briggs?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span></p> + +<p>“Yes, ma’am. If I may be so bold, he’s a very +troublesome young gentleman, and there’s plenty +in the neighborhood who think as I do,” he said +respectfully.</p> + +<p>“Sit down, Mr. Briggs; what has he been doing +now?”</p> + +<p>“You know it ain’t the first time I’ve had to +complain,” he remarked apologetically.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hall bowed coldly.</p> + +<p>“If it isn’t one thing it’s another,” he continued. +“I’m willing to put up with their coming into the +shop and purloining beans and dried apples and figs +which they don’t pay for, knowing as boys is boys; +but when it comes to”—</p> + +<p>“What! you don’t mean to tell me that my son +takes things from your store which he doesn’t pay +for!” interrupted Mrs. Hall, in a horrified tone. +“Why, that would be stealing.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, ma’am, strictly speaking, I suppose it +would,” replied the grocer, with a judicial air. +“But as I was telling you, I’m willing to say nothing +about that for the sake of your custom, provided +as no more snow is fired into my cellar. The basket +into which the baker drops the rolls for my customers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span>is so wet every morning that they’re mostly +spoiled, to say nothing of the dents in the door from +the snow-balls and stones which don’t go in. I only +want to be reasonable, or I’d send in a bill for my +wheelbarrow which some of them broke last week +by upsetting it down the area steps. I’ve told you +most of this before, ma’am,” he continued, after a +pause, “and you’ve promised to speak to your son.”</p> + +<p>“I have spoken, Mr. Briggs. I have cautioned +him particularly to let your wheelbarrow alone, and +not to fire snow-balls at your door. But this stealing +is a more serious affair, and shall be put a stop +to at once.”</p> + +<p>“It isn’t the stealing that I care about,” replied +Mr. Briggs dryly. “But if I have to put the matter +in the hands of the police, as I’ve made up my +mind to do if my cellar ain’t let alone, I can’t answer +for what’ll happen. I’ve put up with their +tricks as long as I can.”</p> + +<p>“What makes you think that Jack is still concerned +in this mischief?” asked Mrs. Hall. “I +assure you that I have told him repeatedly that he +is not to molest you.”</p> + +<p>“It doesn’t seem to make much difference, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span>ma’am, then, for my clerk see him with his own +eyes shy two snow-balls at the door only yesterday +morning, and one of them went through. Besides, +he’s a sort of leader of mischief hereabouts. He +and the Perkins boy and the Honorable Horatio +French’s youngest son are up to all sorts of pranks, +and it’s hard to say which of them is the worst.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hall sighed and looked sad. She said presently, +“I will make a point this time of seeing +that Jack avoids your premises, Mr. Briggs, and if +you will send in a bill covering whatever he has +taken from your store, and the cost of a new wheelbarrow, +I will pay it.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, ma’am; I should never think of +doing that.”</p> + +<p>“I insist,” said Mrs. Hall decidedly. She felt +fairly ready to cry at Jack’s depravity.</p> + +<p>“Then I shall consider that from this time forth +there will be a change,” said Mr. Briggs, rising. +“It’s the last time I shall speak,” he added, as he +stood with his hat in both his hands, evidently feeling +it his duty to be explicit.</p> + +<p>“Very well, Mr. Briggs. Let me say that at +present there will be no occasion for you to trouble +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span>yourself, so far as—as Jack is concerned, for he +has the measles.”</p> + +<p>“I’m sorry to hear it, ma’am; he must have +been took sudden.”</p> + +<p>“This morning.”</p> + +<p>“Well, I hope he’ll get well soon. I bear no +malice, ma’am, I hope you’ll believe, and if it +weren’t that I thought him a smart, likely lad, I +should have spoken to the police long since. Good +morning, ma’am.”</p> + +<p>“Good morning, Mr. Briggs. Oh, one moment. +The last coffee you sent was very poor,” she said, +unable to forego this opportunity to put the worthy +grocer a little in the wrong.</p> + +<p>“Very well, ma’am; I will take it back and +send you some more.”</p> + +<p>When she was alone, Mrs. Hall wiped her eyes, +which were full of tears. The idea of Jack’s taking +what did not belong to him! Honesty was +honesty, no matter whether it were a question of +dried apples or of diamonds, and the boy who got +into the habit of thinking trifles of no importance +would soon degenerate. Then, too, how often she +had warned him not to interfere with Mr. Briggs! +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>That hole in the area door had been a constant +source of trouble ever since Jack had been able to +fire a snow-ball. What with catapults and bean +blowers in addition, which were the engines of assault +when the snow was gone, poor Mr. Briggs +had ample cause to complain. It was evident that +he had been goaded to a point where he would +take desperate measures unless something were +done to restrain effectually his tormentors.</p> + +<p>This was by no means the first occasion, as Mr. +Briggs had seen fit to remind her, that she had +been called to account for Jack’s mischievous behavior; +but somehow or other she had flattered +herself from time to time that the grocer was +crabbed and prone to fault-finding, and that her +son’s high spirits would moderate themselves as +he learned more clearly to recognize the rights of +others. But of late it had seemed to her that +instead of improving, Jack was growing steadily +worse. Rumors of his ill-doings reached her ears +from various sources, and even Hannah had given +her to understand that he had been alluded to in +neighboring kitchens as little inferior, in capacity +for wickedness, to a fiend. His clothes, alternately +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span>soaking wet, stiff with mud, or full of rents, bore +silent but eloquent testimony to the recklessness of +his conduct. She felt that she did not, of course, +mind the mere rough usage, though it entailed perpetually +washing and mending; that was to be +expected, perhaps, of an active boy; but his constant +return home in a draggled condition made +her anxious as to the character of his amusements. +He was perpetually in the company of Bill French, +whose family, though rich, were new-comers in that +part of the city, and to whose society she would +have liked to see him less devoted. This incident +of rattan-smoking was another piece of testimony +to confirm her opinion that Bill was an undesirable +crony for Jack. Dubsy Perkins and Harry Dale +seemed to her less objectionable, especially Harry, +who was a quieter and more thoughtful-looking +boy than most of the others who made a playground +of Mr. Briggs’ corner. As for Dubsy, he +imitated Jack in everything, applauding all he did, +and trying his best to keep up with or even surpass +him in whatever was proposed.</p> + +<p>Little by little, it had come over Mrs. Hall of +late that the best thing for Jack would be to send +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span>him to some school away from home. The growing +city seemed no place for a high-spirited boy, +for whatever he did was pretty sure to be mischief +or against the law. Time was when the Common +had been an ample play-ground, but the crews of +children which crowded it now, to the annoyance +and even peril of adult persons, had induced the +municipal authorities to consider whether the population +had not become so large as to make it imperative +to forbid ball-playing and other healthy +sports to go on there. One strong argument in +favor of the proposed restriction was that the playground +was usurped by youths of seventeen and +upwards, large and powerful as men, who kept +away the smaller boys. For a time the vacant lots +on the outskirts of the city had become favorite +resorts, but these were rapidly being occupied by +houses. Only the streets were left, and boys who +tried to play there were involved in an incessant +warfare with the police. To keep Jack indoors +was impossible, and she reasoned that if the natural +outlets for youthful energy were obstructed, +others of an unwholesome kind would be found by +him. Nothing disturbed her more than the thought +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>of Jack becoming old before his time, one of the +knowing little gentlemen of fifteen, who sauntered +about the streets in standing collars and kid gloves +with an eye to the girls. She wished to see Jack +remain an unsophisticated manly boy as long as +possible, and she feared that another year of city +life might bring about a change in him far more +to be deplored than any amount of mischievousness.</p> + +<p>But the thought of parting with him was unbearable. +He was her idol and the delight of her +existence. At present he was under her eye, at +least for a part of the time, and could not go very +far wrong without her perceiving it. Would it be +possible to find a school in the country where, in +addition to the advantages of a natural boyish development, +Jack would find also the watchful care +of a home? There were, she knew, academies—some +of them large ones—to which certain of her +friends had sent their boys, but she had derived the +impression that at them excellence in instruction +was the chief consideration, and that the masters +were not expected to concern themselves with the +morals of the pupils—many of whom were day-scholars +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span>who lived in adjoining towns—outside of +the class-room, unless any boy became conspicuously +disreputable. She had discussed the matter +somewhat with her adviser, Mr. Warren, who +agreed with her that Jack would be better off away +from the bricks and mortar, and who promised to +make inquiries as to where it was advisable to send +him. He had further made her understand that +the question had only latterly been forced upon the +attention of parents by the growth of our cities. +Hitherto there had been, and there was still in the +smaller places, facilities for children to play naturally +and yet to go to school at home. Our system +of free education, which dated from noble John +Winthrop’s time, had properly been our boast, and +we had, accordingly, always rather regarded it as +superior to the English system of large public +schools away from the cities, without perceiving +that it might not always suffice for our needs. +Home training was, doubtless, the key to many +virtues, but there was unquestionably a more preponderating +danger to be feared, to the growth of +the muscles, and to the action of the liver, lungs, +and heart, and, most important of all, to the character +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span>itself, in the cramped, unwholesome life which +a boy is in danger of leading who goes to school in +a large city.</p> + +<p>There was another point of which Mrs. Hall had +thought in this connection. She knew that her +husband had been very anxious that his son should +grow up an American, without false notions of +equality, and with pride and faith in his country. +It had been his intention to send Jack to the public +schools so that he might mix early with all sorts +of boys. And yet she could remember hearing him +remark shortly before he went to the war, that it +might well be a question how far, to insure this, +one would be justified in subjecting a child to the +companionship of rough or vicious boys. Since +then she had discussed the matter with Mr. Warren +from this point of view. She was far from +wealthy, but she could afford to pay a reasonable +sum for Jack’s tuition. Would sending him to a +school to which the mass of boys were not well +enough off to go tend to foster in him undemocratic +notions? As her adviser explained to her, it +would be folly to assume that because free education +was open to all for the sake of the poor, all +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span>were obliged to take advantage of it in order not to +be regarded as aristocrats. As well say that a man +was no lover of republicanism because he lived in +a more expensive house than his neighbor.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.<br> +<small>JACK GOES TO UTOPIA.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>Mrs. Hall’s reflections concerning Jack were +interrupted by the sound of the door-bell. A moment +later Hannah ushered in a no less formidable +personage than Mr. Bacon. A call at so early +an hour was not likely to be merely social Mrs. +Hall well knew, and she began to ask herself what +Jack had done now, as her visitor made some observations +on the weather before proceeding to +explain the real object of his coming.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p097"> + <img src="images/i_p097.jpg" alt="" title=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="noic">MR. BACON WAS CEREMONIOUS IN HIS GENERAL DEPORTMENT.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]<br><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span></p> + +<p>Mr. Bacon was ceremonious in his general deportment, +especially toward ladies. Indeed, his erectness, +spruceness, and general starched effect, combined +with his austerity toward the boys of the +neighborhood, had won for him his nickname. +Mrs. Hall had a bowing acquaintance with him, +but there was none of that familiarity between +them which encourages the friendly discussion of a +serious affair. Mr. Bacon announced in well chosen +language that his patience (like Mr. Briggs’) was +exhausted. He had been badgered, so he phrased it, +long enough. Only the night before a party of +boys, of which, presumably, Master Hall was one, +for the reason that they had concealed themselves +in Mrs. Hall’s alley-way, and had sought shelter in +Mrs. Hall’s house, had made a barrier across the +street with a piece of twine fastened to his door-bell +at such a height as to imperil the eyesight, to +say nothing of the hats, of the passers. This sort +of thing could not go on. He had endured, with +forbearance, having his windows smashed by the +careless and sometimes deliberate discharge of various +missiles, having his doorsteps dirtied by +muddy feet, his wife’s pet cat tormented, and himself +insulted by offensive epithets, hoping that parental +authority might interfere. But it seemed to +him as if matters were getting worse every day +instead of better. To apply to the police to protect +him and his household against his neighbors’ children +was a step from which he shrank, yet something +must be done. For some reason or other the +boys appeared to pitch invariably on him as a victim +on whom to practice their pranks, though he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>was not conscious of having deserved their hostility. +Would not Mrs. Hall remonstrate seriously with +her son, whom he had reason to believe to be more +or less of a ringleader among them?</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hall, who had listened with pain and mortification +to this account of Jack’s wrong conduct, +was too much of a fond mother not to take advantage +of Stiffy Bacon’s reference to the fact that he +had been especially selected to play tricks upon.</p> + +<p>“Of course, Mr. Bacon, Jack has behaved very +badly, and you must not think for a moment that +I wish to justify his actions,” she said; “but boys +will be boys, and may it not be that if you were a +little better disposed toward them they might not +be so troublesome? Their annoyance of you is indefensible, +I know, still, as you yourself say, they +seem to single you out especially to play tricks +upon.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Bacon colored violently. “I don’t know +what you mean, Mrs. Hall,” he answered. “I +pride myself that my treatment of the boys who +congregate in this street has been most considerate +and lenient. The fact is, madam, I am afraid you +do not appreciate what nuisances they have become. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>If it be true that I have unwittingly incurred your +son’s ill will, I can scarcely be held responsible for +the constant vexation they occasion the worthy +tradesman opposite by their mischievous behavior; +scarcely a day passes without some cause for complaint +on his part.”</p> + +<p>It was now Mrs. Hall’s turn to blush, but she +answered, a little warmly, “I think that Mr. Briggs +is quite able to fight his own battles, Mr. Bacon. +As to Jack, I shall most certainly forbid him to go +upon your premises in future. There will be no +chance of it at present,” she added, rising, “as he +has the measles.”</p> + +<p>“Oh,” said Mr. Bacon. “Very sorry to hear it, +I’m sure. It is not a serious disease, I believe.”</p> + +<p>“I believe not,” she answered coldly, and so +they parted. But there was further mortification +in store for Mrs. Hall.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later Hannah, in an awe-struck +tone, informed her that there was a policeman in +the front entry. It occurred to her at once that +Mr. Briggs had repented of his leniency and sought +protection from the law without waiting for another +breach of it. The sight of the tall officer in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>blue coat and brass buttons, with a number shining +on his breast, filled her with dismay. At least he +would have to wait until Jack was well before he +carried him off to court.</p> + +<p>“The captain has sent me to say, ma’am, that +this breaking of lamps must come to an end. +There’s been sixteen smashed at the corner here +in the last month,” he began.</p> + +<p>“Do you mean that he suspects my boy of being +concerned in it?” asked Mrs. Hall, as he seemed to +be waiting for an answer.</p> + +<p>“Boys did it, ma’am; or rather snow-balls fired +by boys, and I guess what your son don’t know +about it ain’t worth knowing,” replied the officer +confidently.</p> + +<p>“I feel sure that Jack has not broken any for—eh—a +week,” she faltered. “At least he promised +me faithfully that he would not, and I never knew +him not to keep his word.”</p> + +<p>“Can’t pretend to say who did it,” he said. “If +I’d seen it done while I was on the beat, there’d +been an end to it mighty quick; they take precious +good care to wait until I’m not round. All I’m +saying is, some one did it, and that some one is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span>boys; and, what’s more, there’s got to be an end +of it, or there’ll be trouble. I’ve tried to be easy +with them, but it’s no use; the more I overlook +the saucier they get, and it’s about time to cry +halt. My instructions, ma’am, are, to make arrests, +if another lamp is broken.”</p> + +<p>“But you can’t arrest a boy if he is innocent,” +exclaimed Mrs. Hall, who was becoming alarmed.</p> + +<p>“I guess there ain’t much danger of my making +any serious mistakes,” said the officer, with a grin. +“I’ve been on this beat for the last four years, and +I know pretty well by this time who’s innocent and +who’s not.”</p> + +<p>“The boys all appreciate how lenient you have +been with them,” she said, hoping, perhaps, to +mollify him by flattery. “They quite look upon +you as a friend.”</p> + +<p>“Maybe it would have been better if I’d been +strict with them from the first. There’s no trusting +them; the moment my back’s turned they’re +making faces at me or shouting after me,” he said, +somewhat bitterly, evidently reflecting on his experience +of the previous afternoon. “There ain’t +much gratitude in boys if you come to reflect upon +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>it; leastways, I ain’t found much so far. Well, +ma’am, I bid you good morning,” he added. “A +warning’s a warning, and that’s all there is about +it.”</p> + +<p>“If there are any lamps broken during the next +fortnight,” Mrs. Hall hastened to say, as the officer +turned to go, “it won’t be Jack’s fault, for he has +the measles.”</p> + +<p>“Sho! Has he though? Want to know!” he +said slowly, by way of comment, pausing between +the phrases. “Well, ’tain’t as bad as scarlet +fever. I hate to see boys sick, though. <em>Good</em> +day, madam.”</p> + +<p>That afternoon Mrs. Hall put on her bonnet and +went down town to call on Mr. Warren, whom she +always consulted when she wished advice. She +told the lawyer briefly, in rather a despairing tone, +all that had come to her ears during the morning, +and ended by saying that if a good school +could be found outside the city, Jack must be sent +to it, even if her heart were broken as a consequence. +Her heart was certain to be broken if he +remained at home.</p> + +<p>Mr. Warren listened to her patiently, and when +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span>she had finished took a letter from his desk which +he handed to her.</p> + +<p>“You see I have been making inquiries,” he observed, +as he watched her read. “Schools of this +sort are cropping up all over the country. You +have no idea how many there are until you begin to +investigate. But I am told that this is one of the +best.”</p> + +<p>“Utopia School. What a curious name!” said +Mrs. Hall, musingly.</p> + +<p>“It suggests progress and hope.”</p> + +<p>“Decidedly. But I don’t care to have any experiments +tried on Jack.”</p> + +<p>“Not even if he turns out a fine manly fellow as +a result of them?” asked her friend, with a laugh. +“But you need have no fear that there is anything +unduly visionary in the curriculum of Dr. Meredith, +my dear Mrs. Hall. Those who know him best say +that his aim is merely to turn out his pupils, at the +end of their course, gentlemen and scholars.”</p> + +<p>“John Meredith. That is an attractive name; +how old is he?”</p> + +<p>“A young man, but then remember we have faith +in young men in this country. Between thirty-five +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span>and forty, I should say. By the way, he is neither +a clergyman nor a doctor; his Dr. means simply +that he has taken the University degree of Ph. D.”</p> + +<p>“The school was founded eight years ago, I see,” +she said, referring to a prospectus inclosed in the +letter.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” he answered; “it started with twenty-five +pupils and has now about two hundred, who represent +nearly every State in the Union. It was +founded by individual enterprise and generosity; +half a dozen wealthy men, who, very likely, were as +puzzled what to do with their sons as you are with +Jack, put their heads together at the suggestion of +this young Meredith, who felt that he had ideas on +the subject, and subscribed the money to build a +tasteful schoolhouse, with dormitories for the boys, +and a wing for the master’s own use, all under a +single roof. And now, not ten years later,”—Mr. +Warren reached out his hand for the prospectus, +which he perused an instant to refresh his memory,—“yes, +here it is, now there are three new dormitories, +each adapted to house sixty boys, a schoolhouse +where the lessons are recited, which includes +a fine library as well, a chapel, and a gymnasium, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span>all forming a large quadrangle. Within the quadrangle +is a foot-ball ground and a base-ball ground, +and around the foot-ball ground is a running track. +Outside there appear to be lawn-tennis courts, and +not more than a quarter of a mile away, a lake a +mile and a half long and a quarter of a mile wide, +on the banks of which is a boat-house. Add to this +picturesque country surroundings, good food, and the +personal supervision of the masters over the morals +and health of each boy,—you will notice that point +insisted upon,—and it seems to me that you have +a paradise.”</p> + +<p>“I could go and see him occasionally?”</p> + +<p>“As often as you please, I imagine. Five or six +hours in the train would bring you to him or him to +you at any time.”</p> + +<p>“But I shall miss him so much, Mr. Warren. In +England it is a matter of course to send boys away +from home, and the parents don’t seem to mind it; +but we are more like the French, we cannot bear +to be separated from our children.”</p> + +<p>“I remember,” replied Mr. Warren reflectively, +“being told by a young man who had been a pupil +at one of the large English public schools,—Eton, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span>or Harrow, or Rugby, I forget which,—that +whereas his parents, who were then living in London, +came to see him a number of times in the +course of the year, it was unusual for the rest of the +boys to receive a visit from a relation from one end +of a term to another. English fathers and mothers +like to affect not to have feelings, on the theory +that the display of emotion and affection tends to +make boys unmanly. They would consider one +who wept on parting with his mother rather a milksop, +I imagine; and on the same principle they consider +it better discipline to keep away during term +time. But we have no such theory as yet, Mrs. +Hall.”</p> + +<p>“I should hope not,” she replied. “I should feel +very badly if Jack didn’t shed a few tears on parting +with me. As for myself, I can’t say what I +might not do in my despair. I suppose that I must +bring myself to it, Mr. Warren,” she added. “You +feel sure that Jack will be well looked after? He +needs personal influence; all the floggings and punishment +in the world wouldn’t do him any good. +What he requires is to have his mind awakened to +the fact that there are more important matters in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span>life than snow-balling and coasting and base-ball, +and to recognize that he owes something to others. +At present he seems to think that if the whim seizes +him he is justified in playing the most disagreeable +tricks on people, even to the extent of ignoring the +rights of property, if Mr. Briggs is to be believed. +While remaining the manly, earnest boy that he is +in many ways, I wish to see him become more +thoughtful and considerate. Do you think Utopia +School will produce those results?”</p> + +<p>“So I am assured. We have no very old schools +of the sort in this country, therefore the testimony +must needs be imperfect as to their value. But, as +that letter informs you, Dr. Meredith’s first aim +is that his pupils should be, at graduation, high-minded +youths.”</p> + +<p>“I suppose I must consent to it,” murmured Mrs. +Hall presently, and so her resolution was taken.</p> + +<p>Correspondence was at once opened with Dr. +Meredith, who suggested that Jack should come to +him after the Easter recess, as there happened to +be a vacancy in the school. Before this time Jack +had recovered from his illness, though he looked +somewhat pale and thin. His mother did not inform +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>him of her intention to send him away from +home until about a fortnight before he was to go. +Jack manifested, on hearing the news, unmitigated +satisfaction, but as the day drew near which was to +separate him from his mother, he became very quiet +and unlike his usual self. He sat beside her in the +evenings, his shock of dark hair nestled upon her +breast, while she gave him counsel as to what he +must be sure to do and not to do when he no longer +had her to watch over him. She made him promise +to study well and to obey his new master, and he +would listen in thoughtful silence to her instructions +as to keeping his clothes neat, and not forgetting +to say his prayers morning and night, and +sometimes to read his little Bible, her gift on his +tenth birthday. “And whatever you do, Jack, remember, +always speak the truth and never do anything +mean.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, mother.”</p> + +<p>“Your father had a horror of falsehood above +everything else; he used to say that he had no +patience with a lie. Ah, how I shall miss you, my +dear little man! You will not forget me, will you, +Jack?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span></p> + +<p>Forget her! Then was the moment for him to +fling his arms about his mother’s neck, and kissing +her again and again, vow that he would be miserable +away from her, and that he would far rather +stay at home,—which whole-souled protestations +sounded sweet in the poor widow’s ears, and helped +to ease the pang of parting.</p> + +<p>Both she and Hannah were kept very busy in +getting his wardrobe ready. There were new sets +of shirts and stockings to be bought and marked, +and the old things had to be darned and generally +put in order. He was pleased beyond measure by +the purchase of a leather trunk, stamped with his +initials, to carry his belongings, which were numerous, +and would have filled two or three trunks had +he been permitted to carry them all. It was difficult +for Jack to decide what to leave behind; everything +was dear to him, from his discarded rocking-horse +with its moth-eaten hide to his latest treasure, +a small engine, which was operated by steam, and +which he had bought by saving up his pocket-money. +His room was full of toys: there were tin +soldiers and forts in the defense of which to employ +them, a splendid tool-chest, a theatre, a magic-lantern, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span>and an assortment of marbles, shuttlecocks, +bats, and balls, the accumulations of his childhood. +He persuaded his mother to let him take the engine, +but he was compelled to see most of the other +things, which Hannah stigmatized as truck, put +away to await his return. An exception was made +in favor of his favorite base-ball bat, which he was +to carry in his hand, a few tools, the shuttlecocks, +and his bag of marbles, all of which would take +up but little room, and which would be useful to +him at Utopia.</p> + +<p>Outside the house, the news of his proposed departure +had aroused great interest among his companions, +who one and all expressed their envy of +what they considered his great good-fortune. Dubsy +Perkins was inconsolable, and Bill French announced +an intention of persuading his father to let him follow +Jack in the autumn. Even Mr. Briggs, when +Jack for the fourth time in three days went into +the grocer’s store to be weighed, remarked, with a +commendable degree of warmth, considering their +relations toward one another, “I hear we’re to +lose you soon, Master Hall.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I’m going to boarding-school, where there +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span>are two hundred boys, next week,” replied Jack +proudly.</p> + +<p>“I want to know,” responded the grocer, and he +added a moment later, by way of expressing his +interest or gratitude,—let us believe it was the +former,—“Have some dried apples?”</p> + +<p>The invitation was meant to include the group +of half a dozen boys in the store at the time, who +accepted it gladly, but with some wonderment. +Since the visit of Mr. Briggs to Mrs. Hall and several +of the other parents, the behavior of his tormentors +had shown marked improvement; though +they still meandered about and through his premises +on the smallest pretext, the pilfering had mostly +ceased, and the snow-balls found in his bread-basket +were less numerous. As, owing to his mother’s +strenuous exhortation, Jack had restrained his fingers +ever since from the barrel containing the beans +and dried apples, and the box of figs, the permit +dazed him for a moment; but when he realized that +“Old Briggs” was actually “standing treat,” his +heart felt warm toward his old enemy, and some +shame for his own cruel treatment of him was mingled +with his reflections.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span></p> + +<p>Indeed, Jack had also the satisfaction of parting +with Stiffy Bacon under peculiarly pleasant circumstances. +That gentleman’s irate threats, as repeated +by Jack to the other fellows, had produced +such a feeling of alarm that none of them had +dared to venture on his premises ever since. On +one of the few balmy days which come early in +April to herald the approach of spring, the boys, +who had assembled at the corner to enjoy the first +game of scrub of the season, were astonished to +see Stiffy Bacon come down the steps of his house +with two new cricket bats and a set of wickets in +his hands, with which he advanced toward them. +The boys stopped their game and gazed at him in +bewilderment, scarcely believing their eyes and +half inclined to run. The sight of a Greek bearing +gifts is not apt to be assuring, but in this case +there was no cause for alarm. Mr. Bacon stopped +a foot or two away, and addressing them all, but +more especially Jack, said:</p> + +<p>“Young gentlemen, I am very much obliged to +you for being so quiet and behaving so well during +my wife’s illness, and I ask you to accept this +cricket set as a token of my good will.” Whereupon +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span>he held out the bats and wickets to Jack, +who received them mechanically, so utterly at a +loss was he in common with all the others to understand +what Mr. Bacon was driving at. The +fact was, that Mrs. Bacon had presented her husband +with a fine baby a few weeks before; but this +interesting circumstance was quite unknown to the +boys, who, accordingly, were feeling very shamefaced +at the praise bestowed upon them, knowing +that they had been quiet for quite another reason.</p> + +<p>The donor further heaped coals of fire upon +their heads by producing a cricket ball and the +bails for the wickets from his pocket, in response +to which there came a feeble murmur of “Thank +you, sir,” from the group, who stood like gawks, +half frightened and yet very much pleased withal. +Jack, who, as the one to whom Mr. Bacon had +principally addressed his speech, felt that it was incumbent +on him to make an appropriate acknowledgment +of the gift, stood uneasily shifting his +feet and trying to think what to say. As in the +case of Mr. Briggs, such unexpectedly friendly conduct +had produced a revulsion of feeling toward his +former enemy. Just as Mr. Bacon, after an awkward +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>pause on both sides, was turning away, Jack, +seized by an inspiration, exclaimed, “Now, fellows, +three cheers for Stif—<em>Mr.</em> Bacon!”</p> + +<p>They were given with a will and a tiger, and at +the sound of them the gentleman in question +looked back evidently much gratified and lifted his +hat, for he could not help being extremely polite +even when he was most gracious.</p> + +<p>“Thank you, very much, sir,” several boys cried +now that the ice was broken, and Bill French was +hypocrite enough to add, “I hope Mrs. Bacon is +quite well again,” which nearly caused a titter. +Jack, congratulating himself that the word “Stiffy” +had been repressed in time, struck up the song, +“For he’s a jolly good fellow,” which was continued +by all hands until Mr. Bacon was in-doors +again. First and last the affair was a most auspicious +one, and let it be hoped that henceforward a +perpetual truce was observed between the boys and +the Bacon family.</p> + +<p>On that point Jack was never fully informed, +for he left home a week later for Utopia. When +the day actually arrived he was much too elated to +feel any severe pangs at leaving the dear old street +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>where he had done so much mischief during the +past four or five years, and even his partings with his +friends were so jolly that nothing but the delightful +prospect before him could have excused such +light-heartedness.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hall, like the brave woman she was, had +shed her tears in secret or was saving them up +until she should be left alone, for her face was +wreathed in smiles as she clasped her darling to +her bosom for one last hug after the driver announced +that there was no time to lose if he wished +to catch the train. Jack was in an exuberant +state of mind, for in addition to the proud consciousness +that he was to travel alone for the first +time in his life, he had been allowed a full cup of +coffee for breakfast, which was a great treat to him. +Beside Hannah, who threw her apron over her +head every minute or two to hide her eyes, there +were Dubsy Perkins and Bill French and Harry +Dale in the hall to see him off, and each had brought +a parting gift. Bill French’s was a knife with +eight blades including a gimlet, a cork-screw, and +other useful devices, which, as Bill explained with +pride, cost ten dollars. Beside it Dubsy’s present +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span>looked very insignificant, but a tip-cat made by +Dubsy was regarded in the neighborhood as a work +of art entitling its possessor to the congratulations +of his friends. “I made it on purpose for you, +Jack,” said the manufacturer, with a look of genuine +affection on his honest but not over-clean face. +Harry Dale had brought a book entitled “Every +Boy his own Carpenter,” which gave directions +how to make everything under the sun.</p> + +<p>Jack’s new trunk had been strapped on behind, +and all was ready. After that last hug he ran +down the steps crying “Good-by, everybody,” and +got into the carriage. The boys thrust their hands +through the open window for a final shake, and +just as the driver had said “Clk!” to the horses, +Hannah came rushing out with some cold chicken +and a turnover done up in a napkin, which had +almost been left behind.</p> + +<p>But at last he is really off, with his head out so +as to wave one more “good-by” to his mother, +and after he has drawn it in out it flies again on the +other side, for in turning the corner he perceives +old Briggs in his white apron standing on the +threshold of his store grinning like a Cheshire cat.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span></p> + +<p>“Good-by, Mr. Briggs, good-by!” he shouts, +while Hannah murmurs, “God bless his heart; +there isn’t a soul in the street who won’t miss +him,” a remark in which the worthy henchwoman +might have found herself, it is to be feared, in a +minority, if the vote had been taken.</p> + +<p>Meantime, Bill and Dubsy and Harry, who being +each armed with a catapult have let fly simultaneously +some tolerably large shot at the little +window in the rear of the carriage as it rolls off, +one of which just misses the driver’s ear, run to +the corner and watch until the carriage reaches the +foot of the street and turns again, being rewarded +by a final wave of Jack’s arm as he catches a +glimpse of them, to which they reply with a prolonged +“Ehu—ehu—ehu.” Wafted on his way +by which familiar war-whoop of his childhood, +Jack Hall takes his first step forward in the battle +of life.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.<br> +<small>DR. MEREDITH.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>Utopia School takes its name from the small +town adjoining, to reach which Jack had to change +cars and run twenty odd miles on a country branch +after traveling several hours on the main line. +But time passed all too quickly for our hero, who +never wearied of looking out of the windows at the +landscape flying away behind, in the intervals of +exhausting the resources of the train peddler, a +boy of about his own age, in whose stock in trade +Jack took a keen and very soon a substantial interest. +He let the books tossed on the seat beside +him be gathered up again without remonstrance, +though he cast sheep’s-eyes at a small treatise on +base-ball with an illuminated cover representing a +player in the act of striking. A banana and a +small drum of figs were temptations, however, to +which he succumbed, and just as he was finishing +the last of a roll of lozenges which had won him +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span>over after these were gone, the crowning attraction +of the day appeared in the form of prize packages +labeled to contain any number of useful articles +in the way of stationery and jewelry, and costing +only a quarter. But their more potent charm lay +in the further inscription, well adapted to dazzle +youthful eyes,—“One package in every hundred +issued contains a hundred-dollar bill. This is guaranteed +by the company. Try your luck.”</p> + +<p>Jack’s reasoning was, that the quire of paper, +pens, pencil, sealing-wax, and “three separate articles +of jewelry,” which every one of them was +warranted to include, must be worth far more than +the price demanded. So in any event his money +would not be squandered, and there was no telling—for +he was pretty lucky as a rule, having on one +occasion picked up a cameo pin in the street, and +on another a silver coin—that he might not happen +on a package which had a hundred-dollar bill +in it. The one which the boy had left on the seat +looked plump and satisfactory. Jack squeezed it +and held it up for a moment to the light, but there +was nothing gained by that. When the boy came +back he examined the dozen others in the basket +critically.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span></p> + +<p>“Did you ever see any one get a prize?” Jack +asked, when he had completed the inspection.</p> + +<p>“You bet your life,” responded the peddler. “I +see a young feller aboard the train just your size +find one of them hundred-dollar bills only last +week.”</p> + +<p>“Swanny!” said Jack; “I wish I knew which +one to choose.”</p> + +<p>“You pays your money and you takes your +choice,” answered the lad impartially.</p> + +<p>“Well, I’ll take this one, I guess,” said Jack, +with a sigh, at last.</p> + +<p>The one chosen was down at the bottom of the +pile, and looked a trifle bulkier than the others, +though they were all very much alike. The peddler +had evidently little curiosity as to the result of +the selection, for he continued on his way the moment +after pocketing the quarter, rather to the surprise +of the purchaser. Jack proceeded to open +the envelope with eager anticipation. The first +thing he noticed was a number of sheets of very +common ruled note-paper, beside which lay a lank +pencil, a penholder of a kind which can be duplicated +for a cent, three pens, a half-dozen colored +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span>wafers, a miserable bit of red wax, a few envelopes, +a ring set with a small green glass stone, a bangle +of thin platinum, and a brass watch-chain. These +were the entire contents. Jack peeped between +the sheets of paper, but no bank-bill had been skillfully +concealed there. Ruefully he began to examine +the collection of trash which he had acquired +for twenty-five cents, and was wondering whether +the green stone could possibly be an emerald, and +what he should do with his purchases, when the +train stopped and the conductor called out that +passengers for Utopia and certain other places must +change cars. Jack stuffed the contents of the prize +package into his pockets and obeyed orders.</p> + +<p>Five minutes before Jack’s train reached the station, +a train from the opposite direction had arrived +with passengers from the West, one of whom, a +bright-looking lad, was already seated in the car on +the branch line which Jack entered, and it so happened +that when the conductor cried “All aboard” +the two boys found themselves the sole occupiers of +it. The new-comer was neatly dressed, was a bit +taller than Jack, slim and wiry, with a wide-awake +expression.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span></p> + +<p>The boys exchanged shy glances, and Jack +experienced a thrill of sympathy in observing the +torn envelope of another prize package lying at +the stranger’s feet. Presently, with the restlessness +common to youth, the latter got up and, putting +a hand on the arm of the seat on either side +of him, started to propel himself along the aisle +in the manner of an athlete on parallel bars, with +the result that, after a spasmodic jump or two, +he fell in a heap on the floor, whereupon he arose, +and, brushing the knees of his trousers, looked at +Jack and laughed. Then he proceeded on his +way, like an ordinary mortal, to the end of the +car, which, being the last in the train, commanded +an absorbing view of the road-bed over which they +were spinning at ever so many miles an hour. +Here he was soon joined by Jack, and the pair +stood side by side looking at the long line of +track, until the other boy said suddenly, after a +more than common oscillation of the swaying car, +which nearly upset them both,—“That’s nothing. +You ought to see how fast they go on the New +York Central.” Then he added, “Going to Utopia +School?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span></p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Jack. “Are you?”</p> + +<p>The boy nodded. “My name’s Frank Haseltine,” +he said. “I live in Cincinnati. My father’s +in Congress, and President of the Haseltine Iron +and Steel Works. I hate school, but father says +I’m to go to Utopia for six years, and then to +college. I’d rather be a professional, wouldn’t +you?”</p> + +<p>“A professional? I don’t know what you mean,” +said Jack doubtfully.</p> + +<p>“A base-ball player, of course. I’d like to be +on one of the champion nines. Foxy Ricketts, +who’s only five years older than I, is to be change +pitcher for the Red Stockings this season. He +used to be captain of the Rising Suns. That’s the +club I belong to. I’m only third base in the second +nine, but I guess I’d have played catcher next year +if I’d stayed. What club do you belong to?”</p> + +<p>“The Massasoits,” said Jack.</p> + +<p>“Never heard of them,” answered Haseltine decidedly. +“What’s your name?” he inquired.</p> + +<p>“John Hall. Most people call me Jack, though.”</p> + +<p>“Where were you raised?”</p> + +<p>Jack looked puzzled. “Do you mean where do +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span>I come from? Boston.” As he felt that his answer +seemed scant in view of Haseltine’s details, +he added, “My father was a colonel, and was +killed in the war.”</p> + +<p>“Is that so? I’ve an uncle who’s a general. +He was wounded in the war but got well again. +If I can’t be a professional when I grow up, I’d +rather be a soldier than anything. What did you +play on the Massasoits?”</p> + +<p>“Short stop.”</p> + +<p>“That’s a first-rate position,” responded Haseltine, +patronizingly.</p> + +<p>After these remarks, the boys sat down side by +side and were soon deep in a cordial conversation, +very early in which they emptied their pockets for +the benefit of one another. Jack’s new knife, all +the blades of which he opened admiringly, the tip-cat, +and two splendid agate marbles were matched +by Haseltine with a fascinating little compass in a +shiny, round metal case, a silver-mounted whistle +in the shape of a dog’s head, and, most exciting of +all to Jack, a tiny live snake in a wooden box, +which crawled and wriggled about its owner’s hand +in a most approved fashion.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span></p> + +<p>“He’s real tame,” observed Haseltine. “I’ve +had it six months. He lives on flies, and I +wouldn’t lose him for anything; would I, Bill?” +he added, caressing the small reptile.</p> + +<p>Jack was silent a moment. Then he asked, +“What’ll you take for the snake?”</p> + +<p>“What’ll you give?”</p> + +<p>“I’ll swap one of my agates for him.”</p> + +<p>“Not much. Will you give me the knife?”</p> + +<p>“I guess <em>not</em>. That knife cost a lot of money.”</p> + +<p>“It’s mighty difficult to get a snake tame as +Bill.”</p> + +<p>“Will you take both the agates?” asked Jack +presently.</p> + +<p>“Let’s see them,” said Haseltine. He examined +the marbles critically. “What else’ll you give?”</p> + +<p>“I’ll throw in a blood alley.”</p> + +<p>“Let’s see the blood alley.” After inspection +he inquired, “What else you got?”</p> + +<p>“Isn’t that enough? I’m willing to let you +have this, too,” Jack said at last, indicating the +watch-chain. They had already compared experiences +on the subject of prize packages. Needless +to say, Haseltine had been no more fortunate in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>finding a hundred-dollar bill in his, but though they +had come to the conclusion that the jewelry was +not quite up to the mark, there was sufficient uncertainty +regarding its value to make the ownership +of it seem not wholly undesirable.</p> + +<p>Haseltine weighed the chain pensively. “See +here,” he said, “if you’ll give me the two agates, +the blood alley, the chain, and the ring, you may +have Bill. Is it a go?”</p> + +<p>Jack hesitated; he felt that he was asked to +pay a high price, but a glance at Bill, who in response +to his master’s effort to show him off was +wriggling delightfully, settled the question in his +mind. “Give me the snake,” he said, handing +over the specified articles in exchange. Jack returned +the little creature to his box and deposited +it in one of his trousers’ pockets with the air of a +proprietor.</p> + +<p>Just then the train stopped at a station, and the +boys, owing to the great uproar which was going +on outside, popped out their heads. The platform +of the station was crowded with young fellows of +all ages and sizes, some of them nearly grown +up. About half of them were in uniform, part +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>of whom wore drab flannel shirts trimmed with +blue and embroidered in the middle of the breast +with a large blue <span class="sserif"><b>U</b></span>, drab knickerbockers, and +blue stockings; the others, armless white shirts +adorned with a flaming constellation, red belts, and +nondescript trousers, which showed clearly to the +boys that they were in the presence of two rival +base-ball clubs and their respective constituents.</p> + +<p>“I wonder which licked,” said Haseltine excitedly, +and under a common impulse he and Jack +started for the rear door.</p> + +<p>But here their progress is blocked, for the boys +with the <span class="sserif"><b>U</b></span> on their breasts and their friends are +by this time clambering up the steps and beginning +to swarm into the car. There is a great hubbub +and shouting and shaking of hands between the +rival factions, which is followed by a sudden hush, +for the captain of the home nine—a strapping-looking +country lad who reminds Jack of Joe Herring—has +got his men in a bunch together and +now cries, “Three cheers for the Utopias, boys! +Now, one”—</p> + +<p>“Hurrah!”</p> + +<p>“Two”—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span></p> + +<p>“Hurrah!”</p> + +<p>“Three”—</p> + +<p>“Hurrah!” And then at the close came a delicious +“tiger-r-r,” in which the entire juvenile population +of the town joined.</p> + +<p>“The Utopias must have won,” whispers Haseltine.</p> + +<p>“Why?” asks Jack, who is really beside himself +with excitement.</p> + +<p>“Because the others cheered first.”</p> + +<p>As the reverberation of the tiger dies away a +handsome, bronzed, athletic-appearing boy, with a +little down on his upper lip, and who seems to Jack +a man, steps to the edge of the platform, and swinging +his cap above his head, exclaims in a dignified +tone, but with great enthusiasm, “Now, fellows, +nine rousing cheers for the Foxbridge Stars,—and +any time they will come to Utopia we will give +them their revenge.”</p> + +<p>“’Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah!—Utopia-a-a-a!” +rings out on the air in short, sharp +response.</p> + +<p>“Time’s up, gentlemen,” cries the genial conductor, +who stands watch in hand. “All aboard!” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>He waves his hand to the engineer, the engine +gives a snort and a whistle, and amid a great shouting +and waving of hats and bats and handkerchiefs +the train moves slowly away from the station, the +Stars and their satellites following it on its way +for two hundred yards or so, leaping like greyhounds, +until fairly distanced.</p> + +<p>Jack, who has had the satisfaction of interpreting +to Haseltine the cheers of the victorious nine +as an imitation of the Harvard University method, +watches eagerly the body of Utopia boys as they +pour into the car and take possession of the seats. +They are in tearing spirits over their success, and +for some time talk of nothing but the details of +the game, recollecting with enthusiasm the fine +points of play,—Bedlow’s pitching, Goldthwaite’s +one-handed catch at second base, and, most glorious +of all, Ramsay’s home run, which won the game +when the score was tied. Ramsay is captain, the +manly-looking fellow who proposed the cheers +for the Stars, and Jack feels, as he watches him +leaning back against the seat, with his hands resting +on the handle of his bat, and accepting modestly +but with a smile of permissible pride the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>congratulations showered upon him, that he would +give anything to be in his shoes.</p> + +<p>The boys are of all sizes, for at least fifty, big +and little, have come down from the school to back +up the nine, and even to the smallest they are +decked with blue ribbons, stamped “Utopia” in +silver letters. No one pays attention to Jack and +Haseltine, who are sitting side by side at the end +of the car with their ears open.</p> + +<p>“Won’t the Doctor be pleased!” exclaimed one +of the players, breaking a momentary pause in the +rejoicing.</p> + +<p>“What a pity he didn’t come!” said another.</p> + +<p>To this there was a general assent, after which +some one cried, “Give us a song, Jumbo.”</p> + +<p>“A song! A song!” repeated several jubilantly, +and then as the boy called upon did not immediately +respond, there was a universal call, “Jumbo, +Jumbo! Hit her up, Jumbo!”</p> + +<p>Jack and Haseltine, following the direction of all +eyes, perceived an especially fat boy in the middle +of the car, who was just beginning the words of a +taking song, which was very spirited. After each +verse there came a ringing chorus, in which all +joined ecstatically:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span></p> + +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Stop that knocking; let me in;</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Stop that knocking; let me in;</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Oh, I tell you stop that knocking at my door.”</div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noi">This was always repeated, and every time they +sang it the swell of the voices grew louder and the +enthusiasm greater, until, what with the hammering +on the floor with bats to express the knocking, +together with the increasing tendency to sacrifice +harmony to sound, it seemed as though the roof of +the car would come off. It was a thorough pandemonium; +and Jack thought the occasional transposition +of the first phrase of the chorus into “knock +that stopping” one of the funniest things he had +ever listened to.</p> + +<p>When Jumbo finished, Goldthwaite the second +base, who had made the one-handed catch, sang in +a rich tenor voice, “Aunt Dinah’s Quilting Party,” +which had a sentimental refrain about seeing Nelly +home by starlight, and made Jack feel pensive, +though he preferred the humorous song. Everybody +sang the chorus with a great deal of sentiment, +especially Ramsay, who sighed perceptibly +when Goldthwaite pictured Nelly’s hand as resting +on her lover’s arm “light as ocean’s foam.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span></p> + +<p>Presently there were cries for “Jack Spratt and +his Wife,” presumably a ditty, but who turned out +to be two inseparable friends thus nicknamed because +one was very stout and the other unusually +slim. The pair contributed an amusing double-part +song, which set everybody into peals of laughter, +and restored the spirit of hubbub subdued by passing +thoughts of Nelly. Just as the last verse came +to an end, the train began to slow up, and amid +shouts of “Here we are,” every one started to his +feet and made for the door.</p> + +<p>“Utopia!” cried the conductor vociferously.</p> + +<p>“As if we didn’t know that, Henry,” responded +the foremost as they rushed out.</p> + +<p>Jack and Haseltine brought up the rear, and +found themselves on alighting face to face with a +ponderous, hearty, red-faced man carrying a whip, +whose face was one broad grin as he listened to the +joyful tidings of the victory from a dozen lips at +the same moment.</p> + +<p>“And won’t the Doctor be tickled to death!” +Jack heard him exclaim with a chuckle. “Mr. +Percy’s yonder,” he continued, indicating with his +thumb a barge drawn by two horses, into which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span>the majority of the boys were already precipitating +themselves. “He couldn’t wait to hear who’d +won. And so you beat ’em, did you? Well, +well!”</p> + +<p>At the mention of Mr. Percy’s name there had +been a further diversion to the barge, and only +three or four still remained, pouring a few last +details into the ears of the man with the whip, who +now asked, “Has any one of you laid eyes on the +two new boys I’ve come to fetch?”</p> + +<p>“Your kids are all serene, Horace; I saw them +aboard the train,” said a boy in answer.</p> + +<p>“Master Hall,—Master Haseltine?” inquired +Horace, stepping forward as he caught sight of +Jack and his friend.</p> + +<p>“All right,” said Jack; “I’m Hall.”</p> + +<p>“And I’m Haseltine.”</p> + +<p>“Checks, please,” said Horace. Then pointing +to a vehicle half-wagon, half-carryall, a few yards +beyond, he told the two boys to get in while he +looked after their baggage.</p> + +<p>Before they had well seated themselves, the +barge, filled almost to overflowing with its noisy +freight, started off at a goodly pace to the accompaniment +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>of fish-horns and fiendish cat-calls. As +it swept by the smaller conveyance a shower of +beans fell rattling about the ears of the new-comers, +which caused Jack instinctively to clap his hand on +the side-pocket of his jacket in search of his catapult; +but before he could get at it the grinning +faces of his assailants were out of range.</p> + +<p>“By gum!” Jack muttered belligerently.</p> + +<p>“It’s no use, any way,” said Haseltine. “If +you had hit them, it would have been all the worse +for both of us afterwards. I expect to be half +killed as it is.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?” asked Jack.</p> + +<p>“They’ll haze us, of course. I know a fellow +who was made to jump into the river on a Christmas +eve, and who, as the result of it, had pneumonia +and nearly died.”</p> + +<p>“At Utopia?”</p> + +<p>“No, it wasn’t at this school; but they’re all +alike. They make you stand on a table and recite +poetry, and do all sorts of monkey tricks.”</p> + +<p>“I wouldn’t.”</p> + +<p>“You couldn’t help yourself; they’d stick pins +into you if you refused, or burn you with a red-hot +iron.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span></p> + +<p>“They should kill me before I’d do a thing,” +said Jack stoutly, but, nevertheless, he continued +contemplative until their conductor arrived with +the trunks. A moment later they were off.</p> + +<p>“That’s great,” Horace observed with gusto, +after a period of reflective silence.</p> + +<p>“What is?” inquired Haseltine.</p> + +<p>“The ball game. Them Stars has been all-fired +cocky since way back, and boasting as how they +couldn’t be beat. But they’re done for this time, +sure. Fourteen to thirteen—tidy score, too; that +home-run was what done it. Great boy, that Harry +Ramsay.”</p> + +<p>“He’s captain, isn’t he?” asked Jack.</p> + +<p>“Yes, captain of the nine, and cute all round. +I tell you, the Doctor’s proud of him, and’ll be +mighty sorry when he goes to Harvard next year. +He is smart at his books, too.”</p> + +<p>“Tell us about some of the other players,” said +Haseltine.</p> + +<p>“Well, they’re all pretty stout. Bedlow’s a rattling +good pitcher, and when he’s in shape it takes +an A 1 player to get base hits off him, I can tell +you. Goldthwaite’s good, too, at second base; and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>Bobby Crosby at left field, though he goes in more +for foot-ball. He’ll be captain of the eleven, fast +enough, when Burbank goes. He’s a great hand +at kicking goals. There ain’t a better nor a +smarter set of boys in the country than the boys +of Utopia School, take ’em all together,” continued +Horace, giving a flick with his whip to emphasize +his words; “and as for the Doctor, there ain’t his +equal anywhere that ever I see. He’s a gentleman, +if there is one, and a scholar too, for the +matter of that. What he don’t know ain’t worth +knowing, I guess.”</p> + +<p>“What’s <em>your</em> name?” asked Haseltine boldly.</p> + +<p>“Horace Hosmer. The boys, leastwise those +who’ve been here any time, call me Horace. I’ve +done the driving for the school since it was first +started, and that’s a matter of close on ten years, +now.”</p> + +<p>“Much hazing?” inquired Jack presently, in +what he intended to be an indifferent tone.</p> + +<p>Horace glanced sideways at his questioner before +replying. “Fair to middling,” he said gravely. +“Two boys died from it last term; Doctor called it +chicken-pox; but I know better,” he added, with an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>ominous nod. “I see them after they were laid +out, and they were a mass of bruises from the +crown of the head to the soles of the feet.”</p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p139"> + <img src="images/i_p139.jpg" + alt="I’ve done the driving for the school since it was first started." + title="I’ve done the driving for the school since it was first started."> +</figure> + +<p>Haseltine nudged +Jack, who, it must be +confessed, felt uncomfortable, +and who exclaimed, +after a moment, +“I shouldn’t think Dr. +Meredith would allow +it.”</p> + +<p>“Well, he does try to stop it, but some of them +fourth-class boys are dreadful hard to manage. +There’s Jack Spratt and his Wife, for instance,—I +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>tell you they’d as soon break every bone in a +new boy’s body as not,” continued Horace confidentially.</p> + +<p>“They were the two who sang last,” observed +Jack, gloomily, to Haseltine.</p> + +<p>“There’s nothing really vicious about ’em,—they’re +just playful,” Horace went on to say. +“But singing or no singing, if I were a new boy I +shouldn’t want to have ’em down on me. It’s +hard to say which is the worst, Spratt or his +Wife.”</p> + +<p>“What are their real names?” Jack inquired.</p> + +<p>“Tobey and Donaldson; but no one ever calls +’em anything but Jack Spratt and Wifey; that’s +because they’re so thick together. Most of the +boys have nicknames of some sort, though there ain’t +much sense in ’em if you come to think it over. +There’s the Spider and the Lamb, and the Titmouse +and the Shark, and ever so many more. But +you’ll know all about it soon, for here we are,” said +their mentor, as the pair of horses turned sharply.</p> + +<p>They were borne swiftly through a gateway and +along a smooth, graveled avenue, under a vista of +fine trees which had evidently once formed the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span>approach to a private residence. On either side an +expanse of level field stretched away, which was +dotted with boys busy at play, of whom Jack got a +few glimpses as Horace, nodding to right and left, exclaimed, +“Lawn-tennis courts,—base-ball practice +ground;” though a bell pealing from beyond had +mostly caused a cessation of the games, and the +boys in the field on the right-hand side had begun +to throng into the avenue, or to cross it into the +other field.</p> + +<p>“It’s supper-time,” Horace vouchsafes to inform +his charges, who are craning their necks in absorbed +inspection of the score of young fellows in white +flannels, with tennis rackets in their hands, advancing +at an easy jog in detachments of two and three, +in response to the reverberating summons. It is +shorter for those who have been practicing scrub in +the left-hand field to keep straight on, for the avenue +winds to the left along the top of that field, +until it reaches another arched gateway situated +midway between two spacious dormitories which +form one side of a large quadrangle. There is a +solid stream of boys passing through this gateway +on the way to their rooms to tidy up for supper, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span>which will be ready in fifteen minutes in the old +schoolhouse,—the original structure built by the +founders,—which faces Jack as he is driven into +the quadrangle and finds himself squarely within +school bounds.</p> + +<p>On his right stands the tasteful chapel, from the +tower of which the ten-minute bell is still ringing, +and just beyond it the gymnasium. Facing these, +at the other end of the broad campus, is the building +devoted to schoolrooms, and still another dormitory, +all exactly as the prospectus, which Jack +had read many times, described. Both the extensive +playgrounds, the one laid out for base-ball and +the other for foot-ball, lie deserted; for every one +within the quadrangle has hastened to welcome the +victorious nine on the arrival of the barge, about +which a cheering throng is now collected in front +of the old schoolhouse.</p> + +<p>“There’s the Doctor on the steps shaking hands +with ’em,” exclaimed Horace. “I tell you he’s +proud to-night. Look at that now; it’s Ramsay +they’ve got.”</p> + +<p>A cheer that does one’s heart good had preceded +Horace’s last words, occasioned evidently by some +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>compliment which Dr. Meredith had paid the modest +captain, and thereupon a score of hands have +seized Ramsay and lifted him on to a phalanx of +shoulders. “’Rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, +rah!—Utopia-a-a-a!”</p> + +<p>Off they go tearing like mad, bearing their laughing, +struggling burden, who is plainly protesting +against so extravagant a tribute to his prowess, +to the ball ground and round the bases in fine +style, closely followed by another throng doing similar +honors to Bedlow and Goldthwaite, picked up +together and transported side by side, each with an +arm round the other’s neck.</p> + +<p>Horace has reined in his horses in order to give +a satisfactory view of the ovation, which is so demonstrative +and engrossing that the ten minutes’ +grace before supper would more than have slipped +away had not Dr. Meredith and two or three of the +masters interfered in time to send every one off to +his room just before the second bell rings.</p> + +<p>It is pealing with a will when Jack and Haseltine +alight and stand hesitating on the steps of Granger +Hall,—which is the name of the old schoolhouse,—uncertain +for a moment what to do. The entrance, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span>in front of which Horace has drawn up his +horses, is on the hither side of that where the Doctor +was congratulating the nine a few minutes ago, +and leads into the domain of Betty Martin, as the +housekeeper is called, who has charge of the domestic +management of the whole institution, with headquarters +at Granger. This is her wing, flanked by +the great dining-hall where the whole school breakfasts +and dines and sups together. The other wing +is devoted to the Doctor’s private apartments. A +few boys still live in the old schoolhouse,—which +not so very long ago was dormitory, refectory, and +class-room combined in one,—but the mass have +been relegated to the three new, roomy dormitories, +known, respectively, as Rogers, Fullham, and Dudley, +after the benefactors who gave the money to +build them.</p> + +<p>It is Mrs. Betty Martin herself who appears, +smiling, on the threshold to relieve the uncertainty +of the two boys. She is portly and motherly in +appearance, and wins Jack’s heart at once by suggesting +supper in the housekeeper’s room, and a +postponement of an introduction to the Doctor +until later. They feel a little weary with their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span>long journey and relish the fresh milk, the honest +bread and butter, and the slice of cold beef to +which they sit down, immediately after they have +dipped their faces in a basin of water under her +maternal supervision. Meanwhile the whole school +has passed into the main hall, and after a short +silence,—which Jack learns by and by marks the +blessing asked on the meal by the Doctor, who +always eats with the school,—there begins a distant +clattering and chattering which is pleasant +music in the ears of the two new boys as they sip +the hot chocolate which Mrs. Betty has made to +warm them. This goes on for nearly half an hour; +then follows a momentary creaking and scraping of +chairs and shuffling of boots that makes one think +a menagerie has got loose, after which there is a +rush for the door, which is midway between the +Doctor’s and Mrs. Betty’s entrance, and the school +comes trooping out again.</p> + +<p>“Scrub one”</p> + +<p>“Two”</p> + +<p>“Three”</p> + +<p>“Four”</p> + +<p>“Five”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span></p> + +<p>“Six”</p> + +<p>“Seven”</p> + +<p>Twice that number of applicants are disporting +themselves in the direction of the ball ground, +which, though reserved at other hours for the work +of one of the regular nines, is free after supper to +the first comers. There is room on its ample surface +for several games of scrub, and as the tide of +would-be players increases, the adjacent foot-ball +ground is usurped by some who prefer knock up, +two or three big fellows sending up sky scrapers +for the benefit of the many scattered over the field. +A few pass ball, and, though it is not the season +for foot-ball, there are always boys so fond of it as +to like to keep their hands, or more properly their +feet, in at all times of the year. A half dozen of +these practice kicking goals over the two bars +which mark either end of the foot-ball field. Although +so soon after supper, a couple of boys, who +look as if they were cut out for runners, appear in +tights and start around the running track on time. +On the terraces in front of the various halls, a +number more leisurely inclined indulge in ring-taw +and various other games of marbles, which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span>make Jack think of his agates and wonder if Haseltine +has not, in their possession, the best of the +bargain.</p> + +<p>All this is visible from Mrs. Betty’s threshold, +where the two boys establish themselves after supper +while waiting for the Doctor to send for them. +Now and then small urchins—favorites of Mrs. +Betty—slip past them in search of a cooky, or a +taste of jam, relying on the good-nature of the +buxom housekeeper, which is not altogether to be +counted on, however, for if for any reason the petitioner +does not happen to suit her he gets sent +about his business in a most summary manner and +has to slink out again empty-handed. It is a lovely +evening with a promise of summer in the atmosphere, +so enticing that the Doctor’s wife is giving +her baby an airing prior to putting him in his +crib, while her other child, a pretty girl of five, is +skipping about before their door like a young +gazelle. Close at hand stands the Doctor, watching +contentedly the sports which nightfall must soon +bring to a close, smoking his cigar, and chatting +to some of the masters and boys. When a more +than usually good bit of play on the ball field +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span>takes his eye, he claps vigorously and cries, +“Played, Longworth,” “Well played indeed, Henshaw,” +with genuine enthusiasm; and once when +the ball is knocked so vigorously that it runs out +of bounds and along the terrace up to the Doctor’s +very feet, he picks it up and sends it back again +in a style that reveals abundance of muscle and +a physique second to none which any one of those +whose master, guide, and friend he is can boast.</p> + +<p>It seems to Jack, whose ideas of masters are not +rosy, so to speak, wonderful that the boys and Dr. +Meredith are on such evidently familiar terms, suggesting +an absence of awe on one side and the existence +of an almost fatherly interest on the other. +To joke with the teacher of one’s Latin lessons +would have struck him an hour ago as akin to merriment +in church, or at a funeral; and yet right +before his eyes is a state of things which startles +his preconceived notions most effectually and makes +him rub his eyes, especially when the head of the +school so far abates his dignity as to pass ball with +a wren of a boy no bigger than Jack himself. Albeit +a great weight is removed from his heart, he +looks on puzzled and bewildered, half expecting to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span>hear at any moment the thundering tone of authority +assert itself and prove what he sees to be +only a deceitful lull in the conventional relations +between masters and pupils.</p> + +<p>But the only voice of authority which makes itself +heard, scattering masters and pupils alike, is +the bell in the chapel tower, that breaks in presently +on the scene, but scarcely too soon, for the +twilight is at hand. It is time to go to the schoolrooms +for an hour before the day’s work is over. +Thither the boys flock, and a few moments later +Jack and Haseltine are informed that the Doctor +is ready to see them in his study.</p> + +<p>Jack’s heart is sinking as he walks along the +corridor, but he keeps before his mind’s eye the +picture which he has just seen, in refutation of his +fears. He knocks timidly, and in response to a +cheery “Come in” enters. It is a spacious yet +cosy room, a veritable study with books lining the +walls and scattered over the centre table, but bright +too with photographs on the mantelpiece, below +which a wood fire is sputtering and snapping gaily +on the hearth, and pictures, busts, and bric-à-brac +betokening that a woman’s taste has helped to decorate +it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span></p> + +<p>“This must be Hall; am I right? How d’y do, +Hall? How d’y do, Haseltine? Glad to see you +both.” So exclaims the Doctor, rising to greet the +two timid youths, speaking so pleasantly, and giving +them each so hearty a grip of the hand, that +they are kindled in spite of themselves and lift +their gaze to his.</p> + +<p>How shall I describe the head master of Utopia +School? A man in the prime of life, not quite +forty, tall, stalwart, and commanding, with a sunny +smile but firm mouth, piercing eyes before which a +sneak or liar might well quail, yet in which the +sincere, manly boy, the forlorn or puzzled boy, or +even the mischievous, disobedient boy who owns +his fault, might find the sympathy, encouragement, +or mercy which he needs. One sees at a glance, +which requires no discrimination, that there is +nothing small or petty about him, nothing of the +pedant, the martinet, or the ceremonious prig. It +is, perhaps, beyond the imagination of boys so full +of misgivings as Jack and Haseltine, to appreciate +all this at once, but their awe gives way to surprise +and their tongues are gradually loosened under the +influence of his reassuring words of inquiry in regard +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span>to their journey, their families, and their past +lives, in the course of which his wife comes in and +perfects the welcome by her sweet voice. Haseltine +is the first to thaw, amusing them all by his +quaint frankness, which includes a confession of +Jack’s and his experiences in the line of prize +packages, at the mention of which the Doctor looks +a trifle grave, but forbears for the present to utter +a deprecating word, deeming, without doubt, that +to check the boy in his first confidences might work +far worse results than could possibly follow from +the failure on his own part to point a moral. Haseltine +goes on to tell of their barter and exhibits +triumphantly the two agates, with the exclamation, +“Which of us, do you think, got the best of +the swap, Dr. Meredith?”</p> + +<p>This frankness amuses them all; and the Doctor +asks Jack to let them see the snake, which he produces +shyly. The little reptile vindicates—at least +in his owner’s eyes—the wisdom of the trade +by a fine display of his wriggling powers; after +which (the Doctor having chosen to abstain from +any expression of opinion as to whether he would +rather be in Jack’s shoes or Haseltine’s) the conversation +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span>goes on easily for a few minutes. The +Doctor’s wife, who regards Jack very kindly, perhaps +because he seems less at ease than his more +forward companion, questions him about his home +and his mother, and makes him promise that if he +feels lonely he will come to her and let her know; +all of which is so contrary to what Jack had expected +that he could almost cry with pleasure. As +for Haseltine, his relief is so great that he prattles +on like a mill-stream, to the evident entertainment +of his listeners, relating naively his impressions of +his long journey from the West, and his views of +life in general, including his intention to adopt base-ball +as a profession when he grows up; an announcement +which causes Mrs. Meredith to put her +handkerchief to her mouth to avoid laughing outright. +But it is no laughing matter to Haseltine, +who believes every word he is saying, and who proceeds +to describe with enthusiasm the exploits of +the Rising Suns, and the standing of the various +players composing that formidable nine.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p153"> + <img src="images/i_p153.jpg" alt="" title=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="noic">IN THE DOCTOR’S STUDY.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]<br><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span></p> + +<p>“Base-ball is a fine game, and I don’t wish to +speak a word against it,” says the Doctor, when he +sees a fair chance to get in a word. “I dare say +that you will be a great acquisition to our nine, +in course of time, Haseltine, and you too, Hall, +though you tell me that your specialty is foot-ball. +That’s a fine game, too. You boys will have +plenty of chance to consider the matter during +the next six years, but I rather think that you +will come to the conclusion, before you leave us, +Haseltine, that you would prefer to be in Congress, +or the manager of a railroad, or a merchant, +or a lawyer, than a professional base-ball player.”</p> + +<p>There was a pleasant twinkle in the Doctor’s eye +as he paused, but though Jack felt that his master’s +prophecy might, perhaps, come true, Haseltine +shook his head doubtfully.</p> + +<p>“Both you little fellows are tired with so much +travel, I know,” the Doctor went on, a shade more +seriously, “and I am going to send you off to bed +without much good advice. I shall take it for +granted that both of you are good boys, and anxious +to obey the rules. You’ll be told what they +are to-morrow, when I decide upon the classes you +are to belong to. And now, before you go, I desire +to say just two things: the first of which is, that I +wish to impress upon you at the start to avoid +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span>falsehood and deceit. There are times when most +boys are tempted to lie; when those times come, +be brave and speak the truth, for, believe me, there +is no vice more cowardly and degrading to the character +than any form of falsehood. It is mean, +contemptible, and unworthy of men. The principle +of this school is self-government; my desire +is, as far as possible, to let the scholars govern themselves; +I trust to their honor largely, and I look to +see that trust respected.”</p> + +<p>Jack is listening with all his ears; the room +seems very still, and the Doctor’s wife is looking +gravely at the carpet.</p> + +<p>“The other is this,”—the Doctor glanced especially +at Haseltine, though what he is about to +say is every whit as applicable to Jack’s needs, if +he did but know it,—“I believe enthusiastically +in all manly sports, and do my best to encourage a +taste for them in the school; but let me remind you +that what you have been sent here for is not to become +good cricketers, oarsmen, foot-ball kickers, or +even”—here he smiled kindly—“base-ball players. +To desire to be proficient in any or all of these +games is a laudable ambition, but I pity heartily +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span>the boy who, during his stay here, thinks of nothing +else; and I grieve to say there are a few who +do. Sport is an incident, not an aim of life, even +of a boy’s life. You have been sent here to learn +to become high-minded, upright gentlemen, with +lofty aims and sterling good sense in the first +place; in the second,—and without this the first +can never be completely realized,—to acquire a +good education by means of faithful study. Intelligent +scholarship is the promoter of many virtues +and the key to success in after-life. Do you understand +me, boys?” he asks, at the conclusion of +these impressively spoken words.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” the two lads murmur, in faint succession.</p> + +<p>“Then I will hand you over to Mrs. Martin, who +will show you to your dormitories,” he says, touching +the bell. “Hall and Haseltine, I hope you will +each regard me as one of your warmest friends, and +never hesitate to ask my advice or assistance, if at +any time you are in need of either.”</p> + +<p>“Nor mine,” adds his wife, drawing Jack to her +and kissing him on the cheek, which cheers him +mightily.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span></p> + +<p>“You must be good friends together, too,” continues +the Doctor, looking from one to the other. +“Far East and far West! Remember we are all +one nation, and that no part of it can get on without +another.”</p> + +<p>While, as a consequence of this recommendation, +the two boys are exchanging smiles, which, though +somewhat sheepish, express cordial good-will, Mrs. +Betty arrives, under whose guidance they take their +departure, after Mrs. Meredith has impartially bestowed +a kiss on Haseltine also, and the Doctor has +shaken them both by the hand in his hearty fashion. +They pass out of the old schoolhouse across the +quadrangle to Fullham Hall, where Mrs. Betty tells +them they are to be lodged. A short climb up-stairs +and a turn or two through a corridor brings +them to a spacious apartment running half the +length of the building, with rows on either side +from one end to the other of what seem to Jack, +at first glance, like stalls in a stable. The partitions +dividing these stalls—which a second glance +proves to be sleeping-rooms large enough to contain +a bed, a bureau, and a row of nails for clothing—rise +but ten or a dozen feet. The ceiling is far +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span>above; two lines of windows let in abundance of +light, and one has only to breathe the cool air to +feel sure that care has been taken to make the +ventilation all it should be. At the end which +they enter is the comfortable-looking study of one +of the masters, into which they get a peep as the +housekeeper calls him to his door to introduce her +charges to him. They are to be quartered nearly +opposite to one another on different sides of the dormitory. +Their trunks have already been brought +up and placed at the foot of their beds, which have +a neat and comfortable appearance. There would +be just room inside to swing a cat, if one should so +feel inclined, and it is easy to see that there can be +no difficulty in producing the effect of great cosiness +by an artistic arrangement of photographs and +knick-knacks. Jack looks into several of the little +rooms and is charmed at the taste and cleverness +displayed in this respect.</p> + +<p>It is not quite bedtime, but a few of the little +boys, tired out doubtless by the excitement of the +match, are already tucked up for the night, or, +partly undressed, are flitting between the dormitory +and the wash-room, into which Jack and Haseltine +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span>are next ushered to be shown the excellent +bathing arrangements. Each pupil has his separate +set-bowl and soap and towels, and there is a +liberal number of bath-rooms, in some of which a +fine splashing is going on. At the doors of two of +these, Mr. Sawyer, the dormitory master, who has, +perhaps, made the arrival of the new-comers an excuse +for an unlooked-for tour of inspection, knocks +sharply, exclaiming, “Time’s up, Rogers. Been in +that tub long enough, Dickson;” in response to +which, two watery faces peep out in respectful expostulation.</p> + +<p>But now the chapel bell rings again, this time +for prayers, to be followed by a dismissal of all +but the oldest boys to slumber. Mr. Sawyer has +to go, but Mrs. Betty remains to see Jack and +Haseltine snugly established in bed, where Jack is +very happy to be, partly because he is very tired, +and partly because the hints on the subject of Jack +Spratt and his Wife, thrown out by Horace Hosmer, +have filled his mind with grim forebodings. +He reflects that if he can conceal himself from +public view, he may yet be spared from torture +for another twenty-four hours, and makes haste +accordingly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Betty has taken her departure only just +before the boys who share this dormitory come +trooping in, making a din which puts sleep, for the +moment, quite out of Jack’s head. It seems that +fifteen minutes are allowed to undress, after which +the lights are put out, all talking is forbidden, and +any one caught in another’s room is liable to punishment. +The master at one end, and one of the +prefects—who are certain of the older boys clothed +with a share of authority—at the other, keep a +lookout for whispering or unlawful expeditions. +By degrees the tumult dies away, but before it has +wholly come to an end both Jack and Haseltine +have ceased to notice it. The assurance, in answer +to an inquiry hazarded by Haseltine at the last moment +of Mrs. Betty, who must have wondered at +the question, that Jack Spratt and his Wife sleep +in another dormitory, has done much to tranquilize +them. Though each listens intently in trepidation +for some minutes, weariness gets the better alike of +fear and curiosity so soon, that Mr. Sawyer, who +draws aside their curtains to see that they are all +right before the watchman on his rounds puts out +the light, is satisfied that they are fast asleep. +And so they are.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.<br> +<small>FIRST IMPRESSIONS.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>How many of the fathers of the boys who are +reading this story look back on their school days +with any great degree of satisfaction as concerns +the time spent in the schoolroom? Not a large +number, it is safe to assert, if the truth were +known. You young fellows do not appreciate your +advantages, or, at least, you have small comprehension +of what lessons and masters were like twenty +and thirty years ago. Not that we were badly +treated, in one sense. Even then floggings were in +tolerable disrepute; the birch was practically discarded, +and if the ferule was employed with some +frequency in extreme cases, its popularity as an +educator was on the wane. Our teachers, though +rarely genial, intended to be just, and though strict +were not harsh. Stiffness and constraint were still +deemed essential to secure decorum, but the czar-like +despotism which made the pedagogues of former +generations terrible had passed away.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span></p> + +<p>On the other hand, we were one and all mere +machines for the acquisition of so much Latin, +Greek, and mathematics; machines, of which some +ran faster than others and with a certain show of +brilliancy, but the best of which did their work in +the mechanical, unintelligent way that machines +invariably do. Most education then was a grand +system of memorizing, of getting by rote whole +pages of Latin grammar, and other subjects, so as +to be able to spin them off as fast as the tongue +could move without hesitation or mistake. If you +made either, and were ambitious, it meant disaster, +for there was always some slick-haired, pale-faced +lad on the watch to pick you up anywhere and +put you down a peg in the class as a consequence. +What feats of marvelous mechanism in this line +were daily performed with the dry bones of “Andrews +& Stoddard’s” and “Baird’s Classical Manual”! +Ask your father, any one of you, if he can +repeat that memory-confounding list of adjectives +which have no superlatives. There are twenty-eight +of them, beginning with “<i lang="la">adolescens adolescentior</i> +young, <i lang="la">agrestis agrestior</i> rustic.” If he cannot, +there was a time when he could, and when—at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span>least if he were what was called in those days a +good scholar—he could rattle off, besides, the +twenty-six prepositions governing the accusative +and the nouns of the third declension with either +<em>e</em> or <em>i</em> in the ablative, not forgetting at the same +time that “<i lang="la">occiput</i> has only <em>i</em>, <i lang="la">rus</i> has either <em>e</em> or <em>i</em>, +but <i lang="la">rure</i> commonly signifies ‘from the country’ +and <i lang="la">ruri</i> ‘in the country’; <i lang="la">mel</i> has rarely <em>i</em>.”</p> + +<p>We were expected to divine, apparently, for few +hints were given us of the beauties of Cæsar and +Virgil and Ovid, of the Anabasis and the Iliad, of +the manners, thoughts, and customs of the Greeks +and Romans, and the relations of the classic tongues +to ours. But every one of us was expected, when +the master gave out from that gloomy little compilation +on ancient geography, “Baird’s Classical +Manual,” <em>Sybaris</em> for instance, to be able, if called +upon, to answer like a flash: “Proverbial for the +luxury of its inhabitants;” and then to continue in +sequence: “<em>Thurii</em> founded by the Athenians <span class="allsmcap">B. +C.</span> 443, with whom were Herodotus and Lysias the +orator. In the west also, on the coast <i>Elĕa</i>, <i>Helĭa</i>, +or <i>Velīa</i>, the birthplace of Zeno and Parmenides, +the founders of the Eleatic School of Philosophy;” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span>and so on until bidden to stop. It is no exaggeration +to state that there were boys who, if started +at any point in its sixty closely printed pages, could +recite to the end without slip or falter, and yet +who had no further knowledge concerning the +places or individuals enumerated than was contained +in the brief paragraphs of which those just +cited are prolix examples.</p> + +<p>It may have been noticed by the parents, if not +by the boys who have followed Jack’s experiences +up to this point, that very little has been said on +the subject of his lessons, and that consideration +has been mainly given to his sports, his snow-ball +fights, his mischief-making, and what he did in +general outside the schoolroom.</p> + +<p>Let us look the matter squarely in the face and +acknowledge that the least said regarding his +schooling before he went to Utopia the better. +But in justice to the masters who had to undergo +the discouragement of seeing their efforts to make +him learn prove of no avail, it should be stated that +the fault lay neither in them nor seriously in their +system of teaching. Already the theory of cultivating +the memory alone at the expense of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span>other faculties had fallen into disrepute in the public +schools of his native city, and was being supplanted +by methods calculated to make boys and +girls think for themselves instead of developing +into mere machines. But it is to be feared that up +to this time the advantages of living in an enlightened +age had been lost upon our hero, if the interest +he took in his daily tasks be regarded as evidence. +To tell the truth, he had been incorrigibly +idle; his thoughts rarely kept themselves fixed for +five minutes at a time on any branch of knowledge +disassociated with the Frog Pond, Ma’am Horn, +Joe Herring, or some one or other of the interesting +localities or personages whose acquaintance we +have already made. It had always been a moment +of supreme happiness to him when the bell sounded, +announcing that he was at liberty to pitch his +dog’s-eared, pencil-marked books into his desk and +to depart for the day, and the hours preceding that +welcome summons were too apt to drag heavily +unless relieved by oases of mischief. It is no easy +task, be the master ever so conscientious, to engage +the interest of those boys in a large class who count +the school hours in much the same spirit that a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span>prisoner counts the weeks which must elapse before +he is free. To one fond of his calling and ambitious +to have his pupils shine, the good scholars must inevitably +commend themselves, and he is only too +likely to let the rag, tag, and bobtail shift for +themselves, feeling, doubtless, that time and energy +spent in endeavoring to make them fond of their +books cannot fail to be wasted. It was to the rag, +tag, and bobtail emphatically that Jack had belonged. +With three or four other boys, among +whom was the ever faithful Dubsy, he had disputed +the doubtful distinction of being at the foot of +his class, and the monthly reports which he had +brought home to his mother were monotonous in +their uniform lack of excellence.</p> + +<p>It will, therefore, be seen that the good advice, +regarding the purpose for which he had been sent +to Utopia, delivered by Dr. Meredith on that first +evening, was peculiarly adapted to Jack’s needs, +and should have sunk deep into his heart. But +just as one swallow will not make a summer, a +single homily will rarely suffice to change an idle +boy into an industrious one. If the truth must +be told, there is reason to doubt whether Jack gave +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span>that part of the Doctor’s lecture—although it impressed +him greatly for a moment, I dare say, and +made him inwardly resolve to be very diligent for +the future—a second thought after he went away +under the wing of Mrs. Betty. And if he neglected +to consider the matter further that night, he certainly +did not think much about it in the morning, +when, having escaped molestation from Jack Spratt +and his Wife, he awoke and found himself face to +face with, and fairly entranced by, the great school +world. No wonder that the master who examined +the pair after breakfast, with a view to discovering +their acquirements, held up his hands in horror +upon making his report to Dr. Meredith, and observed, +pathetically, that he was at a loss to decide +which of the two had made the worse showing.</p> + +<p>“They both seemed bright boys when I saw +them last night,” answered the Doctor.</p> + +<p>“Oh, they’re bright enough,” said Mr. Percy. +“I judge, however, that neither of them has ever +been made to study.”</p> + +<p>“Then we shall have to begin at first principles,” +was the reply.</p> + +<p>Accordingly Jack and Haseltine were enrolled +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span>in the lowest of the six classes into which the +school was divided, but in the first of the two +divisions composing the class. As they were not +to take their places until the following morning, +they were free for the rest of the day to look about +them. They were left pretty much to their own +devices during the forenoon, for until half an hour +before dinner time the whole school was busy with +recitations and study. So they improved their opportunities, +to begin with, by wandering around +the large quadrangle, peering up at the buildings, +stepping for a moment into the chapel, where they +admired, with bated breath, the carving and the +stained-glass windows, and bringing up finally at +the gymnasium. Here they spent some time in the +inspection of the bars, weights, rowing-machines, +and other apparatus, the use of which was explained +very kindly by the superintendent, Dr. +Bolles, who introduced himself to them, and who, +at the close of his instructions, invited them into +his private office that he might take their measurements. +After they had stripped themselves to the +skin, Dr. Bolles—having entered their names, age, +and birthplace in a large ledger, a separate page +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span>of which was devoted to every boy in the school—proceeded +to tap their bodies and to listen to their +lungs and hearts, in a very attentive manner. +Then he weighed them, ascertained their height, +and the number of inches they measured round the +chest, forearm, biceps, hips, and calves.</p> + +<p>Haseltine, who was the first to go through the +ordeal, looked a bit lanky, stripped, and somewhat +flat-chested. There was not much flesh on his +bones, as was apparent from the manner in which +his ribs stuck out.</p> + +<p>“You must learn to hold yourself up straight, +and not to stoop, Haseltine,” said the superintendent, +scrutinizing him critically. “You’ll become +round-shouldered if you don’t have a care. You +should use the upright bars every day. Appetite +good?”</p> + +<p>“First rate,” answered Haseltine, looking rather +crestfallen at this depreciation of his physique.</p> + +<p>“Food runs to muscle, then. No spare flesh +here,” he observed, passing his hand over the little +fellow’s frame. “Pretty wiry. Sound as a trivet; +but those chest-muscles need strengthening; we +must build you out. Good arm, very good,” he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span>added, as Haseltine doubled up his biceps with a +smile of conscious pride. “Base-ball, I suppose; +yes, out of all proportion to the left; I thought so. +Ever been examined before?” Haseltine shook +his head. “I suppose not. You’ve come here just +in time. We’ll make a man of you yet. Now +Hall.”</p> + +<p>Jack was all of a tremble. In the first place, +the stethoscope business was rather alarming and +suggested all sorts of possibilities in the way of +broken wind and heart-disease, and then he did not +relish at all being picked to pieces before Haseltine. +He wondered whether he looked equally +scraggy, and derived his first ray of consolation +from the complimentary expression of Dr. Bolles’ +eye, as the superintendent (after taking several +measurements in silence) stood off and surveyed +him with evident complacency.</p> + +<p>“Ah, Carlisle, good morning,” Dr. Bolles exclaimed +to a delicate appearing boy who had just +entered the office. “There’s a good all round fellow +for you to model yourself on. No dyspepsia +in him. He doesn’t know what nerves mean. If +you don’t grow up into a healthy, well-formed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span>man,” he continued to Jack, “it’ll be your own +fault. You’ve got a good start; you can’t be a +Hercules, there’s not enough of you for that, but +you’re cut out for health if you take care of yourself. +You’ve been looked after at home, evidently. +That’s all.”</p> + +<p>Jack put on his clothes again, feeling proud as +a peacock, and entirely reconciled to the fact that +Haseltine’s biceps was bigger than his own. The +boy addressed as Carlisle, who was sauntering about +in the office quite at his ease, gave Jack and Haseltine +a critical glance from his handsome dark eyes, +and then examined for a few moments the doctor’s +entries in the ledger regarding them. He was a +striking-looking lad, with an intelligent and at the +same time attractive expression, and though he was +slight and evidently far from robust, there was +nothing effeminate either in his appearance or +manner.</p> + +<p>“How are you, to-day?” Dr. Bolles inquired of +him.</p> + +<p>“Oh, I’m better; I feel like a fighting-cock,” +was the reply.</p> + +<p>“You look better. But now, my dear boy, pray +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span>give yourself a chance. You can’t do everything,—be +a ball-player, good oar, crack sprinter, and +the head of your class, all at the same time, with +your present physique, and keep well. Hall and +Haseltine,” the superintendent added, “let me +make you acquainted with Louis Carlisle, our +champion short-distance runner, and poet laureate. +He has been in the infirmary for the past fortnight +because he wouldn’t take care of himself. I dare +say that if you two boys are so inclined, he will +stroll with you up to the lake to show you the +boat-houses and enlighten you a little as to how +we live at Utopia.”</p> + +<p>“I shall be very glad, I’m sure,” answered Carlisle +politely. “The walk will do me good.”</p> + +<p>He was half a head taller than either Jack or +Haseltine, and evidently two years their senior. +In a tone not unduly patronizing he proceeded to +make a running commentary on what they saw, as +they accompanied him a few minutes later on the +projected tour of investigation.</p> + +<p>“What dormitory are you in?” he inquired at +the start.</p> + +<p>“Fullham,” said Jack.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span></p> + +<p>“That’s mine, too. I’m to go back in a day or +two. It’s dreadfully lonely in the infirmary when +no one else is sick. I caught cold after winning +the hundred-yard dash, and Dr. Bolles says I was +threatened with typhoid. There’s the infirmary,” +he added, pointing to a good-sized cottage in the +field behind Granger Hall. “You can just see it. +Every one who is sick is sent there. A year ago +there were eighteen cases of measles at the same +time. Can either of you leg it any?” he inquired, +eying them each in turn with a scientific air.</p> + +<p>“I used to run pretty fast at prisoner’s base,” +said Jack.</p> + +<p>“I’ve practiced stealing second a good deal,” replied +Haseltine.</p> + +<p>“There’s the track,” continued Carlisle, indicating +the flagged half-mile course which surrounded +the foot-ball field. “Like to see it near to?”</p> + +<p>The boys assented and followed their guide over +the terrace for a few yards, until they came to a +kind of stand not unlike a witness-box, to which +they ascended. “Here’s where the judges sit and +where we finish,” he said. “We have athletic +sports, that is, running and jumping, and all that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span>sort of thing, twice a year, once in the spring and +once in the autumn. The spring meeting comes +off in about a month. The hundred-yard dash, +which I won, was an extra match got up by the +backers of Coleman, Junior. His brother, Coleman, +Senior, who went to Harvard last year, was +champion of the school for three years, and he is +trying to follow in his brother’s footsteps.”</p> + +<p>“Were you ever licked?” asked Jack, looking +up in the crack runner’s face with respectful admiration.</p> + +<p>“Oh yes, often. Coleman, Senior, licked me +right along until the last time, when I beat the +school record. I dare say Jessup’ll make it warm +for me before long. He’s only in the fifth, but I’d +almost back him to-day against Coleman, Junior. +Are you both in the sixth?”</p> + +<p>The boys nodded.</p> + +<p>“I’m in the third; quite a patriarch, you see. +There’s no reason why both of you shouldn’t make +good sprinters if you give your minds to it.”</p> + +<p>This prophecy sounded agreeable to Jack and +Haseltine as they trotted along, one on either side +of him, on their way to the lake, passing out of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span>quadrangle through the same arched portal by +which they had entered it the night before, and so +over the base-ball practice field to the main road, +from which Carlisle presently diverged to take a +cut across the meadows. He explained to them, +among other things, that every one had to be inside +the quadrangle at the close of the curfew, as the +supper-bell at half-past six was called, on pain of an +interview with Dr. Meredith.</p> + +<p>“Are you on the nine?” inquired Haseltine, who +had been burning to ask the question.</p> + +<p>“Not on the school nine. I was on the dormitory +nine, but I’ve decided not to play this year. +I’m trying not to spread my butter too thin, as Dr. +Bolles calls it. He thinks I do too many things,” +he added by way of explanation. “You know each +of the dormitories has its separate nine and foot-ball +team, and there’s great rivalry between them. +Fullham beat Dudley the first match of the season +last Saturday, and plays Rogers this afternoon.”</p> + +<p>This announcement was very interesting. Before +they reached the lake, Carlisle had also informed +them that there was a cricket eleven, a +weekly newspaper called “The Utopian,” of which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span>he was one of the editors, a glee club, and four +eight-oared crews,—the Atalantas, Orions, Nimrods, +and Mohicans. “There are, besides, ten single-scull +shells and several pair oars,” he said, leading +the way into one of the two tastefully built boat-houses, +perched side by side on the bank of the +broad lake, each with a covered piazza in front.</p> + +<p>The main space in the centre, as they entered, +was filled by the eight-oared racing-boats, the sight +of which lying side by side delighted and almost +awed Jack, who had never examined anything of +the sort, and who straightway made the resolution +that, no matter what else he did or did not do at +Utopia, he would go in for rowing. He had often +heard his mother tell that his father had been a +famous oar in his day, and he himself was entirely +at home in a dory, and able, in his own opinion, +already to scull nearly if not quite as well as the +fishermen at Nahant and Swampscott, whose companion +he was wont to be in the summer time on +their expeditions after cod and haddock. He had +often wished to look at a paper shell near to, and +now his ambition was gratified. There were rests +on each side of the building, reaching nearly to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span>ceiling, along which the small boats were arranged +in tiers, and in one corner was a snug little room +hung with flags, and photographs of winning crews +and crack oarsmen, and furnished with a round table +and chairs, where, Carlisle said, the meetings of +the club were held. In the adjoining boat-house +were more boats, including an eight-oared barge, +of which, as Carlisle told them, Mrs. Meredith was +the coxswain whenever she was willing to go out on +the lake.</p> + +<p>“It’s great fun here a little later in the season,” +observed their guide as they sat down to rest on the +piazza after everything had been inspected. “On +a pleasant, still afternoon there are sometimes more +than twenty boats out, of one kind and another.”</p> + +<p>“Who’s the fastest rower?” asked Jack.</p> + +<p>“The Doctor is the crack single sculler.”</p> + +<p>“The Doctor? Does he row?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, yes, indeed. He came pretty near being +beaten, though, last year. Whitehead crawled up +on him so that there wasn’t more than half a length +between them at the finish. You never saw such +excitement.”</p> + +<p>“Wasn’t he mad?” inquired Jack, to whom +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span>the idea of a master being beaten by one of his +scholars seemed most extraordinary.</p> + +<p>“Who, the Doctor? Not a bit of it; he’s a true +sport,” said Carlisle. “There was no one more +pleased than he at being forced to pull for all he +was worth.”</p> + +<p>Further inquiry revealed that the Atalantas were +for the time being the champion of the eight-oared +crews; and after a score more questions, +which Carlisle answered most good-naturedly, the +boys retraced their footsteps so as to get back in +time for dinner. Seeing that their mentor was so +well disposed, Jack took occasion on the way to impart +a little of what Horace Hosmer had dropped +regarding Jack Spratt and his Wife, which Carlisle +listened to at first with no other comment than an +occasional sidelong glance, which struck them as +far from reassuring. Once Carlisle started to speak, +but some impediment in his throat checking him, +he seemed to change his mind, until Haseltine’s remark +that they were fortunate in being in a different +dormitory from the formidable pair drew out +the laconic observation, “That won’t help you +much.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span></p> + +<p>“Why?” asked Jack.</p> + +<p>“Those fellows are all over the lot,” was the +answer. “They’d think nothing of snaking a new +boy out of bed in the small hours of the morning, +no matter where he was.”</p> + +<p>“But I wonder the Doctor allows it,” said Haseltine, +hoping for a more satisfactory response to +this exclamation than it had elicited from Horace.</p> + +<p>“Who’s to tell him?” cried Carlisle sternly, +looking straight at the offender. “You boys may +count on one thing, and that is that tale-bearing +doesn’t go down at Utopia. Any fellow who told +tales here would be hustled out of the school, and +the Doctor’d be the first to avoid him.”</p> + +<p>The decision with which these words were spoken +caused Jack and Haseltine to hang their heads +guiltily, and presumably to reflect that the couplet—</p> + +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Tell-tale tit,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Your tongue shall be slit,</div> + <div class="verse indent1">And all the dogs in the town</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Shall have a little bit,”</div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noi">formed a no less important part of the code of +youth than of childhood.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span></p> + +<p>“It’s hard on new boys, I admit,” continued +Carlisle, after a moment, in a contemplative tone, +“and if those fellows keep on in their cruel ways +they’ll kill somebody next.”</p> + +<p>“Horace Hosmer told us they did kill two boys +last term,” said Jack, in a stage whisper.</p> + +<p>“Yes,” exclaimed Haseltine; “it was reported +to be chicken-pox, but he says he helped to lay +them out after they were dead, and they were a +mass of bruises from the crown of the head to the +soles of the feet.”</p> + +<p>Carlisle looked very grave and nodded his head +with an ominous air. “I didn’t suppose Horace +knew about it,” he said; “it was kept very dark.”</p> + +<p>“Then you knew of it?” asked Jack.</p> + +<p>“Bless you, yes. It ought to have taught Tobey +and Donaldson a lesson,” Carlisle added gloomily, +“but it didn’t. They’re just as bad as ever, this +term.”</p> + +<p>“What is the best thing to do if—if they should +ever happen to fix on us?” asked Jack presently, +with a slight gulp.</p> + +<p>Carlisle whistled reflectively. “I’ll be doggoned +if I know,” he replied at last. “I’d keep a stiff +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span>upper lip, if I were you, and be as sandy as you +can. They’ll let you off easily, perhaps, if they +see you’ve got grit; but if you funk, I wouldn’t +give much for your chances of getting through with +a whole skin. I’ll say a good word for you in advance. +It may save you a broken leg or arm.”</p> + +<p>After the delivery of this speech, Carlisle indulged +in a short, hysterical laugh, which seemed +to his listeners quite out of keeping with their own +feelings. But it was evidently a mere spasmodic +expression of sympathy, for his countenance immediately +regained the expression of deep gloom +which it had worn ever since the subject of Spratt +and his Wife had been introduced.</p> + +<p>“Thank you very much indeed,” answered each +of the boys in turn.</p> + +<p>“Not at all—not at all. I fear that my words +cannot avail you much,” he responded.</p> + +<p>They were now within school bounds again, and +there was only just time to go to their rooms before +dinner. Carlisle, in keeping with his previous +kindness, announced that as it might be advisable +to say what he had to say to Tobey and Donaldson +at once, he would take his dinner with the school. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span>Accordingly, assuring the boys that he felt well +enough for this exertion, he started off at a lively +jog for the infirmary so as to be on hand.</p> + +<p>Jack and Haseltine had been given provisional +seats at breakfast, but Mrs. Betty, who presided +over the younger boys, now assigned them to places +not far from one another at her own table. It was +an impressive moment, and one could have heard a +pin drop while the Doctor asked a blessing in his +clear, manly tones on the repast spread for his two +hundred hungry pupils, who stood behind their +chairs in long lines up and down the big hall waiting +for the signal to fall to, which they did with a +vengeance you may be sure, when they got it. Dr. +Meredith and his wife, the married masters, and a +few of the prefects occupied a table on a platform +at one end of the room at right angles with the +others and overlooking them all. There was a master +at the end of each, who did the carving and +kept good order.</p> + +<p>The dinner was simple but extremely good. A +clear, honest soup well flavored with vegetables; +ribs of roast beef carefully basted and neither done +to death nor so distressingly blue as some cooks are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span>capable of sending it up from the kitchen; potatoes, +tomatoes, macaroni, light bread, sweet butter, and +for dessert a cup of baked custard invitingly served. +Everything was clean and neat, thanks to the vigilant +eye of Mrs. Betty and her assistants, and +thanks, first of all, to the founders of Utopia, who +laid it down as one of the principles of the school +that so everything must be. No extravagance, no +rich dishes, no wine or beer, but plenty of blood-making, +sinew-strengthening, bone-building food, +fresh, appetizing, and unspoiled.</p> + +<p>I have seen school tables, and between you and +me private tables also, at which such a dinner as +that just described was made thoroughly unpalatable +by the manner in which it was prepared; +where the soup was a thin, unseasoned, straw-colored +fluid, the beef ruined by one of the extremes +of cooking already referred to, the vegetables +greasy, the bread clammy, the butter rancid, and +the cup of custard pale and watery. There are +persons who do not think such matters worth considering, +who believe that any time devoted to +making our daily repasts savory is misspent, and +that young people, boys in particular, should eat +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span>what is set before them without asking questions, +thankful that there is anything to eat at all.</p> + +<p>It is easy to perceive that such doctrines are +thoroughly pernicious and unsound, if you reflect +that our capabilities as men and women are chiefly +dependent on what our bodies permit us to be, and +that the component parts of these bodies are determined +in the main by the food we eat, the air +we breathe, the clothing we wear, and the sleep +we get. There is no greater mistake in the world +than to disregard the laws of health under the plea +that they are not worthy of notice; and if they are +thus important for those of us who are grown up +to bear in mind as essential to human wellbeing, +how much more vital is it that the young should +be given every opportunity to fit themselves physically +for the battle of life. Bear this in mind, +boys, and when you are served with slovenly, unwholesome +cookery, protest with all your might. +Do not be ashamed to know and recognize good +things to eat. The temperate enjoyment of the +pleasures of the table is a legitimate and important +element of happiness.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile our young friend, Jack Hall, has +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span>been enjoying his dinner mightily, though it is no +better, in truth, than what he has been accustomed +to at home, which is not surprising if we +recall the double devotion of his mother and the +faithful Hannah, whose hearts are doubtless pretty +sore at this time. When his hunger is somewhat +appeased he ventures to gaze about him a little, +exchanging a few shy words with the boys near +him, all of whom seem friendly and willing to receive +him as a companion. He makes the acquaintance +of Buck on one side of him, Horton on the +other, and Travers, Bailey, and Cunningham across +the table. Horton, who is a plump, talkative little +chap of his own size, points out to him the various +school celebrities, including Ramsay, Bedloe, and +Goldthwaite of the nine; Burbank, the stalwart, +bearded captain of the fifteen; and little, active-looking +Bobby Crosby, who, as Jack knows, is +expected to take Burbank’s place next year; Hazelhurst, +the stroke of the Atalantas and champion +oar of the school (always excepting the invincible +Doctor) now that Whitehead has graduated; and +Carlisle, who nods across the room in a friendly +manner from his seat with the big second-class +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span>boys, so that Horton asks with interest, “Do you +know him?”</p> + +<p>“I was introduced to him this morning at the +gymnasium,” replies Jack. “He showed Haseltine +and me to the boat-houses.”</p> + +<p>“He’s the smartest boy at Utopia,—first rate at +games, head of his class, and champion sprinter. +There’s Coleman, Junior, sitting with the third +next to Jumbo,—his real name’s Blair, but every +one calls him Jumbo because he’s so fat,—he can +run pretty fast, and it’s neck and neck between +him and Jessup, that boy on the right of Mr. +Sawyer, but neither of them can catch Carlisle. +You ought to hear Jumbo sing; he’s the best tenor +we’ve got.”</p> + +<p>Most of this information is not new to Jack, but +he is glad to hear the heroes catalogued again at a +time when he can take a good peep at them. He +feels proud of his acquaintance with Carlisle, and +glances from time to time in that direction, for he +has not forgotten his senior’s promise to speak a +good word for him.</p> + +<p>“I wonder what’s up at the second form table,” +says Horton presently. “Some one or other keeps +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span>turning round and laughing. There must be a gag +on you,” he adds, turning to Jack, who has already +noticed this tendency on the part of the boys in +the vicinity of his benefactor. “Have you done +anything fresh?”</p> + +<p>“Not that I know of,” answers poor Jack, who +is feeling far from comfortable.</p> + +<p>The dessert is finished, and in another minute +dinner will be over. All of a sudden Carlisle gets +up, and after saying a word to the master at the +head of the table, crosses to one of those occupied +by the fourth class, and stoops to speak to two +boys sitting side by side, whom Jack recognizes +instantly as Tobey and Donaldson, the redoubtable +Spratt and Wife. He has not perceived them before, +though he has been on the lookout for them, +and now that he takes a glance at them they do +not strike him as very terrible in appearance. They +are good-natured looking enough, but appearances +are deceitful in this world, as Jack very well knows, +and he quails as he observes the gaze of the trio +rest on him and Haseltine alternately. Carlisle’s +eyes sparkle as he talks, and he keeps his hand to +his mouth so that Jack cannot judge much by its +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span>expression. Spratt and Wifey listen for a moment +or two in judicial silence, then a broad, convulsive +smile, which suggests, at least to Jack, the hilarity +of a hyena, overspreads the features of each, only +to be succeeded by a look of glowing fierceness, +which seems to the unhappy lads—for Haseltine +is no less conscious of it than Jack—to argue ill +for the future. While they are still beneath its +spell the school rises from table, and the two boys +are swept along to the terrace, where Carlisle presently +joins them, but only to draw them aside and +whisper the ominous tidings, “I’ve done my best +for you, but they think you look too cocky,” an +announcement which makes them both feel very +miserable.</p> + +<p>Just then a big boy, bat in hand, and wearing +a large <span class="sserif"><b>F</b></span> embroidered on the bosom of his shirt, +accosted their mentor with the eager inquiry,—“Won’t +you help us out, Carlisle? Dobson has a +game knee and can’t possibly play.”</p> + +<p>“Wish I could, Chalmers, but I’ve promised +Dr. Bolles to let up on base-ball for the rest of the +term. I’m only just out of the infirmary.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I know; but it’s mighty tough lines on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span>us to have so many of our best men knocked up. +Potts had word this morning that his mother is +sick and started for home before dinner, and Plummer +bust his finger against the Stars yesterday.”</p> + +<p>“What’s the matter with Cochrane?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Cochrane’s no good. He’ll fan himself +out every time, cock sure, on Bedloe’s pitching. +We’re hard up for third base, and Cochrane’s useless +except in the field. They’ve got their strongest +team,” said Chalmers impatiently.</p> + +<p>“What is it?” whispered Haseltine to Carlisle.</p> + +<p>“Fullham against Rogers.”</p> + +<p>“I can play third base,” continued Haseltine, to +Jack’s infinite astonishment.</p> + +<p>Carlisle laughed gayly. “Here’s your chance, +Chalmers,” he said. “This new Fullhamite says +he’s an artist.”</p> + +<p>“What’s your name?” asked Chalmers, scanning +Haseltine from top to toe.</p> + +<p>“Frank Haseltine.”</p> + +<p>“Have you played much?”</p> + +<p>“I’ve played third base on the St. Louis Rising +Suns for two years.”</p> + +<p>“Are you in practice?”</p> + +<p>“First rate.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span></p> + +<p>There was an assurance about the applicant that +evidently impressed Chalmers. “Would you try +him?” he asked Carlisle.</p> + +<p>“He talks well.”</p> + +<p>“Talk is cheap,” growled Chalmers. “Well, be +on hand, then,” he said to Haseltine. “Get into +your togs as soon as you can. The game’ll be +called in fifteen minutes.”</p> + +<p>Haseltine looked radiant with delight as the +large boy strode away. “Do you think he’ll let +me play?” he inquired beseechingly of Carlisle.</p> + +<p>“I guess so; he’s captain of the Fullham nine. +It’s a big chance for you, youngster, to show what +you’re made of. Now run along and get ready.”</p> + +<p>Jack felt rather envious, but not so much so as +not to be thoroughly glad of his friend’s good fortune. +Indeed, as he sat by while Haseltine got +into his flannels, he was very well pleased to think +that he was not going to play himself. It was +pretty evident from the way Haseltine had spoken +of the Rising Suns the day before, that they were +a much superior nine to the Massasoits, of which +club Jack knew that he had by no means been the +strongest player, a conviction which helped to reconcile +him to being left out.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.<br> +<small>HASELTINE MAKES HIS DÉBUT.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>It has been, and still is, the fashion in certain +circles to decry base-ball, and to hold up to the +youth of the country the superiority of cricket, as a +pastime. The arguments, such as they are,—chief +among which is the plea that cricket is a more gentlemanly +game, for the reason that one can play it +with exceeding comfort after leaving school and +college as well or nearly as well as before,—need +not be reiterated, inasmuch as there is no longer +room for argument. The case is closed. The boys +have heard what was to be said on either side, and +have come to a final conclusion in regard to the +matter. Base-ball is undeniably the national sport +from one end of the land to the other, and no +amount of chafing on the part of those who think +the decision unwise can make the long cherished +cricket of our English cousins widely popular on +this side of the water. And after all, if we examine +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>the reasons, the boys are not far out. Be it +said with bated breath and yet clearly and unequivocally, +that it requires more skill, far more skill to +excel at base-ball, as it is played to-day, than at +any other sport. Talk of muscle, nerve, wind, +quickness and correctness of eye, fleetness of foot, +temper, bottom, and grit,—what one of these +qualities is not put in training when two closely +matched nines meet to play ball? Try it, gentlemen +of England, for yourselves and see. You will +have to come to the conclusion—take my Yankee +word for it—that there is more in our game than +you think; and what is more, you will know in +your hearts, though you will never acknowledge it, +that an all-day cricket match under the trees, relieved +by respites for beef and beer and dawdled +the whole time,—for you take things pretty leisurely +after every “over,”—is a tame affair, though +a very gentlemanly and delightful one, compared +with what we are able to show you under the head +of ball-playing. Don’t mistake us, gentlemen of +England: we know that cricket is a grand old +game, we have watched it often (though it is a +trifle dull to watch), played it, too, and we continue +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span>to play it at times, but when you come to talk +about muscle and nerve and temper and bottom +and grit, and all that, as we have said already, we +are ready to back our national game against the +world.</p> + +<p>Chalmers and Hackett, the captains of the rival +dormitory teams, are tossing up to see which nine +shall go in first, as the two new boys arrive on the +scene. Fullham wins and sends its opponents to +the bat. “Game called!” cries the umpire, and +Haseltine has just time to throw off his jacket and +get into position at third base before Rainsford, +who is to pitch for the Fullhamites, enters the box. +Rainsford is known as “the kid” because of his +slight appearance. He is only in the fourth, but +his drop balls have proved successful teasers ere +this.</p> + +<p>See how every player on the fielding nine has +his nerves taut as Billy Douglas steps to the home +plate to lead off, and poises his bat! They are +boys, of course,—they have not the experience +and sinew of professional or college teams,—but +they are sturdy fellows for all that. They mean +business: so does Billy; there is blood in his eye; +he hopes to start off with a three bagger.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span></p> + +<p>“One ball!” cries the umpire.</p> + +<p>“Two balls!”</p> + +<p>That won’t do, Rainsford; you can’t afford to +let him get his base on balls. Carefully now.</p> + +<p>“One strike!”</p> + +<p>Ah, that’s better; the kid is settling down to +his work. Now another! A hit, a palpable hit! +Away scuds Douglas with all the vim of his Scotch +forefathers, to get to first before the ball. No use, +Billy; Goldthwaite has it at second easy enough +and pops it to Maitland, who, as every one knows, +is pretty sure to hold on to anything that comes +within his reach. A shout goes up from the Fullhamites, +who to the number of a score or more, including +Jack, are grouped together on one side of +the catcher, which is answered by a bracing cheer +from a similar posse from the rival dormitory at +the other side.</p> + +<p>Pousland, the next striker, makes a base hit, but +not to much purpose, since Hackett knocks up an +easy fly for the kid to absorb without difficulty, and +Johnson succumbs on a foul tip to Chalmers catching +under the bat in his iron mask and padded +gloves with an eye to second which Pousland is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span>hoping to steal. But the third out settles that +question, and down goes a goose-egg for Rogers.</p> + +<p>The formidable Bedloe is a brawny lad to look +at, and he has to back him Bobby Crosby at left +field and Harry Ramsay at first, making three of +the school nine against only Chalmers and Goldthwaite +on the side of Fullham. Chalmers goes to +the bat to give his team courage, and sends a sky +scraper to centre field which is captured cleverly. +The kid falls a prey to an easy grounder to short +stop, and it looks as though the innings would pan +out poorly for the Fullhamites. But one can count +on nothing at base-ball until the last man is out; +in testimony to which Hamlen, who comes next in +order, is given his base on called balls, steals second +by a judicious slide, and is sent to third on a +fumble of a hot liner,—a corker,—which Jackson +hits to second, getting his base thereby. Then +Goldthwaite comes to the bat amid great applause, +and some one cries out, “Now for a grass-mower, +Goldy!”</p> + +<p>Goldthwaite proves worthy of the confidence reposed +in him. Two strikes are called on him while +he waits for a ball just in the right place. He gets +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span>it at last, when Bedloe, hoping that the umpire +will call another strike (for until this year you +know three strikes was the limit), eases up and +throws in a slow one. Goldthwaite swipes with all +his might and sends the ball between left and centre +field, but clean out of reach of Crosby and +Plympton. A home run! No, not quite, only a +three bagger. Goldthwaite holds his third, but +Hamlen and Jackson have scored. Two runs to a +goose-egg; not bad to start with. But there is +Ogden out on a foul and the innings over with +Goldthwaite still on third.</p> + +<p>Three innings more on either side do not vary the +lead, for while Rogers gets a run in the third, Fullham +caps it with a single in the fourth, and the score +is three to one. No chance now for a complete +whitewash, which some of the enthusiasts among +the lookers-on, encouraged by the start, have hoped +for. On the contrary, the shrewder mind knows +that it will be all Fullham can do to hold her lead. +Rogers has been settling down to work. Bedloe is +in fine form, and is being backed up bravely. They +are getting on to the kid, too, and pound him for a +run and two base hits in the fifth, being prevented +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span>from tying the score only by a magnificent double +play of Goldthwaite and Maitland. Then they put +the Fullhamites out in one, two, three order.</p> + +<p>Haseltine has been doing fairly well, though as +yet he has had but two chances in the field, the +first of which, a fly, went up a moderate distance +and fell so plump into his hands that he did not +have to budge. The other, a gently ambling +grounder, shot between his legs just as he thought +he had it; an error which elicited from Horton, +who was sitting beside Jack, the unflattering exclamation, +“Beastly butter-fingers!” However, there +is a style and general air of knowingness about him +which has attracted attention, and Chalmers has so +far continued his own confidence in him as to fling +twice to third in order to frighten men who were +off their bases, on each of which occasions Haseltine +got on to the ball, and once came very near +putting the too daring adversary out. He is evidently +no green hand, as he has further shown by +the way he handles the bat. Though apparently +too small to be a very formidable willow-wielder, +his first whack sent the ball far to right field, where +it was taken into camp very prettily, it must be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>owned. The second time he got his base on balls, +but was put out trying to steal second, in spite of a +most admirable slide on his stomach for several +feet. The decision of the umpire displeased the +crowd of Fullhamites, who manifested their resentment +by crying “Not out, not out!” vociferously, +and applauded Haseltine as he came in from the +base crestfallen and covered with dust. It had +been in the next innings that he muffed the +grounder, and he was now feeling very much dissatisfied +with himself and eager to wipe out these +spots on his record by some brilliant stroke.</p> + +<p>The sixth innings adds another goose-egg to each +score, in spite of hard hitting on both sides, and the +seventh begins amid a hush of suspense. Jack can +scarcely sit still, he is so nervous with excitement, +and he is hoarse with spelling out at the top of +his lungs, after every favorable play, “F-U-L-L-H-A-M! +Fullham!” which is the dormitory yell. +It is anybody’s game, as Rainsford, the kid, well +knows, and he plants his feet in the box with the +air of one aware that the least let-up or carelessness +will be fatal. Pousland is at the bat again, and +whacks at the first ball. It flies whizzing in Haseltine’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span>direction, but out of reach, and a shout from +the Rogers crowd rends the air. But it is short-lived, +for the umpire, who is watching carefully, +cries, “Foul ball!” Whereupon Pousland, who is +halfway to first, has to retrace his steps in a melancholy +fashion. Had it but struck just the other +side of the line, it would have been good for two +bags. He poises his bat again viciously.</p> + +<p>“One strike,” calls Prendergast, the umpire, who +is captain of Dudley.</p> + +<p>There is a roar from Fullham, and the striker, +glancing round at the umpire sulkily, strikes the +tip of his bat against the ground and grits his teeth +as he makes ready for another ball.</p> + +<p>“Foul,—out!”</p> + +<p>The tick is plainly audible, and Chalmers’ gloves +have closed firmly on the ball. Pousland drops his +bat and walks away in disgust. His place is taken +by Hackett, who strikes at the first two balls without +hitting either, but sends the third over second +base skimming to centre, where Ogden jumps a little +and holds it above his head,—a pretty but not +very difficult catch, whereat the welkin rings.</p> + +<p>“Here come Dr. and Mrs. Meredith,” says Horton +to Jack, as the uproar gradually subsides.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span></p> + +<p>Sure enough, they are close at hand, having come +down expressly to see the end of the match, and are +given good seats on one of the few benches supplied +for such celebrities. Several of the masters have +been watching the contest since the beginning, but +the presence of the head of the school is evidently +a new incentive to every player to good work, if +any were still needed.</p> + +<p>Johnson is the third man at the bat. Prendergast +calls one ball on the kid, and Johnson swipes +the next. It somehow or other gets past Goldthwaite, +and before Hamlen can field it to Maitland +the striker is safe at first. It is now the turn +for Rogers to howl, which it does with a vengeance,—“R-O-G-E-R S! +Roger-r-rs!”</p> + +<p>Ferguson is to strike now. He is third base and +one of Rogers’ heaviest sluggers. Hackett goes +down behind first to coach Johnson and tell him +when to try to steal second.</p> + +<p>“One strike!”</p> + +<p>“One ball!”</p> + +<p>“Two balls!”</p> + +<p>Johnson, meanwhile, is bobbing up and down +hesitating whether to run or not. The kid, just as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span>he looks ready to pitch the fourth, turns and makes +the gesture of hurling to first.</p> + +<p>“Look out!” bawls Hackett, and Johnson rushes +back to the base and plumps one foot on it.</p> + +<p>There is no need for so much exertion, as it happens, +for Rainsford’s throw is make-believe. He +has only pretended to fling the ball. Whereupon +he turns and pitches rapidly.</p> + +<p>“Go!” holloas Hackett, excitedly. “Go-o!”</p> + +<p>“Three balls!” cries the umpire.</p> + +<p>Johnson is scooting for second at the top of his +speed. Although the pitch was a trifle wild, the +padded gloves are in the right place, and Chalmers +slams it to Goldthwaite, who claps it on to Johnson, +and holds up his hand claiming an out. But Prendergast, +who has run forward nearly to the pitcher’s +box in order to see distinctly, shakes his head and +waves Johnson to hold his base, amid deafening +cheers from the Rogerines, and groans from the +Fullhamites.</p> + +<p>Let me say right here, boys, that the trick of +“downing” umpires is cowardly, and smacks of +the blackguard. Be careful, to begin with, whom +you select to act; but when your choice is made, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>be men enough to keep your temper and accept his +decisions without kicking. It has come to be the +fashion among the great crowds that attend base-ball +matches over the country, to abuse umpires in +language worthy only of Billingsgate, and even to +threaten them with personal violence. It is a mean +and contemptible method of bullying a man in a +position where he is powerless to defend himself, +and at a time when he needs to have all his faculties +bent on the game, and no gentleman will take +part in it.</p> + +<p>Johnson holds his base, and the kid prepares to +pitch again.</p> + +<p>“Four balls!”</p> + +<p>Rainsford must be getting nervous.</p> + +<p>“Five balls!”</p> + +<p>This will never do.</p> + +<p>“Two strikes!”</p> + +<p>Ah, there! Now or never!</p> + +<p>“Six balls! Take your base.”</p> + +<p>Ferguson trots leisurely to first, and his place at +the diamond is filled by Plympton, the centre field, +who hits the first ball for a clean single between +short and second, letting in Johnson, and advancing +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span>Ferguson a base. The score is tied, and the +hubbub is very disheartening to the backers of +Fullham.</p> + +<p>“Looks sort of sick for our side,” Jack hears +some one say to Carlisle, who is squatting not far +from him.</p> + +<p>“Game’s young yet,” is the cheery answer.</p> + +<p>It is Bedloe’s turn now. He advances confidently, +and in imitation of Plympton’s example +lifts the first ball and drives it to left field, where +Jackson gets under it, and—sad to chronicle—drops +it. Ferguson comes in, of course, and Plympton +too, although he should have been out; but +Chalmers fails to hold Goldthwaite’s swift throw +from second. Five runs to three! Those muffs +were very costly.</p> + +<p>Bobby Crosby hits an easy grounder to Haseltine, +which the little fellow picks up neatly and +throws to first. Maitland holds it, and the Rogerines +are out at last.</p> + +<p>Jackson is at the bat first. He hits hard, anxious, +doubtless, to atone for his error; but Hackett +is on deck at second and fields beautifully to Ramsay. +There is a flutter of anticipation as “Goldy” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span>steps to the front. Like several of his opponents +he swipes at the first ball pitched. “Hurrah! +Look—look—is it a home run?” Everybody is +on his feet following the ball to left field. Bobby +Crosby, there’s your chance. Gently now, or it +will be over your head. It is going faster than +it seems. Oh, well caught, well caught, youngster, +and well judged, too, which is more than half the +battle! Right over your left shoulder and on the +full run, too! O-U-T! Everybody is cheering, for +even Fullham can afford to applaud a play like that, +and the Doctor, shouting as loud as any one, waves +his hat and cries, “Well caught, Crosby!” Hard +luck, Goldthwaite. It was a good crack, but not +quite elastic enough. Who’s the next victim?</p> + +<p>It is Ogden, who pops up a fly which falls into +Bedloe’s hand, snug as a bug, and the side is out.</p> + +<p>“Confound it!” says Horton, a sentiment which +Jack echoes at heart.</p> + +<p>Ramsay begins the eighth with a single to right +field. Pousland goes out on a foul tip once more. +Hackett takes a base on balls. Johnson hits to +Jackson at left, who does not muff this time. Ferguson, +the slugger, swipes hard and misses.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span></p> + +<p>“One strike!”</p> + +<p>“Two strikes!”</p> + +<p>Ramsay is on third and Hackett on second, so +that if Ferguson can make a safe hit there is a good +chance for two more runs.</p> + +<p>“F-E-R-G-U-S-O-N! Ferguson-n-n!”</p> + +<p>The kid examines the ball and puts down his +head to pitch. The slugger does not move.</p> + +<p>“Three strikes!” cries the umpire. “Out!”</p> + +<p>This is better, and revives somewhat the drooping +courage of Fullham. Carlisle proposes three +cheers for the kid, which are given with great +enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>“Now, Maitland,” says Chalmers.</p> + +<p>Charley Maitland waits for two called balls and +one strike before he gets the one he is hoping for. +Then he hits with all his might a driver to the inner +centre field, where there is no one to catch it, +and takes his first. The kid, who receives another +round of applause as he steps to the plate, knocks +one to Johnson at short, who lets it by him this +time.</p> + +<p>There are two on bases, Merriman. A good +deal depends on you. Pshaw! straight into Ramsay’s +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span>hands. Run, Rainsford; run, if you do not +wish to be cut off at second. Safe! but only just in +time. If Ramsay had not waited so long you were +a sure out. The Rogerines are taking a turn at +muffing. Next striker.</p> + +<p>It is our friend Haseltine. He glances across at +Jack as he goes in.</p> + +<p>“One strike!” calls Prendergast, though Haseltine +has not moved.</p> + +<p>“Don’t get flustered; take your time, youngster,” +says Chalmers kindly.</p> + +<p>“One ball!”</p> + +<p>This gives the ex-Rising Sun hero courage. +Charley Maitland and the kid are edging off their +bases ready to proceed the instant the ball leaves +the bat.</p> + +<p>All of a sudden there is a terrific roar, and every +one starts up again, craning forward to see the +third base line.</p> + +<p>“Run!” bellows Chalmers to Haseltine, who +cuts away for first. But before he reaches it, the +umpire, who has shaded his eyes with his hand so +as to make no mistake, cries “Fair ball!” and on +Haseltine dashes to second and again to third. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span>Here Chalmers stops him with an emphatic “Hold +your base!” Meanwhile, Maitland and the kid +have come home. The score is tied again, and the +uproar is prodigious. Panting but thoroughly +happy, Haseltine waits at third, and Captain Chalmers +takes his turn at the bat.</p> + +<p>We are viewing the game through Jack’s eyes, +to whom every safe hit and every good bit of fielding +seems marvelous; but though the standard of +play may be higher among some of you older boys, +there can be no denying the absorbing interest inspired +at Utopia by these yearly contests for supremacy +between the respective dormitories, second +only to the occasional contests with nines from +other schools. The thrill felt by Jack as Chalmers +takes his position to strike is shared by every one +of the two hundred boys and their masters present. +For by this time there is scarcely a soul in +the school who is not a spectator. Even Horace +Hosmer is squatting at the further end of the field +beyond the possible reach of the ball, and Jack can +see him clap his big hands in honor of Haseltine’s +three bagger.</p> + +<p>But Chalmers is at the bat.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span></p> + +<p>“One ball!”</p> + +<p>Haseltine evidently has it in mind to try to steal +home, for if Chalmers does not get his first the side +will be out; but “Goldy,” who has taken the captain’s +place as coach, cautions him with “Steady +now,” and “Bide your time, youngster,” not to +stray too far from the base.</p> + +<p>“One strike!”</p> + +<p>Pousland, the catcher, hurls to third to intimidate +Haseltine, who dodges back in time to get his +foot on the bag before Ferguson can touch him.</p> + +<p>“Two balls!”</p> + +<p>Well done, Chalmers! Another shout, this time +louder and more star-striking than any yet evoked, +bursts forth from the Fullhamite ranks. There is +ample reason for it, too. Both Bobby Crosby and +Plympton are in full career after the ball, which is +bounding beyond them at a fearful pace. They make +superhuman efforts to overtake it, and Bobby returns +it magnificently, but to no purpose, for Chalmers +has made a clean round of the bases and is +safely home. As for Haseltine, he has trotted in +comfortably and is sharing with the captain hand-shaking +and back-slapping from a score of palms. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span>He knows that the score is now seven to five, and +that he has wiped out his early errors. His happiness, +already complete, is made ecstatic by the congratulations +of the Doctor, who comes up to him +just as he is on the point of going over to Jack +and says, “You’re beginning bravely, Haseltine; +if you go on at this rate you will be in training for +the school nine before long.”</p> + +<p>“The school nine!” Could there be a more enviable +compliment to a new boy on his first day at +Utopia? He sees Mrs. Meredith smile at him from +her seat and clap her hands. He touches his cap +in sheepish fashion, and with cheeks aflame is glad +to get down beside Jack and, riding his bat, watch +Hamlen strike.</p> + +<p>“Ah!”</p> + +<p>This time the cry of triumph is premature. The +ball goes afield grandly, but Billy Douglas is under +it before it falls, and Hamlen makes the third +out.</p> + +<p>The Rogerines are rather quiet. They have only +this inning in which to win the game. But the +nine is not going to give in without making a hard +fight for it, you may be certain. Two runs will tie +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span>and three put them ahead. Not so very many to +get, if fortune favors them and they can work in a +batting streak.</p> + +<p>Plympton is the first on the list of strikers. He +is a determined-looking fellow, with a bull-dog sort +of jaw.</p> + +<p>“One strike!” cries the umpire.</p> + +<p>The Fullhamites shout, but the batsman, whatever +his feelings, never winks an eye. He is dangerously +cool.</p> + +<p>Whack! One can hear the sound all over the +field. The bat is split as completely as ever oak +was riven by the lightning. But now Rogers has +a right to shout. Another home run just in the +same place as Chalmers’, and just as perfect. The +din is deafening, and the prospects for a tenth +inning look very favorable.</p> + +<p>“One more in the same spot will tie them,” exclaims +Hackett, as Bedloe nods at the kid to show +he is ready.</p> + +<p>“One ball.”</p> + +<p>“Two balls.”</p> + +<p>“One strike.”</p> + +<p>“Three balls.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span></p> + +<p>“Four balls.”</p> + +<p>“Five balls.”</p> + +<p>“Six balls; take your base.”</p> + +<p>Rogers howls once more. Bedloe has a level +head, and knows enough to play a waiting game. +Perhaps he has reasoned that the kid is young, and +may lose his head in a tight place. It looks a little +like it, now; if he does, there are sluggers enough +on the nine to knock him out of the box.</p> + +<p>It is Crosby’s turn next to have a hack at him.</p> + +<p>“One ball.”</p> + +<p>He hits the second. It is a scorcher to short +stop, which strikes one of Merriman’s feet and +bounds into the air. Merriman looks in one direction +and the ball comes down in the other. Before +he can collect himself Bedloe is safe at second and +Crosby at first.</p> + +<p>Now, Harry Ramsay, captain of the school nine, +is your chance. A rattler from you like that you +struck yesterday, ought to win the game. One +could hear a pin drop, it is so still. The excitement +is almost painful.</p> + +<p>“One ball,” calls Prendergast.</p> + +<p>“One strike.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span></p> + +<p>“Ah-h-h!”</p> + +<p>That cry is because Bedloe has stolen third and +Crosby second. Chalmers, a little bewildered it +may be, has hesitated until too late which to throw +to.</p> + +<p>Ramsay has hit the third ball. What a paste! +Where is it? Where has it gone? He is tearing +to first. Great heavens! what is the matter? Is +the game over? Everybody on the Fullham side +is dancing and screaming and waving like mad. +The crowd is mixing with the players, and Crosby +and Bedloe and Harry Ramsay are coming in from +the bases with a shamefaced air.</p> + +<p>“What is it? I don’t understand,” asks Jack +of Horton, who is shouting loud enough to burst +a blood-vessel. Jack knows that Haseltine has +stopped the ball and done something big, but it +was all so quick, he cannot quite make out what.</p> + +<p>“A triple play—all three out,” Horton answers.</p> + +<p>“H-A-S-E-L-T-I-N-E—Haselti-n-n-n-e!”</p> + +<p>A moment later Jack understands it all. The +ball from Ramsay’s bat had gone straight into Haseltine’s +hands, and though it had almost knocked +the little fellow over, he had managed to hold it, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span>to step on to third before Bedloe, who had started +for home, realized the situation, and then, keeping +his wits still about him, put it in to Goldthwaite, at +second, with all his might, just in time to cut off +Bobby Crosby, who was between the bases. Three +out—side out at one fell swoop. Bull luck, as the +Rogerines said, in speaking of the game afterwards.</p> + +<p>It was luck, of course, that the ball went just +where it did, making such a combination possible; +but many an opportunity in life, no less favorable +than Haseltine’s, is lost every day by the inability +of man or boy to avail himself of it. The ex-third +base of the Rising Suns was equal to his emergency +when it came; though, between ourselves, it was +always a wonder to him that the ball had stuck in +his hands. He had caught it before he knew it.</p> + +<p>So the dormitory match was over, and Fullham +champion for another year, by the close score of +seven to six. It was a proud moment for Haseltine +when Harry Ramsay, the great school captain, +went out of his way to shake him by the hand and +tell him that he was sure to make a strong player +in a year or two. He received quite an ovation, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>and made the acquaintance on the spot of most +of his own dormitory, and many from Rogers and +Dudley. Jack stood by thoroughly satisfied with +his friend’s success and proud to be the bearer of +his jacket. Really, to rejoice at another’s triumphs +is quite as sterling a trait of character as to bear +modestly one’s own.</p> + +<p>As the two boys were returning to their dormitory +in company with several others, they were +overtaken by Carlisle, who, after a few words of +congratulation on Haseltine’s play, brought a host +of fears, which the excitement of the afternoon had +banished, back to the minds of both of them by +observing in a low tone,—</p> + +<p>“I’m sorry to say Jack Spratt and his Wife will +be all the more down on you after this. They are +Rogerines, and it’s the cockiest thing a new boy +has done for a dog’s age.”</p> + +<p>This was very depressing, and took the edge decidedly +off the happy frame of mind in which they +would fain have remained. The game had consumed +most of the afternoon. There was an hour +and a half of recitation remaining before supper, the +practice at Utopia being to have recitations from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span>nine until half-past twelve, and from half-past four +until six, during all but the last two months of the +school year, in order to let the boys have the best +hours of sunshine on the playground. In another +week the rule was to change, and study would follow +dinner, as the afternoons were growing long +and favorable for sport.</p> + +<p>When supper was done there was singing twice +a week, and this was one of the evenings. All the +school gathered informally in the big schoolroom, +where, sitting round anyhow and anywhere, masters +and boys mingled together, chatted, and listened to +songs supervised by the singing-master, Mr. French, +but entirely spontaneous. After the singing was +over, there was a short lee-way before bedtime, and +every one was left to his own devices. Most of the +boys went back to their dormitories, but the sixth +class had the run of Mrs. Meredith’s parlor during +half an hour, where there were quiet games and +puzzles of various kinds to amuse them.</p> + +<p>In returning to Fullham from this last-named entertainment, +it was necessary, of course, to traverse +the quadrangle. When Jack and Haseltine were +about fifty yards from Granger, proceeding without +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span>suspicions, they became suddenly aware of several +figures in masks and long cloaks, looming up ahead. +At the same moment their feet were tripped up +from behind, a rope quickly and strenuously twisted +around their bodies, and a large hand compressed +upon each of their mouths. They had no time to +cry out. After a few frantic, futile efforts to get +free, Jack ceased to struggle, and permitted himself +to be bound by his captors, whom he assumed with +a sinking heart to be no other than the notorious +Spratt and Wife. A bandage had been fastened +over his eyes almost immediately, and, helpless as +a dead man, he was borne along in silence for a considerable +distance, as it seemed to him, at a slow +jog trot. Presently the procession stopped, confronted +by some obstacle, and Jack was able to distinguish +the voice of Carlisle remonstrating with his +persecutors. He heard him say distinctly, “They +are good fellows, both of them, I assure you; let +them off this time.”</p> + +<p>“They’re too beastly cocky,” was the reply, in a +shrill, hyena-like tone.</p> + +<p>“That’s so,” broke in another with a no less +bloodthirsty modulation, whom Jack judged to be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span>Wifey. “I vote we smash every bone in their +bodies.”</p> + +<p>“On to the torture chamber,” continued the first +speaker, a sentiment which was received with an +approving Ah-h-h! by the others present.</p> + +<p>“I’ve done all I could to save them,” observed +Carlisle, with a gloomy sigh of resignation.</p> + +<p>Jack, who had been laid upon the ground during +this interlude, now felt himself being carried up a +flight of winding stairs and along a corridor, to an +apartment where, after some whispering on the part +of those about him, he perceived that he was being +lowered into a narrow box. This, it suddenly occurred +to him, was a coffin. A fear which brought +the perspiration out in cold patches seized him. At +its height the cover was pressed down, and he was +left to his own gloomy reflections, which included +the expectation of stifling. But though the space +was contracted and the air hot, he experienced no +real difficulty in drawing breath.</p> + +<p>Here he lay for what seemed an eternity, listening +to the preparations which were evidently going +on around him. He could hear the hum of conversation +and occasionally a smothered laugh, but the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span>voices had all the shrill, fiendish pitch of those +which had replied to Carlisle’s protestations. What +were they going to do with him? Was he dead +already, and was this his funeral? He stirred one +of his legs a little and pinched himself to make sure +that he was alive. Yes, he was still in the flesh. +The torture, then, was yet to come. Well, whatever +happened, he would die bravely. Not a groan, +not a cry for mercy, would he utter. He would be +game to the last, and his tormentors should not have +the satisfaction of seeing him funk while they were +breaking his bones. A tear did come to his eye as +he thought of his mother, and how she would miss +him; but he braced his nerves as he felt it trickling, +unwilling to be guilty of weakness, even under +the shelter of the coffin-lid.</p> + +<p>At this moment he was lifted, box and all, and +placed on what might be a table. Immediately the +cover was raised, and in spite of his bandage the +fact that the room was lighted became apparent to +him, while a low chorus of groans suggestive of animals +eager to slake their thirst in human blood vibrated +on his imaginative and frenzied hearing. +Then there was a hush preliminary to the dreadful +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span>remark which proceeded from the foot of the coffin, +“Are the irons red-hot?”</p> + +<p>“They are, your Mightiness.”</p> + +<p>“Let the neophyte’s arm be bared.”</p> + +<p>Jack, though ignorant as to the meaning of the +word neophyte, did not doubt for an instant that +he was referred to. He was seized straightway +on either side and raised to a sitting posture. The +rope was unbound from his right arm and those in +charge of him were about to roll up the sleeve of his +jacket, when the voice of his Mightiness enjoined,—</p> + +<p>“Let the left be seared instead of the right, for +in case the neophyte chance to survive the operation +he will thus not be disabled in his base-ball +arm. It is fitting that mercy should temper justice.”</p> + +<p>This piece of executive clemency was scarcely +reassuring to poor Jack, for the reason that there +was evidently occasion to believe that he would not +outlive the torture about to be inflicted on him. +He gritted his teeth to avoid trembling, and tried +to show no signs of fear, while the assistants bared +his forearm well up to the elbow. Just when they +had completed their task there came a loud knock +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span>at the door, and whoever went to answer it announced, +after a moment’s delay, with a chuckle of +exultation, “The other neophyte is dead.”</p> + +<p>A savage yell of pleasure followed this announcement, +which was a dagger, as it were, in the bosom +of our hero. Haseltine dead! He had been tortured, +doubtless, in another chamber and had not +been able to endure the agony.</p> + +<p>But there was no time for reflection. A powerful +wrist had grasped his arm and was holding +it out at full length. Then something which felt +like a glowing coal was pressed down on it with +force and imbedded in his flesh. Jack knew that it +was the red-hot iron. The pain was terrible and +he was tempted to cry out, but by biting his lips +he managed to restrain himself. Somehow or other +the suffering did not increase after the first few +moments, and as he was wondering at the circumstance +he was astounded to hear, “Let me go! +let me go!” uttered in a voice of agony close at +hand. The conviction that it was Haseltine’s voice +eclipsed the consciousness of pain, and in another +instant his arm was let go, the bandage snatched +from his eyes, and Jack found himself in a blaze of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span>light, surrounded by a host of laughing countenances +which greeted him with a roar of laughter.</p> + +<p>At first he was completely dazed and unable to +credit his senses; then, as he gradually took in the +situation, he perceived that he was sitting upright +in an old shoe box lined with a shawl and supported +by a table. Not more than a yard away sat Haseltine +in a similar predicament, with his left sleeve +rolled up, and looking extremely sheepish. On a +throne—an arm-chair surmounting a pile, the +component parts of which were concealed by a +table-cloth—was perched Jack Spratt, wearing a +paper crown, bearing a cricket bat as a sceptre, +and sharing royalty with Wifey at his side in female +attire, intended to simulate a queen, but suggesting +to practiced eyes a gown borrowed for this +occasion only from Mrs. Betty Martin. A row of +Apollinaris bottles, in each of which was a lighted +candle, blazed along the edge of the dais, at either +wing of which stood a score of schoolboys shaking +with merriment at the appearance of the two unfortunates.</p> + +<p>Jack’s first reflection was one of self-congratulation +that he had not cried out. Then it occurred to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>him to glance at his arm, a proceeding which was +the cause of another burst of laughter. To his surprise, +there was no mark of any sort beyond a +slight redness which was scarcely noticeable. But +his skin looked somewhat wet, as though water had +been brought in contact with it.</p> + +<p>After a moment, his Mightiness, having induced +silence by a wave of his sceptre, exclaimed with +great seriousness, “The chief executioner will read +the indictment against the neophytes.”</p> + +<p>Whereupon, to Jack’s intense surprise, that functionary +stepped forward in the person of Louis Carlisle, +fantastically attired in a black Oxford gown +and carrying a meat chopper as the symbol of his +office. Having bowed to their majesties, he gravely +drew forth a manuscript and addressed the two +bewildered lads as follows:—</p> + +<p>“Know all men by these presents, that you, John +Hall, of Boston, Massachusetts, and you, Frank Haseltine, +of St. Louis, Missouri, are greener than the +grass when it flourisheth in the early days of summer, +fresher than paint just after it is spread on +the door of a mansion, more guileless than the kid +which gambols in the pasture beside its female +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>parent. You have been sent here with your mouths +wide open and ready to swallow anything that is +stuffed into them. Such innocence is praiseworthy +in the extremely youthful, but a time comes in the +experience of us all when it is meet to be undeceived +even at the expense of dire mortification.</p> + +<p>“Learn of me and be wise. Firstly and foremostly, +you have been made sport of—victimized—fooled, +or, to speak more succinctly, sold. You have +been made egregious asses of, and led to believe +that you were to be the victims of physical violence, +to have your bones broken, your heads +punched, and what not. You expected to be hazed +and we did not like to disappoint you; hence the +midnight seizure, the rope, the bandage, the coffin, +the red-hot iron, the branding. You have been +taught to tremble at the blood-curdling names of +Jack Spratt and Wifey. Behold them in the flesh +and bow before them! You came here stuffed with +old women’s yarns, and Horace Hosmer has loaded +you up to the muzzle with a fresh supply. Poor +little lambkins!”</p> + +<p>As Carlisle paused in his sarcastic peroration the +audience broke into another shout of laughter, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span>which caused Jack to blush vividly. He appreciated +now for the first moment that he had been the +victim of a huge practical joke.</p> + +<p>“Secondly,” continued the orator, with a wave of +his hand, “let whoever will search the universe +from one end to the other, and I defy him to produce +two more thoroughly mild and amiable specimens +of the genus <i lang="la">homo</i> than Tobey and Donaldson, +who have been made to figure as monsters of +cruelty for your edification. In justice to them, +neophytes, I bid you approach them. Exhume +yourselves, so to speak, and go up to examine +them. You will perceive that they are perfectly +harmless, and even unusually good-natured fellows. +You may touch them without fear that one of your +bones will be dislocated. Approach, neophytes, +they are prepared to embrace you.”</p> + +<p>Again everybody laughed, while Jack and Haseltine +looked at one another, at a loss, not unnaturally, +to know whether the order to leave their +coffins was to be taken seriously. But this uncertainty +was solved when his Mightiness reiterated, +at the same time removing his crown and assuming +an exaggerated expression of meekness, “Approach, +neophytes, we are prepared to embrace you.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span></p> + +<p>In a shamefaced manner, but doing their best +to enjoy the laugh against themselves, which now +made the room ring, the two boys clambered down +from their boxes and walked toward the throne. +Its grinning occupants sat for a moment enjoying +the confusion evinced by the poor lads before them, +then Jack Spratt put out his hand and said,—</p> + +<p>“Shake, neophytes. My bark is worse than my +bite.”</p> + +<p>“Me, too,” piped Donaldson, in semblance to a +female falsetto, which elicited a roar.</p> + +<p>“Thirdly and lastly,” exclaimed Carlisle, after +Jack and Haseltine had finished this hand-shaking +and been relegated to their coffins, on the edge of +which they were permitted to sit,—“thirdly and +lastly,” he repeated, “there is a moral to all this, +without which our efforts in your behalf might be +misunderstood, and that is, don’t be too English. +You boys—for I address you no longer as neophytes, +but as Utopia boys—must get out of your +heads that an American school is just like an English +one, for it isn’t. You’ve come with the idea +that we have fagging and hazing and all that sort +of thing, but it’s a mistake. There isn’t a fag at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span>Utopia, and if a big boy wants anything done he +has to do it himself. Every tub stands on its own +bottom here, and a sixth-class boy is just as good +as a first. No running errands—no cleaning out +studies—no cuffing! That may be English; but +it isn’t American, is it, fellows?”</p> + +<p>“Not much,” answered several voices.</p> + +<p>“We’re all equals here. There may be a bully +or two,—I don’t say there is,—but there may be +in any school. There’s no system of bullying, +though, and no boy thinks he has the right to +order others round. If he tried it on he’d soon +find out his mistake.”</p> + +<p>“That’s so.”</p> + +<p>“And now, fellows,” continued Carlisle, whose +satirical tone had changed to a pleasant seriousness, +“I tell Hall and Haseltine, in all our names, that +we’re glad to have them at Utopia; and some day +they’ll bring credit on the school, for they are +both plucky boys. Hall didn’t whimper once to-night; +he was game from the word ‘go’; and we +Fullhamites haven’t forgotten that triple play of +Haseltine’s, and we shan’t for a good while to +come.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span></p> + +<p>Whereupon the chief executioner, having divested +himself of his robe of office, emphasized the plaudits +of the roomful of boys by coming forward in easy, +smiling fashion to grasp the two victims of his +oratory by the hand, in which example he was +being followed by every one, when a knock at the +door introduced Mr. Sawyer, the dormitory master, +who had come to ascertain the cause of the merriment. +He stood on the threshold looking round +the small study—it was Carlisle’s own—packed +with boys, quite unable, it was evident, to explain +the signification of the boxes, blacking-bottles, and +various paraphernalia of royalty which met his +sight. Some of the participants seemed rather disconcerted +by his appearance, but there was a general +disposition to laugh, and one boy exclaimed,—</p> + +<p>“You ought to have heard Carlisle, Mr. Sawyer; +he was really as good as Dr. Meredith.”</p> + +<p>This necessitated an unfolding of the whole affair, +which was listened to somewhat dubiously until it +appeared to the master’s satisfaction that no real +harm had been done, and that the moral deduced +to justify the high jinks was not without its value. +Mr. Sawyer was fain to laugh himself at the villainous +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span>traits ascribed to Spratt and his Wife, and +took occasion to clinch the lesson imparted by saying, +as he patted Jack on the head by way of +sympathy for his discomfiture,—</p> + +<p>“So you expected to be a fag, did you, my little +man? We have nothing of that sort here, you may +take my word for it. Come,” he added, “it is time +for prayers and bed.”</p> + +<p>While they were undressing, half an hour later, +Haseltine whispered to Homer, “What was it they +put on my arm which stung so?”</p> + +<p>“A lump of ice, you loony.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.<br> +<small>SETTLING DOWN.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>The remaining weeks of the school year passed +very rapidly with Jack. Indeed, before he had become +accustomed to his new life they were gone. +After Carlisle’s peroration the two new-comers +were allowed to drop into the obscurity which +befits small boys, and to find their natural level +among their associates. They made friends easily, +and Jack in his letters home described Utopia in +glowing terms. The lack of a wherry of his own +seemed to be the only drawback to his happiness. +So picturesquely did he lay this want before his +mother that she wrote back that if he made a fair +showing in the way of scholarship by the end of +the term he should have one, with the consent of +Dr. Meredith. Poor Jack little knew his own propensities +in imagining that he would find slight +difficulty in fulfilling this condition.</p> + +<p>But as there were several wherries belonging to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span>the school, he was able within a very short time to +gratify his ambition to handle the sculls. He and +Horton went down to the lake before breakfast one +morning, especially to engage two crack boats for +the afternoon, as there was a great demand for +them at this time of the year. Jack started off +confidently, hoping to dazzle the occupants of the +float by the knowingness of his style, but at the +third stroke caught a crab which nearly upset him +and made him extremely cautious henceforward. +After paddling about a little he managed to get +the knack of keeping his balance in the cranky +concern, but he had to own to himself that he +knew very little about rowing, and must begin to +learn all over again.</p> + +<p>This was rather a come-down for Jack, but he +was not alone in his discomfiture. In spite of +Haseltine’s brilliant performance against Rogers, +his place on the Fullham nine was filled by convalescent +players, and he had to endure the mortification +of becoming one of the herd who practiced +scrub. It galled his pride to be unattached. That +the ex-third base of the Rising Suns should be +shunted off to find equals among the mass on the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span>practice-field wounded him to the quick. However, +he went in hammer and tongs to improve his game, +with a determination to be satisfied with nothing +short of the captaincy of the school-team at last. +It did not take him long to convince the younger +boys that he was an authority on base-ball matters. +He knew the standing of every team, and the record +of every player in the country, and once a week +he received from home a newspaper devoted to the +interests of the national game, every item in which +he could repeat by rote.</p> + +<p>There is a certain number of people who argue +that it makes very little difference after all whether +a boy studies at school or not, provided he is turned +out at the end of the curriculum an upright, honorable +gentleman, with a clean mind, a manly tone, +and generous instincts. While, as between the alternatives +of inferior training in the way of books +and neglect of the moral character, one could +scarcely hesitate which to avoid, the parent content +to have his or her son graduate merely a good-natured, +well-mannered, easy-going athlete has +sadly misconceived the proper relation between +master and pupil. Indeed, it may be said that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span>nothing can be more deplorable than a system of +education which does not stimulate excellence in +scholarship, unless it be one that promotes it at +the expense of high principle. We often hear it +said that the chief benefit of school or college is +the effect on character. Very good; but surely it +is no error to maintain that the character of the +boy untrained to use his mind intelligently is not +highly to be extolled. This idea, boys, of becoming +easy-going and nothing else is a very unfortunate +one to entertain, especially in our country, +where every man is expected to contribute in some +way toward making the world more civilized, and +a sweeter, happier place to live in. We need to-day +the services of keen, disciplined minds in active +life, and in its quiet walks those who love +learning for her own sake, and are ready to devote +patient days to the pursuit of ripe scholarship.</p> + +<p>Fortunately for Jack—though he was slow to +think it fortunate—Dr. Meredith was determined +to have as few dunces as possible at Utopia. He +was a fine scholar himself, and had to help him a +corps of enthusiastic instructors, most of them men +fresh from some university. Experience had already +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span>taught him that chronic idleness and dislike +for study cannot be cured in a fortnight. Hence +he and his assistants were content to peg away at +incorrigible pupils without expecting to work wonders +all at once, but never yielding an inch nor losing +ground once gained.</p> + +<p>This studying business was the only part of the +school programme which Jack did not thoroughly +enjoy. He started off in his old way by merely +glancing at his lessons and floundering through +them as best he could, never doubting that after a +lecture or two on the subject of idleness, he would +be permitted to lag along at the foot of the class +without remark. He was used to being brought +up with a round turn once a month or so, and after +the scolding was over knew that he was safe to +relapse until the next time. But he could count +on that comfortable condition of affairs no longer. +The continual pegging away referred to, of which +he was now the victim, was inexpressibly irritating. +His masters—he had a different one in almost +every study—excited both his resentment and his +wonder by patiently trying to make him take an +interest in his tasks. Instead of being ordered in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span>a peremptory tone to “sit down,” after an egregious +mistake, he was kept upon his feet and not +only told the answer (generally from the lips of +some other boy), but asked to repeat it, and to +remember it too at the next recitation. This was +harassing, especially so when he found himself +obliged to spend part of the afternoon in the schoolroom +instead of on the playground, because he +persisted in considering his lessons of no account. +His little soul was fairly in a ferment of indignation. +What was the use of study, he would ask +himself. As for books, he would be glad for his +part never to see another, unless, of course, one of +adventures on the sea or in the far West. Would +Latin or arithmetic make him a better oar or a +surer short-stop? Not a bit of it, he was certain +of that; and so, masters or no masters, he was disposed +to let his lessons slide.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, Mrs. Hall was made to feel badly +by receiving, soon after Jack went home for vacation, +a report of his progress as a scholar very far +from satisfactory, accompanied by a few lines from +Dr. Meredith, calling attention to the fact that her +son was inclined to be lazy, and urging her to use +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span>her influence to correct this failing. She did, and +so persuasively, that Jack promised with sobs—and +he was thoroughly penitent—to turn over a new +leaf when he went back. He got his wherry, too, +in spite of not deserving it, for his mother had not +the heart to disappoint him, which gives one the +opportunity to suggest that perhaps Jack had been +a little spoiled ever since he was a baby. However, +if our mothers did not make light of and +forgive our shortcomings, who would? Nevertheless, +I think he had been sent to Utopia School +none too soon for his welfare.</p> + +<p>There were changes, of course, when he returned +in the autumn. Harry Ramsay, Bedloe, and +Goldthwaite of the nine, Burbank captain of the fifteen, +and Hazelhurst the champion oar, were gone +and their places as leaders filled by others. Bobby +Crosby was, on the whole, cock of the school, being +captain of the foot-ball team and a rousing fellow +generally. The kid, who was only in the second, +had been promoted to pitch for the school nine, +and Chalmers the old captain of Fullham had succeeded +Harry Ramsay, which left two vacancies on +the dormitory nine, for one of which—right field—Haseltine +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span>was selected, an unusual honor for so +young a player.</p> + +<p>Both he and Jack felt quite like old boys in coming +back as members of the fifth class, and entered +upon the new year in the best of spirits. Foot-ball +was the school game just now, at which neither of +them was slow in acquiring some proficiency. +Early in November the autumn athletic meeting +was to take place, and there was much training +among the competitors for the various events. +The school interest which had been much exercised +over the two-hundred yard dash waned greatly, +however, when it became known that Louis Carlisle +had withdrawn, thereby giving a walk-over +(according to the general opinion) to Coleman, +Junior. Rumor was loud in some quarters in describing +Carlisle’s action as a “squawk,” and Jack +found difficulty in understanding the reasons which +the champion gave for his refusal to run.</p> + +<p>It is not easy to explain the origin of friendships, +but ever since the evening when Jack had acted so +pluckily in not crying out when he felt what he believed +to be the branding-iron on his arm, Carlisle +had shown an interest in him. If this were not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span>the cause that had attracted the older to the new +boy, it may have been the lack of jealousy which +our hero had showed at Haseltine’s success against +the Rogerines. At any rate, for some reason or +other Carlisle had taken to him from the very first, +evincing a liking by superintending Jack’s rowing +on the lake; asking him to walk on Sunday afternoons; +and, now that as a member of the second +class he had a study to himself, by inviting his +young crony to share its comforts whenever he +might see fit to do so. The good will thus shown +was duly appreciated, and the intimacy between +them became marked and firmly established.</p> + +<p>At first Jack was chiefly absorbed by and grateful +for the instruction in the way of handling the oars, +and of making progress in the various sports in +which he was interested, which he received from +his new friend, so that he thought of very little +else; but he found it pleasant, nevertheless, to establish +himself from time to time in Carlisle’s cosy +apartment and listen to his mentor prattle on about +whatever happened to be in his mind at the moment. +Carlisle had a way of ignoring the youngster’s +presence and of talking as though he were +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span>all alone, merely appealing to Jack in much the +same way as one will appeal to an imaginary second +self, not expecting an answer. Indeed, Jack +was quite incapable of answering the conundrums +proposed to him in this manner, and much of what +he listened to was very perplexing to him. He enjoyed +it, however, though he found it very difficult +to understand how anybody could spend so much +time over books and study as Carlisle did. His +amazement found voice when, early in the term, +Carlisle announced his intention not to try for the +school nine, and to knock off from exercise of every +sort except a daily row on the lake to keep himself +in condition.</p> + +<p>“What, not go in training for any of the running +races?” asked Jack.</p> + +<p>“No.”</p> + +<p>“Why not? You’re sure to win.”</p> + +<p>“I think I am,” Carlisle answered, with a smile. +“There’s no one that I know of who’s come up +since last year.”</p> + +<p>“There’s Coleman, Junior,” said Jack doubtfully. +He did not suspect his friend of funking, but the +remark popped out in spite of himself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span></p> + +<p>“Yes, I know. Some of the fellows will say +I’m scared. Well, let them. I don’t care. As +I’ve told you before, Jessup will beat Coleman, if +nothing happens. I can’t afford to waste my time +merely to please a few fellows.”</p> + +<p>Jack could not understand speaking of winning +the championship of Utopia on the running track +as a waste of time.</p> + +<p>“Shan’t you kick foot-ball either?” he went +on.</p> + +<p>“No; I’ve had my fill of games for the present,” +Carlisle answered, in his soliloquizing way. “I’ve +made up my mind that it pays to do a few things +well, and to stick to them instead of straying all +over the lot. I’ve kept going at full pitch in sixty +different directions ever since I was your age, and +it’s time to quit. I can’t stand it, that’s the long +and short of it. ‘Je plie et ne romps pas,’ is a +motto that can be run into the ground.”</p> + +<p>“What does that mean?” asked Jack. “I suppose +it’s French.”</p> + +<p>“Tough on my accent,” responded Carlisle, with +a grin. “Yes, it’s French, and means ‘I bend and +do not break.’ But bending is about as uncomfortable +as breaking, in the long run, youngster.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span></p> + +<p>“What <em>are</em> you going to do then?” continued +his interrogator, for Jack like most American boys +was not to be deterred from obtaining information +for lack of persistence in asking questions.</p> + +<p>“I’m going to study, chiefly.”</p> + +<p>“Study?” Jack stared aghast. “I shouldn’t +think there’d be much fun in that,” he added, after +a pause.</p> + +<p>“Because you don’t know anything about it.”</p> + +<p>“I hate study,” observed Jack dogmatically.</p> + +<p>“Oh, no, you don’t.”</p> + +<p>“I tell you I do. I detest it!”</p> + +<p>“Oh, no, you don’t, for you have no conception +what it is,” replied Carlisle, laughing. “I don’t +believe you ever did an hour’s real study in your +life.”</p> + +<p>This view of the case had not occurred to Jack, +and he was not prepared to gainsay the statement. +Something prompted him to glance around the room +at the rows of books nearly covering two walls of +the den, and the three or four poetically conceived +pictures in tasteful frames to which he had never +given a second thought before. On the table were +writing-materials and other paraphernalia suggestive +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span>of a student. “You see,” continued Carlisle quietly, +“I’m fond of study. I really enjoy Latin and +Greek and history. We’re just beginning Homer, +and there are parts of it that are delightful. I +don’t care much for algebra, but they say it strengthens +the mind. I shan’t go in for anything very +desperately, though, this year,” he added. “I’ve +been thinking over Dr. Bolles’s numerous lectures +to me on the subject, and have decided to limit myself +to three things,—study, the school paper, and +rowing,—and not to overtax myself at any one +of them. If I don’t, Dr. Bolles says there is no +reason why I shouldn’t grow rugged. It’ll be +pleasant to feel at the end of each day that I +haven’t used up every spark of vitality I possess.”</p> + +<p>To Jack, whose ideas of responsibility were at +this time excessively vague, this sort of talk must +have sounded almost unintelligible. However, it +soaked in with everything else that was part and +parcel of his daily experience; and whatever he may +have thought of the views expressed, he lived to +see Carlisle’s prediction regarding Coleman verified +by Jessup’s comparatively easy victory in the two +hundred yard dash at the athletic meeting in +November.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span></p> + +<p>These half-yearly meetings were great occasions +at Utopia. In addition to the foot-races, which included +both long and short distances, there was rope-climbing, +fence-vaulting, standing and running high +jumps, sparring and wrestling in three classes,—feather, +middle, and heavy weight,—and a tug of +war between teams from the several dormitories to +end up with. Altogether the scene was decidedly +Olympian. There were so many events that almost +every boy felt that he had a chance in one direction +or another. Jack entered for the feather-weight +wrestling, but only to be thrown, after a savage +tussle, flat on his back, and to have his shoulders +pinned to the ground by Carpenter, who, though +a year older, was just about his size. It was a very +even contest, though, everybody admitted. He also +was one of the field of seven who contested with +Jessup the two-hundred yard race, having been +advised by Carlisle to go in just to show what he +was made of, and he was rather proud at coming in +fifth, being beaten by Hopedale, of the next higher +class, only by a shave. Haseltine, who also entered, +was sixth, which was a considerable comfort to +Jack.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span></p> + +<p>But the contests with the gloves were what took +his fancy more than anything else, and he was fired +at once with the desire to learn boxing. This was +easy to do, for Dr. Meredith was decidedly of the +opinion that boys should understand the art of self-defense, +which was accordingly taught at the gymnasium +by Dr. Bolles and his assistant, to all who +desired to receive instruction. There were a good +many competitors for distinction in this line, and +the rivalry resulted in some hitting and receiving +of tolerably hard knocks, which now and then bore +fruit in the shape of a bloody nose or black eye in +spite of well-padded gloves. And yet, notwithstanding +all this emulation, it was very rarely, if ever, as +Jack soon realized, that the combatants had occasion +to make practical use of the knowledge thus +acquired, so long as they were at Utopia. Indeed, +it may almost be stated as a general truth that the +American boy does not go in for the deliberate slugging +contests one reads about as common among +the youth of the Mother Country. Unless from a +spirit of sheer imitation, it is unusual, I believe, +for you young fellows to settle bad blood by a cut-and-dried +fight after the manner of “Tom Brown +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span>and ‘Slugger’ Williams,” with whose thrilling +set-to you should all be familiar. Plenty of you get +mad and in the heat of the moment slap a fellow’s +face, or slang him until he cuffs you; and then there +is give and take for a few moments, in the course +of which science may get in an upper cut or some +such telling stroke; but your friends are almost +certain to drag you apart before much damage is +done, and hold you back until you have cooled +down. The idea of forming a “ring” with backers +and sponges “to fight it out” doesn’t seem to +occur to either of you, or, if it does, public opinion—and +by that I mean school opinion—is against +you. I rather think that any boy, whether a Utopian +or otherwise, can count on the fingers of a +single hand the number of regular out-and-out +fights in the course of his school-days he has either +participated in or been present at.</p> + +<p>There must be some reason for this, and you do +not need to be told that American boys are neither +effeminate nor afraid to use their fists when occasion +requires. Lack of pluck is not a national failing. +We stood up at Bunker Hill against bullets long +enough to convince our enemies that there was mettle +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span>in us, and there are graveyards within walking +distance of every lad under the stars and stripes +who may read this story, in which can be noted the +tribute of posterity to those who died in defense of +their country. There is no sort of doubt that our +boys can hit straight from the shoulder whenever +it is worth their while to do so.</p> + +<p>I have an idea—it may be a mistaken one, +though I am fatuous enough to have faith in it—that +the world in growing older has grown wiser, +and less cruel and brutish. We elders proscribed +duels long ago on the score that they were unmanly +and inconsistent with the requisites of Christian +character; and dreadful as are the preparations which +even to-day are going on in so many countries of +the globe with an eye to deadly strife, there can be +no doubt that civilized nations are much less ready +to plunge into war than they used to be, and much +more inclined to submit their differences to arbitration. +There are cynics—at least they seem such to +me—who maintain that there must always be wars +until the end of time, if for no other reason than to +dispose of the surplus population, and that national +reluctance to engage in them proceeds from economic +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span>rather than humanitarian scruples. But +those of us who still believe that mankind is surely, +even if slowly, making progress toward a higher +state of civilization, cannot but be of the opinion +that wholesale resorts to force to settle disputes +must inevitably become less and less frequent, from +the growing conviction among human beings that +they are a relic of barbarism. Already has this conviction +made such headway that the most autocratic +governments would hesitate at the present day to +declare war without first invoking the aid of referees, +if the matter at issue were capable of peaceable solution.</p> + +<p>In like manner it is fair to believe that the doctrine +of forbearance is so much in the air that you +boys have become inoculated with its spirit, and +have learned to abstain from blows until every +other remedy has failed. There is no cowardice in +such a policy. Mere fighting for the sake of fighting +savors of the brute, not of the gentleman. But +this is to be borne in mind notwithstanding, though +I have no doubt that you do not need the prompting: +when you <em>are</em> struck, hit back with all your +might. Be slow to strike the first blow, or to provoke +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span>assault, but beware of letting forbearance outrun +its usefulness as a virtue. Sunday-school teachers +may argue as they will, but the world will never +learn to applaud or to respect the man or boy who +allows his rights to be trampled on without stubborn +resistance.</p> + +<p>December brought with it ice and snow, coasting +and skating, which for the time being overruled all +other sports and interests for Jack. For a good four +months the school was face to face with winter, +which means in this country something worthy of +the name,—genuine stinging cold, which makes +boys’ cheeks glow if they move briskly, but numbs +their fingers if they sit still; and a roaring fire in +the great schoolroom in the evening, around which +it is the fashion to group and sing. At this last-named +trysting-place serviceable friendships are +formed, and, in the case of Jack, an old one is +renewed. December brought with it Bill French, +the same Bill as of yore, and yet developed, as it +were, in that he is no longer the street urchin of a +year ago, indifferent as to his clothes and hair. Bill +has spruced himself eminently, and is quite the little +gentleman now in his cut and manner. He does +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span>not take much part in sports himself, but he knows +all about them, and is eager to back this sprinter or +that oarsman for anything from a nickel up to five +dollars, which is a fabulous sum at Utopia, as you +may well imagine. He has at the very outset created +a profound sensation by managing to retain greenbacks +to the amount of five times that sum about +his person, in spite of the school rule that all +money, save a very small stipend for the pocket, is +to go into the Doctor’s strong-box for safe-keeping.</p> + +<p>“How did you manage to hold on to it?” whispered +Jack, whose admiration for Bill’s cunning +ways is still deep.</p> + +<p>“Didn’t give it to him, that’s all.”</p> + +<p>“Didn’t he ask you for it?”</p> + +<p>“What if he did? It’s my money, not his. +Father gave it to me, and I mean to spend it as I +choose.”</p> + +<p>This deliberate springing in the teeth of authority +was something new at Utopia, and, like most +novelties, gave its originator notoriety at once. +Jack felt proud at being on such terms with the +new school favorite, who before long took upon +himself the airs of a leader among the younger +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span>boys, with revolt as a motto. The Doctor was all +very well, but he, Bill French, was not going to +bend the knee to any Doctor, no matter how wise +and good. He had come there to have a good time, +and he meant to have it.</p> + +<p>It took Bill some months, naturally, to raise his +standard. His methods, as you know, were for the +most part underground like the mole. He did not +believe in being found out, and he had no intention +of getting into open trouble with the powers that +were, if he could help it. His fad was for managing +and directing, and he was content to suggest, +and to let others work out his theories without asking +for more than a tithe of the glory. Great +schemes must move slowly to insure success.</p> + +<p>So Bill to the ordinary eye appeared rather a +desirable addition than otherwise to the make-up +of the school. He had always been rather quick at +his books, and found no difficulty now in taking a +respectable place in Jack’s class, where he kept his +head above water easily, thus hoodwinking one of +the eyes of Argus. Where Bill really showed himself +in his true kidney was about the aforesaid fire +on cold winter nights, when he had an opportunity +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span>to fascinate the circle snuggled around him by hints +as to what might be done if one only dared. Many +listened, and Jack most eagerly of all. Were they +not Americans? Bill argued. And when did a +true-born patriot, whether man or boy, put up with +being hedged about with laws which he despised? +As a proof of what might be accomplished in the +way of resistance without difficulty, the arch-conspirator +excited the envy of all whom he took into +the secret by exhibiting on his return to school at +the beginning of the fourth-class year a pair of +white mice in the corner of one of his bureau-drawers. +Nor was Bill stupid enough to let them +remain there long enough to fall under the eagle +eye of Mrs. Betty, who was liable to come prowling +round at any time with power paramount to overhaul +to her heart’s content. When the little creatures, +a month later, presided over a family,—another +triumph for their proprietor,—it was in the +pocket of a pair of trousers hanging harmlessly +from a peg.</p> + +<p>The influence of genius such as this was hard to +resist, and had it stopped here, authority might +justifiably have been disposed to regard it without +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span>concern; but Bill was not always so happy in his +infringements of the law. He was wont to exhibit +with pride a small silver case in which reposed real +cigarettes,—no blood-sucking rattan subterfuges, +but the genuine aristocratic article, which he was +in the habit of smoking when he could safely do so +with the air of a thorough-going sport, as any one +at Utopia who witnessed the performance would +agree. At such times Bill was a decidedly agreeable +companion. In the first place he could talk +knowingly by the hour on dogs and horses, a subject +which was imperfectly understood at Utopia +prior to his arrival. All the cant phrases of the +stable were at his command, and he replenished +them by the perusal of a weekly sporting paper to +which he subscribed, and which put Haseltine’s +base-ball sheet completely in the shade. In his +opinion, life at the school was tame, and stood in +need of thorough reorganization.</p> + +<p>Much as Jack admired Bill, he was not really +surprised to hear Carlisle observe, some weeks after +the first appearance of that wily youth, “I don’t +care much for your new friend, youngster.”</p> + +<p>“Why not, Louis?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span></p> + +<p>“I guess he’s sneaky, isn’t he? Looks it, any +way.”</p> + +<p>“He’s mighty smart,” answered Jack evasively.</p> + +<p>“I dare say.”</p> + +<p>“You ought to like him,” pursued Jack, “for +he’s a first-rate scholar. He could stand a good +deal higher if he chose to study.”</p> + +<p>Carlisle laughed. “I set store by study I know,” +he said, “but it isn’t a free pass to my favor, as +you appear to think. Strange as it may seem, I +prefer you, idle as you are, to your industrious +friend. And by the way, Jack, you have been +worse than ever, lately. You must brace up or +you will have the Doctor down on you.”</p> + +<p>Both were silent for a moment. It was something +new for Carlisle to lecture, as he would have +called it. He had always shrunk from preaching +to his friend deliberately, intimate as were their +relations, preferring to indicate by chaff and indirect +suggestions what might be in his mind regarding +Jack’s needs. But these few words were spoken +so seriously that the culprit looked at him astonished.</p> + +<p>There was a reason for them. Dr. Meredith, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span>having great faith in the influence for good which +the larger boys at a school like Utopia can exert +upon their juniors, lost no occasion to impress upon +his favorites their duty in this respect. Only the +day before he had chanced upon Carlisle strolling +down toward the river alone, and had joined him.</p> + +<p>“You’re looking better, Louis, I’m glad to see. +Your more sober life agrees with you.”</p> + +<p>Somehow or other the Doctor knew the imperfect +joint in the armor of every one of his pupils, +and he was no less prompt to seize an opportunity +to speak a word of encouragement, than he was +courageous in probing a weakness to the core.</p> + +<p>“I’m in first-rate condition, sir. Gained five +pounds this term.”</p> + +<p>“I wish, now that your hand is in, you’d see +what you could do with Hall,” the Doctor had continued. +“I am disturbed at the way the boy is +going on. He seems a manly, spirited fellow, and +I like him, but he won’t study. In fact, he’s getting +more of a shirk every day.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir, he doesn’t study much, that’s a fact,” +observed Carlisle.</p> + +<p>“A word from you, Louis, might do an immense +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span>amount of good. He’d listen to you when he +wouldn’t to me.”</p> + +<p>Carlisle had hung his head and remained silent. +He knew very well what Doctor Meredith meant, +for had he not observed Jack’s idleness with increasing +regret, and yet been content to pass it off +with an occasional jest? All his talk during their +intercourse had been about himself, concerning +which he could discourse glibly enough; but such +speculation as he was wont to indulge in, however +suggestive to an intelligent listener, was scarcely +the sort of pabulum by which to convert a hobble-de-hoy +offender like Jack. He had been conscious +for some time of what with his disposition to call +things by their right names he considered his own +selfishness and self-absorption, and this solicitation +of the Doctor’s thrust them forward into the +light.</p> + +<p>“I know what you would say,” his master had +continued. “You have a horror of sermonizing. +You don’t wish to spoil your relations with him, as +you think, by being serious. You are right, Louis, +in that. But I don’t believe, if you look at the +matter squarely, that you would drive Hall into his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span>shell by letting him see that you don’t approve of +his present way of going on.”</p> + +<p>“He knows I approve of study.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, for yourself,” had answered the sagacious +Doctor. “Let him understand thoroughly that it +is just as imperative for him.”</p> + +<p>“I’ll try, sir,” the older boy had answered, after +a pause.</p> + +<p>“I shall be infinitely obliged to you; and while +we are on the subject, what sort of a boy is this +William French? I understand that he and Hall +are old cronies. Don’t answer if you’d rather not,” +had added the Doctor, who sympathized with the +code of honor which prompts a schoolboy to abstain +from speaking ill of one of his companions.</p> + +<p>“He doesn’t seem to me very straightforward,” +had blurted out Carlisle, instigated perhaps by a +desire to protect Jack from the evil machinations +of the new-comer.</p> + +<p>“Indeed! That is not a pleasant trait. Thank +you, Louis. Such boys as you can do a great deal +to help me, if you only will, without in any way +impairing your obligations as ‘good fellows.’”</p> + +<p>The first result of this conversation has been indicated. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span>Carlisle’s words, limited as they were, +came at a moment when Jack was sorely in need of +them. Although he made no comment at the time, +other than to look grave, and though he sought to +brush the remembrance of them away as speedily +as possible, he was nevertheless face to face with +the consciousness—a consciousness of which he +had caught occasional glimpses before of late—of +dissatisfaction with himself. What was more, it +enthralled him like a net, and the more he struggled +held him the tighter. Vague lack of content with +one’s own career is not synonymous with an intention +to reform, but it is a step in the right direction. +Jack would never be able to feel again, except +through utter callousness of soul, that satisfaction +in wrong-doing which exists before the sense of responsibility +is awakened.</p> + +<p>There is little further to chronicle regarding the +second year of Jack’s school-life, which sped along +from week to week without revealing much outward +change in his daily routine of duties and pleasures; +the former endured with unwillingness and neglected +so far as was possible, the latter participated +in with untiring enthusiasm. In the class-room he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span>was the same mischief-making, idle urchin as ever, +distinguished for his dog’s-eared, caricature-lined +books of study, and an utter ignorance of their contents. +On the playground every faculty seemed +alert, and all his energy centred in excelling at +whatever pastime he was for the moment fascinated +by.</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.<br> +<small>THE BIG FOUR.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>As a fourth-class boy Jack fairly felt his oats, and +with justice, if one considers what a satisfactory +status was meant by that term at Utopia. A fourth-classer +had nothing to learn, so to speak. He knew +all the ropes. He had at his fingers’ ends every +thing connected with the ways of the school, and +was entitled to regard himself as untainted by greenness +of any description. Pride and some bumptiousness +were the result, but more particularly a rattling +way of doing things as though those engaged in +whatever was in hand had unlimited confidence in +themselves, as indeed they had. To be a fourth-classer, +if one were a prominent fellow, was the +same as being one of the cocks of the lower school, +and a person to be deferred to whenever any matter +was mooted concerning the more juvenile half of +the body politic.</p> + +<p>Taking the list by and large, there were no more +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span>prominent fourth-classers in their year than the +quartette who trained together under the pseudonym +of “The Big Four.” These were Jack, Haseltine, +Bill French, and Horton. In justice to Bill, +his name should have been written first, for it was +he who had conceived the idea of welding into one +compact body the best material in the class, with a +view to coöperation in various directions. To his +brain was due the origin of the mysterious secret +society, of which he and his three pals were the +units. At Utopia, where there had never been a +secret society up to this time, whoever referred to +“The Big Four” spoke with bated breath, as of an +organization very little understood, and in awe of +which it was incumbent to stand.</p> + +<p>Bill came back after vacation full of the scheme, +and found little difficulty in making its merits apparent +to Jack. After some cogitation the number +was swelled by the election of Haseltine and Horton. +The constitution was a sort of cross between +the Declaration of Rights and such an instrument +as a community of bandits might have drawn for +mutual protection. It began as follows:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span></p> + +<p class="noic">“ARTICLE I.</p> + +<p>“This society is organized to secure to free-born +American citizens the enjoyment of their natural +liberties.”</p> + +<p>A sentiment distinctly praiseworthy, at least on +the surface, and broad in its scope. After this general +definition of usefulness and certain provisions +as to name, membership, and grip, appeared a few +by-laws, embodying a most salient code of behavior, +among which was the third, to wit:—</p> + +<p>“No member shall, on pain of expulsion, kiss any +female except his mother.”</p> + +<p>To cap and clinch the whole, thus heading off +treachery at the start, it was laid down,—</p> + +<p>“Whoever shall at any period of his existence +divulge, or in any manner make known, the secrets +of this society, or shall with or without malice-aforethought +break its laws or abandon its principles, +shall suffer death with torture, to be inflicted by the +members for the time being, except as otherwise +herein provided.”</p> + +<p>This joint production, for each of the four had a +hand in its composition, was solemnly signed and +sworn to at midnight in the lavatory where the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span>whole society assembled by concerted action. To +make the oath more binding, the pen was dipped in +the blood of the successive signers, at Haseltine’s +prompting, who fully believed at the time that whoever +should violate it could not escape a lingering +death. He even went so far as to suggest that a +burning-glass focused upon the abdomen would +probably produce as exquisite suffering as any of +the appliances known to inquisitorial or savage torturers. +To Jack belonged the credit of devising the +already quoted clause relating to women, the reception +of which was unequivocally enthusiastic, and +seemed to them to stamp the organization at once +as a manly body, proof against Delilahs, or all +feminine influence except that prescribed by early +piety.</p> + +<p>“I hate girls; they’re silly little things,” continued +the originator of the by-law in question.</p> + +<p>“I’d like to see one of them try to kiss me!” +said Haseltine.</p> + +<p>The latter idea did not seem so repulsive to Bill +and Horton, though they acquiesced in the provision +as smacking of wisdom, on the whole. Indeed, +almost from the start, there was a difference of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span>opinion, scarcely perceptible at first, but constantly +growing wider, as to the real functions of “The Big +Four.”</p> + +<p>To Jack and Haseltine it stood for freedom, and +defiance of authority in any form, and especially +defiance against the Doctor, to be evidenced by disobedience, +as the spirit might move, whether in the +way of marauding expeditions or midnight feasts. +Caution, more than was absolutely necessary, was +disregarded by them, and concealment was a policy +which they despised. They were indifferent, not +only as to what authority might think, but even +as to whether authority was aware of what they +were up to. War to the knife, without mercy or +compromise on either side, was what they craved, +proudly confident of their ability to trample authority +in the dust.</p> + +<p>But the other two were wiser in their generation, +with the wisdom of the serpent. They believed +distinctly in lying low, and in masking the countenance +both metaphorically and literally. “Do +<em>wrong</em> by stealth and blush to find it fame,” would +have seemed to them an admirable epitome of their +views. And just as their methods savored of craft +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span>and underhandedness, so their favorite acts of +defiance—for in throwing off authority all were +united—were apt to be such as would not bear +the light of day. Vice is a parasite that flourishes +best in the shade. There Bill French’s whisper +sounded most seductively, and his “I say, fellows, +I know what let’s do,” was least easy to resist.</p> + +<p>Such was the attraction of this new interest that +Jack thought of but little else. Not only did he +begin to neglect Carlisle, but he ceased to feel his +old ambition to excel at games. At the spring +athletic meeting of the year before he had followed +Carlisle’s advice to hold off for another six months, +but when the time came the following autumn he +failed to make as good a record as when he had first +appeared on the track. He was only seventh this +time in a field of eight, being almost distanced by +Hopedale, whom he had pressed so close on the previous +occasion. Such were his disgust and mortification +that he thereupon had his name scratched +from both the feather-weight wrestling and the +feather-weight sparring, in each of which events he +had intended to be a competitor. He felt thoroughly +angry, and the secret cause of his anger was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span>the consciousness that it was all his own fault. He +had not taken the trouble to train, so certain was +he in his self-conceit of sweeping all before him. +Now, like Achilles in his tent, he preferred to sulk. +He would cut sports altogether. The game was +not worth the candle. But in his heart was a sore +spot. He had meant to win that race. He could +see Carlisle’s eyes fixed on him gravely as he slunk +away panting—and fairly blown—at the finish, +and recalled his friend’s subsequent reproof.</p> + +<p>“The trouble with you is that you want the +earth, Jack. You can’t expect to win without buckling +down to it beforehand.”</p> + +<p>“I’m in first-rate condition,” Jack had growled.</p> + +<p>“Over-trained, then, perhaps,” had been the sarcastic +answer.</p> + +<p>Even in rowing—his pet hobby—he could not +boast of having made any marked progress. Although +in the two upper classes there was no aquatic +luminary at the moment, a very clever oarsman +was developing in the person of Tom Bonsall of +the third, a clean-cut, well-shaped fellow, some ten +pounds more beefy than Jack, and at once his secret +admiration and despair. To watch Tom row, fairly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span>goaded him into fury. He was only a year ahead +of Jack, and yet he was in the Mohicans, and, what +is more, was able to boast, after the autumn races, +that he belonged to the champion crew. The long +victorious Atalantas, weakened by the loss of Hazelhurst, +were a poor second. Then and there Jack +vowed, when he realized what had taken place, that +he would from this moment have but one object in +life: to transfer the laurel from his rival’s brow to +his own.</p> + +<p>A very pretty sentiment, and quite at variance +with the cynical communings of a fortnight earlier, +when he had resolved to renounce sport utterly. +But it is one thing to make vows, another to carry +them out. Jack had not overestimated, even in +his inner consciousness, his lack of condition, both +physical and moral. When one is distinctly flabby +in body and soul alike, a good resolution is too +apt to resemble one of these rockets that flare up +grandly and gaudily for a moment, only to leave +the night the darker through their inability to last. +To feel virtuous and heroic during a transcendent +hour is not much to boast of, unless one has the +grit to stand firm when face to face once more with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span>the commonplace and the every-day, those disarming +begetters of temptation.</p> + +<p>But one must not be too hard upon poor Jack +because his vows proved no more stable than do +those of all of us at some time or other. For at +the worst he was not a very hopeless case. Even +when sitting up in the lavatory into the small +hours of the morning, sipping beer and playing +“penny nap,”—the height of schoolboy dissipation,—one +who could have seen into his heart +would not have despaired of him. It was something +that he did not smoke,—not because of the +harm which Bill French’s cheroots might have +done him, but because he could not forget that he +had promised his mother not to smoke anything, +be it rattan, sweet-fern, or tobacco; and to break +his word, and most of all to break it to her, was +synonymous in his mind, as it well should have +been, with a very abandoned moral condition. And +yet curiosity in part, and in part an unwillingness +to be left behind in “knowledge of life” by the +other members of his illustrious society, induced +him to follow in whatsoever directions he was led, +in spite of the fact that this new and daily more +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span>troublesome factor in his general make-up, his +conscience, pricked him, and took away much of +the satisfaction of his discreditable doings.</p> + +<p>What would his mother have said if she could +have seen him at one of these cunningly devised +nocturnal parties? Her constant prayer has been +that her innocent boy may not become prematurely +old in the so-called ways of the world,—a knowing +little gentleman, rotten before he is ripe, without +enthusiasm, without heart, and without hope. Is +there a parent who will not sympathize with this +mother’s petition to heaven? Civilization is regarding +with increasing alarm the menaces of the uneducated +poor; but its invocation rather should be, +“God save us from the educated rich,”—educated +and graduated in the sloth and vice which eats into +the soul as no other canker can. Rich men’s sons +who do nothing for humanity but sneer, are a +harder burden for Atlas to bear than all the host +of the starving unemployed.</p> + +<p>But even in his present stage, when it seemed as +though Bill French’s wisdom carried all before it +in the councils of the Big Four, Jack much preferred +the life of the border ruffian to that of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span>sly voluptuary. Bill’s fun, though he had his part +in it, appeared tame as compared with the ecstasy +which proceeds from more obvious peril. To carry +away a quart of lager under one’s waistband, to go +in debt to the amount of half a dollar if one’s luck +was bad, and to show up next morning sallow and +watery-eyed, but very spruce and stylish as to one’s +collar and tie, proud as the distinction was, did not +set Jack’s veins a-throbbing as he delighted to have +them throb. If Bill had been consulted in the +premises he would doubtless have maintained that +his friend was not yet educated up to the point +where he could appreciate at their proper value the +advantages open to him. To this juvenile Epicurean +the plots which the two more boisterous +spirits were constantly unfolding involved a needless +waste of vitality, from which he shrank more +and more in proportion as the serpent’s wisdom +became his own. It was not policy, however, even +if it were possible, to resist at all times the expressed +desire of half the society. As a consequence, +vitality ran riot in minor manifestations, such as +the pilfering of neighboring hen-roosts, the sealing +up of the lock of the schoolroom door, the firing of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span>a tar-barrel in front of the Doctor’s very window, +and panted for more. Every one—by which is +meant school opinion—was delighted, and with +finger on lip whispered mysteriously, “Big Four.”</p> + +<p>As for Jack and Haseltine, they trod the earth +with the demeanor of gods, and after dark put +their heads together. Presumptuous youth is slow +to be content with moderate glory. Had Phaeton +escaped destruction he would have wearied of driving +his father’s horses in a fortnight, and been +thirsting for a fresh exploit. Our heroes, who had +up to this time escaped detection, were harassed +by the feeling that authority took too little heed of +the cuffs they administered to it. The bonfire had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span>been put up with almost calmly. The next act of +defiance should be such as could not be passed over +without exposing their enemies to ridicule.</p> + +<p>It was not altogether easy to hit upon a device +worthy of their prowess and yet within the pale of +permissible barbarity. For undoubtedly nihilistic +as were Jack’s and Haseltine’s designs, there was a +limit which they were not prepared to overstep. +Although it might be that in the estimation of +them both hanging was too good for the Doctor +and his assistants, any plot endangering human life +was, perchance regretfully, but none the less firmly, +discarded. On the other hand, to burn the head +master in effigy, a proposal which emanated from +the seething brain of young Horton, struck the +conclave as a superficial bit of mischief, which, +however showy from its impertinence, would nevertheless +inflict no real suffering on him at whom it +was aimed.</p> + +<p>Bill French, as was apt to be the case, even in +matters outside of his own department, so to speak, +settled the question finally.</p> + +<p>“I say, fellows, I know what let’s do,” he said +one evening, after they had been sitting silently +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span>racking their brains for a considerable time, “let’s +blow something up.”</p> + +<p>“Blow what up?” queried Jack, somewhat scornfully, +thus showing that gunpowder and nitroglycerine +had already entered into his day-dreams, +but had been renounced for lack of suitable material +on which to experiment.</p> + +<p>“The tool-house.”</p> + +<p>“Great Cæsar!” ejaculated our hero with enthusiasm, +“the very thing! Why have we never +thought of it before?”</p> + +<p>Whereupon Jack, by way of further ecstasy, +began to execute a muffled clog-dance to a low +whistling accompaniment.</p> + +<p>“Sh! You’ll have Sawyer down on us like a +thousand of bricks if you don’t let up,” objected +Bill.</p> + +<p>The quarters of “The Big Four” were no longer +in the lavatory, where their only light had been +the proverbially capricious splendor of the moon, +and where no whisper was too low for safety. At +the beginning of this school year one of the studies +occupied by the two upper classes, which had become +vacant owing to the illness of its proprietor, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span>had been boldly appropriated by the society. A +piece of cloth over the keyhole and other appliances +along the floor-line prevented the rays of the +solitary candle which illumined their meetings from +betraying them; and there they sat like four young +ghouls, with masks upon their faces, or close at +hand ready to be donned at the first signal of +danger.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p270"> + <img src="images/i_p270.jpg" + alt="They sat like four young ghouls, with masks upon their faces." + title="They sat like four young ghouls, with masks upon their faces."> +</figure> + +<p>The tool-house referred to was a modest structure +behind the gymnasium, which served Horace +Hosmer for the use which its name suggests, and +was besides a general storehouse in which to stow +odds and ends out of place elsewhere. It stood in +a position well adapted to shelter from discovery +the mooted scheme on the fulfillment of which the +energies of the Big Four were now resolutely bent. +To obtain the needful ammunition required time; +but on returning to school at the close of the +spring recess the united accumulations of the conspirators’ +pockets were found to be two small cans +of powder, a bunch of cannon-crackers, a piece of +slow-match, and several fuses. The last-named +were especially valuable for the reason that, to insure +the safety of the society, a sufficient period +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span>must elapse between the touching off the mine and +the explosion to allow those participating to cross +the quadrangle and be hauled up again in the +basket which was to be let down from the study +where their meetings were held.</p> + +<p>This does not look much like reform, Master +Jack. Seeing you in such a guise at twelve o’clock +at night—though no one would ever recognize you +in your ferocious mask with the flowing horsehair +mustache and your coat-collar muffled about your +ears—makes one wonder whether you were really +in earnest when you made your vow not to rest until +you had defeated Tom Bonsall at the sculls. No +use in our moralizing now, however, for wild horses +would not keep you from your part in the tragedy. +And indeed there is something rather winning, almost +exculpating as it were, in the proud though +mistaken consciousness of a righteous cause resplendent +in your every movement and gesture. One +sighs to see such energy and ardor of spirit expended +in so mean a task. Even <em>you</em> would admit, +if squarely taxed on the point, that you have no +real grievance against the Doctor except that he is +determined to make you study and to make you +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span>obey. “Yes, but that is the point at issue,” you +would doubtless answer. “We prefer idleness and +insubordination. Why should we obey?”</p> + +<p>On the night selected for the explosion, duly at +the appointed hour the four boys crept on tiptoe +from their respective dens in the large dormitory to +the usual spot without disturbing anybody. Each +brought with him part of the necessary paraphernalia. +They proceeded immediately to draw lots to +decide which two should perform the actual deed. +The other pair were to remain behind to lower the +basket down and pull it up again. It was solved +by the process known as “freezing out.” Each +took a cent from his pocket and laid it on the +table. There were three heads and one tail. Bill +French’s was the tail. He was therefore by previous +agreement to be one of the home-guard. With +trembling hand Jack deposited his coin for the second +time. Not to be able to light the fuse himself +would rob the affair of half its sweetness for him.</p> + +<p>His was a head.</p> + +<p>“A head,” said Haseltine.</p> + +<p>“So’s mine,” said Horton.</p> + +<p>“No choice, then,” said Bill. “Toss again.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span></p> + +<p>This time Jack got a tail. He leaned forward +feverishly and perceived that Horton had one also.</p> + +<p>“A head,” said Haseltine.</p> + +<p>“You stay with me, then,” said Bill, who was +quick-witted in emergencies. “Let’s get to work. +Sooner it’s over, the better.”</p> + +<p>Jack’s heart gave a bound. It would have suited +him to have had Haseltine with him, and he whispered +in the ear of his favorite pal some words to +that effect. It was everything, however, to be going +himself, and he was well aware that Horton was no +slouch on such an occasion.</p> + +<p>It takes but a few moments to adjust the rope, +and the two lads, after stowing the combustibles in +their pockets, are ready to descend. Jack is the +proud bearer of a small dark lantern, which gives +him an additionally burglarish air. He flashes it +once or twice playfully in Bill’s face, much to that +worthy’s dissatisfaction, who is even more nervous +than usual, going now and again to the door to listen +after enjoining silence by an agonized “sh!”</p> + +<p>But everything is as still as the grave. Being +finally satisfied on this score, Bill proceeds with an +air of gravity to uncork a couple of bottles of beer +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span>from which he fills four glasses, the property of the +society and kept in a cupboard in the corner.</p> + +<p>Each of the Big Four having doffed his mask +lifts one of these from the table and surveys his +fellow-members with dignity, waiting for the word +of command from the Pater Primus, as the presiding +genius is styled, before putting the beaded +beverage to their lips.</p> + +<p>“Brothers of the Big Four,” begins Bill. “Once +again we are met together to maintain justice and +to resist tyranny. Here’s success, and destruction +to our foes.”</p> + +<p>“Success, and destruction to our foes.”</p> + +<p>As the voices echo his words the four glasses +softly clink against one another. Then the heroes +drink. It is a solemn rite to Jack. His blood is +all on fire.</p> + +<p>“We will die game,” he utters grandiloquently, +as he drains the last drops, and slips back his mask +over his face much as a warrior would have replaced +a helmet.</p> + +<p>He goes to the window and tries the rope. It is +strong enough for six times the necessary weight. +He is putting one foot into the basket—a large +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span>clothes-basket filched the day before from Mrs. +Betty’s department—when Bill again enjoins +silence and bends his ear.</p> + +<p>“It’s all right, Bill,” whispers Jack.</p> + +<p>“I don’t half like it,” replies the Pater Primus. +“If we’re caught, it means expulsion cock sure.”</p> + +<p>“Who’s going to catch us? It isn’t the time +to squawk now.”</p> + +<p>“Who wants to squawk?” protests Bill.</p> + +<p>“Lower away.”</p> + +<p>Down goes the basket slowly but surely with its +living freight. Practice in former exploits has +made the descent seem less ticklish than at first to +the young aëronauts.</p> + +<p>Jack and Horton having reached the earth in +safety walk cautiously but rapidly across the part +of the quadrangle which lies between them and the +gymnasium, pass behind that building, and a moment +later are in the tool-house. So far as danger +to other property is concerned there is no reason +why the tool-house should not be blown up: a reflection +somewhat comforting to Jack, who in spite +of his elation is conscious of a qualm or two as he +realizes what he is about to do. No one can possibly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span>be injured, he argues, and the tool-house is +really of no use.</p> + +<p>By the light of the dark lantern they arrange +the cans of powder in such a manner as to be most +effective, and lay the fuse. Then Jack, who has +lighted a bit of slow match, after taking a peep +outside to make sure that all is clear, sets fire to +the train, which has been timed to burn for ten +minutes, so as to permit every one to get back to +bed before the shock comes. This done, the two +imitators of Guy Fawkes slip out into the darkness +and make a bee-line for home.</p> + +<p>Somehow or other there is very apt to be some +little flaw capable of ruining all, even in the most +skillfully arranged plot, and, happily or unhappily, +as you choose to regard it, the one in question +proved no exception to the general rule. Moreover, +it was through the carelessness of our friend +Jack that matters did not turn out wholly as was +expected. Although quite aware that Argus in the +person of Horace Hosmer slept in an L of the +gymnasium, the window of which commanded a +view of the premises doomed to destruction, Guy +Fawkes was rash enough not to close his lantern +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span>until just after stepping into the open air, so that a +few rays managed to shoot themselves directly into +the watch-dog’s eyes with the effect of rousing the +vigilant sleeper from his couch and inducing him +to take a peep outside. It was all dark now, but +suspicion once awakened is not easily allayed in a +faithful soul, and Horace’s was of the faithful kind. +Hastily pulling on a pair of boots and diving into +an overcoat, he vaulted over the window-sill, and +put in an appearance on the other side of the +gymnasium before the boys were more than two +thirds across the quadrangle.</p> + +<p>Trepidation has eyes in the back of her head, as +we well know. Consequently this new presence +on the field of night was spotted by Horton even +before Horace’s well-known stentorian voice broke +in upon the stillness with,—</p> + +<p>“Come, now, what’s your business?”</p> + +<p>There was no time for parley. Increased speed +had forestalled the bark of Argus, and increased +speed answered it. The wings of fear vibrated +fiercely in the darkness. The pursued had this +advantage that they knew that unless they reached +the basket in time to get clear of <em>terra firma</em> before +the janitor was upon them they were “gone +coons.” Not a word was spoken by either of the +terror-stricken incendiaries, but their flight was +that of those who have but one hope.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p281"> + <img src="images/i_p281.jpg" alt="" title=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="noic">AN ESCAPE.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282"></a>[282]<br><a id="Page_283"></a>[283]</span></p> + +<p>Jack was the first to arrive. Happily for the +hunted, their companions had not been napping, +but were keenly on the watch for them. The +basket was ready. Guy Fawkes leaped into it and +squatted down, closely followed by his mate.</p> + +<p>“Pull for all you’re worth.”</p> + +<p>Those above, quick to perceive that there was +mischief in the wind, set themselves to their task +with such good will that the aërial car fairly +bounded from the ground in its ascending course. +But none too soon. Hardly was it beyond the reach +of a tall man when the cause of all this undignified +haste came tearing round the angle of the +dormitory. Horace made one desperate leap in the +air, only, however, to scratch his nails against the +bricks in falling back. By the time he had regained +his balance the basket was at the top, and +he could only catch a confused impression of grotesque +faces surmounting youthful bodies before the +masqueraders were safe indoors, and fleeing like +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span>stealthy deer to their respective quarters, where they +lost no time in slipping off their clothes and getting +into bed. So precipitate was their flight that +they neglected to return the beer-bottles and +glasses to the cupboard in which they were ordinarily +concealed, an oversight which filled the nervous +Bill with dismay when it occurred to him after +his head was on the pillow. As for the basket, it +fell backward from the window-sill the moment it +was empty, almost on to the head of the astonished +Horace, who examined it curiously.</p> + +<p>“Well, well,” he muttered, “these are fine doings. +My eyes ain’t what they used to be, but +I’ve a pretty decided notion as to who you are, my +young masters, all the same. What in time were +you up to, I wonder? Ha! what’s this?”</p> + +<p>Horace, from a constitutional habit of thoroughness, +had been passing his hand over the bottom of +the basket, and his last exclamation was due to the +fact of its coming in contact with a small article +which on inspection proved to be a pocket-knife.</p> + +<p>“H’m,” he chuckled, “Heaven sends biscuit to +them as has no teeth, as the minister used to say.” +After which pertinent observation the honest fellow +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span>slipped the treasure trove into his pocket and +was taking up the basket again with a view to appropriating +it as evidence, when a loud crash proceeding +from the direction of the gymnasium awoke +the echoes of Utopia.</p> + +<p>“Holy Moses!” ejaculated the janitor, as he +turned just in season to behold a column of smoke +and rubbish rise in the near distance. Whereupon +he started as fast as his legs could carry him to the +new scene of action.</p> + +<p>Needless to say, the four conspirators heard with +mingled sensations of joy and anxiety the reverberation +which informed them that their efforts had +not been in vain. To Jack at least the noise, +though clearly perceptible, was not so loud as he +had hoped and anticipated. It had been his ambition +to have not only the whole dormitory awakened, +but authority itself startled from sweet slumber +and forced to put its head out of doors in +search of cause and effect. He experienced, therefore, +some little disappointment from the fact that +only two or three boys within reach of his own +observation were awakened, and even they turned +over to sleep again after listening for a moment +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[286]</span>for further developments. He was much too wide +awake himself to sleep, but lay revolving in his +mind the probable consequences of Horace’s untoward +interruption. Had Argus recognized them? +That was the all-important point, uncertainty as to +which was far from pleasant to Jack, despite his +boasted indifference to authority. Visions of being +dismissed from Utopia floated with disagreeable +persistency before his mind’s eye. What would his +mother say? He might well ask himself that question.</p> + +<p>Although the repose of authority was not disturbed, +authority heard with amazement on the +following morning the news which Horace had to +tell it immediately after breakfast; and Jack could +have no reason this time to complain that authority +was slow to take notice, if the buzz of rumors floating +about the school were any index of authority’s +state of mind. The impression produced on the +youthful mind itself by the announcement of what +had taken place was profound. There was an exodus +at once to view the ruins, over which the faithful +janitor was presiding with a sphinx-like grin +that to Jack, who had strolled down with the rest +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span>to behold the result of his handiwork, did not seem +reassuring.</p> + +<p>At the first opportunity the guilty parties held a +hurried consultation for mutual encouragement and +the comparing of notes. Nothing was forthcoming +except that the Doctor, after visiting the scene of +the explosion, had granted an audience to Horace +Hosmer, with whom he was still closeted. Meanwhile +the ordinary school programme was going +on as usual. Such suspense, though wellnigh unendurable, +was relieved in due time. Late in the +afternoon a summons came that French, Horton, +and Hall were to go to the Doctor’s room at once, +but separately, and in the order named.</p> + +<p>There was only time for a passing word between +the trio.</p> + +<p>“Mind we tell the same story and stick to it,” +whispered Bill in Jack’s ear before he followed the +messenger. “We never knew anything until we +heard the explosion.”</p> + +<p>Jack stood watching the receding figure of the +Pater Primus with a troubled air. The situation +seemed decidedly perplexing. Authority, for some +reason or other of its own, saw fit that those coming +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[288]</span>after should have no opportunity to hear what +was in store for them from friendly lips. Consequently +the third conspirator on the list was ushered +into its injured presence without knowing what had +been the experience of his predecessors.</p> + +<p>Doctor Meredith, who was alone, greeted the culprit +gravely and said, after a moment’s hesitation, +in a composed but serious tone: “During the last +six months, Hall, there have been a number of very +troublesome bits of mischief perpetrated in the +school. The property of people in the neighborhood +has been molested, fireworks have been discharged +in the yard without permission, and a general disposition +to break rules on the part of a certain number +of individuals has been apparent. I have been +very slow to take notice of this, hoping that the +matters complained of were merely the result of +the high spirits natural to boys. But I have been +very much annoyed by it, for up to this time I have +had to deal with nothing of the sort at Utopia.”</p> + +<p>During the pause which elapsed before he continued, +Jack was able to congratulate himself that his +previous endeavors had not been so much ignored as +he had at one time feared.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span></p> + +<p>“Last night,” his inquisitor proceeded, still more +gravely, “as you must be already aware, the tool-house +was blown up by some malicious person or +persons. Doubtless it was done as a practical joke, +and I am willing to believe that whoever was engaged +in the affair did not appreciate the serious +character of the act committed. But all the same +it was an abominable piece of mischief, and one +which it is my duty and intention to investigate +thoroughly, with a view to putting down, once and +for all, the spirit of reckless insubordination which +it is now evident to me has broken out here.”</p> + +<p>Once more the Doctor paused, as though he +expected some observation from his auditor, who, +having none to make, sought refuge from his own +discomfort and his master’s penetrating eye, by +looking down at the floor.</p> + +<p>“I have sent for you, Hall, to ask if you were +concerned in the affair.”</p> + +<p>The room seemed painfully still to Jack, and the +silence which followed this inquiry oppressive. How +should he answer the question? If the Doctor +knew all, why had he not taxed him directly with +having blown up the tool-house, instead of asking +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span>him if he was concerned in it? The doctor evidently +had suspicions merely, and was groping in +the dark. What was there to prove his guilt except +his own admissions?</p> + +<p>During the brief interval in which these thoughts +were passing through Jack’s mind, he was conscious +of his interrogator’s eye bent on him searchingly—yet +beseechingly, as it were.</p> + +<p>“You have not answered me, Hall.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir; I was.”</p> + +<p>Jack was too self-absorbed to notice the sigh of +relief which the Doctor gave vent to. One could +have heard a pin drop.</p> + +<p>“I am very sorry to hear it. You were not alone, +I judge,” added his master, after a moment.</p> + +<p>“I lighted the fuse myself, sir,” was the diplomatic +reply.</p> + +<p>“I see that you do not choose to name your associates.”</p> + +<p>“I have not said that I had any,” Jack answered +stoutly.</p> + +<p>“I respect your views on that point, and shall +question you no further in the matter. As for your +own conduct, there is but one word to characterize +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span>it,” continued Dr. Meredith,—“shameful. I do +not understand what motive you can have had to +destroy the property of the school. What <em>was</em> +your motive?” Jack looked sheepish. “I suppose +it was sheer love of mischief,” pursued the +Doctor, as though soliloquizing.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir.”</p> + +<p>“Have you not always been well treated here? +Have you any cause of complaint?”</p> + +<p>“No, sir.”</p> + +<p>“What in one sense is even a more serious matter, +empty beer-bottles and glasses were found this +morning in the vacant study. They belong to you, +I take it?”</p> + +<p>Jack bit his lip. This charge was harder to assume +the entire responsibility for. But he was in +for it now and must face the music.</p> + +<p>“Yes, sir,” he replied, rather dejectedly.</p> + +<p>The Doctor was silent for a moment. “Hall, I +am very much disappointed in you,” he said, in a +manner so unexpectedly genuine that somehow or +other the words cut like a knife into the sensibilities +of poor Jack, and in a sudden flash he saw his +own conduct almost in its true light. “This is not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span>the first time, by any means, that I have had occasion +to be disturbed at your conduct. I cannot +have at this school,” he added, “boys who drink +beer on the sly and blow up buildings. I have not +quite decided what action I shall take in your particular +case. You may go for the present. When +I want you I will send for you.”</p> + +<p>Jack stood hesitating. “May I ask a question?” +he said.</p> + +<p>“What is it?”</p> + +<p>“How were we found out?—er—that is, how +did you know it was I?”</p> + +<p>“The janitor thought he recognized you; but +he was not sure. If you had seen fit to tell a falsehood +you might have escaped. I thank God, my +dear boy, that you had courage enough to resist +that far worse fault than the faults you have been +guilty of.”</p> + +<p>There were tears in the Doctor’s eyes, and a +strange tremor in his voice, that brought drops to +Jack’s own, of which he became conscious when he +was outside the study-door. He had never felt so +miserable in his life, and yet knew that he was +proud of the course he had taken.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span></p> + +<p>A few minutes later he was eagerly confronted +by his associates.</p> + +<p>“He doesn’t know anything, does he?” exclaimed +Bill.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?”</p> + +<p>“You didn’t let on, of course? He asked me +if I had anything to do with blowing up the tool-house, +and I told him no. So did Horton.”</p> + +<p>“But you did,” said Jack.</p> + +<p>“Do you mean to say you gave us all away?” +shrieked Bill.</p> + +<p>“Your names weren’t mentioned. I wasn’t going +to lie about it. The Doctor asked me if I +wasn’t concerned in it, and I said I was.”</p> + +<p>“Hang me if you aren’t the biggest flat I ever +struck!”</p> + +<p>“That’s so,” said Horton, who, as you must +know by this time, was only an echo of Bill, which +is a pretty feeble kind of part to play in life, as +parts go.</p> + +<p>“If you had only kept your mouth shut we’d +have been all right. Horace only guessed at us,” +continued the irate Pater Primus. “I’d back you +for a flat against the world.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span></p> + +<p>“That’s so.”</p> + +<p>“Shut your head!” growled Jack. “I don’t +want to hear any more guff from either of you. +I wasn’t going to lie for you or any other fellow, +Bill French.”</p> + +<p>“We’ll kick you out of the society, see if we +don’t. You’ve broken the oaths, and you’ll be +mighty lucky if we don’t vote to make cat’s meat +of you,” persisted Bill, who, when his imagination +got working, had a nasty tongue, as the saying is. +This last fling so enraged our hero—who has +become, I think, just a little bit of a hero in spite +of his shortcomings—that he made a dash at his +chief insulter with a view to slapping his face. +But the prudent William had made sure of his +distance before venturing upon so exasperating a +speech.</p> + +<p>Jack was in no frame of mind to pursue his maligners. +He felt very much down in the mouth. +Now that the prospect of being sent home in disgrace +was imminent, the advantages of remaining +a Utopia boy seemed very great. He could not +bear the thought of being expelled, and yet he +knew that he could scarcely hope for any less serious +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span>sentence. The others would get off, and he +would have to bear the brunt of it all.</p> + +<p>In his agitation he started off at a rapid pace +without heeding where he was going. Chance led +him toward the lake, and a few moments later he +was in his wherry pulling fiercely from sheer desperation +over the tranquil water. There were not +many scullers out this afternoon, but he recognized +in the distance the shapely figure of Tom Bonsall, +whose clean-cut, sweeping stroke it was not easy +to mistake. Jack ground his teeth as he reflected +not only that he and Tom could not at present +be regarded as rivals, but that they now never +could become so. Stung by the bitterness of the +thought, he plied the oars savagely with a reckless +expenditure of energy. When at last he +gave in for a moment from sheer exhaustion, his +shell shot close past another, narrowly escaping a +collision.</p> + +<p>“Whoa, there! Hold your horses!” cried a well-known +voice.</p> + +<p>It was Carlisle’s. At any other time Jack would +have been only too glad of his friend’s company; +now his inclination was to get away from everybody. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span>Without remark he began rowing again +with lightning speed, evidently to the surprise of +Carlisle, who, after watching him for a moment, +proceeded to follow in his wake, taking it quietly, +but pulling a long, steady stroke. Jack was determined +to throw him off, but though he struggled +with all his might, his pursuer crept up on him +inch by inch without seeming to make any special +exertion. So frantically did he work to keep the +lead that he soon began to splash, and finally, to +his utter disgust, caught a crab just as Carlisle was +lapping him. Before he could recover himself they +were abreast.</p> + +<p>“My dear youngster,” began his friend without +observing Jack’s face, “you will never learn to row +if you spend yourself so soon. You can’t keep +that stroke up. It’s simply suicidal.”</p> + +<p>“Why can’t you let me alone? What right have +you to follow me?” was the fierce reply.</p> + +<p>Naturally Carlisle looked completely bewildered. +“No right, if you don’t want me to,” he said quietly. +Then he added, with kind solicitude, “What’s up, +Jack? Are you ill, old fellow?”</p> + +<p>Jack shook his head after a moment. He +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span>was looking the other way to hide his welling +tears.</p> + +<p>“Tell me what’s the trouble. Perhaps I can +help you,” said Carlisle presently.</p> + +<p>“It isn’t one thing: it’s everything,” sobbed +Jack. “However, there’ll be an end of it to-morrow,” +he continued enigmatically.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean by that?”</p> + +<p>“It was I who blew up the tool-house last night.”</p> + +<p>“You, Jack!” Carlisle exclaimed, aghast. “How +could you!”</p> + +<p>Then realizing instantly that this was not the +occasion for reproof, he hastened to ask, “Does the +Doctor know?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” said Jack, who had turned his face to +observe the effect on his friend of the first announcement.</p> + +<p>A few words made Carlisle familiar with the +whole story. Jack did not hesitate to inform him +just how matters stood, knowing that his senior +would be in honor bound not to mention to others +the conduct of Bill and Horton.</p> + +<p>“There can be only one end to it,” he said, in +conclusion. “He’ll make an example of me for +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span>the good of the school. Well, let him,” he added, +his voice again breaking, “<em>I</em> don’t care.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, you do care. The cowardly sneaks!” +ejaculated Carlisle.</p> + +<p>“If they had owned up, there would have been +three instead of one, that’s all. It wouldn’t have +helped me any. I’m glad of one thing, Louis: +Horace didn’t spot Hasy.”</p> + +<p>The other was silent a moment. “It’s all my +fault,” he burst out at last. “I ought to have +protected you against that fellow. I marked him +as a low-lived beggar before he had been here a +week. The trouble is, I am so miserably selfish +that I am taken up with my own affairs all the +time.”</p> + +<p>“Indeed, that is not true, Louis. On the contrary, +you’ve been at me all the time trying to +keep me straight. It’s no one’s fault but my own. +I see it plainly now. I’ve made an ass of myself, +and the result is I shall break my mother’s heart +by being expelled.”</p> + +<p>“Time enough to talk in that style, youngster, +when it happens. I’ll see the Doctor myself,” +continued Carlisle. “Perhaps he’ll be willing to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span>give you another chance. There’s no harm in trying, +at any rate. If he can be made to believe that +you’re ready to turn over a new leaf, I know he’ll +let you stay. But you must promise me, Jack, +that if he does, you will make a fresh deal all +round,” he added, earnestly. “I’m slack enough +myself, Heaven knows, and not fitted to give advice +to any one, but I’ve lived two or three years +longer than you; and have learned at least that a +fellow can’t do everything that he wants in this +world. One has to recognize it sooner or later. +The trouble with you, as I told you once before, is +that you want the earth. You can’t have it, and +the sooner you make up your mind to the fact the +better for you.”</p> + +<p>“I will do my best, Louis, I promise you. I +wish though I thought that there was ever a chance +of my being half so good as you.”</p> + +<p>“Nonsense, youngster. You’ve no idea,” he +added, “of what a poor thing I am.”</p> + +<p>“You are looking in first-rate condition this +term,” responded Jack, with a just perception of +how to please his friend. “I never saw a fellow +improve so in appearance as you have in a year.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span></p> + +<p>“It’s Dr. Bolles’ lectures,” said Carlisle, with a +gratified smile. “I owe it all to him.”</p> + +<p>“And if I ever improve,” observed Jack quietly, +“I shall owe it all to you, Louis.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.<br> +<small>UP-HILL.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>Three days later the whole school was called +together directly after breakfast to hear a communication +from Dr. Meredith. No one knew precisely +what was in the wind, but all sorts of rumors +had been floating about ever since the morning +subsequent to the explosion. The only one of these +that appeared to have substantial foundation was +the report which had gained currency within the +last twenty-four hours that Horton was to leave for +good. The reason was not known beyond a general +suspicion that his departure was connected with +the destruction of the tool-house. When it was +ascertained that he had actually gone early in the +morning without bidding good-by to anybody, the +excitement was at fever heat. What added to the +mystery was that Jack Hall, whose confession of +the daring deed had leaked out, still remained.</p> + +<p>Utopia was puzzled, to say the least, and was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span>very prompt in filing into the schoolroom to listen +to the expected solution of the enigma. Thither +the Doctor came too, on the stroke of the hour, +looking sad, and accompanied by all the masters, +who ranged themselves about him as at one of the +school exhibitions. Before him on the desk lay a +suggestive ferule, the unaccustomed sight of which +caused expectancy to stand on tiptoe.</p> + +<p>“Boys of Utopia School,” said Dr. Meredith +with solemnity, “as you all know, an unpardonably +malicious piece of mischief was committed +against the school property a few days since. It +was the last and most offensive in a series of deliberate +acts of insubordination which have caused me +much annoyance, and which I have put up with too +long, I am inclined to think, for the best good of +those concerned in them. By chance,” continued +the Doctor, after a moment’s delay, “suspicion fastened +itself on certain members of the school, who +were sent for by me and questioned on the subject. +One boy confessed to having been directly connected +with the explosion; the others denied all knowledge +of it. As it happened, the evidence possessed +by us was not definite enough to convict as +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span>against his own word any one of those suspected, +with a single exception, and I will add that at the +time I had no knowledge which of the boys summoned +this exception applied to. The janitor who +pursued the incendiaries on the night in question +found in the basket, which was left by them hanging +from the window, a penknife. This penknife,” said +the Doctor slowly, “was proved to belong, I regret +with deep sorrow to state, to one of the boys who +had denied in unqualified terms any knowledge of +the outrage which had been committed. That boy +is no longer a member of this school. I have +written to his parents to remove him, and early this +morning he left Utopia.</p> + +<p>“If there is anything that is odious to me,” he +continued presently, after the murmur which followed +this announcement had subsided, “and which +I am determined to root out of this school at any +cost, it is falsehood. I made a point to caution +each one of you against it, my dear boys, at the +time you entered Utopia, and my constant prayer +is that your souls may be kept clean from this +deadly foe to character. What is most threatening +to-day in the outlook for the noble development +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[304]</span>of this great democratic country of ours is +the tendency to condone too easily embezzlement, +breaches of trust, bribery, and other forms of public +and private dishonesty, the kernel of which is +deceit, and in the fostering of which lies national +ruin. If,” he said, looking round the schoolroom, +“there is any boy here to-day who is so unhappy +as to have a lie on his conscience, I beseech him as +his master and his friend to let it be there no longer. +Any punishment that he may be called upon to +bear will be as nothing compared with the evil +which concealment will work upon his character +and life.”</p> + +<p>As the Doctor paused and seemed to be waiting +for some one to step forward, each boy glanced at +his neighbor, wondering for the most part who was +meant. Jack, who had been listening with feverish +impatience to every word, refrained from looking +directly at Bill, but managed to take a peep at +him sideways. To all appearances the Pater Primus +was completely at his ease and indisposed to +follow the hint thrown out to him. No one stirred, +and the silence, which became oppressive at last, +was broken by the master, who resumed rather +sadly:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span></p> + +<p>“When the boy who was manly enough to confess +his wrong-doing left my presence the other day, +I thought that it would be necessary for me in order +to maintain the dignity of the school to inflict +the most serious punishment in my power—that +is expulsion. I should have hated to do so, for I +like the boy, deeply as I deplore the rank insubordination +and gross idleness of which he has been +guilty since he came to Utopia. I am ready to believe +that it will be more for his good to remain +among us than to be sent away in disgrace; and I +am heartily glad that the greater fault committed +by another enables me to exercise leniency in his +particular case. I have been given to understand +by those interested in him,” pursued the Doctor, +“that he is sorry for his ill behavior and anxious +to turn over a new leaf. I shall give him the +chance to do so; but I am obliged nevertheless +not to pass by without serious notice the wicked +breach of discipline which he committed in wantonly +destroying the property of the school. There +was no excuse for the act whatever, and it was singularly +unprovoked and impertinent. Therefore I +am compelled to have recourse to a form of punishment +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[306]</span>which, except in the most extreme cases, +should not be employed by a master. I am glad to +say that never before while I have been at Utopia +has it been necessary for me to whip a pupil. I am +about to do so now because of the unusual nature +of the offense of which he has been guilty.—Hall, +you will come forward to receive a public whipping.”</p> + +<p>There was a painful silence, and then poor Jack, +who had been sent for by the Doctor late on the +previous evening and informed as to what was in +store for him, arose and walked down the aisle. +His blood was boiling with shame and anger, but +at the same time he had made up his mind to submit +to the flogging and to bear it without flinching, +in acknowledgment of the kind words of encouragement +and friendship which his master had spoken +to him when he told him what his punishment was +to be,—words which made Jack see more clearly +than before how reckless and foolish he had been, +and resolve with bitter tears before he went to sleep +to try once more to resist temptation. Now, galling +as was the ordeal, and though the tears of mortification +welled into his eyes in spite of resolute +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[307]</span>biting of the lips, he walked quietly up to the +desk.</p> + +<p>Dr. Meredith had risen and stood ready with the +ferule.</p> + +<p>“Hold out your right hand, Hall.”</p> + +<p>Jack obeyed.</p> + +<p>Down came the blows—one, two, three, four, +five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, +thirteen, fourteen, fifteen;—no love pats, but genuine +hard stinging blows which were meant to hurt, +and which did hurt.</p> + +<p>“Now, the other hand.”</p> + +<p>Fifteen more followed no less scorching than their +predecessors.</p> + +<p>“That will do. You may take your seat.”</p> + +<p>Jack, whose only consolation at the moment was +that he had not winced, got back to his desk somehow +or other, and heard as in a daze the faltering +voice of his castigator in conclusion:—</p> + +<p>“I hope to heaven, my dear boys, that it will +never be necessary for me to do such a thing again. +I would much rather, believe me, that every one of +those blows had been on my own hands. The pain +would have been far less than what I suffered in inflicting +them.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[308]</span></p> + +<p>A moment later Jack knew that the school had +arisen and was pouring out of the room. He had +covered his face with his hands and bent his head +upon the desk. Sob followed sob in quick succession, +and his heart seemed to be bursting. Carlisle, +who had remained behind, stood over him and +stroked his head gently. After such an experience, +a nature strong and virile as Jack’s must needs find +a vent for its pent-up anguish. But bitter as were +his feelings, he knew in his heart that he had deserved +his punishment.</p> + +<p>It was many weeks before Jack recovered his +spirits. At first he walked about with a crestfallen +air, like one in disgrace. He kept apart by himself, +and instead of the spirited leader of old, seemed +subdued and unimpressionable. He did not enter +for the spring events either at the athletic meeting +or on the lake, and was judged by many to have +lost all interest in sports. His changed demeanor +gave a chance to Bill French to circulate the opinion +expressed at the time of his confession, that he was +a flat, and such is the tendency of boys to deprecate +what they cannot understand that there were some +who in their surprise at his apparent listlessness +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[309]</span>adopted Bill’s view of the case. Even Haseltine was +staggered at his friend’s lack of enthusiasm over the +prowess of the school nine, which, under the captaincy +of the “Kid,” had been plucking unexpected +laurels from visiting and visited teams, and rallied +him on it. Hasy, by the way, had been very sore +at heart himself that Jack alone should have had +to bear the brunt of the tool-house escapade. Accordingly, +after musing over the matter for a fortnight, +he had gone one day to the Doctor, without +mentioning the matter to any one, and made a clean +breast of his own participation in the affair, with +the expectation and almost with the hope of being +made to suffer for it. But, quite to his astonishment, +Dr. Meredith, after hearing his story and +thanking him for having had the courage to own +up, which was unquestionably the manly thing to +do under the circumstances, declined to take advantage +of the confession further than to talk to him +kindly for half an hour on the desirability of a +little more steadiness and more interest in study +on his part.</p> + +<p>“If only you felt half the concern regarding a +poor recitation that you do about muffing a fly, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[310]</span>you would be at the head of your class, Haseltine,” +the Doctor had said genially,—a proposition which +to his listener had seemed to border almost on the +ludicrous. As if, forsooth, comparison could be +made as to the relative importance of the ability to +hold on to a difficult sky-scraper and any excellence +in the class-room under the sun!</p> + +<p>Hasy’s opinion on this point was so unqualified +that a certain disposition to take his lessons more +into account, which Jack was beginning to show, +struck the young base-ball enthusiast as stronger +evidence than any other adduced of his friend’s unnatural +condition. Not that he for a moment went +over to Bill French’s faction,—indeed, his contempt +for that worthy’s behavior had been quite in +proportion to Jack’s,—but as he found it impossible +to understand how his crony could derive satisfaction +from this new habit of trying to learn his +lessons beforehand instead of letting them be hammered +into him in the schoolroom, he was naturally +puzzled and felt almost provoked. Indeed, his disapproval +of his friend’s behavior was so sweeping +that he failed to perceive that Jack in a quiet +way was getting into very good form on the river +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[311]</span>by force of daily practice under the tutorship of +Carlisle. Because Jack did not spurt, and appeared +indisposed to tackle any and everybody, the +impression was current that even in rowing, as in +everything else, he was down on his marrow-bones.</p> + +<p>So far as his own feelings went, it cannot be denied +that Jack was far from cheerful during the +weeks intervening between the date of his punishment +and the end of his fourth-class year; and +when vacation was at hand, he looked back on his +efforts at improvement with a glum heart. Secretly +and almost sullenly he had tried hard to redeem +himself; but though others might see indications of +progress, it seemed to our hero as though he was +just as much in the slough as ever. He had always +entertained the fancy that if at any time he should +take it into his head to do well at his books and +become a pattern of exemplary conduct, he would +find it a perfectly simple matter to do so. Accordingly +the poor fellow was now learning the lesson +which so many have to learn, that continued neglect +and frowardness can only be atoned for by humiliation +and despondency.</p> + +<p>These were principally experienced in regard to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[312]</span>his lessons, as he found slight difficulty in avoiding +flagrant breaches of the rules now that the meetings +of the Big Four were discontinued. The illustrious +society had never been actually disbanded; +but the transportation, so to speak, of one of its +choice spirits, and the lack of cordiality existing +between at least two of those remaining, had +caused a hiatus in its proceedings which still gaped. +An overture on the part of the Pater Primus to +meet and talk matters over was rejected by Jack and +Haseltine with scorn; and though Bill would have +liked to get together by himself, as the saying is, +and expel his mates with a view to reorganization, +he probably had some doubts regarding the constitutionality +of such a proceeding, or else was afraid +of having his head punched, for he abstained from +action in the matter.</p> + +<p>But keeping up to the mark in his Latin and history +and algebra was a very different affair, as Jack +realized as soon as he tried to buckle down to work. +He scarcely knew what to do in order to study, and +it seemed at first as though he used to make a better +showing when he trusted to luck, the prompting of +those beside him, and the various other straws at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[313]</span>which struggling dunces clutch when floundering in +recitation. The exhibitions of ignorance which he +made, now that he was bent on distinguishing himself, +covered him with confusion in the presence of +his instructors, and his hopeless attempts beforehand +to compass the mysteries of irregular verbs, +subjunctive clauses, and other grewsome obstacles +in the pathway of learning, reduced him to despair. +He detested study more than ever, and felt as though +he should never be anywhere but at the foot of his +class, struggle as he would. Pegging away seemed +to make no difference. Could any one, he asked +himself, tell from their respective showings in the +schoolroom which had prepared his lesson in advance, +Haseltine or he?</p> + +<p>When a boy has acquired a reputation for idleness, +it naturally takes time to convince those in +authority over him that he is trying to do better. +Some masters of course are quicker than others in +noting the symptoms of change, which, as has been +intimated in Jack’s case, are not apt to be obvious +at the start; and the masters at Utopia were no +exceptions to this rule. Although several of them +had discrimination enough to recognize in the poor +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[314]</span>boy’s halting, blushing efforts the germ of awakened +ambition, there were one or two who, with his recent +whipping in mind, judged these signals of distress +as indications that he was obstinately continuing +in his old ways. Consequently his mistakes +were treated by them with severity, which took the +form, according to the disposition of the master, of +stern reproof or of sarcasm. It was in vain that +Jack’s eyes filled with tears on such occasions, +for his misguided tormentors saw in them merely +the simulated grief of the crocodile or unrighteous +anger.</p> + +<p>The cup of his bitterness was filled to overflowing +one day just previous to the end of the term, +when Mr. Opdyke, his Latin master, called him up +to recite in Virgil in the presence of some visitors. +Mr. Opdyke, though ambitious that his class should +make a good appearance, being also a very conscientious +man, felt obliged to conduct the recitation just +as he would have conducted it had no stranger been +present, and consequently to call up a sprinkling of +poor as well as of good scholars, in order to give a +just impression as to the general average.</p> + +<p>Jack trembled in every limb as he heard the unwelcome +words:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[315]</span></p> + +<p>“Hall, you may go on.”</p> + +<p>The class was reading the third book of the +Æneid, and the passage which had fallen to Jack’s +lot began with the five hundred and sixty-first +line:</p> + +<div class="poetry" lang="la"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Haud minus ac jussi faciunt; primusque rudentem</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Contorsit lævas proram Palinurus ad undas;</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Lævam cuncta cohors remis ventisque petivit.</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Tollimur in cœlum curvato gurgite, et idem</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Subducta ad Manes imos desedimus unda.</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Ter scopuli clamorem inter cava saxa dedere:</div> + <div class="verse indent1">Ter spumam elisam et rorantia vidimus astra.”</div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Jack managed to scan it through tolerably well, +and then began to translate.</p> + +<p>“Not less than commanded they did”—</p> + +<p>“Mind your tense, Hall.”</p> + +<p>“Er—do”—</p> + +<p>“Go on. ‘They do not otherwise than commanded.’”</p> + +<p>“At first”—</p> + +<p>“Well? What does ‘primus’ agree with?”</p> + +<p>“Palinurus,” says Jack at length.</p> + +<p>“Correct. ‘And Palinurus was the first to turn,’ +or, literally, ‘Palinurus first turned.’ What is +‘contorsit’ from, Hall?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[316]</span></p> + +<p>“Contorgo,” essays Jack valiantly.</p> + +<p>“Nothing of the sort.—Anybody?”</p> + +<p>“‘Contorqueo,’” cries a small lad, who has shot +up his hand.</p> + +<p>“Correct, Barrows. ‘Contorqueo.’ Go on, Hall.”</p> + +<p>“And Palinurus was the first to turn the rudder”—</p> + +<p>“Where do you find anything about rudder?” +inquires Mr. Opdyke, with the irony of desperation.</p> + +<p>“‘Rudentem.’”</p> + +<p>“Indeed! Barrows, tell Hall what ‘rudentem’ +means.”</p> + +<p>“A rope,” suggests the youth named, too elated +evidently by his first success.</p> + +<p>“Timmins?”</p> + +<p>“Don’t know, sir.”</p> + +<p>“Brown?”</p> + +<p>“Roaring.”</p> + +<p>“That’s right. What part of speech is it?”</p> + +<p>“Present participle, accusative case, from ‘rudo.’”</p> + +<p>“Correct,” says Mr. Opdyke. “‘Rudens’ means +‘a rope,’ Barrows. Some authorities ascribe its +derivation to ‘rudo’ on account of the rattling +noise made by a rope. Conjugate ‘rudo,’ Barrows.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[317]</span></p> + +<p>“‘Rudo, rudire’”—</p> + +<p>“Haseltine?”</p> + +<p>“‘Rudo, rudare’”—</p> + +<p>“Brown?”</p> + +<p>“‘Rudo, rudere, rudivi, ruditum.’”</p> + +<p>“Correct; ‘rudire, to roar, bellow, bray, rattle.’ +‘Rudentem proram, the hissing prow.’ Quite the +other end of the ship to what you thought it, Hall. +You may continue.”</p> + +<p>There is an audible titter, which enrages poor +Jack, who remembers that he had spent a good ten +minutes the night before in trying to arrive at the +meaning of “rudentem.” He staggers on through +the next line by dint of Mr. Opdyke’s explanation +that “remis ventisque” means “with oars and sails,” +and is a regular phrase for “using every effort.” +He gets a little heart by successfully conjugating +“tollimur” and explaining the metaphorical use of +“Manes,” his knowledge of which is directly traceable +to study, if his master did but know. He gets +a cropper, however, in endeavoring to struggle +with “desedimus,” which he had looked for in vain +under the heads of desedo, desedeo, and disedeo. +When the omniscient Brown tells him that it is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[318]</span>the preterit of desido, Jack is ready to kick himself +in his disgust.</p> + +<p>Only two more lines remain, over which Mr. +Opdyke, believing, perhaps, that the context is a +little difficult to master, is disposed to assist him, +as, for instance, by explaining that “cava saxa” +refers to “the rocks at the bottom of the sea,” and +that “ter spumam elisam,” which Jack has not incorrectly +rendered “the foam thrice dashed to +pieces,” is significant of the mariners’ seeing the +sky through a curtain of foam.</p> + +<p>“By the way, Hall, give the principal parts of +elisam.”</p> + +<p>Jack flushes proudly. Again hard work is its +own reward.</p> + +<p>“Elido, elidere, elisi, elisum.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Opdyke may be surprised, but he does not +show it. He is the sort of man who expects his +pupils to know their lessons, and displays emotion +only when they fail. Besides, “elisam,” though a +revelation to Jack, had several times made its appearance +before during the year. He merely says +shortly,—</p> + +<p>“Well, finish.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[319]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p319"> + <img src="images/i_p319.jpg" alt="" title=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="noic">“RORANTIA ASTRA.”</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_320"></a>[320]<br><a id="Page_321"></a>[321]</span></p> + +<p>“We see,” starts off Jack, with confidence, but +he is brought up short with another “Mind your +tense.”</p> + +<p>“We saw the foam thrice dashed to pieces and +the roaring stars.”</p> + +<p>“What?”</p> + +<p>“The foam thrice dashed to pieces”—</p> + +<p>“No, no; translate ‘rorantia astra.’”</p> + +<p>“Roaring stars,” answers Jack, a trifle less assuredly +than the first time. He had felt morally +certain when he was preparing the lesson that this +must be the meaning of the phrase from the look +of it.</p> + +<p>“Indeed!” comes again with withering scorn +from his master’s lips. “Did you ever see a star +roar, Hall? I have heard of boys roaring, but +never of stars.”</p> + +<p>A shout of amusement from the class, which Mr. +Opdyke is not very prompt to suppress, greets this +somewhat significant sally. When it has subsided, +poor Jack, who is scarlet with confusion, having +been told, “That will do,” after taking his seat +hears Brown once more correct his error by explaining +that “rorantia” is the neuter accusative plural +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[322]</span>present participle of “roro,” from “ros, dew,” and +that “rorantia astra” means “dripping stars”; +as, to quote the after-remark of Mr. Opdyke for +Jack’s especial benefit, “any boy might have found +out by looking in the lexicon.”</p> + +<p>Jack’s heart, as he sat down, was sore within +him. The visitors, smiling in spite of themselves, +had evidently heard enough, for they now rose +and began to thank profusely Mr. Opdyke, whose +impassive calm boded no good, as the class well +knew, to those who had been found wanting. In +the midst of the leave-taking the bell rang, which +was the signal for the close of the recitation, and a +moment later the master turned and said, “Next +time we will stop at line six hundred and eleven. +I wish to speak to Hall a moment.”</p> + +<p>When every one else was gone Jack approached +the desk with compressed lips and with every disposition +to break down and sob. He had studied +his Virgil hard, as he thought, and though the +passage which he had been called upon to translate +was the last in the lesson, he was not conscious +of having shirked it. He had done his best, and +what a pitiful showing his best was! However, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[323]</span>although his doll seemed very full of sawdust, he +was not going to give old Opdyke the satisfaction +of perceiving his complete unhappiness.</p> + +<p>Accordingly the Latin master, who believed himself +an adept in reading youthful character, conceived +the sullen air of determination manifested +by the culprit before him as consistent with a +purpose to remain a dunce, and, acting on this +presumption, regarded the offender sternly, and +said:</p> + +<p>“My patience is exhausted, Hall. I have put up +with your negligence until I can do so no longer +with any respect for myself or regard for your +good. I shall report your case to Dr. Meredith +forthwith. There is nothing you can say which +will alter my determination,” he added sharply, as +Jack seemed about to speak.</p> + +<p>“Very well, sir,” Jack answered.</p> + +<p>Mr. Opdyke gathered up his books and was gone +without bestowing a look on his unhappy victim, +who, led by that which he had just heard to foresee +his dismissal from school, went sadly to his +room, bewailing his unlucky stars—“rorantia astra.” +The Doctor would surely take in very bad +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[324]</span>part this report of neglected studies coming so soon +after his former disgrace.</p> + +<p>In his unhappy plight he decided to go to Carlisle, +to whom he told the story of his misfortunes +and from whom he obtained the sympathy he was +in need of. For Carlisle had not failed to observe +Jack’s efforts to overcome the difficulties of the +Æneid in spite of his young crony’s unwillingness +to come to him for help, and was able with sincerity +to support the dejected lad’s protestation +that he had really studied hard.</p> + +<p>“Studied! You have studied like a Trojan, +Jack. It’s an outrage in Opdyke to accuse you of +negligence. It serves you right, though, for not +letting me tutor you a bit. ‘Rudentem, the rudder,’—and +what was the other? Oh, yes,—‘roaring +stars.’ Excuse my laughing, old fellow, +you outdid yourself.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t care so much what Opdyke thinks,” +said Jack ruefully, “but I can’t bear to have the +Doctor suppose I’m the same old quarter of a dollar. +It’s no use my trying to learn anything, +though. The harder I work the worse exhibition +I make. When you’re gone next year, I don’t +know what’ll become of me.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[325]</span></p> + +<p>“But I shan’t be gone. I’m going to remain +another year.”</p> + +<p>“Really?” exclaimed Jack jubilantly. “What +has induced you to change your mind? When did +you decide?”</p> + +<p>“Only this morning. I’ve been talking it over +with Dr. Bolles, and he thinks it would be more +sensible of me not to go to college for another year. +There’s no hurry, for I’m only seventeen, and +though I’m feeling first-rate he believes that by +waiting I should build myself up completely. So +I’m to pass my entrance examinations this June +and come back to the school as assistant in Latin +next fall. It’s all arranged; and you’ll have to +mind your P’s and Q’s, I can tell you, when you’re +reciting to me, youngster.”</p> + +<p>These last weeks of the school year were always +busy ones in every sense. Beside being examination +time, at the close of which was the annual exhibition +day when the parents and friends of the +boys came often from a great distance to see their +sons declaim or recite in public, they were busy +also in an athletic way. On the morning preceding +that on which the prize declamation was held +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[326]</span>it had become an established custom for the four +eight-oared crews to compete together and subsequently +for the best single scullers at Utopia to demonstrate +by a two-mile contest which could pull +the fastest. During the same week also the school +nine endeavored to pit itself against the most formidable +base-ball team that could be lured to +Utopia.</p> + +<p>This year, as you already know, Jack took no active +part in either of the aquatic tussles. He saw, +as was expected, the Mohicans again crowned cocks +of the lake, chiefly owing to the dashing stroke set +them by Tom Bonsall, and heard with a feeling +akin to envy the statement go the rounds that Tom +was to have a walk-over in the single-scull contest. +There were no entries against him, and by paddling +over the course he would have the right to claim +the silver cup annually put up as a prize by a generous +patron of the school. Somehow or other +there was just at this time a dearth of fast scullers +among the boys of the first two years, and here +was a third-classer sweeping all before him without +opposition even.</p> + +<p>The single-scull race had been fixed for as late +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[327]</span>as possible in the afternoon, in order to give any +one who had taken part in the four-oared contest +time to get rested. But, naturally, as few foresaw +any amusement in watching Tom go over the course +alone, interest in the event was very slight until +the rumor got abroad shortly after twelve o’clock +that Carlisle was going to have a try for the cup. +It had already been announced early in the day not +only that he had come out at the head of the school, +but that his standing in the way of scholarship was +proportionately higher than that of any previous +Utopian. No one was surprised at this; but the +news of his entry for the single sculls caused a veritable +sensation, which found voice in a general +prediction that he would be beaten. As for Jack, +when he heard it, he waved his cap above his head +and shouted himself hoarse. He had such faith in +his friend’s ability to do anything that he tried to +do, that, as astounding as the announcement was, +even to him, Jack would not permit himself to +doubt the result. The odds were ostensibly against +Louis, it is true, for Tom was the pink of condition +and was open to slight criticism in the way of +style, as Jack was very well aware, and I don’t +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[328]</span>think our hero was quite able yet to appreciate +to the full the value in such an affair of steady, +systematic training void of splurge or notoriety, +although familiar with the fact that his friend was +in excellent practice. And yet, notwithstanding, +Jack had a hope which from the first amounted +almost to conviction that Carlisle would win.</p> + +<p>It was a great race—that battle royal between +Tom Bonsall and Louis Carlisle, and properly is +recorded among the famous rowing matches of +Utopia School. If this book was not devoted +chiefly to the experiences of another hero, I should +like nothing better than to describe in detail how +the two oarsmen, who were well matched in point +of size, pulled an even race to within a quarter of a +mile of the finish at a pace but little below that of +the best school record; how the younger boy in his +desire to overcome his antagonist increased his +speed and gained a lead of half a boat’s length, to +the delight of his backers, only to get blown and +yield his advantage, inch by inch, until the rival +shells were once more abreast; and how Tom in +his distress then lost his head and began to splash, +giving an opportunity for his senior’s steady, thoroughly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[329]</span>digested stroke to bring him to the fore and +win the race with comparative ease amid the vociferous +cheers of a rapturous crowd, among whom +there was no one more wild with transport than +our friend Jack. It was a fit ending to the victor’s +career at Utopia,—a career which had won him no +enemies, and gained for him the respect and affection +of masters and pupils alike, most of whom, +however, as they admired him walking up to the +boat-house, apparently still fresh and a picture of +ruddy health, had but little appreciation of how +largely he owed his great increase in vigor to knowledge +of his own needs and to self-restraint—qualities +whose value in the foundation of character it +would be difficult to overestimate.</p> + +<p>But for lack of space I might doubtless narrate +also with abundant circumlocution, and not fear to +tire those of you most fond of base-ball, how the +Stars won a victory by a single run—a ten innings +game—from the school nine in spite of the +stimulating presence of applauding friends—some +of them of the gentler sex—decked with the Utopia +color; and despite, too, the fact that the “Kid” +was in magnificent form, and our friend Hasy had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[330]</span>been within a fortnight, on account of his brilliancy +at the bat and in the field, made permanently a +member of the team in the position of third-base +man, which you will remember was the same proud +position he filled when with the formidable Rising +Suns. How the defeat came about it was not easy +to explain, as every one had felt sure of the game, +which suggests that we are very apt in this world +to come to grief when we despise our adversaries. +It was a good thing for the “Kid,” however, and +for Haseltine too, to have the conceit knocked out +of them, as I have no doubt the Doctor thought +also, seeing that the nine had carried all before +it hitherto during the term. It does not do for +boys, or for men either, who wish to hold their own +and to go on improving, to get too cocky.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding these diversions, Jack could not +help feeling very nervous in regard to the outcome +of Mr. Opdyke’s report to the Doctor, of which he +had heard nothing, although a fortnight had now +elapsed since his pitiful recitation in Virgil. Since +then he had been in to the yearly examinations in +the various subjects allotted to boys of his year, +but without feeling much encouraged to believe +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[331]</span>that he had made a good showing. It was a new +experience to him to be worrying as to whether or +not he had answered this or that question correctly, +and yet he was so wrapped up in trying not to be +at the foot of the class that he could think of nothing +else. It seemed to him as though he could no +longer bear the thought of being regarded as an +idle, lazy fellow.</p> + +<p>Before breakfast, on the morning of the school +exhibition, he received word that he was to go to +Dr. Meredith’s study, a summons which made him +feel sick at heart, for he believed that he knew +what was in store for him. Greatly to his surprise +he was greeted by the head master with a pleasant +smile, and could scarcely believe his ears as he listened +to these words:—</p> + +<p>“Hall, your work during the past term has been +a great improvement on what you have done before. +There is great room for improvement yet, +my dear boy, but if you continue as you have begun +there will soon be no cause to complain of +you.”</p> + +<p>There can be little doubt that Jack went home +for vacation with a light heart, especially when I +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[332]</span>add that he had the satisfaction of being assured by +Carlisle, just before they parted for the summer, +that if he would only stick to his present stroke +and not try to get on too fast, he would certainly +in time give that rising young oarsman, Bonsall, all +he could do to keep his laurels.</p> + +<p>“I’ve taught Bonsall a lesson, though, that +he’ll be quick to profit by, if he’s the clever fellow +I judge him to be,” said Carlisle. “You’ve no +child’s play cut out for you, youngster; it’ll be +nip and tuck between you, and all I can say is, let +the best man win when the time comes. I hope I +shall be on hand to see the struggle.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[333]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.<br> +<small>NIP AND TUCK.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>With the beginning of the third-class year Jack +entered upon the second half of his life at Utopia. +One day early in the new term he dropped into +the more spacious study to which Carlisle, in his +capacity of assistant in Latin, had been promoted, +and falling into a chair exclaimed, “I say, Louis, +I would like something to read.”</p> + +<p>“To read, my dear fellow? With all my heart. +What shall it be?”</p> + +<p>“That’s what I’ve come to you to tell me. +I’ve never read anything and I want to begin.”</p> + +<p>As you have doubtless noticed, Carlisle had +hitherto in his intercourse with Jack kept in the +background his most cherished tastes, and rarely, +if ever, made allusion to books or other kindred interests, +feeling sure that he would not find a sympathetic +listener. But from this time forward the +scope of their friendship was greatly widened. It +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[334]</span>was a simple matter for the older boy to gratify +the desire of his interrogator, and before many +weeks had passed by Jack had become an eager +devourer of literature, held in check from proceeding +too rapidly, however, by the injunction to digest +thoroughly what he read.</p> + +<p>“I only wish I had had somebody to impress the +importance of that upon me when I started,” Carlisle +remarked to him early in their new intercourse. +“I read everything I could lay my hands on as fast +as I could see the words. Consequently I forgot +half what I read.”</p> + +<p>“Were all these books given to you?” asked +Jack, indicating the modest little library of which +his friend was the happy possessor.</p> + +<p>“No, indeed. I purchased most of them with +what I have saved from my spending money. Long +before I was your age I used to save up every cent +I got to spend in books. I shall never forget my +delight when I was able to buy the copy of ‘The +Lady of the Lake,’ above your head there.”</p> + +<p>Jack had never read “The Lady of the Lake.” +Indeed, he had never read any poetry in his life, and +what is more, had in his ignorance cherished the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[335]</span>belief that poetry was silly stuff, fit only for girls +and milksops, and quite beneath the notice of a +masculine individual like himself. This belief he +was obliged to confess ill-founded after finishing +the thrilling encounter between Snowdon’s knight +and the formidable Roderick Dhu. In fact, so +great was his delight with both this poem and +“Marmion,” which Carlisle introduced him to immediately +after, that he saw fit to learn passages +from each of them by heart, much to the bewilderment +and ill-concealed disdain of Haseltine, in +whose presence he was disposed to rehearse them.</p> + +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“‘Come one, come all, this rock shall fly</div> + <div class="verse indent2">From its firm base as soon as I,’”</div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noi">he began one morning while they were dressing, +assuming a martial attitude before the bath-room +door, and armed with a base-ball bat.</p> + +<p>“Oh, come off,” said Haseltine contemptuously. +“Quit that stuff!”</p> + +<p>“It isn’t stuff,” expostulated Jack. “You ought +to read it; it’s immense.”</p> + +<p>“What is?”</p> + +<p>“‘The Lady of the Lake,’ by Scott. There’s +‘Marmion,’ too.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[336]</span></p> + +<div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“‘Charge, Chester, charge! on, Stanley, on!</div> + <div class="verse indent2">Were the last words of Marmion,’”</div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noi">he added, waving the bat.</p> + +<p>“Anything about base-ball in it?”</p> + +<p>“Of course not, Hasy. It’s poetry.”</p> + +<p>“I don’t see what difference that makes. Any +way, I guess prose is good enough for me.”</p> + +<p>“Will you read ‘The Lady of the Lake’ if I +lend it to you?” asked Jack. He was genuinely +eager to share the pleasure of his new discovery.</p> + +<p>Haseltine did not commit himself on the point, +but Jack left the volume in his crony’s room, and +experienced the satisfaction a few days later of hearing +him ask, carelessly,—</p> + +<p>“What did you say the name of the other book +was?”</p> + +<p>“‘Marmion.’”</p> + +<p>“I guess I’ll look it over now that my hand’s in.”</p> + +<p>This was scarcely enthusiasm, to judge by the +mere words; but Jack knew well that Haseltine +must have been greatly interested in order to have +said even so much, an estimate which was confirmed +a fortnight later, when the base-ball devotee accepted +an invitation to read two hours in every +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[337]</span>week with him and Carlisle. This arrangement, +which lasted through the year, soon became a source +of extreme delight to both the boys, who listened +with open ears to the various pieces of verse which +their mentor selected for their edification. Carlisle +took pains to explain that he was himself a mere +student and beginner, and to encourage diversity of +opinion, and consequent discussion, in regard to the +merits of what was read. It must have been interesting +to him to note the gradual change which took +place in the tastes of his auditors, though be it said +that Haseltine, to the last, refused to admit any +passage in the realm of verse to be superior to that +which described the once sneered-at duel between +the Scottish king and the Highland rebel. Both +their hearts, and more particularly Jack’s, were +opened, however, to the beauties of more thoughtful +poetry, which, and also the feelings and aspirations +begotten by it, became new and working influences +in their lives.</p> + +<p>I am quite aware that this side of Jack’s career +cannot be made to appear so attractive to you boys +by means of description as some of the more picturesque +matters in which he was engaged; but if he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[338]</span>were called upon to-day to state what period in his +school life he looks back upon with the greatest satisfaction +since going out into the busy world, I know +that he would specify that during which he acquired +his love of reading and interest in refined thought. +You remember that, though, when he went home +encouraged by Dr. Meredith’s kind words at the end +of his fourth-class year, he was certainly entitled to +great credit for having made so determined a fight +against his inveterate habit of idleness, he was at the +time little more than a rough, harum-scarum sort of +a boy,—a plucky one, I admit, with plenty of good +stuff in him,—but nevertheless comparatively +thoughtless, and confined in his interests to the +ball field and boat-house. Before another year had +passed, while he was once more in excellent spirits, +there was something about his expression which +caused the other boys to speak of him as older-looking. +But Carlisle and the ever-observant head of +the school recognized with pleasure that his graver +countenance and less flighty manner were significant +of more than seniority.</p> + +<p>Our hero’s prowess in the way of sport was +chiefly marked this year by his selection as one of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[339]</span>the Atalantas, in whose boat he was given the position +of number four, and had the satisfaction of doing +his best to make the crew formidable opponents +of the still victorious Mohicans. The Atalantas had +fallen to the rank of third on the lake in the last +race in which the four eight-oared crews had met; +but this infusion of new blood—there were two +other additions beside Jack—enabled them to come +in second in the spring contest, and not a very bad +second either. So fresh were they in fact at the +finish, that Tom Bonsall had to call on his crew for +an extra spurt when he supposed the race already +won.</p> + +<p>Jack managed also, before another twelvemonth +had passed, to throw Carpenter flat on his back +and pin his shoulders to the ground in the middle-weight +spring wrestling, in retaliation for that athlete’s +victory over him when they were both classed +as feather weights. He wisely recognized his limitations +on the running track, however, which a gain +of ten pounds in weight had intensified, by not trying +to compete with Jessup, who was still easily first +as a sprinter. If Hopedale, who, you will recall, +had beaten him twice in previous years, had been +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[340]</span>still at Utopia, Jack might have found it difficult to +resist the temptation of making another struggle +for supremacy; but his old antagonist was no longer +at the school. It was a wise decision on his part, +for the champion succeeded in lowering Carlisle’s +famous record amid tumultuous applause.</p> + +<p>Jack’s general reputation at this time was as a +good all-round man; a reputation which he was +urged to maintain by the intelligent superintendent +of the gymnasium, Dr. Bolles, between whom and +Jack there was mutual cordiality of feeling. Dr. +Bolles, as you will remember, had been pleased +by Jack’s compact physique from the first day he +laid eyes on him, and had ever since lost no occasion +to drop valuable hints as to how it might be +improved and taken care of. Jack had long ago +learned from this source the weak points in his +make-up, and was well versed in his instructor’s +theory, that it was foolish for boys to cultivate +chiefly those parts of the body which were especially +well developed. In the opinion of Dr. Bolles, athletics +were intended as a means for improving the +health and structure of the young, not as an end to +the pursuit of which they should devote their entire +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[341]</span>energies; and he was emphatic in his cautions to +Jack not to be led astray in this respect.</p> + +<p>“Remember,” he would say, “that however important +it may seem to you to win this or the other +match, the real object of exercise is to fit you for the +serious work that you will be called upon to do as a +man. The moment you sacrifice everything to +sport, you are to all intents and purposes a professional, +which is the last thing you were sent to +school to become.”</p> + +<p>Although this view of athletics was novel to Jack, +he was forced to admit to himself that it was in +keeping with the other ideas regarding human duty +and obligation which had suddenly been revealed to +him as a consequence of his more sober life and the +masterpieces of intelligent thought with which his +mind was being brought in daily contact. He was +able now to understand Carlisle’s previous determination +not to dissipate his energies in too many directions, +and to pursue his training at the oar with the +aim first of all of keeping in good condition so as to +be able to fulfill his school work satisfactorily. Study +did not come easy yet to Jack. Far from it, in fact. +It takes a long time to recover lost ground and cover +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[342]</span>new at the same time. Often indeed he felt pretty +well discouraged and inclined to believe that he +should never do anything at his books. Though by +no means dull, he possessed little more than average +brightness, which made the contrast which he could +not help forming at times between himself and his +mentor stand out with painful distinctness. Carlisle +was so quick-minded, and acquired everything that +he undertook to learn so easily, that Jack could not +help expressing openly his despair of ever coming +within understanding distance even of his friend.</p> + +<p>“Nonsense!” Carlisle would reply on such occasions; +“you were a little late in beginning, that’s +all. Persevere, youngster, and you’ll come out all +right in the end.”</p> + +<p>There was good advice in this, for though Jack +would never be likely through lack of natural abilities +and taste to equal his senior in intellectual acumen, +there was no reason why he should not become +an excellent scholar and graduate with distinction +by means of that very valuable quality—which is +too apt to be depreciated as a gift—known as perseverance. +Some boys will always be by disposition +quicker witted and more brilliant than their fellows, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[343]</span>but it does not follow by any means that the prizes +of after-life fall to these “Admirable Crichtons.” +Stubborn, bull-dog, up-hill climbing and untiring +determination to succeed will many a time win +place and honor when easy-going talent goes to the +wall. Don’t let any one persuade you, boys, that +you can equal all at once some companion who learns +his lessons twice as easily as you do. God gives unequal +gifts to his children, and if the one you have +in mind is as resolute as you, no amount of industry +will enable you to catch him. But, though your +abilities may appear commonplace to begin with, +you have no idea how many of those exasperatingly +clever fellows you will leave safely in the rear before +the race of life is over, if only you make the +most of yourself by persevering unflaggingly from +start to finish.</p> + +<p>One day not long before the summer vacation +Carlisle came into his study, where Jack who had +the run of it happened to be pegging away at some +lesson, and dropping into the window-seat began to +look over the just issued copy of “The Utopian,” +the school paper, of which he had been an editor +until he graduated, and to which he was still an +occasional contributor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[344]</span></p> + +<p>“The Utopian” was conducted by a board of six +taken from the three upper classes, who solicited +articles and poems from the entire school, and was +a breezy neat-looking little publication containing, +beside local items of interest and detailed accounts +of the triumphs and reverses of the nine, the fifteen, +and the other athletic organizations, numerous +imaginative pieces in prose and verse. Carlisle had +for several years been one of its strongest supporters, +and both in the capacity of “funny man” and +poet had done much to keep its columns readable. +Consequently he was familiar with the pseudonym +and style of the usual contributors.</p> + +<p>After reading out one or two stray bits of humor +which he came across and over which he chuckled +contentedly, and dubbing as “dishwater” a poem +involving a love affair which doubtless he judged +appertained rather to the mind’s eye than to the +experience of the narrator, he was silent a moment. +Then he said:</p> + +<p>“I wonder who ‘Juvenis’ is.”</p> + +<p>“Juvenis?” asked Jack, with apparent nonchalance, +glancing at him furtively.</p> + +<p>“Yes; there’s a fellow signs himself ‘Juvenis’ +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[345]</span>to some lines on the Ocean. It isn’t a very original +subject, but whoever he is, he has seen the ocean +any way and knows what it looks like. It isn’t +bad at all,” he added.</p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p345"> + <img src="images/i_p345.jpg" + alt="Yes; there’s a fellow signs himself ‘Juvenis.’" + title="Yes; there’s a fellow signs himself ‘Juvenis.’"> +</figure> + +<p>If the ex-editor had chanced to regard his companion’s +face at the moment he must have obtained +an instant clue as to the identity of the unknown +rhymester. Jack was tickled to death, so to speak, +for this was the first information he had received of +the acceptance of his poem which he had inclosed +and addressed to the editors of the Utopian a fortnight +before in the secrecy of his own room, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[346]</span>with very little hope of its escape from the wastepaper +basket. To have in addition to the consciousness +of knowing that it was actually in print, Carlisle +of all men vouchsafe a word of praise in its behalf +seemed to him like piling Pelion on Ossa. At +least he felt as much up in the world as he could +possibly have felt if standing on a pinnacle composed +of those two mountains.</p> + +<p>While he was deliberating whether or not to reveal +his authorship, Carlisle renewed the conversation +by asking to Jack’s infinite amusement:</p> + +<p>“Why shouldn’t you try your hand at something +of the sort, youngster? If poetry isn’t in your +line, write prose.”</p> + +<p>“What’s the use?” responded our hero, with a +well simulated attempt at indifference.</p> + +<p>“What’s the use of anything? In the first place, +composition teaches you to systematize your thoughts +and to express yourself with clearness. I believe, too, +in cultivating the imagination. Of course every +fellow who writes verse isn’t a poet and is apt to +be a fool if he thinks himself one, but his mind +gets pleasure and profit out of the exercise. Take +these lines I just spoke to you about,” continued +Carlisle, “they’re not much as poetry of course.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[347]</span></p> + +<p>“Oh, no,” interjected Jack, a little dolefully, off +his guard.</p> + +<p>“But the author must have derived a great deal +of satisfaction from writing them, and can evidently +do much better work with practice. If you ask +‘what’s the use,’ I can’t express it to you in dollars +and cents, but I’m mighty certain that everything +of that sort is good for one, and helps one to understand +life better.”</p> + +<p>Jack began to laugh merrily. “That’s the best +rise I’ve seen for a long time,” he said.</p> + +<p>“I fail to see the rise.”</p> + +<p>“You will, though, when I tell you that I am the +author of the Lines on the Ocean.”</p> + +<p>“You, Jack! Well, that’s a good one on me, +I admit. You might have let me into the secret, I +think,” added Carlisle reproachfully.</p> + +<p>“You see it was not a very original subject”—</p> + +<p>“None of that, now. You may thank your stars, +youngster, that I didn’t pitch into your verses. I +might have stabbed you to the heart unwittingly.”</p> + +<p>“In which case their authorship would have died +with me. I knew you’d feel obliged to tell me exactly +what you thought of them if I showed them +to you, so I kept mum.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[348]</span></p> + +<p>“Well, you’ve heard my opinion of them, and I +don’t know that I have anything to add except that +for a first attempt they’re highly creditable,” said +Carlisle.</p> + +<p>Jack was excessively proud of his new accomplishment, +and lost no time in showing the verses +to Haseltine, who, after reading them to the end, +observed laconically,—</p> + +<p>“They’re not up to ‘The Lady of the Lake.’”</p> + +<p>Beyond this general criticism Haseltine did not +choose to commit himself, but being nowadays less +disposed than formerly to sniff at matters unconnected +with base-ball, he also abstained from any +observations in depreciation of poetry writing. But +though, as we have seen, not wholly unamenable to +culture, Hasy was true, heart and soul, to his first +love. No arguments had yet been able to shake +his unswerving allegiance to base-ball, and, as a +consequence, his daily increasing proficiency at that +game was giving him an enviable reputation on the +diamond, so much so, that it was universally conceded +that he would succeed the “Kid” as captain +of the school nine at the beginning of the coming +year. His fielding was really remarkable for so +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[349]</span>young a fellow. He seemed to be in a dozen places +at the same moment, and the batsman who dared to +let anything drive within a wide radius of third +base was sure to be discomfited. His base running +was a marvel to behold, and his batting record +by no means inferior. His most recent ambition +was to pitch, and his twisters had already brought +him into repute on the several occasions when he +had been called into the box to relieve the “Kid.” +In his studies he managed to tag along just above +the bottom of the class. A certain brightness, a +clever knack of guessing correctly, it might be +called, saved him from absolute disaster, and made +him popular with his masters despite themselves.</p> + +<p>With the opening of their second-class year both +Jack and he found themselves among the leaders +of the school. Its cock was now undeniably Tom +Bonsall, who, in addition to being a member of the +first class, stroke oar of the Mohicans, and champion +sculler of Utopia, was justly entitled to be +styled a rattling good fellow. Tom had, however, +the air of feeling his oats, as the saying is, in spite +of the lesson in humility which Carlisle had taught +him, and, if he had a fault, was open to criticism +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[350]</span>on the score of vanity. What Tom Bonsall could +not do was not worth doing, school opinion generally +held, which was a sentiment full of danger +to his career unless he chanced to possess an uncommonly +level head.</p> + +<p>Both Tom and Jack had filled out amazingly during +this last twelvemonth. Tom was still the heavier +of the two, and was a year older to boot; but +his rival looked beefy enough and sinewy enough +not to excite invidious comparisons. Indeed, if one +had looked them in turn squarely in the face, I +think he would, if a shrewd judge, have been struck +by how clear Jack’s eyes were and how fresh and +free from pallor or staleness his complexion was, +slightly to the prejudice of Tom, who, to tell the +truth, had got a little into the habit of smoking +cigarettes and being careless about his condition. +It is pretty hard for a fellow as popular as Tom not +to have to suit everybody more or less in order not +to lose ground, and as Bill French and two or three +others of the same stamp had a certain amount of +influence in the school, he thought it good policy to +keep on the right side of them, though disapproving +of their general ways. This is a dangerous sort of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[351]</span>game to play, and finer fellows at the start even +than Tom Bonsall have learned it to their cost.</p> + +<p>But little reference of late has been made to the +wily Bill, for the reason that after the tool-house +episode his intimacy with Jack perceptibly waned. +But though he has not figured in these pages, it +must not be supposed that he had ceased to be a +potent influence at Utopia, or, alas! that he had +changed in character. Bill’s lie set an effectual +seal on any budding virtues that may have been +dormant in his soul and crushed them hopelessly, it +is to be feared. Bill was not a villain, in the approved +sense of the word. Quite otherwise, in fact. +He had plenty of good points in that he was clever, +entertaining, and, on the whole, amiable; but the +trouble with him, as you have, I hope, appreciated, +was that he was a coward. His tastes and impulses +led him to avoid all that was open and above board, +and to prefer just the opposite. You remember how +he displayed these traits earlier in his career, and +you will readily understand that now, instead of following +any of the pursuits which the manly boys at +the school took delight in, he found his chief gratification +in posing as a flawless dandy, by which word +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[352]</span>“flawless” I do not refer to his moral attributes but +to his personal appearance. Bill and his set—for +he had a number of more or less ardent disciples in +this proclivity—aped with wonderful precision so +far as they dared, and much further in secret than +the laws allowed, the manners of weary men about +town who think they know everything about life, +and are tired of what they know. Even in the +days of the Big Four this had been somewhat +Bill’s drift, but he had developed it latterly to perfection.</p> + +<p>I bring him before you again that you may take +one last glimpse of him and his ways, and form +your own opinion regarding them both before he +vanishes from our sight forever. I wish with all +my heart that I were able truthfully to state that +he came to grief before he left Utopia. To inform +you that he was sent away on account of his evil +example would be much more satisfactory from the +point of view of romance and retributive justice, +than to write as I am forced to do, that, although +he was suspected and disapproved of by the masters, +he managed to keep his ill doings so dark that +he was never actually found out up to that time. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[353]</span>But we must take facts as they are, not as we +would like to have them. I do not wish to give +you the idea that Bill was hopeless,—though I regret +to add that since he graduated from Utopia +he has done little to encourage one to believe that +he will ever be a useful member of society,—but it +must be borne in mind in estimating character that +the stereotyped villain such as was referred to just +now is a rare exception except in city slums, and +that the sort of person most dangerous to the welfare +of our community as it exists at present is +not the cut-throat or burglar whom the policeman +knows very well how to deal with, but the sneering +advocate of licentiousness and self-indulgence +and low standards of honor. Boys like Bill do not +become thoroughly bad all at once. They deteriorate +gradually. One thing leads to another, and +though if no redeeming influence is brought to bear +upon them in time their degeneration is wofully +certain, there is often little about them to attract +the unfavorable attention of those who do not know +them well. Sometimes they are never found out +at all by the world at large; but you may be pretty +sure that, as the years roll by, if they do not reveal +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[354]</span>themselves by their unworthy deeds or the expression +of their faces, their hearts are sad and sore. +Life has lost for them its savor even in an evil sense, +and everything seems to them as the poet says, +“weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable.” But to be +anxious that vice should be its own punishment, +much less that wrong-doers should have strict justice +meted out to them, is concern unworthy for +thorough-going characters to entertain. Let the +bad boys go their ways, and do not trouble your +heads with wondering when and how they will be +made to suffer for their unrighteousness. You will +have plenty to do to guide your own footsteps and +to steer clear of the pitfalls which have engulfed +many a lad secure in the consciousness of his own +power to resist temptation. For my part I pity +Bill French and hope sincerely that he may yet +turn out a decent fellow.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, with Carlisle away at college, where +he had entered with flying colors, the new year +saw Jack thrown on his own resources, which, +though a doleful experience at first on account of +his separation from his dear friend, was perhaps +just what he needed to give force to his character. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[355]</span>He had become one of the older boys of the school, +and instead of looking up to others was in a position +to be looked up to himself by the lads in the +lower classes, the consciousness of which was not +slow to breed in him a sense of responsibility as +to keeping an eye on youngsters who, like himself +not so very long ago, were in need of a helping +hand. He was now also one of the six editors of +“The Utopian,” an honor conferred upon him in +virtue of several articles both in prose and verse +which had emanated from his pen as a result of the +favorable reception accorded to his Lines on the +Ocean. His pseudonym “Juvenis” was well known +in school circles, and his energy in securing both +contributors and subscribers never faltered. He +was the means of introducing a number of new +features into the paper, most popular among which +was a series of florid, but racy and pertinent observations +on the national game appearing in every +issue signed enigmatically “Third Base,” which was +merely an ostrich-like concealment of the identity +of the captain of the school nine. Haseltine had +regarded the proposition to become literary to this +extent with favor from the very outset, and from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[356]</span>the very outset also his lucubrations were so immensely +popular that extracts from them found +their way into the columns of the real press of the +county, much to the satisfaction of their author.</p> + +<p>But deeply in earnest as Jack had grown to be +in his efforts to do his duty and to please his +mother, which two ends not unnaturally were synonymous +in his mind, and faithfully as he stuck +to his school work during his year in the second +class, he was looking forward with anxious but +keen and determined anticipation to the day when +he should have the opportunity to row man for +man against his rival, to decide once for all which +was the better oarsman of the two. It had become +a matter of school knowledge and discussion that +these two crack scullers—for they were now both +recognized as such—were to settle this question at +the spring races, and great was the difference of +opinion as to the result. Each had his enthusiastic +backers who believed in their champion’s ability to +leave his opponent far in the rear, and but little +else was talked about out of school hours but the +respective merits of Tom Bonsall and Jack Hall.</p> + +<p>As Tom was to graduate this year, this was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[357]</span>Jack’s last chance to prove himself his superior. +Consequently neither of them allowed the other +to outdo him in practice, and though apparently +they both avoided testing each other’s mettle in +advance, their respective shells were visible at +opposite ends of the lake at least once a day during +the spring preceding the race.</p> + +<p>Great preparations were made for the contest, +and in order that the scullers might be perfectly +fresh, the eight-oared race was fixed for the day +after. But great as was the excitement, it was +nothing compared with what it became when, a +week before the important event, Dr. Meredith +announced his intention of competing for the prize +himself.</p> + +<p>The report ran like wildfire through the school. +“Have you heard the news?” every one asked his +neighbor. “The Doctor is going in for the single +sculls against Bonsall and Hall. He hasn’t rowed +in a race, you know, since Whiteside crawled up +on him so.”</p> + +<p>Whiteside’s struggle was, of course, merely a +tradition to five sixths of the boys, but it was one +which had been handed down from class to class +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[358]</span>as an event yet without parallel in the annals of +Utopia. The very fact that the Doctor had never +entered a race since then had been tacitly accepted +as proof that there were no longer competitors +among his pupils sufficiently formidable to render +a victory on his part otherwise than easy, and it is +needless to state that the present announcement +was regarded as a profound compliment to the +condition of aquatics at the school. As to what +the result of the race would be, few saw room to +doubt. The Doctor was always in condition; the +Doctor was always in practice; the Doctor was +sure to win.</p> + +<p>The opinion of the many was shared also by his +two competitors, who discussed the matter from +every standpoint. Neither of them could hope to +beat the Doctor, but they were resolved that he +should not carry off the prize without pulling for +all he was worth from start to finish. So Tom and +Jack vowed on the evening before the race as they +stood side by side on the boat-house flat, watching +their adversary shoot over the water in a final +practice spin. If gritted teeth and determination +could be of avail, the head of the school had no +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[359]</span>sinecure in the task which he had taken on +himself.</p> + +<p>The appointed day dawned bright and still. Jack, +who had lain awake during the early hours of the +night through excitement, was awakened from a +deep, refreshing sleep by a well-known knock, +which caused him to leap out of bed and open the +door.</p> + +<p>“Louis, where on earth did you spring from?”</p> + +<p>“Jack, how <em>are</em> you?”</p> + +<p>The two boys stood shaking hands and laughing +delightedly for some moments before Carlisle—it +was he of course—saw fit to explain in answer +to his friend’s question that he had run up from +college on purpose to see the race. There was a +leeway of three days, he said, between two of his +examinations, and he had managed to get away.</p> + +<p>“It was awfully good of you, Louis.”</p> + +<p>“Nonsense, youngster! I had promised to come +if I could, you know, and I wouldn’t miss it for +the world.”</p> + +<p>“Have you heard whom I am to row against?” +asked Jack feverishly.</p> + +<p>Carlisle nodded. He had been told everything +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[360]</span>by Horace Hosmer driving up from the station, it +appeared, and been waylaid moreover by half the +school, eager to know his opinion as to the result, +and to give theirs.</p> + +<p>“Have I any show, Louis, do you think?”</p> + +<p>“You ought to know better than I, Jack. I +haven’t seen you row for a year.”</p> + +<p>“I can’t bear the idea of coming in third. Somehow +I feel as if I should have a better show if the +Doctor were out of it.”</p> + +<p>“Too late to talk that way now,” said Carlisle. +“You must brace.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, I’m braced, never fear. It’s merely like +talking to another self to talk to you.”</p> + +<p>The race had been fixed for ten o’clock. The +lake was reported to be like a mirror, and the day +unexceptionable from an oarsman’s point of view. +Jack ate a fairly substantial breakfast at eight, and +at Carlisle’s suggestion remained quietly until nine +in his own room, from which he emerged in an +overcoat worn over his boating costume, a crimson +and black striped jersey and crimson handkerchief,—the +uniform of the Atalantas,—and a nondescript +pair of trowsers. Haseltine was waiting before +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[361]</span>the door with a trap, borrowed from one of +the farmers, so as to spare his champion the unnecessary +fatigue of a walk, in which the three +bestowed themselves. Hasy announced that the +Doctor and Tom Bonsall had already gone down +to the boat-house.</p> + +<p>The quadrangle, as they jogged through it, looked +completely deserted, and not a head was to be +seen in any of the dormitory windows, a condition +of affairs which was fully accounted for by the +appearance of the lake and its borders when they +arrived. Every boy who possessed a boat was out +in it, and the water was dotted with every variety +of craft from a Rob Roy canoe to the steam launch +recently presented to the school by a fond graduate, +which was occupied by Mrs. Meredith, the judges, +and some of the principal guests whom Founders’ +Day—as the annual exhibition was called—had +brought to Utopia. The launch flew proudly the +school colors, blue and white, which properly were +worn to-day only by the Doctor, who was just +stepping from the float into his shell amid great +applause as Jack alighted from the vehicle. The +stand, which had been erected a few rods from the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[362]</span>boat-house, and which was just opposite to the +finish, was crowded with visitors, many of whom +were ladies in gay attire, and the members of the +school, while the country people from miles around +were ranged along the shore. It was a scene calculated +to quicken the pulses of any one with a +spark of enthusiasm. As for Jack, when he started +to strip off his overcoat he was trembling all over, +and could feel his heart going like a trip-hammer.</p> + +<p>The course was to be two miles in all; straight +away for a mile to a flagged buoy, and back again +to another flagged buoy abreast of the boat-house. +Two of the first class were to be judges, a third to +be judge at the further buoy, and Mr. Percy had +consented to act as referee in case of any dispute. +Stoddard of the second class, and stroke oar of the +Nimrods, was to send the contestants off by firing +a pistol at the proper moment.</p> + +<p>Jack was the last of the three to get into his +boat.</p> + +<p>“Is everything all right?” whispered Carlisle, +who was bending over him holding the shell at the +float. “Don’t spurt until you have to, remember.”</p> + +<p>“O K,” answered our hero.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[363]</span></p> + +<p>“Let her go, Smith,” said Haseltine jocularly. +“Keep your courage up, old man,” he added to +Jack.</p> + +<p>Carlisle shoved the shell out, retaining his grasp +on the oar nearest him until there was clear water. +Jack paddled a few rods and then shot off at a +comfortable pace up the lake, followed by the +wistful gaze of the spectators eager to gauge his +powers. He caught a glimpse of Tom Bonsall, in +a white shirt with a purple star on its bosom, and +a purple handkerchief bound stylishly across his +forehead, resting on his oars and watching him. +Jack had no idea of wasting his energies by showing +off. He had time just to warm himself up a +bit before the signal to get into line. He pulled +steadily and quietly for a few hundred yards, taking +a last glance at his equipment to make sure that +everything was all right.</p> + +<p>He had scarcely turned to come back when the +pistol sounded, and by the time he reached the +starting line the Doctor and Tom were in position. +According to the lots drawn that morning Jack +was to be in the middle, with Tom inside; so he +paddled in between them. Stoddard spent a few +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[364]</span>moments in making first one and then another +retire or move forward a few inches, then asked +sharply,—</p> + +<p>“Are you ready?”</p> + +<p>Jack felt almost beside himself in the short interval +that preceded the discharge, and his throat +seemed parched.</p> + +<p>Crack!</p> + +<p>The three pairs of blades flashed through the water +at the same moment, and neither boat seemed +to gain any decided advantage as they bounded +away from the buoy amid the cheers of everybody.</p> + +<p>“Hurrah for the Doctor!”</p> + +<p>“Hit her up, Tom!”</p> + +<p>“Bully for you, Jack!”</p> + +<p>It took our hero some minutes to get his head +clear enough to be able to perceive what he was +doing, as compared with his opponents. He rowed +on and on excitedly without realizing anything. +He was conscious of rowing a rather quicker and +more jerky stroke than usual. His eyes were misty +and his throat drier than ever. The cheers of the +spectators were growing fainter, and he felt that it +was time to settle down to work. He made a gulp +and looked about him. On his right was Tom +pulling like grim death, at a rate which seemed to +lift his boat almost out of the water. The stern of +Tom’s shell was nearly on a level with the back +sweep of his own oars, which showed plainly that +Tom had not far from half a length’s lead on him. +On the other side was the Doctor in his blue and +white jersey, rowing steadily and smoothly as clockwork, +neck and neck with him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[365]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter" id="i_p365"> + <img src="images/i_p365.jpg" alt="" title=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="noic">THE BOAT RACE.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_366"></a>[366]<br><a id="Page_367"></a>[367]</span></p> + +<p>“Softly now,” said Jack to himself. “This is +too fast company for me. If Tom can keep this +racket up he’ll get there first. My only chance is +to let up a bit.”</p> + +<p>Accordingly he lessened the number of strokes +to the minute by making each of them longer and +more sweeping, with the immediate result that he +felt in better shape, and that Tom had gained no +further advantage on him. But there was no let-up +to Tom. He had the lead and was bent on +keeping it.</p> + +<p>They were too far off now for the shouts to reach +them. Not a sound was audible to Jack but the +slight plashing of the oars in the water. Over his +shoulder Tom was struggling onward, and abreast +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[368]</span>of him, pulling with apparently no effort whatever +and watching alertly the movements of his rivals, +could be seen the dangerous Doctor. But Jack, +too, felt calm now and fresher than when he started. +He can even put a little more back muscle into his +stroke, he thinks, as he feels his grip tighten on +the oars with the consciousness of growing vigor. +A few more sweeps like that will close up the gap +between his out-rigger and Tom’s.</p> + +<p>But why does not the Doctor bend to his work +to keep him company? The Doctor is pulling a +waiting race evidently, and is going to let his +rivals blow themselves against one another before +he has an oar in the fight. Otherwise surely he +would not have let Jack forge ahead so that he has +to look round the corner now in order to watch +him. The Doctor is an old hand and has seen +many a race lost by too lively a pace at the start.</p> + +<p>“Steady,” reflects Jack, again trying to keep +cool as he realizes that he has a lead over his most +dangerous enemy. “Don’t hit her up too lively.” +He appreciates the Doctor’s tactics, and is not +going to fall into the trap if he can help it, even +though Tom, spurred on by swift pursuit, has put +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[369]</span>on more steam and is holding his own bravely. +They are not far from the flagged buoy now. Jack +can see it distinctly and has in mind that he must +be careful to avoid a foul. They are likely to pass +it in the order in which they are at present, about +half a length apart, and Tom has the inside water. +All three are pulling like well-oiled machines, and +not a symptom of distress comes from either boat.</p> + +<p>Tom turns first, and very cleverly too, close to +the buoy so as to give no one a chance to cut in, +and starts for home, but the others are at his heels +and right after him. Jack in passing catches the +eye of Sampson, the judge at the turn, and feels +cool enough to nod in friendly fashion. Halfway, +and he is still fresh as ever! He would like to try +to press Tom, but for fear of the cool, deliberate +Doctor barely astern. He remembers Carlisle’s +caution not to spurt until he has to, and only bends +strongly and firmly to his accustomed stroke, which, +however, is losing him no ground to say the least. +Tom is evidently uneasy and is working to shake +him off, forgetful, it appears, of his experience in +forcing the pace a year ago. But Tom is a better +oar than a year ago, and perhaps has taken that +into account.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">[370]</span></p> + +<p>Ah there! The Doctor is waking up at last, +and is putting in some stronger work; nothing +very strenuous, but lively enough to warn Jack that +he must have his head about him if he hopes to +keep his lead to the end. One thing is certain +now: Tom will have to row faster or give in; after +which reflection Jack slightly quickens his stroke, +and without actually spurting bends every muscle. +Now or never! They are only half a mile from +home, and a waiting race may be delayed too long. +Already they are within ear-shot of the encouraging +shouts of the crews and scullers on either side +of their path, who have come out to meet them +and are rowing back to be in at the finish. Now +or never! Will Tom be able to quicken his pace? +That is the question. He does quicken it, so much +so that he is rowing desperately fast with short +lightning strokes, which come so rapidly that it is +difficult to note the interval between them. Brilliant, +magnificent! “but,” as some one who knew +said of the famous charge of the Light Brigade, +“it is not war.” It is slaughter, my dear Tom, +and simple ruination. You cannot keep it up. +Even as it is, in spite of your splendid pyrotechnics, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">[371]</span>Jack’s long steady swing is holding you, and +what is more, pressing you into the bargain.</p> + +<p>“Steady now,” murmurs Jack between his teeth. +He knows from Tom’s exertions that his rival is +spurting and putting all his vitality into his pace. +A terrible moment of sustained effort follows, at +the end of which the leader lashes the air with a +misplaced stroke, the water splashes, and our hero’s +shell surging forward comes on a level with its +forerunner, battles with it for twenty yards of +struggling agony on the part of the doomed champion, +and leaps to the front at last, just in time to +meet the sweet music of the prolonged triumphant +din of shouts and cheers sent down the breeze from +afar by hundreds of voices. Jack is ahead, and +only a quarter of a mile left!</p> + +<p>Tom is beaten. And now for the Doctor. Where +is he? What is he doing? No need to ask that +question, friend Jack, if you lift your eyes. Tom +is beaten, not only by you but by the Doctor also; +and though your most dreaded enemy is still in +your rear, the nose of his boat is almost on a line +with your stern, and he is quickening at every +stroke.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[372]</span></p> + +<p>What a babel of cheers and exclamations bursts +forth from the waving, transported crowd along the +bank and on the benches of the densely packed +stand! They begin to know who is who now, and +can tell beyond the shadow of a doubt that the +crimson and black and the blue and white are having +a noble struggle for the lead.</p> + +<p>“Jack Hall is ahead! Hall! Hall! No, he +isn’t! Hit her up, Doctor! Hurrah for Hall! +Hurrah for the Doctor! Tom, where are you? +Bonsall! Bonsall! H-A-L-L! Hall-l-l!”</p> + +<p>The tumult is maddening. Can it be possible +that Jack Hall, who, on the whole, before the race +was rated lowest of the three, is going to break the +school record and beat the invincible Doctor in one +and the same breath? It looks like it, if he can +hold his own for two hundred yards more. It looks +like it decidedly, and there is plenty of clear water +still between the winning goal and the foremost +shell; and see, the Doctor is spurting with a vengeance—look!—look!—and +is he not gaining, +too?</p> + +<p>“Doctor Meredith is ahead! No, he’s not—Hall’s +ahead! Huzza! hurrah! Hall, Hall, hit +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[373]</span>her up, Hall! Look out, Hall! The Doctor wins! +No he doesn’t! Hall wins! Hurrah! Jack, +where are you?”</p> + +<p>The Doctor has crept up, no doubt about that. +The nose of his shell is now well beyond Jack’s +out-rigger, and he is speeding like the wind. Jack +is feeling terribly tired, his throat that he thought +parched at the start burns as if it were on fire, and +his eyes seem ready to start out of his head. His +crimson handkerchief has fallen over his eyes, but +he gives himself a shake and it falls to his neck, +leaving his brow refreshingly free. He has vanquished +Tom any way. So much to be thankful +for. Tom is a length behind, struggling still like +the man he is, but hopelessly vanquished all the +same. Jack turns his head, remembering to keep +cool if he can, and sights the goal. Not more than +one hundred and fifty yards left! The reverberating +yells and cheers are setting his blood ablaze. +He can scarcely see, but he knows he has not +spurted yet. He is neck and neck with the Doctor +now. There can be nothing to choose between +them.</p> + +<p>“The Doctor wins!” “Not a bit of it; Hall +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">[374]</span>wins! Good on your head, Jack! Keep it up, +Doctor! Go in, Hall!”</p> + +<p>The time has come now, our hero knows, to put +in any spurt that is left in him. Gripping the +handles of his oars like a vise and shutting his +eyes, Jack throws all his vital powers into one +grand effort, which, to his supreme happiness, is +answered by a great roar from the shore.</p> + +<p>“Hall! Hall! Hurrah! Nobly done, Hall! +Hall wins! Row, Doctor, row!”</p> + +<p>The Doctor is rowing with all his might, you +may be sure of that; but he has not counted on +the staying powers of his adversary. He can do no +more than he is doing, and this final spurt of Jack’s, +exhausting as it must have been were the race to +be a quarter of a mile longer, will carry the day. +The Doctor can hardly catch him now.</p> + +<p>Jack has opened his eyes and takes in the situation. +The din of applause is tremendous. If he +can hold out for half a dozen strokes more, the victory +is his.</p> + +<p>One.</p> + +<p>“Hall! Hall! Go in, Doctor!”</p> + +<p>Two.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[375]</span></p> + +<p>“Three cheers for Hall! One,—hurrah!—Two, +hurrah!”</p> + +<p>Three.</p> + +<p>“Three,—hurrah! H-A-L-L!”</p> + +<p>Four.</p> + +<p>“Hall wins! Hall wins!”</p> + +<p>Five.</p> + +<p>“Hurrah! Huzza! Hurrah! Hall! Hall! +Doctor! Doctor!”</p> + +<p>Six.</p> + +<p>Panting, breathless, and bewildered by the deafening +cheers, Jack is made aware only by the sight +of the flagged buoy shooting past his oar-blade that +he has won the race and is champion of Utopia. +A second later the Doctor’s shell glides beside his +own, and his master is the first to shake his hand +in hearty congratulation.</p> + +<p>“You beat me squarely and fairly, Hall. It +was a grand race. You are the better oarsman of +the two.”</p> + +<p>Tom Bonsall, coming up on the other side, is +scarcely less generous, though he looks a little +sheepish, poor fellow, and winded and pale. Excitement +keeps Jack up, and he paddles in gamy +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">[376]</span>fashion to the float, where he is welcomed by a +score of hands and lifted on to the shoulders of his +enthusiastic friends, who, cheering like mad, carry +him up to the boat-house.</p> + +<p>“Well, old man, you did it after all,” said Carlisle, +who was grinning like a Cheshire cat in his +enthusiasm. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t believe +you could get away from the Doctor.”</p> + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">[377]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.<br> +<small>HASELTINE MAKES HIS CHOICE.</small></h2> +</div> + + +<p>A year has elapsed, and once more Founders’ +day has come round at Utopia. The exercises of +the graduating class and the prize-giving have +taken place in the morning, and now every one is +digesting at leisure the excellent collation provided +shortly after noontime prior to repairing to the +quadrangle to witness the base-ball match which is +to conclude the day’s entertainment.</p> + +<p>In one of the studies in Fullham dormitory +sacred to the older classes two boys are seated engaged +in earnest conversation. The room, a cosy +little den, owes evidently much of its comfortable +and somewhat artistic appearance to the good taste +of one of its owners, who, no other than our old +friend Jack, grown still more manly in figure and +with the same open countenance as when we saw +him last, is discussing with his chum Haseltine the +untoward news which the latter has received a day +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[378]</span>or two before of his father’s financial ruin. The +blow has fallen most unexpectedly on the poor fellow, +and though the change in his plans which the +calamity must necessarily induce has given him but +small concern as compared with that which he has +felt for his father’s unhappiness, it is important +now that he should think and talk about what he is +to do. He was to have gone to college, for which +he has been preparing himself with considerable +industry during the past year, but that is out of the +question now. He has his way to make in the +world, and the only point to be considered is how +he can best manage no longer to be a burden on his +family.</p> + +<p>“The worst thing about it,” Haseltine continued, +“is that I shan’t see any more of you, Jack. I +don’t care so much about the money on my own +account, but I should like to have spent four years +with you at Harvard.”</p> + +<p>“It’ll spoil half my pleasure in being there to +have you away,” said Jack. “We must manage +though somehow to keep up our friendship. We +can write to one another at least.”</p> + +<p>“I hate letters,—that is, writing them. My +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[379]</span>spelling would shock you, Jack. If I were a literary +character like you, now, it might answer.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t talk nonsense, Hasy.”</p> + +<p>“Who’d have thought three years ago that +you’d have graduated third in the class and taken +a prize for a poetical translation from Ovid? If +only now I’d followed suit,” he observed somewhat +sadly, “I might have got the place of private tutor +to some rich swell or other, married my employer’s +daughter, and rolled in my own carriage, while you +were still grinding at the university. As it is, I +shall soon either be breaking stones on the highway, +or playing cash-boy in a retail dry-goods +store.”</p> + +<p>“I dare say,” responded Jack, “the Doctor could +get you some place as tutor. A few months of +hard work would give you the necessary proficiency.”</p> + +<p>“But I want to begin work to-morrow.”</p> + +<p>There was a short silence, and then Jack said +slowly, “Of course, Hasy, I suppose you’ve +thought of base-ball? You ought to have no difficulty +in getting a salaried position in some club, +you know.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">[380]</span></p> + +<p>“I dare say I could,” was the quiet answer. +“How I should have jumped at such a chance a +few years ago!” continued the school captain, tossing +from hand to hand from force of habit the base-ball +which he held. He is in shirt and knickerbockers, +ready for the game appointed to take place +in half an hour between the school nine and one +of the strongest professional teams in the country, +which, on its way east, has been induced to stop at +Utopia. “I was a foolish boy then,—and now, +well, I’m foolish enough still, but I think I’ve +learned something in these six years.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, Hasy, I’m so glad to hear you talk so. Do +you know I lay awake all last night thinking about +you, for I was afraid that with your fondness for the +game you’d jump at the chance to become a professional. +Forgive me, old fellow, I did you injustice.”</p> + +<p>“That’s all right, Jack. No wonder you thought +so, I’m such a base-ball crank. But I may have to +jump at the chance notwithstanding. It may be the +best thing I can do. Fifteen hundred or two thousand +dollars a year is not to be met with every day +in the week. It may be my duty to take such a +place if it is offered, Jack,” he said gravely.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">[381]</span></p> + +<p>“I think almost anything would be better as a +profession than that.”</p> + +<p>“I can see that it would. Whatever I used to +think, I recognize that to have to spend the best +years of my life as a base-ball player would be a +terrible misfortune. This school and the Doctor +have taught me that there are more worthy ambitions +than that, and though I haven’t said much +about it, I’ve looked forward to something better. +However, I mustn’t abuse base-ball, for it has been +a good friend to me, Jack; and I believe that it +has done me a heap of benefit not only physically, +but in teaching me endurance and perseverance and +the value of discipline. I feel as if I could take +hold first-rate from the start of any business I +entered, just because of my training at base-ball. +And if it comes to the worst,” he added, “I think +I shall be able to make a good professional.”</p> + +<p>“I’m sure you will, Hasy, if it comes to that. +But something else will be certain to turn up, see +if it doesn’t.”</p> + +<p>“It’ll have to turn up pretty soon, then, I’m +afraid,” replied Haseltine. “It’s time to go,” he +continued, looking at his watch. “The game’ll +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">[382]</span>be called in fifteen minutes. It may be my last +for a long time,—at least as an amateur,—and I +mean to give the Gray Stockings a hard fight +to win.”</p> + +<p>The two friends proceed toward the quadrangle, +where already a crowd is collecting in anticipation +of the match. The large stand for spectators, which +is one of the conveniences added to the grounds in +Haseltine’s day, is rapidly filling up, and just as +the young captain arrives upon the scene the Gray +Stocking team show signs of emerging from the +tent erected for their comfort, where they have been +dozing since dinner. The sight of them is sufficient +to restore Haseltine’s spirits, and almost to +make him feel that he would be very well content +after all to become one of them. They are strapping +fellows certainly, and the way they toss about +the ball during the few minutes’ preliminary practice +allowed them is very admirable.</p> + +<p>And now from the main doorway of Granger Hall +come out a large party intent upon being present +at the game, consisting of Dr. Meredith and his +masters, together with several patrons of the school +and a number of ladies, who troop across the field +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">[383]</span>to seats reserved for them behind the wire screen +at the back of the catcher. The Gray Stockings +have won the toss and have sent the school to the +bat. The professionals, from their jocose demeanor, +evidently regard the affair in the light of a spree +or picnic; and the pitcher grins convulsively in +stepping into the box, as though the idea of playing +ball against a parcel of boys struck him as a colossal +jest.</p> + +<p>The school nine looked like striplings certainly +when compared with their sturdy opponents, but +they are in the very pink of practice and condition, +and have moreover eaten sparingly of the good +things provided at the collation, so as to be fit as +possible for the match. A breathless interest pervades +the audience. A game against a real professional +team is something unknown in the annals +of Utopia.</p> + +<p>“Three out, side out,” calls the umpire, as the +third striker on the home nine knocks an easy +grounder to short stop, who pops it gayly to first +base.</p> + +<p>It is now the visitors’ turn at the bat, and all +eyes are bent on Haseltine as he plants himself +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[384]</span>firmly to deliver the first ball. There has never +been such a pitcher as he at Utopia. As compared +with his curves, the once famous pitching of the +“Kid” is remembered as second-rate. It has +hopelessly baffled not only the pertinacious Stars, +but other still more formidable clubs. It remains +to be seen what these genuine ball-tossers will do +with it.</p> + +<p>“One strike!”</p> + +<p>The captain of the Gray Stockings and one of +the most prominent sluggers on the nine has swiped +at the first ball and missed it, whereat his companions +smile and one of them guys him with—</p> + +<p>“Even money you strike out, Bill.”</p> + +<p>There is a hush, and then the umpire calls—</p> + +<p>“Two strikes!”</p> + +<p>Applause proceeds from the benches and titters +from the visiting team.</p> + +<p>“Three strikes—out.”</p> + +<p>The school is too much in earnest to regard the +incident as ludicrous, and the crowd cheers rapturously +to see the vanquished slugger retire from the +plate; but one of the managers of the professional +nine, who happens to be traveling with them and is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[385]</span>sitting just in front of Jack, bursts out into loud +guffaws of amusement, which are repeated still +more abundantly when the next striker misses the +first two balls and only saves himself from a similar +fate by batting the third weakly into the very +hands of short stop, who has no difficulty in disposing +of him at first. The third man hits a foul tip which +the catcher holds on to cleverly, and the inning +is over.</p> + +<p>“That’s a great lad,” exclaims the manager, who +is in a bee line with the pitcher and so can judge +of the delivery. “He can twirl the sphere like a +good one. Backus and Lawson out on strikes! +That’s the best joke of the season.” Whereupon +he bursts out laughing again, so that his fat sides +shake with merriment.</p> + +<p>It would take too long to give the details of the +great match, though indeed there is not much to be +recorded in the way of run-making on either side. +It is from first to last a pitcher’s contest, and though +the school can do nothing against the Gray Stocking +battery, seven goose-eggs represents the score +of the visitors at the end of the seventh inning. +To the uproarious delight of all Utopia the heavy +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">[386]</span>hitters of the professional team come to grief one +after another in rapid succession, sometimes by +striking out, and sometimes by knocking easy balls +into the field, which are without difficulty captured +by their opponents. No longer do the giants grin +and turn derisive hand-springs. An air of serious +devotion to business has come over them, and every +nerve is being strained to save the game.</p> + +<p>“Play ball—play ball,” their captain reiterates +with increasing vigor.</p> + +<p>But it is in vain that he beseeches or commands. +Somehow or other Haseltine’s curves are too subtle +for the visitors and they go down like nine-pins; +and as in turn they sheepishly carry out their bats +or return to home plate, the manager’s derisive +laughter adds a sting to their disgust.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, among the friends of Utopia, the +young pitcher is the hero of the hour, and everybody +is asking questions about him in the intervals +of the frantic applause which rewards his successes.</p> + +<p>“A right-minded, ingenuous, capable boy,” responds +Dr. Meredith, in answer to a query of one +of the patrons of the school sitting beside him. +“He has received sad news from home within the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[387]</span>past few days, I regret to state. His father who +was reputed to be a very rich man has failed,—disastrously +though not dishonorably I am given to +understand,—and the son will not be able to go to +college as he had expected. There is a large +family—seven beside this boy, I believe.”</p> + +<p>“Is he a good scholar?” asks the gentleman +after a moment.</p> + +<p>“To tell the truth, he is not very fond of his +books, though he has done better at them during +the last year. I think he would have been able to +pass the college examinations, but it is by no means +certain. He has plenty of ability though of the +practical sort. I have often been struck by the +energy and executive talent he has shown in relation +to base-ball, which, by the way, almost amounts +to a passion with him,” says the Doctor, with a +smile.</p> + +<p>A shout of triumph interrupts their conversation. +Another of the Gray Stockings—the first striker +of the eighth innings—having in base-ball parlance +fanned the air thrice in vain, flinging his bat +angrily on the ground, walks back to his seat.</p> + +<p>“H-A-S-E-L-T-I-N-E! Haselti-n-n-ne!” chants +the whole school.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">[388]</span></p> + +<p>The manager slaps his knee. “I must have that +fellow,” he exclaims admiringly.</p> + +<p>Jack catches the remark. He has heard also +what has passed between Dr. Meredith and Mr. +Holgate, the patron of the school, who are sitting +on the bench immediately behind him, and while +he is reflecting on the possible consequences of +Haseltine’s prowess, he hears Mr. Holgate say:</p> + +<p>“I happen to know of a chance for an active +young man who isn’t afraid of work, on a railroad +far West in which I’m interested. I’m inclined to +think that as our base-ball friend has his way to +make in the world and is not cut out for a scholar, +it would be the best thing for him if I put him into +the place, though if you say the word I’ll pay his +way through college.”</p> + +<p>Jack’s heart gives a bound. He cannot help listening, +and he awaits eagerly the Doctor’s reply, +scarcely knowing what he wishes it to be; for +deeply as he desires his friend’s companionship at +Harvard, he is able to appreciate the wisdom of +Mr. Holgate’s reasoning.</p> + +<p>“I think,” says Dr. Meredith slowly, “that you +are right, on the whole. Haseltine will make an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">[389]</span>excellent business man. The position on the railroad +will suit him best, everything considered.”</p> + +<p>“It is a place in which he will have an opportunity +to make himself very useful, and if he does, +promotion will be sure to follow,” continues Mr. +Holgate. “Holloa! that’s the first square base hit +I’ve seen to-day.”</p> + +<p>It is not only a base hit, but a two bagger in fact, +which comes just in the nick of time to let in one +of the Gray Stockings, who was on second when +Captain Backus batted the ball with a vim born of +triple humiliation. Twice before in the course of +the game the visitors have had men on bases, but +the terrible battery of the school boys has shut +them out from a run. But now they are able to +breathe more freely. The succession of goose-eggs +is interrupted and the game theirs, if they can prevent +Utopia from scoring. But the run has come +only just in time as two of the visitors are already +out. Lawson, however, not to be outdone by the +Captain, follows with a terrible drive far over the +left field’s head, who is a no whit less clever fielder +than Bobby Crosby used to be, which brings him +and Backus both home, and makes the score three +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">[390]</span>to nothing in favor of the Gray Stockings, which +is all they get. The school nine amid intense excitement +then go to the bat, and though they do +their best to pound the ball they are whitewashed +in one, two, three order, which brings the game +to a close, as of course the Gray Stockings, being +already ahead, do not need their ninth inning. It +has been a plucky fight, though, and one which +Utopia will remember with pride for years to come.</p> + +<p>As Jack was about to mingle with the crowd +with the view of being the first to hug Haseltine, +he felt a hand on his shoulder and heard the Doctor’s +voice exclaiming, “Hall, I should like to introduce +you to Mr. Holgate, who was one of our +founders, you know.”</p> + +<p>Jack shook hands with the pleasant-featured +gentleman, who said kindly:</p> + +<p>“I saw you, Hall, if I am not mistaken, among +those who received prizes this morning, as well as +in the winning crew yesterday afternoon.”</p> + +<p>Our hero blushed with honest confusion. He +was prouder of having won the prize for a metrical +translation from the classics, however, than of having +led the Atalantas to victory, for there had been +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">[391]</span>no Tom Bonsall this year to dispute it with him, +and every one knew in advance what the result +would be. It had always been a source of keen +regret to Jack that Tom’s arm was so lame after +the famous single-scull match that he had been +obliged to stay out of the eight-oared race. He +would have liked to have had one more struggle +with his old rival just to prove beyond the shadow +of a doubt who was the better man. But now Tom +was in college, and there was no one left to dispute +with him the supremacy of the lake, for the Doctor +had openly confessed his own inferiority.</p> + +<p>“It was a fine game, sir, wasn’t it?” Jack said, +with enthusiasm, as the three turned at the sound +of the cheers which the Utopians were bestowing +upon the victors. “Haseltine outdid himself.”</p> + +<p>“Hall and Haseltine are great cronies,” observed +the Doctor to Mr. Holgate.</p> + +<p>“Your friend seems a fine fellow,” said the gentleman.</p> + +<p>“He’s a splendid fellow, indeed, sir,” answered +Jack.</p> + +<p>The Gray Stockings returned the cheers of the +home nine and were preparing to get into the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">[392]</span>vehicle which was to take them to the train, when +Jack, who had been looking through the crowd in +search of Haseltine, caught sight of him and the +base-ball manager in earnest consultation. There +was an expression in his friend’s face that told +Jack even at this distance that the young pitcher +was fascinated by what was being said to him. Immediately +Jack clambered down from the stand and +hastened toward them. As he came up to them +the manager was shaking hands with Haseltine, and +Jack heard him say just before he stepped into the +omnibus:</p> + +<p>“Think it over and write me. The offer stands +open as long as you like.”</p> + +<p>After the omnibus had driven off followed by the +acclamations of the school, Jack threw his arms +ecstatically around his chum and cried, “You did +wonders, old fellow. It was glorious!”</p> + +<p>Haseltine made no response at first, and Jack +noticed that his eyes were full of tears.</p> + +<p>“Jack,” he said at length,—“he has offered me +the position of change pitcher on their nine at a +salary of two thousand dollars. It’s a big honor +for so young a fellow,” he added, with an air of +pardonable pride.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">[393]</span></p> + +<p>“But you didn’t accept, did you?” asked our +hero excitedly.</p> + +<p>“No; I told him I’d think it over.”</p> + +<p>“Hurrah!” cried Jack.</p> + +<p>“What do you mean?”</p> + +<p>“No matter. Wait, that’s all. There’s better +news for you than that, and you’ll think so too +when you hear it.”</p> + +<p>Footsteps close at hand caused the boys to turn, +and Haseltine’s hand was cordially grasped by Dr. +Meredith.</p> + +<p>“You out-Haseltined Haseltine, to-day, Mr. +Pitcher,” the master said, then drawing him aside +out of the hearing of Jack and Mr. Holgate, he +informed him of the offer made by that gentleman, +which I am sure you will all be glad to hear +he accepted.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later the head master and the two +boys are walking slowly over the quadrangle toward +Granger Hall, where they are to take tea +with the Doctor,—their last tea at Utopia. As +they reach the threshold, Jack stops and looks back +for a moment over the playground where so many +of his happiest hours have been passed, and says +simply,—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">[394]</span></p> + +<p>“We shall miss the dear old school, shan’t we, +Hasy?”</p> + +<p>“Indeed we shall, Jack.”</p> + +<p>“And the school will miss <em>you</em>, my dear boys,” +answers the Doctor, laying a hand on a shoulder of +each of them. “It needs the example of just such +boys as you—East and West. God bless you +both, and give you strength to devote your manhood +to manly deeds!”</p> + + + + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> +<figure class="figcenter" id="backcover"> + <img src="images/backcover.jpg" alt="back cover" title="back cover"> +</figure> +</div> + + + + +<hr class="chap"> +<div class="tnote"> +<p class="noi tntitle">Transcriber’s Notes:</p> + +<p class="smfont">Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.</p> + +<p class="smfont">Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.</p> + +<p class="smfont">Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.</p> +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77143 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/77143-h/images/backcover.jpg b/77143-h/images/backcover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c282eb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/backcover.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/cover.jpg b/77143-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0031c64 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/cover_sm.jpg b/77143-h/images/cover_sm.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1541916 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/cover_sm.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_dedication.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_dedication.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0747c73 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_dedication.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_frontispiece.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_frontispiece.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2442883 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_frontispiece.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p009.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p009.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b49ebc --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p009.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p026.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p026.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5176df7 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p026.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p048.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p048.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a3b2de5 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p048.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p049.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p049.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e83bee0 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p049.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p080.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p080.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c970b7d --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p080.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p097.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p097.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e0a2eb0 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p097.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p139.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p139.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..33bddac --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p139.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p153.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p153.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a17a65e --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p153.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p270.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p270.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..85bbc93 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p270.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p281.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p281.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..41b8487 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p281.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p319.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p319.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..af421f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p319.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p345.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p345.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c929a35 --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p345.jpg diff --git a/77143-h/images/i_p365.jpg b/77143-h/images/i_p365.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3a8a06c --- /dev/null +++ b/77143-h/images/i_p365.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c72794 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..552aa5a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook #77143 +(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77143) |
