CHAPTER XVIII
THE BLOODY CORNER
The news went over the school at noon, of course, and most of thesmaller boys eyed Bobby Blake askance. The boy himself seemed walkingin a kind of cloud; his mind was stunned, and it was lucky that Dr.Raymond had said to him, kindly:
"You are excused from recitations to-day, Robert."
The good doctor had spoken to him quite cheerfully of the probable lossof the steamship on which Mr. and Mrs. Blake had sailed from New York.The principal seemed to have taken his cue from Barrymore Gray.
To tell the truth, what Barry had said cheered Bobby more than anythingelse. Even Fred Martin was a trifle depressing. Fred wanted to givehim his share in the bats and mask and other baseball paraphernalia, andturn over to him, in fact, most of his personal property, likely to bedear to a boy's heart.
This was the red-haired boy's way of showing sympathy. But it did nothelp much.
The roseate picture Barry had drawn of the shipwreck stuck in Bobby'smind. He was very glad his mother could not take cold down there, evenif she got her feet wet.
For several days the other boys were very gentle with Bobby. It did notmake Bobby feel very comfortable, but he knew they meant it kindly.
Soon, however, their awkwardness wore off, and they were as rough andfriendly as ever, and he liked it better. Deep in his heart he keptthinking all the time of his parents, and the possibilities arising outof the wreck of the steamship. Outwardly he was much the same as ever.
Only one thing Bobby Blake desired now more than before. He longed--oh!how he _did_ long--to win the Medal of Honor. If his parents wereshipwrecked, and there was any suffering for them in it, it seemed toBobby that if he won the Honor Medal at Rockledge School, that factwould alleviate their misery, wherever they were!
Yet there was nothing of the mollycoddle about Bobby. Fun appealed tohim just as strongly as it ever did to any ten year old boy.
There were certain set rules of Rockledge School that he would not breakand that he kept Fred from breaking.
"There's no fun in getting caught and held up to the whole school asdishonorable," he told Fred. "We're expected to keep in bounds. Weknow the bounds well enough. And if we want to go out of them, we haveonly to ask, and give a good reason, to get permission to go farther."
"Aw, they treat us as if we were a lot of babies," growled Fred Martin.
"They do nothing of the kind," Bobby replied. "Doctor Raymond treats usas though we were gentlemen. He trusts to our _honor_. I wouldn'tdisappoint him for a farm!"
"We-ell!" sighed Fred. "I suppose you're right, Bobby. I--I almostwish he didn't treat us just this way. There'd be some fun in bustingup the old rules!"
And that was where Dr. Raymond showed his wisdom. He knew how to manageboys with the least amount of friction.
Weeks passed, full of work and play, and no further news came of thelost steamship on which Mr. and Mrs. Blake had sailed for Brazil. Thewreckage had been sighted off the Orinoco, and the name of the steamshipwas plain upon the wreck. But it might have drifted a long way afterthe catastrophe. Just _where_ the ship had been burned, nobody couldguess.
No boat from her, no word from her captain or crew, came to the ownersin New York. She had been a freight boat, carrying on that tripscarcely a score of passengers.
Much of this Bobby did not hear, or understand. He clung like a limpetto the imaginative idea of a shipwreck that Barrymore Gray had drawn forhim. And it was well that this was so.
Thanksgiving came and went. The Belden school came over in the forenoonto Rockledge and its football team was nicely thrashed by the Rockledgeeleven. The Lower School went almost mad with delight; and Fred Martinand Larry Cronk, the Belden boy, came almost to blows on the campus.
Neither of the Lower Schools had forgotten the hot potato fight on theisland. Ere this, Bobby and his friends had completed their camp andhad begun to furnish it, but they hoped the youngsters from Belden wouldlearn nothing about the hideout.
One thing pleased Bobby and Fred immensely at Thanksgiving. A big boxcame to them from Clinton. In it were all sorts of good things made byMeena and Mrs. Martin, fall apples and pears picked by Michael Mulcahey,candy from Mr. Martin's store, and gifts from Fred's sisters and smallerbrothers.
The Second Dormitory had a great feast after hours one night, of whicheven Captain Gray knew nothing. Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks got ontoit, and the small boys had to bribe the two bullies with some of thechoicest of their stores. Nevertheless, the midnight feast went off verysmoothly.
There were a few more cases for the medical attendant to see to atRockledge School after Thanksgiving than usual. The midnight feastcoming so soon after the big Thanksgiving dinner, played havoc in theranks of the smaller boys.
Pee Wee had what Bobby declared to be "internal, or civil war," and wentto the hospital in Dr. Raymond's house for three days. He came out wanand interesting looking, declaring that he had lost pounds of flesh!But he proceeded to get his avoirdupois back again very promptly.
It was a full week before the school was back on its usual workingbasis--and the midwinter holidays only a month away. The teachersspurred the lazy scholars, and helped the dull ones, and out of thispushing in classes arose the trouble that became a very serious affairindeed for both Fred Martin and Bobby Blake.
Fred was not always bright in arithmetic. One morning he made aridiculous blunder, and the whole class laughed at him. Mr. Carrinreprimanded Fred for his inattention, and as they filed out forrecreation before dinner, Sparrow Bangs--named so because he had a wholecage-full of tame sparrows down at the gatekeeper's cottage--made fun ofthe red-haired boy.
Fred had been angered by the teacher's sharpness. Now he turned onSparrow in a terrible passion.
"What's that you say? I'll give you a punch you'll remember."
"Aw, no you won't!" returned Sparrow. "And I'll say it again, Ginger!You've no time to play catch--you'll have to study the multiplicationtable, like Mr. Carrin said."
Fred rushed at the teasing lad, but Pee Wee and Howell Purdy camebetween them.
"Cheese it!" said the fat boy. "You two fellows want to get intotrouble? Right under the schoolroom windows, too!"
"Well, he's got to stop nagging me," cried Fred, very red, and puffingvery hard.
"Who are you, Ginger, that I should be so awfully careful of?" sneeredSparrow. "You're not so much!"
"I'll show you--"
"Stop it! stop it, Fred!" advised Bobby, catching his chum by the arm."Come on, I want to throw you a few fast ones. We mustn't get out ofpractice, even if we _can't_ play a regular game until next spring."
"There he goes!" cried Sparrow. "His boss takes him away. Great lad,that Ginger is. Afraid to say his soul's his own. Bobby Blake justbosses him around--"
It was all over, then! Fred flung off Bobby's hand and rushed at histormentor. Smack! his fist shot into Sparrow's face.
Half a dozen of the boys then got between the antagonists.
"You want to get us all into trouble?" growled Mouser, one of those whoheld Fred Martin. "Cut it out. If you've got to fight, there's the'bloody corner.' Do it right."
The chums had heard of "the bloody corner," but since their appearanceat Rockledge School there had been no real pugilistic encounter betweenany of their mates.
Down in the far corner of the grounds--oh! a long way from thebuildings--behind a tall hedge of hemlock, there had once been atoolshed. It had been removed and the corner was just a heap of softsand. No matter how hard the frost was, this sand did not freeze.
And here, from time immemorial, had been arranged the school fights.Whether the good Doctor was aware that in this arena was fought out suchfeuds as could not be otherwise settled, nobody knew. Usually thefights were arranged by the older fellows, and the captain of the schoolwas supposed to be present and see fair play.
It spoke well for Barrymore Gray that thus
far under his regime, not afight had occurred in "bloody corner."
The belligerents--Fred and Sparrow--were separated for the time, but asBobby and his friend started to run to dinner when the big gong rang,Shiner stopped them.
"Hey, Ginger," said he. "Are you game to fight Sparrow?"
"I'm going to fight him," declared the red-haired boy, showing histeeth. "He can't get out of it."
"Oh! he's not trying to," said Shiner. "In fact, he told me to put itup to you. He wants to knock your head off."
"He'll have a fine time trying it," declared Fred, hotly. "I'll showhim--"
"Aw, drop it!" begged Bobby. "You don't want to fight Sparrow--and hedoesn't want to fight you."
"Better keep out of this, Bobby Blake," advised Shiner, importantly."Sparrow says Fred's afraid, anyway--"
"I'll show him!" cried the maddened red-haired boy.
"Bluffing's all right," sneered Shiner. "But will you _fight_?"
"Give me a chance!"
"Aw-right. We'll put it up to the captain and you and Sparrow can gettogether down in the corner."
"With gloves? and have Barry Gray boss it? No, I won't," declared thepugnacious Fred. "Sparrow's trying to get out of it. I'll box him inthe gym. But if he's got the pluck of a flea, he'll come down to thecorner with his bare fists--and you and Bobby here are enough to seefair play."
"Whew!" whistled Shiner, his eyes dancing. "Do you mean it?"
"You'll find out that I do," threatened Fred, wagging his head.
"You sha'n't fight that way, Fred!" cried Bobby. "The School won'tstand for it."
"You mean that bully, Barry Gray, won't stand for it. He always wantsto boss."
"You game to see them through, Bobby?" demanded Shiner.
"If you don't want to come with me, I'll get Pee Wee," growled Fred.
"No," said Bobby, in great trouble. "If you mean to fight Sparrow, ofcourse I'm going to stand by you."
"And keep your mouth shut about it?" snapped Shiner.
"Bobby's no snitch," exclaimed Fred, hotly. "If we're caught, it won'tbe because either Bobby or I tell."
"Nuff said," declared Shiner, shortly. "I'll see Sparrow again and putit up to him. We'll find a time when nobody else will be around. Beready," and Shiner went off whistling, evidently feeling his importancein the matter.
Bobby felt pretty badly. He did not want to see Fred fight at all. Andhe certainly did not want him to meet Sparrow Bangs in this way. Asparring match was one thing, but a fist fight, deliberately arranged,and held in secret, was an entirely different matter.
"You can't do it!" he said to Fred, greatly disturbed. "Dr. Raymondmight send you home."
"I don't care if I'm sent home twice!" exclaimed the hotheaded Fred. "Iam going to thrash that fellow, or he'll thrash _me_."
Bobby wanted to shake Fred--he could have hit his chum himself! Andyet--he couldn't desert him. They had come here to this school,strangers. They had agreed to stand by each other, through thick andthin--of course without a word being said about it! Boys do not talkabout their friendships like girls.
If Fred were wrong, Bobby could be angry with him, but he could notdesert him. If his chum intended to fight Sparrow Bangs in thisdisgraceful way, Bobby would "second" him--of course he would!
If Dr. Raymond should hear of it and suspend them both from school, itcould not be helped. He knew very well that he was running a risk oflosing all chance for the Medal of Honor; yet he would stick to hischum.
He was unhappy that night--very, very unhappy. Fred and he said littlewhen they were alone. Shiner came to him and whispered, at bedtime,that there would be a chance to "pull off" the fight the next noontimeafter dinner. They could cut the mid-day study hour to do it, withoutbeing caught.
Beyond his determination to stand by Fred, right or wrong, Bobby wantedhis chum--as long as he _would_ fight--to win! He advised him in themorning:
"Now, Fred, eat a good breakfast--a _big_ breakfast. But you're going togo light on dinner."
"I know," grunted the red-haired one.
"Don't drink much water at dinner time, either. If you think you'll betempted too much, keep out of the dining-room."
"No," growled Fred. "They'll think I'm afraid."
"All right. But eat lightly," urged Bobby.
For once something was going on in the Lower School that the whole crowdof boys was not "on to." Shiner and Sparrow had been as mum as Fred andBobby.
The two combatants did not even scowl at each other; they kept apart.They did not want any of the other boys to suspect.
Howell Purdy asked Bobby if "Ginger wasn't going to knock Sparrow's headoff?" and Bobby dodged the question adroitly.
It seemed to Bobby as though that forenoon would never come to an end.At half past eleven the Lower School was let out. Bobby took Fred intothe gymnasium and they put on the gloves together for a little practice.
With the experience they had had before, and the instruction of theRockledge athletic teacher, for boys of their size, Bobby and Fred werequite proficient in the so-called manly art.
Sparring, as a game like baseball or tennis, is splendid exercise andgood training for mind and temper. It may, or may not, lead tofisticuffs among boys. Certainly boys who spar together in a gymnasiumare much less likely to have rude fights as the outgrowth of suddentemper. They respect each other's prowess too much.
Fred was careful at dinner. As soon as they could, he and Bobby slippedout, and made their way to the distant corner, and by a roundabout wayso that they could not be seen. Five minutes later Sparrow and JimmyAilshine appeared.
Bobby Blake at Rockledge School; or, Winning the Medal of Honor Page 18