Great Brain At the Academy

by John D. Fitzgerald

  The fellows were talking about the Mental Marvel all the way back to the dormitory.

  “The Mental Marvel’s brain makes your great brain look about the size of a pea,” Rory Flynn said to Tom. “Just imagine being able to read other people’s minds.”

  “If the Mental Marvel could really read minds,” Tom said, “he wouldn’t be traveling around the country in a vaudeville show. He could be making a fortune.”

  “How?” Rory asked.

  “Many ways,” Tom said. “He could become a gam-bler and know what cards the other players are holding.”

  “Not if he is an honest man,” Rory said. “You are just jealous because you can’t read minds like the Mental Marvel.”

  119

  “Jerry and I could do the same thing with a little practice.” Tom said.

  “Talk is cheap,” Rory said. “I’ll bet you can’t.”

  Tom was pretty confident he knew how it was done. But he wanted to make sure before he put up any hard cash. And he knew if he acted reluctant that would make Rory and the other kids all the more eager to bet. His great brain and money-loving heart were working like sixty to turn this to his financial advantage.

  “Just have your money ready after supper on Monday night,” Tom said.

  Tom walked over to his bunk and sat down with his three friends.

  “Boy, oh, boy,” Jerry said. “You sure stuck your neck out that time. You know you can’t read my mind, even with your great brain.”

  “Nobody can read another person’s mind,” Tom said. “But my great brain did figure out how the Mental Marvel and his assistant put on their mind-reading act. I just need to work out the details. Phil will be visiting his folks tomorrow so you and Tony meet me in our usual spot in the yard. I’ll have it all figured out by then.”

  When Tom met Jerry and Tony under their usual tree the next afternoon he had a notebook with him.

  “First,” he said. “let me explain how the Mental Mar-vel knew what the assistant held in his hand. I noticed that each time, the assistant asked a slightly different question. They used a code word for each article. For example, when the assistant said, ‘Please read my mind, Mental Marvel, and tell me what I hold in my hand,’ the code word ‘please’ meant it was a watch. My great brain has figured out dif-120

  p>

  ferent words I can begin a sentence with. All you’ve got to do. Jerry, is to memorize those words and the articles they are code words for. I made up two lists, one for each of us.”

  He tore a sheet from the notebook and handed it to Jerry. On it he had printed the following:

  CAN means it is a CATECHISM TELL means it is a ROSARY OH means it is HOLY MEDALS THIS means it is a PAIR OF GLASSES WHAT means it is a RING YOU means it is a WATCH SEARCH means it is MONEY READ means it is a LETTER IF means it is a POCKETKNIFE IT means it is a CRUCIFIX i means it is a PENCIL WILL means it is a COMB

  Jerry looked at the list. “What if it is something we don’t have a code word for?” he asked.

  “We’ve got a code word for just about everything the fellows would have on them at the theater,” Tom said. “But if one of them does hold out something we don’t have a code word for I’ll do the same thing the assistant did and just pass them by. Start memorizing the code words now. And after supper go to the chapel where it is nice and quiet and do some more memorizing instead of praying. We will meet here tomorrow after school for a rehearsal.”

  Tom knew he could memorize the code words in no time. He had picked Jerry to be his partner because the

  121

  red-headed boy had a better memory than Phil or Tony. The four of them met in the yard on Monday after school. Tom tested Jerry until he was satisfied Jerry knew all the code words. Then he and Jerry began rehearsing sentences beginning with code words. By the time they returned to the dormitory to wash up for supper Tom knew that both he and Jerry had the parts they would play down pat.

  After supper Tom waited until the four kids assigned to the kitchen and dining room were finished before he began the demonstration. His money-loving heart didn’t want to miss any bets. He had put the paper bag containing the profits from the candy store under his pillow. He was now ready to lead the lamb to the slaughter. He removed the bag.

  “Do you still want to bet, Rory, that Jerry and I can’t do what the Mental Marvel and his assistant did?” he asked.

  “Sure,” Rory said. “But you must do it exactly like they did it.”

  “I will let you blindfold Jerry and place him at one end of the dormitory,” Tom said. “And to make it even tougher you can make him face the wall. I wil! stand at the other end of the dormitory. You fellows will hand me articles you had with you at the theater. I will ask Jerry to identify them. If he misses one article I lose the bet. Now, how many of you fellows want to bet besides Rory?”

  Those kids must have thought they had a sure thing. Every one of them except Tom’s three friends raised their hands.

  “Phil,” Tom said, “you go to the top of the stairway

  122

  and act as lookout. Tony, get a notebook and write down the name of each fellow and how much he bets.”

  Tom then dumped his profits from the candy store onto his bunk. “Get in line now to bet.” he said. “You tell Tony how much you want to put down. He’ll write your name and the amount and hand the money to me. I’ll drop it in the paper bag and then cover each bet with my own money. After all bets are made, my brother Sweyn will hold the stakes. If you fellows win, he can take the notebook and pay each of you double the amount you bet from the paper bag. Any questions?”

  The boys lined up like sheep waiting to be sheared by The Great Brain. Rory was first in line.

  “I wish I had more than forty cents to bet,” he said.

  “So do I,” Tom said. “So do I.”

  Sweyn was next and bet fifty cents. “This is one time your great brain and big mouth are going to cost you plenty,” he said. “A joke is a joke but you can still call it off.”

  “If you are so sure it can’t be done,” Tom said, “why don’t you bet a dollar?”

  “Because fifty cents is all I’ve got,” Sweyn said.

  By the time all bets had been placed, there was more than ten dollars in the paper bag. Tom stood to make a fortune if he or Jerry didn’t make a mistake. And he stood to lose a fortune if they did. If that happened his money-loving heart would break wide open.

  “All right, Rory,” he said. “Take Jerry to the end of the dormitory, blindfold him, and face him against the wall. The rest of you get ready to hand me articles you had on you at the theater.”

  123

  “Wait for me,” Rory said. “I want to be first because I know that will be the end of the demonstration.”

  A few minutes later the mind-reading demonstration was ready to begin. Rory handed Tom his rosary.

  “Tell me, Mental Marvel, what I am holding in my hand,” Tom said.

  “A rosary,” Jerry answered.

  There was a gasp of astonishment from all the fellows except Sweyn. “It was just a lucky guess,” he said, holding out his watch.

  Tom took it. “You will have to read my mind. Mental Marvel, to tell me what this is,” he said.

  “A watch,” Jerry answered.

  Larry Williams handed Tom his pocket-sized catechism.

  “Can you read my mind. Mental Marvei. and tell me what this article is?” Tom asked.

  “A catechism.” Jerry answered.

  By this time the fellows who had bet were staring at Tom as if he was the devi! himself. He took a letter from the next student.

  “Read my mind. Mental Marvel, and tell me what I hold in my hand.” he said.

  “A letter,” Jerry answered.

  Billy Daniels removed a ring from his finger and handed it to Tom.

  “What am I holding in my hand now, Mental Mar-vel?” Tom asked.

  “A ring,” Jerry answered.

  Willie Connors handed Tom his pocketknife.
>
  “If you can tell me what I hold in my hand now,” Tom said, “you are truly a Mental Marvel.”

  124

  “A pocketknife,” Jerry answered.

  Tom returned the pocketknife. “That ends the demonstration,” he said. “Jerry and I have proved how the Mental Marvel and his assistant did their mind-reading act, and I’ve won all bets.”

  Harold Adams took off his glasses and held them out. “Just one more, please,” he said.

  Tom took the glasses. “This is the last time you have to read my mind. Mental Marvel, and tell what I hold in my hand,” he said.

  “A pair of glasses,” Jerry answered.

  Tom gave the glasses back. “That ends the demonstration for sure,” he said. In his letter he wrote me that he had never seen such a bunch of open-mouthed kids. They couldn’t have been more astonished if he and Jerry had jumped out the window and started flying around like birds.

  He told Jerry to take off the blindfold and then got the paper bag with the money in it from Sweyn.

  ‘T figured Rory and the others would bet,” he said, “but I didn’t think my own brother would be that foolish.”

  Poor Sweyn was still in a daze, not only from what he’d seen and heard but also from losing half a dollar. “I still don’t believe it,” he said. “How did you do it?”

  Rory nodded his head. “You have won our money,” he said, “and that entitles us to know how it was done,”

  “I don’t remember promising I would tell you how it was done,” Tom said. His money-loving heart told him to make them pay to find out. But his great brain reminded him that this was a good time to get even with the eighth graders for the torture tunnel. And anyway he had won all their money.

  125

  “The only way you are ever going to find out how it was done,” he said, “is for the eighth graders to go through the torture tunne] of the seventh graders.”

  Rory folded his arms on his chest. “I’m not going to let you little seventh graders paddle me,” he said.

  Sweyn grabbed Rory’s arm. “Yes you are,” he said. “It is worth it to find out how it was done.”

  Larry Williams nodded his head. “Sweyn is right,” he said. “And if you don’t want all the eighth graders giving you the silent treatment you’ll do as Tom says.”

  Rory knew he was beat as all the other eighth graders began nodding their heads. “All right,” he said. “You little seventh graders get your torture tunnel ready.”

  Tom got the seventh graders lined up in the aisle with their legs apart and their geography books in their hands.

  “Give it to them good and hard like they gave it to us,” he ordered

  After the last eighth graders had crawled through the torture tunnel all the kids gathered around Tom. He explained how the Mental Marvel and his assistant worked with code words and then showed them the sheet of paper with the words he and Jerry had used.

  Sweyn pointed at the sheet. “What if somebody held up an article you and Jerry didn’t have a code word for?” he asked

  “I’d do the same thing the assistant did in the theater,” Tom said, “and just pass them up.”

  Sweyn nodded. “You’re right,” he said- “I noticed how the assistant passed up a lot of people. Why, he even ignored Rory, who was right near him holding out his rosary.”

  “That is because they didn’t have a code word for a

  126

  rosary,” Tom said. “No more questions, please. To figure

  this all out put a strain on my great brain and I want to give it a rest.”

  Tom didn’t really want to give his great brain a rest.

  All he wanted to do was count the money and find out how much he had won.

  “Anybody could have figured it out,” Rorysaid. “Then why didn’t you figure it out and save yourself forty cents and a paddling?” Tom asked with a grin.

  “You’ve got a smart mouth,” Rory said. “And one of these days I’m going to close it for you.”

  Tom handed the paper bag to Jerry. “I’ll back up anything I say with my fists any time,” he said.

  Sweyn stepped between them. “You start a fight in the dormitory and you’ll both be expelled,” he said.

  Tom had believed from his first day at the academy that he would have to fight Rory sooner or later. His great brain had planned how to do it without being expelled.

  “Who is going to know there has been a fight?” he asked. “Rory and I will go into the washroom, where no-body can see us. And after I give him a black eye and a

  bloody nose he can tell Father Rodriguez he fell down the stairs.”

  “He is bigger and older than you,” Sweyn said. “So what,” Tom said. “You know that with my cor-respondence course in boxing from John I.. Sullivan and all my experience fighting in Adenville, I’ve whipped kids a lot bigger and tougher than him.” Then he looked at Rory. “You’ve been digging at me since school started. Let’s go to the washroom and settle it right now,”

  Now I’m not saying that Rory Flynn was a coward. But after hearing Tom confidently say he would black

  128

  Rory’s eye and bloody his nose, and then nearing about that course in boxing from the former champion of the world and about Tom’s whipping kids bigger and tougher, for my money Rory would have been a fool to fight Tom.

  “I’m not going to get expelled on account of you,” Rory said. He walked to his bunk and sat down.

  Jerry patted Tom on the back. “You sure bluffed him,” he said.

  “I wasn’t bluffing,” Tom said. “Rory is just a big bag of wind.”

  But Tom was going to learn that a big bag of wind can blow a fellow right into a lot of trouble, as he told me in his next letter.

  129

  CHAPTER NINE

  Mystery of the Missing Mattress

  PAPA HAD HIS ANNUAL physical checkup with Dr. LeRoy just two days before the November reports on Tom and Sweyn arrived from the academy. It was a good thing Dr. LcRoy pronounced Papa in excellent health. I say this because Papa would have had a nervous breakdown and apoplexy all at once after reading the report on Tom. The report informed us that Tom had received fifteen demerits for the month, just five short of being expelled. The news made Papa do something I’d never seen him do before. He always took a drink of brandy before supper but that was all he ever drank. But after reading the report he went into the pantry and poured himself a

  130

  big glass of brandy. He drank it and then returned to the parlor, where he began pacing up and down like a caged animal.

  “I knew it couldn’t last,” he cried out. “Mark my words, Tom will be expelled before Christmas.”

  This was certainly a switch from the month before when he said he knew Tom just needed a little time to ad-just. But Papa was like that. He took credit when it was a credit to do so and neatly shifted the blame when it wasn’t.

  That was one time I wanted to confess that Tom had been enclosing two letters in his envelopes. I wanted to tell Papa that it wasn’t Tom’s fault, because my brother had written me all about it. But I knew if I showed Papa that one letter he would insist on reading all the letters Tom had sent me. And that would have given him a nervous breakdown and apoplexy even if he was in perfect health.

  It was all Rory Flynn’s fault that Tom had got fifteen demerits. It began one morning when Tom returned to the dormitory after breakfast and found a blue slip on his bunk. A blue slip meant an infraction of a rule and who-ever received one had to report to the superintendent’s office after classes. One of the rules of the academy was that all bunks had to be made up before the boys went to breakfast. Then, after saying Grace Before Meals, Father Rodriguez would go to the dormitory for an inspection while the fellows were eating. Tom knew darn well that he had made up his bunk. Now it was all mussed up. And he was pretty sure Rory had done it. But there wasn’t anything he could do but report to the superintendent’s of-fice. He was given five demerits.

  A
nother rule was that all students had to have all

  131

  their textbooks when reporting for class in the morning. The reason for this was that some of the students used to leave textbooks which they’d been using for homework in the dormitory. This meant Father O’Malley had to hold up the class until the students went and got their books.

  Two days after Tom had received five demerits for not making up his bunk he couldn’t find his textbook on advanced arithmetic after breakfast. He was positive he had left it on his desk with the other textbooks. He looked all around but couldn’t find it-He knew he couldn’t bluff it in class so he told Father O’Malley he had lost his advanced arithmetic textbook. He was sent to the superintendent’s office and received another five demerits. Ken-neth Bradley, whose permanent work assignment was to sweep and dust the library after school, found Tom’s textbook lying on a table in the library. Tom knew he hadn’t been to the library the night before. And he was now positive that Rory Flynn was behind all this.

  The following week Tom found another blue slip on his bunk for not making up his bed.

  “This makes fifteen demerits this month,” Father Rodriguez said as he pronounced sentence in his office af-ter school that day. “Why have you suddenly become so careless and lazy?”

  Tom knew he was neither careless nor lazy. He also

  knew he couldn’t tell the superintendent what he believed

  to he true without being a tattletale.

  “It won’t happen again, Father,” he said. “It had better not,” the priest said. “You are excused.”

  Tom joined his three friends under the tree in the yard.

  “We all know Rory is doing this to get even with me

  132

  for making him back down when I wanted to fight him,” Tom said. “I saw he was the last one in the dining room for breakfast this morning. He just waited until everybody was out of the dormitory and then mussed up my bunk like he did before.”