by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER VI.
IN WHICH ERNEST FINDS HIS FELLOW-STUDENTS IN OPEN REBELLION.
To apologize to Poodles was to acknowledge that I had done wrong. HadI done wrong so far as my fellow-student was concerned? Seriously andearnestly I asked myself this question. No; I had told the truth inregard to the affair exactly as it was, and it would be a lie for meto apologize to Poodles. I could not and would not do it. I would becut to pieces, and have my limbs torn piecemeal from my body before Iwould do it.
As far as the principal was concerned, I felt that, provoked andirritated by his tyranny and injustice, I had exhibited a proud anddefiant spirit, which was dangerous to the discipline of the school. Iwas sorry that, when he called me back, I had not obeyed. While I wasin the school-room, or on the premises of the academy, I should haveyielded obedience, both in fact and in spirit; and I could not excusemy defiant bearing by the plea that I had been expelled. I waswilling, after reflection, to apologize to Mr. Parasyte.
He proposed to pay for my boat. This was a great concession on hispart, though it was called forth by the belief that he was legallyliable for its destruction. He was willing to do me justice in thatrespect, if I would humiliate myself before Poodles, and publicly healthe wound which the discipline of the Institute had received at myhands. Even at that time it seemed to me to be noble and honorable toacknowledge an error and atone for it; and I am quite sure, if I couldhave felt that I had done wrong, I should have been glad to own it,and to make the confession in the presence of the students. There wasa principle at stake, and something more than mere personal feeling.
While I was debating with myself what I should do, Mr. Parasyteappeared again. It was a matter of infinite importance to him. Theprosperity, if not the very existence, of his school depended uponthe issue of this affair; and he was naturally nervous and excited.The students were in a state of incipient rebellion, as their conductin the afternoon indicated, and it was of the highest moment to theInstitute to have the matter amicably adjusted.
On the one hand, if I apologized to Poodles and the principal, the"powers that be" would be vindicated, and the authority of the masterfully established. On the other hand, if I declined to do so, and thesentence of expulsion was carried out, the boys were in sympathy withme, and the rebellion might break out afresh, and end in the totaldissolution of the establishment. Under these circumstances, it wasnot strange that Mr. Parasyte desired to see me again.
"I hope you have carefully considered your position, Thornton," saidhe.
"I have," I replied; "and I am willing to apologize to you, but not toPoodles."
"That is something gained," added he; and I could see his facebrighten up under the influence of a hope.
"My manner was defiant, and my conduct disobedient. I am willing toapologize to you for this, and to submit to such punishment as youthink proper to inflict."
"That is very well; but it does not fully meet the difficulty. Youmust also apologize to Poodles, which you are aware may be done inprivate."
"I cannot do it, sir, either in public or in private. Poodles waswholly and entirely to blame."
"I think not; when I settled the case it was closed up, and it mustnot be opened again; at least not till some new testimony is obtained.I cannot eat my own words."
"You may obtain new testimony, if you desire," I suggested.
"What?"
"Poodles signed the declaration that he had performed the examples onthe papers without assistance."
"He did. Have you any doubt that such is the case?" asked Mr.Parasyte, though he must have been satisfied that Poodles did not workout the examples.
"I am entirely confident that he did not perform them. Mr. Parasyte,"I continued, earnestly, "I desire to stay at the Institute. It wouldbe very bad for me to be turned out, and I am willing to confess Ihave done wrong. If you give Poodles the paper with the examination onit, and he can perform one half of the examples, even now, withouthelp, I will apologize to him in public or in private."
"That looks very fair, but it is not," replied the principal, rubbinghis head, as if to stimulate his ideas.
"If Poodles can do the problems, I shall be willing to believe that Iam mistaken. In my opinion, he cannot perform a single one of them,let alone the whole of them."
"I object to this proceeding," said he, impatiently. "It will beequivalent to my making a confession."
The bell rang for the boys to assemble for the evening devotions. Itgave Mr. Parasyte a shock, for the business was still unsettled. I hadsubmitted to him a method by which he could ascertain the truth orfalsehood of Poodle's statements; but it involved an acknowledgmentthat he, Mr. Parasyte, was in the wrong. He seemed to be afraid itwould be proved that he had made a blunder; that he had given anunjust judgment. I was fully aware that the principal's position was adifficult and painful one, and I was even disposed to sympathize withhim to a certain extent, though I was the victim of his partiality andinjustice. The perils and discomforts of his situation, however, hadbeen produced by his own hasty and unfair judgment; and it would havebeen far better for him even to apologize to me. He would have lostnothing with the boys by such a course; for never in my life did Ihave so exalted an opinion of a schoolmaster, as when, conscious thathe had done wrong, he nobly and magnanimously acknowledged his error,and begged the forgiveness of the boy whom he had unintentionallymisjudged.
I feel bound to say, in this connection, and after a longer experienceof the world, that many schoolmasters, "armed with a little briefauthority," are the most contemptible of petty tyrants. Theirarrogance and oppression are intolerable; and I have often wondered,that where such men have been planted, they have not produced more ofthe evil fruit of strife and rebellion. Mr. Parasyte was one of thisclass; and the fact that he was a splendid teacher did not help hisinfluence in the slightest degree.
"There is the bell for evening prayers, Thornton, and it is necessaryfor me to know instantly what you intend to do," said the principal.
"I shall not apologize to Poodles; I will to you."
"Think well of it."
"I have done so. If Poodles can do one half the examples on the paper,I will apologize."
"I have decided that question, and shall not open it again."
"I have nothing more to say, Mr. Parasyte," I replied, with becomingdignity, as I braced myself for the consequences of the decision I hadmade.
"You are an obstinate and self-willed fellow!" exclaimed theprincipal, irritated by the result.
I made no reply.
"The consequences be upon your own head."
I bowed in silence.
"You have lost your good character and your boat."
I glanced out of the window, and saw the boys filing into theschool-room.
"I shall explain this matter to your fellow-students, and tell themwhat I proposed."
"Do so," I answered.
He could not help seeing that I was thoroughly in earnest, and that Idid not intend to yield any more than I had indicated. He was vexed,annoyed, angry, and bolted out of the room, at last, in no properframe of mind to conduct the religious exercises of the hour. It wasquite dark now; and I lay down upon the bed, to think of what hadpassed, and to conjecture the result of my conduct. How I sighed thenfor some kind friend to advise me! How I wished that I had a fatherwho would tell me what to do, and fight my battle for me! How I longedfor a tender mother, into whose loving face I could gaze as I relatedthe sad experience of that eventful day! Perhaps she would bid meapologize to Poodles, for the sake of saving my good name, andretaining my connection with the school. If so, though it would beweak and unworthy, I could humble myself for her sake.
I felt that I had done right. I had made all the concession whichtruth and justice required of me, and I was quite calm. I hardlyinquired why Mr. Parasyte was keeping me a prisoner in the Instituteafter he had expelled me, or what he intended to do with me. Aboutnine o'clock my own clothes were brought back to me by one of theservants; but the door was se
curely locked when he retired.
A few minutes later, and before the sound of the servant's retreatingfootsteps had ceased, I heard some one thrust a key into the door. Itdid not fit, and a dozen others were tried in like manner, but with nobetter success. I heard a whispered consultation; and then the doorbegan to strain, and crack, until the bolt yielded, and it flew open.My sympathizing friends, the students, headed by Bob Hale, had brokenit down.
"Come, Ernest," said Bob. "You needn't stay in here any longer. Wewant you down stairs."
"What are you going to do?" I asked, quietly, of my exciteddeliverers.
"There is no law or justice in this concern; and we are going to putthings to rights," replied Tom Rush, a good fellow, who had spent aweek's vacation with me circumnavigating Lake Adieno in the Splash.
"You know I don't approve of any rows or riots," I added.
"No row nor riot about it. We have taken possession of thisestablishment, and we are going to straighten things out,--you can betyour life on that."
"Where is Mr. Parasyte?"
"He has gone up to see your uncle. He told us, at evening prayers,what an obstinate boy you were; how kind, and tender, and forgiving hehad been to you, and how he had exhausted good nature in trying tobring you to a proper sense of duty."
"Did he say that?"
"He did, and much more. But come with us. The fellows have capturedthe citadel, and we hold the school-room now, waiting for you."
"I will go with you; but I don't want the fellows to make adisturbance."
"No disturbance at all, Ernest; but we have turned the assistantteachers out, and mean to ascertain who is right and who is wrong inthis matter."
The rebellion had actually broken out again; and the students, in themost high-handed manner, had established a tribunal in theschool-room, to try the issue of my affair with the principal. Ifollowed Bob Hale, Tom Rush, and half a dozen others, who constitutedthe committee to wait on me. They conducted me to the mainschool-room, which was a large hall. At every door and window werestationed two or three of the larger boys, with their hockies, bats,and rulers as weapons, to defend the court, as they called it, fromany interruption.
About two thirds of the students were there assembled; and though thegathering was a riotous proceeding, the boys were in as good order asduring the sessions of the school. In an arm-chair, on the platform,sat Henry Vallington, one of the oldest and most dignified studentsof the Institute, who, it appeared, was to act as judge. Before himwere Bill Poodles and Dick Pearl,--the latter being one of the sixwhose examples were all right,--arraigned for trial, and guarded byfour stout students.