THE HONOR MEDAL
Bill Bronson and Jack Jinks were released from their harnesses, and the
"pillows" were taken off their feet and hands, they went to opposite
ends of the gymnasium and had nothing to say to each other.
Barry did not mention the foul blow and its punishment, and none of the
smaller boys dared speak of it. It was certain, however, that the
intimacy of the only two boys in the school inclined to bully the
smaller ones had taken a decided set back.
The fun of the "poguey fight" was not to end so quickly, however. Some
of the bigger boys caught Pee Wee and Mouser Pryde, and fastened them
into the harness and put the mufflers on their feet and hands.
The fat boy and his chum made no decided remonstrance, and when they
were swung up, they made an earnest endeavor to give the fellows all the
fun they were looking for. Their gyrations certainly were amusing, and
Bobby and Fred laughed as loudly as any of the other boys.
But when the fat boy and Mouser were let down, and Max and Barry grabbed
the chums from Clinton, for a moment, Fred was inclined to cut up rough.
"Aw, be a sport, Fred!" said Bobby, earnestly. "If Pee Wee can stand it,
_we_ can."
So Fred thought better of "getting mad" and for a while the two friends
swung in the air and punched and kicked at each other to the delight of
the other boys. Bobby was very careful not to anger the red-haired lad,
and they came through the poguey fight with smiling faces. It was borne
in upon Bobby's mind more and more that Fred Martin was going to have
difficulty in keeping out of trouble in this new environment.
At eleven o'clock the whole school filed up to the hall on the second
floor. None of the teachers were present and there was some little
confusion and noise at first.
Barry stepped forward and held up a hand for silence. "You fellows
better take a tumble to yourselves," he said calmly. "You want to show
the Doctor that you don't have to be watched all the time. You all
know--at least, all of you but Bobby Blake and Fred Martin, and they are
not making the noise--that _this_ isn't the place for skylarking.
"We had our fun downstairs. I hear the Doctor coming now. Let's give
him a Rockledge cheer when he comes in and then--silence!"
The door opened as he ceased speaking and the tall, heavy-set principal
with his quiet smile and pleasant eyes peering through the thick lenses
of his glasses, appeared.
Captain Gray raised his hand again. The roomful of boys sprang to their
feet. Bobby noted that many of them placed their left hands upon the
little blue and white enameled button that they wore on the lapels of
their coats, as they shouted in unison:
"One, two, three--_boom_!
Boom--Z-z-z--ah!
Rockledge! Rockledge!
Sword and star!
Who's on top?
We sure are--
_Rock_-ledge!"
Bobby and Fred had both noticed the blue and white buttons with the star
and sword upon them, but they did not know what they meant. Now Bobby
guessed that there was some society, or inner circle at Rockledge School
that they, as newcomers, knew nothing about.
All the boys did not belong to it. Pee Wee did not wear a button, nor
did many of the fellows from their dormitory. Bill Bronson and Jack
Jinks did not possess the badge, either.
Meanwhile, Doctor Raymond, smiling and bowing, approached the rostrum.
Bobby--his mind always on the alert--noted the little blue and white
spot against the dead black of the doctor's coat.
"Well, boys! I am extremely obliged to you, I am sure," said the
Doctor, bowing again. "I am just as sensitive to compliments as the
next person. I hope you will always be as glad to see me as you appear
to be at this moment.
"Now, I shall not detain you for long. You know my little lectures have
usually the saving grace of brevity. We have come together once more to
face a year of study. Let us face it like real men! Star and sword, my
boys! The star we are aiming for, and the Sword of Determination will
hew our way to the goal.
"There! I will give you no homilies. There are but two new boys with
us this year--Robert Blake and Frederick Martin. Give them a warm
welcome. They only do not understand about our Medal of Honor."
He suddenly opened his large hand and displayed in its palm a
five-pointed gold star, at least two inches across, and with a beautiful
blue-velvet background.
"Here it is--all ready for the engraving. At the close of the school
year, this medal will be presented to the one among you who has won it
by studiousness, good conduct, manliness and general popularity.
"It is not always the boy who sets out to win the medal who really
_does_ win it. You, who are older, know _that_. We teachers try not to
influence the opinion of the school in the choice of the recipient of
the Honor Medal.
"The winner must stand well in his classes, or he cannot have the
faculty vote. His deportment must be good, or we teachers cannot vote
for him. But you boys yourselves must--after all--choose the winner.
"There are fifty of you in Rockledge School. You have each,
individually, a better chance to understand your neighbors' characters
than anybody else. You are quick to find out if there is something
_fine_ in a lad's temper. You will soon learn the one who restrains
himself under provocation, who bears insult, perhaps, with confidence in
his own uprightness; who keeps straight on his way without turning aside
because of any temptation.
"_That_ is the sort of a lad who will win this Medal of Honor,"
concluded the Doctor, very seriously. "Any boy--even the youngest--may
secure it. It does not have to go to the boy at the top of his class,
nor to the oldest boy in the school. You little chaps stand just as good
a chance for it as Captain Gray," and he rested his hand upon Barry
Gray's shoulder for an instant as though there was some secret
understanding between him and the captain of the school.
"Now, I have talked enough. School will begin in earnest on Monday.
Remember, bounds are as usual. You little fellows, see Barrymore, or
some of the masters, if you are not sure of a thing. And remember that
my office door is never locked."
He went out quickly at the door behind the platform. Somehow, the boys
felt rather serious, and there was no shouting or fooling as they filed
out and down the stairs to the open air.
"Say! that was a handsome gold medal he showed us," said Fred, with
enthusiasm, to Bobby.
"Wasn't it?" returned his chum, with sparkling eyes.
"I'd like to get that myself," admitted the red-haired one.
"Didn't I tell you, you'd have no chance at _that_, Ginger?" chuckled
Pee Wee's voice behind them.
"I see it," admitted Fred, without getting angry. "But it would be fine
to win it, just the same."
So Bobby thought. He remembered what his mother had said to him on one
occasion, and wondered if it were possible for _him_ to win the gold
medal and present it to her when she returned from that far journey
which she and his father were soon to take.
"She certainly would be proud of me then," thought Bobby Blake. "I
guess she'd think after _that_, it would be safe to leave me alone
anywhere--yes, sir! And I certainly would like to own such a medal."
This set his mind to thinking upon the fact that at daybreak the very
next morning the ship on which his parents had bought their stateroom
would sail from New York. They were already on the train which would
bear them to the coast.
After they sailed it would be a long time before he could even expect a
picture post-card from them--a month, at least. And _then_, they would
be thousands of miles away!
He slipped away from Fred and Pee Wee and went into one of the
schoolrooms. There was a big globe there, and he timidly turned this
around and around until he found the pink splotch of color which marked
Brazil.
There was the gaping mouth of the Amazon, with the big island dividing
it, and the river on the south side, against which was the black dot
marking the city of Para--where his parents would land.
He thought of all he had ever heard or been taught about the
Amazon--"that Mighty River." He knew how the current of the vast stream
met the ocean tides and fought with them for supremacy. He knew how the
river overflowed its banks in the rainy seasons and covered vast areas
of forest and plain.
The trader's station, to which his parents were bound, was a thousand
miles up the Amazon, and then five hundred miles more up another river.
Why--why, if he fell ill, or anything--
He never realized until this moment just what it would mean to have his
mother and father so far away. It had been great fun to come to
Rockledge to school. He liked it here. He hoped he would learn, and
advance, and win his way with both the boys and the teachers.
But to have a mother and father so many, many miles away--especially to
have a mother going away from one just as fast as steam could take her--
Bobby Blake put his arm on the big globe, and laid his face against his
jacket-sleeve. His shoulders shook.