LEARNING THE ROPES
The boys sat there, silently studying the new "master of their fate,"
and wondering how they would get along with him. He, in turn, looked
them over carefully. Then he leaned forward and took some papers from
his desk.
"I was expecting you," he said, glancing at two letters he held in his
hand. "Your father wrote me that you would reach here to-day.
"I have also here a letter from your uncle, Mr. Aaron Rushton," he went
on. "He is a very close friend of mine, and I gather that it was through
his suggestion that your father decided to send you here."
Fred murmured an assent, while Teddy's heart sank, as he tried to
imagine what Uncle Aaron had said about him in the letter.
Dr. Rally sat up straight in his chair. It was significant that it was
not an easy revolving chair, but as stiff and perpendicular as the
doctor himself.
"The matter of your studies and assignment to classes," Dr. Rally
continued, "will be looked after by Professor Raymond, my chief
assistant. I will send you to him in a moment. But first, I want to say
one word.
"The discipline of the school is strict, and it must be obeyed.
Sometimes"--here he glanced at Uncle Aaron's letter and then let his
gaze fall on Teddy, who squirmed inwardly--"a boy comes here who thinks
that he is going to run the school. He never makes the same mistake a
second time. That is all."
He gave the boys directions how to find Professor Raymond, and they
found themselves out in the hall, surprised at the briefness of the
interview, but relieved that it was over.
"Say!" exclaimed Fred, "he didn't have so much to say, after all."
"He didn't talk very much, if that is what you mean," corrected Teddy,
who was unusually thoughtful, for him, "but he said a good deal."
"I wonder what Uncle Aaron told him in his letter," mused Teddy. "I'll
bet he just skinned me alive."
"Oh, well, don't you care," Fred consoled him. "Your cake is dough with
Uncle Aaron, and I suppose it will always, unless he finds his watch and
papers."
"Do you suppose he ever will?" asked Teddy, for at least the hundredth
time, and rather wistfully.
"We'll keep on hoping so, anyway," replied Fred. "But here's the room
the doctor told us to go to."
They found Professor Raymond to be a young man, alert and vigorous and
full of snap. He was very friendly and cordial, and the boys liked him
from the start.
He examined the boys as to the point that they had reached in their
studies, and carefully looked over the reports they had brought from
their teachers in the Oldtown school. These proved exceedingly
satisfactory. Fred's work had been really brilliant, while Teddy,
despite his love of mischief, had held a very creditable rank in his
studies.
The professor assigned them to their classes and gave them all necessary
directions as to the hours of study and times for recitations. Then he
consulted a slip he took from his desk.
"I'm going to put you boys in Dormitory Number Three," he said finally.
"There are ten beds in there, and just two have been left vacant. I'll
give directions for your trunks and bags to be sent up there, and you
can unpack and get your things arranged in the wardrobe and locker that
stand at the heads of your beds. By the time you get rested and
freshened up, it will be nearly time for supper."
Dormitory Number Three, they found to be a very large and airy room in
the front of the building on the second floor, and commanding a splendid
view of the lake. There were ten single beds, with ample space between
them, and at the head of each was a wardrobe and locker. At the foot was
a washstand with all the necessary appliances.
The dormitory was intended for sleeping purposes only. On the floor
below, there were special study rooms, where the boys were supposed to
prepare their lessons for the next day's recitations.
Fred and Teddy had just begun to wash, when Granger came through the
door like a whirlwind.
"Well, by all that's lucky!" he exclaimed. "So Raymond's put you in
here, has he? I was hoping he would. Now that's what I call bully!"
"That's what we call it, too, if this is your dormitory," said Fred, who
had seldom formed so strong a liking for any one on such short
acquaintance.
"I've slept here for the last two years," replied Melvin, "and I think
it's the best dormitory in the whole school. Look at the view from
here." His sweeping gesture took in the lake, rippling in the glow of
the western sun.
"It's a pippin, all right!" assented Fred.
"It sure is!" echoed Teddy.
"And we've got a ripping lot of fellows in here, too," went on Melvin.
"All of them are the real goods. There isn't a snoop or a sneak in the
bunch. All of them are old timers, except two fellows that came in two
days ago. One of them is named Garwood, who comes from out West
somewhere. The other is Lester Lee from somewhere down on the coast of
Maine. I don't know much about them yet, but I like them first-rate from
what I've seen of them so far. I think we're going to be a regular happy
family, as soon as we get going, and I'm mighty glad you fellows are
going to be in the crowd."
Nobody was gladder than Fred and Teddy themselves. Although they had not
confessed it, even to each other, they had felt a sort of dread of the
first few days at school. They had not known but what it might take
weeks before they could establish their footing and begin to feel at
home. Yet here it was only a few hours, and this friendly, big-hearted
boy had taken them right in, as cordially as though he had known them
for years. If they were to suffer from loneliness or homesickness, it
would not be Melvin Granger's fault.
"Here come some of the fellows now," he said, as a noisy group burst
into the room and began to make use of wash basins and towels. "I won't
stop to introduce you now. The supper gong will ring in about five
minutes, and they'll be breaking their necks to get ready in time. When
we get up here again after supper and study hours, I'll trot them all
out, and they can tell you the sad stories of their lives."
As he had predicted, the splashing of water and brushing of hair were
interrupted a few moments later by the clanging of the gong that told a
hundred or more hungry boys that supper was ready. There was no need of
a second summons, and with a last hasty touch to their incomplete
toilets, they came trooping into the immense dining-room that covered an
entire floor in one of the wings.
There were eight long tables, at the head of each of which was one of
the teachers. Dr. Rally sat apart, in state, with his family, at a
private table in one corner of the room. For this, all the boys inwardly
thanked their stars. Not one of them would have cared to eat under the
direct glare of the head of the school.
Fred and Teddy were glad to find that they had been assigned to the
table over which Professor Raymond presided. Melvin, too, was at the
same table, a little higher up.
The food was plentiful and well cooked, and although Fred and Teddy
would not have minded having one or two of the dainties that old Martha
was so adept in preparing, it was plain that her prophecy of their early
death from starvation was not going to be fulfilled. They made a most
satisfactory meal, marred only by the fact that Teddy's piece of pie was
devoured by some unknown neighbor while he was talking to Fred.
He was game, however, and not being able to swallow the pie, swallowed
his resentment, making a mental vow to get even, if he should ever
discover the culprit.
A half an hour for rest and recreation followed the supper. Then the
bell rang for a study period of two hours. At the end of this time work
was over for the day, and the boys sought their dormitories to do as
they chose till bedtime. All lights were to be out by ten o'clock.
The boys came into Number Three with a clatter and a bang. When they
were all there, Melvin lifted his hand to hush the racket.
"Hi, there, you fellows," he shouted. "Keep still for a minute. I want
to say something."
The tumult subsided, as the boys came crowding around him.
"Gentlemen," he said, with mock dignity--"I know I flatter you, but no
matter--I want to introduce you to two new roommates, Fred and Teddy
Rushton."