It is October first, and once more are exchanged joyous greetings among
several hundred young men at Annapolis; fresh from a happy vacation
they hurl at one another warm welcomes. It was an enthusiastic breaking
up and departure a month ago but it is none the less a joyful, eager
return, for the hearts of midshipmen, their interests, their ambitions,
are always centered at the Naval Academy. We see the same young faces
of our familiar acquaintances, yet in their spirit is detected a
difference. There is always evident in the bearing of the senior class
a conscious superiority; and even the clean sleevers, little though
their own authority be, feel they belong to the governing class and
take pride in the thought. In front of the center of the battalion,
facing it as it has assembled in ranks, proud of the honor that has
come to him and tremendously conscious of the four golden stripes that
brilliantly adorn each sleeve, stood Bollup. A few paces before him
stands another well-known friend, Himski, in the act of saluting and
reporting:--“Sir, the battalion is formed.” In front of each company
of midshipmen are stalwart, erect young men in whom it is hard to
recognize the slouchy gawky plebes of three years before. And in an
unimportant place in ranks, with no authority, stands the number one
man of his class, Ralph Osborn.
There was no bitterness in Ralph’s mind that he should have been so
signally left out when the class honors were distributed; he was
thankful enough to be in the dark blue uniform, clean though his
sleeves were of any ornaments; but it must be admitted that he took
much satisfaction in knowing that, though now far down in authority
in his class, this would be but temporary; that after graduation and
thereafter as long as he was in the Navy he would always have rank in
his own class and authority in accordance with his class standing. He
would always be the first of his class on the Navy list, would always
be the first of his class to be promoted to the higher naval ranks. In
but a few months he would be senior to Bollup, Himski and all of the
rest. And so Ralph was entirely content.
As battalion commander, Bollup made a noble figure and all of the new
cadet officers attacked their responsible duties with genuine desire to
excel.
Till toward the end there is but little to tell of Ralph’s first class
year. Though he did not take part himself, he enjoyed the football
games in which the Academy played a successful season. In Philadelphia
from the bleachers he saw Bollup make that wonderful run, dodging,
twisting, squirming and diving through eleven West Point players,
bringing victory in place of what had seemed certain defeat for
Annapolis. Indescribable was the pent-up, agonized joy that surged
through Ralph’s mind at this moment, and equally so of the craze that
swept the midshipmen to a howling, delirious happiness.
This year there happened to Ralph no untoward incident; no more plots
were planned against his peace of mind and good reputation. In truth
nothing could have induced Creelton to have made further efforts, for
if there was one person Creelton feared, it was Ralph. He knew Ralph
was certain of his guilt and rejoiced that no tangible evidence of it
had been found out. So he had no higher ambition than to leave Ralph
entirely alone. But Creelton could not restrain his predilection for
stealing. He was a degenerate, of bright mentality to be sure, but
utterly unable to control himself. He was keen to take no chances
and though at times articles would disappear, he was never detected.
Ralph’s class became uneasy; that there was a thief in the class was a
matter quietly believed by many, and when at times it was discussed in
Ralph’s presence he would always say: “Creelton’s the thief.” Except
perhaps by Bollup and Himski no one could believe that Creelton was a
thief, and Himski cautioned Ralph to make no such charges for he had
no evidence and could not prove them.
It is in the constantly recurring formations and drills that the cadet
officers at Annapolis exercise their authority. In these Ralph, being
a “clean sleever,” took his place in ranks at formation, shouldered a
gun in infantry, manned the drag rope in artillery, and pulled on ropes
in seamanship drills. And in it all he was perfectly happy. Though in
these drills he was not to be heard shouting orders nor seen proudly
carrying a sword in front of a company of midshipmen, yet he had his
triumphs, and in these his soul was deeply satisfied; for at the end of
each month when the marks for departments were published, the name of
Osborn led the first class in seamanship and in navigation, in gunnery,
electricity and steam engineering. Before the middle of the first class
year it was certain beyond all doubt that Ralph would be graduated at
the head of his class on final average, and as such, despite his being
a “clean sleever,” he was a marked man.
To Ralph, though he loved him as a brother, Bollup was a great
disappointment as cadet lieutenant-commander. The latter was immensely
popular with the battalion of midshipmen and with the families of
officers stationed at Annapolis. In this high position Bollup had
little if any ambition other than to gratify and further his social
pleasures. When at Hampden Grove he had so impulsively told of the good
times he anticipated his four stripes would bring him he had expressed
his natural characteristics. As the highest ranking midshipman in the
Academy it was to have been expected that Bollup would exert all of
the penetrating influence of his rank upon the other cadet officers,
would constantly have kept them spurred up to a high sense of duty. But
Bollup wanted fun more than anything else and as a natural result did
not spend much time thinking of his really important responsibilities.
It was but natural that the standard of duty which at this epoch
existed in the battalion was not of a very high order as midshipmen
battalions go.
Ralph at first had great hopes of Bollup as four striper. In his secret
heart he felt that he had something to do with the giving of that rank
to his winsome friend. He had certainly saved him from a report that
would have meant expulsion. Ralph was at first disappointed and then
became grieved. He essayed a number of times to talk seriously to
Bollup, but the latter at first only laughed good-naturedly at him.
“Look here, Os,” he said, “don’t preach to me; I didn’t ask for these
four stripes and I didn’t bootlick for them either; and I’m going to do
just as I please.”
“All the same, you ought to have some regard for the position you
occupy,” argued Ralph; “you’re the first four striper I ever heard of
that Frenched.”
“Now, Os, don’t take advantage of your friendship; if I French it’s my
own business,” replied Bollup with some temper. “I don’t interfere with
you and I should hate to have any coolness come between us. I don’t
blame you for being rigid with yourself and with others when you are on
duty, but I’m a little too old and have been at the Academy too long to
have any one tell me what I ought or ought not to do.”
“Nevertheless, Bollup, hating to interfere, and only interfering
because of my friendship and interest, I must again ask you to reflect
upon the course you are running. You are four striper, the senior
midshipman here, and yet you repeatedly French. If you have no regard
for your personal influence then it is up to you to have some for the
stripes on your sleeve. And if this reasoning doesn’t touch you then
just think what would happen to you if you should get spotted, Tom.
I appeal to you first because of your duty, and second for your own
interests.”
“Look here, Osborn,” cried Bollup, in sudden anger, “let me tell you
that as cadet lieutenant-commander of the battalion I’ll talk duty with
my cadet lieutenants, not with a clean sleever; and as for my personal
matters, I’ll ask you to attend to your own affairs and leave mine
alone.”
“Oh,” said Ralph, stung to the heart, “I thought I was talking to a
friend; I forgot I was speaking to the cadet lieutenant-commander.”
Bollup walked off in high dudgeon. He had, in fact, become puffed up
and conceited with his high cadet rank and foolishly chose to resent
the friendly advice of his best friend, one to whom he owed, though
he did not know it, the very stripes he wore. This was in the middle
of April, six weeks from graduation. In this way a coolness sprang up
between Ralph and Bollup. The former was sadly hurt in his feelings,
and in the latter’s conceit he resented a clean sleever presuming to
dictate to his high superior officer. It is seen here that Bollup took
naturally to the prerogative of rank.
And so this once warm friendship became strained, and Ralph and Bollup,
though they spoke to one another, no longer had those daily meetings
and close interchange of thought that once had been so precious to
each. Ralph grieved at this but it is not likely that Bollup gave it
much thought.
As first classman Ralph took his turn in coming on as midshipman in
charge of floor and officer of the day, and when on such duty, had had
routine inspection and reports to make. It was natural, in view of the
serious trouble and difficulties he had had, that he should have been
very rigid in matters of duty. Midshipmen are most reluctant to report
classmates for violation of regulations and generally avoid doing
so except when absolutely necessary, but in this respect Ralph was
entirely conscientious and at times did report some of his own class.
These respected the reasons that animated him and he did not lose
popularity because of such occasional reports.
But on one Saturday evening Ralph was on duty at the Maryland Avenue
gate. There had been a dance which had closed at eleven o’clock and
the midshipmen were allowed one hour after the dance to escort their
friends home. It was Ralph’s duty to report any midshipman who returned
later than midnight and he reported Bollup for being “ten minutes late
in returning from hop liberty.”
At this Bollup was much affronted; he received twenty-five demerits
and lost many privileges, cadet lieutenant-commander though he was. He
became very angry and the next time he passed Ralph he deliberately cut
him.
Two weeks later Ralph was on duty as “midshipman in charge of floor”;
he was mustered in front of the office of the officer-in-charge and
from there went to his post. His station was at his desk, placed where
the whole floor was under his eye. After making the routine inspection
of rooms required Ralph settled down to study at his desk. Everything
on the floor was quiet until half-past nine, then “main quarters”
suddenly exploded into life. Hundreds of midshipmen threw aside their
books and burst into the corridors, running, laughing and talking,
all in high spirits. Most of them were in study jackets, white working
trousers, and fencing slippers, an easy lounging dress.
With some surprise Ralph noted that Bollup was not only completely
dressed, but it was evident he had just shaved and had on his very
newest suit, the gold stripes of the coat shining with a brand new
glittering brilliancy. At ten o’clock these bustling, happy young
men were all in bed, which fact was not taken for granted but was
ascertained by an actual inspection of every room in the building; this
was done by cadet officers from each company.
At half-past ten, Ralph, still at his desk, grew impatient. “Why
doesn’t the officer-in-charge turn us in?” he wondered. The midshipmen
on duty are required to remain at their posts until they are relieved
by order of the officer-in-charge. At a quarter to eleven a door
opened, and a head, which Ralph recognized as belonging to Bollup,
looked rapidly up and down the corridor. This occurred again a few
minutes later. Eleven o’clock came, and still the midshipmen on duty
remained at their posts, probably wondering if they had been forgotten.
Shortly after, Ralph called up the officer-in-charge’s office by
telephone.
“Hello! Is this the officer of the day?”
“Yes, This is Warren. Who are you?”
“Osborn. Say, Warren, what’s up? why don’t you turn us in?”
“Hello, Os. Something’s up. The O. C.[11] is out in front and has
been talking to Graham, the head watchman. I heard part of a report
Graham made half an hour ago. He said he saw some midshipmen running
through the yard. I guess there’s a late tea party somewhere and some
midshipmen are out. Graham then left, and I imagine a trap has been
laid to get them. Ring off; the O. C. is headed this way.”
A moment later Bollup stepped from his room, fully dressed and darted
toward the back stairs, near where Ralph’s desk was. Ralph stood in
the way. It now flashed over him that Bollup was expected at the party
Warren had spoken of. He instantly made up his mind to prevent Bollup
from committing such a serious breach of discipline.
“Hold on, Tom, you can’t go down here,” he said determinedly.
Bollup’s eyes flashed anger. “I’ll trouble you not to interfere with my
doings, Mister Osborn,” he said.
“You can’t pass by me, Tom,” said Ralph sadly. “I have my duty to
perform, both to the regulations and to my friend, for I’m not willing
to give you up yet, Tom.”
“Don’t bother about the friendship, Mister Osborn, and as for duty,
it isn’t customary for a private to talk about duty to his commanding
officer. Get out of my way! Don’t you dare to stop me!” He made a rush
to pass Ralph but the latter threw himself on Bollup and caught him
around the waist and down they both went in a heap to the floor, and
rolled over and over. Bollup struggled with angry energy and was beside
himself with rage; twice he viciously struck Ralph in the face. The
latter clung desperately to Bollup; Bollup was the stronger of the two
but he could not get rid of Ralph’s hold. They finally got up and tears
of passionate anger streamed from Bollup’s eyes. “Oh!” he cried, “if I
can ever show you how I hate and despise you, I surely will! If I live
a thousand years I’ll never speak to you again!”
[Illustration: Ralph threw himself on Bollup and caught him around the
waist]
Bollup looked at his beautiful new service coat, now torn and dirty,
and his anger broke out afresh; and with bitter rage dominating those
handsome features he reiterated his lasting hatred against Ralph, and
then returned to his room.
Ralph’s heart was filled with conflicting emotions. He believed he had
saved Bollup a second time, but he knew he would receive no thanks for
this; and he now feared the breach between himself and this once dear
friend was irreparable.
While rueful thoughts were thus surging through Ralph’s mind his
telephone bell rang.
“Hello,” he heard Warren’s voice say, “break out Bollup and send him to
the office immediately for orders; and turn out everybody on your deck.
We’re going to muster the battalion to see who’s missing.”
“Turn out, Bollup,” called out Ralph, rushing to the latter’s room;
“report to the office for orders. The battalion is to be broken out
and mustered.” And then rushing up and down the corridor, he threw
open the doors of different rooms, shouting, “Turn out on this floor,
turn out, turn out.” Resounding cries from other floors were to be
heard throughout “main quarters,” and soon from all the rooms sleepy
midshipmen, rubbing their eyes, were to be seen emerging. Ralph now ran
to his own room where Himski was in the act of dressing, and he threw
off his dirty coat and started to bathe his face.
“What’s all this row about, Os?” asked Himski. “Why are we being turned
out? Look here, old fellow, you must have been fighting; some one has
plugged you a pretty good one. What’s the trouble?”
“Somebody’s Frenching, I imagine, Himski, but please don’t ask me any
questions about my appearance, please don’t; I can’t talk about it. But
it’s nothing to do with the turning out of the battalion.”
Himski stared soberly at Ralph but made no further comment. He observed
that Ralph’s eye was nearly closed up and felt that he would learn the
facts later.
The muster of the battalion disclosed five absentees; these were of
the first and second classes. Later they were all recommended to be
dismissed but instead, the Secretary of the Navy directed that less
drastic punishment be meted out to them. The graduation diplomas of the
two first classmen were withheld for one month and the three second
classmen were deprived of the following September leave.
FOOTNOTE:
[11] O. C.--Officer-in-charge.