[Sidenote: A Big Celebration]
Five other boys went with the six debaters of the Roylston High School,
when they went to Barrymore, twenty miles away, for their annual debate.
The principal, Mr. Knapp, always had gone with them on these trips; but
this time he was detained by illness in his family, which developed too
late for him to find a substitute. He therefore gave them last
instructions at the station and hurried home, the boys’ assurances that
they would “do him proud” ringing in his ears.
At twelve o’clock a worried mother called up to know what was the
trouble; at half-past twelve an irate father wanted to know why his boy
had not returned. Mr. Knapp asked his assistant to make inquiries, and
at two the assistant telephoned that the eleven boys, very hilarious,
had just come in from Barrymore, where they had eaten a late supper at
the hotel after the debate. Mr. Knapp, thoroughly out of patience with
them for their duplicity and lack of honor, resolved to make an example
of them the next Monday morning.
On Monday morning, therefore, at chapel, Mr. Knapp read the names of the
eleven boys distinctly. He said the debaters had won the contest with
Barrymore, but had lost all credit for the victory through a breach of
good faith. Because he could not go with them, they had remained until
the last car and had indulged in a celebration supper. Therefore, he
thus publicly withdrew from each boy in that group the privileges of
representing the high school in any contest the school might thereafter
hold during the year. He did this because a boy who could not be
depended upon was unworthy to represent Roylston High School.
Addressing the boys personally he said:
“You have been guilty of a breach of good faith, boys, in that you did a
thing when I was not with you, which your knowledge of our customs and
our standards makes every one of you know to be wrong. You took
advantage of my absence in a dishonorable way. I dislike to take from
the six debaters the privileges of debating for the school, for that
seems unjust to the school. I hesitate to forbid these five boys to go
with the team again, for I am as anxious as I suppose they are, for the
boys to redeem themselves by good behavior next time.”
The result was a scarcely concealed spirit of defiance in that high
school. The students were indignant that a victory had been so lightly
acknowledged; that what they thought a slight offense had been so
severely punished; above all, at the _ex post facto_ nature of the
punishment, for the boys had not been told they were to return at once
after the debate. This had been their custom always and Mr. Knapp had
not thought it needful to give specific directions. There was a feeling
that Mr. Knapp was unjustly severe; and his influence and authority
weakened perceptibly as a result.