IN WHICH ERNEST FINDS HIS FELLOW-STUDENTS IN OPEN REBELLION.
To apologize to Poodles was to acknowledge that I had done wrong. Had
I done wrong so far as my fellow-student was concerned? Seriously and
earnestly I asked myself this question. No; I had told the truth in
regard to the affair exactly as it was, and it would be a lie for me
to apologize to Poodles. I could not and would not do it. I would be
cut to pieces, and have my limbs torn piecemeal from my body before I
would do it.
As far as the principal was concerned, I felt that, provoked and
irritated by his tyranny and injustice, I had exhibited a proud and
defiant spirit, which was dangerous to the discipline of the school. I
was sorry that, when he called me back, I had not obeyed. While I was
in the school-room, or on the premises of the academy, I should have
yielded obedience, both in fact and in spirit; and I could not excuse
my defiant bearing by the plea that I had been expelled. I was
willing, after reflection, to apologize to Mr. Parasyte.
He proposed to pay for my boat. This was a great concession on his
part, though it was called forth by the belief that he was legally
liable for its destruction. He was willing to do me justice in that
respect, if I would humiliate myself before Poodles, and publicly heal
the wound which the discipline of the Institute had received at my
hands. Even at that time it seemed to me to be noble and honorable to
acknowledge an error and atone for it; and I am quite sure, if I could
have 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 was
a principle at stake, and something more than mere personal feeling.
While I was debating with myself what I should do, Mr. Parasyte
appeared again. It was a matter of infinite importance to him. The
prosperity, if not the very existence, of his school depended upon
the issue of this affair; and he was naturally nervous and excited.
The students were in a state of incipient rebellion, as their conduct
in the afternoon indicated, and it was of the highest moment to the
Institute 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 master
fully established. On the other hand, if I declined to do so, and the
sentence of expulsion was carried out, the boys were in sympathy with
me, and the rebellion might break out afresh, and end in the total
dissolution of the establishment. Under these circumstances, it was
not strange that Mr. Parasyte desired to see me again.
"I hope you have carefully considered your position, Thornton," said
he.
"I have," I replied; "and I am willing to apologize to you, but not to
Poodles."
"That is something gained," added he; and I could see his face
brighten up under the influence of a hope.
"My manner was defiant, and my conduct disobedient. I am willing to
apologize to you for this, and to submit to such punishment as you
think proper to inflict."
"That is very well; but it does not fully meet the difficulty. You
must also apologize to Poodles, which you are aware may be done in
private."
"I cannot do it, sir, either in public or in private. Poodles was
wholly and entirely to blame."
"I think not; when I settled the case it was closed up, and it must
not 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 on
the 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 work
out 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 would
be very bad for me to be turned out, and I am willing to confess I
have done wrong. If you give Poodles the paper with the examination on
it, and he can perform one half of the examples, even now, without
help, I will apologize to him in public or in private."
"That looks very fair, but it is not," replied the principal, rubbing
his head, as if to stimulate his ideas.
"If Poodles can do the problems, I shall be willing to believe that I
am 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 be
equivalent to my making a confession."
The bell rang for the boys to assemble for the evening devotions. It
gave Mr. Parasyte a shock, for the business was still unsettled. I had
submitted to him a method by which he could ascertain the truth or
falsehood of Poodle's statements; but it involved an acknowledgment
that he, Mr. Parasyte, was in the wrong. He seemed to be afraid it
would be proved that he had made a blunder; that he had given an
unjust judgment. I was fully aware that the principal's position was a
difficult and painful one, and I was even disposed to sympathize with
him to a certain extent, though I was the victim of his partiality and
injustice. The perils and discomforts of his situation, however, had
been produced by his own hasty and unfair judgment; and it would have
been far better for him even to apologize to me. He would have lost
nothing with the boys by such a course; for never in my life did I
have so exalted an opinion of a schoolmaster, as when, conscious that
he had done wrong, he nobly and magnanimously acknowledged his error,
and begged the forgiveness of the boy whom he had unintentionally
misjudged.
I feel bound to say, in this connection, and after a longer experience
of the world, that many schoolmasters, "armed with a little brief
authority," are the most contemptible of petty tyrants. Their
arrogance and oppression are intolerable; and I have often wondered,
that where such men have been planted, they have not produced more of
the evil fruit of strife and rebellion. Mr. Parasyte was one of this
class; and the fact that he was a splendid teacher did not help his
influence in the slightest degree.
"There is the bell for evening prayers, Thornton, and it is necessary
for 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 becoming
dignity, as I braced myself for the consequences of the decision I had
made.
"You are an obstinate and self-willed fellow!" exclaimed the
principal, 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 the
school-room.
"I shall explain this matter to your fellow-students, and tell them
what I proposed."
"Do so," I answered.
He could not help seeing that I was thoroughly in earnest, and that I
did 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 proper
frame of mind to conduct the religious exercises of the hour. It was
quite dark now; and I lay down upon the bed, to think of what had
passed, and to conjecture the result of my conduct. How I sighed then
for some kind friend to advise me! How I wished that I had a father
who would tell me what to do, and fight my battle for me! How I longed
for a tender mother, into whose loving face I could gaze as I related
the sad experience of that eventful day! Perhaps she would bid me
apologize to Poodles, for the sake of saving my good name, and
retaining my connection with the school. If so, though it would be
weak and unworthy, I could humble myself for her sake.
I felt that I had done right. I had made all the concession which
truth and justice required of me, and I was quite calm. I hardly
inquired why Mr. Parasyte was keeping me a prisoner in the Institute
after he had expelled me, or what he intended to do with me. About
nine o'clock my own clothes were brought back to me by one of the
servants; but the door was securely locked when he retired.
A few minutes later, and before the sound of the servant's retreating
footsteps had ceased, I heard some one thrust a key into the door. It
did not fit, and a dozen others were tried in like manner, but with no
better success. I heard a whispered consultation; and then the door
began to strain, and crack, until the bolt yielded, and it flew open.
My sympathizing friends, the students, headed by Bob Hale, had broken
it down.
"Come, Ernest," said Bob. "You needn't stay in here any longer. We
want you down stairs."
"What are you going to do?" I asked, quietly, of my excited
deliverers.
"There is no law or justice in this concern; and we are going to put
things to rights," replied Tom Rush, a good fellow, who had spent a
week'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 this
establishment, and we are going to straighten things out,--you can bet
your 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 he
had been to you, and how he had exhausted good nature in trying to
bring you to a proper sense of duty."
"Did he say that?"
"He did, and much more. But come with us. The fellows have captured
the 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 a
disturbance."
"No disturbance at all, Ernest; but we have turned the assistant
teachers out, and mean to ascertain who is right and who is wrong in
this matter."
The rebellion had actually broken out again; and the students, in the
most high-handed manner, had established a tribunal in the
school-room, to try the issue of my affair with the principal. I
followed Bob Hale, Tom Rush, and half a dozen others, who constituted
the committee to wait on me. They conducted me to the main
school-room, which was a large hall. At every door and window were
stationed two or three of the larger boys, with their hockies, bats,
and rulers as weapons, to defend the court, as they called it, from
any interruption.
About two thirds of the students were there assembled; and though the
gathering was a riotous proceeding, the boys were in as good order as
during the sessions of the school. In an arm-chair, on the platform,
sat Henry Vallington, one of the oldest and most dignified students
of the Institute, who, it appeared, was to act as judge. Before him
were Bill Poodles and Dick Pearl,--the latter being one of the six
whose examples were all right,--arraigned for trial, and guarded by
four stout students.