IN WHICH ERNEST VANQUISHES THE SCHOOLMASTER.
Mr. Parasyte had evidently obtained some information in regard to the
great rebellion before he entered the school-room; for though he
looked extremely troubled, he did not seem to be so much astonished as
might have been expected. He was admitted by order of the judge, and
took off his hat as he walked up the aisle to the platform, wiping
away the perspiration which gathered on his heated brow under the
severe mental struggles his position induced.
"What does all this mean?" he demanded, with a sternness which we
could not help seeing was assumed.
The boys were all orderly and quiet; the school room was as still as
during the regular sessions of the Institute. The sentinels, with
their bats and clubs, stood immovable at their stations, and the
scene produced its full impression upon the mind of the principal. As
he did not seem to be prepared to receive an answer to his question,
none was given; and Mr. Parasyte glanced uneasily around the room,
apparently seeking to obtain a better understanding of the scene.
"What does all this _mean_?" demanded he, a second time.
"It means, sir," replied Henry Vallington, "that the boys are
dissatisfied, and intend to have things set right."
"Is this a proper way to express their dissatisfaction--to take
advantage of my absence to get up a riotous assembly?"
"We have been perfectly orderly, sir," added the judge, in respectful
tones.
"How came you here, Thornton?" continued the principal, as his gaze
rested on me.
"We brought him here, sir," promptly interposed Vallington, anxious to
relieve me of any responsibility for my escape from my prison-chamber.
"Vallington, I confess my astonishment at seeing you engaged in an
affair of this kind," said Mr. Parasyte, reproachfully; and he fixed
his gaze upon the judge, and again wiped the perspiration from his
forehead. "I have always regarded you as an orderly and well-behaved
boy."
"I do not expect to forfeit my reputation as such by what I have done.
Mr. Parasyte, the boys are dissatisfied. We are not little children.
We have all reached the years of discretion, and we know the
difference between right and wrong, between justice and injustice."
"Do you intend to read me a lecture?" demanded the principal, angrily.
"No, sir; I had no such intention--only to state the facts."
"But you are arraigning me, the principal of the Parkville Liberal
Institute," added Mr. Parasyte, measuring the judge from head to foot.
"You may call it what you please, sir."
"May I ask what you purpose to do?" continued the principal, in a
sneering tone, not unmingled with timidity.
"Poodles," said the judge, turning to the lank toady, "stand up."
He obeyed; and being now with the majority of the boys, I think he was
mean enough to enjoy the discomfiture of Mr. Parasyte, for there can
be no real respect or true sympathy in the relation of one flunky with
another.
"Are you ready to tell the whole truth?" demanded Vallington.
"I am," replied Poodles.
"Perhaps you will be willing to inform Mr. Parasyte, in the beginning,
whether you do so of your own free will and accord, or not."
"I do so of my own free will and accord."
"Did you perform the examples on the examination paper without any
assistance?"
"I did not."
"How many did you do yourself?"
"None of them."
"Who struck the first blow in the affray on the pier with Thornton?"
"I did," answered Poodles, with a silly leer. "Thornton told the facts
just exactly as they were."
"You may sit down."
Mr. Parasyte wiped his brow again.
"Pearl," continued Vallington.
This culprit, unlike his companion in guilt, looked sheepish and
crestfallen, as he slowly rose from his seat. He was not so base and
low-minded as Poodles, and he felt a genuine shame for the mean
conduct of which he had been guilty.
"Have you anything to say, Pearl?" asked the judge.
"I lent my paper to Poodles, who copied the solutions from it,"
replied Pearl, with his glance fixed upon the floor.
"That's all; you may sit down."
Pearl seated himself; and if a pin had fallen to the floor then, it
might have been heard in the anxious silence that followed. Mr.
Parasyte's chest heaved with emotion. He wanted to storm, and scold,
and threaten, but seemed to be afraid to do so.
"I have nothing more to say at present, Mr. Parasyte. In the name and
in behalf of the students, I have brought the facts to your notice,"
said Vallington, breaking the impressive stillness, as the principal
did not seem disposed to do so.
"After the riotous proceedings of this afternoon, I might have
expected this; but I did not," the principal began. "You appear to
have intimidated Poodles to such an extent that he has entirely
modified and reversed the statements he made this afternoon. He is a
weak-minded boy, and it was not difficult to do so."
This remark roused the ire of Poodles, and it required a sharp
reprimand from the judge to repress his impertinence.
"Pearl is a poor boy, upon whose fears you seem to have successfully
wrought. A confession from either of them, under the circumstances, is
not reliable. I do not countenance this meeting, or these proceedings.
I am not to be intimidated by your action. In regard to what you have
done, I have nothing to say; but I require you to separate, and go at
once to your rooms."
"Will you be kind enough to inform us what you intend to do, Mr.
Parasyte?" said Vallington.
"I am not to be taken to task by my pupils."
"We do not intend to resort to any disorderly proceedings," added the
judge. "Poodles and Pearl, without compulsion, have acknowledged
their errors, and it has been fully proved that Thornton was not to
blame for the affair on the pier. We ask, therefore, that Thornton be
restored to his rank and privileges as a member of the Institute. If
this is not done, at least fifty of us will sign a paper urging our
parents and guardians to take us away from this school."
"I will grant nothing under these circumstances--promise nothing,"
replied the principal, doggedly.
"We are in no haste. We leave the matter for your consideration, Mr.
Parasyte. We will all go to our rooms now."
Vallington left the chair, and walked out of the school-room, followed
in good order by all the students who had taken part in these
irregular proceedings. I was going out with the rest, when Mr.
Parasyte intimated that he had something to say to me, and I remained.
When the boys had all gone, he invited me to accompany him to his
private office--a small apartment, opening from the main hall, near
the front door, in which he received callers, and sat in state when
not employed in the school-room.
There is an old saying that "you must summer and winter" a man before
you know him. Mr. Parasyte was considered a tyrant; not a coarse and
brutal tyrant, but a refined and gentlemanly one, who cows you by his
polite impertinence. He seldom indulged in harsh speech, never in
personal violence--at least no instance of it was known to the
students. He indulged in sneers and polished browbeating. A boy was
never stupid--he lacked common intelligence; never a blockhead--his
perceptions were very dull. His polite epithets were more cutting than
good round invectives would have been.
He had a will of his own; and he was obstinate, mulish, pig-headed. If
he had been surprised into declaring that black was white, then black
would continue to be white, in spite of positive demonstration to the
contrary. He was dogmatic to the last degree; and this is a fault to
which the schoolmaster is peculiarly liable. It required the event of
the day whereof I speak to enable us fully to comprehend Mr. Parasyte.
We had summered him before; now we were to winter him.
What he had said in the school-room indicated that he intended to
regard the confessions of Poodles and Pearl as extorted from them by
intimidation, and that he purposed to persist in persecuting me. I had
no desire to be a martyr; but I did not see how I could help myself.
"Thornton, I see you intend, if possible, to break up the Parkville
Liberal Institute," said he.
"No, sir, I do not. I hadn't anything to do with what took place in
the school-room," I replied.
"You did not seem to be a martyr there," sneered he. "The boys have
made a mistake; so have you. They don't know me; you don't. You got up
a quarrel this afternoon."
"No, sir, I did not."
"Don't contradict me," said he, sharply. "I say you got up a quarrel
this afternoon."
"And I say I did not."
"I am in no humor to trifle with you," said he, opening a desk, and
taking out a cowhide.
I was willing to confess, when I saw that implement, that I had not
known him before. He was about to step down from refined to brutal
tyranny.
"Poodles himself has confessed that he lied," I added, taking no
further notice of the cowhide.
"Confessed!" exclaimed Mr. Parasyte, savagely. "The boys have either
bribed or frightened him into this confession. It will have no effect
upon me."
"I have nothing to say, then," I answered, with dignity. "If you will
look into the case again, and require Poodles to do the examples, you
will see that you, and not the boys, have made a mistake."
"Silence, sir! I don't intend to be addressed in that impudent way by
any student. I have attempted to suppress this rebellion by mild
means; but they have failed. I have been to see your uncle. As I
supposed he would, he has taken a proper view of the case. He does not
wish to have you expelled, and I revoke my sentence; but he desires to
have you reduced to subjection."
My uncle had actually spoken, and taken sides with the tyrant. I was
astonished, but not intimidated.
"I have drawn up a paper for you to sign, which shall be read to the
boys to-morrow morning. There it is."
[Illustration: RESISTANCE TO TYRANNY.--Page 99.]
I glanced at the document. It was an acknowledgment of all Mr.
Parasyte charged me with, and a promise to behave myself properly. I
refused to sign it. The principal rolled up his sleeves, and took the
cowhide in his hand. He looked cool and malignant.
"Then I shall do as your uncle wishes me to do--reduce you to
subjection," said he. "Consider well what you are doing."
"I have considered, sir. If you strike me with that cowhide, I shall
do the best I can to defend myself."
"Do you threaten me?" demanded Mr. Parasyte, stepping towards me with
a jerk.
"No, sir; but I will not submit to a blow, if it costs me my life."
"Won't you? We'll see."
He did see. He struck me. The blow cut my soul. I sprang upon him with
all the tiger in my nature let loose. I kicked, bit, scratched. I
clawed at his throat like a vampire, and, though severely belabored, I
finally wrenched the cowhide from his grasp, and hurled him back so
that he fell full length upon the floor.