IN WHICH ERNEST IS DISOWNED AND CAST OUT.
I was so nervous and excited after the stirring events of the day,
that I could not sleep when I went to bed, tired and almost exhausted
as I was. I had enough to think of, and that night has always seemed
to me like a new era in my existence. My father was dead; and my
mother, somewhere in the wide world, was an occupant of an insane
asylum. My uncle had told me I had no property, which was equivalent
to informing me that I must soon begin to earn my daily bread, unless
he chose to support me.
I would not even then have objected to earning my own living; indeed,
there was something pleasurable and exciting in the idea of depending
upon myself for my food and raiment; but I was not satisfied with my
uncle's statements. I could see no reason why he should not tell me
where my father had lived and died, and where my mother was confined
as a lunatic. I meant to know all about these things in due time, for
it was my right to know.
I could not help weeping when I thought of my mother, with her
darkened mind, shut out from the world and from me. What a joy she
would have been to me! What a comfort I might have been to her! My
father was dead, and she had no one to care for her. Was she in a
proper place? Was she kindly treated while overshadowed by her
terrible infirmity? I shuddered when I thought of her, for fear that
she might be in the hands of cruel persons.
It seemed very strange to me that my uncle should spend money so
freely upon me if I had no expectations. Why should he wish to conceal
anything that related to my father and mother from me? Who was the
person that came to the cottage and quarrelled with him? I had reached
the years of discretion, and was able to think for myself. What my
uncle told me, and what he refused to tell me, taken in connection
with his conduct, his mode of life, and his misanthropic habits,
convinced me that there was something wrong. I intended to ascertain
what it was; and I was fully resolved, whether it was right or wrong,
to explore the library in search of any letters, legal documents, or
other papers which would throw some light on the mystery, now becoming
painfully oppressive to me. It was my duty, as a son, to assure myself
that my mother, in her helplessness, was kindly cared for.
I went to sleep at last; and I did not wake the next morning till nine
o'clock, which was my uncle's usual breakfast hour. I took my morning
meal with him; but he did not speak a single word. After breakfast I
went down to the boat-house. I missed the Splash very much indeed; for
I wanted to take her, and sail away to some remote part of the lake,
and consider what I should do. Then it occurred to me that my
sail-boat might be raised and repaired; and I was getting into the
row-boat, with the intention of pulling out and finding the place
where the Splash had gone down, when my uncle made his appearance.
"Ernest, have you considered what you mean to do?" said he. "Do you
intend to go to school?"
"No, sir, I do not," I replied, promptly and decidedly.
"Then I disown you, and cast you out," he added, turning on his heel
and walking back to the house.
Was I becoming obstinate and self-willed? Was I refusing a reasonable
service? I sat down in the boat to think over it. It was not right
that I should apologize to Poodles, after he had confessed that the
evidence on which I had been condemned was a lie; and it was of no use
for me to return to the academy unless I could do so.
Mr. Parasyte owed my uncle a large sum of money, secured by the estate
and good-will of the Institute. If I was driven from the school, a
majority of the boys would petition their parents to be taken from it
also, and the establishment would be seriously injured. There was
plainly an understanding between Mr. Parasyte and my uncle, or the
tyrant would not have made war upon me as he did. Should I sacrifice
myself in order to save my uncle's money, or to prevent the debt from
being imperilled?
No! I could not; but I hoped my uncle would not lose his money, though
it would not be my fault if he did. I had just been "disowned and cast
out." The sentence hardly produced an impression upon me. I was not
banished from a happy home, where I had been folded in a mother's
love, and had lived in the light of a father's smile; only from the
home of coldness and silence; only from shelter and food, which I
could easily find elsewhere.
I took the oars and pulled towards the bluff off which the Splash had
sunk. It seemed to me just then that I was breaking away from all my
early associations, from my home and my school, and pushing out on the
great ocean of life, as my boat was upon the lake. I must go out into
the world, and make for myself a name and a fortune. There was
something solemn and impressive in the thought, and I rested upon my
oars to follow out the idea. Breaking away! To me it was not going
away, it was _breaking_ away. There was no near and dear friend to bid
me God speed on my journey of life. As for my uncle, he would not
have cared if I had, at that moment, been forever buried beneath the
deep waters of the lake.
I was awed and solemnized by the thought that I was alone in the
world. And looking up to the clear blue sky, I prayed that God would
help me to keep in the path of truth and duty. I really hoped that, if
I had done wrong, or was then doing wrong, I might be convicted of my
error. I prayed for light. I was afraid that I had been wilful and
wayward; but as I knew that I was right so far as Poodles was
concerned, I could not accuse myself of obstinacy in refusing to
apologize. On the whole, I was satisfied with myself, though willing
to acknowledge that in some things I had rather overdone the matter.
Resuming the oars, I pulled towards the bluff. My course lay near the
shore until I had passed the northerly point of Parkville, where the
steamboat wharf extends a hundred feet out to the deep water of the
lake. Continuing beyond this long pier, I came in sight of the
Parkville Liberal Institute. As it was then the middle of the
forenoon, I did not expect to see any of the students; but, to my
surprise, I discovered large numbers of them on the grounds between
the buildings and the lake. They did not seem to be engaged in the
usual sports, but were gathered in groups on various parts of the
premises. Everything looked as though some important event had
transpired, which the boys were busily engaged in discussing.
I was tempted to pull up towards the Institute, and ascertain what had
occurred, and why the students were not in the school-room, attending
to their studies; but I was fearful that my presence might do
mischief, and I reluctantly continued on my way to the bluff. As
nearly as I could interpret the signs, the boys were in a state of
rebellion, though it was possible that Mr. Parasyte was too ill to
attend to his duties, and in the present excited state of the school,
had deemed it best to give the boys a holiday.
The bearings of the spot where the Splash sank had been carefully
noted, after my capture, by the principal and his men, and without
much difficulty I found the place. The bed of this part of the lake
was composed of gravel, washed down by the continual wearing away of
the bluff; and as the water was clear, I could see the bottom. The
Splash lay in about twenty-five feet of water--as I found by measuring
with a fish-line. She sat nearly upright on her keel, and the tops of
her masts were not more than a foot below the surface.
How could I coax her to the top of the water? The Splash had been
father and mother to me, and I loved her. In my loneliness I wanted
her companionship. It did not look like an easy task to raise her; and
yet the most difficult things become easy when we hit upon the right
method of doing them. The Splash was ballasted with ten fifty-sixes,
each with a ring for lifting it. They were deposited on the bottom of
the boat, where I could remove a portion of them when I had a large
party to take out. I made up my mind, that with a long pole, having a
hook on the end of it, I could fasten to the rings of the fifty-sixes,
and raise them, one by one, to the surface; and when the ballast was
removed, the boat would rise of herself.
Satisfied that this idea was a practical one, I started for Parkville
to procure the pole. As I took the oars, I discovered that one of the
Institute boats, which I had not before noticed, was pulling towards
me. At first I was startled, fearful that it might contain some of my
tyrant's minions, sent out to capture me, and carry me back to the
school. As the boat came nearer, however, I saw that it was filled
with my friends, prominent among whom were Bob Hale and Tom Rush; and
I lay upon my oars to await her coming.
"Good morning, Ernest; I'm glad to see you," said Bob, as the
Institute boat ranged up alongside of mine.
"What is the matter at the Institute? Don't school keep to-day?" I
asked, when I had returned the salutations of my friend.
"There's big news there, Ernest, you'd better believe," replied Bob,
in an excited tone.
"What is it? What has happened?"
"There has been an awful row between Mr. Parasyte and Mr. Hardy, and
Mr. Hardy has been discharged--that's the first thing; and the fellows
won't stand it, anyhow."
"What was it about?"
"We don't know. Mr. Hardy opened the school as usual at nine o'clock;
but he didn't say a word to us about the troubles. A little after
nine, Mr. Parasyte came in, with a black eye and a broken head. He and
Mr. Hardy talked together a little while, and we saw that Parasyte was
as mad as a hop. They went into the recitation-room to have it out;
but in two or three minutes they returned, and Mr. Hardy said he was
going to leave; but he didn't tell the reason--just bade us good by.
If we had only known what the trouble was, we would have pitched
Parasyte out of the window."
"Then Mr. Hardy has gone," I added.
"Left, and at once. Then Mr. Parasyte made a speech, in which he told
us the school was in a state of rebellion; that Thornton had assaulted
him, and struck him on the head with a heavy ruler, and that he
intended to flog him till he apologized to Poodles, as his uncle
wished him to do. We didn't wait to hear any more. We gave a yell, and
rushed out of the school-room."