ONE MORE CHANCE.
Although he was certain he would be compelled to undergo an unpleasant
ordeal at school the following day, he did not falter or hesitate. With
determination in his heart, and his face grimly set, he turned in at
the gate shortly after the ringing of the first bell, and walked up the
path.
Several boys in a group near the academy steps saw him approaching. He
distinctly heard one of them say, “Here he comes now”; and then a hush
fell upon them as they watched him draw near. In spite of himself, he
could not refrain from giving them a resentful and defiant glance. In
return they looked on him in silent scorn, and he felt that not one of
them held an atom of sympathy in his heart.
In the coat-room, where he went to hang his hat, he found Roger Eliot,
who saw him, but did not speak. Ben’s lips parted, but Roger’s manner
chilled him to silence, and he said nothing.
Bernard Hayden looked in. “Hey, Roger,” he called. “I want to see you a
moment.” Then his eyes fell on Ben, and his proud lips curled a bit.
“All right, Bern,” said Eliot, walking out. Hayden took his arm, and
they turned toward the outer door, talking in low tones.
As Ben entered the big lower room, a little gathering of girls just
inside the door suddenly stopped chattering, looked at him in a
frightened way, and hastily drew aside, one or two of them uttering low
exclamations. His freckled face flushed, but it suddenly grew white as
he saw a tall, spare man, who was talking earnestly with Professor
Richardson, near the latter’s desk.
The tall man was Lemuel Hayden, and Ben knew what had brought him to
the academy that morning.
The principal saw Ben come in, and said something that caused Mr.
Hayden to turn and look toward the unfortunate boy, who, chilled and
apprehensive, was seeking his seat. Ben felt those cold gray eyes upon
him, and suddenly his soul seemed to quiver with anger. A sense of
injustice and wrong seized him, filling him with a desire to confront
his enemies and defend himself as best he could.
“No use!” an inward voice seemed to whisper. “They are too powerful.
Who will believe your word against that of Lemuel Hayden?”
Mr. Hayden was a man who had placed fifty years of his life behind him,
and his appearance and manner seemed to indicate that during the
greater number of those years his stern will had dominated the acts and
enforced the obedience of nearly every one who chance to have dealings
with him. His shaved upper lip exposed a firm, hard, almost cruel,
mouth. His carefully trimmed whiskers, like his hair, were liberally
besprinkled with gray.
“That’s the boy,” Ben distinctly heard him say. Then Prof. Richardson
said something in a low voice, and once more they fell to talking
earnestly in subdued tones.
Ben sat down and waited, feeling certain that the very worst must
happen. After a few moments, he heard the principal say:
“I shall give the matter my immediate attention, Mr. Hayden. It is very
unfortunate, and I may be compelled to take your advice.”
The second bell was ringing as Lemuel Hayden passed down the center
aisle and out of the academy. In passing, he looked at Ben, and his
lips were pressed together above the edge of his whiskers until his
mouth formed a thin, hard line.
Boys and girls came trooping in and sought their seats. Ben paid no
attention to any of them, although he was sure that many eyed him
closely. His deskmate, however, a little chap by the name of Walker,
found an opportunity amid the bustle and movement of the scholars to
lean toward Ben and whisper:
“My! I bet you’re going to get it! Look out!”
Ben paid no heed. His nerves were strained, and he waited in grim
silence the coming crash, fully believing it was Prof. Richardson’s
purpose to open the forenoon session in the regular manner and then
denounce him before the assembled scholars.
When the opening exercises were over, Ben’s heart strained and quivered
in the conviction that the trying moment had come. He was surprised and
temporarily relieved when the first class was called in regular order
and a few of the lower room scholars left to join a class in the upper
room.
After a short time, however, he concluded that the time of trial had
simply been postponed, and this conviction brought upon him a sort of
slow torture that was hard to bear. He tried to study, but could not
fix his mind on his book. His eyes might stare dully at the page, and
his lips might keep repeating words printed there, but his thoughts
persistently dwelt on the desperate strait into which he had fallen,
and he speculated on the probable course that would be pursued by
Lemuel Hayden.
His fancy pictured Mr. Hayden as hastening from the academy to consult
with the town authorities and inform them about the dangerous character
who had boldly entered the village for the purpose of attending school
there. Ben felt that Mr. Hayden’s words would create a profound
impression, and he was certain the man would then demand that the
“dangerous character” of whom he spoke should be taken into custody at
once and sent without delay to the State Reformatory.
The tortured lad further pictured Mr. Hayden and the authorities as
making out certain papers and placing them in the hands of the village
constable, urging him at the same time to do his duty without delay.
The boy fell to listening for the footsteps of Mr. Hayden and the
constable at the door. Once he started and turned, but the door opened
to admit returning scholars who had been to a recitation in the upper
room.
Suddenly Ben heard his name sharply called by the principal, and he
started to his feet with the conviction that at last the moment had
arrived and that Prof. Richardson was about to arraign him before the
school. Instead of that, his class in arithmetic had been called and
was already on the front seats. He hastened down the aisle and joined
the class.
Knowing he was wholly unprepared in the day’s lesson, he inwardly
prayed that he might not be called to the blackboard. He was chosen,
however, as one of five pupils to work problems on the board and
demonstrate them to the rest of the class.
When the others had finished and taken their seats, he still remained
before the board, chalk in hand, an unprepossessing figure as he
frowned hopelessly over his task. At last, seeing the boy had failed,
the principal told him to be seated. Although his face was burning and
he was shamed by his failure, he could not repress a glance of defiance
at some of his slyly-grinning classmates.
Prof. Richardson did not reprove him, but dismissed him with the rest
of the class when the successful ones had demonstrated their problems.
“He thinks I won’t be here much longer, and so it’s not worth while
bothering with me,” concluded Ben.
The forenoon wore away. At intermission Ben did not leave his seat, not
caring to mingle with the boys and give them an opportunity to insult
or anger him.
As the mid-day hour approached, the boy’s suspense grew greater, for he
was still confident that he was not to escape. Thinking Prof.
Richardson meant to speak of his case before dismissing the scholars at
noon, his dread of the ordeal grew as the short hand of the clock
behind the desk drew nearer and nearer to twelve.
Finally the hands of the clock stood upright, one over the other. Prof.
Richardson closed his desk and locked it, after which he turned and
faced the scholars. His eyes found Ben Stone and stopped. The time had
come!
“Stone,” said the professor quietly, without a trace of harshness or
reproof, “I should like to have you remain after the others are
dismissed. I wish to speak with you.”
For a moment a feeling of relief flashed over Ben like an electric
shock. So it was to be done privately, and not before the whole school!
He was grateful for that much consideration for his feelings. When they
were by themselves in that big, empty room, with no one else to hear,
the professor would tell him quietly but firmly that it was quite out
of the question to permit a boy of his bad reputation to remain in the
school. He would be directed to leave the academy, never to return.
With many backward glances at the lad who remained behind, the scholars
filed out. The door had closed behind the last of them when Ben was
told to come down to the principal’s desk. There was no accusation,
nothing but kindness, in Prof. Richardson’s eyes, as he looked on the
boy who stood before him.
“Stone,” he said, in that same self-contained tone of voice, “I find it
necessary to speak of an unpleasant matter relative to yourself. You
came here to this school as a stranger, and it has ever been my
practice to judge a boy by his acts and to estimate his character by
what he proves himself to be. This is the course I should have pursued
in your case, but this morning there came to me a gentleman who is well
known in this town and highly respected, who knew you well before
settling in Oakdale, and he told me many disagreeable things about you.
I cannot doubt that he spoke the truth. He seemed to regard you as a
rather dangerous and vicious character, and he expressed a belief that
it was not proper for you to associate with the scholars here. I am
not, however, one who thinks there is no chance of reform for a boy or
man who has done wrong, and I think it is a fatal mistake to turn a
cold shoulder on the repentant wrongdoer. I have given some thought to
this matter, Stone, and I have decided to give you a chance, just the
same as any other boy, to prove yourself here at this school.”
Ben was quivering from head to feet. In his heart new hope and new life
leaped. Still in some doubt, he faltered:
“Then you—you are not going to—to expel me, sir?”
“Not until I am satisfied that you deserve it; not until by some act
that comes under my observation you convince me that you are not
earnestly seeking to reform—that you are not worthy to remain in the
school.”
“Oh, thank you—thank you!” choked the boy, and that was all he could
say. His voice broke, and he saw the kind face of the professor through
a blurring mist.
“I hope I am not making a mistake in this, Stone,” that same soothing
voice went on. “I hope you will try to prove to me that I am not.”
“I will, sir—I will!” Ben eagerly promised.
“That is all I ask of you. If you have a vicious disposition, try to
overcome it; if you have a violent temper, seek to control it. Learn to
be your own master, which is the great lesson that every one must learn
in case he wishes to become honored and respected and successful in
life. Prove to every one that you regret any mistakes of your past, and
that you may be thoroughly trusted in the future. In this manner you
will rise above your mistakes and above yourself. I don’t think I need
say anything more to you, but remember that I shall watch you with
anxiety and with hope. That is all.”
Ben felt that he could have seized the professor’s hand and kissed it,
but he knew he would quite break down, and the thought of such weakness
shamed him. All he did was to again huskily exclaim:
“Thank you, sir—thank you!”
The September air seemed again filled with mellow sweetness as he
hurried in happy relief from the academy. With the touch of a passing
breeze, the maple trees of the yard waved their hands gayly to him, and
in the distance beyond the football field Lake Woodrim dimpled and
laughed in the golden sunshine.
“One chance more!” he exultantly murmured. “One chance more, and I’ll
make the most of it.”
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