THE RECRUITS TO COMPANY A
“To-day’s the day!” exclaimed Harry Harding joyfully, as he came within
hailing distance of Teddy Burke, who, as usual, had arrived first at
the corner on which the two boys had met every morning since they had
begun their work in Martin Brothers’ Department Store.
“What day?” demanded Teddy Burke, with a purposely blank expression.
“To-day’s nothin’ but Thursday.”
“You know very well what day I mean,” smiled Harry. “To-day is the day
we go to school.”
“Don’t you s’pose I know it?” grumbled Teddy. “What made you tell me
about it? I was trying to forget it.”
Harry laughed. “Oh, forget you’ve a grudge against school. Maybe it
won’t be so bad as you think.”
“Cheer up. The worst is yet to come,” grinned Teddy.
“Exactly; only the worst may turn out to be the best. You never can
tell.”
“No, you can’t. That’s right. If I’d known that this store had a school
I’d have beat it out of here pretty quick,” retorted Teddy.
“I believe you told me that yesterday, and the day before that, which
was our first day in the store,” reminded Harry, his eyes twinkling.
Teddy made no reply. They had by this time reached the men’s entrance
to the store and the red-haired boy’s eyes roved about, taking in
everything from the row of time-keepers seated behind their high desks
to a dilapidated glove that someone had dropped on the floor.
Although the boys entered the store at the men’s door, they did not
report to the time-keepers at the men’s desk whose business it was to
record the male employees’ time, from the moment of their arrival until
they stepped out into the street when their day’s work was done. The
entire force of boys was obliged to report each day in the assembly
room on the second floor to a time-keeper there. It was in the assembly
room that they received a critical looking over before going to their
departments or to school. Here they lined up for a general inspection,
which included neatness of dress, clean hands and faces, and freshly
shined shoes. Dark blue or black clothing was preferred, but not
exacted, although the boys were not allowed to wear light-colored
suits or shoes, or brightly colored ties.
Any untidiness in personal appearance meant a black mark on the report
card which each boy carried. Having been given their cards on the day
they entered the store, Teddy and Harry had had ample time to look them
over. They had found that the little squares on them were made by the
divisions ruled off after the words untidiness, discourtesy, tardiness,
carelessness, absence, lying, inattention, loud talking, bad language,
low average in school, deportment in school. These words were printed
in regular order down the card, while the space after them was used for
the little ruled squares, each one just large enough to hold a blank
mark. These demerits could be given by either the teacher or the aisle
manager of the boy who transgressed. Once a month these cards passed
into the hands of Mr. Marsh’s assistant for a general inspection and
averaging. As Mr. Marsh had already explained, ten demerits in one
month meant a most uncomfortable session in Mr. Keene’s office, when
the superintendent decided whether the offender should be dropped from
the store, while a lesser number was recorded against him and held for
future reference. A boy who month after month had received from five to
eight demerits was also quite likely to find himself without a position.
So far, Harry’s and Teddy’s cards remained as clean as when Mr. Marsh
had handed them to the lads. Harry’s had remained so because he had
doggedly determined to make no mistakes or call down upon his head the
displeasure of the crabbed aisle man, Mr. Barton. Teddy’s card had
stayed clean by sheer good luck. If Mr. Duffield had spied him calmly
wearing his stewpan crown, it is safe to say that there would have
been at least one black mark on his card. Fortunately, Mr. Seymour was
far too busy a man to bother about report cards. To be sure, he had
threatened to report Teddy to Mr. Keene. Then he had gone on his way
and forgotten all about it. So Teddy had escaped a demerit on his first
day in the store.
Inspection was hardly over when one of the two young men who had charge
of the assembly room, and whose duty it was to conduct the inspection,
called, “Company A, fall in for school.”
“That’s us,” whispered Harry to Teddy, who stood next to him in the
line. “Mr. Marsh said we’d be in Company A.”
Teddy nodded disconsolately, as he took his place beside Harry in the
rapidly forming line. He felt that the shades of his old prison were
about to close around him again. The very thought of school made him
unhappy. He wondered if his teacher would be as old and as cranky as
Miss Alton. He supposed she would be, and his mischievous, freckled
face looked decidedly solemn as he marched along beside his chum.
Out of the assembly room, up a flight of stairs, through several
departments and straight past Mr. Marsh’s desk went the long line of
boys. It was the same line Harry and Teddy had watched when first
they had come to Mr. Keene’s office. Harry gave a little shiver of
sheer pride as his eyes wandered to the bench where he and Teddy had
sat and viewed the long procession, of which they were now a part. It
was wonderful to think that they had so quickly found places in the
work-a-day world. Now it remained to them to go ever onward and upward
to prosperity and success.
His rapt reflections were disturbed by a sharp nudge in the ribs.
“Look who’s here,” muttered Teddy.
“Where? Who?” asked Harry in a whisper.
“The elephant; old Fatty Felix. There he is, waddling along ahead of
us,” murmured Ted in guarded tones. “Wouldn’t that make you sick,
though. Hope he isn’t in my class.” Teddy’s voice rose higher as his
disgust grew greater.
“No talking in the line, young man,” came the sharp command. Company A
was rapidly dividing itself into three sections. They had reached the
southern end of the building, which faced on a small side street. This
end had been reserved for the school rooms. There were three of them
in a row, each being the size of an ordinary class-room, and seating
comfortably twenty-five boys. There were rarely that number to a room,
however, as each of the three companies comprised not more than fifty
boys, except at the holiday season. But during those busy days, school
was not in session.
Both boys glanced sharply about at the sound of the voice. A short,
severe-looking woman with small blue eyes and a sallow complexion
stared fixed reproval upon them. Teddy’s heart sank. She was even worse
than Miss Alton, he decided.
“Where do you boys belong? Why haven’t I seen you before? How long have
you been in the store?” came the sharp questions.
“We were taken on last Tuesday, and we were told to come to school
to-day. This boy is in Department 40, and I am at Exchange Desk Number
10.” Harry spoke in pleasant, respectful tones.
“Where are your school slips?”
“We haven’t any. We----”
“Go and get them.”
“Where shall we go for them?”
“To Mr. Marsh, of course. It’s very evident you boys were not
paying attention to what he said to you when you were taken on the
store messenger force. Look out, or you each will get a demerit for
inattention.”
Both boys were decidedly embarrassed. Harry’s pale face was red with
confusion. Teddy colored hotly under his freckles. His black eyes
became two belligerent sparks.
“Shall we go to Mr. Marsh now?” asked Harry quietly.
“Yes, and return at once. Don’t play along the way. Bring them to me. I
shall be in that room.” She pointed to the door on the right.
“B-r-rr!” shivered Teddy, once their backs were fairly turned to the
woman. “I wonder who she is.”
“I suppose she’s the principal,” returned Harry.
“She makes me tired. How were we to know about school slips? It’s Mr.
Marsh’s fault for not telling us. Why didn’t you tell her that he
didn’t say anything about ’em?” demanded Teddy.
“Because I didn’t like to begin that way. I’d rather take the blame
than lay it upon him. I’d hate to tell tales of anyone who has been so
nice to us as he has.”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt him. He’s a match for this old girl.”
“Teddy Burke!” Harry’s voice carried a note of sternness. “Do you think
it’s nice to call a lady an ‘old girl?’ Suppose someone called your
mother that. You’d be pretty angry, I guess.”
“Nobody could call my mother that,” flung back Teddy. “She’s young and
nice, and not a bit like that old crank of a principal. I’m going to
call her the Dragoness.”
“Well, I don’t suppose your mother is that sort,” conceded Harry. Then
in spite of his reproving words, he could not repress a faint giggle.
Teddy’s disrespectful appellations were so funny.
Teddy echoed the giggle and racked his brain for something else to say
about the principal. But before he had thought of anything, they had
arrived at Mr. Marsh’s desk, at which he sat, writing busily.
The boys paused beside him. He did not look up for a moment. Teddy gave
a little impatient wriggle. The pleasant young man raised his eyes and
viewed the lads with a slight frown.
“You mustn’t come to me at this hour, boys,” he reproved. “That is,
unless you were sent here on an errand.”
“The principal of the school sent us down to you, sir,” began Harry.
“We did not know we were obliged to have school slips.”
Mr. Marsh’s face had grown a trifle stern at Harry’s first words.
Was it possible that he had been mistaken in these boys? Had they
transgressed so soon? With the last sentence, however, his expression
changed.
“Of course you didn’t know. That was my fault. I should have told you.
Did you tell Miss Pierce that I forgot to give them to you?”
“No, sir,” returned Teddy. “The Drag----”
“We did not think it necessary to tell her, sir.” Harry interrupted
Teddy just in time. The red-haired boy turned scarlet as a poppy and
meekly subsided.
Mr. Marsh studied Harry’s clear, honest face for an instant. Moved by
a sudden impulse he reached forth his hand to Harry. “Thank you, my
boy,” he said. “My shoulders are broad enough to bear just censure.
Still I appreciate your kindly spirit. Let me tell you something,
boys. Occasions often arise when it is only fair and right for a boy
to shield himself, even at the expense of someone else, provided that
someone else is to blame. But the boy who can fight his own battles
without drawing others into them is worthy of praise. Just remember
that. Here are your school slips. If you feel that you wish to consult
me about your affairs, I am always ready to hear whatever you may wish
to say to me, between five and half-past five o’clock every afternoon.”
“Thank you, sir.” This from both boys as they turned to go.
“Hm-m,” sniffed Teddy as they started away from Mr. Marsh’s desk. “He
didn’t shake hands with me.”
“I was surprised,” admitted Harry.
“Te-he,” snickered Teddy. “I came pretty near calling that old
principal ‘Dragoness’ right out. I’d’a said it, if you hadn’t begun to
talk so quick.”
“Yes, I know it.” Harry could not repress a smile. “I don’t suppose
it will do the least bit of good for me to tell you again not to give
people funny names.”
“Huh!” exploded Teddy, again. “It don’t hurt ’em any. They can’t hear
’em.”
“You might forget yourself as you did to-day,” reminded Harry.
“How would you like it if someone called you----” Harry eyed Teddy
speculatively--“a red-head.”
“Well, it’s the truth, isn’t it?” demanded Teddy. “I wouldn’t care what
folks called me,” he added with a fine air of indifference, “if they
didn’t call me too early in the morning.”
“Just wait until someone calls you a name and see,” Harry predicted.
By this time the boys had reached the school rooms and conversation
between them ceased. Entering the room Miss Pierce had designated,
they tendered their slips to the principal, who stood talking to a
fair-haired young woman. There were perhaps eighteen boys seated at the
desks.
“Which of you is Harry Harding?” she asked, examining the slips, then
fixing her pale-blue eyes on the two boys.
“I am he, ma’am,” returned Harry.
“Where did you go to school? What grade were you in? How old are you?”
came the rapid questions.
Harry answered them in turn.
“I shall put you in Section I of Company A. If you cannot keep up with
the class, you will be demoted.” Then she put Teddy through the same
brief catechism, assigning him also to Section I, which was the room on
the left.
Obeying her brusque command, “Come with me, boys,” the two lads
followed her out of the door and into the left-hand class-room. Their
eyes turned involuntarily toward their new teacher. She stood with her
back toward them, facing her class. At the sound of the opening door,
she turned her head. Teddy drew a long breath of relief. This teacher
might be cross, but at least she was pretty. She had big, brown eyes
and soft, fluffy, brown hair, and as she nodded good morning to Miss
Pierce, her smile disclosed white, even teeth, while two deep dimples
appeared in her cheeks.
“Here are two new boys, Miss Leonard.” Miss Pierce indicated Teddy and
Harry with a gesture which implied that they were of small consequence.
Then she marched majestically out of the room, leaving the newcomers to
their fate.
That fate promised to be a happy one. If Miss Leonard were nice as
well as pretty, school might be endurable, was Teddy’s thought, while
Harry’s eyes sparkled with delight. He was sure Miss Leonard liked
boys. He was even surer when he heard her say, “Boys, we are glad to
welcome you to our section. We have just two vacant seats. I think
they must have been waiting for you. I will put your names on my
register; then you can take your places.”
Stepping over to her desk, she beckoned the two boys to her side and
wrote their names on the register. Then she conducted them down the
center aisle between the rows of desks to two empty seats, the last two
on the last of the four rows of seats, each row of which contained six
seats.
“Faces front,” reminded Miss Leonard, gently, as pair after pair of
curious eyes were directed toward these latest arrivals. “After classes
you may stop and speak to the new members of our school-room family.
All ready for your writing lesson, boys. Take out copy books. Remember,
we are going to work quickly and quietly.” She walked to the front of
the room and faced her class.
Miss Leonard did not raise her voice above an ordinary conversational
tone, yet her class obeyed her at once, with the exception of a stout,
cross-faced boy who occupied the seat directly across from Teddy in the
next section. He was glaring at Teddy as though about to pounce upon
him, then as Teddy’s eyes happened to rest on him, he screwed his fat
face into a most hideous contortion.
Teddy leaned forward and touched Harry on the shoulder. “Well, if here
isn’t the elephant,” he said in a loud whisper. “Dear old Fatty Felix.”
Unluckily, the fat boy’s ears were sharp. He heard the whispered words
“elephant” and “Fatty Felix.” His broad face grew very red; then he
raised his hand. Before Miss Leonard could ascertain the cause of the
upraised hand, he fairly shouted out, “Teacher, _he_,” pointing a
pudgy, accusing forefinger at Teddy, “called me ‘elephant’ an’ ‘Fatty
Felix,’ an’ Tuesday he knocked my tray out of my hand in the lunch room
and spilled my dinner. He did it apurpose. He wasn’t goin’ to pay for
it, neither.”
A tense, little figure, crowned with a mop of red hair launched itself
straight at the now maliciously-grinning fat boy. Another second and
Teddy’s closed fists would have landed on his tormentor’s body with all
the force which an angry little boy can put into blows. Someone caught
him and set him down hard in his seat. He raised astonished eyes to
Harry’s stern face. “You crazy boy,” hissed Harry. “Now you _are_ in
for it!”
“He can’t say I wasn’t goin’ to pay for his old lunch without gettin’
punched,” sputtered Teddy, wriggling from Harry’s grasp.
“Boys, what does this mean?” Miss Leonard’s dimples were not in
evidence. She looked uncompromisingly stern, and her eyes sparkled
angrily. “Tell me, at once.” The other occupants of the class set up an
excited buzzing.
“Silence!” Miss Leonard’s voice rang out with subduing effect. “Now,”
turning to the fat boy, “what have you to say for yourself, sir?”
The boy began a loud arraignment of Teddy’s misdeeds.
Miss Leonard’s face expressed an astonishment which changed to lively
displeasure, as the boy again blared forth his accusation of Teddy’s
refusal to pay for the damage he had caused to his luncheon.
“He is not telling the truth, Miss Leonard,” broke in a quiet voice.
Unable to endure hearing Teddy maligned in this wholesale fashion,
Harry Harding had come to his rescue.