"Now! All together!" (missing from book)
*THE ACADEMY BOYS IN CAMP.*
*CHAPTER I.*
*THE ROLL-CALL.*
Groups of excited boys were gathered in the school-room of Massillon
Academy one morning in June, near the end of the term.
So busy were they with their conversation that the bell had sounded
twice before they began to disperse, and even then the last words were
exchanged as they went to their seats.
"Order!" was the stern command from the teacher's desk.
Quiet at once followed, and the roll was called as usual, followed by
morning devotions.
Then Mr. Bernard came forward to the edge of the platform, and said
quietly, "The leaves containing the lesson for the day have been torn
from my 'Anabasis,' and a rumour has reached me that all the class-books
have been similarly mutilated. Let those who have thus lost portions of
their books stand up."
Fifteen boys, the entire class, sprang to their feet as if they had been
waiting for the signal--some with a laugh, as if they considered it a
good joke; others indignant; and all with an air of excitement and
expectation, knowing that the offender was sure to be called to account.
Mr. Bernard glanced from face to face with short, sharp scrutiny, and
said, without further comment, "Be seated."
Taking the large school ledger from the desk, he said, "I will call the
roll. Let each boy answer on his honour. If you say 'No,' I shall
understand that you had nothing to do with planning or executing this
mischief."
There were eighty-five boys in the Academy; and as their names were
called, each and all, from Adams to Warden, answered with a ringing
"No!" After the last name there was a silence.
Mr. Bernard put aside the ledger, and surveyed the school. A slow,
sweeping glance of the keen gray eyes searched every boyish face.
The most guilty-looking lad in the room was Joe Chester--"Little Joe" as
every one called him; and Joe Chester was above suspicion.
Mr. Bernard did not for a moment suspect that Joe's confusion was the
result of guilt; but knowing the boy so well, he felt sure that he had
some knowledge of the offender, and that the knowledge was a burden.
After another glance along the seats where the older boys sat, the
teacher said, very soberly, and with a peculiar look in his searching
eyes: "Is it possible that we have a liar amongst us? A LIAR!"
The boys shrank visibly from this plain speaking, but the teacher
repeated it slowly, "A LIAR!"
A lie was a deadly sin with Mr. Bernard, and the boy who would tell a
deliberate falsehood he considered mean enough and bad enough for any
wickedness.
He was a "liar," and no other word would describe him, even if he wore
the finest broadcloth, or stood at the head of the class. The word had
been spoken almost in a whisper, but with such emphasis that it seemed
to ring through the school-room, and to come echoing back from the four
walls.
Every honest boy felt thankful that the word could not apply to him; and
some who had never considered an untruth a very shocking thing felt they
would never be guilty of another.
To the astonishment of all, after another silence, in which the echo of
the terrible word seemed still sounding through the room, Mr. Bernard
said quietly, "You are dismissed."
The matter was surely a serious one when they were dismissed so early in
the day with lessons unheard. The boys passed out in silence, most of
them forgetting to be glad of a holiday.
Not till they were out of the building did any boy venture even to
whisper to his neighbour.
Some retired at once to their rooms; but most of the pupils gathered in
knots on the playground, to talk over the subject uppermost in the minds
of all.
Joe Chester was not ready to discuss the question, and was not intending
to join the crowd of talkers; but as he passed there was a cry:
"Chester! Ho there, Chester!"
He waved his hand towards them, and was passing on, when one of the
older boys seized him roughly by the collar, and straightway pulled him
into one of the groups.
Joe struggled bravely to release himself; but being one of the smallest
boys in the class, he stood small chance of escaping his assailant; so
laughing good-naturedly, he allowed himself to be drawn into the centre
of the crowd of eager talkers.
"That's right! Don't let him off till he gives a guess as to the
scamp!" shouted several boys.
"Perhaps he did it himself," said the tall youth who had appointed
himself policeman to collar Joe and bring him to the conclave.
"See here, Ralph Drayton, if I had been mean enough to play such a
miserable trick with the books, I wouldn't be mean enough to deny it,"
said Joe stoutly, throwing his head back proudly, and looking the other
straight in the eye.
Drayton laughed derisively, and said with a sneer, "Oh, I forgot; he is
'Saint Bernard's' pet billy-goat. _He_ never would do anything bad,
would he? Oh no." Then in a change of tone, he added in a conciliatory
way, "Never mind me, Chester; of course I am funning. No one suspects
_you_."
"No, I suppose not," said Joe coolly.
This he said with his honest blue eyes fastened searchingly on Ralph
Drayton's small black ones.
The black eyes fell beneath the glance, but Drayton quickly recovered
himself, and loosing his grasp on Joe's collar, said with a laugh, "I'll
bet anything that the janitor did it!"
"Oh, pooh! The janitor!" said a half-dozen boys derisively.
"What did _he_ care about the lesson?"
"Well, who then could it be? If I could find out, I'd thrash him for
spoiling my book. I'll get a lecture from father at home when he sees
that torn book. You see my brother Nelson is coming next year, and he
will take my books as I leave them. My copy was new too!" and Ralph's
tone was one of righteous indignation.
Joe Chester was too impatient to listen longer, and turned to go; but
Drayton shouted, "Hold on, Chester! where are you going?"
"In," answered Joe shortly, motioning with his head towards the commons.
"Wait for me; I am going in too. It's no use to stand here and guess
who did the mischief."
Joe Chester walked straight on, but Ralph Drayton overtook him with
three strides.
As soon as they were out of hearing of the group on the playground,
Drayton turned suddenly and said, "See here, Joe Chester, what do you
know about this fuss?"
Joe walked on and made no answer.
"You know something. I saw it in your eye just now back there, and I
saw it in your red face when old Bernard called the roll. You can't
cheat me!"
"Well, Drayton, I am sure I don't want to cheat you. Yes, I do know
something about it."
"What! do you know who tore the books?"
"Yes."
This Joe said steadily, with his eyes upon Ralph's face.
Both boys paused in their walk; and Joe, leaning back against the fence,
folded his arms.
"Who was it?"
"You want to know, really?"
"To be sure I want to know."
"Well, Drayton, it was a fellow about your size; and the sooner he goes
to Mr. Bernard and owns it, the better for him and for all the rest of
us."
[Illustration: "It was a fellow about your size."]