Breaking Away Part 1

Breaking Away.

by Oliver Optic.

PREFACE.

"BREAKING AWAY" is the second of the series of stories published in "OUR BOYS AND GIRLS," and the author had no reason to complain of the reception accorded to it by his young friends, as it appeared in the weekly issues of the Magazine; but, on the contrary, he finds renewed occasion cordially to thank them for their continued appreciation of his earnest efforts to please them.

After an experience of more than twenty years as a teacher, the writer did not expect his young friends to sympathize with the schoolmaster of this story, for doubtless many of them have known and despised a similar creature in real life. Mr. Parasyte is not a myth; but we are grateful that an enlightened public sentiment is every year rendering more and more odious the petty tyrant of the school-room, and we are too happy to give this retreating personage a parting blow as he retires from the scene of his fading glories.

Rebellions, either in the school or in the state, are always dangerous and demoralizing; but while we unequivocally condemn the tyrant in our story, we cannot always approve the conduct of his pupils. One evil gives birth to another; but even a righteous end cannot justify immoral means, and we beg to remind our young and enthusiastic readers that Ernest Thornton and his friends were compelled to acknowledge that they had done wrong in many things, and that "Breaking Away" was deemed a very doubtful expedient for the redress even of a real wrong.

As it was impossible for Ernest to relate the whole of his eventful history in one volume, Breaking Away will be immediately followed by a sequel,--"Seek and Find,"--in which the hero will narrate his adventures in seeking and finding his mother, of whose tender care he was deprived from his earliest childhood.

HARRISON SQUARE, Ma.s.s., September 23, 1867.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. PAGE IN WHICH ERNEST THORNTON INTRODUCES HIMSELF. 11

CHAPTER II.

IN WHICH THERE IS TROUBLE IN THE PARKVILLE LIBERAL INSt.i.tUTE. 22

CHAPTER III.

IN WHICH ERNEST IS EXPELLED FROM THE PARKVILLE LIBERAL INSt.i.tUTE. 33

CHAPTER IV.

IN WHICH ERNEST SAILS THE SPLASH, AND TAKES A BATH. 44

CHAPTER V.

IN WHICH ERNEST DECLINES A PROPOSITION. 55

CHAPTER VI.

IN WHICH ERNEST FINDS HIS FELLOW-STUDENTS IN OPEN REBELLION. 66

CHAPTER VII.

IN WHICH ERNEST ATTENDS THE TRIAL OF BILL POODLES AND d.i.c.k PEARL. 78

CHAPTER VIII.

IN WHICH ERNEST VANQUISHES THE SCHOOLMASTER. 89

CHAPTER IX.

IN WHICH ERNEST STRIKES A HEAVY BLOW, AND WINS ANOTHER VICTORY. 100

CHAPTER X.

IN WHICH ERNEST HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH HIS UNCLE. 111

CHAPTER XI.

IN WHICH ERNEST IS DISOWNED AND CAST OUT. 122

CHAPTER XII.

IN WHICH ERNEST RAISES THE SPLASH, AND THERE IS A GENERAL BREAKING AWAY AMONG THE STUDENTS. 132

CHAPTER XIII.

IN WHICH ERNEST IS CHOSEN COMMODORE OF THE FLEET. 144

CHAPTER XIV.

IN WHICH ERNEST IS WAITED UPON BY A DEPUTY SHERIFF. 155

CHAPTER XV.

IN WHICH ERNEST AND THE COMMISSARY VISIT CANNONDALE. 166

CHAPTER XVI.

IN WHICH ERNEST CONVEYS THE STUDENTS TO PINE ISLAND. 177

CHAPTER XVII.

IN WHICH ERNEST FINDS THERE IS TREASON IN THE CAMP. 188

CHAPTER XVIII.

IN WHICH ERNEST AND HIS COMPANIONS LAND AT CANNONDALE. 199

CHAPTER XIX.

IN WHICH ERNEST AND HIS FRIENDS ARE DISGUSTED WITH MR.

PARASYTE'S INGRAt.i.tUDE. 211

CHAPTER XX.

IN WHICH ERNEST TAKES THE WHEEL OF THE ADIENO. 222

CHAPTER XXI.

IN WHICH ERNEST CONTINUES TO ACT AS PILOT OF THE STEAMER. 233

CHAPTER XXII.

IN WHICH ERNEST PILOTS THE ADIENO TO "THE SISTERS." 244

CHAPTER XXIII.

IN WHICH ERNEST TAKES COMMAND OF THE EXPEDITION. 255

CHAPTER XXIV.

IN WHICH ERNEST ENGAGES IN AN EXCITING STEAMBOAT RACE. 266

CHAPTER XXV.

IN WHICH ERNEST PILOTS THE ADIENO TO PARKVILLE. 277