In School and Out Part 27

"Good, Nevers! Let all the fellows that will join meet under the big oak by the river, at five o'clock, or as soon as we get out of school.

Let each fellow talk it round in a quiet way, but don't let the teachers hear a word."

"Will you be there, Grant?" asked Nevers.

"I don't know. I will see."

"Don't know?" said Nevers. "Don't you see all the fellows are in for it?"

"I will think of it," replied Richard, as he walked away.

CHAPTER XIX.

RICHARD IS DETERMINED, AND SOME ALLUSION IS MADE TO "WATERMELONS."

There had been a time when Richard Grant would have desired no better fun than to engage in such a mutiny as that proposed by Nevers and Redman; and he was not yet so far removed from his evil propensities as to be able to decline the proposition. The boys of the Inst.i.tute believed they had a real grievance, for it seemed harsh and needless to deprive them of some of their best hours for amus.e.m.e.nt. It looked just as though the princ.i.p.al was angry because he could not ascertain who had broken the rules of the school, and spitefully intended to punish the innocent with the guilty.

Probably none of them intended to carry their opposition any farther than to express their disapprobation of the new regulation. The colonel was a universal favorite, and they had full confidence in his judgment and his justice. Perhaps the desire to have a little fun and excitement was the strongest motive that actuated them.

During the afternoon, the plan to redress their grievance was whispered among the boys. "All the fellows were going to join the mutiny" was the strongest inducement that could be used to obtain the consent of the timid ones; and if "all were going to join," it would require a great deal of moral courage to stand aloof from the scheme.

Richard was sorely perplexed. With the others, he felt that the new regulation was arbitrary and unnecessary; and such a sc.r.a.pe as the boys proposed was exactly in accordance with his antecedents. He wanted to join for the fun of the thing, and because the rest of the boys were going to do so. He did not like to be singular. Besides, he might injure his popularity, and lose some of the influence he possessed, if he refused to join.

The temptation was so strong that he could not at first resist it; and though he did not positively promise to meet the others under the big oak, he gave them some encouragement that he would do so. The little time he had to think of the matter during the study and recreation hours did not enable him to arrive at a conclusion; and at five o'clock, when school was dismissed, he was still halting between two opinions.

When he left the school room, he fixed his mind upon the question, and began to discuss it in the most vigorous manner. He knew that any resistance to the authorities of the school was wrong. Colonel Brockridge had made the rule, and it was his duty to observe it. What would Bertha say, after he had given her such a glowing account of his success in overcoming temptation, when she was informed that he had joined a mutiny?

"I'll keep my resolution!" said he, stamping his foot upon the ground to emphasize his determination. "I'll stand out against the whole of them."

Half past five came, and nearly every boy in the school had gone to the appointed place. Richard sat on the bench at the foot of the flagstaff on the parade ground, thinking whether his duty required him to do any thing more than simply refuse to join the mutiny. Somehow, it entered into his head that it was his duty to prevent the rebellion if he could. It even occurred to him that he ought to inform Colonel Brockridge of the intention of the students, and thus place himself on the side of law and order; but he rejected this suggestion, it was so utterly repugnant to his nature. He could not "tell tales out of school." If any body's life, property, or happiness had been at stake, he might have felt differently. Richard was a novice in advocating the claims of law and order, of truth and justice; and he was more easily satisfied than some would have been in a similar situation.

"While he was debating this matter with himself, Nevers, Bailey, and Redman approached, and interrupted his meditations. They appeared to be a committee appointed to wait upon him, and ascertain his views upon the momentous question.

"You didn't come down," said Nevers.

"No; I have concluded not to join in the sc.r.a.pe," replied Richard, gravely.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't think it is right; and I think if we speak to the colonel about the matter, he will make it all right."

"I tell you, Grant, he has no right to make such a regulation," added Nevers, with energy; "and I, for one, am not going to beg him not to do that which he has no right to do."

"Come, Grant, you are almost the only fellow in the school who won't join the mutiny," said Redman.

"The fellows are all in for it, and you had better come," added Bailey.

"No; I won't join," replied Richard, decidedly.

"Come down to the grove, whether you join or not," suggested Nevers.

"I am willing to go down to the grove, but I shall not go in for this sc.r.a.pe."

"Come along, then."

The boys walked over to the grove, the committee using all their eloquence and logic to induce Richard to change his mind; but thus far he remained firm and loyal to his good resolution. His arrival at the grove created a sensation, for it seemed to be evidence that he was to form one of the party.

The position of Richard Grant on the present occasion was so novel that he could hardly believe in his own ident.i.ty. Like the old woman with the little pig, it did not seem to be he that was refusing an invitation to join in a sc.r.a.pe so harmless as the one proposed; and he almost needed an introduction to himself.

But Richard was himself, truly himself--himself in the highest and n.o.blest sense. His determination to keep his resolution seemed to create around him an atmosphere of purity, and the more he breathed it, the firmer and the stronger he became. The boys exhorted him singly, in couples, and by squads, to join the foolish enterprise, but without effect.

"Better come with us, Grant," said Nevers. "We have got a first-rate plan, and we shall have a tip-top time."

"I have fully made up my mind not to go," replied Richard.

"I shall not go, if Grant doesn't," added Bailey.

"Nor I," said another.

"Back out--will you?" sneered Nevers, his face darkening with an expression of anger.

"I said I would join if Grant did," replied Bailey, stung by the reproach.

Most of the boys were silent for a time, for the decided and unexpected stand taken by Richard, the favorite of the school, altered the complexion of the whole affair. This silence was succeeded by a more unequivocal demonstration. One after another followed the example of Bailey, and deserted the bad cause, till Richard found himself no longer alone, but supported by at least thirty of the best fellows in the Inst.i.tute; and then they began to come over in squads.

"You are the meanest set of cowards I ever saw in my life," exclaimed Nevers, bitterly, when the enterprise appeared to be fully nipped in the bud.

"Grant is right," several of the boys replied.

"Grant!" sneered Nevers, angrily. "He wasn't always so nice as he is now."

"That's so," said Redman, as he placed himself by the side of the bully. "We know a thing or two about Grant, before he became pious."

"What do you mean by pious?" demanded Richard, stepping up to the speaker; and as he did so, his fists were involuntarily clinched.

"Watermelons!" replied Redman, vindictively.

"Watermelons!" added Nevers.

"Watermelons!" responded a dozen or more of the large boys, who had gathered around Redman.

"Do you walk in your sleep any now, Grant?" said Redman, with a mocking laugh. "You wasn't pious _then_."

Richard was so mortified and confused by these taunts that he wished the earth might open and hide him from the exulting gaze of his a.s.sailants. His blood boiled with shame and indignation, and more than ever before he realized that "the way of the transgressor is hard." His first impulse was to rush upon his dastardly foes, and crush them beneath the weight of his strong arm.