tom taylor was really quite excited. he strode along the street quickly, fluttering the paper containing the wonderful news, until finally mrs. taylor was obliged to call out:
“tom, dear! you seem to forget that i haven’t my seven-league boots on. i can’t keep up with you,” and she laughed, though there was a worried look in her eyes.
“that’s so, mother! i beg your pardon,” tom said. “i forgot about everything except this chance. say! it’s great; isn’t it?” and he looked at his mother with shining eyes.
“are you really going to attempt it?” she asked softly.
“why, yes, of course,” tom said, quickly. “why not?”
“do you think you can pass, tom?”
“well, i’m not absolutely sure of it, of course. no one is. but i think i can pass the preliminary physical test, and that will admit me to the[pg 14] written examination. i’ve been making some inquiries about that, and there isn’t any subject that we haven’t had in our high school work. i may be a bit rusty on certain things, but i’m going to bone up on them. i’ve got a week or more.”
“and if you pass this examination that is to be held at preston, does that mean you’ll become a cadet?” asked his mother.
“no, it doesn’t, worse luck!” tom exclaimed, with a rueful laugh. “but if i come out ahead in this preliminary examination, and get the appointment from congressman hutton, it means that i have a chance to go to west point, and have a try there. and there’s where it will be pretty stiff, i imagine.”
“oh, tom, i—i hope you get it,” his mother murmured.
“ho, ho! thought you didn’t want to see me in the army?”
“well, i don’t want to see you go to war,” his mother said gently. “but if it is your ambition to become a west pointer, and if, as you say, there is a chance to do good work outside of shooting and killing, why, i shall not oppose you. now let’s hurry home. i must get the dress finished, west point or not,” and she smiled.
tom walked beside her, reading over and over[pg 15] again the notice of the examination soon to be held. in brief it was a statement from the congressman of that district to the effect, that, as he had a chance to name a youth to go to west point, he had decided to throw the chance open to all the eligible lads of his district. they were to report at the preston court house on a certain day.
“and i’ll be there!” exclaimed tom. “but i say though—hold on. there’s something i almost forgot!” and a shade of annoyance passed over his face.
“what is it, tom?” asked his mother, as they neared the cottage.
“i have to have a hundred dollars, mother.”
“a hundred dollars, tom! what for?”
“to deposit at west point,—that is if i get the permanent appointment,” he explained. “it’s a sort of guarantee to cover preliminary cost of equipment, and so on. i almost forgot that. a hundred dollars! it’s a pile of money!”
“but you don’t need it right away; do you?”
“no, not until june, when i’ll have to report at the military academy in case i’m successful. but—”
“well, don’t worry about that part of it—at least not now,” said his mother. “when the time comes i may find a way to get it. i don’t[pg 16] want to see you lose this chance. don’t worry about the money or it may spoil your chances for passing the examination. i dare say i shall manage somehow.”
“oh, if you only can, mother!” and, even though they were out in the street, tom put his arms around her and kissed her.
“oh, tom!” she remonstrated.
“don’t you care!” he cried, gaily. “nobody saw us, and i don’t mind in the least if they did.”
supper was rather an excited meal, and tom fairly ran home with the dress his mother finished. he was paid, and as he carried back the money he thought:
“it’s a shame i can’t make more myself. i don’t like the idea of taking the money mother earns with her needle to go to west point with. i sure do want to go, though!”
“but i’ll make good!” he declared to himself, “and when i do, and when i’m earning a decent salary, i’ll make it all up to mother. she can live with me in barracks, perhaps, and i’ll be an engineer in charge of some big work. say, it sure will be great!”
his mind filled with such rosy dreams of the future as these, tom hurried around a corner, and ran full tilt into a man advancing from the opposite direction. so hard was the impact that[pg 17] tom would have knocked down the man but that he caught hold of him and held him up.
“i beg your pardon!” tom exclaimed.
“hey! heck! huh—! huh—! ahem! ah!” the man ejaculated, trying to recover the breath that had been driven from his body. “what do you mean by running into me like that, young man? what do you mean?”
“i beg your pardon—oh, it’s mr. doolittle!” tom exclaimed. “i didn’t see you and—”
“well, you’d better look where you’re goin’ next time!” was the snappish response. “oh, it’s you, is it?” and he seemed for the first time to recognize tom. “might have known,” he muttered. “nobody else would be rushin’ around corners like that but you!”
“i hope you’re not hurt, mr. doolittle!” tom ventured to say, as he picked up the hat of the man who had succeeded to most of mr. taylor’s property.
“hurt? huh! more by good luck than your efforts if i’m not!” was grunted out. “is my hat dented?”
“no, it doesn’t seem to be hurt a bit,” tom said, as cheerfully as he could. he brushed it off, and mr. doolittle placed it on his head.
“um! humph!” was all the answer tom received, and then, muttering to himself, the man[pg 18] who was counted one of the wealthiest in chester passed on in the darkness.
“hope he doesn’t tack on an extra charge for interest just because i ran into him,” thought tom, as he kept on. he said nothing to his mother of the encounter as he handed her the money he had brought home for the dress.
when tom went to school next day he discovered that a number of his classmates had seen the notice about the competitive examination to be held for the west point cadetship, and several announced their intention to try it. at the suggestion of one of them they decided to learn the line of questioning that would be followed, and to study up on those subjects specially. the school principal heard of their intentions and kindly offered to coach them, which offer was gratefully accepted.
then began busy days for tom taylor. he was well up in his studies, and he had little to fear regarding the physical examination, but there was always the haunting fear lest something should happen. so he studied early and late until the day set for the taking of the examination.
tom arose early that morning, and with a last final look at his books, and with a kiss from his mother, he set off to take the trolley to preston. he met several of his chums on the same errand.
the examinations would take all of one day[pg 19] and part of the next, and some of those, who came from a distance, had to stop at the preston hotel. but tom could go home at night.
on reaching the court house, where the examinations were to be conducted, tom found a number of other lads there. most of them were strangers to him, coming from distant parts of the congressional district.
congressman hutton was on hand, personally to direct matters, and three physicians were in attendance to conduct the physical examination. to tom’s delight he went through this successfully, as he had expected. but some of the boys were rejected, and with tears of regret in their eyes they went back home.
tom came from the room where he had been thumped, pounded, made to read cards at varying distances to test his eyesight, and had had his heart listened to after jumping violently up and down.
“you’ll do, young man,” the chief physician had said gruffly. “get your clothes on.”
tom’s heart beat high with hope. as he was going out to join the other candidates, some successful thus far, and some not, tom saw a young man, flashily dressed, standing near a window, smoking a cigarette.
“better cut that out if you’re going in for the exam,” suggested a lad near the smoker.
[pg 20]
“oh, i’m not worrying,” was the sneering retort. “they can’t turn me down.”
the speaker turned, and tom saw that he was clarence hawkesbury, the nephew of captain hawkesbury, who had come into possession of so much of mr. taylor’s property. clarence looked at tom and bowed coldly. they had known each other for some time, but tom did not care for clarence, and his “sporty” ways, and certainly young hawkesbury had no liking for tom.
“well, if you got through i’m sure i can,” clarence said sneeringly to our hero as he passed. “i’m going to get this appointment!” he added.
“if you do you’ll have to beat me!” thought tom, grimly.
