mr. hale put on his spectacles and read the circular, which had been carefully prepared by several of the best scholars in the school; but he was already familiar with the facts it contained. he knew that mr. parasyte was a tyrant, and that he was very unpopular with the boys. it was a fact that only a few of the students remained at the institute for any considerable length of time, and that its numbers had never equalled its capacity.
he had hardly finished reading the circular before mr. parasyte, followed by poodles, pearl, and the rest of the deserters, entered the hall. all of them had been passengers on the champion, and of course they didn't feel very good after being beaten by the adieno. mr. hale was evidently glad to see the[288] principal of the academy, for he did not seem to know what to do after he had finished the circular.
"i am glad you have come, mr. parasyte," said he; "it seems these boys have been running away with one of our steamers."
"they have; and i hope you will punish the ringleaders as they deserve," replied mr. parasyte, wiping his brow, as he was wont to do when excited.
"my son is one of them," added mr. hale, with a smile.
"not one of the ringleaders, sir—by no means. thornton, rush, and vallington are the leaders in this enterprise."
"no more than myself, father. i have done as much as they have, and i am willing to bear my share of the blame," said bob.
the boys clapped their hands at this interposition. bob was not a fellow to shirk when the time of settlement came.
"my boy behaves like a man, and i honor him for that," replied mr. hale, proudly; "but he shall be punished if the others are. mr. parasyte, things seem to be at rather loose ends in the institute just now."[289]
"yes, sir; i am sorry to say they are. one bad boy can stir up a whirlwind of mischief," answered mr. parasyte, looking at me.
"these boys seem to be pretty well agreed in this matter."
"but this trouble has all been made by one boy—and that one is ernest thornton. i expelled him once; but out of regard for his uncle, to whom i am under great obligations, i reversed my sentence, and endeavored to reduce him to proper subjection."
"have you seen this paper, mr. parasyte?" continued the visitor, handing him the circular. "it seems to be signed by nearly all the students in the institute."
mr. parasyte took the printed document, and proceeded to read it. when he had gone far enough to comprehend the nature of the paper, he turned red; and when he came to the long array of signatures, he became very pale.
"may i inquire the object of this paper?" demanded the principal, with quivering lips.
"i'm sure i don't know. i never saw or heard[290] of it till i entered this room," replied mr. hale "i see that it is addressed to the parents of the students."
"i need not say that the statements contained in this circular are, without a single exception, infamous falsehoods and slanders. i think you know me well enough, mr. hale, to understand that justice and fairness have always characterized my dealings with my pupils."
mr. hale did not so understand it. he knew that the reverse of this statement was the truth. mr. parasyte then insisted on relating the facts connected with the "breaking away." he told the story of my misconduct, as he termed it, and embellished it with sundry flourishes about his own impartiality and magnanimity. he said that after it had been fairly proved that i had assaulted my schoolmate, in consideration of my previous good conduct, he had only required that i should apologize in private to the one i had injured. forbearance could extend no farther than this; but i had even refused to make this slight reparation for the offence i had committed. then i had openly dis[291]obeyed and insulted him in the presence of the whole school.
"of course, after this," continued mr. parasyte, "i could do nothing more for him. my gentleness was not appreciated; my leniency was despised. my mistake was in treating him too kindly—in not resorting to the strong arm in the beginning. then, as i might have expected of such an obdurate boy, i was subjected to a personal assault."
"but all the boys seemed to be on his side," said the matter-of-fact mr. hale.
"very true. thornton keeps a boat, and almost any boy may be bought or sold with a boat. he has sailed them on the lake, and won them by his arts."
"isn't it possible that there was some mistake in the matter of the quarrel between thornton and poodles?"
"it is quite impossible that there should have been any mistake," replied mr. parasyte, with a look of injured innocence. "i investigated the matter very carefully and impartially."
"i should really like to hear what the boys have to say about it," added mr. hale.[292]
"it would be useless for you to talk with them, and it would be an insult to me for you to do so. do you doubt my word, mr. hale? do you think i have not told you the truth?" said the principal, rather warmly.
"but there may be some mistake."
"i have said that it was quite impossible there should be any mistake."
"have you any objections to my asking the boys a few questions, mr. parasyte?"
"certainly i have. i am not willing to be arraigned and tried before my own school."
"o, very well!" exclaimed mr. hale, nodding his head significantly; and without saying anything more, he left the school-room.
the students felt that they had a friend in mr. hale, and even did not fear a prosecution for running away with the steamer. we judged that the captain of the adieno would have to bear all the blame of that occurrence.
"what are these circulars for?" demanded mr. parasyte, when the visitor had departed. "vallington, as the ringleader in this conspiracy, i call upon you for an answer."[293]
"those whose names are signed to the paper intend to send them to their parents."
"they do—do they?" exclaimed the principal, with compressed lips. "are you aware that published slanders of this kind subject those who utter them to a severe penalty?"
"we can prove all we assert, and should be glad of an opportunity to do so," replied vallington, firmly.
"there is not a word of truth in the paper," added mr. parasyte, wiping his brow.
he walked up and down the platform two or three times in silence. with him the case was desperate. he knew not what to do. he had learned that the students would not be browbeaten or bullied.
"scholars," said he, at last, "i think we are all too much fatigued and excited to consider this difficult problem this afternoon. in spite of the ill treatment i have received at your hands, i am still your friend, as i have always been. by and by you will see that you have done wrong. to-morrow[294] morning, if you will meet at the usual hour in the school-room, i shall have a proposition to make, which i am confident will restore peace to the parkville liberal institute. you are dismissed now, for the day."
mr. parasyte left the hall, and we held a meeting there on our own account. if the principal did not know what to do, we were no better off, and we finally separated without any fixed plans. we agreed to meet in the school-room in the morning, though we all doubted whether mr. parasyte would have any proposition to submit. the students decided not to send the circulars to their parents until the next day.
we wanted advice, and our hope was with mr. hale. at vallington's suggestion, half a dozen of us were appointed a committee to wait upon him. he had expressed a desire to hear "the other side" of the case. we went to mr. hale's house, and found there mr. hardy, the assistant teacher, who had been discharged. we told our story, and related the facts as they occurred. mr. hardy said nothing in our presence, and we left him with mr.[295] hale, who, we afterwards learned, had sent for him.
bob invited me to spend the night with him, and having no home now, i was glad to accept. after supper, i was called into the library, and questioned at great length by mr. hale and mr. hardy in regard to the affairs of the institute. while we were thus engaged, bob was sent to deliver several notes to prominent and wealthy men in the place. at seven o'clock there were not less than half a dozen of the "heavy men" of parkville in the library.
of course bob and i did not know what was going on, but we were confident that the affairs of the institute were under discussion. at a later hour, mr. hale and another gentleman drove off, in a buggy, towards the cottage of my uncle, where i heard one of them say they were going. bob and i went to bed, tired out, and did not ascertain what had been done by the gentlemen who assembled that evening.
at nine o'clock in the forenoon of the next day, the students were all in their seats, in the school[296]-room; but mr. parasyte did not appear. it was reported that there were half a dozen gentlemen with him in his office, and that my uncle amos was one of them. i was astonished at this intelligence. i subsequently heard that he was there on business, and hardly spoke a word during a long and stormy interview between mr. parasyte and his visitors.
the clock on the school-house struck ten, and still mr. parasyte did not come. it was deeply impressed upon our minds that something was about to happen, and we waited with intense anxiety for the event. at half past eleven o'clock, mr. parasyte entered the school-room. he looked sad and subdued, and his coming was the signal for a breathless silence among the boys. it was evident that he had a proposition to make.
"young gentlemen, i appear before you now for the last time," said he.
he paused, and his words made a tremendous sensation, though, i am happy to say, there was no demonstration of any kind. we looked upon him as a fallen man.[297]
"i have sold the parkville liberal institute to a company composed of the citizens of this town, who have made me an offer for the property, so liberal that i could not afford to refuse it. until about a week ago, my relations with the students have been exceedingly pleasant. i shall not allude to recent events. i take my leave with many regrets, and i sincerely desire that prosperity and happiness may attend you in the future. good by."
"good by," replied a large number of the boys, and mr. parasyte bowed and left the room.
as he went out at one door, the "company" entered at another. mr. hale went upon the platform, and repeated what mr. parasyte had told us, that the institute had been purchased by a number of the citizens of parkville, and in future its affairs would be managed by a board of trustees, of which he had the honor to be chairman. the trustees had just appointed mr. hardy as principal,—here he was interrupted by a spontaneous burst of cheers,—and the school would be reorganized by him in the afternoon. the "boarders" were requested to write to their parents and guardians, informing them of the change.[298]
mr. hale dismissed the students, after he had assured them that the domestic part of the establishment would remain as before. the boys went out upon the play ground, and gave three rousing cheers for the new company, trustees, and principal. i went home to dinner with bob, and learned that the purchase of the institute had been contemplated for some months, by prominent citizens, who were aware that the school was badly managed. they acted, many of them, simply as business men, for the interests of the town. the institute was "running down," and they had taken this step to build it up. they knew that mr. hardy was a true man and a good teacher, and as he was popular among the boys, he was promptly elected principal.
mr. hale told bob and me that the conduct of the students in "breaking away" was strongly condemned by the gentlemen who had discussed the affair, and he by no means approved of it himself; but the injustice of mr. parasyte had provoked them to such a degree that the misdemeanor was palliated, if not excused, and it was deemed best to say nothing about it. the mortgage which my un[299]cle held was paid, and he had fled the instant the business was finished.
mr. parasyte had long and obstinately refused to sell the property, even for a third more than its actual value; but finally, convinced that the institute would not succeed under his administration, he had yielded the point. the next day he left parkville, with his family, "bag and baggage;" and so disagreeable was he to me, that i hoped i never should see his face again.
in the afternoon we went to school, and mr. hardy appeared upon the platform. we attempted to cheer him, but he silenced us. he made quite a speech, in which, however, he did not allude to recent events, and in half an hour the students were all at work on the old track. while i was in school that afternoon for the last time, as i believed, i received a note from my uncle. it was as brief as his speech. "if you wish to return to your home, you may." this, with the signature, was all it contained. i went home that night, but my uncle did not see me—would not see me.
i went to school as usual for several months, until[300] the following spring, when an event occurred which made me a wanderer on the earth; which sent me to "seek and find" the mother, for whom i longed and prayed in my loneliness, and which shall be related in another story.
our rebellion at the institute had been successful. we had driven the tyrant from his throne, and seated another person in his place, who was fit to teach and to rule. mr. hardy was, perhaps, more severe than his predecessor, but he was just and fair. he had no favorites—at least none who did not win their high place in his esteem by being faithful and earnest in all things. certainly he never gave the students occasion even to think of such a doubtful expedient as "breaking away."
