“it means that if the authorities at hamilton need help in putting down that mob, we third company boys will have to give it,” said egan, in reply to a question propounded to him by captain mack.
“what do you mean by we?” inquired the captain. “you don’t belong to my company.”
“yes, i do, and so do hop and curtis,” answered egan. “we intend to report for duty in the morning; and as long as this strike lasts, we are to stand post and do duty like the rest of the boys. we asked permission of the superintendent to-day, and he granted it.”
of course he granted it. faithful students, like these three boys, were allowed to do pretty nearly as they pleased. it was the idle and unruly who were denied privileges.
[153]
“i am glad to welcome such fellows as you are into my family,” said captain mack. “but why didn’t you go into the first company where you belong?”
“we belong wherever it suits us to go,” said egan, in reply. “and it suits us to be with you and don gordon. look here, mack: if worst comes to worst, and the superintendent calls for volunteers, you be the first to jump. do you hear? good night and pleasant dreams.”
the students hastened back to their rooms, and feeling secure from an attack by the mob, the most of them slept; but their dreams, like captain mack’s, were none of the pleasantest. more than one of them started up in alarm, believing that he heard the order to fall in. they all expected it, and it came the next day about eleven o’clock, but the majority of the boys did not know it until dinner time; and then don gordon, who had been acting as the superintendent’s orderly that morning, rushed frantically about the building looking for egan and the rest.
“the time has come, fellows,” said he, when he found them. “some of us will have to face the music now.”
[154]
“how do you know?” asked egan and his friends, in a breath.
“the superintendent received a despatch from the city a short time ago.”
“do you know what was in it?”
“i do, for i heard him read it to one of the teachers. it ran: ‘hold a company, provided with ten rounds per man, ready to move at short notice.’ the answer that went back was: ‘the company is ready.’”
“whew!” whistled curtis, while the others looked at one another in blank amazement.
“but i don’t see how that company is to get to hamilton,” said hopkins, at length. “there are no trains running to-day. everything is as quiet as it is on sunday.”
“they will go by special train,” said don. “there are a good many passengers and a big mail that were left at munson last night when the engineer of the lightning express was taken by force from his cab, and the mob has agreed to let them come on to hamilton. it was all talked over in my hearing.”
“and our boys are to go on that train, are they?”
[155]
“yes; if they get marching orders in time.”
“then there’ll be trouble. remember what i tell you; there will be the biggest kind of a fuss down there,” said curtis, earnestly. “the rioters didn’t agree to let soldiers into the city, and they won’t do it, either.”
“did it ever occur to you, that very possibly the wishes of the rabble will not be consulted?” inquired hopkins. “i hope that company will go in if it is needed there, and that the very first man who fires a stone into its ranks will get hurt.”
just then the enlivening notes of the dinner-call sounded through the building, and the students made all haste to respond to it. the different companies formed in their respective halls, but when they had been aligned and brought to a right face by their quartermaster-sergeants, the captains took command, ordered the sergeants to their posts, and marched their men to the armory instead of to the dining-hall. they all wondered what was going to happen now, and they were not kept long in suspense.
“young gentlemen,” said the superintendent, when all the companies had come into line, “our friends in hamilton are in need of assistance, and[156] we, being law-loving and law-abiding men and boys, and utterly opposed to mob rule, can not refuse to give it to them. it may be—nay, i am sure, from what i have heard, that it is a mission of danger; and therefore i shall not ask any of you to go to the city against your will. those of you who are in favor of the law, and who have the courage to enforce it if you are called upon to do so, will step three paces to the front.”
these words, which were spoken so rapidly that those who heard them did not have time to think twice, fairly stunned the boys. egan, who stood next the first sergeant of the third company, was the first to recover himself. reaching around behind the sergeant he gave captain mack a prod in the ribs with his fist that fairly knocked him out of his place in the ranks; but it brought him to his senses, and raising his hand to his cap the captain said:
“i speak for my company, sir.”
“your services are accepted,” said the superintendent. “you are too late, young gentlemen,” he added, addressing himself to the boys in the first and second companies who moved forward in a body, together with the majority of the members[157] of bert’s company. “you ought to have had an old first-sergeant in your ranks to wake you up.”
this was greek to some of the students, but mack understood it and so did egan. so did the boys directly behind them, who had seen egan strike the captain in the ribs to “wake him up.”
“if your conduct last night is any criterion, i shall have reason to be proud of you when you return,” continued the superintendent, turning to the third company boys. “i shall expect you to do your duty regardless of consequences; and in order that you may work to the best advantage, i shall make some changes in your personnel.”
here the superintendent paused and looked at the adjutant, who stepped forward and drew his note-book from his pocket.
“mack, you’re a brick,” said egan, in an audible whisper.
“he’s a born fool,” said jones to the boy who stood next him. “i didn’t give him authority to speak for me, and i’ll not stir one step. if he wants to go down there and be pounded to death by that mob, he can go and welcome; but he shall not drag me along with him.”
[158]
“it is not expected that boys who take refuge in the attic or hide in coal-bins, or who are seized with the pangs of sickness at the very first notes of a false alarm, would be of any use to you if you should get into trouble,” added the superintendent. “consequently those boys will be permitted to remain at the academy. as fast as their names are called they will fall out of the ranks and form a squad by themselves under command of sergeant elmer, who will have charge of them until their company returns.”
some of those who had behaved with so much timidity the night before, thought this the severest punishment that could be inflicted upon them. they were virtually branded as cowards in the presence of the whole school, and they felt it most keenly; but the others, those who had determined to be sent down since their parents would not allow them to leave the academy, as they wanted to do, did not seem to mind it at all. they were perfectly willing to be disgraced. they fell out of the ranks as their names were called, and after their places had been supplied by boys from the first and second companies whom the superintendent[159] knew he could trust, they were all marched down to the dining-hall.
there was little dinner eaten that day, for their excitement took away all their appetites. the hum of animated conversation arose above the clatter of knives and forks from all except the third company boys, who were already looked upon as heroes by some of their companions. they were going down to the city to face an infuriated mob, and who can tell what the result might be? these boys talked only in whispers, and the all-absorbing question with them was: what teacher would be sent in command of them? everybody seemed to think it would be professor odenheimer, who, by his fiery lectures, had now the appellation of “fighting jacob,” which the students transformed into “viting yawcop.” everybody seemed to think, too, that if he were sent in command, they would stand a fine chance of getting into a fight, whether the mob forced it upon them or not.
the study-call was not sounded that afternoon, because the teachers knew that there would be no studying done. the students gathered in little groups in the building and about the grounds, and there was an abundance of talk, argument and[160] speculation. they were all anxious for news, and it did not take long to raise a crowd. if a teacher, an officer or an orderly stopped for a moment to exchange a word or two with one of the students, they were very soon joined by a third, the number was rapidly augmented, and a large assembly was quickly gathered. the wildest rumors were freely circulated as facts, and if the third company boys had believed half they heard, it is hard to tell whether or not their courage would have stood the test. the excitement arose to fever-heat when a messenger-boy, who had been passed by the sentry at the gate, ran up the walk with a brown envelope in his hand.
“what is it? what is it?” cried the students, as he dashed through their ranks.
“it’s for the superintendent,” was the boy’s reply.
“but what does it say?”
“don’t know; only there’s the very mischief to pay down at hamilton. the special is due in fifteen minutes.”
“then we’re off, boys,” said egan; and so it proved. a few minutes after the messenger-boy vanished through the door, a sergeant appeared on[161] the steps and cried out: “fall in, third company!” whereupon all the boys made a rush for the armory. don and his comrades made all haste to put on their belts and epaulets and take their muskets from the racks, while the rest of the students drew themselves up in line behind the teachers so that they could see all that was going on.
“fall in!” commanded the first sergeant. “left face! support arms! listen to roll-call!”
each boy in the ranks brought his piece to a “carry” and then to “order arms,” as his name was called, and when this ceremony was completed the company was again brought to a “carry,” and ordered to “count fours”; after which the sergeant proceeded to divide it into platoons. then he faced about, saluted his commander and said, with a ring of triumph in his tones:
“all present, sir.”
there was no one hiding in the attic or coal-bins this time.
“fix bayonets,” said the captain.
the sergeant gave the order and moved to his place on the right of the company, leaving the[162] captain in command. his first move was to open the ranks, and his next to order the quartermaster-sergeant to supply each man with ten rounds of ammunition. candor compels us to say that the sergeant did not strictly obey this order. he was careful to put ten cartridges, and no more, into each box, but he did not scruple to put three or four extra ones into the hand that was holding the box open.
by this time the boys had found out who was to be their real commander. it was mr. kellogg, the most popular instructor at the academy. he was a modest, unassuming gentleman, but he was a soldier all over. he had served in the army of the potomac, and had twice been carried to the rear and laid among the dead. the boys knew he was going with them, for he was dressed in fatigue uniform and wore a sword by his side.
the cartridges having been distributed and the company brought to close order, it was marched out of the armory and down the stairs. when the other students saw it preparing to move, they rushed out in a body, ran to the gate, and drawing themselves up in line on each side of the walk, stood ready to give their friends a good “send off.”[163] when the company marched through their ranks, led by the band which was to accompany it to the depot, they broke out into deafening cheers, which captain mack and his men answered with a will. don caught just one glimpse of his brother’s face as he passed. it was whiter than his own.
the students followed the company as far as the gate, and then ran along the fence to keep it in view as long as they could; but all they could see of it were the bayonets, the young soldiers themselves being wholly concealed by the crowd of citizens who had assembled to see them off. the men cheered them lustily, the ladies waved their handkerchiefs, and the girls threw flowers at them until a bend in the road hid them from sight. then the boys who were left behind turned away from the fence, and walked slowly toward the academy.
“i’d much rather be here than with them,” said jones to his friend lester, and the latter did not doubt it, for jones was one of the boys who had been found in the cellar. lester had hidden his head under the bed-clothes when he heard the bugle, and pleaded sickness when bert gordon and his squad came to pull him out. “i suppose the[164] teachers think i feel very much disgraced because i was left behind, but i don’t. i didn’t come here to fight, and when my father hears of this, he will tell me to start for home at once. but i shan’t go until i get a good ready, and then i am going in my own way. i am going to do something that will make these fellows remember me. i said it long ago, and i mean it.”
“it is my opinion that this day’s work will break up this school,” observed enoch williams. “i know my father will not allow me to stay here after he hears of it.”
“wouldn’t this be a good time to go off on our cruise?” inquired lester.
“i am afraid not,” answered jones. “i should like to go this very night; but as things look now, i am of the opinion that we shall have to wait until next month. we don’t want to fail when we make the attempt, for if we do, we shall be watched closer than we are now.”
“i don’t want to stay here,” said lester. “suppose they should need more help in the city, and that my company should be ordered down there?”
“you need not waste any time in worrying over[165] that,” was the encouraging reply. “your company is composed of nothing but raw recruits; and even if it should be ordered there, you wouldn’t go. you would be told to stay behind, as i was.”
lester found some satisfaction in this assurance, but he found none whatever in being snubbed as he was. even the boys in his own company—those who had promptly responded when ordered to fall in the night before—would not look at him. if two of them were talking and lester came up to hear what they were saying, they would turn their backs upon him without ceremony and walk away. all the boys who had concealed themselves or played off sick when the false alarm was sounded, were treated in the same way by their fellows, and all the companionship they could find was in the society of students who were as timid as they were. this had at least one good effect, so lester thought. it brought many friends to the boys who intended to desert the academy and run away in the yacht, and before the day was over lester, jones and enoch had revealed their scheme to half a dozen or more new fellows, who heartily approved of it and promised to aid them by every[166] means in their power. but after all they did not take as much interest in, or show as much enthusiasm for, the scheme, as lester and the rest thought they ought to. the strike was the all-absorbing topic of conversation, and the possible fate of the boys who had gone down to the city to confront the mob, made many an anxious face.
although all study was over for the day, everything else was done as usual, but nothing was done well. the students were thinking of something beside their duties, and made blunders and received reprimands without number. as the hours wore on, the excitement gave place to alarm. the third company ought to have reached hamilton at eight o’clock, if everything had gone well with them, and now it was long after ten and not a despatch had been received.
“i am really afraid something has happened to them, sam,” said sergeant gordon, as he and corporal arkwright paced up and down the walk in front of the guard-room in which sat the german professor, who was deeply interested in his paper. these two boys were on duty until midnight, and they wished they were going to stay on until morning, for they knew they could not sleep[167] if they tried. “my brother promised to telegraph me just as soon as he reached the city,” continued bert, “and he would surely have done so, if something had not occurred to——”
“corporal of the guard, no. 1,” shouted the sentry at the gate.
“zetz auber!” exclaimed the professor, throwing down his paper. “go out dere, gorporal. mebbe dot ish somedings from meester gellock.”
the corporal went, and bert went with him. if there were a messenger-boy at the gate, his despatch might be from don instead of professor kellogg; but there was no messenger-boy to be seen. on the opposite side of the tall, iron gate were a couple of men who peered through the bars occasionally, and then looked behind and on both sides of them as if to make sure that there was no one watching their movements.
“these fellows affirm that they are just from the city,” said the sentry, in a husky and trembling voice. “they have brought bad news. they say that our boys were cut all to pieces by the rioters.”
bert’s heart seemed to stop beating. without waiting to ask the sentry any questions, he passed[168] on to the gate and waited for the men to speak to him. he could not have said a word to them to save his life.
“we thought we had better come up here and let you know about it,” said one of the visitors, at length. “the strikers are awful mad, and declare they are going to burn the academy.”
“who are you?” demanded bert, after he had taken time to recover his breath.
“we’re strikers, but we’re friends,” was the answer. “we live here in bridgeport and had to strike with the rest to escape getting our heads broken. we saw the fight to-night, but we didn’t take any part in it.”
“the fight?” gasped bert.
“yes; and it was a lively one, i tell you. i didn’t know the boys had so much pluck. but there were three thousand of the mob and only about eighty of them, and so they had no show.”
“great scott!” exclaimed bert. “what became of our boys?”
“we don’t know, for we lost no time in getting out of that when we found that there were bullets flying through the air; but some of the strikers told us that they whipped the cadets, and that[169] those of them who could get away ran like sheep.”
“corporal, go into the sentry’s box and get the key,” said bert. “i shall have to ask you to make your report to the officer of the guard.”
“all right,” said the man who did the talking. “that’s what we came here for; but we want to be as sly as we can in getting in and out, for if we should be seen here, we’d have trouble directly. bridgeport is in a tumult of excitement, and there are lots of spies here. we came up from town line on a hand-car with a lot of them. the lads must have got in some pretty good work before they were whipped, or else the strikers would not be so mad at them.”
“was there a fight, sure enough?” said bert, as the corporal came up with the key and opened the gate. he was so astounded and terrified that, although he heard all the man said to him, he did not seem to comprehend it.
“well, i should say there was a fight. i tell you, it must have been hot in that car, and i don’t see how a single boy in it could possibly come out alive!”
“then some of our friends must have been hurt?” faltered bert.
[170]
“of course. i don’t believe a dozen of the whole company came out uninjured.”
bert wanted to ask if his informant had heard the names of any of the wounded, but the words he would have uttered stuck in his throat. while he was trying to get them out he reached the guard-room, and ushered the visitors into the presence of professor odenheimer.
“these men, sir, desire to make report concerning a fight that took place between our boys and the mob at hamilton,” said the sergeant; and then he backed off and stood ready to hear what they had to say in addition to what they had already told him.
the excitable prussian started as if he had been shot. “our poys did have a pattle?” he exclaimed.
“yes, sir, they did,” answered one of the men.
“donder and blixen! i don’t can pelieve dot.”
“they say they have just come from there, sir,” interposed bert.
the professor jumped to his feet, dashed his spectacles upon the table, and broke into a torrent of german ejaculations indicative of the greatest wonder and excitement. his next question[171] was, not “were any of the boys injured?” but—
“did dem gadets make good fighting? dot’s vot i vant to know.”
the men replied that they had done wonders.
“dot’s all right! dot’s all right,” exclaimed mr. odenheimer, rubbing his hands gleefully together. “zargeant, you and de gorporal vait oudside and i will hear de rebort of dese men. so dem gadets make good fighting! i been glad to hear dot. seet down in dem chairs and told me all apout it.”
the non-commissioned officers reluctantly withdrew, and the professor was left alone with the visitors.
