St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-10-15
A Coward.


Whether Henry Finlay was brave or
coWar'lly was the conumdIum To
which the boys of Nh. Green's Latin
Grammar school could find no answer.
He had allowed himself To bc back
ed down" 10y Dick CorSon. Il stout and
>tumpN Kentucky boy. who was given
to bullying, and a fellow who could he
"backcd down" must he Il coward. 50
the boys said.
ColSon had dared him To cross Il Ger
tain line drawn in the sand. and Finlay,
though the equal of the Krntuckian
in size and strength. had turned on his
heel and walked away. Besides. he
had violated all those principles of
''honor" which school-boys respect 81
highly. 10y appealing t" the school
master for protection.
CorSon. in order 1" provoke a fight,
had broken FiulaN's slate. "Old
Green" :> the teacher WAS li>rcspect-
fully called by the boys, was accustom-
ed to whip hard when he had occasion
to Hog and 81. when the master pro-
posed that Cor>on should pay toI the
broken slate or take of his coat. the
valiant kcmtuckian preferred to pay
fnr his slate. But this running under
the masters wings. ;I> the boys called
it. conv vinccd them that Finlay was Il
coward.
Aud Vet. ON the other hand. he did
NOT seem much afraid of them. He
did not get in ANY h"dy'S way; he in
trrierrd now and then in favor of
smaller boys: but contcnted himself
with declaring that if anybody trnu-
hlcd him lIc would not make Il bully "t
himself hl fighting. hut he would just
appeal To the ''law" OF the school for
projections. If that were not sufficient
he would take the case before Il JUS
ticc.
This WAS Il most unlIcard-nf course.
aud one that disappointed the boys of
seeing any trial of strength between
the new hoy Finlay and CorSon. Some
of the boys had made bets on the day
of Finlay'S advent that he could ''lamn
Dick Corson." who had been the king
Of the school. Now they We're t" he
disappointed of Il trial.
But torS"n grew bold i'll proportion
~ he thought he saw cowar,licc in Fin
! law. He told the bows that hc would
have fight ont nt FinlaN somehow.
CorSon had to cross the Ohio river
every dav To- reach the school. During
most of the wear he came over in Il
/ Skitf. hut there had been unusually
cold weather for Il few days. and the
river WAS frozen 81 that large wagons
| even could cross uI the ice.
Dick Cor>nn had for three weeks
walked across ON this natural bridge.
He now proposed to the boys that they
SlIunld conceal themselves the next
L. nil. ~
dIiftwood on the shore of the river.
He would then 81 time his arrival neal
the dritl-pilc as to intercept Finlay.
who had To walk two miles along the
shore to reach the school. AS Finlay,
would not know there WAS any witness
es. he would not he able to prosecute
Dick for the assault, and CorSon could
tell his own story to the master.
Some of the school boys had qualms
about engaging III this conspiracy. hut
they were overborne bv the others. who
declared that such IL coward ought to
bc taught to fight. OF course there
were boys in the school who were not
let INTO the secret at all. Their disap-
proval of the scheme was assured be
forchand.
The weather had been warm for tive
or three days, and the school master
began to feel uneasy about the ice
knowing that some of the boys were
accustomed to cross on it. \ sudden
rise in the river during the night had
been reported to him by fisherman
who lived on the bank, and Mr.. Greer
thought it best to go down and exam
inc the lee.
He walked along the shore until h,
was stopped by the old pile of drift.
wood. In the open space, beneath thi,
great, loose heap of trunks of trees
boughs and boards, he heard smother
his own pupils hidden there. so intent
on watching something beyond thai
they did not see him.
He turned up the bank till he reache,
place where he could see over the tol
of the drift. There stood Corson witt
his coat off, confronting Finlay.
"Iou have got to fight now" said
Corson. You can't tell the master. fo
my story will he us good as yours"
''I"u mean To whip me first, an,
then lie about it, said Henry Finlay
quietly. "But what do you want t,
t fight for? What harm have | don,
YOU"
+ "You're a coward and tell-tale
Get ready now. for You've got to stan,
your ground
! Finlay quietly laid down his book.
and the slate Corson had been oblige,