Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-06
CHAPTER III-Continued.

Va JUST p" iltl uUleHtS were Drought "
bear. of the precise nature of the confer
ence, no man present could would there
after give accurate account. 1t was ad-
mitted that the president opened the case
in "gngerly' fashion, which. being inter
preted, meant that there was no ginger
in the modern acceptance of the term in
either his prelude or his summing up. 1t
was remembered that several spoke pa
thetically of this view of the case-that the
youth had been motherless for many years,
the father immersed in business Che owned
three saloons within the corporate limits of
GroVeton and another on the island and
there had been no one to guard the lad
from evil. Another point was the paternal
devotion now wildly in evidence. 1t
was much to the credit of Stetson, senior,
himself destitute of college or religious
training, that he should be so bent on his
boys obtaining both under the guidance of
our president. "a capital point, thatD 1t
was limited delicately automatically, that
While the natural enthusiasm OF American
youth for military glory, and the drill
now conducted, something in the nature of
a new toy, made combination that served
to develop unusual and unlooked-for inter
est IN a large number of students, there
were StIll young men who seriously op-
posed it, and it was minated that such
young men were made the object of espe-
cial-perhaps spite was too strong word
to employ-especial attention on the part of
the new and very Jealous instructor, who,
II might be said without disparagenlent or
prejudice, was possibly tr.he intolerant of
uhmlhtaiy men or methods He had been
so long "encased in the West Point strait
jacket that he had as yet not sufficiently
broadened, 1t might be hazarded, to appre-
ciate the true characteristics of the young
American citizen. In fine, while there was
much to be said as remarked one gifted
boz Il.
said except on After hour of the
sort of talk recorded above the faculty Were
in more than complaisant mood and the
whole case might have gone by default had
not Lorimer finally got the eye of the presi-
dent and the ear of his fellows. Sharpe
mad made one or two attempts, but the
president, apparently, would not give him
the floor. Lorimer spoke-spoke cautiously,
courteously and yet to the point. He was
one of the very few, he said, who had made
the acquaintance of the young officer He
had seen in him nothing of the martinez,
but very much of the gentleman. He was
impressed with his arguments and his ear
nestness and he deemed it due to the gov
eminent, to the college, to the faculty and
to the instructor himself that the latter
should be heard. He therefore moved that
the whole subject be postponed until next
regular meeting, a fortnight hence and
that Captain Fame be invited to attend and
address them.
Glad enough to temporlze. the faculty so
voted, the president SO ordered-adding Of
his own motion. however, that pending
hnal action, the student in the case, while
not expected to drill would attend all
classes" which gave that ingenious youth
the appearance of having come out top
most in the fight, as he continued to be
present at such functions he chose to
attend and absent from all others.
1t was an arrangement that could not
fail to bear fruit, and bitter fruit at that
In his brief arraignment of the student
Fame had confined himself to his deliberate
ABSENCES, to his false certificate, and 10
his blasphemous abuse of an instructor
In no wise had Miss Hoyt been referred to-
1t was question from sister Jane that
opened the brothers eyes to the fact that
despite his caution her name might be
dragged in. 1t was the anxiety and the
instant flush in his face that opened her
eyes to the possibilities in the case. and
Jane was wise. She did not press her
question. She watched and waited. The
mother had been ailing a bit The sofa
and the magazines had been her solace
OF late, for Lady Glare had troubles of
her own, and was not too helpful. The
mother missed, and missed inexpressibly,
the gayety and gossip of garrison life
the attentions paid the wife Of the com
manding officer. Never until now had she
found herself the object of so little con-
sideration. Pet, enSrOssed in her young
husband and her wifely and social duties,
wrote only twice week, when the mother
would barely have been content had she
written twice day. Clare had been mop
Ing much, and was too full of signing to
De comfort. Jane and Ronald had many
busy hours each day at college yet man
aged to spend their evenings mostly at the !
mothers side, and to give her some time |
every afternoon. BY common consent she |
was to be told little or nothing of any I'M |
pleasant experience either Jane or he might |
encounter; but, in that busting commun- |
ity 1t was unlikely that she should hear |
nothing of what so vehemently interested |
her SON. The four-mother, daughters and |
son-occupied a little table in the dining |
room separate from that of the students, |
which was thrice daily crowded with joy |
Gus, eager young fellows in the prime of |
life and Vigor, lads who were often in up |
roariouS spirits and were seldom silent. |
The mother had persuaded herself she was |
accepting her changed fortunes and her |
hard luck with Christian resignation and |
cheerfulneSS, but Jane could see, well |
as others, how the son was saddened by |
her frequent moan. Jane saw, too, how |
his spirit and temper were being tried by |
the annoyances and obstacles thrown in |
his way. She heard-she could not help |
hearing among the "co-eds" her pupils |
all manner of student chatter and gossip |
about the affairs in the military depart |
ment. Then she began to hear other whis- |
pers and to note the eagerness of his !
questions about Miss Hoyt. Then she re- |
membered what some one had written the |
summer so long ago, so very long ago. it |
seemed, though 1t was but the previous !
year, of Ronald's devotions to a girl at |
West Point. Wisely, therefore, she waited. |
She would not add to his worries now. for !
they were many. Everything depended on !
that faculty meeting. She would wait for |
that.
1t came and, sharp at the appointed |
time, Fame was on hand. Sharpe and Lori |
mer greeted him with much cordially and |
presented him to one or two elders who |
had expressed a desire to meet him. The |
president came, and without greeting to |
anybody went straight to business. The |
cases of certain students reported for alb |
sence from rectations or ''rhetoricals, and |
for minor infractions of college rules were |
taken up and discussed with much spirit, !
and Fame sat a silent listener. He noted |
that while certain few of the faculty |
said little nottingham one, indeed, I
OF their number sat with closed eyes
there were others that were keenly alert !
in every case, and the professor of oratory |
and elocution spoke upon all. The presi- !
dent would let the talk and argument pro- |
ceed until 1t wearied him, then, with alb |
rupt decision end it by the announcement |
that Student So-and-So would be suspend
ed, sustained, penalized or admonished, as
seemed to him eXpedient or necessary, and
In four cases out of five there not |
murmur of dissent. Fame could not fail to
see that the decisions met the view of the
majority and that 1.-THE punishment fit the
crime" What he asked of himself, after