Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-07
CHAPTER ".
Mischief Afoot.

I that put Beerbohm in plight. The drills
| at; Fredonia had indeed been dispensed
with. as was said. only such students as
volunteered being on the rolls Of the re-
| tired army officer there on duty, and these
few drilled" only when the spirit moved
| them-which was seldom. All on sudden
| an Inspector appeared; put questions to the
president and the professor of military sci
ence; took down their answers. and went
| his way. The officer knew what it meant,
ana told the president to look out for
squalls. This happened just about the time
that letter came from Professor Beer
bohm intimating that perhaps he had been
fndiscreet, and that they had a young man
at Groveton who seemed disposed to
make trouble" That was enough to stamp
Beerbohm as the witless betrayer, for
these were days before the government
started the system of regular inspection of
It's subsidized colleges. and this episode was
one of the reasons. There came an indig-
nant, injured letter from the head of FIRE.
donla to his fellow head of Groveton. 1t
was an ungenerous thing in one great in
stltutl0n so to injure the business inter-
estS OF another, and indeed the head of
Groveton was quite ready to take that view
OF 1t, and so taking. sent for Mr.-er-
captain Fame and said that hereafter when
ne had any criticism to make of the man
agement OF college affairs he preferred
them to be made to him. the president and
not to outsiders" 1t was not the proper
thing for members Of the faculty of one
institution to be interfering in the affairs
OF another, and he deprecated any such ac-
tion as Mr.. Fame had taken in this mat
ter. Fame replied with rising temper but
with respectful tone and manner that Pro-
Iessor Beerbohm had spoken coram pub
1co, had pointed to Fredonia's immunity
from consequences as warrant for like dis
regard at Groveton and 1t was his duty
In his opinion, to lose no time in warning
both the government and Groveton. He
nad warned the government. He now
warned GrOyetOu
1t fairly staggered the president. He had
had to deal, hitherto only with men bound
solely to- him and the college Here was
youth who could indeed perceive a di-
vlded duty. Then more letters came from
Fredonia. upbraiding Beerbohm. and that
sorely badgered scientist conceived it just
10 say that Captain Fame had taken ad-
vantage OF words spoken in debate of
"a privileged communication" in fact
something not intended to go outside that
room, yet expected to have overwhelming
enect within But the first time Beerbohm
opened his guns In this wise in presence
OF the officer In question Fame fired up
and sent so sharp a reply that more than
ever did the president and a certain few of
ms followers look upon the soldier as "a
disturbing element" and so refer to him.
But there were other members, and not
a minority now. whose eyes were opening
to the facts at issue, and who clearly saw
whittier they had been drifting This mat
ter" said they. has never before been
shown US in the proper light. Now If you
can only make 1t comprehensive to the
trustees"
But there was the rub, West had gone
far eastward. Of the two local members
OF the executive committee one was deep
In politics, the other in plans for higher
education The former could see things
only as they affected his prospects. for
ONCE the other, most amiable divine,
only through the spectacles of the presi-
dent. They hailed from the same New
England town and college.
But even these gentlemen heard with
alarm OF the result at Fredonia,s whose
president wrote that, thanks to the "imper-
tinent interference" of this new driIlmaster
at Groveton, they had been notified that I'M
less the conditions of the act were in future
faithfully observed steps would be taken to
recover the income derived from govern
ment lands. 1t would seem, therefore, that
among the dons of both sister institutions
some Incorporate talk and wrath had been
aroused not, of course, at the expense of
the trustees and officials, who, knowing the
law, had sought its benefits and sighted it's
obligations; not at the expense of those who
would take without paying but wholly at
the expense of the ''drillmaster'' referred to
and the self-snared, unwilling, unhappy wit
ness who had brought Fredonia to book
One of the presidents pet topics when ser
moniZing had been the relaxation of public
morals consequent upon the great war
1.-The host Of discharged soldiery. with all
the vices of the camp, turned loose upon
peace-loving. law-abiding. God-fearing COM
munitieS.' and now, loi here was a soldier
daring to preach to him and to others, law
abiding and God-fearing, as to the meaning
Of a moral obligation. The president felt
sorely aggrieved. and said so, wherein he
showed himself. after all, much more hui
man than divine. How many another
preacher has there lived with volumes of
rebuke for other peoples sins and never
thought of his own! How many a friend is
gifted with phenomenal insight into our
shortcomings, but has no eyes for his, or
her, individual iniquities! And now FIRE.
dOnia and (frOVatOn like
caught in the act really suffered far less
from the contemplation of their sins of
omission than from chagrin at being found
out BeerbOhm and Fame, antagonistic from
the start, had come at least to one point in
common. Each was the object of hearty
condemnation from ''Others in authority"
1t was at this stage of the proceedings
that Fame became conscious of a new ele-
ment of mischief. In some way the matter
had got into the local press. Provincial
editors could not well be expected to know
too much Of federal law and of acts of Con-
gress passed and forgotten in the earlier
days Of the civil war. 1t was enough for
them that something out of the common
run of collegiate rows had settled on Grove
ton, and there was never time when their
reporters could not find voluble tale bear
ers. Indeed. 1t Is more than probable that
at this time tongues and pens were both In
spired, for Fame was catching it, right
and left, and poor Mrs. Fame was frantic
She had known nothing heretofore of any
life save that guarded with every show of
respect. surrounded by the very atmosphere
OF Difference and courtesy. Fort Sheridan,
that journalistic stamping ground and
school for scandal, had not then been pro-
jected, and the poor lady had never dreamed
of the flights to which newspaper imagin-
ings could soar. 1t was nothing new to
Fame. He had been on duty at West Point
when the first Ethiopian appointees APP
peared there. and certain New York Jour-
mails thought they had found opportunity to
wreck the fair fame of the national school.
He had served In the west and been ia
vored with many a ''marke., copy express
sive of editorial views on the atrocities of
our troops in Indian campaigns when the
atrocities were all on the other side He
had been where orders were orders and he
did as orders demanded, no matter what
the papers might say. But now, between
what was limited in collegiate cloisters and
Matched In the sanctums. condition indeed
serious came to confront him.
He had been conscious, of course for
weeks, of the impudence of street loafers
and small boys-the grins and nudgings
that greeted his coming-the shouted imita
ton words of command, the jeers and cat
calls that followed his goings. 1t was hui
initiating and vexatious, heaven knows but
he was helpless. With only one arm to
fight with, he could not resent; with no
law to protect him. he could not even pro-
test. 1t is one Of the penalties of serving
y -