Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-04
CHAPTER II-Continued.

service whatever in return. Some few own
ed up squarely and fairly and took their
medicine in a manly way. Some few sui
lenly reported and sullenly endured the drill
Some few kicked stubbornly and two or
three showed fight. One of these last-men-
toned was a hulking lad of twenty or
twenty-one, beginning his second term at
the college, the son of local politician of
some repute and the putative leader of a
gang of young miscreants that made night
hideous about certain nearby saloons, and
the first time Fame looked into the eyes of
this local celebrity he felt instinctively that
there was work cut out for him. The presi-
dent ruled that all who could procure a
physicians certificate of disability should be
excused. The champion base-runner Of the
college base ball club rendered a note
from his family physician to the effect that
the violent exercise of military drill would
weaken his heart Fame replied that in ten
months OF military drill the young man
would not encounter as much violent exer-
else as he did in ten minutes of base ball
In ten seconds, in fact.
The president ruled that If wrong was
done and the government defrauded, the
physician was accountable, not the faculty,
and the excuse stood, to the derisve merri-
ment of the battalion and the secret shame
of the base ball men. Two of the most
promising pupils in Professor Hitman' s
boxing class came armed with the GER
tifcates of home doctors to the effect that
they had been feeble from infancy, and
the weight of the musket would be apt to
injure the spine. The president ruled that he
could not accept the responsibility of flying
in the face of the professional opinions of
recognized practitioners, and the grinning
athletes stood relieved from the soldier duty
to which Fame had drafted them. The
presidents decision created immediate and
lively stir. Undergraduate ingenuity re-
ceived remarkable stimulus. Sophomore
Van Dyne flied a certificate that he was of
feeble constitution, though he looked the
picture of health and strength. Fame wrote
to the doctor in the case, and the letter
came back undelivered. Fame wrote the
postmaster for explanation, and the post
master said no doctor of that name ever
lived or practiced there. Fame laid the
matter before the president. with the result
that Mr. Van Dyne was promoted into the
junior class, passing a very creditable ex-
animation in classics, etc. Fame told the
president the man had submitted a forged
or bogus certificate, and deserved to be
punished accordingly. The president said
that he didn't know anything about that;
what he did know was that Van Dyne was
no longer subject to the rules of the mill
tary instructor. Of the twenty certificates
submitted probably one-third could not have
borne investigation, but the president ruled
that they were final. But the most fragrant
case was that first referred to. The strong,
sturdy young fellow had been caught in the
dragnet and after scowlingly submitting
to one drill and lodging the next, found
himself face to face with orders to make up
what he had lost 1t was done in studies. said
Fame, therefore should 1t be done in drills.
He then came with a certificate setting
forth that he had been subject to fits since
early boyhood, and the excitement of drill
would probably bring them on again. Fame
found the doctor, young beginner, and
comparative stranger, and the doctor said
he based the certificate entirely on the
young mans personal statements. Neither
personally nor professionally had he ever
known him before. sophomore officer
who had lived next door to the sufferer
some fifteen years and had seen him nearly
every day said he had never even heard
of his having a fit. Fame refused to
cuse the applicant, who thereupon absented
himself, and when summoned before the
president said his father had forbidden his
going to drill, and was coming to see the
president about 1t. Pending the call of
this parent, dealer in spirits" and ward
boss with whom the president widely
at odds, the young man held aloof from
the gymnasium, and this was the situation
when early on this beautiful Indian sum-
mer morning he stumbled again into the
clutches of Fame, with the result described.
1t was his second year at the college.
as has been said, and he had not a friend
In the faculty. All who knew him at all
had but one opinion to express. He had
been idle, surly, a truant and a me- r-do-
well. He had been before the president
dozen times, and always for rebuke or
reprimand. He now appeared as com
plainant He had been assaulted, he said.
and abused by the military instructor, and
the president, bethinking him of the stories
of two or three others, who declared their
religious sentiments had been made TO suf-
fer because of the harsh language at drill,
conceived ii time to enjoin the instructor.
1t was not yet office hour when Fame re-
ceived q summons TO attend the president,
and found him. as usual, at his desk I'M
mersed in manuscript, Notwithstanding a
lively racket in the corridor without. A
lot of sophomores, awaiting the bell for
second period" had congregated on the
stairway and were skylarkng with such
freshmen as happened along. The president
opened the matter with customary direct
ness:
"A student complains-er-Mr.-M Fame.
that you violently assaulted him this
morning, and certain others have stated
that the abusive language they had to hear
al drill was the main cause of their aver
sion to it. Now, / maintain that no man
is fit to command others who cannot COM
mand himself. Oblige me by stepping TO
that door and asking those young men TO
stop that disturbance All, never mind.
hear Professor Nash" Indeed, for
moment Professor Nash could be heard,
piping feeble remonstrance. Then the fun
began again. So did the president) "Ah,
what l wish to impress upon you Is that
under circumstances Is an instructor
warranted in laying hands on, student:
We do not countenance such meas
But here the row without became uproari-
Gus. and Fame could not distinctly hear.
Your pardon, sir" he said, stepping
nearer 'If Mr. Stetson is the complain
ing student, I have
But the president uplifted both voice
and hand.
lone moment Let me finish, then I'll
hear" But 1t was impossible to hear.
The stairway evidently blockaded-a
rush" unprecedented but none the less
enthusiastic, had been suddenly precpi
tated: "Soph" and Fresh" were clnch-
ed in rejoiceful. delirious battle for su-
premacy Weight inertia and numbers
were telling In favor of the Freshies,
steadily showing down the stairs. but,
with bull-like roarings the Sophs strug
gled and stood firm. To Fanes intense
delight up sprang the head of the college.
Four strides took him to the door, which
ne flung wide open, and in another second
he had two of the battlers by the scruff
of the neck and with all the strength of
his long lean, sinewy arms was banging
their heads together, and one head was
that of the recent complainant--Mr. Stet-
SON.
Two minutes before Fame was beginning
to bristle with Indignation Now he was
bubbling over with merriment. The com
batants went scurrying away. The noise
without had suddenly ceased. The presi-
dent, flushed and victorious, returned to
his seat and the pursuit of the theme.
Fame had never before warmed to him