Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-01-26
The Janif0r,s Boy
CONTINUED FROM PAGE FIVE

table and Missed IN his ear:
80 our model boy is found out at last,
| eh?"
| The punishment to which Joe was con-
demned was called by us "hogging in pub
hc, and was considered the most disgrace
iui and cruel one pupil could undergo, as
IL was always administered with great So
| lemnlty, on the masters raised platform, inn
mediateiy after evening prayers and in view
OF all the students.
| Inc actual castigation consisted of eight
strokes, TOUR on each hand, from long rat
tan somewhat thicker than a lead pencil.
and every stroke usually left a livd welt
wherever it touched. The pain was excru-
eating, but to a boy like Joe Crossley, the
shame OF it was worst of all.
| AT I'VE minutes to four, that fateful after
hooh' the nearly heart broken janitor toled
the great bell, and the various classes were
all seated in the assembly room before the
hour struck.
The teachers filed slowly in; the monitor
of the sixth form read the usual prayers,
| winding up with that of our Lord, and
the words, Forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us; lead
| us not into temptation but deliver us from
evil" fell with unwonted pathos from his
young lips, many of us bitterly thought of
the wide difference between preaching and
practice.
| amen" was said, followed by deathlike
silence. presently broken by the command:
| Joseph Crossley, come forward"
doe, quiet and resolute, stepped quickly
from his place, walked half the length of the
room. and assembled the dais The vice prin-
cipal, SO deputed by his superior, grasped
the cane butt, before he could use it, Joe,
contrary to all precedent, faced the school,
and said. without tremor in his sweet, low
| voice:
Boys ! am entirely innocent of this thing
l never Thought of or touched those pears.
And now, sir" extending his hand and turn
ing to the vice principal, II am ready"
Whhe the brave boy was walking across
the twenty PAGES from his seat to the plat
form, little Charlie Draper, moved by some
unaccountable impulse, nudged his next neigh
bor-Andy Claiborne, as it happened-and
wispered
81 don't believe Crossley did it at all A
fellow thatll face big cabman to save a
lady don't do things like that"
that Joe?"
'It Just was" replied Charlie. Didn't you
! know it?"
Now the master raised the rod on high. In
half a second it would cut into Joe's I'M
shrinking palm; but it did not fall, for while
yet drawn well back, to give greater force
to to t; the blow. sharp cry of Hold" stayed
ject bodily fear, but forcing his soul to heroic
resolve, rushed to the platform, and bursting
| into tears, cried OUT
Joe &c is not guilty! I stole, the pears, and
the others in the garden. was angry at him
| because he defeated me in everything and I
want to take his punishment"
Never before, and, l presume, never since.
as then ensued Throwing discipline to the
winds, and utterly ignoring the stentorian
command of "Silence!'' from the teachers.
four hundred boys rose en- masse, mounted
the benches, and, waving their caps franti-
cally above their heads, cheered, yelled and
stamped like crazy things, while shouts of
Grossly Crossley! Crossley!" accentuated
| Then, as an afterthought. when nearly ex-
hausted by their efforts, they gave three gem
erous cheers for Claiborne boy-like, allowing
his confession to efface his sin
quiet was at last restored, and Doctor Nc
/ Intosh visibly shuddering at the imminence
of the peril he had escaped, arose and said:
Boys, we have been saved from an ire.
parable misfortune-I in nfiicting and YOU
in witnessing an undeseryed punishment
No one of you can more heartily rejoice than
and sense of gratitude so far outweighs ali
other feelings in my breast at this moment
that have decided to infict upon Claiborne
no other punishment than that he has already
must have been for boy of his tempera-
| ment to confess his heinous fault and brave
| its consequences. You are now dismissed"
| Schoolboys seldom do things by halves and
we were no sooner outside the building than
we gave three enthusiastic cheers, topped off
| by our college yell and tiger, for the good
old principal. Then the whole body Of us
escorted Joe to his mothers cottage, showed
him inside, and left him to sob out his 10Y in
her arms.
The part Charlie Draper had PLAYED in the
drama soon came to light, and the little fel-
low might have started a small Curiosity
shop" with the stock of miscellaneous gifts
showered upon him by his schoolmates, many
of whom now, for the first time, took ANDY
Claiborne into their good graces.
! Thenceforth the latter steadily improved in
conduct and disposition. Before long. Andy
knew the happiness of having real friends,
none, however, being so dear to him as was
| Joe Crossley, for whom he could never do
1 lx,x of fox