Albertus T. Dudley

“ It was his defeat in the pole vault which caused 243 him the most chagrin. Jones, of course, rose like a bird soaring against the wind; his light, lithe body arched the rod gracefully at ten feet, six. Sam surmounted nine feet, six—but Mulcahy reached nine feet, ten. It was not jealousy that beset the defeated vaulter, nor wounded pride, nor the mean ill-will that grudges success to a rival. Sam’s heart had harbored only feelings of congratulation towards Fairmount, who had beaten him in the hurdles; his enthusiasm over Jones’s achievements was genuine and whole-souled. ”

“ THE FURY OF A PATIENT MAN
The more Archer considered the matter, the more disgusted he became. It was totally unreasonable and absurd. Runyon had apparently set his heart on forcing a fight—why, Runyon alone knew. Sam felt himself the victim of an inexplicable persecution. He couldn’t hand the persecutor over to friends to chastise, he couldn’t complain to the faculty, he couldn’t put up forever with insults and humiliations. He simply must fight—unless Mulcahy’s sharp wits could devise a way of silencing the rowdy. ”

“ It was Moorhead’s first opportunity to do something tangible for the school athletics, and he gave the best that was in him, freely and patiently, hour after hour, oblivious to the fact that there could be no public recognition of his service, no personal glory in victory. Fairmount triumphed over his geometry with a C, while Chouder, to his infinite satisfaction and the relief of his anxious tutor, scraped through his examinations on a brace of D’s. ”

“ The school team, with the faculty director of athletics, had gone to Cambridge for a game with the Harvard freshmen. Some of the teachers were out of town; others were busy with their own affairs. Not a soul of them was on the campus—a fact which was not at first observed. An umpire and a referee were chosen from the two lower classes. The referee, from the defeated lower middlers, showed himself a model of fairness; the umpire, a junior, favored the seniors, whom he considered the weaker team, hoping that they would survive the fray to meet his own class. ”

“ Sam took his portion of the spoil, and dodging alike compliments and condolences, went his leisurely way toward the Seaton quarters. Could anything be more symbolic than that toss! When after two years of uphill work he was at last wholly ready to meet Kilham in a square, even race, those heavy, clumsy hurdles had to turn up and lose him three or four feet; of course! Kilham, actually beaten by some inches, was considered by the wall-eyed judges to have led; of course! With equal chance to draw the gold medal, he must needs get the silver ”

“ When the teacher was gone, the two boys remained for a time in silence. Duncan’s malicious joy in the prospect of Mr. Alsop’s humiliation had given place to a serious mood. “Leighton’s a square man!” he said at length. “You’d do right for a man like him when you’d rather do wrong; while as for Alsop, why, you’d do wrong for him when you’d rather do right, just to spite him.” And therein Duncan Peck showed a knowledge of the essential traits of an inspiring teacher which is rarely possessed by school trustees. ”

“ After his guests had departed Sam returned to his room and fell to brooding on the disappointments of life. Being new to the school and loyal, he was sensitive to the humiliation of the defeat by Hillbury; he likewise felt his loneliness in the big school in which he knew so many slightly and cared especially for no one who cared for him. His relations with Duncan kept him at a distance from Duncan’s friends. In spite of his championship of Mulcahy he did not find that young man wholly satisfying as a companion. ”

“ It was indeed a hard problem that poor Birdie faced: if he defended himself against aggression, he committed lèse-majesté against Mr. Alsop by having a rough-house, and the sentence hanging over him would be executed; if he endured in patience, his possessions would be wrecked before his eyes; if he reported the facts, he transgressed the one law of which all schoolboys, good and bad, despise the breaker.
“Come down here the next time he gets in,” proposed Sam, at length, “and let me go up and settle him. You can prove an alibi if anything happens, and I’m not on probation.” ”

“ Sam blushed, and cursed himself that he had ever been fool enough to tell Peck anything. And while he blushed and sought vainly for a crushing reply, Peck went whistling off to his bedroom, disposed to think rather better of his room-mate after all. If you believe in your friends, it’s your business to stand up for them—until you find them out. ”

“ Alsop, tartly. Like many a serious but narrow-minded pedagogue, he was taking the wholesale failure of the class as a personal affront. He felt his dignity struck at almost as if the boys had deliberately refused to learn. To Sam Archer, moreover, he owed no favor.
“It’s a slight matter,” pleaded Sam, foolishly, “and it’s going to keep me from going home. I got permission from the office three days ago.”
“It is not a slight matter,” declared Mr. Alsop, sharply. “I beg to differ with you. Neglect of work is never a slight matter. Permissions from the office are always provisional. ”