Arthur Stanwood Pier

“ So he said without a smile, in a constrained voice,—
“I am not a new kid. I am a master.”
The three boys who had been beaming on him with good humor in their eyes stared blankly. Then the one in the middle, with a sudden whoop of laughter, swung the two others round and led them off at a run; and as they went, their delighted laughter floated back to Irving’s ears.
His cheeks were tingling, almost as if they had been slapped. He followed the boys at a distance; they moved towards the Upper School. His heart sank; what if they were in his dormitory? ”

“ The class tittered; Westby went on glibly, bending the lath-like pointer between his hands: “Let us now erect the angle K I D, equal to the angle I C U; then the angle K I D will also be equal to the angle J A Y—things equal to the same thing are equal to each other.”
Westby stopped to turn a surprised, questioning look upon the snickering class.
“Yes, that will do for that demonstration,” said Irving. He rose from his seat; his lips were trembling, and the laughter of the class ceased. “You may leave the room—for your insolence—at once!” ”

“ Barclay did not at once dispute this statement, and Irving was beginning to feel hurt.
“The point is,” said Barclay at last, “that to be liked by boys you’ve got to like them. If you hold off from them and distrust them and try to wrap yourself up in a cloak of dignity or mystery, they won’t like you because they won’t know you. If you show an interest in them and their interests, you can be as stern with them as justice demands, and they won’t lay it up against you. But if you don’t show an interest—why, you can’t expect them to have an interest in you.” ”

“ Barclay ran across the track with one end of the tape,—the finish line; Mr. Randolph held the other. “Collingwood! Collingwood!” rose the shout; Irving, standing on tiptoe, saw that Collingwood was gaining, saw that at last he and Heath were running side by side; they held together while the crowd ran with them shouting. Irving pressed closer to the track; Westby in his dressing gown was jumping up and down beside him, waving his arms; Irving had to crane his neck and peer, in order to see beyond those loose flapping sleeves. ”

“ He wanted now to share his happiness, to take the boys into his confidence—but one can share one’s happiness only with one’s friends. There was Westby, aggrieved and hostile; there was Carroll, sitting next to him, the queer, quizzical, silent youth, with whom Irving had been entirely unable to establish any relation of intimacy; no, there were no boys at his table with whom he was intimate enough to appeal for their interest and congratulations. ”

“ The Saturday set for the game with the Harvard Freshmen was an Indian Summer day. In the early morning mist wreathed the low meadows and the edges of the pond; it seemed later to dissipate itself through all the windless air in haze. The distant hills were blue and faint, the elms in the soft sunlight that filtered down had a more golden glow.
“Great day,” was the salutation that one heard everywhere; “great day for the game.”
Now and then in his morning classes Irving’s thoughts would wander, there would be a gentle rush of excitement in his veins. ”

“ Irving grew rigid. His head was throbbing painfully; the continued snickering all round him and Westby’s increasing confidence and fluency grated on his nerves. He drew out his watch.
“I will give you one minute in which to climb that ladder,” he said.
“Mr. Upton, you wish to be a just man,” pleaded Westby. “Even though you have the great weight of authority—and years”—Westby choked a laugh—“behind you, don’t do an unjust and arbitrary thing. Allison himself wouldn’t have you—would you, Allison?” ”

“ By and by the tumult became uproarious, shouts of laughter and the sound of heavy bodies being flung against walls reached his ears; he emerged then and saw the confusion at the end of the corridor. Allison was suspended two or three feet above the floor, by a rope knotted under his arms; it was the rope that was used for raising trunks up to the loft above. In lowering it from the loft some one had trespassed on forbidden ground. Westby, Collingwood, Dennison, Scarborough, and half a dozen others were gathered, enjoying Allison’s ludicrous struggles. ”

“ Collingwood was laughing.
“Kiddy’s getting to be a regular lion,” he said, and when Morrill and Dennison were for expressing their indignation, he only laughed the more.
It was not very pleasant for Irving at luncheon. Westby gave him an amused glance when he came in—more amused than hostile—and Irving preserved his dignity by returning an unflinching look. Westby made no further overtures for a while; the other boys chattered among themselves, about football and tennis, and Irving sat silent at the head of the table. At last, however, Westby turned to him. ”

“ And he felt that for once Westby was nonplussed.
But the days passed, and Irving felt that he was not getting any nearer to the boys. At his table the talk went on before him, mainly about athletics, about college life, about Europe and automobiles,—all topics from which he seemed strangely remote. It needed only the talk of these experienced youths to make him realize that he had gone through college without ever touching “college life,”—its sports, its social diversions, its adventures. ”

“ Irving went afterwards to his room in a despondent mood. It didn’t matter how hard he tried or what he did; he had not the faculty of winning and holding affection and respect. As it was with boys, so it would be with men. If only he could see how and why he failed, and could learn to correct his mistakes!
He felt of more importance in the School world when a letter from Lawrence was the first announcement that the Freshman eleven would come to play St. Timothy’s. He asked Collingwood if he had had any word, and when Collingwood said no, he told him his brother’s message. ”

“ Barclay had suspected it and had been waiting for such an opportunity.
“Why don’t you make some interest for yourself which would put you on a footing with the boys—outside of the class-room and the dormitory?” he asked.
“I wish I could. But how?”
“You ought to be able to work up an interest of some sort,” said Barclay vaguely.
“I don’t know anything about athletics; I’m not musical, I don’t seem to be able to be entertaining and talk to the boys. I guess I’m just a grind. I shall never be of much use as a teacher; it’s bad enough to feel that you’re not up to your job. ”

“ Irving always felt ashamed after these outbreaks and uneasily conscious that Lawrence conducted himself with greater dignity. And Lawrence forgot Irving’s irritations in gratitude to him for his help. “It must be a trial to teach such a numskull,” Lawrence thought; and at the end of one particularly hard day he undertook to console his brother by saying, “Never mind, Irv; it won’t be long now before you have pupils who aren’t country bumpkins and don’t need to have things pounded into their heads with an axe.” ”

“ He liked Westby’s face; it was alert and good-humored, and the cajoling quality in the boy’s voice and the twinkle in his eyes were quite attractive. In fact, his manner during supper was so agreeable that Irving quite forgot it was this youth whom he had overheard mimicking him: “I am not a new kid; I am a master.”
After supper there were prayers in the Common Room; then all the boys except the Sixth Formers went to the Study building to sit for an hour under the eyes of a master, to read or write letters. ”

“ One afternoon from watching the football practice Irving moved aside for a little while to see the finish of the autumn clay-pigeon shoot of the Gun Club.
There were only six contestants, and there were not many spectators; most of the boys preferred to stay on the football field, where there was more action; the second Pythians and second Corinthians were playing a match. But Irving had heard Westby talking at luncheon about the shoot and strolled over more from curiosity to see how he would acquit himself than for any other reason. ”

“ Barclay was as cordial and as kind as her husband; Irving began to feel more than satisfied with his surroundings.
“Pity you’re not married, Upton,” Barclay said, half jokingly. “You’d escape keeping dormitory if you were—which you’ll find the meanest of all possible jobs. And then if your wife’s the right kind—the boys have to be pretty decent to you in order to keep on her good side.”
Mrs. Barclay laughed. “I suppose that’s the only reason they’re pretty decent to you, William!—You’ll find it easy, Mr. Upton,—for the reason that they’re a pretty decent lot of boys.” ”

“ Dennison came by at a trot.
“Longer stride, Dennison! Your running’s choppy! Lengthen out, lengthen out! That’s better.—I have it!”
Barclay turned suddenly to Irving.
“What?”
“The thing for you to do. We’ll make you an official at the track games next week. That will give you a standing at once—show everybody that you are really a keen follower of sport—or want to be.”
“But what can I do? I suppose an official has to do something.”
“You can be starter. That will put you right in touch with the fellows that are entered.”
“Would I have a revolver? I’ve never fired a gun off in my life.” ”

“ In different parts of it half a dozen football elevens were engaged in practice; on the tennis courts near the athletic house boys in white trousers and sweaters were playing; on the track encircling the football field other boys more lightly clad were sprinting or jogging round in practice for long-distance runs; a few sauntered about as spectators, with hands in their overcoat pockets.
“There,” said Barclay, indicating a group of these idle observers, “you can at least do that.”
“But what’s the use?”
“Make yourself a critic; pick out eight or ten fellows to watch especially. ”

“ The fall track meet was not of the same importance as that in the spring, which was a scratch event. But there were cups for prizes, and there was always much rivalry between the two athletic clubs, the Corinthians and Pythians, as to which could show the most winners. So for that day the football players rested from their practice; many of them in fact were entered in the sports—though, like Collingwood, without any special preparation. The school turned out to look on and cheer; when Westby left the athletic house, he saw the boys lined up on the farther side of the track. ”

“ Irving’s tone did not invite questioning, and he did not confide to Barclay what extraordinary case he had under consideration.
When he reached his room, he wrote out on a slip of paper, “Westby, insolence and disorder in class, three sheets,” and laid the paper on his desk. Then he undertook to correct the exercises in geometry which had been the fruit of the Sixth Form’s labors in the last hour; but after going through five or six of them, his mind wandered; it reverted uneasily to the thought of his future relations with those boys. He rose and paced about the room, and hardened his heart. ”

“ Upton,” said Westby in a tone of distress, “don’t, please don’t, confuse argument with impartial inquiry; nothing is more distasteful to me than argument. I merely ask for investigation; I court it in your own interest as well as mine.” ”