Homer Greene

“ Parmenter again approached Van Loan, his face still uncovered. The others followed to listen. Parmenter’s face was pale, but wore not the smallest look of fright, and he spoke quietly but very firmly.
“You have found out who I am,” he said, “and to a certain extent you have me in your power; but there are some things that depend on the use you make of the knowledge you have obtained here to-night. If you can assure us that you will keep it sacredly to yourself, I think you can trust us, and each of us, to place no obstacle in your way through college, nor harm you in any way whatever. ”

“ What right had this man to denounce him as brutal and unmanly? Would he have dared to do so if he had known how deeply his own son was involved in the mischief? It was plain that Charley had not told his father of the hazing. Van Loan must then have broken faith.
But for the time all of Parmenter’s anger was centered, not on Van Loan, who had betrayed him, but on Professor Lee, who had denounced him.
Every moment some new recollection of the scene in President Mather’s study added fuel to the flame of his resentment. ”

“ The crowd, suddenly quieted, pressed forward toward the point where Parmenter lay. Half a dozen of his classmen had already lifted him in their arms, and a moment later they were carrying him, hurt, helpless, still unconscious, across the moonlit campus to his room.
But the fight was won. Van Loan’s stroke, cruel and revengeful though it was, had placed victory in the hands of the Freshmen. Henceforth every man in the class was entitled, by virtue of the time-honored student law, to wear a high hat and carry a cane whenever and wherever he might choose to do so. ”

“ Van Loan had seized the cane, and flourished it for a second in heroic attitude above the prostrate body of his victim. Then finding Lee almost within touch, he turned and ran with it into an open doorway of South College.
But Lee did not follow him; he stopped where Parmenter lay in the moonlight, white-faced, limp, and unconscious, with flowing blood staining the pavement under his head.
“He’s hurt!” cried Lee, frightened at his friend’s appearance, and bending over him in deep anxiety. “He’s hurt! Maybe the brute has killed him! Here, give us a lift; let’s carry him in! ”

“ Delavan went up to him and took both his hands.
“I understand you, my dear fellow,” he said, quietly. “You are right. Come, let’s telegraph up to them that we’ll not be there. Then we’ll go back up town.”
Commencement Day dawned bright and beautiful. It always did. No one had ever known a rainy Commencement Day at Old Concord; and the day was just as beautiful on New York Bay as it was in the college city.
The ocean vessel had been sighted late in the morning; and the excursion steamer, with more than a hundred enthusiastic men and women on board, was pulling rapidly down to meet her. ”

“ The rest of us are trembling in our shoes, though I don’t know why we need to; you and Charley won’t give us away, and Van Loan can’t. Say, Fred! is there any doubt but what Van Loan broke his promise? Everybody thinks so.”
“Oh, I don’t know, and I don’t care now,” replied Parmenter, impatiently. Robinson rattled on:
“I hear he denies it; but there was no other way for it to get out, and he’s such an all-round liar you can’t believe him. Say, Fred, when you’re sure of it just let us know; and if that Freshman don’t suffer for his perfidy, then—Oh, excuse me! There’s the last bell.” ”

“ At the corner of Centre and Concord Streets they came upon Miss Darcy, a charming girl to whom Lee had taken a strong fancy. She stopped suddenly, staring at the pair in surprise.
“Is he ill, sir?” she asked.
“Worse than that,” replied Van Loan, smiling. “You had better pass on, Miss Darcy; his society is not agreeable to-day.”
She knew what the man meant, and turned away in sorrow and humiliation.
Poor Lee, on seeing her, had attempted to lift his hat, but had pushed it from his head instead, and it had rolled into the street. ”

“ But Professor Lee rose again and said:
“I will answer the question. The charge is that you, with certain other persons whose names are at present unknown to us, entered the room of Freshman Benjamin E. Van Loan on the night of the twelfth of April last, masked and disguised; that you took Van Loan forcibly from his bed, bound, blindfolded and gagged him, and compelled him to accompany you to a lonely place in the woods, half a mile from the college, where, with cruel persistence and fiendish ingenuity, you maltreated his person and insulted his manhood.” ”

“ To drive dull care away.
One moonlight evening in the early spring, under a cloudless sky, a party of twelve Concord College Sophomores sang these lines as they marched up the street toward the college grounds. They were young, all in a happy mood; they kept step to the strokes of their canes on the pavement, and swung along with vigor and elasticity, making the air throb with their rollicking songs. ”

“ Commencement Day was sure to be a great day, and a succession of triumphs, for Parmenter.
“There’s only one thing that will give any of the rest of us a chance,” said Robinson to him, banteringly; “and that is for you to get into a cane rush and break your collar-bone again; and if you could manage also to fracture two or three ribs while you’re about it, you would confer a lasting debt of gratitude on your disconsolate classmates.”
There was another thing, too, that was going to happen. “Sammy Lee” was coming home. He and his wife and Charley had already set sail for America. ”

“ Why, he’d as soon think I’d hang a man as haze him. That’s what’s hurting me, you see. I can’t get over it. Fred, I’d give up every college prize and honor I ever hope to get, and do it gladly, if I could blot out my part of that miserable night’s business.”
Parmenter threw back his head impatiently. He felt, whether justly or not, that he was responsible for Lee’s participation in the hazing, and the young man’s passionate words of regret cut him deeply. ”

“ Tears were in Parmenter’s eyes, but [97] his face was radiant with the sunshine of reconciliation.
When every one was on board again the excursion steamer left the pier for a run down the bay and a trip up the North and East Rivers. A luncheon was served; and after that the party gathered in the cabin, and Professor Lee responded to a brief address of welcome.
He had never spoken better in his life—never more earnestly, never more joyously. His magnificent reception had warmed his heart, and filled it to overflowing with gratitude and enthusiasm. ”

“ Yet I, poor as a church-mouse, not known beyond the circle of my own pupils,—I, for my own sake, for the sake of the dear ones who are with me, for the sake of the grand old college that I have the honor to represent, have commanded such a reception to-day as those men with their combined wealth, power, and influence couldn’t buy, force, or borrow for a single moment. ”

“ Surely you are not going to let the honors of Commencement Day slip by you in order to [92] meet Professor Lee and Charley as they land? I know something of what has happened between you, and what you hope for in the way of reconciliation, and let me assure you that this action is certainly uncalled for. Pardon me, my dear boy, but it’s foolish!”
Then Parmenter awoke. “Look here, professor!” he said warmly. “I have been waiting for this meeting for two years. I have thought of it night and day. The hope that it may not be wholly fruitless has kept me from disgrace and despair. ”

“ His condition was the direct result of injuries received at the hands of college hazers in his youth.
With this sorrow shadowing his life, it is not strange that hazing was an object of horror and hatred in Professor Lee’s thoughts.
The party of students, now headed by Parmenter and Lee, passed on across the campus, still singing. From the shadows of North College the tall figure of a young man emerged and came toward them. In the bright moonlight he was recognized at once as Van Loan, a man who had recently entered the Freshman class, coming from another college. ”

“ Parmenter was excited. He felt that hitherto his success on the platform had been largely due to the training he had had in what is called “presence” and his skill in gestures. That effect would now be totally destroyed.
“You might learn to use your left arm,” suggested Lee, as a forlorn hope.
“Bah! You know better than that, Charley. I’m out, that’s all. There’s only one redeeming feature about the whole business; and that is, that you’ll carry off first prize now for all the trouble I shall give you.”
For a minute Lee was at a loss for an answer. He also was a candidate for the prize stage. ”

“ Robinson, who was an expert runner, shot across the campus, and entered the chapel on the heels of the last group of attendants.
Parmenter passed on wearily to his room. And so Charley had confessed—and had been cut! Parmenter wondered what motive had prompted the confession. Was it weakness or bravery?
Well, there was some satisfaction in knowing that he himself was not the only one to suffer. He did not know that he had much sympathy to waste on Charley, after all. ”

“ Parmenter’s lips were white, his knees were trembling, his voice was scarcely audible.
“They have little hope of saving his life. The end may come at any moment. Here, take my arm. The news has unnerved you. I am going your way; I will walk with you.”
Parmenter went to his room, but he could [79] not stay there. In ten minutes he was out on the campus asking for the latest news from Charley. He sat on the terrace wall in a place where he could watch the Lee house. As often as the door opened he caught his breath in the dread that some one would bring out news of Charley’s death. ”

“ Defend yourself if you can. I’m going to thrash you!”
“You—you!” screamed Van Loan, striking a pugilistic attitude.
But he was no match for Parmenter, whose [70] fist shot out next moment, struck Van Loan squarely on the jaw, and sent him sprawling in the dust of the road.
At that moment Tutor Delavan came up. He knew intuitively what it all meant.
“Here, Parmenter,” he said, “let’s get Charley into the house as quickly as possible. You support him on that side, I will on this. If ever a man was justified in knocking another down, you were.” ”

“ There is no community so thoroughly democratic [14] as a community of students; and while Van Loan’s real ability met with the respect it deserved, his vanity and arrogance made him obnoxious.
To-night he was dressed in the height of fashion. His costly clothes were a perfect fit. But the articles of ornament and apparel which particularly attracted the attention of the Sophomores who approached him were his high silk hat and his heavy cane.
It was an unwritten law among the students at Concord College that Freshmen should not wear silk hats or carry canes before reaching their third term. ”

“ Parmenter, at least, was in Van Loan’s power. The Freshman had seen his face, and could prove that he was engaged in an act for which he could be expelled from the college.
The conspirators retired to deliberate. The question what was to be done was a serious one. Bessick, one of the rash ones, whispered, “Let’s hang him up by the thumbs until he promises that he will never reveal anything of what has happened.”
“That would never do,” said Robinson. “You can’t do anything but threaten. I think he can be scared into keeping still.”
“Or bought off,” said another of the hazers. ”

“ Parmenter grasped Lee’s hand again, and tears came into his eyes. It was seldom he displayed so much emotion; but his friend’s unselfishness touched him deeply.
“Come,” he said, quietly, “let’s go over and see about the name of Charles Lee. It’s high time for some one to take an interest in that.”
He picked up his hat, took his friend’s arm, and they started to leave the room; but at the threshold they met Robinson, also one of the appointees, who told them that Lee’s name was on the list. Then there were general rejoicings and congratulations. ”

“ Parmenter’s anger and resentment toward his former friend had almost vanished, but the bitterness in his heart toward Professor Lee showed no abatement.
He had not yet given the word for Van Loan’s punishment, although his old comrades had frequently expressed a wish to “get even” with that tale-bearer and breaker of promises. Not that there was much doubt of Van Loan’s perfidy, and not but that Parmenter thoroughly despised him.
But Parmenter was too heartily sick of the whole business to reopen old scores, and too [64] listless and despondent to start new troubles. ”