“Where’s the yacht?” asked Jones, in reply. “There isn’t one in the harbor. They have all gone off on a cruise. The first thing is to make sure that we can get a boat. As soon as that matter is settled, I will tell you what to do next. If you will hold yourselves in readiness to move when I say the word, I will guarantee that we will see more fun than those who stay in camp.”
“What will they do with us after they capture us?”
“They will court-martial and expel the last one of us. That’s a foregone conclusion. If there are any among us who desire to stay in this school, they had better back down at once, so that we may know who they are. But we’ll lead them a lively race before we are caught; you may depend upon that.”
Whenever Jones talked in this way there were a few of his adherents—and they were the ones who had exhibited the most enthusiasm when Lester’s plan was first proposed—who felt their courage oozing out at the end of their fingers. It was easy enough to talk about capturing and running off with a private yacht, but as the time for action drew nearer they began to show signs of wavering. Unfortunately, however, an incident happened during the latter part of June, which did more to unite them, and to bring their runaway scheme to a head, than almost anything else could have done.
Among those who kept a watchful eye over the interests of the academy, and who took the greatest pride in its success, were the rank and file of the 61st regiment of infantry, National Guards, which was located at Hamilton, a thriving little city about fifty miles north of Bridgeport. This regiment was composed almost entirely of veterans, and a few of them were the fathers, uncles and older brothers of some of the boys who were now wearing the academy uniform. Their colonel and some of their field and line officers were graduated there, and in the ranks were many bearded fellows who, in the days gone by, had run the guards to eat pancakes at Cony Ryan’s, and who had paid for their fun by spending the next Saturday afternoon in walking extras with muskets on their shoulders and packed knapsacks on their backs.
The regiment had once spent a week in camp with the academy boys, and this year was the twenty-fifth anniversary of its organization. The members intended to celebrate it by giving the citizens of Hamilton the finest parade they had witnessed for many a day. Regiments from Rhode Island, New York and Ohio had given favorable replies to the invitations that had been sent to them, others from Virginia and North Carolina, which had seen service under General Lee at Richmond, had promised to be present, the firemen and civic societies were to join in the parade, and the academy boys were expected to be there in full force. The line was to be formed after dinner had been served in a big tent, and the festivities were to conclude with a grand ball in the evening.
When the superintendent read the invitation before the school and asked the students what they thought about it, they arose as one boy and raised such a tumult of “Union cheers” and “rebel yells” (remember there were a good many Southern boys among them), that the superintendent, after trying in vain to make his signal bell heard, raised his hand to enforce silence.
“Young gentlemen, you know that such a demonstration as this is a direct violation of our rules and regulations,” said he, when the boys had resumed their seats; but still he did not seem to be very much annoyed. He judged that they were unanimously in favor of accepting the invitation, and the adjutant would be instructed to reply accordingly. He hoped that every member of the academy would be able to join in the parade, but there were two things that must be distinctly understood: The first was, that they could not remain to take part in the festivities of the evening—they must start for home at six o’clock. The boys, he said, had all they could do to prepare themselves for the examination, and pleasure must not be allowed to interfere with business. If they deserved it they would have plenty of recreation when they went into camp. Just then a boy in the back part of the room raised his hand. The superintendent nodded to him, and the boy arose and said:
“Could we not march to and from the city, camping out on the way, instead of going by rail?”