The Young Wild-Fowlers

by Harry Castlemon

“It may not be amiss to inform the Chair that it has been handed down in the archives of our venerable and time-honored institution that, in the days gone by, certain members of the second class, prompted by the spirit of discord, undertook to come roots on the graduating——”

“The Chair is unable to comprehend the gentleman’s language,” interrupted the boy president, in a tone of rebuke.

“Mr. Chairman,” continued the student, “I beg to recall the words, and to state, in all seriousness, a fact which the gentlemen present may not know anything about. I have heard my uncle say that while he was a member of this school, he and a few other boys in his company undertook to see that the members of the graduating class had considerable trouble in eating their dinner after they had provided it; and so well did they perform their work, that it was more by good luck than good management that the dinner was eaten at all. How my honored relative and his fellow-conspirators accomplished this, I don’t know. To be candid, he positively refused to enlighten me on that point, fearing, no doubt, that I would at some time attempt a similar plot myself; but that, sir” (here the eloquent speaker placed one hand under his coat-tails and waved the other gracefully in the air), “is something I should scorn to do.”

The interested listeners all laughed outright when they heard this. A bigger spirit of mischief than Bob Walker (that was the student’s name) could not have been found in Bridgeport. When he first entered the academy he was in arrest nearly all the time, and everything that was done in violation of the rules was laid to his charge. But that was all over now, and Bob was the captain of his company.

“Now I don’t know, Mr. Chairman, that we are in danger of being interfered with in any way,” continued Bob, becoming serious again, “but Lester Brigham and Enoch Williams have opened our eyes to the fact that they can throw the whole school into a turmoil if they set about it in earnest, and it might be well to be on the safe side. Therefore I suggest that the secretary be requested to incorporate in the communications he has been instructed to write to Messrs. Taylor and Colson a statement to the effect that if any changes are made in the plan of arrangements, they will be duly notified by a committee, and not by letter.”

Being requested to put his suggestion into the form of a motion it was carried, together with several others that followed close upon the heels of it, all having the same object in view, namely: to guard against treachery and outside interference. When they got through, the sharpest of the students couldn’t think of a single thing that had been omitted. They seemed to have provided for every emergency.

There being no further business to transact, the meeting adjourned, and shortly after the students had left the room, an orderly came in and put out the lights. Presently there was a slight rustling under one of the benches, and a couple of dark forms crept out into the aisle and groped their way toward the door, which they opened just an inch or two, so that they could reconnoiter the lower hall. There were several boys in there, but they were gathered about the stove at the farther end, and when the two spies—for such their stealthy movements proclaimed them to be—thought they could do so without being observed, they stepped out into the hall, closing the door softly behind them, and made their way up the stairs toward their dormitories.

After this, for some unaccountable reason, affairs seemed to run with unwonted smoothness. The lazy students and the shirks disappeared as if by magic. The smart ones in Enoch’s crowd stood high in their deportment and studies, and even the dull fellows, like Lester Brigham, astonished their teachers by coming into the recitation rooms with perfect lessons. It was a common saying among the boys that the faculty always grew good-natured as class-day approached, and this state of things made them smile all over. Many passes were granted for the 31st, and a few of the students who lived in Hamilton, but who did not belong to the graduating class, were granted permission to go home for the day. The passes that were given to the others allowed them to go no farther than the village. The boys in the graduating class had seen no reason for making any changes in their programme, and consequently no special committee had been sent to Hamilton; but immediately after breakfast on the morning of the 31st, the three students who had thus far done all the work devolving upon the committee of arrangements, presented themselves before the president of the class to receive their final instructions. They were dressed in their best uniforms, and in their valises they carried their epaulets, body-belts, and a few other articles of ornament which they could not wear under their overcoats. They were going to the city. They wanted to make sure that Mr. Taylor had got the dinner up in good shape, and that Mr. Colson had made use of the bunting they had sent him to decorate Clarendon Hall in a manner befitting the occasion. More than that, they were to provide for the reception of their class at the railroad depot.

“See everybody yourselves, and take no one’s word for anything,” said the president, earnestly. “Call on Mr. Taylor and inspect the dinner as far as you can; then go up to the hall, give it a good looking over, and if you see anything that don’t suit you, make it suit you the first thing you do. Be sure that the music is ready, and telegraph me as soon as you can whether or not everything is all right, according to your previous instructions.”

“Oh, we shall find everything all right,” said one of the committee, confidently. “Don’t you worry about that. We were careful to tell those men, in plain language, just what we wanted, and as they have reputations to sustain, and know that they are going to get their own price for their work, they will take as much interest in having the affair go off smoothly as we do. Good-by. You will hear from us in about two hours.”