“Yes, sir; the prison,” said Miller, “with nothing but bread-and-water diet.”
“But I’m going to be an officer!” said the new student.
“Now, now, Newcombe; none of that!” exclaimed all the boys in a breath.
“Don’t be a Spooney,” said Martin.
“O, now, look here,” drawled Tom, “I want you to quit calling me Spooney.”
“He didn’t say you were a Spooney,” interposed Rich; “he told you not to be one. You are too honorable to want to be an officer, when I tell you that the last one of them is a Spooney. The only way they get their positions is by toadying to the colonel—that’s the principal, you know. They are regular tell-tales; and if you don’t want to be punished, you must be careful what you say before them, for every word you utter will go straight to the colonel’s ears. In fact, there are but a very few boys in the academy that a decent fellow can trust. I was an officer once—I was second lieutenant of Company A; and, as I have been behind the curtain, I know just how affairs are conducted. If I wanted a commission, I would loaf about the grounds until I heard some fellow complaining about something, and then I would go and tell the colonel of it. I could easily exchange my musket for a sword by doing that; but wouldn’t you call it a mean trick?”
“Yes I would,” replied Tom, emphatically. But the truth was, he thought if he could earn a shoulder-strap as easily as that, he would not hesitate to do it; and he treasured up this last remark of Rich’s for future consideration.
“But I thought a fellow couldn’t be an officer unless he obeyed all the rules and regulations,” said Tom, at length.
“O, that’s all in your eye,” replied Martin. “The colonel stuffs every new student, and he has been trying his hand on you; I can see that without specs. Now, there’s Jim Williams, the captain of our company. I’ve known him to fail in his lessons day after day; and yet, at the end of the quarter, he has more extras than any other fellow in the class. I’ve seen him come on the parade-ground with dust on his boots, and his belt soiled; but I never knew him to lose any thing by it. If Rich, or Miller, or I, had been in his place, we would have had two hours’ guard duty at night with bricks in our knapsacks. The amount of the matter is, that the colonel has his favorites, and they can do as they please; but the others must stand from under.”