“Well, now, this beats me,” drawled Tom, after he had thought the matter over. “I always was the unluckiest boy in the whole world. I never can do any thing like other fellows, for something is always happening to bother me.”
“Why, what’s the matter now?” asked Rich.
“O, I wanted to be an officer; but I can’t.”
“Of course you can’t,” was the answer. “As I said before, you are too honorable to be an officer, and the sooner you get that ridiculous idea out of your head, the better it will be for you. But, boys, let’s take a walk about the grounds. I want to introduce Newcombe to the fellows in our set.”
So saying, Rich arose from the ground and led the way toward the gymnasium, where some of the students were exercising their muscles, under the direction of one of the teachers.
CHAPTER XVII.
TOM WANTS TO BE COLONEL.
HAD Tom been allowed to have his own way, he would have packed his trunk and left the academy with the least possible delay. He was already very much disappointed in it, for he had found it widely different from what he imagined it to be. He had hoped that he should find the students far below him in their studies, (although he himself did not know how that could be possible,) so that he could, without the least trouble or exertion, take his shoulder-straps and assume the honors of an officer, without having any one to oppose him. But the parade he had just witnessed had discouraged him, and had also convinced him that if he expected to take a high position among those sharp, lively students, he must work hard for it. He was quite willing to believe what his friends had told him—that the officers owed their positions not to the number of merit marks they obtained, but to favoritism; and, after thinking the matter over, he was induced to make a slight change in his programme. He had assured his father that he would work hard for a commission, but that was entirely unnecessary now, for his great object must be to secure the good-will of the principal. Without that his efforts would be utterly useless. But how should he accomplish this? The remark his friend Rich had made, clearly pointed out the way, and he determined to win the favor of the principal by playing the contemptible part of tale-bearer. In order to further his designs, he desired to make the acquaintance of the adjutant. He resolved to be with him as much as possible, to listen to every word that fell from his lips, and, if he could detect him in making any disrespectful remark about the teachers or the academy, he would carry it straight to the colonel. By this means, he was confident that he should be able to disgrace the adjutant; and the principal, to reward him for keeping so close a watch upon the interests of the academy, would certainly appoint him in his stead.