“Yes, sir; he said it!” continued Tom, who fancied that he saw something encouraging in the principal’s look. “I heard him, and I can bring plenty of witnesses to prove it. He also proposed to catch the milk-man and duck him in the harbor; and when one of the boys told him that he would be court-martialed if he did, he said, ‘Hang your courts-martial.’ I don’t like to hear any body run down the school; and if you will give me those eagles, I’ll make the boys stop talking that way.”
Tom had reached the point at last. In so many words, he had requested that the lieutenant-colonel might be broken, and the eagles given to him. He imagined that he had done the principal a great kindness in thus exposing an unworthy officer, and he hoped that the zeal he had manifested in watching over the interests of the academy, would insure him the coveted eagles. He fully expected that such would be the result, for he did not see how it could be otherwise. If the colonel wished to reward honest, well-meaning pupils, that was the time to show it.
“Newcombe!” said the principal, sternly, “you have made a very bad beginning. You have been in the academy scarcely three hours, and yet you begin to carry tales. If you hoped to gain any thing by it, you will be sadly disappointed. I will see you again tomorrow morning. That will do, sir.”
Tom was utterly confounded. He had staked all his hopes on the result of this interview with the colonel, and he had, indeed, been most sadly disappointed. Choking back a great lump that seemed to be rising in his throat, he picked up his cap, walked slowly out of the principal’s room, and ascended to his quarters.
CHAPTER XVIII.
TOM HAS AN IDEA.
TOM had made a desperate effort to raise himself from the ranks to the position of an officer, but he had signally failed. He did not feel angry, but he was astonished to discover that his magnificent plan, which, at the beginning, had held out such bright promises of success, had so completely miscarried. He could not understand it. He repeatedly assured himself that he had used his best endeavors to uphold the honor and dignity of the academy; but, as was invariably the case with him, he had been unsuccessful; and it was all owing to the fact that his efforts had not been appreciated. In fact, nobody ever appreciated any thing he tried to accomplish. Do what he would, some one was always ready to scold and find fault with him; and, with Tom’s amazement, there was mingled not a little disappointment. The eagles, which he so confidently expected would soon adorn his own shoulders, was still the property of one, who, in his estimation, was most unworthy of them, and, at present, he could discover no means of securing their possession. This, he imagined, afforded him abundant proof that what Rich had told him was true—that the officers held their positions through favoritism. The lieutenant-colonel was undoubtedly the principal’s favorite; and all attempts to wrest the eagles from him, especially while he could rely upon the assistance of so powerful a friend as the professor, would be useless. This discouraged Tom, who now began to realize the fact that his chances for obtaining a shoulder-strap were very slim indeed.