On the following morning, the tug arrived at Newport. As soon as it became know that the runaways had been captured, the wharf was crowded with people, and the culprits found themselves the “observed of all observers.” Tom saw his father standing on the wharf, but he felt so ashamed of what he had done, that he could not raise his eyes to his face. As soon as the tug had landed, Johnny Harding and his three friends made the best of their way homeward, while those that belonged to the institute were placed under arrest and marched through the village, like prisoners of war. When they arrived at the academy, they were met by the principal, who ordered them, not to the guard-house, but into the school-room, where the lessons of the day were pointed out to them, and in five minutes more the runaways were at work at their books, as if nothing had happened. On the second day, all the students who had been in pursuit of the deserters returned and the work at the academy was resumed and carried on as usual. Three days after that, the examination was completed, and, when the result was announced, Tom had the satisfaction of seeing the eagles he had coveted placed on the shoulders of Bill Steele, the adjutant Colonel Smith, and a few of the older students, had finished the course at the academy, and were to enter college. As for Tom and his fellow-conspirators, they were left so far behind that they were heartily ashamed of themselves. The next day, the much-dreaded court-martial was convened. During the process of the examination, the part each of the students had borne in the conspiracy was brought to light, and the secret workings of the society of Night-hawks were developed. Then came the sentence. Tom, being the prime mover in the affair, was ordered to do “extra duty” for two months, and the others for one month. The grand commander drew a long breath of relief, for he was prepared for something terrible; but the others all looked blank, for they understood the meaning of the sentence.
When the business of the court had been concluded, the successful students made preparations for going into camp; and, in order that the runaways might know how much they had lost by their misconduct, they were permitted to witness their departure. The lieutenant-colonel, major, and adjutant had been provided with horses; and when the battalion, accompanied by its baggage-train, moved out of the grounds, it looked like a little army on the march. As soon as it was out of sight, the runaways, and a few others who had failed in their examinations, were ordered into the school-room, and Tom soon found that “extra duty” was something not to be despised. He was kept busy at work all the time; he was constantly under the eye of his teacher, who promptly took him to task for the least violation of the rules, and before a week had passed, he had been fully convinced that “the way of the transgressor is hard,” and had made repeated resolutions, that as long as he remained at the academy, the principal would never again have occasion to put him on “extra duty.”
Here we will leave him for the present, working out the punishment brought on by his own misdeeds, and repenting, at his leisure, the folly of which he had been guilty, and go back to our old friend Bob Jennings, the fisher-boy, of whom we have for some time lost sight, but whom we have not forgotten. Of Bob’s life and character, his trials, disappointments, and final success, we shall have something to say in “Go Ahead; or, the Fisher-boy’s Motto.”
THE END.
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