Lessons suffered the next day, always excepting St. John’s. He, serenely unmoved by the excitement about him, rendered his Virgil as smoothly and poetically as ever, while Hamlin and Gordon listened ruefully, and even Clark felt less ready than usual to take his turn. But Mr. Horton, whose keen eyes and quick ears kept him better informed than the boys realized, was very lenient that day. He could not help enjoying such recitations as St. John’s, but he realized that character and influence were of far more importance than mere scholarship, and he knew which boys he had to thank for the change in section D.
When school was dismissed that afternoon, there was a rush for the hall. Only those belonging to the battalion were allowed to enter there, but so great was the interest in the election, that very few of the boys who were not in the battalion went home. They hung about the corridors and class-rooms, waiting to know the result.
In the hall, an intense interest was manifested as the boys assembled there. Coyle and Barber looked exultant, but Griffin was nervous and uneasy, and many of Graham’s friends were nervous and uneasy too. Even Gordon, Hamlin and Reed, who had most reason to be confident, were not yet assured of success. They knew not what unexpected turn affairs might take at the last moment.
Slips of paper and pencils were distributed, and as soon as all were ready, the slips were collected, and Gordon appointed Hamlin and two other captains as tellers. The slips were divided into three piles, and each pile was counted by one captain, and then passed over to a second to be recounted.
Nobody talked while the tellers worked, and when one of them stepped forward and handed Gordon a slip of paper, many eyes watched Gordon’s face, seeking to read there the result. But Gordon’s face told no tales. There was an intense silence as he rose with the paper in his hand.
“It gives me pleasure to announce that, by a majority of ten votes, you have elected Captain Alec Graham,” he said slowly.
Coyle sprang to his feet, with flushed face and angry eyes.
“It’s no such thing!” he shouted; “I charge fraud.”
“You are hardly the one to make such a charge,” said Gordon, quietly; then he added, “Will all those who voted for Captain Graham, please stand and be counted?”
At once forty-one boys rose.