So it came about that Coyle was the first offender tried and sentenced under the new rules. Prof. Keene was not present during the trial, but a full account of the proceedings, in shorthand, was submitted to him, and he fully approved the sentence, which was that Coyle be degraded to the ranks or permitted to resign, whichever he chose. He chose the latter, and did not appear again in the school, which was altogether the most satisfactory ending to the matter, since, with such a boy, there was no hope of any real reform.
This affair of Coyle’s had a good effect upon the worst element in the battalion. The boys saw that the majority were determined to put down disorder and insubordination, and that Prof. Keene was ready to second their efforts at reform. They did not want to be suspended from the battalion or the school, or told that their permanent absence was desired—and so they concluded that it would be wisest for them to obey orders and do their best, instead of worst, in drill and class-room, and the result was soon seen in better recitations, and much more orderly class-rooms, and a steady improvement in the drill.
CHAPTER XV.
WHO IS THE THIEF?
“You fellows in the battalion have all the good times. I just wish I’d entered the high school first year, then I’d have been an officer by this time,” said Dixon to Reed, one day, with an admiring glance at the other’s neat uniform and shoulder straps.
“Oh, yes,” said Reed, “it’s such fun to drill three times a week, especially when the thermometer climbs up among the eighties—say about next May. We generally have a hot wave along that time.”
“It’s no fun to carry those heavy muskets,” put in Freeman. “I joined the cadets first year, but the guns were too heavy for me, and I had to quit.”
“Oh, well, you’re a little chap,” and Dixon glanced half-contemptuously at the slender lad. Freeman’s cheeks flushed at the look.
“Well, I never fainted, anyhow,” he said; “and some fellows a good deal bigger than I fainted more than once that year.”
“That was when we had heavy guns. We use lighter ones, now,” said Reed.