“Give me time—give the club time, that is.”
There was a little pause. Then said the Trojan, dejectedly:
“It’ll be no use. Still, if you’re so set about it, Sam—and I suppose it’s only right to stand by the crowd, if it’s standing by me. But what do you want me to do?”
“Promise not to bolt till we’ve had a chance to catch our breath. And promise to let us know—give us fair warning—before you do anything.”
There was another pause.
“Sam,” said the Trojan at last, “Sam, I—I guess I’ll have to promise you so much, anyway.”
CHAPTER III
THE OPEN AIR TREATMENT
Plainfield High School, like most other schools, had its politics. There were, of course, the usual rivalries between the classes; then there were the likes and dislikes of various groups in each class; there was some sharp competition for honors in scholarship, and rather more for the prizes of personal popularity and leadership. In fact, life inside the school was a deal like life outside it, with the same mingling of the ambitious and the indifferent, the industrious and the idle, the prudent and the venturesome, the schemers and the happy-go-lucky souls with never a thought for the morrow.
Taken individually, the boys of the Safety First Club enjoyed popularity above the average, but as a crowd, or a clique, or an organization—whichever you prefer to call it—they had many critics. Frankly, envy had much to do with this state of things. Other “gangs” came together, and flourished for a time, and fell apart: the club continued. Most boys are clannish by instinct, and here was a clan which truly was a standing challenge to less successful organizers. Moreover, it did not try to enlarge its membership; and here again was cause of grievance. There were a dozen juniors who would have prized an invitation to join the Safety Firsts above any reward in the gift of the school. There were several who had made eager overtures to Sam and his allies without result; there were others who had sought entrance to the charmed circle by war, so to speak. Oddly enough, the only one to succeed had been of these open enemies. In his day Tom Orkney had opposed the club bitterly, and so had borne his full share in bringing about complications, from which, as it chanced, nobody suffered so grievously as Tom himself. But the experience had enabled the club to put Orkney to the test. He had not been found wanting, and in the end had gained his place in the clan by the very excellent process of earning it, which, after all, is perhaps the most satisfactory process in the long run.
Sam Parker was under no illusions as to these conditions. He knew the speed with which gossip spreads. He understood perfectly the causes which would prejudice judgment of the trouble in which the Trojan was involved, and in which he himself shared, and from which the other members of the club could not escape wholly. The club would stand together; therefore all the club must feel the effects of the scandal. And Sam, as the head of the club, must justify his leadership.