The Riverpark Rebellion

was fierce

r a moment in terrified astonishment, and then pushed his

; but in an instant they had broken from his grasp, and fe

e them, and trying to gain a new h

at a glance, and strode hastily toward the combatants. The crowd separated as if by magic to let him pass; but before he reached the stru

lled, their faces bruised and bloody. For a moment there was no soun

my school again. Lieutenant Brightly and Cadet Belcher, you will both rep

ds, and Brightly was hurried up to his room by

haven't I?" asked Brightly, when the

. "I guess you've spoiled everything now. Yo

with which to bathe his friend's wounds. "I haven't much hope for yo

is shirt-sleeves, waiting for the water. His wrath was ri

uld have to be more than human to stand such abu

at opens up at half-past seven. If I thought you'd take any advice at all, I'd counsel you, when you get in before Colonel Silsbee,

nd on the cheek. Clean linen and a fresh coat restored Brightly to an appe

was troubled and anxious,-not so much because two of his pupils had engaged in a rough-and-tumble fight, as because the entire

ed him. He had had the same experience in former years; but the warmth of the advancing season and the excitement of out-d

nt later Brightly entered also. They stood respectfully, underg

, and they never descend to such encounters as yours has been. The instinct that impels one man in the heat of passion to strike another is a brutal instinct, and in my school it must be kept down. I intend to subj

anced a step and laid

. But Brightly insulted me, and called me an idiot; and he wasn't satisfied with that, but he rushed at me and struck me a blow with his sword. To-night, in the drill-h

report it at headquarters, that an examination might have been made

, Captain Brede. He said an officer was no better than a private ou

at Belcher should thus try to lay the blame of his conduct on another; of pai

e said quietly. "Lieutenant Brightly, l

nded Brightly, "except that of course he has colored the

e no excuse for either of you. Belcher, you ma

nd Belcher, the principal mot

w to have made it a necessity. You have not, of late, been keeping up to your usual standard in any department; your manner also has been indicative of dissatisfaction and car

re were appreciated. I tried to do very well, but it seemed to me that my efforts met with punishment r

you were disappointed in the rank

erved to rank higher t

pon you. You were given a very honorable position; it was your duty as a soldier to acquiesce in our judgment, and to accept the situation without qu

elieve you of its consequences if it were possible, not only for your own sake, but for y

I hope. It is my wish, also, that your mother may not learn of your disg

y sufficiently hurt in learning that I was not considered worthy of

n Brightly's voice; the spirit ind

oy. "Has your mother made a complaint to y

as. I don't think she would d

misunderstood. The stern look cam

r yourself suspended from office until such tim

ugh to cut deeply into his standing in deportment; but he had not thought that he should be reduced to the ranks, even for a short time. He felt that his sent

s accustomed swagger, and passed in through the office-door with the usual supercilious smile upon his lips. The entire school wondered what he had been s

swagger; the curl on his lips was less pronounced, and his face was more than usually pale. E

the ranks noticed that he grew more quick-tempered and morose; the principal

etween Brightly and Belcher the foll

rs, Riverp

30,

ORDER,

cer, is hereby suspended from the office of first lieutenant and adjutant of the

ttalion during the period of Lieutenant Brightly's suspension, and all pape

of the

onas S

ing to the office, which were principally tables showing the mer

r of the day for the following twenty-four hours. It was his duty to make entry in the "officer of the day's book" of such offences as were reported to him by the princ

al, and while the clerk read from the book the reports of offences, the principal would assign the number o

marks. If the excess of demerit marks reached a certain amount, it made the offender a delinquent for a da

o put them on what was known as perpetual delinquency. Of this last class "Plumpy," as the

n the other boys were at leisure, at play, walking in the country, boating on the river, or visiting the town. This confinement came especially hard on Saturday a

rds in his possession, and to make up from them the tables of conduct t

ighest rank in studies and deportment formed the honor grade,

come up and explain it to him. Brightly replied, somewhat abruptly, that he believed he had fulfilled his entire duty when he turned the pape

rescue, and he went up to Finkelton's room to

what a mean way it was to speak till afterward. I'll show you

ceived him r

orning to figure out his company's standing as against Harple's. Besides, I won'

after a moment's thought, he knew that he merited the implied reproach; and without another word he turned

he said, "and here's a curious thing

the general record and poin

one has scratched out a 25 in the balan

sely. "That certainly has been a 25. I didn't notice it be

r-grade chevron. Twenty-five would have lost i

ieve that of Bright. Maybe

ell you I believe he's altered them himself. The colonel didn't cut him in standing when he suspended him, and the fellow

ummaging among

that you'd better call Colonel Silsbe

He paused for a moment, recalling the somewhat strained relations existing at present between him

u might do it to-night when you go in to the office to make up the reports. I'll go in with

unsuspectingly into a cruel plo

ant contemplation of satisfying revenge. He himself had erased the figures. He had been guilty not only of a mean and co

im that evening to assist in making up the weekly report. At an opportune moment Colonel Silsbee's attention was called

eliberately falsified the record. The lad had always been scrupulously honest. He question

of late, I cannot credit the fact that he has been guilty of so gross a misdemeanor as

Silsbee appeared at the door of his office and summoned Brightly. The suspended officer laid asid

ould not be capable of making up the reports. Now it had proved so. T

e at which the principal and the two cadets were sitting. His first glance revealed to him that some

ee was the fi

pparent that large balances on the demerit side have been changed to small ones in your favor. I do not ask for an explanation from you, as that would seem to prejudge you. I only ask wheth