LITMIR.BIZ

      CHAPTER VIII

       A MEETING IN THE MESSROOM

       Table of Contents

      In the meantime Dick, Sam, and Fred had been having quite a different experience. George Strong, the second assistant at Putnam Hall, was not only a first-class teacher, but a calm and fair-minded gentleman as well; and in addition, and this was highly important, he was not so old but that he could remember perfectly well when he had been a boy himself.

      "Come this way, my lads," he said with a faint smile. "I trust you will soon feel at home in Putnam Hall. It is Captain Putnam's desire to have all of his boys, as he calls them, feel that way."

      "What will Mr. Crabtree do with my brother?" asked Dick anxiously.

      "I cannot say, Rover. Probably he will place him in the guardroom until Captain Putnam arrives."

      "I am sure he didn't do much that was wrong."

      "We had better not discuss that question, my boy. Come this way; I will conduct you to your room." George Strong showed them into the main hallway and up the stairs to the second story. Passing through a side hall, they entered a large, bright dormitory overlooking the parade- and the playground. Here were eight beds, four on either side, with as many chairs, and also a table and two washbowls, with running water supplied from a tower on the roof, the water being pumped up by the aid of a windmill.

      "This room has not been occupied this year," said the teacher. "Captain Putnam and Mrs. Green, our housekeeper, thought it might be as well to put you in here together, along with Lawrence Colby and Frank Harrington, when they come. I believe you are all friends, at least Harrington and Colby intimated as much in their letters."

      "They told the truth," cried Sam. "This just suits me, and we owe Captain Putnam and Mrs. Green one for doing it."

      George Strong smiled. Then the smile faded as he remembered how Josiah Crabtree had once told Captain Putnam that he did not believe in letting chums room together. "Place each boy among strangers," Crabtree had said. "It will make him more reliant." But Captain Putnam had not listened to the crabbed old fellow, and Strong was glad of it.

      "Here is a large closet, in which each of you can stow his clothing when it is dealt out to him. Your ordinary suits will, of course, be placed away for you, for during the academy term you will as cadets wear only your uniforms."

      "When will I get my uniform? " asked Fred, who was anxious to don his "soldier fixings," as he put it.

      "To-morrow, if we have any suit on hand that fits."

      "I don't want a second-handed suit," put in Sam.

      George Strong laughed. "Don't worry, my boy; every pupil gets new clothing. But many boys are so nearly of a size that Captain Putnam always keeps a dozen or more suits on hand."

      "Oh, that's different."

      " The beds are all numbered, and to avoid disputes we always put the eldest boy in bed No. 1, and so on. You can arrange this between yourselves, and I feel certain you won't get into a dispute."

      "We won't quarrel," said Dick. "I don't know exactly how old Frank and Larry are, though."

      "Then arrange to suit yourselves until they come," concluded Mr. Strong.

      Having shown them their dormitory, he conducted them through the building and exhibited various class- and drill-rooms, and then ended up by introducing them to several other pupils, including Bart Conners, the major for the term, and Harry Blossom and Dave Kearney, the two captains.

      "Welcome to Putnam Hall!" cried Major Bart Conners, a tall youth of nearly seventeen. He shook hands all around, and so did the two captains; and then the assistant teacher left the party.

      "Oh, it was a shame the way Crabtree treated your brother!" said Captain Harry to Dick. "It's a wonder to me that Captain Putnam keeps him here."

      "I was in for getting up a petition to have Crabtree removed," put in Captain Dave. "I think every boy in the academy would sign it."

      "I hope Captain Putnam is not so severe," said Fred.

      "Not by a jugful, Garrison," came from Captain Harry. "He's strict, and makes everybody toe the mark, but you couldn't find a better all-around man."

      "Then he'll suit me."

      It was now quite late, and presently a loud, clear bell rang out in the belfry.

      "Six o'clock," said Captain Dave Kearney.

      "That is to bring in the boys from the play-ground. They have fifteen minutes in which to wash up for supper. Excuse me, I'll be needed in ten minutes to form my company," and soon the newcomers found themselves alone with several others who had just arrived at Putnam Hall.

      The cadets were rushing from everywhere to the lavatories, to make themselves presentable on parade. Soon they began to form on the grounds before the building. Dick and the others saw them divide up into two companies, with Harry Blossom at the head of the first and Dave Kearney leading the second. The two companies, called a battalion, were commanded by Major Bart. In addition to the officers, there were two drummers, a bass-drummer, and two fifers.

      "Companies, attention!" came the command, and the lines became rigid. "By columns of fours — march!" The drums struck up, and away went the columns of each company, to the front of the parade ground. Then they wheeled to the right, the fifers started up a lively air, and the cadets marched around the hall three times, and at last into the door nearest to the mess-hall or dining room,

      "By Jinks, that's fine!" cried Sam. "Cadet life will suit me, I'm sure of it."

      The cadets had hardly disappeared before one of the waiters in the mess-hall came forward. "Please come right in, gents," he said. Mr. Strong will give you places at the tables." And in they went, and soon found themselves seated among as jolly a set of boys as they had ever encountered.

      Of course there were exceptions; where would there not be in a crowd of nearly a hundred? There were pupils there who were morose by nature, those who seldom or never smiled, and there were likewise half a dozen of the Dan Baxter order — bullies and worse. We shall see more of all these characters as our tale progresses.

      "I wonder if Tom is going to get any supper?" said Dick to his younger brother.

      "If they don't give him any I'll raise a kick, Dick."

      "So will I."

      "Silence at the table!" came in the sharp tones of Josiah Crabtree, who presided over the particular board at which the Rovers had been placed.

      "I was only wondering if my brother was going to get any supper," returned Sam boldly.

      "Silence! I will take care of that."

      In the midst of the meal a newcomer appeared at the doorway to the messroom. It was Dan Baxter.

      "Well, Baxter, how is this?" asked Mr. Strong, the teacher nearest to him.

      "I — I was carried to Bar Landing," answered the bully sheepishly.

      "Bar Landing? Then you were on the afternoon boat from Ithaca?"

      "Yes, sir."

      "How did you come to be carried past Cedarville?"

      "I — er — fell asleep

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