The Project Gutenberg eBook ofA Boy KnightThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: A Boy KnightAuthor: Martin J. ScottRelease date: May 13, 2010 [eBook #32365]Language: EnglishCredits: E-text prepared by Emmy, D Alexander, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOY KNIGHT ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: A Boy KnightAuthor: Martin J. ScottRelease date: May 13, 2010 [eBook #32365]Language: EnglishCredits: E-text prepared by Emmy, D Alexander, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
Title: A Boy Knight
Author: Martin J. Scott
Author: Martin J. Scott
Release date: May 13, 2010 [eBook #32365]
Language: English
Credits: E-text prepared by Emmy, D Alexander, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BOY KNIGHT ***
E-text prepared by Emmy, D Alexander,and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team(http://www.pgdp.net)
Emblem
NEW YORKP. J. KENEDY & SONS
COPYRIGHT, 1921P. J. KENEDY & SONSPRINTED INU.S.A.
TOMR. AND MRS. NICHOLAS F. BRADYWHOSE SOCIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES HAVE BROUGHT THESPIRIT OF KNIGHTHOOD INTO MANY HOMESTHIS VOLUMEIS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
ChapterPageI.Cross Roads3II.The New Quest56III.Comrades104IV.The Field of Honor137V.The Holy Grail178VI.The Cost of Honor210VII.Knighted225
IT was late November and a little snow had fallen. Three boys were on their way down Park Avenue to school—the Regal High. One of the boys, Frank Mulvy, carried his lunch in his pocket. He did not live far away, but his mother was to be out for the day and had put up a lunch for him. As the boys came down the avenue, an old man whom they had never seen before, met them. He asked them for a few cents to get something to eat. It happened that none of the boys had any money. They told him so, and passed on. The man gave them a searching look and groaned.
When the boys had gone a block and turned the corner at Gody's drug store, Frank Mulvy made an excuse to loiter a moment, and thenturning quickly, ran up the avenue. He overtook the poor man and handing him the lunch which he had in his pocket, said:
"I'm sorry I have no money, sir, but here is something to eat."
"God bless you, boy," the old man sighed, as he almost snatched the little package.
The boy had no lunch that day.
Frank Mulvy was fourteen years old. He was a freshman at Regal, a member of the football team and the secretary of the "Boy's Club" attached to St. Leonard's Church. The office was elective and Frank had been chosen with hardly a dissenting vote.
The Club met three times a week in a large room of the parish house where the boys, about ninety in number, had a good library, billiard tables, games of various kinds and other attractions. Once a week the priest in charge, Father Boone, gave them a little talk on something of interest and profit to boys. Usually these talks were very welcome to the lads as Father Boone did not so much talk virtue as illustrate it, and that not merely by stories, but rather by his own way of saying and doing things. The boys liked him.
Frank was Father Boone's right hand man, and the director was glad that the boys hadelected him secretary, although he had given no indication of his preference. He allowed the boys the greatest latitude and foundgenerallythat they did the right thing. While Father Boone would be the last to give it as the cause, the fact was that they did the right thing because he himself did. He always endeavored to create an atmosphere of trust and manliness. The morale of the Club was proof that he had succeeded, for altogether the boys were a fine set, and the director considered that Frank was the best of the lot.
Father Boone was very liberal, but if he once drew a line he never allowed it to be crossed. The boys knew that. They used to say, "Father Boone is all right but if he tells you what to do, you'd better do it."
One day, just five weeks before Christmas, Father Boone called Frank aside and said to him:
"I have a bit of good news for you. A friend who is interested in the work of the Club has given me one hundred dollars to spend as I like on you boys. You are all very fond of music, and I am thinking of buying some fine records for our victrola. What do you say?"
Frank replied, "I guess it's all right, Father. You know best what the boys want."
The priest added, "I have another plan also, but I am not certain which to adopt. I was thinking of taking the boys down to hear John McCormack. We could get ninety seats together—it's far ahead—and treat the crowd to a ride both ways. How does that strike you?"
"Pretty good, Father," said Frank. "But," he continued, "suppose we put it up to the fellows. Then you are sure to satisfy them."
"Capital!" exclaimed the priest, "and now you go ahead and put it to a vote."
It was surprising how short a time it took to pass the word around. Soon every one knew that something out of the ordinary was up.
When the boys had assembled, Frank put the matter before the Club, and all without hesitation declared for John McCormack. They had heard his records on the victrola, and were desirous of seeing and hearing himself. When Frank informed the director, Father Boone said:
"That's all hunky dory," an expression he used when he was well satisfied, and when thecommittee which the boys had sent to thank him for his kind thought appeared, he said:
"That's all right, boys; that's the best fun I get, doing something for you fellows."
After that, McCormack's were the only records to be heard in that club room. Every boy played his favorite, time and again.
"I wonder if he sings much better than his records," said Tommy Hefnan.
"Of course," retorted Dick Brian. "That is foolish question four million and two."
"O! I don't know," said Tommy. "I heard some records that were better than the performer. You remember that war song we had last year? Well, I heard his Nibbs himself sing it at a vaudeville show, and I liked the record better."
"Well, his Nibbs isn't McCormack," snapped Dick, "and you'll see the difference when you hear him."
So the boys were pretty well worked up over the concert, and awaited it eagerly. Most of them were in moderate circumstances and the limit of their entertainment was the movies. For them to see the great McCormack was what in the old days it meant to the country lads to see Barnum's Circus.
There were, as we have said, ninety boys in the Club, from eleven to fifteen years of age. When they got to sixteen, they were obliged to drop membership, and were encouraged to join the older boys' club, which admitted those from sixteen to nineteen. Most of the lads did that. In Father Boone's time, however, the boys hated to leave the younger club. It was amusing to see the growing youngsters torn between two emotions. On the one hand, every boy wanted to be big, to get closer to manhood. On the other, he dreaded the loss of the Club. For Father Boone certainly made it a very desirable place. It was because membership was so highly regarded that he was able to set a high standard for his boys and keep them up to it.
For every vacancy there was a score on the waiting list. Every mother in the parish wanted her boy to get into the Club. Frequently the director would be stopped in the street by a good mother who would say to him, "Father, my boy Jimmie is one of the best boys in the parish. Won't you please have him in mind for the next vacancy?"
Now and then, however, a boy of the wrong sort would get into the Club; one whomnothing good seemed to affect. The boys themselves usually took such a one in hand, and made it pretty hot for him. They knew that their own welfare depended on the general conduct, and they took good care of it.
Bill Daly was what the boys called a "tough nut." They nicknamed him "Bull." "Bull" had got into the Club by the kind-heartedness of Father Boone. His father was a drunkard and his mother was a hard-working woman. Bill was the only child. Father Boone had got him a good job downtown and placed him in the Club to help him along and to put a little refinement in him. The boys knew that he was Father Boone's ward, as it were, and tolerated a lot from him, but Bill took the consideration which he received as a sign of his "pull," of his superiority over the others. He was the oldest boy in the Club and different from all the others. On several occasions a fist fight was barely averted when he tried to bully some smaller boy.
The boys never told Father Boone about Bill,—first, because the director had let them know that he did not want any tattling, and secondly, because most of them felt sorry for the fellow, and saw that his one chance formaking something of himself was by remaining in the Club. If they fancied that Father Boone knew nothing about Bill, however, they were much mistaken. In fact, there was little going on that he did not know. But as he said, "A man has to see a lot and yet not see it." For reasons of his own, he saw and yet did not see the doings of Bill.
When Frank Mulvy was elected secretary, Bill had tried hard to get the place, but as soon as he saw that the sentiment was all for Frank, he joined in. Nevertheless, he had it in for Frank. He was tired hearing the fellows say "Frank this," and "Frank that." He could not understand how, without trying for it at all, Frank got the esteem and affection of everybody.
One day Father Boone came into the Club and announced that he wanted a very important errand done and that he was going to select a boy for it. Everybody thought Frank was "it," and to the surprise of all, Bill was chosen. He threw out his chest, gave a superior look at the crowd, especially at Frank, and received his commission. As soon as he was gone, Father Boone called the boys together and said, "I know you are surprised that Iam fooled in William Daly. I can see it in your faces. Boys, I know all about him. I have been on the point of discharging him several times. But if he is sent out of this Club, he will go to the devil. Of course I know there is a limit. But in his case that limit is going to be 'the limit.'"
Saying that, he left.
Frank immediately said to the crowd, "I say, fellows, let's give Bill a show. He means well. His home is a pretty bad place, and I guess he is not half to blame." The boys agreed with Frank.
When Bill returned, he came in swaggering and going over to Frank, he said, "You think you're the whole bunch, don't you? Well, you see you're not. I'd punch you, you stuck-up kid, if you were not the pet of the Boss." Bill's language was as low as his ideals.
The blood rushed to Frank's face, his hands tightened, his jaws set, and he was about to resent the charge, when, recalling what Father Boone had just said, he suddenly relaxed and smiled. "That's all right, Bill; we'll be friends yet."
Bill swaggered over to a set of boys at theother end of the room, and said, loud enough for all to hear, "A great kid, that Mulvy. He don't know when he gets a slap in the face. I just gave him a good one, but he takes it like a sissie."
"Now, look here, 'Bull,' I want none of your 'sissie,' do you understand?" Frank exclaimed, his voice trembling.
"Who are you calling 'Bull,' little girl?" roared Bill. "Another word and I'll smash you."
The "sissie" and the "little girl" got under Frank's skin. For a moment he neither saw nor heard anything. He was ready to fight. His blood tingled. But he gripped himself and swallowed his retort just as Daly, mistaking the silence for cowardice, rushed forward and struck him a blow in the face. Like a flash, the color came to Frank's face. He had gonethe limitand the lion in him was let loose. Any fellow who had played football against Frank would have known what that meant. With set, determined face, speaking not a word, he squared off.
"So you want to fight, do you, you doll?" roared Daly.
Not a word from Frank. Instead, he heldhis attitude of fight and approached his tormentor.
"Oh, you are pie for me, candy kid. I could lick you with one hand. You'll never want another fight when this is over."
Never a word from Frank. The crowd made a circle. The whole thing happened so suddenly that it was in full swing before they knew it.
As Frank came up to Daly, the bully hauled off and gave him a straight blow on the forehead. It rang like a ball from a bat. It staggered Frank. But he came right on. He did not strike a blow, but simply stood up before his opponent with arms at guard. Again Daly launched a blow. This time it took Frank on the top of the head. Bill was nearly two years older than his opponent and much taller and heavier. But Frank had grit. The fellows said that they never knew anyone who had so much "sand" as Mulvy. He needed it now. Daly was infuriated. He rushed at Frank hitting him on the head and neck and chest. All of a sudden, without a word, straight from the shoulder, Frank sent a terrific jolt to Daly's jaw. He roared and tore and threatened. Frank did not open hismouth. He kept his eyes on Bill, and was cool and firm. He waited for the next on-rush. It came like a whirlwind. Bill crashed into him, swinging blindly in his rage, hitting here and there. Frank took his punishment and coolly studied his opponent.
Bill rose on his toes to come down with a swing on Frank's face. In an instant, while Bill's face was completely unguarded, Frank drove home a blow right on his nose. The blood spurted and at the sight of it, both fighters clinched and pounded as hard as they could. Finally, in the struggle, Frank slipped and fell. Immediately, Bill was on top of him.
By this time, Bill realized that he was in a fight. Frank's blows, though fewer, told effectively and Bill began to fear that if the fight went on, he might lose it. So, as he had Frank under him, he yelled, "Do you give up?" No reply. "Do you hear, do you give up? I have given you enough. If you say you are licked, I'll let up." Not a word from Frank. Instead, he wriggled from under, worked himself free, smashed Daly a fierce blow on the ear, and another on the jaw. Bill had all he could take and as they stood upagain, face to face, the "Bull" and the "Girl" paused, glaring at each other.
"I'll stop now if you will," muttered Bill.
"Do you take back what you said?" shouted Frank.
"Yes," whispered Bill.
"Am I a sissie?" demanded Frank.
"No," replied Bill.
"Shake," said Frank, holding out his hand.
They gripped hands. It was over. The crowd got around Frank, patted him on the back, and in various ways showed him their approval. Daly, abandoned by everybody, slunk away towards the door to make a hasty exit. He knew he was done for. The Club was no longer a place for him. He was disgraced, "licked by a kid." But he would get square. Leave that to him.
As he was about to open the door to go out, Frank broke from the crowd and going toward Bill, said: "Daly, you are not such a bad fellow. You might have licked me if you had wanted to keep it up. I say, let's be friends."
"I'm no dude, I don't belong to your 'bunch,'" he retorted angrily, as he slammed the door behind him.
(II)
Daly was angry with himself, with Mulvy, with the Club, even with Father Boone. He was desperate. Instead of going home, he waited around the corner. He was boiling with resentment. He must do something to square things. After thinking awhile he decided to try to "queer" the crowd with Father Boone and break off the McCormack treat. But how was he to do it? If he could only bring some discredit on the Club, it would hurt the fellows as well as Father Boone. That was it. He acted quickly on the thought. Going back, he waited on the opposite side of the street, in the shadows, until the last light in the Club was out. He knew a way of getting into the building by a basement window, but when he tried it, he found that it was locked. Fearing that someone might still be within, he withdrew to the opposite side of the street again and waited a half hour. When he was certain that there was nobody in the Club, he crossed over and tried one window after another. All were locked. He turned to the door under the front steps. It was bolted, as usual. Looking up to the story above, he saw a window slightly opened. But it was too high forhim to reach. Just then, a policeman came along. Bill heard his steps and concealed himself in the areaway. He began to reflect that he was taking a risk. "Suppose the cop caught me," he said to himself. But his resentment was greater than his caution, and so he kept at his design.
He figured that by a long reach from the railing of the steps to the window sill, he might get a hold and enter. Up he leaped to the railing, and by a supreme effort, clinched the window sill and swung over. It took him but a minute to open the window and enter. Once in, he went straight to the room where the fight had occurred. He threw everything about in disorder, broke several chairs, threw down two large pictures from the wall, overturned the victrola and records and made the place look like the scene of a mob fight. He then went upstairs to the library, threw the books around, damaged some, overturned a desk, upset a table and spilled ink on the floor. "I guess that's enough for one round," he said, and cautiously went to the window and got out unobserved.
Next morning when the janitor came to set things in order, he scarcely believed his eyesas he looked upon the wreckage before him. He straightway went to Father Boone.
"Impossible, my good man!" the director exclaimed. "You must be mistaken."
"Perhaps I am," he replied, "and you may be mistaken too when you see it."
The janitor was so agitated and vehement that the priest went over to the Club rooms to see for himself. There it was. Worse, in fact, than the janitor had described. What did it mean? His boys! St. Leonard's Boys' Club! With the instinct which was part of his nature, he divined at once that this was an enemy act. Who the enemy was, what his motive, he could not say. But his instinct told him it was not his boys. He told the janitor to put everything in order. He sent for the carpenter to mend the chairs and tables and hang the pictures. He himself got some acid and removed the inkstains from the floor. The Club was never occupied except evenings, and by the time it was open, everything was in ship-shape.
(III)
That night as the boys came in, in twos and threes, they talked over the fight, and what they were to do in regard to Daly. Of coursenot one of them suspected that anything had occurred after they left. When Frank came in, they gave him a cheer. He was now the official and popular head of the crowd. He had won his leadership last night by the means most admired by boys, courage and generosity, and he took his honors modestly.
After talking on various phases of the fight, the crowd turned to Frank, who as yet had said nothing.
"What's the matter, old man? Why are you so glum?"
"O, nothing," answered Frank.
They went about their evening's amusements, some to play billiards, some to read, and some to hear the victrola, but they generally returned to talk over the events of the previous evening. Frank sat silent and moody. Soon Dick Brian came up to him. Dick was what you would call a littleman. He was quiet, thoughtful, affectionate and very wise. Frank and Dick were close friends. Dick thought that Frank was the finest boy in the world, and Frank had intense admiration for Dick's fearlessness and candor.
"Well Frank, what's up?" asked Dick.
"O, is that you, Dickie boy?" replied Frank.
"Yes, it's me, but you are not you," answered Dick. "What's the matter? I guess I know."
"Well, what?"
"You are worried over the 'Bull' and the racket," whispered Dick.
"Put it there, kid," replied Frank, extending his hand. "You are a wise lad, you struck it right."
Dick was two years younger than Frank, but he had an old head. That made them confidants.
"Come upstairs, Dick, I want to talk to you."
Alone with Dick in the secretary's room, Frank began:
"Father Boone will be here soon. I don't know just how to act. If I considered myself only, it would be easy. I'd go and make a clean breast of the whole affair. But there is Daly, and the crowd. I know that Father Boone is tolerating a lot from Bill because he has hopes of setting him right. It'll be an awful blow to him if he knows that the crowd is down on Bill and that the secretary was the cause of it. I know you'll say that I'm not the cause of it, that I did only what any fellow would do.But we fellows of the Club aren't just any fellows. A whole lot's been done for us, extra. And especially for me. I got all that last night, before I struck back. But gee, I lost my head when he called me a girl, and simply had to fight. I kept thinking of it all last night and what Father Boone'd say. Not that he minds a fight. You remember on the outing last month, two fellows had a scrap. He just said, 'It's better to let the bad blood out than to keep it in.' He didn't even ask who they were. And he never wants any tattling either. That is why I feel this affair so much, and also because Daly is concerned. Father Boone is so terribly decent with us that I just hate to think he will be disappointed in any of us, and that I couldn't take Daly's slurs and laugh them off."
"You big boob," put in Dick after listening gravely to all. "You'd be just what he called you if you did that."
"I know, I know," repeated Frank, "but I feel terribly sore about the whole thing."
"Take my advice, Frank, go direct to Father Boone when he comes in, and tell him the whole thing from A to Z. He'll understand. Besides, I'll bet a hat he knows it already."
"I hope he does," added Frank.
They went down to the crowd which was now all together. The fellows did not expect to see Daly, but some of them thought that he might show up to brave it out. When Father Boone came in, smiling as usual, a word for this lad, and that, a tap for Jack and a handshake for Tommy and Willie and John, no one would ever have suspected that he knew anything out of the ordinary.
Generally on entering, after greeting the boys, he went to his office and straightened out the details of the preceding day. After that he would circulate among the boys, asking one if his father got the job he recommended him to, another how his mother was, a third what his marks were for the last school month, and so on. He knew them all, and all about them. He was their big brother. In his presence there was no restraint. He knew them so well, and they understood him so well, that he was like one of them. If a dispute were on, and he came in, it went on just the same. He knew boys and loved them, and they realized it.
He was wise enough to know that boys are boys. That was the secret of his success. Theresult was that he could do anything with them. A word from him and they would leave off what most pleased them. A suggestion from him and they would do what was hardest and ordinarily most disagreeable. Very kind he was, also firm as a rock. And they knew it. He never went back on his word, as they knew by experience. The consequence was that with very few words, he accomplished what he wanted done.
This evening he looked around at the crowd. There was something the matter. That was evident. He knew he could find out by asking but he never did that. He began now to observe. There was a restraint evident among the boys. That was unusual. Not so much hilarity. He ran his eye over the crowd. He could see at a glance, just who was and who was not present. Daly was always conspicuous, because he was so noisy, but Daly was not among those present tonight. Usually the boys were scattered, some in one room, some in another. Not so tonight. They were all in the same room. Generally they were interested in the games. Tonight they seemed to be interested in him. Putting things together, he concluded that the crowd as a crowd wasin the mix-up, and that the boys were on the lookout for something to happen. Frank sat off in a corner looking pensive. That was not his way.
Poor Frank was in torture. He was hoping that Father Boone would go upstairs so that he could follow him and explain matters.
And Father Boone was hurt because no one volunteered an explanation. Surely Frank would say a word. But no, no one at all made any reference to the wreckage of the night before.
"Why don't they speak up? They're all concerned in it. It isn't a case of being an informer. They know I don't want tattlers around. But this is different. This is a serious matter. Damage was done. It is a question of justice. And they know my mind on that. And that secretary owes me a report. He is an official. I've told them often enough that when an official reports matters pertaining to his office, it is not 'squealing,' but duty. They all understand that; Frank especially. Well, I'll wait here fifteen minutes longer, and if they don't explain, I'll take action."
Father Boone went upstairs and after fifteen minutes left, in a very sober mood.
It was some minutes later that Frank, thinking the director was upstairs, went up to open his heart to him. But Father Boone was not in his office. Frank descended to the "gym," stayed awhile and then went home. He had a bad headache. The night before he had not slept. He could not eat. When he got home, however, he decided to get the thing off his mind before going to bed, and tired as he was, he started back to the Club, hoping to find Father Boone. But the priest had not returned. Hesitating a moment, he finally decided to go to the rectory and have it all over with. But at the rectory they told him that Father Boone was out on a sick call and might not be back for a couple of hours.
"Well, I've done my part," said Frank, and back home he went, somewhat relieved.
(IV)
Next night, Father Boone came into the Club not looking as pleasant as usual. He came late, too; not his wont. He greeted few, and his face showed firm. The boys whispered one to another, "He's on."
Frank now felt that he was a culprit. Something told him that Father Boone knew thewhole matter and that he was cut up because Daly was concerned. It was too late now to go to him and make a clean breast of it. What must Father Boone think of him for driving Daly out of the Club. Forgetting all his efforts to do the right thing, Frank saw only that Father Boone was offended. He blamed himself as the cause of it and gloomily admitted that he had not been man enough to inform the director. That hurt him. Once more, when the priest went up to his office after a few minutes stay with the boys, Frank was determined to go to him and take the consequence.
Meanwhile, Father Boone had come to a decision. There had been some rowdyism in the Club. Furniture was broken, serious damage was done. It certainly was the work of more than one or two. By their very attitude, the boys showed their guilt. Yet no one, not even the secretary, had explained. Taking down a large sheet of paper, the director wrote on it in big letters,
"The McCormack treat is off,Jerome Boone."
Pressing a button, he summoned Frank.As Frank heard the bell, a lump formed in his throat. He felt sure that every fellow in the room could see how his knees shook. But he was glad, in a way, that matters were coming to a head. He expected that Father Boone would give him a good scolding and that that would settle it. He was all prepared for the interview, but was not admitting, even to himself, how near the tears were to flowing.
As Frank approached the desk, Father Boone was writing. Frank hoped he would not look up, and as he stood there for a second, it seemed an hour. Then, without pausing or turning toward Frank, Father Boone said in a low, measured voice: "Take that notice, Mulvy, and put it up on the board below." That was all. Frank stood perfectly still for a moment, clutching the jamb of the door while Father Boone went on writing. If the director had turned but a little, he would have seen agony and anguish in Frank's face, and he would have understood. But he kept on writing and Frank remained standing, unable to move a step.
Then a hard feeling crept into the boy's heart. He felt that he was being dealt with unjustly, that he was condemned unheard.Every bit of his pride came to the top and the boy who, a few seconds before, was ready to blame himself for Father Boone's disappointment, now would not have yielded an inch. Father Boone was Frank's ideal. He thought more of him than of anyone outside his own family. But suddenly he saw the priest as a hard-hearted and unjust man. For the moment he was glad to find that he was in an out-and-out struggle. "No explanations now," he reflected, "time for all that is past." The director had not given him a chance to do the right thing and now he, too, would show his mettle.
There was an air of defiance about Frank as he walked down the stairs and posted the notice on the board.
The crowd gathered quickly. As they read the brief lines on the notice-board, the wave of disappointment that passed over them could almost be felt in the air.
Of course the boys had told their parents of the McCormack treat and now it was off. That meant explanations. They usually kept the Club's affairs entirely to themselves, but the McCormack affair was altogether different—good news to those at home. How couldthey explain why it was off? Everybody knew that Father Boone never made promises without fulfilling them. Now every mother and sister and—yes—every father would want to know why this treat was cancelled. These and other things ran through the boys' minds. But, above all, the sentiment most keenly felt was regret that Father Boone had had to take such action. They knew he was even more delighted to do them a kindness than they were to receive one. Dick Brian expressed the feeling of the crowd when he said: "Gee, it's tough on us, but it's worse on Father Boone."
Frank heard the comments with a cynical smile. He said not a word, but was rather pale. One of the lads inquired of him, "How did Father Boone find it out?"
"Search me!" Frank replied.
"I say," whispered another, "I'll bet 'Bull' squealed to get square with the crowd."
Tommy Hefnan edged up to Dick. "What's up, anyway? Father Boone never did anything before if the fellows scrapped. He usually let them have it out and appeared not to know about it. What's up now that he is soaking the whole crowd for this scrap?"
"Search me!" answered Dick. "The onlyline I can get on it is there's something else that we don't know. We've got to take our medicine, of course, and you can be sure Father Boone knows what he's doing. If there is anything wrong, it's somewhere else."
"That's what I say," echoed Tommy as he sauntered off.
Frank and Dick lived near each other and generally went home together. That night, Frank tried hard to assume indifference, but wise Dick saw through the disguise and finally asked him point blank, if he did not feel cut up over the affair.
"No, I don't," Frank almost yelled, in reply. "It's not a square deal. If Father Boone has anything against us, why doesn't he come out with it, and not hit blindly and in the dark?"
"Well, I get what you're aiming at," answered Dick, "but you know, Frank, that Father Boone is the squarest man going. He knows what he's doing, and there's a reason. I'll stand by him, no matter what happens."
This cut Frank like a knife. He knew Dick was manly and wise. He also realized that every word he said was true. Nevertheless, he felt like punching him for saying it.
The rest of the way, they walked on in silence, until they came to parting, when Frank abruptly put out his hand and said, "You're all right, Dick." Then, as the younger boy turned the corner, Frank reflected:
"Yes, he's all right. The kid has more balance than I have."
At the door of the Mulvy apartment, Frank met his mother. She saw at once that whatever was troubling her boy, was even worse tonight than it had been before. Then she had said nothing but tonight she was truly alarmed at Frank's pallor.
"Why, what on earth is the matter, dear?" she exclaimed, as he entered the room. "You are as white as a sheet and trembling all over." As she spoke she put her arms around him and gave him that silent sympathy which only a mother can impart. That was the one thing Frank could not resist. He could fight anything but kindness. At his mother's gentle pressure, his eyes filled and for a moment he could not answer. His words were all choked back by strange sounds in his throat, but his mother waited and presently, when he was sufficiently composed, the whole storycame tumbling out. He told his mother all that had happened. He omitted nothing. For a while she made no comment. Then with the tenderness of a mother who knows her boy, she said,
"Frank, you've done nothing to be ashamed of. There's more to that affair, I'm sure. And above all, Father Boone does not act rashly. Remember now, mother says so."
Frank felt a weight lifted from his heart. He went to his room, knelt down at his bedside, under the crucifix hanging from the wall, and making an act of contrition for his faults of the day, asked God to give him the grace to do right always. Then turning to a little shrine at the head of the bed, where a large picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was hung, he said, "O Heart wounded for me, give me strength to bear this hurt for love of Thee."
He arose, feeling that he had offered something to our Lord. That brought peace to his soul and a few minutes later he was fast asleep.
(V)
By the time Frank was ready for breakfast next morning, Mrs. Mulvy had made up her mind to see Father Boone and find out what the trouble was. She was certain thatthere was something back of it all. She knew Father Boone, and she knew Frank, and further, she knew how they esteemed each other. Father Boone had often stopped her in the street to tell her what a fine boy Frank was. And Frank was never tired talking about Father Boone, admiring him for this and for that, but mainly for himself.
Nothing was said by mother or son on the important topic until Frank was leaving the house to go to school. Then, as he kissed her, he said, "Mother, I want you to promise me something."
"Very well, dear."
"Remember now, it's a promise."
"Certainly, Frank."
"Well, mother, I want you to promise that you won't say anything about what I've told you and that you will not let Father Boone know I told you. Even if you should meet himaccidentally," he said slyly, "you are not to let on."
She hesitated a moment.
"You promised, Mother. It's too late now to consider," he urged.
"Well, just as you say, dear," she answered. And she felt that perhaps it was better to letthe matter adjust itself, after all. "True love never runs smoothly," she mused, "and I am sure Father Boone and Frank are very fond of each other."
When Frank got back to school and mingled with the boys, the peace of the night before and his mother's assurances all seemed to vanish. He could not see any justice in the way Father Boone had acted.
"It was entirely unfair," he kept thinking. "The whole thing was out of measure with the fault. After all, a scrap is a scrap. Lots of fellows fight and make up and it's all over. I made up with Daly, or at least I tried to. Why should the crowd be punished for one or two? I know what I'll do. I'll go straight to Father Boone this evening and tell him the whole thing. Then if he wants to, he can punish me, not the whole crowd."
Meanwhile, in his room at the rectory, Father Boone too was considering the same subject. "Boys are not ingrates, as a rule," he reflected. "True, they may be thoughtless and impulsive, but I have generally found them appreciative. But there is Mulvy,—straight and open as he usually is,—and he hasn't offered a word of explanation. He hadhis chance, when I sent for him to post that notice but—not a word. And he surely saw I was indignant. It's not like him. What can it be? Is he afraid of the crowd? Hardly. But I can't get away from that wholesale disorder and breakage—the work of a mob. Those boys seem to care for me—but—they know how this kind of thing affects me. They've had two days to reflect. Not one boy to say a word! It is not the thing in itself that I care about. There's a big bill for damages, but I don't give a fig for that. It's the principle back of it all. Here—all these years, I've been holding up high standards to them and they fall down just when they should stand erect. I hated to call off that McCormack treat, but—what could I do? Well, I'll have to see it through now." And at that he set his jaws, and it was easy to realize that he would see it through.
He had hardly finished his musings when the rectory door-man came to his room and said that a young man was below to see him. He went down and found Dick Brian awaiting him. It was not Father Boone's nature to be at odds with any one, and so when he came upon Dick thus unexpectedly, forgetting forthe instant that war was on between him and the club boys, he saluted the lad wholeheartedly. The next instant, recollecting that there was a hostile camp to deal with, he quickly tightened up and said, "Well, my boy, what is it?"
Dick, though ordinarily very self-possessed, was not quite composed under the circumstances. He summoned as much calm as he could and said, "I have come, Father, to say that there must be some mistake. The boys would not do anything to displease you. It's not the McCormack treat that they are thinking about. It's you. Of course, they feel sore that it is off, but they can stand that, but we don't want you to feel that we are not grateful."
It was quite a speech even for Dick, but he got it out and every word rang true. The director realized it, which only increased the mystery. "If the boys were so considerate of him," he reflected, "why did they not explain? They should know that he would do what was right in the matter. If there were any allowances to be made, they ought to know that he would make them. It was not as if it were an individual affair. The whole Clubwas in question. A riot had occurred. And just because the boys knew he never went about prying into things he had a right to expect a full explanation. But Dick's speech didn't explain."
Father Boone's next remark was true to his principle of not asking for information in such cases. "And is there anything else you wish to say?" Poor Dick! That took his breath away. He stood silent for a moment and when the priest turned to leave, he picked up his hat and started for the door. But just at that moment something—was it the suggestion of a trembling lip in the last glimpse he had of Dick's face, or just his own kind instincts that made Father Boone turn back?
"I thank you, little man," he said, "for coming to say to me what you did. Iamput out by this affair and I don't know yet what to think of it. At any rate, Dick, you did the right thing in coming here." So saying, he opened the door for the lad, who went out not knowing just what to make of it all.