[Ill.u.s.tration: RESISTANCE TO TYRANNY.--Page 99.]
I glanced at the doc.u.ment. It was an acknowledgment of all Mr.
Parasyte charged me with, and a promise to behave myself properly. I refused to sign it. The princ.i.p.al rolled up his sleeves, and took the cowhide in his hand. He looked cool and malignant.
"Then I shall do as your uncle wishes me to do--reduce you to subjection," said he. "Consider well what you are doing."
"I have considered, sir. If you strike me with that cowhide, I shall do the best I can to defend myself."
"Do you threaten me?" demanded Mr. Parasyte, stepping towards me with a jerk.
"No, sir; but I will not submit to a blow, if it costs me my life."
"Won"t you? We"ll see."
He did see. He struck me. The blow cut my soul. I sprang upon him with all the tiger in my nature let loose. I kicked, bit, scratched. I clawed at his throat like a vampire, and, though severely belabored, I finally wrenched the cowhide from his grasp, and hurled him back so that he fell full length upon the floor.
CHAPTER IX.
IN WHICH ERNEST STRIKES A HEAVY BLOW, AND WINS ANOTHER VICTORY.
I was astonished at my own prowess, as I stood, with heaving breast, gazing at the prostrate form of the vanquished tyrant. I was a stout young fellow, heavy enough and strong enough for a boy of fifteen; but I did not regard myself as a match for a full-grown man. I suppose the fury and impetuosity of the onslaught I made had given me the victory before Mr. Parasyte was able to bring all his power to bear upon me.
I was satisfied with what I had done, and did not care to do any more.
I wished to leave; but the princ.i.p.al had locked the door, and put the key into his pocket. I glanced at the window, hoping to find a means of egress in that direction, though it was at least ten feet above the ground. But ten feet are nothing to a boy of spirit; and I was moving towards the window, intending to take the leap, when Mr. Parasyte sprang to his feet, and confronted me again. If ever a man wore the expression of a demon, the princ.i.p.al of the Parkville Liberal Inst.i.tute did at that moment; and it was patent to me that, unless I could effect my escape, my trials and troubles had but just commenced.
I was more disposed to use strategy than force; for, in spite of the victory I had won, I was fearful that the tyrant "carried too many guns" for me. The malignity of his aspect was accompanied by an expression of pain, as though he had been injured by his fall. This was in my favor, if I was to be again compelled to break a lance with him.
"You villain!" gasped Mr. Parasyte, with one hand upon his side. "How dare you resist?"
"I have no fancy for being cut to pieces with a cowhide," I replied, as coolly as I could, which, however, was not saying much.
"Your uncle wished me to reduce you to subjection, and to flog you till you came to your senses."
"I am not very grateful to my uncle for his request; and I have to say, that I will not be tamely flogged either by you or by him."
"What do you mean to do?" demanded he, apparently astonished to find me so resolute.
"I mean to resist as long as I am flogged," I replied, twisting the cowhide I still held in my hand.
Saying this, I jumped upon the window-seat, and unfastened the sash.
"Stop!" said he, moving towards me.
"I know what you mean now; and if you come near me, I will hit you over the head with the b.u.t.t-end of this cowhide," I replied, raising the sash.
"I intend to reduce you to subjection at any hazard," he added.
Without making reply, I attempted to get out of the window in such a way that I could drop to the ground, or "hang off" with my hands. In doing this, I laid myself open to the a.s.sault of the enemy, who was prompt in perceiving his advantage, and in availing himself of it.
Seizing me by the collar with both hands, he dragged me back into the office, and hurled me heavily upon the floor, at the same time wrenching the cowhide from my grasp. I sprang to my feet with the celerity of a wounded tiger; but the princ.i.p.al began to beat me with a zeal corresponding to his malignity.
A heavy round ruler on the desk, which had before attracted my attention, was available as a weapon, and in the fury of my pa.s.sion I grasped it. Without thought or consideration except in my own defence, I sprang upon the tyrant again, and dealt him several heavy blows with the implement, until one was planted in such a place on his head that it knocked him insensible upon the floor. Panting like a hunted deer from the rage which filled my soul, and from the violence of my exertions, I gazed upon the work I had done. Mr. Parasyte lay motionless upon the floor. I took the key from his vest pocket, and unlocked the door.
In the hall I found several persons, including Mrs. Parasyte, and Mr.
Hardy, one of the a.s.sistant teachers. They had been sitting in the parlor opposite the office, and had heard the noise of the desperate struggle between the princ.i.p.al and myself.
"What have you done!" exclaimed Mrs. Parasyte, greatly alarmed when she saw her husband lying senseless upon the floor.
"This is bad business," added Mr. Hardy, as he hastened to the a.s.sistance of the princ.i.p.al.
"Is he dead?" asked the wife, in tremulous tones.
"No--O, no! But he has had a heavy blow on the temple," replied the teacher.
I a.s.sisted Mrs. Parasyte and Mr. Hardy in carrying my foe to his chamber. I was alarmed myself. I feared that I had done more than I intended to do. I went for the doctor at the lady"s request; but before my return Mr. Parasyte had come to his senses, and complained of a severe sickness at his stomach. The physician carefully examined him, and declared that his patient was not seriously injured. I need not say that I was greatly relieved by this opinion. I left the room, intending to depart from the house, though it was now nearly eleven o"clock at night. Mr. Hardy followed me out into the hall, and wished to know where I was going.
"Home," I replied.
"I"m afraid you have got into difficulty, Thornton," added he.
"I can"t help it if I have. I didn"t mean to hurt him so badly; but it was his own fault."
"How did it happen?"
I told him how it happened; but Mr. Hardy expressed no opinion on the merits of the case. He knew, as well as I did, that Mr. Parasyte had been wrong from the beginning; but being in a subordinate position, it was not proper for him to condemn his princ.i.p.al.
"The boys are in a riotous condition, and it is fortunate they do not know of this affair. I hope you do not intend to inform them--at least not to-night," he added.
"No, sir, I do not. I have tried from the first to keep the peace.
Poodles confessed to Mr. Parasyte that he had lied about the affair on the pier, but he refused to believe him. I am sorry there has been any trouble; but I couldn"t help it."
Mr. Hardy was really troubled; but he could not say anything, and he did not. He was a poor man, trying to earn the means to study a profession by teaching, and a word or a look of sympathy to a rebel like me would have cost him his situation. He was a just and a fair man, and as such was loved and respected by all the students. Many of the boys had often wished that he might be the princ.i.p.al of the academy, instead of Mr. Parasyte, who had established and who still owned the inst.i.tution.
There was nothing more to be said or done, and I left the academy for home. I was sincerely sorry for what had happened. Even a quarrel in which I had been the victor had no pleasant reflections for me. I would have submitted to any punishment except the flogging, and borne the injustice of it without a complaint; but I had been required to confess that of which I was not guilty, and I could not do that. I hated a lie of any kind, and I could not tell one to save myself from the consequences of the tyrant"s rage and injustice.
I considered all the events of the day as I walked home, and came to the conclusion that I was not to blame for the mischief that had been done. If I had been haughty and disobedient, it was because I had been treated badly. I certainly did not deserve flogging, and it would have been impossible for me to submit to it. If I had been guilty, I could have borne even that.
My uncle had counselled Mr. Parasyte to reduce me to subjection; and much I marvelled that he had found words to say so much. It was an evidence of interest in me which he had never before manifested. It was plain that, in the settlement of the difficulty, I must count upon the opposition of my uncle, who had already espoused the princ.i.p.al"s side of the quarrel. But I did not make any rash resolves, preferring to act as my sense of right and justice should dictate when the time for action came.
As I approached the cottage by the lake, I saw a light in my uncle"s library. My guardian sat up late at night, and rose early in the morning. He did not sleep well, and he always looked pale and haggard.
He was a misanthrope in the worst sense of the word. He seemed to have no friends, and to care for no one in the world--not even for himself.
Certainly he had no regard for me.
Of his past history I knew nothing; but I had already concluded that he had been subjected to some terrible disappointment or injustice. He appeared to suffer all the time; and if he would have permitted it, how gladly would I have a.s.suaged his woe by my sympathy! He was cold and forbidding, and would not permit me to speak a word to him. I had once tried to make him tell me something about my father and mother; but, with an expression of angry impatience upon his face, he had turned and fled in disgust from me.