"See what?" interrupted Billings. "There isn"t going to be any fighting."
"Don"t fool yourself. There"ll be fighting before this thing is over, and more than you redhot secessionists will want to see-mark that! And when it comes we"ll see who will do the most of it, I or men like Bud Goble, who have taken advantage of this time of excitement to get innocent folks into trouble."
Having had his talk out d.i.c.k turned to work his way to the window to get his mail; but before he got there a wild shout arose from the crowd of students who blocked his path, and a moment afterward a brand new Confederate flag fluttered over their heads. Rodney Gray had received a package from home and this was what he found in it.
"I say, Graham," he exclaimed, as soon as he could make himself heard, "doesn"t the sight of this make you ashamed of the sentiments you have just uttered?"
"Not a bit of it," was the prompt response. "Missouri hasn"t recognized that flag yet. When she does, I will fight for it as long and as hard as you will."
"Will you join us in a hurrah for it?" continued Rodney.
"No, I won"t."
"Three cheers for the Stars and Bars!" shouted Ed Billings. "Long may that flag wave, and may it never be polluted by the touch of a hated Yankee."
The cheers that followed were not cheers; they were whoops and yells-very much like those with which the charging Confederates so often saluted our blue-coats on the field of battle. d.i.c.k had half a notion to see if he could not get up a little counter-enthusiasm in behalf of the Stars and Stripes, but was afraid the attempt might result in failure; so after he had secured his mail, he went out on the porch and sat down to read those acts of the Confederate Congress calling for one hundred thousand volunteers, and ordering all who sympathized with the North to leave the limits of the Confederacy within ten days. His secession paper told him all about them, the editor enlarged upon and applauded them, and d.i.c.k was forced to the conclusion that things were getting serious; how serious, he little dreamed until four weeks more had pa.s.sed away.
d.i.c.k spent half an hour over his paper and letters, and then Rodney Gray appeared. He had found a stick somewhere and fastened his flag to it. Although these two boys had had some sharp verbal contests during the last three months, they kept up an appearance of friendship, which was real so far as d.i.c.k Graham was concerned. The latter could not "swallow Rodney"s disunion doctrines," as he often declared, but for all that he had a sincere regard for him, and always spoke of him as one of the finest fellows in school. Perhaps we shall see whether or not Rodney paid him back in kind.
"Give it a cheer, why don"t you?" said Rodney, waving his flag over d.i.c.k"s head. "Where in the world have you been?"
"Right here, waiting for you."
"Well, come up the road a piece. There"s a squad there, and we have been counting noses."
"How many noses do you want, and what do you want them for?" inquired d.i.c.k, putting his paper into his pocket and getting upon his feet. "What new nonsense are you up to?"
"There"s no nonsense about this, I tell you. It"s business. We want as many noses as we can get, and the boys behind them must be true blue. The fellows said I would be wasting time if I came after you, but I want to hear you say so with your own lips before I shall believe it. You have said more than once that if Missouri goes out and joins the Confederacy, you will go with her, haven"t you?"
"You bet, and I say so yet. My State, or any State, has the right to go out of the Union as she came into it-of her own free will; and if those fellows up North are going to fight to keep her in, I shall fight to help her out. That"s me; but you see Missouri hasn"t yet-"
"I have heard that until I am tired of it," interrupted Rodney. "Missouri hasn"t gone out yet, but she"s going; and in the meantime, what about that flag at the academy? Are you in favor of letting it stay there?"
"That depends entirely upon the colonel," answered d.i.c.k. "If he says haul her down, down she comes. If he says let her stay up, up she stays. That"s me."
"And will you continue to march and drill under it, now that we have a flag of our own?" demanded Rodney.
"That also depends. If the other boys drill under it and march after it, I will. In fact, I don"t know but I shall do it any way, whether the others do or not. I don"t know what you mean when you speak of a flag of our own. I don"t recognize that thing you are carrying over your shoulder. The old flag is my flag, and will be as long as Missouri stays in the Union. I don"t see the least use in rushing things. You and your friends are taking a good deal upon yourselves when you presume to act in advance of the State."
"Well, you see what the business men of Barrington think of the situation, don"t you? That notice in the post-office looks and sounds mighty innocent, but reading between the lines-"
"So you read between the lines!" exclaimed d.i.c.k. "I did the same, and I tell you that that Committee of Safety is a fraud. Bud Goble has been carrying tales about some innocent men whom, for personal reasons, he does not like, and Mr. Riley and a few other hotheads are trying to find some excuse for driving them out of town. There"ll be outrages here the first thing you know and they will be committed under cover of that business men"s meeting, and with the connivance of those whose names are signed to that list."
"Do you mean to say that all those prominent men are such ruffians?" cried Rodney, in great excitement. "Why didn"t you say as much when you were talking to Mr. Riley? You dared not do it."
"I didn"t think of it; but I will wait here while you run back and tell him."
d.i.c.k looked sharply at his companion as he said this, and was surprised to see the usually self-possessed Rodney turn as red as a beet. It was plain that he had been touched in some tender spot by these chance words.
"What"s he been up to?" was the question d.i.c.k Graham propounded to himself. "If I had known that I was going to hit him as hard as that, I wouldn"t have said a word. He has been doing something sneaking, and I did not think that of Rodney Gray." Then aloud he said: "I didn"t mean to hint that you would do such a thing, but you have been about half-wild during the last few weeks, and I don"t believe you know all the time what you are doing."
"Well, if I"m crazy, I have the satisfaction of knowing that there are a good many like me in the South," replied Rodney, with a light laugh; and he uttered nothing but the truth. Taken as a body the Southern people certainly acted as if they had lost their senses. Among all those who rejoiced over South Carolina"s reckless act there were few who saw that "it was but the prelude to the most terrible tragedy of the age-the unchaining of a storm that was destined to shake the continent with terror and devastation, leaving the Southern States a wreck, and sweeping from the earth the inst.i.tution in whose behalf the fatal work was done." You may be sure that Rodney Gray did not see this sad picture, for just at that moment there were few things he could see except the elegant silk banner that waved above his head, and which he was determined to hoist at the academy flag-staff the very next morning.
"Here are the fellows," he added, as he and d.i.c.k came up with the squad who were gathered on a street corner waiting for them.
"And a fine-looking lot of lads they are," was d.i.c.k"s comment. "Rebels the last one of them."
"Washington was a rebel, young fellow," replied one of the students, "and that is what he would be if he were with us to-day."
"Well, seeing that he isn"t here to decide the matter, don"t let"s waste time in talking about it," said Cole. "The question is, Is that flag at the academy going to stay up or come down-which?"
"It"s going to come down," replied Billings, very decidedly. "We"ve got a handsomer flag to take its place. Let"s cheer it, and see how many of that crowd on the other side of the street will take off their hats to it."
The cheers were given with a will; and this time d.i.c.k Graham joined in-not because he cared a cent for the Stars and Bars, but just to help make a noise. The result was all the boys could have desired. The cheers were answered and hats were lifted in all directions, and handkerchiefs and red, white, and blue rosettes were waved from the windows of neighboring houses.
"Every one in sight made some demonstration," said Rodney gleefully.
"d.i.c.k, you are out in the cold."
"I don"t feel very forlorn over it," was the reply. "How do you know but that some of those who cheered your old rag are Union at heart? But what are you fellows going to do, and what do you want of me?"
"We intend to hoist Rodney"s flag on that tower to-morrow morning immediately after roll-call, and we want to know if you are in."
"No; I"m not in. I"m out. That"s me."
"There, Rodney," exclaimed one of the students. "I hope you are satisfied now that you wasted time when you went after d.i.c.k Graham. He"s a Yankee."
"You"re another," retorted d.i.c.k.
"Do you still claim to be neutral?"
"I do, for a fact. You see, Missouri-"
"Oh, d.i.c.k, have a little mercy on a fellow, and don"t say that again," cried half a dozen voices at once.
"Well, then, what do you want me to say? I"ll not help you pull down the flag, if that is what you are after. I say, let her alone and she will come down of herself when the sunset gun is fired."
"We don"t want her to come down of herself," answered Rodney. "We want the satisfaction of hauling her down."
"Very well, go and do it; but don"t come to me whining over the broken heads you will be sure to get before you are through with the business. If you will let the orderly run her down, I will help steal her, so that she can"t be run up in the morning; but being neutral, Missouri not having gone out of-"
"That scheme won"t work at all," Rodney declared, with some disgust in his tones. "Don"t you know that the colonel takes charge of the bunting every night?"
"I believe I have heard something to that effect."
"And don"t you know that he keeps it locked in his bureau?" chimed in Billings.
"Having been on duty at headquarters a time or two I am not ignorant of the fact," answered d.i.c.k. "All I ask of you is to do as I say, and I"ll get the flag."
Of course the boys were impatient to know what they could do to help, and d.i.c.k at once proceeded to unfold his plans; but as they will be revealed presently we do not stop to tell what they were. Some of the combative ones among the students did not like the scheme at all, for there was not enough danger and excitement in it; and if it succeeded, they would be deprived of the pleasure of listening to the praises which they were sure the Barrington people would lavish upon them, when it should become known that they had hauled the flag down after a desperate battle with the Northern sympathizers who had tried to protect it. But these were in the minority. The others had no desire to provoke a fight with Marcy Gray and his friends, and it was finally decided that d.i.c.k"s plan was the safest and best.
"That rather interferes with your arrangements, Cole," said Ed Billings, as the boys paired off and bent their steps toward the academy, Rodney Gray leading, with the flag in his hand. "Those girls were particular to say that the next time you came to see them you must bring word that the flag had been hauled down. I don"t know whether or not they will be quite satisfied when you tell them that it was taken from the colonel"s room, after it had been pulled down in the proper way."