our hero was excited, and no wonder. he had gone through many unusual experiences since he had begun to think of going to west point, and now he was on the verge of new ones. he was in a sort of daze. matters followed each other so closely that there was little time between to think properly of them.
“but there’s one thing sure,” he thought to himself, as he sat looking from the car window as he was being whirled along his way, “there is one thing sure, and that is that i have the chance i’ve been wanting so long. if i don’t make the most of it, it will be my own fault.”
he ventured to look about him more calmly now, thinking perhaps he might see some one in the car whom he knew. but a quick glance through the coach did not disclose any one, though he noticed two or three lads about his own age, talking and laughing together.
tom thought he would like to know them, and[pg 50] he wondered if, by any chance, they could be in his position—a “plebe” going up to west point for the all-important examination. then another thought came to our hero.
where was clarence hawkesbury? he, too, was supposed to go to take the examination on the day tom reported, which would be the morrow. where was clarence?
“he may have gone on ahead, or he may motor to new york,” tom thought, for captain hawkesbury had a powerful car, and with his nephew frequently took long trips.
“i’m just as glad he isn’t going with me,” tom thought. then he settled down to enjoy the journey which would last all day. at noon tom went to the dining car for lunch, and there he saw, at the table across the aisle from him, some of the lads he had noticed in his own coach. he could overhear some of their talk.
“well, there’s one thing sure,” remarked a sturdy-looking youth, “if i don’t get through it isn’t going to kill me, and i won’t have to go around four years with my back as straight as a ramrod.”
tom guessed instantly where his fellow-travelers were going, but he did not like to say anything just yet.
“i don’t mind the examinations so much,” a studious-looking lad remarked, “but i sure do hate[pg 51] to think of getting hazed. they say it’s fierce!”
“so i’ve heard,” agreed another. “pass the celery; will you?”
“if they try to haze me!” exclaimed a heavy-browed youth, “i’ll show ’em they’ll have their hands full.”
“well, the more trouble you make the more they’ll make,” said the first speaker with a sigh. “we plebes aren’t supposed to have any rights.”
tom was sure, now, that the lads across the aisle were “in the same boat” with himself. he could not refrain from speaking to them.
“i beg your pardon,” he remarked, “but are you going to take the west point examinations?”
the others looked at him, rather curiously for a moment, and one of them said:
“yes, we are.”
“i’m in the same fix,” went on tom, quickly. “do any of you know anything about what we ought to do when we get there; where to report and so on?”
in an instant the reserve of the others seemed to melt, and they welcomed him, figuratively, with open arms. they were companions in a certain prospective misfortune. it developed that one of the lads had a relative who had attended west point, and this relative had given some valuable advice which the lad, samuel leland by name, was glad to share with tom and the others.
[pg 52]
from then on the talk was of nothing but west point, and the fear of hazing formed a large proportion of the conversation. tom found that his new friends were going to stop at a different hotel in new york from that which he had picked out, and he decided to change and go with them. he was glad he did, for when he arrived in the big city he was fairly astonished by the bustle and roar. one of the other boys had been there on several occasions, however, and he acted as guide to the others.
that night and the next day were a sort of dream to tom taylor, for they decided to postpone their trip to highland falls for a day and see the sights of new york. tom knew his mother would not object, and if he succeeded in passing into west point it would be two years before he could get away again. he sent his mother a letter from the metropolis.
“well, we might as well start and get it over with,” remarked sam leland the next day to tom and the other candidates. they were at the hotel in new york, and had planned to cross the hudson to weehawken, to take the west shore railroad, which would bring them to the village a mile below west point. there they would stay until next day when they were due to report for examinations.
“yes, no use lingering longer here,” agreed[pg 53] tom. “i can’t enjoy anything when i think of what’s before me.”
the others confessed the same thing, and, accordingly, soon after lunch they took the ferry to weehawken, and in due time were on their way to highland falls, a ride of about two hours.
tom and the other lads walked up the winding road leading from the highland falls station to the hotel where they were to stop. the day was warm and the road dusty and they were not feeling any too comfortable. the little party tom had fallen in with saw several other youths toiling up the hill, evidently with the same objective point as themselves. they, too, were “candidates.”
a bath, a change of linen, and supper made tom feel much better, and then came a long evening spent on the hotel porch where were many other lads, all eager for what lay before them—eager and anxious, most of them; some so much so that they went about with books in their hands, gluing their eyes to the pages every now and then. they were “cramming for exams,” and no greater torture can be devised for a young fellow.
some of the boys told of having gone up to have a look at west point that day, they having been at highland falls for some time, preparing for the ordeal. some were even being tutored at a special preparatory school in the neighborhood.
[pg 54]
“the farther you fellows keep away from west point until it’s time for you to report, the better,” said one lad who seemed to know whereof he spoke. “don’t give those cadets a chance to get one in on you, which they’re sure to do if they see you nosing around up at the barracks before it’s time. stay away until it’s time to report.”
this tom and some of his friends resolved to do. however, they could not refrain the next morning from going a short distance toward the group of gray stone buildings that make up the united states military academy. in the distance they could see the cadets passing to and fro, some of them drilling; and tom, at least, felt a thrill of anticipation.
“oh, if i can only get in!” he sighed.
“that’s right!” remarked leland. “it sure is a great place.”
the next day tom, and the other candidates, left the highland falls hotel to report to the superintendent of the academy, which was the real beginning of the examination that meant so much to them. at last they were to have a taste of life at west point, though for some of them it might last only the few days intervening between their official entrance and the rigid tests.
on the way to west point tom caught a glimpse of clarence hawkesbury in company with[pg 55] some flashily dressed youths. they were riding in a sort of public coach, and clarence waved his hand to tom, as though the best of feeling existed between them.
“i wonder where the superintendent’s office is?” remarked one of the youths with tom. “i don’t suppose we dare speak to any of those high and mighty cadets to ask.”
“not if we see any one else,” tom said. and on their way they met a soldier—not a cadet—who directed them to the headquarters building, in which was located the office of the adjutant to whom they were to report in person.
a number of rather anxious-looking lads were there, and tom and the others formed in line to march up stairs. one by one they entered a room, and presented their credentials to the stiff and severe-looking officer who sat behind a table. he glanced at their letters of appointment, checked their names off on a list, and told them to go down stairs and wait for further instructions.
“well, i wonder what comes next?” said tom to his new friends. he soon learned. a cadet, who, from the stripes on his arm they knew to be a corporal, came walking stiffly up.
“here, you candidates!” he cried, in a voice that contained perhaps a little too much authority. “turn out! lively now! turn out! form in a column—by twos! forward—march!”
[pg 56]
there was an uneasy scramble, and a more or less uneven column was formed to march along with the corporal at the head. he was a martinet, was that corporal—and he found fault with every one and everything from the beginning.
“why, you fellows don’t even know enough to keep step!” he bawled at them. “do you know which your left foot is?”
“yes,” replied tom, who felt a little nettled at the tone.
“yes—what?” sharply demanded the corporal, swinging around to face him.
“i thought you said—” stammered tom.
“yes—what?” fairly thundered the cadet.
“say sir,” some one behind tom whispered.
“yes—sir!” he answered loudly.
“that’s better!” was the mollified retort. “don’t forget that sir! i’m glad some of you know which is your left foot. now then, step out!”
they managed it a little better now, though doubtless they were awkward enough.
“eyes—front!” snapped out the corporal, as some one ventured to look about. “eyes—front!”
in due time the awkward squad was marched to one of the barrack divisions, where the cadet officers, in charge of the candidates, had their headquarters. there the corporal reported tom and[pg 57] the others to a cadet lieutenant who recorded them and assigned them to quarters—three to a room.
tom had thought that he and the others would be examined before getting this far at west point, but it seemed he did not know all the routine yet. at least, he was to have a real taste of life before knowing whether or not he would be allowed to remain.
the ordeal of being recorded by the lieutenant was much more trying than in the case of the adjutant. some of the boys forgot the all-important “sir,” and were sharply rebuked. but in the end they learned how to answer properly, and to give when they were asked where they were from, the name of their state, and not the name of their town or city.
“don’t forget your ‘misters’ and ‘sirs,’” advised the lieutenant as a parting shot, when tom and the other luckless candidates marched off to the cadet store to draw their first supplies—their housekeeping utensils as it were—for they were to do their own work for a time. each candidate received from the cadet store a quantity of bedding, a pillow, a mattress, a broom, a pail and a chair, in addition to a dipper. these were to be used while they were candidates, and could be kept if they passed the examinations. if they failed they would have to turn them in again, and from the hundred dollars deposited would be deducted[pg 58] the board for the time they had been at west point.
tom’s mother had sent this sum on in advance, a fact of which our hero was aware, though he did not know the source whence the money came.
“whew! this is some early rising!” exclaimed sam leland as he examined the printed list of “calls” that had been given to them after they had secured their equipment.
reveille came at six o’clock, followed half an hour later by breakfast. at one o’clock dinner was served, and supper came after retreat parade. of course the candidates had no part in the parade.
“oh, six o’clock isn’t so bad—not in summer,” tom said. he had often risen earlier than that in winter to do a job of snow-shoveling to earn money at home.
“well, it’s early for me,” remarked clarence hawkesbury, with a supercilious grin. “and this dipper is—beastly!” he exclaimed, as he looked at the one made from half a cocoanut shell that had been issued to him. “i’m going to buy a collapsible cup,” he declared.
“better not,” advised some one who knew. “everything we’re allowed to have is strictly arranged for, and if you’re caught with anything contraband—good-night!”
“they won’t catch me!” clarence said.
[pg 59]
tom hoped clarence wouldn’t have a chance to be caught, since if clarence remained it meant that our hero would have failed. and that he fiercely made up his mind not to do.
the candidates, with their new belongings, now passed on to their rooms. tom was quartered with sam leland and a lad named harry houston. he liked them both from the first.
“and now to get ready for the exams,” commented tom, when they found themselves in their room.
