Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial321dodg).pdf/347

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
An Officer of the School
241

make the distinctian clear when Professor Sanderson, the principal, came te his relief with the suggestion that nicknames were not used in business, and the boy accepted it. He and Mr. Raymond were to be “pals,” as he expressed it, and the school was merely a necessary step toward this. Consequently Mr. Raymond should be his model rather than the warrior he had read about, and Mr. Raymond had no nickname.

“All right,” he announced. “‘Harry Bagley’ goes. Me an’ him,” indicating Mr. Raymond, “understands each other, an’ I ’m goin’ to do what ’s right. He ’s goin’ to need me, an’ I ’m goin’ to need him.”

‘“What ’s de matter wid ‘Jimmie Dandy’?’ demanded the boy.”

The principal looked distressed. He now had the key to the situation,—the tactful method of ruling Jimmie,—but he could see that he had undertaken no light task, and he was not sanguine of success, However, he would do his best.

Harry—for the boy became Harry from that moment was put in a uniform and assigned to a bed in one of the dormitories. His only comment on the uniform was that he “felt like a cop,” the policeman being the one uniformed individual with whom he had any acquaintance. His only comment on the first of the duties explained to him, which related to neatness in the care of his clothes and other personal belongings, was that “it was girl’s work.” Nevertheless, there was something in the rigid