Breaking Away

Breaking Away, by Oliver Optic

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Title: Breaking Away or The Fortunes of a Student
Author: Oliver Optic
Illustrator: Kilburn
Release Date: August 29, 2007 [EBook #22433]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: BREAKING AWAY AMERICAN BOYS SERIES]

THE STARRY FLAG SERIES,
BY OLIVER OPTIC.
* * * * *
I. THE STARRY FLAG; OR, THE YOUNG FISHERMAN OF CAPE ANN.
II. FREAKS OF FORTUNE; OR, HALF ROUND THE WORLD.
III. BREAKING AWAY; OR, THE FORTUNES OF A STUDENT.
IV. SEEK AND FIND; OR, THE ADVENTURES OF A SMART BOY.
V. MAKE OR BREAK; OR, THE RICH MAN'S DAUGHTER.
VI. DOWN THE RIVER; OR, BUCK BRADFORD AND HIS TYRANTS.
[Illustration: THE REBELLION IN THE PARKVILLE LITERARY INSTITUTE.--Page 30.]

BREAKING AWAY;
OR,
THE FORTUNES OF A STUDENT.
BY
OLIVER OPTIC,
AUTHOR OF "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD," "THE ARMY AND NAVY STORIES," "THE WOODVILLE STORIES," "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES," "THE RIVERDALE STORIES," ETC.
* * * * *
BOSTON: LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by WILLIAM T. ADAMS, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
* * * * *
COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS. All rights reserved.
* * * * *
BREAKING AWAY.

TO
MY YOUNG FRIEND,
HARLAN H. BALLARD,
This Book
IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

PREFACE.
* * * * *
"BREAKING AWAY" is the second of the series of stories published in "OUR BOYS AND GIRLS," and the author had no reason to complain of the reception accorded to it by his young friends, as it appeared in the weekly issues of the Magazine; but, on the contrary, he finds renewed occasion cordially to thank them for their continued appreciation of his earnest efforts to please them.
After an experience of more than twenty years as a teacher, the writer did not expect his young friends to sympathize with the schoolmaster of this story, for doubtless many of them have known and despised a similar creature in real life. Mr. Parasyte is not a myth; but we are grateful that an enlightened public sentiment is every year rendering more and more odious the petty tyrant of the school-room, and we are too happy to give this retreating personage a parting blow as he retires from the scene of his fading glories.
Rebellions, either in the school or in the state, are always dangerous and demoralizing; but while we unequivocally condemn the tyrant in our story, we cannot always approve the conduct of his pupils. One evil gives birth to another; but even a righteous end cannot justify immoral means, and we beg to remind our young and enthusiastic readers that Ernest Thornton and his friends were compelled to acknowledge that they had done wrong in many things, and that "Breaking Away" was deemed a very doubtful expedient for the redress even of a real wrong.
As it was impossible for Ernest to relate the whole of his eventful history in one volume, Breaking Away will be immediately followed by a sequel,--"Seek and Find,"--in which the hero will narrate his adventures in seeking and finding his mother, of whose tender care he was deprived from his earliest childhood.
HARRISON SQUARE, MASS., September 23, 1867.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE IN WHICH ERNEST THORNTON INTRODUCES HIMSELF. 11
CHAPTER II.
IN WHICH THERE IS TROUBLE IN THE PARKVILLE LIBERAL INSTITUTE. 22
CHAPTER III.
IN WHICH ERNEST IS EXPELLED FROM THE PARKVILLE LIBERAL INSTITUTE. 33
CHAPTER IV.
IN WHICH ERNEST SAILS THE SPLASH, AND TAKES A BATH. 44
CHAPTER V.
IN WHICH ERNEST DECLINES A PROPOSITION. 55
CHAPTER VI.
IN WHICH ERNEST FINDS HIS FELLOW-STUDENTS IN OPEN REBELLION. 66
CHAPTER VII.
IN WHICH ERNEST ATTENDS THE TRIAL OF BILL POODLES AND DICK PEARL. 78
CHAPTER VIII.
IN WHICH ERNEST VANQUISHES THE SCHOOLMASTER. 89
CHAPTER IX.
IN WHICH ERNEST STRIKES A HEAVY BLOW, AND WINS ANOTHER VICTORY. 100
CHAPTER X.
IN WHICH ERNEST HAS AN INTERVIEW WITH HIS UNCLE. 111
CHAPTER XI.
IN WHICH ERNEST IS DISOWNED AND CAST OUT. 122
CHAPTER XII.
IN WHICH ERNEST RAISES THE SPLASH, AND THERE IS A GENERAL BREAKING AWAY AMONG THE STUDENTS. 132
CHAPTER XIII.
IN WHICH ERNEST IS CHOSEN COMMODORE OF THE FLEET. 144
CHAPTER XIV.
IN WHICH ERNEST IS WAITED UPON BY A DEPUTY SHERIFF. 155
CHAPTER XV.
IN WHICH ERNEST AND THE COMMISSARY VISIT CANNONDALE. 166
CHAPTER XVI.
IN WHICH ERNEST CONVEYS THE STUDENTS TO PINE ISLAND. 177
CHAPTER XVII.
IN WHICH ERNEST FINDS THERE IS TREASON IN THE CAMP. 188
CHAPTER XVIII.
IN WHICH ERNEST AND HIS COMPANIONS LAND AT CANNONDALE. 199
CHAPTER XIX.
IN WHICH ERNEST AND HIS FRIENDS ARE DISGUSTED WITH MR. PARASYTE'S INGRATITUDE. 211
CHAPTER XX.
IN WHICH ERNEST TAKES THE WHEEL OF THE ADIENO. 222
CHAPTER