Captain Jinks, Hero | Page 7

as the spot where the great General Jinks sat while awaiting his hazing,
and tears of joy rolled softly down over his freckles. He was still lost in
this emotion when steps were heard approaching and the lantern-light
drew nearer.
"Come, Smith, bring the prisoners in," said the same voice that had
waked Sam in his tent. He looked at the speaker and recognized the tall,
hatchet-faced, crook-nosed Saunders. Two or three cadets unfastened
Sam and Cleary, still, however, leaving their arms bound behind them,
and brought them to the open place under the wall where Sam had first
seen them. Sam now saw nothing; walking in the steps of Generals
Gramp and German, he felt the ecstasy of a Christian martyr. He would
not have exchanged his lot with any one in the world. Cleary, however,
who possessed a rather mundane spirit, took in the scene. Twenty or
thirty cadets were either standing or seated on the ground round a circle
which was illuminated by several dark-lanterns placed upon the ground.
In the center of the circle were a tub of water, some boards and pieces
of rope, and two large baskets whose contents were concealed by a
cloth.
"Come, boys," squeaked Captain Clark, a short, thickset fellow who
looked much older than the others and who spoke in a peculiar cracked
voice. "Come, let's begin by bracing them up."
"Bracing" was a process adopted for the purpose of making the patient
assume the position of a soldier, only very much exaggerated--a

position which after a few minutes becomes almost intolerable. Cleary
and Sam were promptly taken and tied back to back to an upright stake
which had escaped their observation. They were tied at the ankle, knee,
waist, under the arms, and at the chin and forehead. By tightening these
ropes as desired and placing pieces of wood in between, against the
back, the hazers made each victim stand with the chest pushed
preternaturally forward and the chin and abdomen drawn
preternaturally back. Cleary found this position irksome from the start,
and soon decidedly painful, but Sam was proof against it. In fact, he
had been practising just this position for eight or ten years, and it now
came to him naturally. Cleary soon showed marks of discomfort. It was
a warm night, and the sweat began to stand out on his forehead. As far
as he was concerned the hazing was already a success, but Sam
evidently needed something more.
"Here, give me the tabasco bottle," whispered Clark to Smith.
As the latter brought the article from one of the baskets, Sam said to
him in a low voice,
"Did General Gramp take it out of that same bottle?"
"Yes," said Smith; "strange to say, it's the very same one, and all
through his life afterward he took tabasco three times a day."
Sam rolled his eyes painfully to catch a glimpse of the historic bottle.
Clark took it and applied it to Sam's lips. It was red-hot stuff, and the
whole audience rose to watch its effect upon the victim at the stake.
Sam swallowed it as if it had been lemonade. In fact, he was only
aware of the honor that he was receiving. He had only enough earthly
consciousness left to notice that one of the cadets in the crowd was
photographing him with a kodak, and accordingly he did not even
wink.
"By Jove, he's lined with tin," ejaculated Saunders, whose deflected
nose gave him a sinister expression. "You ought to have had his
plumbing, Clark."

"Shut up and mind your own business," said Clark. "Come, let's give
him the tub. This won't do. That other chap's happy enough where he
is."
Sam was untied again and led forward to the middle of the ring, the
faithful Smith still keeping close to him.
"Is that an old tub?" whispered Sam, still standing stiffly as if his body
had permanently taken the "braced" shape.
"I should say so. All the generals were ducked in it. Kneel down there
and look in. Do you see that round dent in the middle? That's where
General Meriden bumped his head in it. He never did things by halves."
Sam did as he was told, and he felt that he was in a proper attitude upon
his knees at such a shrine. To him it was holy water.
"Now, Jinks," squeaked Clark.
"Yes, sir," answered Sam.
"Stand on your head now in that tub, and be quick about it."
Sam fixed his mind upon General Meriden in the same circumstances,
drew in his breath, and endeavored to stand on his head in a foot of
water, holding on to the rim of the tub with his hands. His legs waved
irresolutely in the air with no apparent unity of motive,