Frank Merriwells Chums | Page 2

Accoutrements and
forage saps were hung on certain hooks, and clothing and other things
allowable and necessary were always to be kept in an unvarying order
on a set of open-faced shelves.

The broom and slop-bucket were to be deposited behind the door, the
chairs against the table, when not in use, and the table against the wall
opposite the fireplace.
At the foot of each bed the shoes were placed in a line, neatly dusted,
with toes to the front.
It was required that the room should be constantly kept in perfect order,
and Merriwell and Hodge were called on to take turns, week and week
about, at being orderly, and the name of the one responsible for the
appearance of the room was placed on the orderly board, hung to the
front of the alcove partition.
Back of the door was another board, on which each was required to
post his hours of recitation, and to account for his absence from the
room at any inspection.
In fact, a rigid effort was made at Fardale to imitate in every possible
way the regulations and requirements enforced at West Point, and it
was the boast that the school was, in almost every particular, identical
with our great Military Academy.
Of course, it was impossible to enforce the rules as rigidly as they are at
the Point, for the cadets at Fardale were, as a class, far younger, and the
disgrace of expulsion or failure in any way was not to be compared
with that attending unfortunates at the school where youths are
graduated into actual service as officers of the United States army.
Many of the cadets at Fardale had been sent there by parents who could
not handle them at home, and who had hoped the discipline they would
receive at a military school would serve to tone down their wildness.
Thus it will be seen that many harum-scarum fellows got into the
school, and that they could not readily be compelled to conform to the
rules and requirements.
For all that Frank Merriwell was a jolly, fun-loving fellow, he was
naturally orderly and neat, so that it seemed very little effort for him to
do his part in keeping the room in order.

On the other hand, Bartley Hodge was naturally careless, and he had a
persistent way of displacing things that annoyed Frank, although the
latter said little about it at first.
Whenever the inspecting officer found anything wrong about the room,
he simply glanced at the orderly board, and down went the demerit
against the lad whose name was posted there. It made no difference
who had left a chair out of place, hung a coat where it should not be, or
failed to invert the washbowl, the room orderly had to assume the
responsibility.
Now, it was the last thing in the world that Hodge could wish to injure
Merriwell, but three times in Frank's first week as room orderly he was
reported for things he could not help, and for which Bart was entirely
responsible.
Merriwell had risen to the first section in recitation at the very start,
while Hodge, who had been placed in the third, was soon relegated to
the second.
Frank was trying to curb his almost unbounded inclination for mischief,
and he was studying assiduously.
On the other hand, while Hodge did not seem at all mischievous by
nature, he detested study, and he was inclined to spend the time when
he should have been "digging," in reading some story, or in idly
yawning and wishing the time away.
One day, after having taken his third demerit on his roommate's
account, the inspector having detected tobacco smoke in the room,
Frank said:
"Why don't you swear off on cigarettes, Bart? They don't do a fellow
any good, and they are pretty sure to get him into trouble here at the
academy."
Hodge was in anything but a pleasant frame of mind, and he instantly
retorted:

"I know what you mean. You are orderly, and I ought to have spoken
up and told the inspector I had been smoking. I didn't know what it was
he put down, but I'll go and confess my crime now."
He sprang up petulantly, but Frank's hand dropped on his arm, and
Merriwell quietly said:
"Don't go off angry, old man. You know I don't want you to do
anything of the sort. I will take my medicine when I am orderly, and I
know you will do the same when it comes your turn."
"Well, I didn't know----" began Bart, in a somewhat sulky manner.
"You ought to know pretty well by this time. I am not much given to
kicking or growling, but I do want to have a sober talk with you, and I