All the lads, not quite a score, belonging to the Bushville school,
were present at the impromptu convention, but the proceedings were
chiefly in charge of the lads, Tom Britt, Dick Culver and Fred
Armstrong. There were but a few months' difference in their ages, none
of which was more than fourteen years, but all were so much larger and
older than the rest that they were looked up to as leaders in
everything except study.
It cannot be denied that the three were indolent by nature, inclined to
rebel at authority, and their enforced attendance at school was the
affliction of their lives. They had given their teachers no end of
trouble, and more than once had combined in open rebellion against
their instructors. Tom's father was a trustee, and like the parents of
many ill-trained youths, including those of Dick and Fred, he could see
nothing wrong in the conduct of his son. As a consequence, discipline
at times was set at naught in the Bushville institutions, and one of
the best teachers ever employed by the district threw up his situation
in disgust, and went off without waiting to collect his month's salary.
The successor of this gentleman was Mr. Lathrop, a young man barely
turned twenty, with a beardless face, a mild blue eye, a gentle voice,
and such a soft winning manner that the three leaders gave an
involuntary sniff of contempt when they first saw him and agreed that
he would not last more than a week at the most.
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