Breaking Away by Oliver Optic — Read

We watched with intense interest the proceedings of the men who came / off in the steamer. After the exhibition of meanness on the part of / Mr. Parasyte, it seemed that the rebellion was more serious than any / of us had supposed. We made up our minds, with Bob Hale, that it would / be impossible for us ever to be reconciled to him again. We felt as / though the Rubicon had been passed, and what had commenced as a mere / frolic was likely to end as a very grave affair. Though the boys / talked solemnly at first about their rights, and had "struck" to / vindicate a principle, they had no idea of the seriousness of their / proceedings.

I shall not pretend to justify all that was done by our boys, or even / to acknowledge that "breaking away," under any circumstances, is / justifiable; but I do say, that such a man as the principal of the / Parkville Liberal Institute was not a fit person to instruct and / discipline young men. He was grossly unjust and partial; he was a / tyrant at heart, though for policy's sake he veiled his purposes; he / was low-minded and narrow in his views; and I am happy to say that he / was not a fair specimen of the teachers of our land.