I can't say
as much for that young fellow Stapleton. He seems to be completely
puffed up with the sense of his own importance, and to be an unlicked
sort of cub altogether. However, I have known more unlikely subjects
than he is turn out decent fellows after a course of instruction from
the boys; but he will have rather a rough time of it at first I
expect. You will be doing him a kindness if you take an opportunity to
tell him that a newly-joined ensign is not regarded in the same light
as a commander-in-chief. It is like a new boy going to school, you
know. If fellows find out he is a decent sort of boy, they soon let
him alone; but if he is an ass, especially a conceited ass, he has
rather a rough time of it. As you are in the same cabin with him, and
have had the advantage of having knocked about the world a bit, you
might gently hint this to him."
"I have been chatting with him a bit," Ralph said. "He has never been
to school, but has been brought up at home, and I think from what he
said he is the heir to an estate. He seemed rather to look down upon
schools."
"So much the worse for him," Captain O'Connor said. "There is nothing
like a school for bringing a fellow to his level, unless it is a
regiment; and the earlier in life the process takes place the less
painful it is."
"I don't think he will turn out a bad sort of fellow," Ralph said.
Pages:
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179