He's
a great man himself;' and this poor colored boy stood up,
I thought, the proudest champion David Clark ever had.
"'Yes, David Clark is a good man,' I mused, as I saw the
grateful tears standing in the colored cadet's eyes.
"When I got back to the hotel I heard a wishy-washy girl,
who came up year after year with a party to flirt with
the cadets say:
"'O dear! it is hawid to have this colod cadet--perfectly
dre'fful. I should die to see my George standing next to
him.'
"But Miss Schenck, the daughter of General Schenck, our
Minister to the Court of St. James, told Jimmy Smith
that she hoped he would graduate at the head of his
class, and when the colored boy told me about it he said:
"'Oh, sir, a splendid lady called to see me to-day. I
wish I knew her name. I want to tell David Clark.'
"Every white boy at West Point now agreed to cut the
colored boy. No one was to say a single word to him,
or even answer yes or no. At the same time they would
abuse him and swear at him in their own conversation
loud enough for him to hear. It is a lamentable fact
that every white cadet at the Point swears and chews
tobacco like the army in Flanders.
"Again I saw Jimmy Smith on the 9th of July. The officers
of the Academy had been changed. Old General Schriver had
given place to young General Upton. The young general is
a man of feeling and a lover of justice.
Pages:
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380