Brief description:
CHAPTER I
The Congressman's Callers
Of the ten or twelve millions of young men in the United States, probably one-third of them are annually seized with an ambition to go to West Point and become defenders of the nation.
Since, however, the average size of the entering class at the United States Military Academy is limited to about 125, there are bound to be disappointments. In short, the chances of any aspirant, barring the accident of the political pull, famous general for a grandfather or Presidential favor, have been commuted as about fifty thousand to one.
Along shot of the long shots was Russel Bartlett. He was just one of the "plain people" -- a stalwart, broad-shouldered chap with a mop of reddish brown hair, a pair of keen blue eyes.....
His "previous condition of servitude," as they say at West Point had been that of a teamster in a brickyard, though he was high school educated.
[With the unexpected bankruptcy of the brickyard and loss of that job] Russel found himself called upon to seek some new occupation; and it was at this juncture that the idea of donning the cadet gray suggested itself to him.
........
His sole cash assets were twenty dollars savings the plant had been n arrears in its payroll, but he had a tremendous store of self-confidence.,,,his was the obstinate Missouri temperrment which demands to be shown.....
Since the appointment he coveted lay in the hands of Congressman Jones, his only course, as he saw it, was to go direct to Jones and make known his desire....but Jones was in Washington and wouldn't return to his district for weeks..
Russel Bartlet did what needed to be done, He boarded the train that night for Washington D.C.
The Congressman's Callers
Of the ten or twelve millions of young men in the United States, probably one-third of them are annually seized with an ambition to go to West Point and become defenders of the nation.
Since, however, the average size of the entering class at the United States Military Academy is limited to about 125, there are bound to be disappointments. In short, the chances of any aspirant, barring the accident of the political pull, famous general for a grandfather or Presidential favor, have been commuted as about fifty thousand to one.
Along shot of the long shots was Russel Bartlett. He was just one of the "plain people" -- a stalwart, broad-shouldered chap with a mop of reddish brown hair, a pair of keen blue eyes.....
His "previous condition of servitude," as they say at West Point had been that of a teamster in a brickyard, though he was high school educated.
[With the unexpected bankruptcy of the brickyard and loss of that job] Russel found himself called upon to seek some new occupation; and it was at this juncture that the idea of donning the cadet gray suggested itself to him.
........
His sole cash assets were twenty dollars savings the plant had been n arrears in its payroll, but he had a tremendous store of self-confidence.,,,his was the obstinate Missouri temperrment which demands to be shown.....
Since the appointment he coveted lay in the hands of Congressman Jones, his only course, as he saw it, was to go direct to Jones and make known his desire....but Jones was in Washington and wouldn't return to his district for weeks..
Russel Bartlet did what needed to be done, He boarded the train that night for Washington D.C.
Publication
Argosy Magazine, Nov. 1912