Brief description:
It was Jim’s favorite walk. As he hiked along, his outward consciousness saw the fields, the sky, the low range of highlands which enclosed the Rowanee Valley; but his inner mind was dreaming -- dreaming of
West Point.
Ever since Congressman Bill announced that he would give a competitive examination, the winner to have the coveted principal appointment to West Point, Jim’s mind had been filled with nothing else.
Almost as far back as he could remember, Jim had wanted to go to West Point. During his boyhood days he had eagerly devoured all boy’s books relating to West Point, and cadet days.
Jim’s father was as anxious for Jim to go as Jim was himself. Mr. Briggs had just been able to keep his son at high school.To support him at an engineering college was out of the question. And, Mr. ‘Briggs
wanted his son to have the chance he himself never had. Mr. Briggs felt that at West Point his son would receive an education, engineering and otherwise, inferior to none in the world.
As Jim walked along, his dreams took him farther and farther into the goal of his ambitions. West Point, that gray, stern citadel. Would he ever go there? Would he ever be one of those tall, straight, god-like creatures he had seen in the picture sections of Sunday newspapers? In his heart, he both hoped and doubted. There were so many obstacles to be overcome. First, he must stand highest in the competitive examination. That in itself was not easy, for the examination was to be given in all the towns and cities of the Congressional District of Louisiana in which he lived. No less than fifty young men hoped, and were working as hard as Jim Briggs himself.
And, even if he did, by some great favor of chance, stand highest in that exam, he would still have before him the forbidding entrance examinations to West Point. For, winning the competitive examination only
gave him the right to take these entrance examinations which were to be held in March. These, he had heard, were the most terrible and hardest of all examinations. Not only must he qualify mentally,
but also, physically. Failing to do either would mean that West Point would still be barred to him.
Jim looked at his strong, brown arms, thumped his husky chest, and wondered if he was good enough. A little ashamed of his secret pride in. his physical wellbeing, he admitted to himself that he might get by if only he could leap ~ the mental hurdles.
As Jim walked on, he forgot all that stood in the way before he could even set foot on the United States Military Reservation at West Point, New York. He began now to dream that he was already there.
He saw himself walking about with other cadets—on parade—
“Help!” It was a woman’s shriek, loud and insistent.
“Help! Help! Help!”
Jim snapped from his dreaming. He was at the foot of a gentle rise. The cry seemed to come from over the top. The yelling for assistance continued. Jim took to his heels and ran at full speed to the top of the rise.
He saw a meadow entirely surrounded by a fence. A little way from him, just outside the fence, was a girl in white, waving frantically at him, and pointing at the same time to a lone tree which stood in the meadow.
An angry bull shook his head and pawed the ground beneath the tree, which was small and scrubby.
Jim ran to the girl. “My father,” she gasped breathlessly,” is up in that tree. The bull chased us. Father couldn’t keep up with me, so he had to climb the tree…
West Point.
Ever since Congressman Bill announced that he would give a competitive examination, the winner to have the coveted principal appointment to West Point, Jim’s mind had been filled with nothing else.
Almost as far back as he could remember, Jim had wanted to go to West Point. During his boyhood days he had eagerly devoured all boy’s books relating to West Point, and cadet days.
Jim’s father was as anxious for Jim to go as Jim was himself. Mr. Briggs had just been able to keep his son at high school.To support him at an engineering college was out of the question. And, Mr. ‘Briggs
wanted his son to have the chance he himself never had. Mr. Briggs felt that at West Point his son would receive an education, engineering and otherwise, inferior to none in the world.
As Jim walked along, his dreams took him farther and farther into the goal of his ambitions. West Point, that gray, stern citadel. Would he ever go there? Would he ever be one of those tall, straight, god-like creatures he had seen in the picture sections of Sunday newspapers? In his heart, he both hoped and doubted. There were so many obstacles to be overcome. First, he must stand highest in the competitive examination. That in itself was not easy, for the examination was to be given in all the towns and cities of the Congressional District of Louisiana in which he lived. No less than fifty young men hoped, and were working as hard as Jim Briggs himself.
And, even if he did, by some great favor of chance, stand highest in that exam, he would still have before him the forbidding entrance examinations to West Point. For, winning the competitive examination only
gave him the right to take these entrance examinations which were to be held in March. These, he had heard, were the most terrible and hardest of all examinations. Not only must he qualify mentally,
but also, physically. Failing to do either would mean that West Point would still be barred to him.
Jim looked at his strong, brown arms, thumped his husky chest, and wondered if he was good enough. A little ashamed of his secret pride in. his physical wellbeing, he admitted to himself that he might get by if only he could leap ~ the mental hurdles.
As Jim walked on, he forgot all that stood in the way before he could even set foot on the United States Military Reservation at West Point, New York. He began now to dream that he was already there.
He saw himself walking about with other cadets—on parade—
“Help!” It was a woman’s shriek, loud and insistent.
“Help! Help! Help!”
Jim snapped from his dreaming. He was at the foot of a gentle rise. The cry seemed to come from over the top. The yelling for assistance continued. Jim took to his heels and ran at full speed to the top of the rise.
He saw a meadow entirely surrounded by a fence. A little way from him, just outside the fence, was a girl in white, waving frantically at him, and pointing at the same time to a lone tree which stood in the meadow.
An angry bull shook his head and pawed the ground beneath the tree, which was small and scrubby.
Jim ran to the girl. “My father,” she gasped breathlessly,” is up in that tree. The bull chased us. Father couldn’t keep up with me, so he had to climb the tree…
Publication
Argosy Magazine