For a week or two past there had been considerable private
canvassing among the boys. There were several who would like to
have been elected captain, and a number of others who, though not
aspiring so high, hoped to be first or second lieutenants. Among
the first class was John Haynes. Like many persons who are
unpopular, he did not seem to be at all aware of the extent of
his unpopularity.
But there was another weighty reason why the choice of the boys
would never have fallen upon him. Apart from his unpopularity, he
was incompetent for the posts to which he aspired. Probably there
were not ten boys in the company who were not more proficient in
drill than he. This was not owing to any want of natural
capacity, but to a feeling that he did not require much
instruction and a consequent lack of attention to the directions
of Mr. Morton. He had frequently been corrected in mistakes, but
always received the correction with sullenness and impatience. He
felt in his own mind that he was much better fitted to govern
than to obey, forgetting in his ambition that it is those only
who have first learned to obey who are best qualified to rule
others.
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