Adam Blake - 143. Chapter 143

Dinner time was always a fun time for me. My Knights made it such, but I miss my college boys. As we ate, the boys asked questions about the college expansion. I’m amazed at how fast news travels. “Kings College is a top-rated college; we’re turning prospective students away. You know the College was constructed for you Knights. It was felt another four years here would better prepare you for your destiny. And now, we have the master’s program, which allows you to research your ideas, prove your theories, and develop new ones.”

“The College is running out of space. This last class of Knights almost made us cancel some potential students. We will expand the College, hire more instructors, provide more space for teaching and increase the dorms. I want to keep the class size small, just like here, 10-12 maximum, that requires space.”

“Do we need more space here?”

“No, we seem to be enrolling about the same level as those leaving.”

“Are we going to get more buses?”

“Yes, we ordered one more. It should be here in a few days.”

Now we needed drivers. Hans took care of that by bringing on my security people. I laughed when I realized all of the security people were from Liechtenstein.

The security personnel were on a shift schedule of three shifts/day, seven days/week. We looked at an alternative schedule, but I like this one the best, they needed their rest, and I didn’t want them to be too tired to do their job.

After the clean-up, as Jane was calling it, we were still getting deposits from the IRS. When I looked into this, the IRS was still pursuing offshore accounts, and the money that is found is being returned to the school. I had absolutely no problem with that.

The following week Annie told me that the county owned the property I had asked about. “Why wasn’t it sold?”

“From what I can determine, someone in the commissioner’s office was going to claim it, but it never made it to the bidding stage.”

“Great, now we can buy it. Can you handle that, or should I get James involved?”

“I’m already involved, and I’ll handle it.”

“Okay, but Annie gets the credit.” Now I need to see the architect again. I will have him build three-bedroom townhouses with a garage for any staff member with ten years or more of service. I will get them a new car as their Christmas present.

That led to a discussion with Dad about boys who are eligible for driving licenses. “I think this year, besides the usual gifts, the eligible boys will be enrolled in a driving school. I’m sure their parents will pay for the insurance.”

The usual gifts are the sweaters and rings that the new boys will get. The boys who are not eligible for driving lessons will get something they will enjoy as well. What that gift will be, I have no idea.

While watching television, absently minded, I caught an ad for an Apple watch. I went and checked them out and decided that would be the gift for the college students this year. Now I need something for the Knights.

It was Dad who provided the answer. “Adam, have you seen this?”

He handed me what looked like a cell phone. “That’s a cell phone. Those boys have them.”

Then he held it up, and soon a picture emerged from a slot in the phone. “This is a camera. You take a picture, and it prints it in color automatically.”

“You must have an ink cartridge somewhere. It is hard to imagine an ink cartridge in that case.”

“There is, but they are small and can be replaced easily.”

“I’ll need cases of the ink cartridge for the boys. But it is an excellent idea. I was thinking of getting the college students an Apple watch, but maybe they would like this as well.”

“And your staff?.”

“Yes, I need to place an order now so we will have them for Christmas.”

“Do you know how many you’ll need?”

“No, I’ll make a good guess based on history and go from there. If there is any extra, I know who I can give as a present. I have some relatives in Liechtenstein.” I smiled as my dad looked at me.

“I spoke to Henry about adding a double wing on the staff side of the Academy wing as well. For the same reason, staff had families, and extra rooms were needed. He said he’d come in with a proposal. I told him to hold off on the staff wing until I had confirmation of acquiring some additional land.

Annie came back and said the Council was willing to sell the land at the going rate. They realized there weren’t getting any tax money from it. I agreed to buy it if I didn’t have to pay any back taxes. They agreed, and now I had a farm.

I had the barn torn down along with the fence that separated the properties. There was an old house on the far side of the farm, but it was in bad condition. I had that torn down as well.

“Now I was ready to talk to Henry. I told him what I wanted, and he went away to draw up the plans. I knew with his workload that would take some time. For me, it would be a good summer project.

At the Board meeting, Henry presented the plans for the wings on the College. My friend was all for it, “Now we are getting serious about having a little of England here.” The Board approved once I explained why we had to expand.

“With the number of graduates from the Academy increasing and enrollment with the non-Academy graduates, the College will run out of room. I do not want to increase the number of students per class. I need more classrooms, and the addition of the wings will do the job.”

“I expect at some time in the future, enrollment will drop off?”

“I’m not sure about that. We have a request to guarantee an enrollment for one of our college students who graduated four years ago. I expect that trend to continue. We are also becoming well known; I have been turning away applicants who are qualified, fully qualified because of available space. They could be the fill-in when our normal source of students becomes smaller. There is always a need for a school like ours; we are unique in many ways.”

I think they began to realize that there is a large population of young boys who, on a financial basis, would qualify, and they were sure that of those, they would be up to the level of academic achievement. Inwardly I had to laugh, and surely these gentlemen knew that for the most part, our boys were here to make lasting friends and ensuring the continuation of an influential group of people.

As the holidays rolled around, plans needed to be made. Thanksgiving was at the cabin, as usual, only we had significantly more guests. Hans was up to tasks with an increased building of picnic tables under heating lamps. We cleared a section to the left of the Cabin and installed the tables there. I commented to Hans, “All we had to do was place a roof over the whole area, and we could heat the area with the heating system we have.”

That is when I learned unless I wanted something done, don’t speculate with Hans. By the time Thanksgiving came, he had built an open-air shelter over the tables, removed the old roofs he had used for the new roof, and re-installed the heaters.

Not only did I have Caleb and Gaston cooking, but Mom, Jen, Evelyn, and Marie were pitching in. The boys were helping to set the tables, Annie and Jane got the other wives to pitch in, and soon we could smell the turkeys and pies being baked. D

r. Mallory said he could smell them even on the other side of the lake.

Some of the male staff took pictures and talked about how our simple cabin grew to such an encampment. That is what they called it, en encampment. I guess, in a way, they were right.