At school, he was not known for his academic achievement. He was neither a standout nor a complete failure in the classroom, to the point of being difficult to be remembered or characterized by his classroom teachers. Still somewhat a frail adolescent, nonetheless required to participate in some form of athletics, he chose the role of coxswain for the junior crew. Although he had difficulty maintaining his discipline in this pursuit, his inadequacies were generally well-hidden by the success of the crew itself. Encouraged by this, in his next year, he undertook to try to build himself up physically so that he might try rowing himself. However, despite a general improvement in his physical condition, his dreamy lack of concentration became evident in this regard and he failed to make even the second crew altogether. This occurrence seemed to crystallize for him his general tendency to be relegated to the outside of things. Soon thereafter, he became associated with a small group of outsiders at school who tended to undertake pranks and other mischief as a means of making their presence known. These boys were known to or suspected of causing disruptions in class and other events or activities at the academy. On numerous occasions, Eric and other members of the group were caught smoking, or sneaking in or off campus at odd hours. A number of members of this coterie were suspended for drinking.
Finally, in 1906, shortly after learning that his father was no longer tending his manufacturing business and was instead at home, Eric was accused by a classmate of stealing and cashing a postal note. Following a brief inquiry, he was summarily expelled from Winslow Academy. His reappearance at Brumley was sudden, unexpected, and hardly noticed by his father. His mother, however, believed his story that he had been wrongly accused and welcomed him home, though she too was quite distracted by attempting to step in at the factory in her husband’s absence. After a brief period of staying rather idly at home, Eric also began to periodically go to the factory. There, he took an unexpected interest in the sales department, where it turned out there were several attractive young women clerks working, as well as a rather rowdy bunch of young men, not unlike his school chums. While not actually doing much in the way of work, Eric became a fixture in this group, which also gave him relative freedom to make short trips within and outside of Brumley with other salesmen, easily explained to his mother as a necessary part of his learning the business. This type of activity continued until his father regained his vitality and returned to the factory. At that time, although Eric had developed a rough social circle in which he would continue to spend considerable time outside of the factory, his father assigned him the responsibility for a certain, restricted list of very small accounts to manage. Eric considered the work drudgery, and rather looked forward to his opportunities to socialize and carouse in the various pubs and haunts of Brumley with his chums.