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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36099-8.txt b/36099-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..71e2a90 --- /dev/null +++ b/36099-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7213 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Cadet's Honor, by Upton Sinclair + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Cadet's Honor + Mark Mallory's Heroism + + +Author: Upton Sinclair + + + +Release Date: May 13, 2011 [eBook #36099] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CADET'S HONOR*** + + +E-text prepared by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 36099-h.htm or 36099-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36099/36099-h/36099-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36099/36099-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's note: + + "Lieut. Frederick Garrison" is a pseudonym used by Upton + Sinclair. + + + + + +[Illustration: "'The cadets of this academy, Miss Adams,' said he, 'do +not speak to Mr. Mallory.'" (see page 90)] + +A CADET'S HONOR + +Or + +Mark Mallory's Heroism + +by + +LIEUT. FREDERICK GARRISON, U. S. A. + +Author of "Off for West Point," "On Guard," "A West Point Treasure," etc. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: BOYS' OWN LIBRARY] + +Philadelphia +David Mckay, Publisher +610 South Washington Square + +Copyright, 1903 +By Street & Smith + +A Cadet's Honor + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE + I--A "Yearling" Meeting 7 + II--Mark's Mysterious Visitor 19 + III--Trouble for Mark 26 + IV--The Explanation 38 + V--Mark in Disgrace 46 + VI--Indian's Re-examination 58 + VII--The Examination of the Parson 66 + VIII--The Rescue Party 72 + IX--Heroism of the Parson 76 + X--More Troubles 81 + XI--Disadvantages of "Coventry" 85 + XII--The Embassy of the Parson 91 + XIII--Preparations for the Battle 99 + XIV--The Affair at the Fort 109 + XV--Two Plebes in Hospital 117 + XVI--The Parson's Indignation 124 + XVII--Indian in Trouble 133 + XVIII--To the Rescue 146 + XIX--The Alliance is Completed 156 + XX--Indignation of the Yearlings 162 + XXI--A Mild Attempt at Hazing 171 + XXII--The Bombshell Falls 177 + XXIII--In the Shadow of Dismissal 185 + XXIV--A Letter 193 + XXV--A Swimming Match 204 + XXVI--The Finish of a Race 211 + XXVII--What Mark Did 219 + XXVIII--Mark Meets the Superintendent 231 + XXIX--The Seven in Session 239 + XXX--The Move into Camp 248 + XXXI--"First Night" 257 + XXXII--Conclusion 268 + + + + +A CADET'S HONOR + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A "YEARLING" MEETING. + + +The whole class came to the meeting. There hadn't been such an important +meeting at West Point for many a day. The yearling class had been +outrageously insulted. The mightiest traditions of the academy had been +violated, "trampled beneath the dust," and that by two or three vile and +uncivilized "beasts"--"plebes"--new cadets of scarcely a week's +experience. And the third class, the yearlings, by inherent right the +guardians of West Point's honor, and the hazers of the plebe, had vowed +that those plebes must be punished as never had plebes been punished +before. + +The first and third classes of cadets had gone into summer camp the +previous day, immediately after the graduation exercises. From that +date, the middle of June to July 1, they have a comparative holiday, +with no drills and no duties except guard-mounting, dress parade toward +evening, and inspections. And it was during the first of the holiday +mornings that the above-mentioned "meeting" was held, beneath the shady +trees of Trophy Point, a short distance from the camp. + +"I move," shouted a voice in the crowd, "that we elect Bud Smith +chairman." + +The motion was carried with a shout, and Bud Smith, just out of hospital +by the way, was "boosted" up onto one of the guns, which served as the +"chair." Bud Smith was a tall, heavily-built youth with a face covered +by court-plaster and "contusions," as the results of a West Point fight +are officially designated by the hospital surgeon. + +"This meeting will please come to order," said the chairman. "And the +gentlemen will oblige me by keeping quiet and not compelling me to use +my voice much. For I am--er--not feeling very well to-day." + +And Bud illustrated his statement by gently mopping his "contusions" +with a damp handkerchief. + +"We have met," began the chairman, as soon as this formality was +over--"we have met, I believe, to consider the cases of three 'beasts,' +Powers, Stanard and Mallory, by name (a low groan from the class), and +to consider the best method of reducing them to submission. I don't +think it is necessary for me to restate the complaints against them, for +you are probably all as familiar with the incidents as I. 'Texas' +Powers, or as he calls himself, Jeremiah, son o' the Honorable Scrap +Powers, o' Hurricane County, Texas, must be disciplined because he fails +to understand what is expected of him. He dared to order a superior +officer out of his room, and last Monday morning he succeeded in +defeating no less than four men in our class--myself among them." + +And Cadet Smith again mopped his "contusions," and went on. + +"Of course we have got to find somebody to whip him. Then, too, Stanard +lost his temper and attacked half a dozen of our class, for no other +reason on earth than that they tied him in a sack and carried him out +onto the cavalry plain. He, too, was victorious, I am told. And then, +last of all, but of all the offenders most insolent and lawless, +comes----" + +The chairman paused solemnly before he pronounced the name. + +"Mark Mallory." + +And the storm of hisses and jeers that followed could have been heard at +barracks. It was evident that the yearlings had no love for Mark +Mallory, whoever Mark Mallory might be. + +"Mark Mallory commenced his tricks," the chairman continued, "even +before he was a cadet. He was impudent then. And the other day he dared +to act as Powers' second. And, worse than all, yesterday, to show how +utterly reckless and B. J. he is, he deliberately locked Bull Harris and +Baby Edwards up in an icehouse, with the intention of making them absent +at taps and compelling them to remain imprisoned all night. It was only +by the merest accident, they succeeding in forcing the door, that this +plan was frustrated. Now, gentlemen, this thing is about as serious as +it can possibly be. Mark Mallory's conduct shows that he's gotten the +idea into his head that not only can he avoid being hazed, but even turn +the tables upon us and bid us defiance. His attack upon the two cadets +was absolutely unprovoked. Bull told me personally that he had not +attempted to haze him, and had not even spoken to him. It was a pure +case of freshness and nothing else. And he's got to be licked for it +until he can't stand up." + +Bud Smith finished his speech amid a round of applause, and then fell to +soothing his "contusions" again. + +It may as well be stated here that Bull Harris' account of the incident +that was just now causing so much talk was an absolute falsehood. As +told in a previous volume, entitled "Off for West Point," Bull and his +gang had made an attempt to lock Mark up, and had failed, and been +locked up themselves instead. That was all. But Bull and his gang saw +fit to omit that part of the story. It was safe, for no one could +gainsay it; Mark's account was not asked for. + +"I move, Mr. Chairman," said Corporal Jasper, rising, "that inasmuch as +Mallory seems to be the leader of this fool business, that we lick him +first, and that, too, to-morrow morning. For it's growing worse every +minute. The plebes are getting so downright B. J. that a fellow can't +even give an order without fearing to be disobeyed. To-morrow morning, I +say. And I call for some one to volunteer." + +The young officer's motion took the crowd's fancy. + +"Who'll fight him? Who'll fight him?" became the cry, and was followed +by a chorus of names offered as suggestions. One was predominant, and +seemed to be the most popular. + +"Williams! Billy Williams. Get up, Billy! Speech!" + +And "Billy" arose from the ground as the cry grew louder, and said that +he was "very much honored," and that if the class really selected him he +would be most happy to do the best he possibly could. + +"Hooray! Billy's going to lick him! 'Ray for Billy." + +"I move, Mr. Chairman, that a committee be appointed to convey the +challenge on behalf of the class." + +"Carried," said the chairman. "I appoint Corporal Jasper and Cadet +Spencer. This meeting stands adjourned." + +And the yearlings scattered, bearing "Billy Williams" off in triumph. + +The committee, much as it hated to, was obliged to delay the sending of +the challenge. There were two reasons: In the first place, Mark Mallory, +together with the rest of the plebes, was being bullied and tormented +just then in the course of a squad drill; and, in the second place, one +of the committee, Cadet Spencer, was engaged in doing the bullying, +having been appointed "on duty over plebes." + +After supper, however, came a blissful half hour of rest to the +last-named unfortunates; and then the three yearlings gathered together, +took an extra quantity of dignity, and sallied forth to find the three +"B. J.'s." + +"B. J.," it may be added, is West Point for fresh, and stands for +"before June." + +Entering barracks, the committee made straight for Mark Mallory's room +and knocked. + +"Come in, thar!" shouted a voice. + +There were four occupants in the room. One was a round, fat-faced boy +with an alarmed, nervous look, Cadet Joseph Smith, of Indianapolis, +commonly known as "Indian." + +In a chair by the window sat a still more curious figure, a lank, bony +individual with ill-fitted, straying clothes and a long, sharp face. + +Upon his big, bulging knees rested a leather-bound volume labeled +"Dana's Geology," and opened at the Tertiary fossiliferous strata of the +Hudson River Valley. "Parson" Peter Stanard was too much interested to +notice the entrance of the cadets. He was trying to classify a Cyatho +phylloid coral which he had just had the luck to find. + +Sprawled upon the bed was another tall, slender fellow, his feet hoisted +up on the pile of blankets at the foot. All the committee saw of "Texas" +Powers was a pair of soles, for Texas didn't care to move. + +The fourth party was a handsome, broad-shouldered chap, with curly brown +hair. And to him Corporal Jasper, the spokesman, addressed himself. + +"Mr. Mallory?" said he. + +Mr. Mallory bowed. + +"We have come as a committee representing the yearling class." + +"I am honored," said Mr. Mallory. + +"Pray do not feel so in the least," said Corporal Jasper, witheringly. +"The class desires to express, in the first place, its entire +displeasure, both as a class and as individuals, at your unprovoked +conduct toward two of its members." + +"Um," said Mark, thoughtfully. "And did the two members tell you the +attack was unprovoked?" + +"They did." + +"Then I desire to express, in the first place, my entire displeasure, +both as a class and as an individual, at being thus grossly +misrepresented." + +"Bully!" came the voice from behind the mattress. + +"In short," continued Mark, "I desire to call the statement of Messrs. +Harris and Edwards a downright, unmitigated and contemptible lie." + +"Sock it to 'em!" chuckled the voice from the mattress. "Wow!" + +"Well put!" added "Parson" Stanard. "Worthy of the great Patrick Henry +himself." + +"Bless my soul!" chimed Indian, ready to run. + +Cadet Jasper took it coolly, like the gentleman he was. + +"It is customary, Mr. Mallory," he said, calmly, "for a man to have to +earn the right to call a higher class man a liar." + +"I am quite ready, sir," responded Mr. Mallory. + +"That is fortunate. The class offers you such an opportunity. We are +directed to bring a challenge from Cadet Williams, of the third class, +to meet him at Fort Clinton at four o'clock to-morrow morning." + +"I will consider it a favor," said Mark, politely, "if you will be good +enough to inform the class that I am most happy to accept." + +"An' look a yere," cried Texas, Mark's chum, raising his head and +peering out between his feet. "Look a yere! Whar do I come in, in this +bizness?" + +"Your seconds?" inquired Jasper, not noticing the interruption. + +"Mr. Powers and Mr. Stanard." + +"And is there any other information?" + +"None." + +"Remember, Fort Clinton at four A. M." + +"I shall be there without fail. And I thank you for your trouble in the +matter." + +Cadets Jasper and Spencer bowed and withdrew, while the four "beasts" +sat and looked at each other in silence. + +"Well," Mark said, at last, "what do you think of it?" + +"Think?" growled Texas. "I think it's a skin, that's what I think. An' +it's jest like you an' your luck, Mark Mallory!" + +And, so saying, Texas kicked the mattress off the bed. + +"If you don't do that feller Williams, whoever he is, in the first +round, I'll kick you out an' do it myself!" + +"But who is this Williams?" inquired Mark, as he picked up the mattress +and threw it at Texas. "Does anybody here know?" + +"I do," said the "Parson," reverently depositing Dana on the floor. "I +do know, and I shall, forsooth, be very happy to tell you about him. +Williams is, in the first place, as to physical proportions, the largest +man in his class; in the second place, he is the best all-around +man----" + +"All round like Indian?" inquired Texas, gravely. + +"Inasmuch as," continued the "Parson," "he won a considerable proportion +of the Olympic contests, which are celebrated here under the designation +of 'the spring games.'" + +"That sounds promising," said Mark, thoughtfully. "I wonder if he can +fight." + +"As to his pugilistic abilities, I am by no means so accurately +informed, but if my conjecture be of any value whatsoever, I should be +inclined to infer, from the fact that our enemies, the representatives +of tyranny and oppression, who are endeavoring to reduce us to +submission, have selected him as their champion and representative in +arms, that----" + +"He's a beaut," put in Texas, to save time. "And I only wish I'd had +Mark's luck." + +"And I wish," added the Boston student, "that I could contrive to +account for the presence of this Cyathodhylloid fossil in a sandstone of +Tertiary origin." + +It was not very long after this that "tattoo" sounded. But before it did +the little band of rebels up in the barracks had time to swear eternal +fealty, and to vow by all that man held dear to be present "at Fort +Clinton at four A. M. to-morrow," there, as the "Parson" classically put +it, to fire a shot for freedom that should be heard around the world. +Mark swore it, and Indian, too; Texas swore it by the seventeen guns +which were stowed away in his trunk, and by the honor of his father, +"the Honorable Scrap Powers, o' Hurricane County;" and Peter Stanard +swore it by Bunker Hill and, yea, even by Lamachus, he of the Gorgon's +crest. + +And then the meeting adjourned. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +MARK'S MYSTERIOUS VISITOR. + + +These were days of work for the plebes at West Point--days of drilling +and practicing from sunrise to night, until mind and body were +exhausted. And it usually happened that most of the unfortunates were +already sound asleep by the time "tattoo" was sounded, that is, unless +the unfortunates had been still more unfortunate, unfortunate enough to +fall into the clutches of the merciless yearling. When "taps" came half +an hour later, meaning lights out and all quiet, there was usually scant +need for the round of the watchful "tac," as the tactical officer is +designated. + +It happened so on this night. The "tac" found all quiet except for the +snoring. And, this duty over, the officer made his way to his own home; +and after that there was nothing awake except the lonely sentry who +marched tirelessly up and down the halls. + +The night wore on, the moon rose and shone down in the silent area, +making the shadows of the gray stone building stand out dark and black. +And the clock on the guardhouse indicated the hour of eleven. + +It was not very many minutes more before there was a dark, shadowy form, +stealing in by the eastern sally-port, and hugging closely the black +shadows of the wall. He paused, whoever it was, when he reached the +area, and waited, listening. The sentry's tramp grew clear and then died +out again, which meant that the sentry was back in the hallway of the +barracks, and then the shadowy form stepped out into the moonlight and +ran swiftly and silently across the area and sprang up the steps to the +porch of the building; and there he stood and waited again until once +more the sentry was far away--then stepped into the doorway and crept +softly up the stairs. The strange midnight visitor was evidently some +one who knew the place. + +He knew just the room he was going to, also, for he wasted not a +moment's time, but stole swiftly down the hall, and stopped before one +of the doors. It was the room of Cadets Mallory and Powers. + +Doors at West Point are never locked; there are no keys. The strange +visitor crouched and listened cautiously. A sound of deep and regular +breathing came from within, and, hearing it, he softly opened the door, +entered and then just as carefully shut it behind him. Having attended +to this, he crept to one of the beds. He seemed to know which one he +wanted without even looking; it was Mark Mallory's. And then the +stranger leaned over and gently touched the occupant. + +The occupant was sleeping soundly, for he was tired; the touch had no +effect upon him. The visitor tried again, and harder, this time with +success. Mark Mallory sat up in alarm. + +"Ssh! Don't make a sound," whispered the other. "I've got a message for +you. Ssh!" + +It is enough to alarm any one to be awakened out of a sound sleep in +such a manner, and at such a time, and Mark's heart was thumping +furiously. + +"Who are you?" he whispered. + +The figure made no answer, but crept to the window, instead, where the +moonlight was streaming in. And Mark recognized him instantly as one of +the small drum orderlies he had seen about the post. Half his alarm +subsided then, and he arose and joined the boy at the window. + +"Here," said the boy. "Read it." + +And so saying, he shoved a note into the other's hand. Mark took it +hurriedly, tore it open and read it. + +It took him but a moment to do so, and when he finished his face was a +picture of amazement and incredulity. + +"Who gave you this?" he demanded, angrily. + +"Ssh!" whispered the boy, glancing fearfully at the bed where Texas lay. +"Ssh! You may wake him. She did." + +"Now, look here!" said Mark, in a recklessly loud voice, for he was +angry, believing that the boy was lying. "Now, look here! I've been +fooled with one letter this way, and I don't mean to be fooled again. If +this is a trap of those cadets, as sure as I'm alive, I'll report the +matter to the superintendent and have you court-martialed. Remember! And +now I give you a chance to take it back. If you tell me the truth I'll +let you go unhurt. Now, once more, who gave you this?" + +And Mark looked the trembling boy in the eye; but the boy still clung to +his story. + +"She did, indeed she did," he protested. + +"Where?" asked Mark. + +"Down at her house." + +"Why were you there?" + +"I live there." + +Mark stared at the boy for a moment more, and bit his lip in +uncertainty. Then he turned away and fell to pacing up and down the +room, muttering to himself. + +"Yes," he said, "yes, I believe she wrote it. But what on earth can it +mean? What on earth can be the matter?" + +Then he turned to the boy. + +"Do you know what she wants?" he inquired. + +"No, sir," whispered the other. "Only she told me to show you the way to +her house." + +"Is anything the matter?" + +"I don't know; but she looked very pale." + +And Mark turned away once more and fell to pacing back and forth. + +"Shall I go?" he mused. "Shall I go? It's beyond cadet limits. If I'm +caught it means court-martial and expulsion. There's the 'blue book' on +the mantel staring at me for a warning. By jingo! I don't think I'll +risk it!" + +He turned to the boy about to refuse the request; and then suddenly came +another thought--she knew the danger as well as he! She knew what it +meant to go beyond limits, and yet she had sent for him at this strange +hour of the night, and for him, too, a comparative stranger. Surely, it +must be a desperate matter, a matter in which to fail was sheer +cowardice. At the same time with the thought there rose up before him a +vision of a certain very sweet and winsome face; and when he spoke to +the boy his answer was: + +"I'll go." + +He stepped to the desk, and wrote hastily on a piece of paper this note +to Texas: + + "I'll be back in time to fight. Explain later. Trust + me. + + "MARK." + +This he laid on the bureau, and then silently but quickly put on his +clothes and stepped to the door with the boy. Mark halted for a moment +and glanced about the room to make sure that all was well and that Texas +was asleep, and then he softly shut the door and turned to the boy. + +"How are we going to get out?" he demanded. + +"Come," responded the other, setting the example by creeping along on +tiptoe. "Come." + +They halted again at the top of the stairway to wait until the sentry +had gone down, and then stole down and dodged outside the door just as +the latter turned and marched back. Flattened against the wall, they +waited breathlessly, while he approached nearer and nearer, and then he +halted, wheeled and went on. At the same moment the two crept quickly +across the area and vanished in the darkness of the sally port. + +"Now," said the drum boy, as they came out on the other side, "here we +are. Come on." + +Mark turned and followed him swiftly down the road toward Highland +Falls, and quiet once more reigned about the post. + +There was one thing more that needs to be mentioned. It was a very +simple incident, but it was destined to lead to a great deal. It was +merely that a gust of wind blew in at the window of the room where Texas +slept, and, seizing the sheet of paper upon which Mark had written, +lifted it gently up and dropped it softly and silently behind the +bureau, whither Mark had thrown the other note. + +And that was all. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +TROUBLE FOR MARK. + + +Time has a way of passing very hurriedly when there is anything going to +happen, especially if it be something disagreeable. The hands of the +clock had been at half-past eleven when Mark left. It took them almost +no time to hurry on to midnight, and not much longer to get to two. And +from two it went on to three, and then to half-past. The blackness of +the night began to wane, and the sky outside the window to lighten with +the first gray streaks of dawn. Not long after this time up in one of +the rooms on the second floor of barracks, Division 8, the occupant of +one of the rooms began to grow restless. For the occupant had promised +himself and others to awaken them. And awaken he did suddenly, and +turned over, rubbed his eyes, and sat up. + +"Mark! Oh, Mark!" he called, softly. "Git up, thar! It's time to be +hustlin'!" + +There was no answer, and Texas got up, yawning, and went to the other +bed. + +"Git up thar, you prize fighter you!" + +And as he spoke he aimed a blow at the bed, and the next moment he +started back in amazement, for his hand had touched nothing but a +mattress, and Texas knew that the bed was empty. + +"Wow!" he muttered. "He's gone without me!" + +And with this thought in his mind he rushed to his watch to see if he +were too late. + +No, it was just ten minutes to four, and Texas started hastily to dress, +wondering at the same time what on earth could have led Mark to go so +early and without his friend. + +"That was the goldurndest queer trick I ever did hear of in my life, by +jingo!" + +It took him but a few short moments to fling his clothes on; and then he +stepped quickly across the hall and entered a room on the other side. + +"I wonder if that Parson's gone with him," he muttered. + +The "Parson" had not, for Texas found him engaged in encasing his long, +bony legs in a pair of trousers that would have held a dozen such. + +"Are you accoutered for the combat?" he whispered, in a sepulchral +tone, sleepily brushing his long black hair from his eyes. "Where is +Mark?" + +"The fool's gone up there without us!" replied the Texan, angrily. + +"Without us!" echoed Stanard, sliding into his pale sea-green socks. + +"Bless my soul!" echoed a voice from the bed--Indian was too sleepy to +get up. "Bless my soul, what an extraordinary proceeding!" + +"Come on," said Texas. "Hurry up." + +The "Parson" snatched up his coat and made for the door. + +"I think," said he, halting at the door in hesitation. "I think I'll +leave my book behind. I'll hardly need it, do you think?" + +"Come on!" growled Texas, impatiently. "Hurry up!" + +Texas was beginning to get angry, as he thought, over Mark's "fool +trick." + +The two dodged the sentry without much trouble; it is probable that the +sentry didn't want to see them, even if he did. They ran hastily out +through the sally port and across the parade ground, Texas, in his +impatience, dragging his long-legged companion in tow. They made a long +detour and approached Fort Clinton from behind the hotel, in order to +avoid the camp. Hearing voices from inside the embankment, Texas sprang +hastily forward, scrambled up the bank, and peered down into the +inclosure. + +"Here they are," called one of the cadets, and then, as he glanced at +the two, he added: "But where's Mallory?" + +And Texas gazed about him in blank amazement. + +"Where is he?" he echoed. "Where is he? Why, ain't he yere?" + +It was the cadets' turn to look surprised. + +"Here?" echoed Corporal Jasper. "Here! Why, we haven't seen him." + +"Hain't seen him!" roared Texas, wild with vexation. "What in thunder!" + +"Wasn't he in your room?" inquired somebody. + +"No. He was gone! I thought, of course, he'd come out yere." + +And Texas fell to pacing up and down inside the fort, chewing at his +finger nails and muttering angrily to himself, while the yearlings +gathered into a group and speculated what the strange turn in the affair +could mean. + +"It's ten to one he's flunked," put in Bull Harris, grinning joyfully. + +Some such idea was lurking in Texas' mind, too, but it made him mad that +any of his enemies should say it. + +"If he has," he bellowed, wheeling about angrily and facing the cadet. +"If he has it's because you've tricked him again, you ole white-legged +scoundrel you!" + +Texas doubled up his fists and looked ready to fight right then; Bull +Harris opened his mouth to answer, but Jasper interposed: + +"That's enough," said he. "We can settle this some other time. The +question is now about Mallory. You say, Mr. Powers, you've not the least +idea where he is?" + +"If I had," responded Texas, "if I had, d'you think I'd be hyar?" + +Jasper glanced at his watch. "It's five minutes after now," said he, +"and I----" + +He got no farther, for Texas started forward on a run. + +"I'm a goin' to look fo' him!" he announced. And then he sprang over the +embankment and disappeared, while the cadets stood about waiting +impatiently, and speculating as to what Mark's conduct could mean. Poor +Stanard sat sprawled out on top of the earthworks, where he sat down in +amazement and confusion when he discovered that Mark was not on hand; +and there he sat yet, too much amazed and confused to move or say +anything. + +Meanwhile Texas was hurrying back to barracks with all the speed he +could command, his mind in a confused state of anxiety and doubt and +anger. The position of humiliation in which Mark's conduct had placed +him was gall and wormwood to him, and he was fast working himself into a +temper of the Texas style. + +He rushed upstairs, forgetting that such a thing as a sentry existed. He +burst into the room and gazed about him. The place was empty still, and +Texas slammed the door and marched downstairs again, and raced back to +the fort. + +The cadets were still waiting impatiently, for it was a good while after +four by this time. + +"Find him?" they inquired. + +"No, I didn't!" snapped Texas. + +"No fight, then," said Jasper. "It's evident he's flunked." + +"Wow!" cried Texas! "No fight! What's the matter with me?" + +And, suiting the action to the word, he whipped off his coat. + +"Not to-day," responded Jasper, with decision. "You'll have your chance +another day." + +"Unless you run home, too," sneered Harris. + +Texas' face was fiery red with anger, and he doubled up his fists and +made a leap for the last speaker. + +"You coyote!" he roared. "You an' me'll fight now!" + +Bull Harris started back, and before Texas could reach him half a dozen +cadets interfered. Williams, the would-be defender of his class, seized +the half-wild fellow by the shoulders and forced him back. + +"Just take it easy," he commanded. "Just take it easy. You'll learn to +control yourself before you've been here long." + +Texas could do nothing, for he was surrounded completely. Bull Harris +was led away, and then the rest of the cadets scattered to steal into +camp, but Texas snatched up his coat in a rage, and strode away toward +barracks, muttering angrily to himself, the "Parson" following behind in +silence. The latter ventured to interpose a remark on the way, and Texas +turned upon him angrily. + +"Shut up!" he growled. "Mind your business!" + +Stanard gazed at him in silence. + +"I guess I'll have to knock him down again," he said to himself. + +But he didn't, at least, not then; and Texas pranced up to his room and +flung himself into a chair, muttering uncomplimentary remarks about Mark +and West Point and everything in it. It was just half-past four when he +entered, and for fifteen minutes he sat and pounded the floor with his +heel in rage. Texas was about as mad as he knew how to be, which was +very mad indeed. And then suddenly there was a step in the hall and the +door was burst open. Texas turned and looked. + +It was Mark! + +Texas sprang to his feet in an instant, all his wrath aflame. Mark had +come in hurriedly, for he had evidently been running. + +"What happened----" he began, but he got no further. + +"You confounded coward!" roared Texas. "Whar did you git the nerve to +show yo' face round hyar?" + +"Why, Texas?" exclaimed Mark, in amazement. + +Texas was prancing up and down the room, his fingers twitching. + +"I jest tell you, sah, they ain't no room in my room fo' a coward that +sneaks off when he's got a fight. Now I----" + +"I left word for you," said Mark, interrupting him. + +"Word for me! Word for me!" howled the other. "You're a--a--a liar, +sah!" + +Mark's face was as white as a sheet, but he kept his temper. + +"Now, Texas," he began again, soothingly. "Now, Texas----" + +"Take that, too, will ye?" sneered Texas. "You're coward enough to +swallow that, too, hey? Wonder how much more you'll stand. Try that." + +And before Mark could raise his arm the other sprang forward and dealt +him a stinging blow upon the face. + +Mark stepped back, his whole frame quivering. + +"How much?" he repeated, slowly. "Not that." + +And then, just as slowly, he took off his coat. + +"Fight, hey?" laughed Texas. "Wow! Ready?" he added, flinging his own +jacket on the floor and getting his great long arms into motion. +"Ready?" + +"Yes," said Mark. "I am ready." + +And in an instant the other leaped forward, just as he had done at Fort +Clinton, except that he omitted the yelling, being indoors with a sentry +nearby. + +Physically two fighters were never more evenly matched; no one, to look +at them, could have picked the winner, for both were giants. But there +was a difference apparent before very long. Texas fought in the wild and +savage style of the prairie, nip-and-tuck, go-as-you-please; and he was +wild with anger. He had swept the yearlings at Fort Clinton before him +that way and he thought to do it again. Mark had another style, a style +that Texas had never seen. He learned a good deal about it in a very few +minutes. + +Texas started with a rush, striking right and left with all the power of +his arms; and Mark simply stepped to one side and let the wall stop +Texas. That made Texas angrier still, if such a thing can be imagined. +He turned and made another dash, this time aiming a savage blow at his +opponent's head. In it was all the power of the Texan's great right arm, +and it was meant to kill. Mark moved his head to one side and let the +blow pass, stopping the rush with a firm prod in the other's chest; then +he stepped aside and waited for another rush. For he did not want to +hurt his excited roommate if he could help it. + +A repetition of this had no effect upon Texas, however, except to +increase his fury, and Mark found that he was fast getting mad himself. +A glancing blow upon the head that brought blood capped the climax, and +Mark gritted his teeth and got to work. Texas made another lunge, which +Mark dodged, and then, before the former could stop, Mark caught him a +crushing blow upon the jaw which made his teeth rattle. Texas staggered +back, and Mark followed him up rapidly, planting blow after blow upon +the body of his wildly striking opponent. And in a few moments Texas, +the invincible Texas, was being rapidly pummeled into submission. + +"I'll leave his face alone," thought Mark, as he aimed a blow that half +paralyzed the other's right wrist. "For I don't want the cadets to know +about this." + +And just then he landed an extra hard crack upon the other's chest, and +Texas went down in a corner. + +"Want any more?" inquired Mark, gravely. + +Texas staggered to his feet and made one more rush, only to be promptly +laid out again. + +"I guess that's enough," thought Mark, as the other lay still and +gasped. "I guess that's enough for poor Texas." + +And so saying, he took out his handkerchief, wiped the blood from his +face, and then opened the door and went out. + +"I'm sorry I had to do it," he mused; "sorry as thunder! But he made me. +And anyhow, he won't want to fight very soon again." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE EXPLANATION. + + +Mark had barely reached the head of the stairs before the morning gun +sounded, and five minutes later he was in line at roll call with the +rest of his class. It is needless to say that Texas was absent. + +Texas woke up a while later, and staggered to his feet, feeling +carefully of his ribs to make sure they were not really broken. And then +he went out and interviewed a sentry in the hall. + +"Look a yere, mister," said he. "Where's this yere place they call the +hospital?" + +The sentry directed him to await the proper hour, and Texas spent +the rest of that day, reported by the surgeon as "absent from +duty--sick--contusions." And the whole class wondered why. + +Mark noticed that the cadets were looking at him at breakfast; and he +noticed that the members of his own class were rather distant, but he +gritted his teeth and made up his mind to face it out. + +"If even Texas called me a coward," he mused, "I can't expect the rest +of 'em to do otherwise." + +And so it seemed, for that same morning just after breakfast Corporal +Jasper and Cadet Spencer paid a visit to Mark. + +"The class would like, if you please, Mr. Mallory," said the former, "an +explanation of your conduct this morning." + +"And I am sorry to say," responded Mark, just as politely, "that I am +unable to give it. All I can say is that my conduct, though it may seem +strange and mysterious, was unavoidable. If you will allow me, I shall +be pleased to meet Mr. Williams to-morrow." + +"We cannot allow it," said Jasper, emphatically, "unless you consent to +explain your action and can succeed in doing it satisfactorily, which +you will pardon me for saying I doubt very much, you stand before the +academy branded as a coward." + +"Very well," said Mark, "let it be so." + +And he turned away, and all through that long, weary morning and the +afternoon, too. Cadet Mallory was in Coventry, and not a soul spoke a +word to him, except Cadet Spencer, at drill. And he was frigid. + +Cadet Powers was released from the hospital "cured" that evening after +supper, and he limped upstairs to his room, and sat down to think about +himself, and to philosophize upon the vanities of life and the follies +of ambition. Mark did not come up until "tattoo" sounded, and so Texas +had plenty of time. He felt very meek just then; he wasn't angry any +more, and he'd had plenty of time also to think over what a fool he had +been in not listening to Mark's explanation of his absence. For Texas +had been suddenly convinced that Mark was no coward after all. + +While he sat there, a piece of paper sticking out from under the bureau +caught his eye. Texas was getting very neat recently under West Point +discipline; he picked that paper up, and read as follows: + + "I'll be back in time to fight. Explain later. Trust + me. + + "MARK." + +"Oh!" cried Texas, springing up from his chair and wrenching a +dilapidated shoulder. "He told me he did that--and I called him a liar!" + +Texas walked up and down, and mused some more. Then it occurred to him +there might be more paper under that bureau to explain things. He got +down, painfully, and fished out another crumpled note. And he read that, +too: + + "DEAR MR. MALLORY: I am in deep trouble, and I need + your aid at once. You can tell how serious the trouble + is by the fact that I ask you to come to me + immediately. If you care to do a generous and helpful + act pray do not refuse. Sincerely yours, + + "MARY ADAMS." + +Mary Adams was a girl well known to many of the cadets. + +The letter was roughly scrawled on a pad, and when Texas finished +reading it he flung it on the floor and went and glared at himself in +the mirror. + +"You idiot!" he muttered, shaking his fist at himself. "Here them ole +cadets went an' fooled Mark Mallory again, an' you--bah!" + +Texas was repentant through and through by that time; he grabbed up his +cap savagely and made for the door, with a reckless disregard for sore +joints. He hobbled downstairs and out of barracks, and caught Mark by +the arm just as Mark was coming in. + +"Well, Texas?" inquired Mark, smiling. + +"Fust place," said Texas, briefly, "want to thank you fo' lickin' me." + +"Welcome," said Mark. + +"Second place, do it ag'in if I ever lose my temper." + +"Welcome," said Mark. + +"Third place, I want to 'pologize." + +"What's up? What's happened to convince you?" + +"Nothin' much," said Texas, "only I been a' findin' out what a fool I +am. Hones' now, Mark," and as Mark looked into the other's pleading gray +eyes he saw that Texas meant it. "Hones' now, this yere's fust time I +ever 'pologized in my life. I'm sorry." + +And Mark took him by the hand. They were friends again from that moment. + +"I jist saw that second note from Mary Adams upstairs," explained Texas, +"an' then I knowed them ole cadets had fooled you that way ag'in. Say, +Mark, you're mos' as big a fool as me--mos'." + +"That note was genuine," answered Mark. And then as he saw Texas' +amazement, he led him aside and explained. "I'll tell you about it," +said he, "for I can trust you not to tell. But I can't explain to the +rest of the class, and I won't, either, though they may call me a +coward if they choose. + +"A drummer boy came up here last night--or, rather, this morning. He +woke me up and gave me that note, swore it was genuine, too, and I +believed him in the end. As you see, Mary Adams wanted to see me, and +she was in a desperate hurry about it. Well, I debated over it for a +long time; at first I thought I wouldn't, for I was afraid of +court-martial; but then as I thought of her in distress I made up my +mind to risk it, and I went. As it turned out, old man, you'd have been +ashamed of me if I hadn't. There are worse things than being called a +coward, and one of em's being a coward. + +"I found her in great trouble, as she said. She has a brother, a fellow +of about twenty-two, I guess. She lives with her widowed mother, and he +takes care of them. I think they are poor. Anyway, this brother had +gotten two or three hundred dollars from his employer to take a trip out +West. He had fallen in with a rather tough crowd down in the village, +and they were busy making him spend it as fast as he could. That was the +situation." + +"It was tough," commented Texas. + +"The problem was to get him away. The girl hadn't a friend on earth to +call on, and she happened to think of me. She begged me to try to get +him away. And I'll tell you one thing, too, Texas. The cadets say she's +a flirt and all that. She may be. I haven't had a chance to find out, +and I don't propose to; but a girl that thinks as much of her brother as +she does, and does as much for him, is not beyond respect by a good +sight. I was really quite taken with her last night." + +"Beware the serpent," put in Texas, laughing. "She's pretty, I'm told. +Go on." + +"Well, I found him, after a couple of hours' search, in a tough dive, +with a crowd of loafers hanging on to him. I got him out, but I had to +knock down----" + +"Hey!" cried Texas, springing up in excitement. "Had a fight, did ye? +Why didn't you take me 'long?" + +"I didn't know I was going to fight," said Mark, laughing. + +"And did you lick 'em?" + +"I only had to lick two, and then the rest ran." + +Texas sighed resignedly, and Mark went on: + +"I took him home, as I said, and left him with her. I got home just in +time for reveille." + +"Time to have me call you names and to lick me blue, for the same which +I have jest thanked yo," added Texas, his eyes suspiciously moist. "An' +look a yere, ole man"--Texas slung his hand around to his hip pocket and +"pulled" a beautiful silver-mounted revolver, loaded "to the +brim"--"look a yere, Mark. This yere gun, I ain't ever gone out 'thout +it fo' ten year. She's a----" + +"You don't mean to say you've had it on up here!" + +"Sho'," said Texas, "an' I come near usin' it on you, too. Mark, you +dunno how a Texas man is with a gun. Mos' of 'em 'ud ruther sell their +wives. An' I'm a goin' to give you this to show that--er--that ther' +ain't no hard feelin's, you know." + +"And I'll take it," said Mark, getting hold of Texas' other hand at the +same time--"take it, if it's only to keep you from carrying it. And +there aren't any hard feelings." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +MARK IN DISGRACE. + + +"In my excursions into the various fields of knowledge I have never yet +had occasion to investigate the alleged discoveries of phrenological +experimentalists, and yet----" + +The speaker paused for a moment, long enough to sigh mournfully. Then he +continued: + +"And yet I had, I think, sufficient perception of character as +delineated by the outlines of physiognomy to recognize at once the fact +that the person to whom we refer is in no way a coward." + +"I wish I had, Parson," responded his companion, ruefully rubbing a +large lump upon his forehead. "I wish I had." + +The thin, learned features of the first speaker found it difficult to +indicate any amusement, and yet there was the trace of a smile about his +mouth as he answered. + +"You say he 'licked' you, to use your own rather unclassic phrase?" he +inquired. + +"Licked me? Wow! He gave me, sah, the very worst lickin' I ever got in +my life--which is very natural, seeing that when a feller gits licked +down in Texas they bury him afterward. I reckon I'd be a gunnin' fo' him +right now, if 'twarn't seein' it's Mark Mallory. Why, man, a feller +can't stay mad with Mark Mallory long!" + +It was just dinner time and Parson and Texas were sitting on the steps +of barracks, waiting for the summons and talking over the events of the +previous day. + +"And how did this encounter originate?" inquired the Parson. + +"All in my foolishness!" growled Texas. "You see yesterday morning when +he didn't turn up to fight that 'ere yearling fellow Williams, I thought +'twas cause he was scared. An' so I got mad an' when he did turn up I +went fo' him. An' then I went fo' the hospital." + +"His conduct did seem unaccountable," rejoined the other. "And yet +somehow I had an instinctive intuition, so to speak, that there was an +adequate reason. And one is apt to find that such impressions are +trustworthy, as, indeed, was most obviously demonstrated and +consistently maintained by the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant. Are +you acquainted with Kant's antinomies?" the Parson added, anxiously. + +"No," said Powers. "I ain't. They ain't got to Texas yit. But I wish I'd +had more sense'n to git mad with Mark. I tell you I felt cheap when he +did explain. I kain't tell you the reason yit, but you'll know it before +long. All I kin say is he went down to Cranston's." + +"To Cranston's? I thought we weren't allowed off the grounds." + +"We ain't. But he took the risk of expulsion." + +"And another, too," put in the Parson, "the risk of being called a +coward an' being ostracised by the cadets." + +"I dunno 'bout the astercizin' part," said Texas, "but I know they +called him a coward, an' I know they cut him dead. There won't even a +plebe speak to him, 'cept me an' you an' Injun. An' it's what I call +durnation tough now, by Jingo!" + +"It don't worry me very much," put in a voice behind them. + +The two turned and saw Mark looking at them with an amused expression. + +"It don't worry me much," he repeated. "I guess I can stand it if +you'll stand by me. And I think pretty soon I can get another chance at +Williams, and then----" + +"If ye do," cried the excitable Texan, springing up, "I'll back you to +murder him in jist about half a minute." + +"It won't be so easy," responded Mark, "for Williams is the best man in +his class, and that's saying a great deal. But I'll try it; and in the +meantime we'll face out the disgrace. I can stand it, for really there +isn't much privation when you have three to keep you company." + +"I reckon," put in Texas, after a moment's thought, "I reckon we'll have +to put off aformin' o' thet ere new organization we were a-talkin' +'bout. Cuz we kain't git anybody to join ef they won't any of 'em speak +to us." + +"I guess we three are enough for the present," said Mark, "at least +while all the cadets leave us alone. And if they try to haze us I think +we can fight about as well as the rest of them. Then there's Indian, +too, you know; I don't think he can fight much, but he's----" + +"Now, see here!" cried an indignant voice from the doorway, "now see +here, you fellows! I think that's real mean, now, indeed I do. Didn't I +tell you fellows I was going to learn to fight?" he expostulated. +"Didn't I? Bless my soul, now, what more can a man do?" + +Mark winked slyly to his companions, and put on his most solemn air. + +"Do?" he growled. "You ask what more can a man do? A man might, if he +were a man, rise up and prove his prowess and win himself a name. He +might gird up his loins and take his sword in his hand and sally forth, +to vindicate his honor and the honor of his sworn friends and allies. +That is what he might do. And instead what does he do? In slothfulness +and cowardice he sits and suffers beneath the rod of tyranny and +oppression!" + +Mark finished out of breath and red in the face. + +"Bless my soul!" cried Indian. + +"Such a course is by no means entirely unprecedented," put in Stanard, +solemnly. "It is common in the mythology of antiquity and in the legends +of mediæval times. Such was the course of Hercules, and thus did Sir +Galahad and the Knights of the Round Table." + +Poor Joe Smith was gazing at the two speakers in perplexity. He wasn't +quite sure whether they were serious or not, but he thought they were, +and he was on the verge of promising to go out and kill something, +whether a cadet or a grizzly, at once. The only trouble was that the +tall, sedate-looking officer of the day, in his spotless uniform of +gray and white and gold with a dazzling red sash thrown in, strode out +of the guardhouse just then; a moment later came the cry, "New cadets +turn out!" and Indian drew a breath of relief at being delivered from +his uncomfortable situation. + +Saturday afternoon is a holiday at West Point. The luckless plebe, +having been drilled and shouted at for a week, gets a much-needed chance +to do as he pleases, with the understanding, of course, that he does not +happen to fall into the hands of the yearlings. If he does, he does as +they please, instead. + +Saturday afternoon is also a holiday time for the yearling, too, and he +is accustomed to amuse himself with variety shows and concerts, +recitations and exhibition drills, continuous performances that are +free, given by the "beasts," the "trained animals," or plebes. + +It may be well at the start to have a word to say about "hazing" at West +Point. Hazing is abolished there, so people say. At any rate, there are +stringent measures taken to prevent it. A cadet is forbidden in any way +to lay hands upon the plebe; he is forbidden to give any degrading +command or exact any menial service; and the penalty for breaking these +rules is dismissal. The plebe is called up daily before the tactical +officer in charge of his company, and asked if he has any complaint to +make. + +Such are the methods. The results are supposed to be a complete stopping +of "deviling" in all its forms. The actual result has been that when a +yearling wants to "lay hands upon the plebe" he does it on the +sly--perhaps "yanks" him, as one peculiar form of nocturnal torture is +termed. When the yearling wants some work done, instead of "commanding" +he "requests," and with the utmost politeness. If he wants his gun +cleaned he kindly offers to "show" the plebe how to do it--taking care +to see that the showing is done on his own gun and not on the plebe's. +And the plebe is not supposed to object. He may, but in that case there +are other methods. If he reports anybody he is ostracised--"cut" by +every one, his own class included. + +This being the case, we come to the events of this particular Saturday +afternoon. + + "There were three wily yearlings + Set out one summer's day + To hunt the plebe so timid + In barracks far away." + +Only in this case there were half a dozen instead of three. + +Now, of all the persons selected for torment that year, with the +possible exception of Mark and Texas, the two "B. J.'s," Indian was the +most prominent. "Indian," as he was now called by the whole corps, was a +_rara avis_ among plebes, being an innocent, gullible person who +believed implicitly everything that was told him, and could be scared to +death by a word. It was Indian that this particular crowd of merry +yearlings set out to find. + +Mark and Texas, it chanced, had gone out for a walk; "Parson" Stanard +had, wandered over to the library building to "ascertain the extent of +their geological literature," and to get some information, if possible, +about a most interesting question which was just then troubling him. + +And poor Joe Smith was all alone in his room, dreading some visitation +of evil. + +The laughing crowd dashed up the steps and burst into the room. Indian +had been told what to do. "Heels together, turn out your toes, hands by +your sides, palms to the front, fingers closed, little fingers on the +seams of the trousers, head up, chin in, shoulders thrown back, chest +out. Here, you! Get that scared look off your face. Whacher 'fraid of. +If you don't stop looking scared I'll murder you on the spot!" + +And with preliminary introduction the whole crowd got at him at once. + +"Can you play the piano? Go ahead, then. What! Haven't got any? Why +didn't you bring one? What's the use of being able to play the piano if +you haven't a piano? Can you recite? Don't know anything? You look like +it. Here, take this paper--it's a song. Learn it now! Why don't you +learn it? What do you mean by staring at me instead of at the paper? +There, that's right. Now sing the first six verses. Don't know 'em yet? +Bah, what will you do when you come to trigonometry with a hundred and +fourteen formulas to learn every night? Have you learned to stand on +your head yet? What! Didn't I tell you to do it? Who taught you to stand +on your feet, anyhow? Why don't you answer me, eh? Let's see you get up +on that mantelpiece. Won't hold you? Well, who said it would? What's +that got to do with it? No! Don't take that chair. Vault up! There. Now +flap your wings. What! Haven't got any? What kind of an angel are you, +anyhow? Flap your ears. Let's hear you crow like a hen. Hens don't crow? +What do you know about hens, anyway? Were you ever a hen? Well, why +weren't you? Were you ever a goose, then? No? Well, you certainly look +like it! Why don't you crow when we tell you? What kind of crowing is +that--flap your arms, there. Have you got any toothpicks? What! No +toothpicks? Don't suppose you have any teeth, either. Oh, so you have +toothpicks, have you? Well, why did you say you didn't? Take 'em out of +your pockets and row yourself along that mantelpiece with 'em. 'Fraid +you'll fall off, eh? Well, we'll put you up again. Humpty Dumpty! Row +fast now! Row! Get that grin off your face. How dare you smile at a +higher classman! You are the most amazingly presumptuous beast that I +ever heard of. Get down now, and don't break any bones about it, +either!" + +All these amazing orders, rattled off in a breath, and interspersed with +a variety of comment and ejaculation, poor Indian obeyed in fear and +trembling. He was commanded to fall down, and he fell; he was commanded +to fall up, and he protested that the law of gravitation----"Bah! why +don't you get the law repealed?" He wiped off a smile from his terrified +face and threw it under the bed. Then, gasping, spluttering, he went +under and got it. He strove his very best to go to sleep, amid a +variety of suggestions, such as which eyes to shut and which lung to +breathe through. + +This went on till the ingenuity of the cadets was nearly exhausted. Then +one individual, more learned than the rest, chanced to learn the +identity of the Indian's name with that of the great Mormon leader. And +instantly he elbowed his way to the front. + +"Look here, sir, who told you to be a Mormon? You're not a Mormon? Got +only one wife, hey? None? Then what sort of a Mormon are you? Why have +you got a Mormon's name? Did you steal it? Don't you know who Joseph +Smith was? No? Not you, the great Joseph Smith! Suppose you think you're +the great Joseph Smith. Well, now, how on earth did you ever manage to +get into this academy without knowing who Joseph Smith was? Didn't ask +you that, you say? Well, they should have! Fellow-citizens and cadets, +did you ever hear of such a thing? There must be some mistake here. The +very idea of letting a dunce like that in? Why, I knew who Joseph Smith +was about seventy-five years ago. Gentlemen, I move you that we carry +this case to the academy board at once. I shall use my influence to have +this man expelled. I never heard of such a preposterous outrage in my +life! Not know Joseph Smith! And he's too fat to be a cadet, anyhow. +What do you say?" + +"Come ahead! Come ahead!" cried the rest of the mob, indignant and +solemn. + +And almost before the poor Indian could realize what they were doing, or +going to do, the whole crowd arose gravely and marched in silence out of +the room, bent upon their direful mission of having the Army Board expel +Indian because he had never heard of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. +And Indian swallowed every bit of it and sat and trembled for his life. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +INDIAN'S RE-EXAMINATION. + + +It was a rare opportunity. The six yearlings made for camp on a run, and +there an interesting conference was held with a few more choice spirits, +the upshot being that the whole crew set out for barracks again in high +spirits, and looking forward to a jolly lark. + +They entered the building, causing dire fear to several anxious-looking +plebes who were peering out of the windows and wondering if this +particular marauding party was bound in their direction. It was one of +the empty rooms that they entered, however, and there they proceeded to +costume one of their number, putting on a huge red sash, some medals, a +few shoulder straps borrowed for the occasion, and, last of all, a false +mustache. This done, they hastened over to the room where the +unfortunate "Mormon" still sat. The "officer" rapped sharply on the +door. + +"Come in," a voice responded weakly; the cadets came. + +"Mr. Smith, sir?" inquired the personage with the mustache. + +"Yes, sir," said Indian, meekly, awed by the man's splendor. + +"I have been requested by certain of the cadets of the United States +Military Academy to investigate the circumstance of your alleged passing +at the recent examination. I have been informed by these same gentleman +that when questioned by them you exhibited stupidity and ignorance so +very gross as to cause them to doubt whether you have any right to call +yourself a cadet at all." + +Here the cadets shook their heads solemnly and looked very stern indeed. + +"Bless my soul!" cried Indian. + +"In order to consider these very grave allegations," continued the +other, "a special meeting of the Army Board was first convened, with the +following result:" + +Here the speaker paused, cleared his throat pompously, and drew forth a +frightfully official-looking envelope, from which he took a large +printed sheet with the West Point seal upon the top. + +"United States Military Academy, West Point, June 20th," he read--that +is the way all "orders" begin. "Cadet Joseph Smith, of Indianapolis, +Indiana, it has just been ascertained, was admitted to the duties of +conditional cadet through an error of the examining board. A +re-examination of Cadet Smith is hereby ordered to be conducted +immediately under the charge of the lord high chief quartermaster of the +academy. By order of the Academy Board. Ahem!" + +The lord high chief quartermaster finished, and Cadet Smith sank down +upon the bed in horror. + +"Sir!" shouted the officer, "how dare you sit down in the presence of +your superiors? Get up, sir, instantly!" + +Indian "got," weak-kneed and trembling. + +"The examination will be held," continued the cadet, "in the Observatory +Building, at once. Gentlemen, you will conduct Mr. Smith there and await +my arrival." + +The bogus officer desired time to change his uniform, as he knew it +would be risky to cross the parade in his borrowed clothing. + +Now the Observatory Building is situated far away from the rest of the +academy, upon the hillside near Fort Putnam. And thither the party set +out, the cadets freely discussing the probable fate of the unhappy +plebe. It was the almost unanimous verdict that one who was so +unutterably stupid as never to have heard of the great Joseph Smith +would not stand the ghost of a show. All of which was comforting to the +listening victim. + +The Observatory was deserted and lonely. The door was locked, and the +party gained entrance by the windows, which alone was enough to excite +one's suspicion. But Indian was too scared to think. + +The lord high chief quartermaster presently slipped in, once more +bedecked with medals and mustache. + +The examining party got to work at once in a very businesslike and +solemn manner. The physical examination was to come first, they said. It +had been the opinion of the Army Board that Mr. Smith was far too fat to +make a presentable cadet. The surgeons were busy that afternoon in +trying to piece together several plebes who had been knocked all to +pieces by the yearlings for being too "B. J."--this was the explanation +of the lord high chief quartermaster--and so it would be necessary to +examine Indian here, and at once, too. And if it were found, as, indeed, +would most probably be the case, that he was too fat, why then it would +be necessary for him to reduce weight immediately. + +Several schemes were suggested as to how this might be done. There was +the Shylock, the Shakespearian method, of a pound of flesh from near the +heart. Cadet Corporal So-and-So suggested that several veal cutlets from +the legs--each an inch thick--would serve. A veal cutlet an inch thick +he estimated--his great grandfather on his mother's other side had been +a butcher, he stated--would weigh three pounds. Then Acting Cadet +Sergeant Somebody-Else suggested a Turkish bath, the jockey's method, +together with very violent exercise. This plan was adopted finally as +being the least likely to be fatal in its results. + +But just then somebody suddenly thought of the fact that it would be +best to weigh the subject first, which was considered a good idea, but +for the fact that they had no scales. This trouble "feazed" the crowd at +first. Then the lord high chief quartermaster said that he was a +first-rate judge of weight, having slaughtered hogs in his youth, and +could tell by the feel. So Mr. Joseph Smith must be immediately +"boosted" up and balanced upon the cadet's outstretched hand, there to +be shaken and otherwise tested, while the man below made audible +calculations by means of trigonometrical formulas as to what was his +actual weight. + +The result of this experiment, as might have been expected, was by no +means very definite. The lord high chief, etc., thought the weight was +too much, but he couldn't be sure. And then Cadet "Admiral" Jones +proposed another scheme. He had been a juggler "when he was young;" he +was used to tossing heavy weights; in fact, he just happened to know +that he could throw three hundred pounds exactly twelve feet, the height +of the ceiling. It was obvious, therefore, that if Indian weighed over +that he would not reach the ceiling; but if he should go through the +ceiling that would mean just as clearly that he was under the limit and +need not "reduce." + +In vain did the frightened boy protest that he weighed only one hundred +and fifty; the test must be made, and made it was. Indian's terrified +form did not once get near the ceiling, and so reduce he must. The +cadets formed a circle about the room. + +"Now," said the commanding official, "now you must manage to reduce +weight quickly this way, or we shall try the veal cutlet scheme. So +you'll find it best to hurry. We want you to run around the outside of +this circle. We'll give you just ten and one-quarter minutes by my watch +(which runs very fast, by the way) to get around fifty times. And in +the course of that you must manage to perspire fifteen pounds of weight +(enough to make you go through the ceiling). This is equal to half a +gallon of water. Now then! Take off your coat, sir. Ready! Set!! Go!!! +Why don't you start, sir? There now! Hurry up! One second--two +seconds--three--four--fi'--six--sev'n--eight--nine--ten--'leven! Faster! +Faster!! Hurry up! One minute! You haven't lost a pound yet! What! Out +of breath already? Faster! That's right! Keep it up now!" + +The scene at this stage of the "examination" is left to the imagination; +Indian, wild-eyed, panting and red, plunging wildly around in a dizzy +circle of a dozen laughing cadets. And in the center the lord high with +his watch slowly telling off the minutes. + +"Two minutes there, two minutes! Come now, hurry up! Don't begin to lag +there! Why don't you stop that panting? There goes the first drop of +perspiration. Hooray, there's another! It'll soon be a gallon now. Two +and a quarter!" + +Poor Joseph kept it up to five, by which time he was so dizzy that he +could not stand up; which was the best reason in the world why he sank +down utterly breathless in the corner. And there he lay gasping, the +cadets in vain trying to get him to rise. + +"I think," said the presiding officer, nearly convulsed with +laughter--"I think that is reduction enough for the present, and I say +we proceed to the 'mental.'" + +A conference was held over in one corner of the room, as to what the +questions should be; and then in an evil hour (for them) an idea struck +one of the cadets. + +"See here, fellows," said he. "I think he's been examined enough. Let's +get somebody else. Let's get---- Who's that learned chap?" + +"Stanard?" + +"Oh, yes, Stanard! The Parson! Let's get him." + +The idea took with a rush. It would be so much more fun to fool the +learned Parson! And in a minute or two half the party, including the +lord high chief quartermaster, was on its way back to barracks to hunt +up the new victim, while the rest stayed to resuscitate Indian and to +write out a list of questions for the "mental examination." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE EXAMINATION OF THE PARSON. + + +The "examining board" had the good luck to come upon the Parson in a +secluded spot near the Observatory. The Parson had left the library for +a walk, his beloved Dana under his arm and the cyathophylloid coral in +one of his pockets. The "committee" made a rush at him. + +"Mr. Stanard?" inquired the lord high, etc. + +Mr. Stanard bowed in his grave, serious way, his knees stiff, and his +head bobbing in unison with his flying coat tails. + +"Mr. Stanard, I have been sent by the Army Board to read the inclosed +notice to you. Ahem!" + +Mr. Stanard peered at the speaker. His mustache fooled the Parson, and +the Parson bowed meekly. + +Once more the cadet took out the official envelope and with a +preliminary flourish and several "ahems!" began to read: + +"United States Military Academy, West Point, June 20th. Cadet Peter +Stanard, of Boston, Massachusetts, it has just been ascertained, was +admitted to the duties of conditional cadet through an error of the +examining board. A re-examination of Cadet Stanard is hereby ordered to +be conducted immediately under the charge of the--ahem!--superintendent +of ordnance, in the Observatory Building. By order of the Academy Board. +Ahem!" + +Now, if Cadet Peter Stanard had been a cadet just a little longer he +would never have been taken in by that device, for Cadet Peter Stanard +was no fool. But as it was, he did not see that the order was absurd. + +He went. + +Again the procession started with the same comments as before; this +time, however, the door was not locked, and the party entered, sought +out another room where stood several solemn cadets at attention, +respectfully saluting the superintendent of ordnance, ex-lord high. + +"Cadet Stanard," said the latter, "take a chair. Here is pencil and +paper. What is that book there. Geology? Well, give it to me until +afterward. Now, Mr. Stanard, here are ten questions which the board +expects you to answer. These are general questions--that is, they are +upon no particular subject. The board desires to test your general +stock of information, the--ahem!--breadth, so to speak, of your +intellectual horizon. Now you will be allowed an hour to answer them. +And since I have other duties in the meantime, I shall leave you, +trusting to your own honor to use no unfair means. Mr. Stanard, +good-day." + +Mr. Stanard rose, bobbed his head and coat tails and sat down. The +superintendent marched out, the cadets after him. The victim heard a key +turn in the door; the Parson glanced at the first question on the +paper-- + +"I. When are cyathophylloid corals to be found in fossiliferous +sandstone of Tertiary origin?" + +"By the bones of a Megatherium!" cried the Parson, "The very thing I was +looking for myself and couldn't find." + +And forthwith he seized his pencil, and, without reading further, wrote +a ten minutes' discourse upon his own researches in that same line. + +"That's the best I can do," said he, wiping his brow. "Now for the +next." + +"II. Name any undiscovered island in the Pacific Ocean." + +The Parson knitted his brows in perplexity and reread the question. + +"Undiscovered," he muttered. "Undiscovered! Surely that word is +undiscovered. U-m-yes! But if an island is undiscovered how can it have +any name? That must be a mistake." + +In perplexity, the Parson went on to the next one. + +"III. If a dog jumps three feet at a jump, how many jumps will it take +him to get across a wall twelve feet wide?" + +"IV. In what year did George Washington stop beating his mother?" + +A faint light had begun to dawn upon Stanard's mind; his face began to +redden with indignation. + +"V. What is strategy in warfare? Give an example. If you were out of +ammunition and didn't want the enemy to know it, would it be strategy to +go right on firing?" + +"VI. If three cannibals eat one missionary, how many missionaries will +it take to eat the three cannibals?" + +"VII. If a plebe's swelled head shrinks at the rate of three inches a +day, how many months will it be before it fits his brains?" + +And Stanard seized the paper, tore it across the middle and flung it to +the floor in disgust. Then he made for the door. + +"There's going to be a fight!" he muttered. "I swear it by the Seven +Hills of Rome!" + +The Parson's blood was boiling with righteous indignation; he had +"licked" those same cadets before, or some of them, and he meant to do +it again right now. But when he reached the door he halted for a moment +to listen to a voice he heard outside. + +"I tell you I cannot do it! Bless my soul!"--the Parson recognized the +sound. "I tell you I have lost enough weight already. I can't run again. +Now, I'll go home first. Bless my soul!" + +"Oho!" said the Parson. "So they got poor Indian in this thing, too. +Um--this is something to think over." + +With his usual meditative manner he turned and took his seat again, +carefully pulling up his trousers and moving his coat tails as he did +so. Clearing his throat, he began to discuss the case with himself. + +"It is obvious, very obvious, that my condition will in no way be +ameliorated by creating a suspicion in trying to make a forceful exit +through that locked door. + +"It would be a more efficacious method, I think, in some way to manage +to summon aid. Perhaps it would be well to endeavor to leave in secret." + +And with this thought in mind he went to the window. + +"It would appear," he said, gravely, as he took in the situation, "that +the 'high-thundering, Olympian Zeus' smiles propitiously upon my plan." + +And with this classic remark he stuck one long shank out of the window, +followed it with another just as long, and stood upon the cornice over +the door of the building, which chanced to be in reach. From there he +half slid, half tumbled to the ground, arose, arranged his necktie +carefully, gazed about him solemnly to hear if any one had seen him, and +finally set out at a brisk pace for barracks, taking great, long +strides, swinging his great, long arms, and talking sagely to himself in +the meanwhile. + +"When the other two members of our--ahem!--alliance are made aware of +the extraordinary condition of affairs," he muttered, "I think that I am +justified in my hypothesis when I say there will be some excitement." + +There was. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE RESCUE PARTY. + + +Mark and Texas were seated on the steps of barracks when the Parson came +through the sally port. The two were listening to the music of the band +at the Saturday afternoon hop in the Academy Building, and also watching +several cadets paying penalties by marching sedately back and forth in +the area. + +Stanard strolled in slowly with no signs of excitement. He came up and +sat down beside the two in his usual methodical way. + +"Good-afternoon, gentlemen," said he. "Good-afternoon. I have something +to deliberate upon with you if it is perfectly agreeable." + +It was agreeable, and so the Parson told his story, embellishing it with +many flourishes, classical allusions and geological metaphors. And when +he finished Texas sprang up in excitement. + +"Wow!" he cried. "Let's go up thar an' clean out the hull crowd." + +"It is best to deliberate, to think over our plan of attack," returned +the Parson, calmly, and with a mild rebuke in his tone, which reminded +Texas of his promise never to get excited again, made him sit down +sheepishly. + +"I think," put in Mark, "that we ought to think up some scheme to scare +'em off, or get away with Indian, or something. It's a harmless joke, +you know, so what's the use of fighting over it?" + +"Oh," growled Texas, in disgust. + +"If we could only manage to turn the tables on them," continued Mark. +"Shut up a while, and let's think a few minutes." + +And then there was silence, deep and impressive, while everybody got his +"ratiocinating apparatus," as the Parson called it, to work. Mark was +the first to break it. + +"Look here, Parson," said he, "what's the name of all those chemicals of +yours that you hid up the chimney for fear the cadet officers 'd make +you give 'em up?" + +The Parson rattled off a list of unpronounceable names, at the mention +of one of which Mark sprang up. + +"Get it! Get it! you long-legged Boston professor, you!" he shouted. +"Never mind why! But I've got something in my pocket that'll--gee whiz! +Hurry up!" + +The Parson did as he was commanded, and in about as much of a hurry as +was possible for him. And Mark tucked the bottle under his coat and the +three set off in haste to the rescue, Texas grumbling meanwhile and +wanting to know why in thunderation a square stand-up fight wasn't just +as good as anything. + +An Indian war party could not have made a more stealthy entrance than +did the three. They climbed in one of the windows on the lower floor, +the basement, and then listened for any sound that might tell them what +was going on above. They heard voices conversing in low tones, but no +signs of hazing; the reason of that fact being that Indian was just then +locked in another room hard at work on his "mental examination," the +same one that had been given to Stanard. And poor Indian was striving +his best to think of the name of any undiscovered island which he had +ever heard of. + +Mark took the big bottle from under his coat, set it on the floor and +took out the cork. From his pocket he took a paper containing a thick +black powder. This he poured carefully into the bottle, put in the cork, +and then turned and made a dash for the window. Outside, the three made +for the woods nearby and hid to watch. + +"Just wait till enough of that dissolves," said Mark. "Just wait." + +Meanwhile, upstairs, the hilarious cadets were chuckling merrily over +the predicament of their two victims. The lord high, etc., and +superintendent had carefully timed the hour that the Parson was to have +for his answers; the hour was up, and the official had arisen, turned +the key, and was in the very act of opening the door when suddenly-- + +Bang! a loud report that shook the doors and windows of the building and +made the cadets spring up in alarm. They gazed in one another's +frightened faces, scarcely knowing what to think. And then up the +stairway slowly rolled a dense volume of heavy smoke, that seemed to +fill the building in an instant. + +"Fire! Fire!" yelled the whole crowd at once, and, forgetting both their +victims in the mad excitement, they made a wild dash down the stairs for +the door. + +"Fire! Fire!" rang out their cries, and a moment later a big bell down +at barracks sounded the alarm--"Fire! Fire!" + +And over in the woods three conspirators sat and punched one another for +joy. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +HEROISM OF THE PARSON. + + +The cadets of the academy are organized into a fire department for the +safety of the post. It is the duty of the cadets upon the sounding of +the alarm--three strokes of the bell, or a long roll on the drum, or +three shots, as the case may be--to fall into line immediately and +proceed to the scene of the fire. One brigade has charge of a hand +engine, another forms a bucket line, etc. + +West Point was, of course, thrown into the wildest excitement on the +instant that the cry was raised. The cadets poured in from every +direction, and in a few moments were on the way at double-quick. Army +officers, the soldiers of the regular army at the post, infantry and +cavalry, all made for the scene. + +The Observatory Building was found to be in imminent peril, apparently; +there were no flames in sight, but smoke was pouring from every crevice. +Prompt and quick to act, some heroic young cadet leaped up the steps and +burst in the door with an ax, though it was not locked and needed only +a turn of the knob to open it. The moment an opening was made a cloud of +smoke burst forth that drove the party back before it, and at the same +instant a cry of horror swelled up from the fast-arriving crowd. + +With one accord everybody glanced up to one of the windows on the floor +above. There stood a figure, nothing but the head visible in the smoke, +a figure of a badly-frightened lad, yelling at the top of his lungs for +help! help! help! And the crowd gazed at him in terror. It was Indian, +apparently in peril of his life! + +Who should save him? Who? The thought was in everybody's mind at the +moment, and yet every one hesitated before that barrier of blinding +smoke. And then--then suddenly a roar of cheers and shouts swelled up as +a hero came to the fore. When every one else trembled this hero alone +was bold. He had dashed wildly from the woods, a tall, lanky, +long-haired figure. He had fought his way through the craven crowd, his +coat tails flying and his long elbows working. He had dashed up the +steps, his light green socks twinkling with every stride. And now, while +the crowd shouted encouragement, he plunged desperately into the thick +of the smoke and was lost to view. + +The crowd waited in breathless suspense--one minute--two--and still the +imperiled lad stood at the window and the hero did not appear. Could it +be that he was lost--overcome by smoke and flame? The throng below hated +to think of it and yet--no, there he was! At the doorway again! Had he +failed to accomplish his noble purpose? Had he been driven back from the +work of rescue? No! No! He had succeeded; he had gotten what he wanted! +As he dashed wildly out again the people saw that he carried under his +arm a great, leather-bound volume. + +"Dana's Geology" was safe! + +And a moment or two later somebody put up a ladder and the unfortunate +"Mormon" climbed down in haste. + +Meanwhile, what of the fire? Encouraged by the example of the "hero," +the cadets rushed in to the attack. But, strange to say, though they had +hand engines and buckets and ladders, they could find no fire to attack. +Several windows having been smashed, most of the smoke had escaped by +this time--there had really been but very little of it, anyway, just +enough for excitement. There is a saying that where there is smoke +there must be flame, and, acting on this rather dubious statement, the +gallant fire brigade hunted high and low, searching in every nook and +corner of the building, and even searching the desk drawers to see if +perchance the cunning fire had run away and hidden there. And still not +a sign of flame. + +The mystery got more and more interesting; the whole crowd came in--the +smoke having all gone by this time--to see if, perchance, a little more +diligent search might not aid; and the people kept coming until finally +the place was so packed that there was no room for the fire anyway. And +so finally every one gave it up in disgust and went home, including the +gallant fire brigade. And the three conspirators in the woods went, too, +scarcely able to hide their glee. + +"It's jest one on them ole cadets!" vowed Texas. + +Of course, the Army Board ordered a strict investigation, which was +made--and told nothing. All that was found was a few bits of broken +glass in one room, and an "examination paper" in another. Indian was +hauled up, terrified, to explain; he described his hazing, but +steadfastly refused names--which was good West Point etiquette--he +vowed he knew nothing about the fire--which was the truth--also West +Point etiquette. And since Indian was mum, and there was no one else to +investigate, the investigation stopped, and the affair remained a West +Point mystery--a mystery to all but three. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MORE TROUBLES. + + +"No, sir! I wouldn't think of it, not for a moment. The fellow's a +coward, and he don't deserve the chance." + +And Cadet Corporal Jasper brought his fist down on the table with a +bang. + +"No, sir," he repeated. "I wouldn't think of it!" + +"But he wants to fight!" exclaimed the other. + +"Well, he had a chance once; why didn't he fight then? That's what I +want to know, and that's what he won't tell us. And as far as I'm +concerned Mallory shall lie in the bed he's made. I wouldn't honor him +with another chance." + +It was an afternoon late in June, and the two speakers were discussing +some ice cream at "the Dutchwoman's" and waiting for the call to +quarters before dress parade. + +"If that fellow," continued Corporal Jasper, "had any reason on earth +for getting up at midnight, dodging sentry and running out of barracks, +to stay till reveille, except to avoid fighting you that morning, now, +by jingo! I want to know what it is! The class sent me to ask him, and +he simply said he wouldn't tell, that's all. His bluff about wanting +another chance won't work." + +"Well, if we don't," protested Williams, the other man, a tall, +finely-built fellow, "if we don't, he'll go right on getting fresh, +won't he?" + +"No, sir, he won't! We'll find a way to stop him. In the first place, +he's been sent to Coventry. Not a man in the academy'll speak to him; he +may not mind that for a while, but I think he won't brave it out very +long. Just you watch and see." + +"The only trouble with that," said Williams, "is that he's not cut by +all the fellows. I've seen three of the plebes with him." + +"What!" cried the other, in amazement. "Who?" + +"Well, there's that fellow he seconded in the fight----" + +"Texas, you mean?" + +"Yes, Texas. Then that long-legged scarecrow Stanard was out walking +with him this very day. And I saw that goose they call the Indian +talking to him at dinner, and before the whole plebe class, too." + +"Well, now, by jingo! they'll find it costs something to defy the +corps!" exclaimed Jasper. "It's a pretty state of affairs, indeed, if +three or four beasts can come up here and run this place as they please. +They'll find when an order's given here they'll obey, or else they can +chase themselves home in a hurry. That fellow Mallory must be a fool! +There's never been a plebe at this academy's dared to do half what he's +done." + +"That's why I think it would be best to lick him. I'm not sure I can do +it, you know, but I think it would be best to try." + +"That fellow started out to be B. J. at the very start," growled the +excitable corporal, after a moment's thought. "Right at the very start! +'Baby' Edwards was telling me the other day how way last year this +fellow met with an accident--fell off the express or something--and +while he was staying down at the Falls Baby and a couple of other +fellows thought he was a candidate, and started in to haze him. He was +sassy as you please then. And after that he went out West, where he +lives, and did some extraordinary thing--saved an express, I believe, +and sent in an account to a paper for a lot of money. Of course that got +him dead stuck on himself, and then he goes and wins a cadetship here +and thinks he can run the earth. He was so deucedly B. J. he had to go +and lock Edwards and Bull Harris in an icehouse down near the Falls!" + +"You see what's happened now," he continued, after a moment's pause. +"Your challenge brought him up with a round turn, and he saw his bluff +was stopped. He was afraid to fight, and so he hid, that's all. But, by +jingo, he'll pay for it if I've got anything to say in the matter!" + +And the little corporal made the dishes on the table rattle. + +Corporal Jasper and Cadet Williams had finished their council and their +ice cream by this time, and arose to go just as the roll of drum was +heard from "Camp McPherson." The two strolled off in the direction of +the summons, Jasper just as positive and vehement as ever. + +"You shan't fight him," he declared. "And if sending him to Coventry +doesn't do any good, we'll find some other way, that's all! And we'll +keep at him till he learns how to behave himself if it takes the whole +summer to do it." + +This was the young cadet officer's parting vow, as he turned and entered +his tent. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +DISADVANTAGES OF "COVENTRY." + + +"Sir, the parade is formed!" + +Thus spoke the cadet adjutant as he approached the lieutenant in +command, and a moment later, at the word, the battalion swung around and +marched across the campus. It was the evening dress parade of perhaps +the best drilled body of troops in the country, and West Point was out +in holiday attire to see it. + +Seated on the benches beneath the trees on the western edge of the +parade ground was a crowd of spectators--visitors at the post and nearly +the whole plebe class besides. For this was Saturday afternoon holiday, +and the "beasts" had turned out in a body to witness the performance of +what they were all hoping some day to be. + +It was a "mighty fine" performance, and one that made those same beasts +open their eyes with amazement. Spotless and glittering in their +uniforms were the cadets, and they went through all manner of difficult +evolutions in perfect unison, marching with lines as straight and even +as the eye could wish. It is a pretty sight, a mass of gray in a setting +of deep green--the trees that encircle the spot, and it made the poor +homesick "beasts" take a little interest in life once more. + +Among these "beasts" were Mark and Texas. They sat under the trees a +little apart from the crowd and watched the scene with interest. Mark +had seen dress parades before; Texas had not, and he stared with open +eyes and mouth, giving vent to an exclamation of amazement and delight +at intervals. + +"Look a' yere, Mark," he cried, "d'you think we'll ever be able do that +a' way. Honest, now? I think I'll stay!" + +"Even after you get through fightin?" laughed Mark. + +"I don't think I want to fight any more," growled Texas, looking glum. +"Since you an' me fit, somehow fightin' ain't so much fun." + +"What's the fun o' fightin' ef you git licked?" he added, after a +moment's thought. + +"I never tried it," said the other, laughing. "But I suppose you'll be +real meek now and let them haze you." + +"Yaas!" drawled Texas, grinning. "Yes, I will! Them ole cadets git after +me, now, by jingo, I'll go out there an' yank some of 'em out that +parade an' lick them all t'once. But say! look at that chap on a horse." + +"That chap's the commandant," said Mark, "and he's going to review the +parade for a change." + +"I wish I was in it," exclaimed Texas, "an' I wish I knew all that +rigamarole they're doin' now"--that "rigamarole" being the +manual-at-arms. "I jest believe if I had somebody to teach me 'cept that +'ere yellin' tomcat of a Cadet Spencer I'd learn in a jiffy, dog on his +boots!" + +"There he is now," said Mark, "in the second line there. And there on +the outside with his chevrons is Corporal Jasper, 'the committee.' They +look very different when they're in line." + +"Nothin' 'd make that red-headed, freckle-faced coyote of a drill-master +look different," growled Texas. "I jes' wish he was bigger'n me so's I +could git up a scrap with him. Jest think o' that little martinet a +yellin' at me an' tellin' me I didn't have any sense. To-day, for +instance, d'you remember, he was tryin' to show Indian how to march an' +move his legs, an' Indian got twisted up into a knot; an' durnation, +jist because I laughed, why he rared round an' bucked fo' an hour! +What's the harm in laughing, anyhow?" + +And Texas glared so savagely at his tormentor as the line swept by just +then that Mark concluded there was no harm and laughed. + +"You're getting to be very stupid company, Texas," said he. "You never +do anything but growl at the cadets. I wish I had some diversion." + +And Mark turned away in mock disgust and glanced down the archway of +trees. + +"Here she comes," he said, after a moment's pause. "That's she walking +up the path with a cadet and another girl." + +Texas turned as Mark spoke, and looked in the direction of his nod. + +"So that's Mary Adams!" he exclaimed. "Well! well! That's the girl you +dodged barracks for, and risked your commission, and missed the fight, +and got called a coward, and sent to Coventry, and lots else. I swear!" + +"That's the one," said Mark, smiling. + +"She's stunning pretty," added Texas, as the trio drew near. "Gee-whiz! +I don't blame you." + +"I liked her right well myself," admitted the other. "That is after I +saw her with that brother of hers. She certainly is a good sister to +him. But the cadets say she's something of a flirt, and Wicks Merritt +advised me to leave her alone, so I guess I shall." + +"Sunday school teacher!" said Texas, laughing. "We'll have to call you +Parson, instead of Stanard. But I guess you're right. That's not a very +beautiful looking cadet she's with." + +The three were passing then, and Mark arose. + +"I guess I'll have to go speak to her," said he. "She's beckoning to me. +Wait a moment." + +Texas watched his friend approach the group; he could not hear what was +said, however, and so he turned away to watch the parade. By doing it he +missed an interesting scene. + +Mary Adams welcomed Mark with a look of gratitude and admiration that +Mark could not fail to notice. She had not forgotten the magnitude of +the service he had done for her. And then she turned to her two +companions. + +"Miss Webb," she said, "let me present Mr. Mallory." + +The other girl bowed, and Mary Adams turned to the cadet. + +"Mr. Murray, Mr. Mallory," said she. + +And then came the thunderclap. Mark put out his hand; the cadet quietly +put his behind his back. + +"The cadets of this academy, Miss Adams," said he, "do not speak to Mr. +Mallory. Mr. Mallory is a coward!" + +It was a trying moment; Mark felt the blood surge to his head, his +fingers twitched and his lip quivered. He longed to spring at the +fellow's throat and fling him to the ground. + +It was a natural impulse. Texas would have done it. But Mark controlled +himself by the effort of his life. He clinched his hands behind him and +bit his tongue, and when he spoke he was calm and emotionless. + +"Miss Adams," he said, "Mr. Murray and I will settle that later." + +The two girls stared in amazement, "Mr. Murray" gazed into space, and +Mark turned without another word and strode over to where his friend was +sitting. + +"Texas!" he muttered, gripping him by the shoulder. "Texas, there's +going to be a fight." + +"Hey!" cried Texas, springing to his feet. "What's that? Whoop!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE EMBASSY OF THE PARSON. + + +"What's happened?" cried Texas, as soon as he'd managed to get calm +enough to talk coherently. "What's happened?" + +"Sit down," said Mark, laughing in spite of himself. "Sit down and stop +your dancing. Everybody in the place is staring at you." + +Texas sat, and then Mark described to him just what had happened. As +might have been expected, he was up in arms in a moment. + +"Where is that feller? Now, look a 'yere, Mark, leggo me. Thar he goes! +Say, if I don't git him by the neck an'----" + +The excitable youth was quieted after some ten minutes' work or so, and +immediate danger was over. + +"And now," said Mark, "where's the Parson?" + +"Over in library," responded the other, "a fossilizin'. What do you want +with him?" + +"You be good," said Mark, "and I'll let you see. Come on." + +They found the Parson as Texas had said, and they managed to separate +him from the books and drag him over to barracks. Then Mark, who by this +time had recovered his usual easy good-nature, told of "Mr. Murray's" +insult again. + +"Now, I haven't the least objection," he continued, "of being sent to +Coventry. In fact, so long as it means the cadets' leaving me alone, I +rather like the idea. But I don't propose to stand a thing like that +which just happened for a moment. So there's got to be a fight, and if +they won't let me, I'll have to make 'em, that's all." + +"Um," said the Parson, looking grave. "Um." + +"Now, as for that fellow Murray," added Mark, "I don't propose to fight +him." + +"Wow!" shouted Texas. "What in thunder do you mean? Now if you don't, by +jingo! I'll go and do it myself!" + +"Take it easy," said Mark, laughing. "You see, Williams is the man the +class has selected to beat me; he's the best fighter. Now, if I beat +anybody else it won't do me the least bit of good; they'd still say I'm +afraid of Williams. So I'm going to try him first. How's that, Texas?" + +"Reckon you're right," admitted Powers, rather sheepishly. "I 'spose +you'll let me go and arrange it, hey?" + +"I'd as soon think of sending a dynamite bomb," laughed Mark. "You'd be +in a fight before he'd said three words. That's what I wanted the Parson +for. I think he'd be grave and scholarly even if they ate him." + +"Thank you," said the Parson, gravely. "I should try." + +"Wow!" growled Texas. + +And thus it happened that the Parson set out for "Camp McPherson," a +short while later, his learned head full of prize fighting and the +methods and practice of diplomacy. + +It was rather an unusual thing for a plebe to do--this venturing into +"camp;" and the cadets stared at the Parson, wondering what an amount of +curiosity he must have to go prospecting within the lines of the enemy. +The Parson, however, did not act as if curiosity had brought him; with a +businesslike air and a solemn visage he strode down the company street, +and, heedless of the cadets who had gathered at the tent doors to see +him, halted in front of one before which he saw "Billy" Williams +standing. + +"Mr. Williams?" said the Parson. + +Mr. Williams had been engaged in vigorously drying his face; he paused, +and gazed up out of the towel in surprise, and one of his tent mates, +Cadet Captain Fischer, ceased unwinding himself from his long red sash +and stared. + +"My name is Stanard," said the Parson--"Peter Stanard." + +"Pleased to meet you," said Williams, stretching out a long, brawny arm. + +There was a twinkle in the yearling's eye as he glanced at the skinny +white fingers which Stanard put out in return. And, taking in the +stranger's lank, scholarly figure, Williams seized the hand and squeezed +with all his might. + +He expected to hear a howl, but he was disappointed. The Parson drew up +his "prehensile muscles," as he called them. The result was that Cadet +Williams turned white, but he said nothing about it, and invited the +stranger into his tent. + +The Parson deposited himself gently in one corner and drew up his long +legs under him. Then he gazed out of the tent and said--"ahem!" + +"Warm day," said Williams, by way of a starter. + +"It is not that the temperature is excessively altitudinous," responded +the Parson, "but the presence of a larger proportion of humidity retards +perspiratory exudation." + +"Er--yes," said Williams. "Yes, I think that's it." + +"I have come--ahem!" continued Stanard, "as a representative of Mr. +Mallory." + +The other bowed. + +"Mr. Mallory desires to know--if you will pardon my abruptness in +proceeding immediately to the matter in hand--to know if it is not +possible for you to fulfill a certain--er--engagement which you had with +him." + +"I see," said Williams, thoughtfully, and he tapped the floor with his +foot for a minute or so. + +"Mr. Mallory, of course, understands," he continued at last, "that I +have no grudge against him at all." + +"Certainly," said the Parson. + +"In fact, I rather admire Mr. Mallory, on the whole, though some of his +actions have been, I think, imprudent. In this matter I am simply the +deputy of the class." + +"Exactly," said the Parson, bowing profusely. + +"Therefore, I fight when the class says so, and when they say no, what +reason have I for fighting? Now, the class thinks that Mr. Mallory has +had chance enough, and----" + +"But they don't know the circumstances!" protested Stanard, with more +suddenness than was usual with him. + +"They do not," responded the other. "But they'd like to." + +"I do not know them myself," said the Parson. "But I have faith enough +in Mr. Mallory to take his word that it was unavoidable." + +"You must have a good deal," added Williams, his handsome face looking +grave, "a good deal to risk being sent to Coventry." + +"I am willing. Examples of yet higher devotion to a _fides amicus_, so +to speak, are by no means extraordinary. Take the popular instance of +Damon and Pythias, or, if you look for one yet more conspicuous, I would +mention Prylocates and Tyndarus, in the well-known play of 'The +Captive,' by Plautus, with which you are doubtless familiar." + +And the Parson closed his learned discourse with his favorite occupation +of wiping his brow. + +"The risk is your own," responded the yearling, calmly. "You must not +mind if the class resents your view of the case." + +There was a few moments' silence after that, during which the Parson +racked his head to think what to say next. + +"You refuse, then, to fight Mr. Mallory?" he inquired at last. + +"Absolutely!" responded the other. "Absolutely, until the class so +directs." + +Then the Parson drew a long breath, and prepared for the culminating +stroke. + +"What I say next, Mr. Williams," said he, "you will understand is said +with all possible politeness and good feeling, but it must be said. Mr. +Mallory has been insulted by some cadets as a coward. He must free +himself from the suspicion. Mr. Williams, if a plebe should strike an +older cadet, would that make a fight necessary?" + +"Most certainly," said Williams, flushing. + +"Well, now, suppose he simply threatened to do so," continued Stanard. +"Would that be cause enough?" + +"It might." + +"Well, then, Mr. Williams, Mr. Mallory desires me with all politeness +to beg permission to threaten to strike you." + +"I see," said the other, smiling at the solemn air with which the lank +stranger made this extraordinary request. "I see. I have no objection to +his so doing." + +"Thank you," said Stanard. "A fight is now necessary, I believe?" + +"Er--yes," said Williams. "I believe it is." The fact of the matter was +that he saw that Mark was in a position to force a fight if he chose, +and the yearling was by no means reluctant, anyhow. + +"I thank you for your courtesy," he continued, bowing Stanard out of the +tent. "Tell Mr. Mallory that I shall send my second to see him this +evening. Good-day." + +And Stanard bowed and strode away with joy in his very stride. + +"We have met the enemy," was his report to Mark. "We have met the enemy, +and there's going to be a fight!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +PREPARATIONS FOR THE BATTLE. + + +It does not take long for news of so exciting a matter as a really +important fight to spread among the corps. No sooner did the Parson +leave camp than cadets began to stroll in to find out why he had come, +and, learning, they hurried off to discuss the news with their own +tentmates. So it happened that by the time the cadets marched down to +mess hall to supper every man in the battalion knew that Mark Mallory, +the B. J. beast, had succeeded in getting another chance at "Billy" +Williams. The plebes knew of it, too. When their rather ragged and +scattered company fell in behind the corps at barracks, they were all +talking about it, at least when the file closers weren't near. At supper +nobody talked of anything else, and everybody in the room was eying Mark +and his stalwart opponent and speculating as to what the chances would +be. + +"Billy'll do him!" vowed the yearlings. "There's nobody in the class +that stands more chance." + +And the plebes feared it would be that way, too, and yet there were a +few at the tables discussing the matter in whispers, venturesome enough +to say that perhaps maybe their classmate might win and to wonder what +on earth would happen to him if he did. + +"It'll mean a revelation if he does!" they cried. "Perhaps it'll even +stop hazing." + +The mood of the irate little corporal, who had vowed not an hour before +that Mallory should not have another chance, may well be imagined. + +"I tell you, 'tis a shame!" he vowed to Williams. "A shame! I don't see +why in thunder you didn't hold out." + +"It's not my fault, Jasper," responded the other, smiling good +naturedly. "If you'll think a while, you'll see he was in a position to +force a fight at any time he chose. If I refused to 'allow him to +threaten to hit me,' as he put it, he could have threatened anyway, and +then if that didn't do any good, he'd have actually to hit me, and there +you would have been. It's a great deal better this way." + +"Yes!" growled Jasper. "That sounds all very well. But look where it +puts me, by George! You'll have to get somebody else to arrange it. I +won't. I went as a committee and told him he'd not get another chance, +and I tell you now I'll not go take it back for anybody, and with that +B. J. plebe especially." + +"Perhaps he won't be so very B. J. after the fight," responded the +other, smiling. "I don't know, of course, but I shall do my best." + +"If you don't," said the other, looking serious, "by jingo! we'll be in +a thundering fix. There's nobody in the class can beat you, and that +plebe'll have a walkover." + +This last sentiment of Jasper's was the sentiment of the whole yearling +class, and the class was in a state of uncertainty in consequence. Texas +was known to have whipped four cadets in one morning, and all of them +good men, too; then there was a rumor out that Mark and Texas had had a +quarrel and that the latter had gone to the hospital some five minutes +later. The two facts put together were enough to make the most confident +do some thinking. + +It is difficult for one who has never been to West Point to appreciate +what this state of affairs meant--because it is hard for him to +appreciate the relation which exists between the plebe and the rest of +the corps. From the moment of the former's arrival as an alarmed and +trembling candidate, it is the especial business of every cadet to +teach him that he is the most utterly, entirely and absolutely +insignificant individual upon the face of the universe. He is shouted at +and ordered, bullied, badgered, tormented, pulled and hauled, drilled +and laughed at until he is reduced to the state of mind of a rabbit. If +he is "B. J." about it, he is bullied the more; if he shows fight, he +has all he wants, and is made meeker still. The result of it all is that +he learns to do just as anybody else commands him, and + + Never dares to sneeze unless + He's asked you if he might. + +All of which is fun for the yearling. + +Now, here was Mark Mallory--to say nothing of Texas--who had come up to +the Point with an absurd notion of his own dignity, who had outwitted +the yearlings at every turn, been sent to Coventry--and didn't care a +hang, and now was on the point of trying to "lick" the finest all-around +athlete in the whole third class. It was enough to make the corps +tremble--the yearlings, at any rate. The first class usually feels too +dignified to meddle with such things. + +Billy Williams' ambassador put in an appearance on the following Sunday +morning, and, to Mark's disgust, he proved to be none other than his +old enemy, Bull Harris--sent, by the way, not because Williams so chose, +but because Bull himself had asked to be sent. + +"Mr. Williams," said he, "says he'll give you another chance to run +away." + +Mark bowed politely, determined that Harris should get as little chance +for insult as possible. + +"He'll fight you to-morrow--Fort Clinton, at four, and if you don't +come, by thunder! he'll find out why." + +Mark's face grew white, but he only bowed again, and swallowed it. And +just then came an unexpected interruption. + +"Mr. Mallory, as the challenged party, has the right to name the time." + +The voice was loud and clear, and seemed to have authority; Harris +turned and confronted Cadet First Captain Fischer, in all his glory of +chevrons and sword. Now, the first captain is lord of West Point--and +Harris didn't dare to say a word, though he was boiling within. + +"And, moreover," continued the imposing young officer, angrily, "you +should remember that you came, Mr. Harris, as a gentleman and not as a +combatant. Mr. Mallory, what is your wish?" + +"The time suits me," said Mark, quietly. "Good-day, Mr. Harris." + +And Harris left in a very unpleasant mood indeed; he had meant to have +no end of amusement at the expense of Mark's feelings. + +"You've a hard row to hoe," said the cadet officer to Mark, "and a hard +man to beat. And you were foolish to get into it, but, all the same, +I'll see that you have fair play." + +"And that," exclaimed Texas to Mark, as he watched the tall, erect +figure of the cadet vanish through the sally port. "That is the first +decent word I've heard from a cadet since I've been here. Bully for +Fischer!" + +"It's probable," said Mark, "that he knows Harris as well as we. And +now, old fellow," he added, "we've got nothing to do but pass time, and +wait--and wait for to-morrow morning!" + +Mark slept soundly that night in spite of the excitement. It was Texas +who was restless, for Texas had promised to act as alarm clock, and, +realizing that not to be on time again would be a calamity indeed, he +was up half a dozen times to gaze out of the window toward the eastern +sky, watching for the first signs of morning. + +While it was yet so dark that he could scarcely see the clock, he routed +Mark out of bed. + +"Git up thar," he whispered, "git up an' git ready." + +Mark "got," and the two dressed hurriedly and crept down the stairs, +past the sentry--the sentry was a cadet, and kindly "looked the other +way"--and then went out through the sally port to the parade ground. The +plain was shrouded in mist and darkness, and the stars still shone, +though there was a faint light in the east. The two stole past the +camp--where also the sentries were blind--scaled the ramparts, and stood +in the center of "old Fort Clinton." + +The spot was deserted and silent, but scarcely had the two been there a +moment before a head peered over the wall nearest to the camp. + +"They're here," whispered a cadet, and sprang over. A dozen others +followed him, and in a very few minutes more there were at least thirty +of them, excited and eager, waiting for "Billy" to put in an appearance. +It was not long before Billy came, and behind him his faithful chum, +Jasper, with a bucket of water, and sponges and towels enough for a +dozen. About the same time Stanard's long shanks appeared over the +breastworks, and Indian tumbled over a moment later. Things were about +ready then. + +"Let's lose no time," said Jasper, always impatient. "Captain Fischer +will act as referee and timekeeper, if it's agreeable." + +No one could have suited Mark more, and he said so. Likewise, he stated, +through his second, Mr. Powers, that he preferred to fight by rounds, +which evidently pleased Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams was by this time +stripped to the waist, his suspenders tied about him. And it was +evidently as Fischer had said. There was no finer man in his class, and +he was trained to perfection. His skin was white and glistening, his +shoulders broad and massive, and the muscles on his arms stood out with +every motion. His legs were probably as muscular, too, thought Mark, for +Williams held the record for the mile. The yearlings' hearts beat higher +as they gazed at their champion's determined face. + +Mark was a little slower in stepping up; when he did so the watching +crowd sized him up carefully, and then there was doubt. + +"Oh, gee, but this is going to be a fight!" was the verdict of every one +of them. + +"Marquis of Queensberry rules," said Fischer, in a low tone. "Both know +them?" + +Mark nodded. + +"Shake hands!" + +Mark put out his, by way of answer, and Williams gripped it right +heartily. + +"Ready?" + +And then the simple word "Go." + +Let us gaze about a moment at the scene. The ring is surrounded by +earthworks, now grass-grown and trodden down, unkept since the +Revolutionary days, when West Point was a Gibraltar. Old cannon, +caissons and wagon wheels are scattered about inside, together with +ramparts and wire chevaux-de-friezes which the cadets are practiced in +constructing. In the southwest corner is a small, clear, smooth-trodden +space, where the two brawny, white-skinned warriors stand. The cadets +are forming a ring about them, for every one is too excited to sit down +and keep quiet. The "outlooks," posted for safety, are neglecting their +duty recklessly for the same reason, and looking in altogether. Every +eye is on the two. + +Over in Mark's corner sits Texas, gripping his hands in excitement, +wriggling nervously and muttering to himself. Stanard is beside him with +"Dana's Geology" as a cushion. The Parson is a picture of calm and +scholarly dignity, in direct contrast with our friend Texas, who is on +the verge of one of his wild "fits." "Indian" is the fourth and only +other plebe present, and Indian is horrified, as usual, and mutters +"Bless my soul" at intervals. + +On the opposite side of the circle of cadets are Jasper and another +second, both breathlessly watching every move. Nearby stands Cadet +Captain Fischer, calm and cool, critically watching the play. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE AFFAIR AT THE FORT. + + +The two began cautiously, like a pair of skillful generals sending out a +skirmish line to test the enemy's strength and resource. This was no +such battle as Texas', a wild rush, a few mighty blows, and then +victory. Williams was wary as a cat, sparring lightly, and taking no +risks, and the other saw the plan and its wisdom. + +"Playing easy," muttered the referee, noting the half minute on his +watch. "Know their business, it seems." + +"Wow!" growled Texas. "What's the good o' this yere baby business? Say, +Parson, ain't they never goin' to hit? Whoop!" + +This last exclamation was caused by the real beginning of the battle. +Williams saw an unguarded face, and quick as thought his heavy arm shot +out; the crowd gasped, and Mark saw it. A sudden motion of his head to +one side was enough to send the blow past him harmlessly, and a moment +later the yearling's forward plunge was checked by an echoing crack upon +his ribs. Then for the rest of the round the excited cadets were +treated to an exhibition of sparring such as they had never seen in +their lives. Feinting, dodging and parrying, the springing pair seemed +everywhere at once, and their fists in a thousand places. The crowd was +thrilled; even the imperturbable Fischer was moved to exclamation, and +Texas in half a minute had seen more skill than his whole experience had +shown him in his life. + +"Look a thar! Look a thar! He's got him--no--gad! Whoop!" + +Texas did as much dancing as the fighters themselves, and more talking +than the whole crowd. Captain Fischer had to stop watching him long +enough to tell him that the camp, with its sleeping "tacs," was only a +few yards away. And then, as Powers subsided, the cadet glanced at his +watch, called "Time!" and the two fighters went to their corners, +panting. + +"What did ye stop for?" inquired Texas, while the Parson set diligently +to work at bathing several red spots on his friend's body. "What kind o' +fightin' is this yere? Ain't give up, have you? Say, Mark, now go in +nex' time an' do him. What's the use o' layin' off?" + +"A very superior exhibition of--lend me that court-plaster, +please--pugilistic ability," commented the Parson, bustling about like +an old hen. + +And then a moment later the referee gave the word and they were at it +again. + +This round there was no delay; both went at it savagely, though warily +and skillfully as ever. Blow after blow was planted that seemed fairly +to shake the air, driven by all the power that human muscle could give. + +"Won't last long at this rate," said the referee, sagely shaking his +head. "Give 'em another round--gee!" + +Fischer's "gee" was echoed by the yearlings with what would have, but +for the nearness of the camp, been a yell of triumph and joy. Williams +had seen a chance, and had been a second too quick for Mark; he had +landed a crushing blow upon the latter's head, one which made him +stagger. Quick to see his chance, the yearling had sprung in, driving +his half-dazed opponent backward, landing blow after blow. Texas gasped +in horror. The yearlings danced--and then---- + +"Time!" said the imperturbable Fischer. + +Texas sprang forward and led his bewildered friend to a seat; Texas was +about ready to cry. + +"Old man!" he muttered, "don't let him beat you. Oh! It'll be the death +of me. I'll go jump into the river!" + +"Steady! Steady!" said the Parson; "we'll be all right in a moment." + +Mark said nothing, but as his reeling brain cleared he gritted his +teeth. + +"Time," said the referee. + +And Williams sprang forward to finish the work, encouraged by the +enthusiastic approval of his half-wild classmates. He aimed another blow +with all his might; Mark dodged; the other tried again, and again the +plebe leaped to one side; this repeated again and again was the story of +the next minute, and the yearlings clinched their hands in +disappointment and rage. + +"He's flunking!" cried one of them--Bull Harris--"He's afraid!" + +"He's fighting just as he ought," retorted Captain Fischer, "and doing +it prettily, too. Good!" + +And then once more the crowd settled into an anxious silence to watch. + +The story of that minute was the story of ten. Mark had seen that in +brute force his adversary was his equal, and that skill, coolness and +endurance were to win. He made up his mind on his course, and pursued +it, regardless of the jeers of the yearlings and their advice to Billy +to "go in and finish him off." Billy went, but he could not reach Mark, +and occasionally his ardor would be checked by an unexpected blow which +made his classmates groan. + +"It's a test of endurance now," observed Fischer, "and Billy ought to +win. But the plebe holds well--bully shot, by Jove! Mallory's evidently +kept in training. Time!" + +That was for the seventh round. + +"He's getting madder now," whispered Mark to Stanard, as he sat down to +rest. "He wants to finish. If those fellows keep at him much more he'll +sail in for a finish--and then, well, I'm pretty fresh yet." + +Goaded on by his impatient classmates, Williams did "sail in," the very +next round. Mark led him a dance, from corner to corner, dodging, +ducking and twisting, the yearling, thinking the victory his, pressing +closer and closer and aiming blow after blow. + +"Watch out, Billy, watch out," muttered the vigilant Fischer to himself, +as he caught the gleam in Mark's eye. + +Just then Williams paused, actually exhausted; Mark saw his chest +heaving, and, a still surer sign, his lip trembling. + +"Now, then!" whispered the Parson at his back, and Mark sprang forward. + +The yearling dodged, Mark followed rapidly. There was a moment of +vicious striking, and then the cadets gasped to see Williams give way. +It was only an inch, but it told the story--Williams was tired. Fischer +gazed at his watch and saw that there was yet half a minute, and at the +same moment he heard a resounding thump. Mark had planted a heavy blow +upon his opponent's chest, he followed almost instantly with another, +and the yearlings groaned. + +Williams rallied, and made a desperate fight for his life, but at the +close of that round he was what a professional reporter would have +termed "groggy." He came up weakly at the call. + +"Don't be afraid of hitting him," the Parson had said, afraid that +Mark's kind-heartedness would incline him to mercy. "There's too much at +stake. Win, and win in a hurry"--the Parson forgot to be classical when +he was excited. + +Obedient to command, Mark set out, though it was evident to him that he +had the fight. While Texas muttered and pranced about for joy, Mark +dealt his opponent another blow which made him stagger; he caught +himself upon one knee, and Mark stepped back and waited for him to rise. +And then suddenly a pair of strong arms were flung about the plebe's +waist and he felt himself shoved hurriedly along; at the same moment a +voice shouted in his ear: + +"Run, plebe, run for your life!" + +Mark glanced about him in dimly-conscious amazement. He saw that the +ring had melted into a number of cadets, skurrying away in every +direction at the top of their speed. He heard the words, "a tac! a tac!" +and knew the fight had been discovered by an army officer. + +A figure dashed up behind Mark and caught him by the arm. It was +Fischer. + +"Run for your life! Get in barracks!" he cried. + +And with that he vanished, and Mark, obeying, rushed across the cavalry +plain and was soon lying breathless and exhausted in his room, where +the wildly-jubilant Texas joined him a moment later, just as reveille +was sounded. + +"Victory! Victory!" he shouted. "Wow!" + +And by breakfast time that morning every cadet in the corps was +discussing the fight. And Mark was the hero of the whole plebe class. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +TWO PLEBES IN HOSPITAL. + + +"Say, tell me, did you do him?" + +The speaker was a lad with brown, curly hair and a laughing, merry face, +at present, however, half covered with a swathing of bandages. He was +standing on the steps of the hospital building at West Point, and +regarding with anxiety another lad of about the same age, but taller and +more sturdily built. + +"I don't know that I did him," responded Mark--for the one addressed was +he--"I don't know that I can say I did him, but I believe I would have +if the fight hadn't been interrupted." + +"Bully, b'gee!" cried the other, excitedly slapping his knee and wincing +with pain afterward. "Gimme your hand! I'm proud of you, b'gee! My +name's Alan Dewey, at your service." + +Mark took the proffered hand, smiling at the stranger's joy. + +"My success seems to cause you considerable pleasure," he said. + +"Yes, b'gee!" exclaimed Dewey, "it does! And to every true and loyal +plebe in the academy. You've brought honor to the name of plebe by +licking the biggest yearling in the place, b'gee, and that means the end +of hazing." + +"I'm not so sure of that," said Mark. + +"I am," returned the other. "But say, tell me something about the fight. +I wanted to come, only I was shut up in hospital. Did Williams put up a +good one?" + +"Splendid," said Mark. + +"He ought to. They say he's champion of his class, and an all-round +athlete. But you look as if you could fight some yourself." + +"He almost had me beaten once," said Mark. "I thought I was a goner." + +"Say, but you're a spunky chap!" remarked Dewey, eying Mark with an +admiring expression. "I don't think there's ever been a plebe dared to +do half what you've done. The whole class is talking about you." + +"Is that so?" inquired Mark, laughing. "I didn't mean to do anything +reckless." + +"What's the difference," laughed the other, "when you can lick 'em all, +b'gee? I wish I could do it," he added, rather more solemnly. "Then, +perhaps, maybe I wouldn't be the physical wreck that I am." + +"You been fighting, too?" inquired Mark, laughing. + +"Betcher life, b'gee!" responded the other, emphatically. "Only I wasn't +as clever at it as you." + +"Tell me about it," said Mark, with interest. + +"It happened last Saturday afternoon, and I've been in hospital ever +since, b'gee. Some of the cadets caught me taking a walk up somewhere +near what they call 'Crow's Nest.' And so they set out to have some fun. +Told me to climb a tree, in the first place. I looked at the tree, and, +b'gee, there wasn't a limb for thirty feet, and the limbs there were +rotten. There was one of 'em, a big, burly fellow with short hair and a +scar on his cheek----" + +"Bull Harris!" cried Mark. + +"Yes," said Dewey, "that's what they called him--'Bull.'" + +"Did you fight with him?" + +"Betcher life, b'gee! He tried to make me climb that tree, and, b'gee, +says I, 'I won't, b'gee!' Then I lammed him one in the eye----" + +"Bully!" cried Mark, and then he added, "b'gee!" by way of company. "Did +he beat you?" + +"Betcher life," cried the other. "That is, the six of 'em did." + +"You don't mean to say the crowd attacked you?" + +"That's what I said." + +"Well, sir!" exclaimed Mark, "the more I hear of that Bull Harris the +bigger coward I find him. It's comforting to know that all the cadets +aren't that way." + +"Very comforting!" responded the other, feeling of the bandage on his +swollen jaw. "Very comforting! Reminds me of a story I heard once, +b'gee, of a man who got a thousand dollars' comfort from a railroad for +having his head cut off." + +Mark laughed for a moment, and then he fell to tapping the step +thoughtfully with his heel. He was thinking over a plan. + +"I don't suppose you've much love for the yearlings," he remarked, at +last. + +"Bet cher life not," laughed the other. "I've about as much as a +mother-in-law for a professional joke writer, b'gee! Reminds me of a +story I once heard--but go on; I want to hear what you had to say. Tell +my story later." + +"Well, three friends of mine have formed a sort of an informal alliance +for self-defence----" + +"Bully, b'gee!" cried Dewey, excitedly. + +"And I thought maybe you'd like to----" + +"Join? Bet cher life, b'gee! Why didn't you say so before? Whoop!" + +And thus it happened that Member Number Five of the West Point +"alliance" was discovered. + +"I don't think this famous alliance is going to have much to do at the +start," said Mark, as soon as Master Dewey had recovered from his +excitement, "for I rather fancy the yearlings will leave us alone for a +time." + +"Bet cher life, b'gee!" assented the other. "If they don't look out they +won't have time to be sorry." + +"B'gee!" added Mark, smiling. + +"Do I say that much?" inquired the other, with a laugh. "I suppose I +must, because the fellows have nicknamed me 'B'gee.' I declare I'm not +conscious of saying it. Do I?" + +"Bet cher life, b'gee," responded Mark, whereupon his new acquaintance +broke into one of his merry laughs. + +"Let's go around to barracks," said Mark, finally--it was then just +after breakfast time. "I expect they'll want me to report for drill. I +thought I'd get off for the morning on the strength of my 'contusions,' +as they call them. But the old surgeon was too sly for me. He patched me +up in a jiffy." + +"What was the matter with you?" inquired Dewey, dropping his smile. + +"One eye's about half shut, as you see," responded Mark, "and then I had +quite a little cut on the side of my head where Williams hit me once. +Otherwise I am all right--only just a little rocky." + +"As the sea captain remarked of the harbor, b'gee," added the other. +"But tell me, how's Williams?" + +"Pretty well done up, as the laundryman remarked, to borrow your style +of illustration," Mark responded, laughing. "They had to carry poor +Williams down here. He's in there now being fixed up. And say, you +should have seen how queerly the surgeon looked at us two. He knew right +away what was up, of course, but he never said a word--just entered us +'sick--contusions.' Is that what you were?" + +"Bet cher life, b'gee!" responded the other. "But he tried to get me to +tell what was up. He rather suspected hazing, I think. I didn't say +anything, though." + +"It would have served some of those chaps just right if you had," vowed +Mark. "You know you could have every one of them expelled." + +The two had reached the area of barracks by this time, and hurried over +to reach their rooms before inspection. + +"And don't you mention what I've told you about this great alliance to a +soul," Mark enjoined. "We'd have the whole academy about our ears in a +day." + +Dewey assented. + +"What's the name of it?" he inquired. + +"Haven't got any name for it yet," said Mark, "or any leader either, in +fact. We're waiting to get a few more members, enough for a little +excitement. Then we'll organize, elect a leader, swear allegiance, and +you can bet there'll be fun--b'gee!" + +"Come up to my room," he added, after a moment's pause, "as soon as you +get fixed up for inspection, and I'll introduce you to the other +fellows." + +With which parting word he turned and bounded up the stairs to his own +room. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE PARSON'S INDIGNATION. + + +Mark found his roommate and faithful second, Texas, busily occupied in +cleaning up for the morning inspection. Texas wasn't looking for Mark; +it had been Texas' private opinion that Mark had earned a week's holiday +by the battle of the morning, and that the surgeon would surely grant +it. When Mark did turn up, however, Texas wasted no time in complaining +of the injustice, but got his friend by the hand in a hurry. + +"Ole man," he cried, "I'm proud of you! I ain't had a chance to say how +proud I am!" + +"Thanks," said Mark, laughing, "but look out for that sore thumb--and +for mercy's sakes don't slap me on that shoulder again. I'm more +delicate than I look. And say, Texas, I've got a new member for our +secret society--b'gee!" + +Texas looked interested. + +"He's a pretty game youngster," Mark continued, "for when Bull Harris +and that gang of his tried to haze him, he sailed in and tried to do the +crowd." + +"Oh!" cried Texas, excitedly. "Wow! I wish I'd 'a' been there. Say, +Mark, d'ye know I've been a missin' no end o' fun that a'way. Parson had +a fight, an' I didn't see it; you had one daown to Cranston's, an' I +missed that; an' yere's another!" + +Texas looked disgusted and Mark burst out laughing. + +"'Tain't any fun," growled the former. "But go on, tell me 'bout this +chap. What does he look like?" + +"He's not as tall as we," replied Mark, "but he's very good-looking and +jolly. And when he says 'B'gee' and laughs, you can't help laughing with +him. Hello, there's inspection!" + +This last remark was prompted by a sharp rap upon the door. The two +sprang up and stood at attention. "Heels together, eyes to the front, +chest out"--they knew the whole formula by this time. And Cadet Corporal +Jasper strode in, found fault with a few things and then went on to +carry death and devastation into the next place. + +A few minutes later the Parson strolled in. + +"Yea, by Zeus," began he, without waiting for the formality of a +salutation. "Yea, by Apollo, the far-darting, this is indeed an outrage +worthy of the great Achilles to avenge. And I do swear by the bones of +my ancestors, by the hounds of Diana, forsooth even by Jupiter lapis and +the Gemini, that never while I inspire the atmosphere of existence will +I submit myself to so outrageous an imposition----" + +"Wow!" cried Texas. "What's up?" + +"Sit down and tell us about it," added Mark. + +"It is written in the most immortal document," continued the Parson, +without noticing the interruption, "that ever emanated from the mind of +man, the Declaration of Independence (signed, by the way, by an ancestor +of my stepmother), that among the inalienable privileges of man, +co-ordinate with life and liberty itself, is the pursuit of happiness. +And in the name of the Seven Gates of Thebes and the Seven Hills of the +Eternal City, I demand to know what happiness a man can have if all his +happiness is taken from him!" + +"B'gee! Reminds me of a story I heard about a boy who wanted to see the +cow jump over the moon on a night when there wasn't any moon, b'gee." + +Mark and Texas looked up in surprise and the Parson faced about in +obvious displeasure at the interruption. + +"In the name of all the Olympian divinities and the inhabitants of +Charon and the Styx," he cried, angrily, "I demand to know----" + +"Come in," said Mark, laughing. "Excuse me for interrupting, Parson, but +this is Mr. Alan Dewey, b'gee, member Number Five of our band of +desperate buccaneers, if you please. Mr. Dewey, allow me to introduce +you to the gentleman who 'reminded' you of that last story, Mr. Peter +Stanard, of Boston, Massachusetts, the cradle of liberty, the nurse of +freedom, and the center and metropolis of the geological universe." + +The Parson bowed gravely. + +"While I am, together with all true Bostonians, proud of the reputation +which my city has merited, yet I am----" + +"Also to Mr. Jeremiah Powers," continued Mark, cutting the Parson off in +his peroration. + +"Son o' the Honorable Scrap Powers, o' Hurricane County, Texas," added +Texas, himself. + +Young Dewey shook hands all around, and then sat down on the bed, +looking at Mark with a puzzled expression on his face, as much as to +say, "what on earth have I struck--b'gee?" Mark saw his expression and +undertook to inform him, making haste to start before the Parson could +begin again on the relative merits of Boston and the rest of the +civilized universe. + +"Powers and Stanard," said he, "are the members of our organization, +together with Indian, the fat boy." + +"I see," said Dewey, at the same time thinking what a novel organization +it must be. "There's Indian now." + +Indian's round, scared face peered in through the open doorway just +then. He was introduced to Number Five, whereupon Number Five remarked +'Very pleased to meet you, b'gee.' And Indian echoed 'Bless my soul!' +and crept into the room and sat down in an inconspicuous corner. + +There was a moment's pause and then the Parson commenced: + +"If I remember correctly, we were occupied when last interrupted, +by--ahem! a rather facetious observation upon the subject of our +solitary lunar satellite and quadruped of the genus Bos--occupied I say +in considering the position which the metropolis of Boston has +obtained----" + +"Drop Boston!" laughed Mark. "We weren't on Boston anyhow. Boston came +in afterward--as Boston always does, in fact." + +"Which reminds me, b'gee," put in the newcomer, "of a story I once heard +of----" + +"Drop the story, too!" exclaimed Mark. "I want to know what the Parson +was so indignant about." + +"Yes, yes!" put in Texas. "That's what I say, too. And be quick about +it. We've only ten minutes 'fore drill, an' if there's anybody got to be +licked, why, we got to hustle." + +"Well," said Stanard, drawing a long breath. "Well! Since it is the +obvious and, in fact, natural desire of the company assembled, so +expressed by them, that I should immediately proceed to a summary and +concise statement of the matter in hand, pausing for no extensive +introductions or formal perorations, but endeavoring assiduously to +impart to my promulgations a certain clarified conciseness which in +matters of this peculiar nature is so eminently advantageous----" + +The Parson was interrupted at this place by a subdued "B'gee!" from +Dewey, followed by a more emphatic "Wow!" and a scarcely audible "Bless +my soul!" + +"What's the matter?" he inquired, stopping short and looking puzzled. + +"Nothing," replied Mark. "I didn't say anything." + +"Oh!" said the Parson. "Excuse me. Where was I? Oh, yes, I was just +saying I would be brief. Gentlemen--ahem!--when I entered this room I +was in a condition of violent anger. As I stated, an outrage had been +offered me such as neither Parmenides, nor Socrates, nor even Zeno, +stoic of stoics, could have borne. And I have resolved to seek once +more, as a prodigal son, the land of my birth, where science is fostered +instead of being repressed as in this hotbed of prejudice and ignorance. +I----" + +"What's up?" cried the four. + +"I am coming to that," said the Parson, gravely, stretching out his long +shanks, drawing up his trousers, and displaying his sea-green socks. +"This same morning--and my friend Indian will substantiate my statement, +for he was there--a low, ignorant cadet corporal did enter into my room, +for inspection, by Zeus, and after generally displaying his ill-manners, +he turned to me and conveyed the extraordinary information that, +according to rules, forsooth, I must be deprived of the dearest object +of my affections, solace of my weary hours, my friend in time of need, +my companion in sickness, which through all the trials of adversity has +stuck to me closer than a brother, my only joy, my----" + +"What?" cried the four, by this time wrought up to the highest pitch of +indignation and excitement. + +"My one refuge from the cares of life," continued the solemn Parson, +"the one mitigating circumstance in this life of tribulation, the +only----" + +"What? What? What?" + +"What? Of all things what, but this? What but my life, my pride, my +hope--my beloved volume of 'Dana's Geology,' friend of my----" + +And the roar of laughter which came then made the sentry out on the +street jump in alarm. The laughing lasted until the cry came: + +"New cadets turn out!" which meant drill; and it lasted after that, too, +so that Cadet Spencer, drillmaster, "on duty over plebes," spent the +next hour or two in wondering what on earth his charges kept snickering +at. Poor Texas was the subject of a ten-minute discourse upon +"impertinence and presumption," because he was guilty of the heinous +offense of bursting out laughing in the midst of one of the irate little +drillmaster's tirades. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +INDIAN IN TROUBLE. + + +What manner of torture is squad drill has already been shown; and so the +reader should have some idea of what our five friends were going +through. Squad drill lasts for the first two weeks or so of plebe +life--that is, before the move into camp. The luckless victims begin +after breakfast, and at regular (and frequent) periods until night are +turned out under the charge of some irascible yearling to be taught all +manner of military maneuvers--setting up drill, how to stand, to face, +and, in fact, how to walk. + +Most people, those who have not been to West Point, are under the +delusion that they know how to walk already. It usually takes the +luckless plebe a week to get that idea hammered out of his head, and +another week besides to learn the correct method. The young instructor, +presenting, by the way, a ludicrous contrast in his shining uniform of +gray and white and gold, with his three or four nervous and variously +costumed pupils, takes the bayonet of his gun for a drill stick and +marches "his" squad over into a secluded corner of the area and thus +begins the above-mentioned instructions: + +"At the word forward, throw the weight of the body upon the right leg, +the left knee straight. At the word march, move the left leg smartly +without jerk, carry the left foot forward thirty inches from the right, +the sole near the ground, the toe a little depressed, knee straight and +slightly turned out. At the same time throw the weight of the body +forward (eyes to the front) and plant the foot without shock, weight of +the body resting upon it; next, in like manner, advance the right foot +and plant it as above. Continue to advance without crossing the legs or +striking one against the other, keeping the face direct to the front. +Now, forward, common time, march. Depress the toe so that it strikes the +ground at the same time as the heel (palms of the hands squarely to the +front. Head up)"--and so on. + +That is the way the marching exercise goes, exclusive, of course, of all +interruptions, comments and witticisms on the instructor's part. The +plebe begins to get used to it after the first week or so, when the +stiffness rubs off, and then a certain amount of rivalry begins to +spring up among various squads, and everybody settles down to the +business of learning. The squads are consolidated later on, and +gradually the class is merged into one company. Such as they are, these +drills, together with inspections, meals and "rests" (with hazing), +occupy almost the entire time of the two weeks in barracks. + +And now for our five "rebels." + +That particular Monday morning the plebes had an hour's rest before +dinner, in which to do as they pleased (or as the yearlings pleased). +And during this hour it was that one of "the five," the always luckless +and unhappy one, got into trouble. The one was Indian, or the Mormon. +Indian, it seemed, was always thought of whenever there was any deviling +to be done. The other plebes did as they were told, and furnished +amusement on demand, but they always realized that it was all in fun. +Indian, however, was an innocent, gullible youth, who took everything +solemnly, and was in terror of his unhappy life every moment of the day. +And he was especially unfortunate this time because he fell into the +hands of "Bull" Harris and his gang. + +It is not the intention of the writer to give the impression that all +cadets at West Point were or are like "Bull" Harris, or that hazing of +his peculiar variety is an everyday affair. But it would be hard to find +one hundred men without a cowardly, cruel nature among them. "Bull" +Harris and his crowd represented the lower element of the yearling +class, and made hazing their business and diversion. They were the +especial dread of the plebes in consequence. Bull had tried his tricks +upon Mark to his discomfort, and ever since that had left Mark strictly +alone, and confined his efforts to less vigorous victims, among which +were Dewey, and now Indian. + +Indian had selected a rather grewsome occupation, anyhow, at the +particular moment when he was caught. It was just in keeping with the +peculiarly dejected frame of mind he was in (after squad drill). He was +wandering through the graveyard, which is situated in a lonely portion +of the post, way off in the northwestern corner. Some heroes, West +Point's bravest, lie buried there, and Indian was dejectedly wondering +if those same heroes would ever have stuck through plebe days in +barracks if they had had a drill master like that "red-headed coyote," +Chick Spencer. He had about concluded they would not have, when he heard +some muffled laughter and the sound of running feet. A moment later the +terrified plebe found himself completely surrounded by a dozen merry +yearlings, out for a lark. Prominent among them were Bull and his +toadying little friend, Baby Edwards. + +It is correct West Point etiquette for a plebe, when "captured" to go +meekly wherever desired. Indian went, and the party disappeared quickly +in the woods on one side, the captive being hidden completely in the +circle of cadets. + +There was one person who had seen him, however, and that one person was +the Parson, who had been about to enter the gate to join his friend. And +the Parson, when he saw it, turned quickly on his heel and strode away +back to barracks as fast as his long legs could carry him without loss +of scholarly dignity. + +"Yes, by Zeus," he muttered to himself. "Yea, by Zeus, the enemy is +fierce upon our trail. And swiftly, forsooth, will I hie me to my +companions and inform them of this insufferable indignity." + +All unconscious of the learned gentleman's discovery, the yearlings +meanwhile were hurrying away into a secluded portion of the woods; for +they knew that their time was short, and that they would have to make +haste. The terrified victim was pushed over logs and through brambles +until he was almost exhausted, the captors meanwhile dropping dire hints +as to his fate. + +"An Indian he is!" muttered Bull Harris. "An Indian!" (The plebe was as +red as one then.) "He shall die an Indian's death!" + +"That's what he shall!" echoed the crowd. "An Indian! An Indian! We'll +burn him at the stake!" + +"He, he! the only good Indian's a dead Indian, he, he!" chimed in Baby, +chuckling at his own witticism. "He, he!" + +All this poor Joseph did not fail to notice, and as was his habit, he +believed every word of it. Nor did his mind regain any of its composure +as the procession continued its solemn marching through the lonely +woods, to the tune of the yearlings' cheerful remarks. The latter were +chuckling merrily to themselves, but when they were in hearing of their +victim their tone was deep and awful, and their looks dark and savage. +Poor Indian's fat, round eyes stared wider and rounder every minute; his +equally round, red face grew redder, and his gasping exclamations more +frequent and violent. + +"Bless my soul!" he cried, "what extraordinary proceedings!" + +"Ha! ha!" muttered the yearlings. "See, he trembles! Behold how the +victim pales!" + +A short distance farther in the woods the party came upon a small +clearing. + +"Just the spot!" cried Bull. "See the tree in the center. That is the +stake, and to that we will tie him, while the smoke ascends to the +clouds of heaven." + +"Just the spot!" echoed Baby, chuckling gleefully. + +"It is quiet," continued Bull, in a low, sepulchral tone. "Yes, and his +cries of agony will be heard by none. Advance, wretched victim, and +prepare to die the death which your savage ancestors did inflict upon +our fathers. Advance!" + +"Advance!" growled the crowd. + +"Bless my soul!" cried the Indian. + +He was no more capable of advancing than he was of flying. His knees +were shaking in violent terror. Great beads of perspiration rolled from +the dimples in his fat little cheeks. Limp and helpless, he would have +sunk to the ground, but for the support of his captors. + +"Advance!" cried Bull, again, stamping on the ground in mock impatience +and rage. "Bodyguard, bring forth the wretch!" + +In response to this order several of the cadets dragged the unhappy +plebe to the tree and held him fast against it. Bull Harris produced +from under his coat a coil of rope, and Indian felt it being wrapped +about his body. + +Up to this point he had been silent from sheer terror; but the feeling +of the rough rope served to bring before him with startling reality the +awfulness of the fate that was in store for him. He opened his mouth and +forthwith gave vent to a cry so weird and unearthly that the yearlings +burst out into a shout of laughter. It was no articulate cry, simply a +wild howl. It rang and echoed through the woods, like the hoot of an owl +at night, or the strange, half-human cry of a frightened dog. And it +died into a gasp that Bull Harris described as "the sigh of a homesick +bullfrog." + +Indian's musical efforts continued as the horrible rope was wound about +his body. Each wail was louder and more unearthly, more mirth-provoking +to the unpitying cadets, until at last, when Bull Harris finished and +stepped back to survey his work, the frightened plebe could be likened +to nothing less than a steam calliope. + +The yearlings were so much amused by his powers that they resolved +forthwith that the show must not stop. And so, without giving the +performer chance to breathe even, they set to work diligently collecting +sticks and leaves. + +"Heap 'em up! Heap 'em up!" cried Bull. "Heap 'em up! And soon shall the +fire blaze merrily." + +Naturally, since Indian's shrieks and howls continued unabated in +quantity or variety through all this, the yearlings were in no hurry to +finish, but took care to prolong the agony, sport as they called it, as +long as possible. So, while the red-faced, perspiring victim panted, +grunted, howled, and wriggled, they piled the wood about him with +exasperating slowness, rearranging, inspecting, and discussing the +probable effect of each and every stick of wood they laid on. + +It was done, at last, however, and the result was a great pile of fagots +surrounding and half covering the unfortunate lad. They were fagots +selected as being the driest that could be found in the dry and +sun-parched clearing. There was a moment or two later on when Bull +wished they had not been quite so dry, after all. + +The crowd stood and admired their work for a few moments longer, while +Indian's weird wails rose higher than ever. Then Bull stepped forward. + +"Art thou prepared to die?" he inquired in his most sepulchral tone. + +Indian responded with a crescendo in C minor. + +"He answereth not!" muttered the other. "Let him scorn our questions who +dares. What, ho! Bring forth the torch! We shall roast him brown." + +"And when he is brown," roared another, "then he will cease to be +Smith!" + +"Yes," cried Bull, "for he will be dead. His bones shall bleach on the +plains. On his flesh we will make a meal!" + +"An Indian meal!" added Baby, chuckling merrily over his own joke. + +"Several meals," continued Bull, solemnly. "There is enough of him for a +whole _table d'hote_. How about that? Aren't you?" + +"Wow! Wo-oo-oo-oooo!" wailed Indian. + +"He mocks us!" cried the spokesman. "He scorns to answer. Very well! We +shall see. Is the torch lit?" + +The torch, an ordinary sulphur match, was not lit. But Bull produced one +from the same place as the rope and held it poised. He waited a moment +while the yearlings discussed the next action. + +"I say we let him loose," said one. "He's scared enough." + +"Nonsense!" laughed Bull, "I'm not going to stop yet. I'm going to set +him afire." + +"Set him afire!" echoed the crowd, in a whisper. + +"'Sh! Yes," responded the other. "Not really, you know, but just enough +to scare him. We'll set fire to the wood and then when it's begun to +smoke some we'll put it out." + +"That's risky," objected somebody. "I say we----" + +"Nonsense!" interrupted the leader. "If you don't want to, run home. I +am." + +And so once more he turned toward the wretched captive, who still kept +up his shrieks. + +"Ha, ha!" he muttered, "thy time has come. Say thy last prayer." + +With which words he stepped quickly forward, struck the match upon his +heel, and after holding it for a moment knelt down before the pile of +leaves and wood. + +"Wow! Wow!" roared Indian. "Stop! Stop! Help! Wo-oo-oo!" + +Another of those steam calliope wails. + +"He shrieks for mercy!" muttered Bull. "He shrieks in vain. There!" + +The last exclamation came as he touched the match to the leaves, stood +up and worked off to join his companions. + +"Form a ring," he said, "and dance about him as he dies." + +The terror of Indian can scarcely be imagined; he was almost on the +verge of fainting as the hot choking smoke curled up and around his +face. His yells grew louder and increased to a perfect shriek of agony. + +"Don't you think we'd better stop it now?" inquired one of the +yearlings, more timid than the rest. + +"Rats!" laughed Bull. "It's hardly started. I'll manage it." + +Bull's "management" proved rather untrustworthy; for Bull had forgotten +to take into account the dryness of the twigs, and also another factor. +The air had been still as he struck the match, but just at that moment a +slight breeze swept along the ground, blowing the leaves before it. It +struck the little fire and it seized one tiny flame and bore it up +through the pile and about the legs of the imprisoned plebe. + +The next instant the yearlings were thrown into the wildest imaginable +confusion by a cry from one of them. + +"Look out! Look out! His trousers are afire!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +TO THE RESCUE. + + +Things happened in a whirl of confusion after that. To the horrified +cadets a thousand incidents seemed to crowd in at one moment. + +In the first place there was the terrified captive, bound helplessly to +the tree, his clothing on fire, himself shrieking at the top of his +lungs. Then there were the yearlings themselves, all crying out with +fright and alarm and rushing wildly in to drag the burning wood away. +Finally there were other arrivals, whom, in the excitement, the +yearlings scarcely noticed. There were two of them; one tore a knife +from his pocket and cut the rope in a dozen places, the other flung off +his jacket and wrapped it quickly about Indian's feet, extinguishing the +flames. And then the two stood up and gazed at the rest--the frightened +yearlings and their infuriated victim. + +Infuriated? Yes, wildly infuriated! A change had come over Indian such +as no one who knew him had ever seen before. The fire had not really +hurt him; it had only ruined his clothing and scorched his legs enough +to make him wild with rage. He had tugged at his bonds savagely; when he +was cut free he had torn loose from the friendly stranger who had knelt +to extinguish the fire, and made a savage rush at the badly scared +cadets. + +Indian's face was convulsed with passion. His arms were swinging wildly +like a windmill's sails in a hurricane, while from his mouth rushed a +volley of exclamations that would have frightened Captain Kidd and his +pirate band. + +It made no difference what he hit; the fat boy was too blind with rage +to see. He must hit something! If a tree had lain in his path he would +have started in on that. As luck would have it, however, the thing that +was nearest to him was a yearling--Baby Edwards. + +Baby could have been no more frightened if he had seen an express train +charging on him. He turned instantly and fled--where else would he flee +but to his idol Bull? He hid behind that worthy; Bull put up his hands +to defend himself; and the next instant Indian's flying arms reached the +spot. + +One savage blow on the nose sent Bull tumbling backward--over Baby. +Indian, of course, could not stop and so did a somersault over the two. + +There was a pretty _mêlée_ after that. Baby was the first to emerge, +covered with dirt and bruises. Indian got up second; he gazed about him, +his rage still burning; he gave one snort, shook his head clear of the +soil as an angry bull might; and then made another savage rush at Baby. +Baby this time had no friend to hide behind; Harris was lying on the +ground, face down, as a man might do to protect himself in a cyclone. +And so Baby had no resource but flight; he took to his heels, the +enraged plebe a few feet behind; and in half a minute more the pair were +lost to sight and sound, far distant in the woods, Indian still +pursuing. + +It might be pleasant to follow them, for Indian in his rage was a sight +to divert the gods. But there was plenty more happening at the scene of +the fire, things that ought not be missed. + +In the first place, who were the two new arrivals? It was evident that +they were plebes--their faces were familiar to the cadets. But beyond +that no one knew anything about them. They had freed their helpless +classmate and saved him from serious injury, as has been told. They had +done one thing more that has not been mentioned yet. One of them, the +smaller, just after Indian had broken loose, had reached over and dealt +the nearest yearling he could reach a ringing blow upon the cheek. + +"Take that!" said he. "Bah Jove, you're a cur." + +There was another _mêlée_ after that. + +Of course the setting fire to Indian had been a pure accident; but the +two strangers did not know it. They saw in the whole thing a piece of +diabolical cruelty. The yearling the wrath chanced to fall upon was Gus +Murray--and his anger is left to the imagination. He sprang at the +throat of the reckless plebe; and the rest of the crowd rushed to his +aid, pausing just for an instant to size up the pair. + +They did not seem "to be any great shucks." The taller was a big +slouchy-looking chap in clothes that evidently bespoke the farmer, and +possessing a drawl which quite as clearly indicated the situation of the +farm--the prairies. Having cut Indian loose he was lounging lazily +against the tree and regarding his more excitable companion with a +good-natured grin. + +The companion was even less awe-inspiring, for one had to look at him +but an instant to see that he was one of the creatures whom all +well-regulated boys despise--a dude. He wore a high collar, ridiculously +high; he was slender and delicate looking, with the correct Fifth Avenue +stoop to his shoulders and an attitude to his arms which showed that he +had left his cane behind only on compulsion when he "struck the Point." +And any doubts the yearlings may have had on this question were settled +as the yearlings stared, for the object turned to the other and spoke. + +"Aw say, Sleepy," said he, "come help me chastise these fellows, don't +ye know." + +As a fact there was but little choice in the matter, it was fight or die +with the two, for at the same instant Gus Murray, wild with rage, had +leaped forward and made a savage lunge at the dude. + +What happened then Murray never quite knew. All he made out was that +when he hit at the dude the dude suddenly ceased to be there. The +yearling glanced around in surprise and discovered that his victim had +slid coolly under his elbow and was standing over on the other side of +the clearing--smiling. + +The rest of the crowd, not in the least daunted by Murray's miss, rushed +in to the attack; and a moment later a wild scrimmage was in progress, +a scrimmage which defied the eye to comprehend and the pen to describe. +The former never moved from the tree, but with his back flat against it +and his great clumsy arms swinging like sledge hammers he stood and bid +defiance to his share of the crowd. + +The dude's tactics were just the opposite. He was light and slender, and +should have been easy prey. That was what Bull Harris thought as he +hastily arose from the spot where Indian had butted him and joined his +eager comrades in the hunt. The hunt; a hunt it was, and no mistake. +While the farmer stayed in one place, the dude seemed everywhere at +once. Dodging, ducking, running, he seemed just to escape every blow +that was aimed at him. He seemed even to turn somersaults, to the amazed +yearlings, who had been looking for a dude and not an acrobat. + +The dude did not dodge all the time, though; occasionally he would stop +to cool the ardor of some especially excited cadet with a sudden punch +where it wasn't looked for. Once also he stuck out his foot and allowed +Bull Harris to get his legs caught in it, with a result that Bull's nose +once more plowed the clearing. + +The writer wishes it were his privilege to chronicle the fact that the +two put the eight to flight; or that Indian, having put the Baby "to +sleep," returned to perform yet greater prodigies of valor. It would be +a pleasure to tell of all that, but on the other hand truth is a +stubborn thing. Things do not always happen as they should in spite of +the providence that is supposed to make them. + +The farmer, after a five-minute gallant stand, was finally knocked +down--from behind--and once down he was being fast pummeled into +nothingness. The dude--his collar, much to his alarm, having wilted--was +in the last stage of exhaustion. In fact, Bull had succeeded in landing +a blow, the first of the afternoon for him. The dude was about to give +up and perish, when assistance arrived. For these gallant heroes were +not fated to conquer alone. + +The first warning of the arrival of reinforcements was not the +traditional trumpet call, nor the roll of a drum, nor even the tramp of +soldiers, but a muttered "Wow!" This was followed by Texas himself, +bursting through the bushes like a battering ram. Mark was at his side, +and behind them came the Parson. Dewey, being rather crippled, brought +up the rear. + +The four lost no time in questions; they saw two plebes in distress, and +they had met Indian on the warpath and learned the cause of the trouble. +They knew it was their business to help and they "sailed right in" to do +it. + +Mark placed himself by the side of the panting "dude." Texas and the +Parson made a V formation and speedily got the farmer to his feet and in +fighting array once more. And after that the odds of the battle were +more even. + +It was a very brief battle, in fact. A mere skirmish after that. Mark's +prowess was dreaded, and that of Texas but little less. After Texas had +chased two yearlings into the woods, and Mark had stretched out +Bull--that was Bull's third time that afternoon--the ardor of the eight +began to wane. It was not very long then before the attack stopped by +mutual consent, and the combatants took to staring at each other +instead. + +The rage of Bull as he picked himself up and examined his damages must +be imagined. + +"You confounded plebes shall pay for this," he roared, "as sure as I'm +alive." + +"Now?" inquired Mark, smiling, rubbing his hands, and looking ready to +resume hostilities. + +"It's a case of blamed swelled head, that's what it is," growled the +other, sullenly. + +"Which," added the Parson's solemn voice, "might be somewhat +more classically expressed by the sesquipedalian Hellenic +vocable--ahem!--Megalacephalomania." + +With which interesting bit of information--presented gratis--the Parson +carefully laid his beloved "Dana" on the ground and sat down on it for +safety. + +"Why can't you plebes mind your business, anyhow?" snarled Gus Murray. + +"That's what I say, too!" cried Bull. + +"Curious coincidence!" laughed Dewey. "Reminds me of a story I once +heard, b'gee--I guess it's most too long a story to tell through. Remind +me of it, Mark, and I'll tell it to you some day. One of the most +remarkable tales I ever heard, that! Told me by a fellow that used to +run a sausage factory. It was right next door to a 'Home for Homeless +Cats,' though, b'gee, I couldn't ever see how the cats were homeless if +they had a home there. They didn't stay very long, though. That was the +funniest part of it. They used to sit on the fence near the sausage +factory, b'gee----" + +Dewey could have prattled on that way till doomsday with unfailing good +humor. It made the yearlings mad and that was all he cared about. But by +this time Bull had perceived that he was being guyed, and he turned away +with an angry exclamation. + +"You fellows may stay if you choose;" he said, "I'm going back to camp. +And those plebes shall pay for this!" + +"Cash on demand!" laughed Mark, as the discomfited crowd turned and +slunk off. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE ALLIANCE IS COMPLETED. + + +Having been thus easily rid of their unpleasant enemies, the plebes set +out in high feather for home. + +"I must get back in time to dress for dinner, don't ye know," said the +dude. + +"I'm 'bliged to yew fellows," put in the farmer, getting up from his +seat with a lazy groan. "My name's Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers, and +I'll shake hands all raound." + +"And mine's Chauncey Van Rensallear Mount-Bonsall, don't ye know," said +the other, putting on his immaculate white gloves. "Bah Jove! I've lost +a cuff button, quarreling with those deuced yearlings!" + +Chauncey's cuff button was found at last--he vowed he wouldn't go to +dinner without it--and then the party started in earnest, the two +strangers giving a graphic and characteristic account of the scrimmage +we have just witnessed. + +Mark in the meantime was doing some thinking, wondering if here were +not two more eligible members of the "alliance." While he was debating +this question the "dude" approached him privately and began thus: + +"I want to say something to you," he said. "Dye know, I can't see why we +plebes suffer so, bah Jove! I was thinking aw, don't ye know, if some of +us would band together we could--aw--chastise the deuced cadets and----" + +Master Chauncey Van Rensallear Mount-Bonsall got no further, for Mark +came out then and told the secret. In a few moments the alliance had +added Number Six and Number Seven. + +"And now, b'gee, I say let's organize, b'gee!" cried Dewey. + +The sound of a drum from barracks put a stop to further business then, +but before supper there was a spare half hour, and during that time the +seven conspirators met in Mark's room to "organize." Indian was there, +too, now calm and meek again. + +"In the first place," said Mark, "we want to elect a leader." + +"Wow!" cried Texas, "what fo'? Ain't you leader?" + +"I say, Mark, b'gee!" cried Dewey. + +"Mark," said the Parson, solemnly. + +"Mark," murmured Indian from the corner, and "Mark" chimed in the two +newcomers. + +"It seems to be unanimous," said Mark, "so I guess I'll have to let it +go. But I'm sure I can't see why you think of me. What shall we call +ourselves?" + +That brought a lengthy discussion, which space does not permit of being +given. The Loyal Legion, the Sons of the Revolution, the Independents, +the Cincinnati--suggested by the classic Parson--and also the Trojan +Heroes--from the same source--all these were suggested and rejected. +Then somebody moved the Seven Rebels, which was outvoted as not +expressive enough, but which led to another one that took the whole +crowd with a rush. It came from an unexpected source--the unobtrusive +Indian in the corner. + +"Let's name it 'The Seven Devils'!" said he. + +And the Seven Devils they were from that day until the time when the +class graduated from the Point. + +"Three cheers for the Seven Devils!" cried Dewey, "b'gee!" + +"Now," said the Parson, rising with a solemn look, "let us swear eternal +fealty by all that man holds holy. Let us swear by the Stygian Shades +and the realms of Charon, whence all true devils come. Yea, by Zeus!" + +"And we'll stand by one another to the death, b'gee," cried Dewey. +"Remember, we're organized for no purpose on earth but to do those +yearlings, and we'll lick 'em, b'gee, if they dare to look at us." + +"Show 'em no mercy, don't ye know," said "Chauncey." + +"And let's have a motto," cried Indian, becoming infected with the +excitement. "'Down with the yearlings.'" + +"I suggest 'We die but we never surrender,' b'gee." + +"'_Veni, vidi, vici_,'" remarked the Parson, "or else '_Dulce et decorum +est pro patria mori_,' in the immortal words of Horace, poet of the +Sabine farm." + +"A motto should be brief," laughed Mark. "I can beat you all. I'll give +you a motto in three letters of the alphabet." + +"Three letters!" echoed the crowd. "Three letters! What is it?" + +"It expresses all our objects in forming," said Mark, "and we'll have +lots of fun if we obey it. My motto is 'B. B. J.'" + +"Bully, b'gee!" cried Dewey, and the rest echoed his approval with a +rush. + +That was, all except the unobtrusive Indian in the corner. + +"I--I don't quite," he stammered, "quite see it. Why is----" + +"Ahem!" Mark straightened himself up and put on his best professional +air in imitation of the Parson. "Ahem! If you had lived in Boston, and +devoted yourself to the cultivation of the intellectualities--yea, by +Zeus!--instead of learning to lose your temper and chase yearlings like +a wild Texan---- However, I'll explain it." + +"Please do!" cried Indian, innocently. "I'll never chase the yearlings +again." + +"That's good! B. J. stands for 'before June,' and is West Point slang +for 'fresh.'" + +"I knew what B. J. means," put in Indian. + +"What! Then why didn't you say so and save me the trouble? The other B. +is the present imperative of the verb to be; he was, being, been, is, +am, ain't. And the only way I can explain what B. B. J. means is to say +that it means be B. J., be B. J. with a vengeance, and when you get +tired of being B. J., B. B. J. some more. Do you see?" + +"Er, yes," said Indian. + +"And now," laughed Mark, "since we're through, three cheers for the +Seven Devils!" + +And that is the story of the forming of West Point's first and only +secret society, a society which was destined to introduce some very, +very exciting incidents into West Point's dignified history, the Seven +Devils, B. B. J. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +INDIGNATION OF THE YEARLINGS. + + +"By George, he's the freshest plebe that ever struck this place!" + +The speaker was Bull Harris, and he was sitting on the steps of the +library building along with half a dozen classmates, excitedly and +angrily discussing the fight. + +"Now I tell you Mark Mallory's got to be put out of this place in a +week," continued the first speaker. "And I don't care how it's done, +either, fair or foul." + +"That's just what I say, too!" chimed in Baby Edwards. "He's got to be +put out in a week!" + +Bull Harris smiled benignly upon his toadying echo, while the rest of +the gang nodded approvingly. + +"I'm sure everybody agrees that he's got to be taken down," put in +somebody else. "The only trouble is I don't see how on earth it is to be +done." + +"That's the worst of it!" snarled Bull. "That fellow Mallory seems to +get the best of us everything we try; confound him!" + +"I'm sure such a thing has never been known at West Point," said +another. "Just think of it! Why, it's the talk of the post, and +everybody's laughing at us, and the plebes are getting bolder every +minute. One of them actually dared to turn up his nose at me to-day. +Think of it--at me--a yearling, and he a vile beast!" + +"It's perfectly awful," groaned Bull. "Perfectly awful! Imagine a crowd +of yearlings allowing themselves to be stopped while hazing a +plebe--stopped, mind you, by half as many plebes--and then to make it a +thousand times worse to have the fellow they were hazing taken away!" + +"And the yearlings all chased back to camp by a half-crazy Texan," +chimed in another, who hadn't been there and so could afford to mention +unpleasant details. + +"Yet what can we do?" cried Baby. "We can't offer to fight him. He's as +good as licked Billy Williams, and Bill's the best man we could put up. +That Mallory's a regular terror." + +"Mark Mallory's got to be taken down." + +This suggestion was good, only rather indefinite, which indefiniteness +was remarked by one of the crowd, Merry Vance, the cadet who had +interposed the same objection before. Merry was a tall, slender youth, +with a whitish hue that suggested dissipation, and a fine, scornful +curve to his lips that suggested meanness no less clearly. + +"It's all very well to say we've got to do him," said he, "but that +don't say how. As I said, we can't find a man in our class to whip him +fair. And we can't tackle him in a crowd because in the first place he +seems to have his own gang, and in the second place none of us dares to +touch him. I know I don't, for one." + +"Pooh!" laughed Bull, scornfully. "I'm not afraid of him." + +"Me either!" chimed in the little Baby, doubling up his fists. + +"All right," said the other. "Only I noticed you both kept good and +quiet when he stepped up to loosen Indian." + +There was an awkward silence for a few minutes after that; Bull Harris +could think of nothing to say, for he knew the charge was true; and as +for Baby Edwards, he never said anything until after his big friend had +set him an example. + +"We can't get him into any trouble with the authorities, either," +continued Vance at last. "In fact, I don't know what we are to do." + +"He's simply turned West Point's customs topsy-turvy," groaned another. +"Why, when we were plebes nobody ever dared to think of defying a +yearling. And this Mallory and his gang are running the place. No one +dares to haze a plebe any more." + +"Talking about that," said Gus Murray, another yearling who had just +strolled up. "Talking about that, just see what happened to me not five +minutes ago. Met one of the confounded beasts--that fellow, by the way, +we did up, though it don't seem to have done him the least bit of +good--just as B. J. as ever. You know who I mean, the rather handsome +chap they call Dewey. He went to pass the color guard up at camp just +now and he didn't raise his hat. The sentry called him down for it, and +then as he went off I said to him: 'You ought to know better than that, +plebe.' 'Thank you,' says he, and when I told him he should say 'sir' to +a higher cadet, what on earth do you suppose he had the impudence to +say?" + +"What?" inquired the crowd, eagerly. + +"Said he wouldn't do it because I hadn't said 'sir' to him!" + +"What!" + +"Yes, indeed! Did you ever hear of such impudence? Why, I'll leave the +academy to-morrow if that kind of thing keeps up." + +And with that dire threat Gus Murray seated himself on the steps and +relapsed into a glum silence. + +"I heard you sat down on that Mallory last Saturday," observed some one +at last. + +"That's what I did!" responded Murray, brightening up at the mention of +a less discouraging incident. "Mary Adams introduced me to him and I cut +him dead. Gee, but he was mad!" + +"Wonder, if he'll try to make you apologize," said Bull. + +"It would be just like him," put in Merry. + +The other looked as if he didn't relish the possibility one bit; he +turned the conversation quickly. + +"Wait till he tries it," said he. "In the meantime I'm more interested +in the great question, what are we going to do to take him down?" + +"Can't think of a thing," said Vance, flatly. "Not a thing!" + +"By George!" cried Bull. "I'm going to think of something if I die for +it." + +"I'll shake with you on that," put in Murray. "We won't rest till we get +a plan." + +"Let me in too," said Vance. + +"And me too!" cried Baby. + +And so it happened that when the informal assembly dissolved for supper +it dissolved with but one idea in the mind of every cadet in the +party--that Mark Mallory must be taken down! + +A plan came at last, one which was enough to do for any one; and when it +came it came from a most unexpected source, none other than the Baby, +who never before in the memory of Bull had dared to say anything +original. The baby's sweet little brain, evolving the interesting +problem, struck an idea which, so to speak, brought down the house. + +"I'll tell you what!" he cried. "I've a scheme!" + +"What is it?" inquired Bull, incredulously. + +"Let's soak him on demerits!" + +And with a look of delight Bull turned and stared at Murray. + +"By the lord!" he cried, "that's it. We'll soak him on demerits!" + +Then the precious trio locked arms and did a war on the campus. + +"Just the thing!" gasped Bull, breathlessly. "Murray's a corporal and he +can do it! Whoop!" + +"Yes!" cried the Baby. "And he was put over plebes to-day. Will you do +it, Murray?" + +And Murray lost no time in vowing that he would; Bull Harris felt then +that at last he was on the road to victory. + +It is necessary to explain the system of discipline which prevails at +West Point. A cadet is allowed to receive only one hundred "demerits" +during the first six months of his stay. These demerits are assigned +according to a regular and inflexible schedule; thus for being late at +roll call, a minor offense, a cadet receives two demerits, while a +serious offense, such as disobedience of orders or sitting down on post +while on sentry duty, brings ten units of trouble in its wake. These +demerits are not given by the instructor or the cadet who notices the +offense; but he enters the charge in a book which is forwarded to +headquarters. The report is read out after parade that same day and +posted in a certain place the next day; and four days later the +superintendent assigns the demerits in all cases where "explanations" +have not been received. + +The following is an example of an explanation: + + "West Point, N. Y., ---- --, 18--. Report--Bedding not + properly folded at police inspection. + + "Explanation--Some one disarranged my bedding after I + had piled it. I was at the sink at the time of + inspection, and I readjusted the bedding upon my + return. + + "Respectfully submitted, + + "---- ----, + + "Cadet ----, Co. ----, ---- Class. + + "To the Commandant of Cadets." + +Cadets usually hand in explanations, though the explanations are not +always deemed satisfactory. + +Reports are made by the army officers, and also by cadets themselves, +file closers, section marchers and others. It was in this last fact that +Bull Harris and his friend Murray saw their chance. + +It very seldom happens that a cadet reports another except where the +report is deserved; a man who does otherwise soon gets into trouble. But +Bull and his gang saw no obstacle in that; most of them were always +head over heels in demerits themselves, including Murray--though he was +a "cadet-corporal." Being thus, and in consequent danger of expulsion, +they were reckless of possible trouble. And besides, Bull had sworn to +haze that plebe, and he meant to do it. + +The plan in brief was simply this: Mark Mallory must be demerited right +and left, everywhere and upon every possible pretext, just or +unjust--and that was all. The thing has been done before; there is talk +of doing it whenever a colored lad is admitted to the Point. And Murray +was the man to do it, too, because he had just been transferred and put +"on duty over plebes." It was only necessary to give one hundred +demerits. One hundred demerits is a ticket of leave without further +parley or possibility of return. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A MILD ATTEMPT AT HAZING. + + +If Cadet Corporal Murray had any doubts about the necessity for putting +this very dirty scheme into practice, or if his not over squeamish +conscience was the least bit troubled by the prospect, something +happened that same evening which effectually squelched such ideas. It +was after supper, during half an hour of so-called "rest," which is +allowed to the over-drilled plebe. Mr. Murray, in whose manly breast +still burned a fire of rage at the insult which "B. J." Dewey had +offered him, resolved in his secret heart that that same insult must and +should be avenged. That evening he thought an especially favorable time, +for Dewey was still an "invalid," as a result of his last B. J. effort. + +With this purpose in view, Cadet Murray stole away from his companions +and set out for barracks, around which the luckless plebes were +clustered. Arriving there, he hunted; he spent quite a while in hunting, +for the object of his search was nowhere to be seen. He caught sight of +Mark and his "gang," but Dewey was not among them. When he did find him +at last it was a good way from that place--way up on Flirtation Walk; +and then Cadet Murray got down to business at once. + +"Look a here, B. J. beast!" he called. + +The object of this peremptory challenge turned, as also did his +companion, the terrified Indian--once more about to be hazed. The two +stared at the yearling; a lady and gentleman passing glanced at him +also, probably wondering what was in store for the luckless plebes; and +then they passed on, leaving the place lonely, and deserted, just the +spot for the proposed work. So thought the yearling, as he rubbed his +hands gleefully and spoke again. + +"Beast!" said he, "I want to tell you that you were very impudent to me +to-day!" + +"Strange coincidence!" cried Dewey, with one of his merry laughs. +"Reminds me of a story I once heard, b'gee. Two old farmers got stuck in +a snowdrift--five feet deep, and getting deeper. Says one of 'em, b'gee, +'It's c-c-c-cold!' 'B'gee!' cried the other. 'B'gee, naow ain't that +pecooliar! Jes' exactly what I was goin' to say myself, b'gee!'" + +Cadet Murray listened to this blithe recital with a frowning brow. + +"You think that's funny, don't you!" he sneered. + +"No, b'gee!" laughed Dewey, "because I didn't write it. 'Nother fellow +told me that--the queerest chap I think I ever knew, he was. Had a +mother-in-law that used to----" + +"Shut up!" cried Murray, in anger, seeing that he was being "guyed." + +"B'gee!" cried Dewey, "that's just what she didn't!" + +There was an ominous silence after that, during which the yearling +glared angrily, and Indian muttered "Bless my soul!" + +"It's quite evident," began the former, at last, "that you are inclined +to be fresh." + +"Ink-lined to be fresh," added Dewey, "as the stamped egg remarked when +it was dated three days after it was laid. That's another far-fetched +joke, though. Still I've heard some more far-fetched than that--one a +friend of mine read on an Egyptian pyramid and brought home to tell for +new. Queer fellow that friend of mine was, too. He didn't have a +mother-in-law, this one, but he slept in a folding bed, and, b'gee, that +bed used to shut up oftener than the mother-in-law didn't. Handsome +bed, too--an inlaid bed--and it shut up whenever it was laid in, b'gee." + +Dewey could have prattled on at this merry rate for an hour, for he knew +more jokes--good ones--and could make up more bad ones on the spur of +the moment than half a dozen ordinary mortals. But he was brought to a +sudden halt just then, and muttered a suppressed "B'gee!" For the +yearling, wild with anger, leaped forward and aimed a savage blow at his +head. + +The plebe ducked; he was quick and agile in body as he was in mind. And +then as the big cadet aimed another blow, he put up his one well +arm--the other was in a sling--and defended himself to the best of his +ability, at the same time calling Indian to his aid. + +But before there was time for another move something else happened. +Dewey was debating whether discretion were not really the whole of +valor, and whether it were not better to "run away and live to fight--or +run away--some other day;" and Indian was actually doubling up his fat +little fists about to strike the first blow in his fat little life; when +suddenly came a shout behind them, and a moment later a strong hand +seized the advancing yearling by the back of his collar and flung him +head first to the ground. + +Cadet Murray sprang to his feet again and turned purple with rage and +soiled with dirt, to confront the stalwart form of Mark, and Mark +rubbing his hands together and smiling cheerfully. + +"Will you have any more?" he inquired, politely. "Step right up if you +will--and by the way, stop that swearing." + +"A very timely arrival," remarked Dewey, smoothing his jacket. "Very +timely, b'gee! Reminds me----" + +"Bless my soul!" cried Indian. + +"Going, are you?" put in Mark, as the discomfited Murray started to +slink away. "Well, good-evening. I've had my satisfaction for being +called a coward by you." + +"You shall pay for this," the furious cadet muttered. "Pay for it as +sure as I'm alive!" + +His threat was taken lightly by the plebes; they had little idea of what +he meant when he spoke. And they were chatting merrily about the +adventure as they turned and made their way back to barracks. + +"It only goes to show," was Mark's verdict, "that an alliance is a +first-rate idea. I saw that fellow prowling around barracks and I knew +right away what he was up to. We've one more enemy, that's all." + +That was not all, by a good sight. The angry yearling hurried back to +camp, nursing his feelings as he went; there he poured out the vials of +his wrath into the ears of his two sympathetic companions, Bull and the +Baby. And the three of them spent the rest of that evening, up to +tattoo, discussing their revenge, thinking up a thousand pretexts upon +which Cadet Mallory might be "skinned." There was a bombshell scheduled +to fall into the midst of the "alliance" the next day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE BOMBSHELL FALLS. + + +Nothing happened that evening; Mark and his friends passed their time in +serene unconsciousness of any danger, merrily discussing the latest +hazing effort of the enemy. Bull Harris and his crowd did not put in +appearance, or try to put their plot into execution, for the simple +reason that there was no chance. The first "whack," so to speak, was +scheduled for the A. M. inspection the next day. The only inspection at +night is made by a "tac"--a practical officer--who goes the rounds with +a dark lantern after taps to make sure that no plebes have been run away +with. + +Reveille and roll call the next morning passed without incident, except +that Cadet Mallory was reported "late" at the latter function; the +charge being true, no suspicions were awakened. After that came the +march to mess hall, the plebe company, which was by this time able to +march presentably though rather stiffly, falling in behind the rest of +the corps. During that march "File Closer" Vance had occasion to rebuke +Cadet Mallory for loud talking in ranks. It hadn't been loud, at least +not very loud, but Mark swallowed it and said nothing. + +Breakfast passed without incident, and the plebes were marched back to +barracks, there breaking ranks, and scattering to quarters to "spruce +up" for inspection. Mark and Texas, who shared the same room, lost no +time in getting to work at the sweeping and dusting and arranging. + +It seems scarcely necessary to say that there are no chambermaids at +West Point. Cadets do their own room cleaning, "policing," as it is +called, and they do it well, too. A simpler, barer place than a room in +barracks it would be hard to imagine. Bare white walls--no pictures +allowed--and no wall paper--a black fireplace, a plain table, an iron +bedstead, a washstand, two chairs, and a window is about the entire +inventory. And every article in that room must be found placed with +mathematical precision in just such a spot and no other. There is a +"bluebook"--learned by heart--to tell where; and there are penalties for +every infringement. Demerits are the easiest things in the world to +get; enough might be given at one inspection to expel. + +The signal, dreaded like poison by all plebes, that the time for +inspection has come, is a heavy step in the hall and a single tap upon +the door. It came that morning while the two victims-to-be were still +hard at work. In accordance with orders each sprang up, stood at +attention--heels together, head up, eyes to the front, chest out, +etc.--and silently awaited developments. + +Mark gasped for breath when he saw who it was that entered; Cadet +Corporal Jasper had been transferred and the man who was to do the work +this time was none other than Murray, next to Bull Harris, Mark's +greatest enemy on earth. + +Cadet Murray looked handsome in his spotless uniform of gray and white, +with his chevrons of gold; he strode in with a stern and haughty look +which speedily changed to one of displeasure as he gazed about him at +the room. He took a rapid mental count of the possible charges he could +make; and then glanced up at the name which is posted on the wall, +telling who is "room orderly" for the week--and so responsible for the +faults. It was Mallory, and the yearling could scarcely hide a smile of +satisfaction. + +"You plebes have had nearly two weeks now," he began, frowning with +well-feigned displeasure, "in which to learn to arrange your rooms. The +disorder which I see shows not only carelessness but actual +insubordination. And I propose to make an example of you two for once +and for all." + +The two victims were expected to say nothing; and they said it. But Mark +did a pile of thinking and his heart sank as he realized what his enemy +might do if he chose. It is possible to find a thousand faults in the +most perfect work if one only hunts long enough and is willing to split +hairs. + +Cadet Corporal Murray took out a notebook and pencil with obvious +meaning. + +"In the first place," said he, "where should that broom be? Behind the +door, should it not? Why is it not? I find that your bedding is piled +carelessly, very carelessly. The blanket is not evenly folded; moreover, +the bluebook states particularly that the blanket is to be placed at the +bottom of the pile. You may see that it is not so. Why, Mr. Mallory, I +do not think it has ever happened to me to find a room so utterly +disorderly, or a cadet so negligent! Look at that bluebook; it belongs +upon the mantelpiece, and I see it on the bed----" + +"I was reading it," put in Mark, choking down his anger by a violent +effort. + +And as he spoke the corporal's face grew sterner yet. + +"In the first place, sir," said he, "you have no business to be reading +while awaiting inspection, and you know it--though I must say a more +frequent study of that book would save you much trouble. In the second +place, you are not expected to answer under such circumstances; the +proper thing for you to do is to hand in the explanation to the +authorities, and you know that, too. I am sent here to notice and report +delinquencies and not to argue about them with you. I regret now that I +shall be obliged to mention the fact that you remonstrated with an +officer during inspection, a most serious charge indeed." + +And Cadet Corporal Murray made another note in his book, chuckling +inwardly as he did it. + +"What next?" thought the two plebes. + +There was lots more. The yearling next stepped over to the mantelpiece +and ran his finger, with its spotless white glove, along the inner +edge. Texas had rubbed that mantel fiercely; yet, to get it so clean as +not to soil the glove was almost impossible, and so the corporal first +held up the finger to show the mark of dirt and then--wrote down "dust +on mantel." + +There is no need to tell the rest in detail, but simply to say that +while Mark and his roommate gazed on in blank despair, their jubilant +enemy made out a list of at least a dozen charges, which he knew would +aggregate to at least half of the demerit maximum, and for every one of +which there was some slight basis of justification. The yearling was +shrewd enough to suspect this fact would prevent their being excused, +for he did not think that Mark would sign his name to a lie in his +explanation. + +The disastrous visit was closed with a note--"floor unswept"--because +three scraps of paper were observed peering out from under the table; +and then without another word the cadet turned on his heel and marched +out of the room. And Mark and Texas stood and stared at each other in +utter and abject consternation. + +It was a minute at least before either of them spoke; they were both +too dumfounded. The bombshell had struck, and had brought ruin in its +path. Mark knew now what was the power of his enemies; knew that he was +gone. For with such a weapon as the one the cowardly Murray had struck +his dismissal was the matter of a week or less. Already he was more than +halfway to expulsion; already the prize for which he had fought so long +and so hard was slipping from his grasp. And all on account of a +cowardly crowd he had made his enemies because he had been strong and +manly enough to do what he knew was right. + +It was a cruel fact and Mark felt pretty bitter toward West Point just +then. As for Texas, his faithful friend and roommate, Texas said not one +word; but he went to the chimney, up which he had hidden his sixteen +revolvers for safety, calmly selected two of the biggest, and having +examined the cartridges, tucked them safely away in his rear pockets. +Then he sat down on the bed and gave vent to a subdued "Durnation!" + +About this same time Cadet Corporal Murray, having handed in his reports +at headquarters, was racing joyfully back to camp, there to join his +friend, Bull Harris, with a shout of victory. + +"Rejoice! Rejoice!" he cried, slapping his chum on the back. "We've got +him! I soaked him for fifty at least!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +IN THE SHADOW OF DISMISSAL. + + +The rest of that day passed without incident. Mark managed after a good +deal of trouble to postpone Texas' hunting trip; and the two struggled +on through the day's drills disconsolately, waiting to see what would +happen next. + +Evening came, and the plebes being lined up in barracks area the roll +was called, the "orders" read, and then the reports of the day. The +cadet who did the reading rattled down the list in his usual hurried, +breathless style. But when he came to M he paused suddenly; he gazed at +the list incredulously, then cleared his throat, took a long foreboding +breath and began: + +"Mallory--Late at roll call. + +"Same--Laughing loud in ranks. + +"Same--Bedding improperly arranged at A. M. inspection. + +"Same--Broom out of place at A. M. inspection. + +"Same--Remonstrating with superior officer at A. M. inspection." + +And so the cadet officer went on, the whole plebe class listening with +open-eyed amazement while one charge after another was rattled off, and +gazing out of the corners of their eyes at the object of the attack, who +stood and listened with a look of calm indifference upon his face. + +The list was finished at last, when the listeners had about concluded +that it was eternal; the rest of the reports were quickly disposed of, +and then: "Break ranks, march!" and the line melted into groups of +excited and eagerly talking cadets, discussing but one subject--the ruin +of Mallory. + +Of course it was known to every one that this was simply one more effort +of the yearlings to subdue him; and loud were the threats and +expressions of disapproval. Mark's bravery in making a fight for his +honor had won him the admiration of his class, and the class felt that +with his downfall came a return of the old state of affairs and the +complete subjection of the "beasts" once more. + +There were jealous ones who rejoiced secretly, and there were timid ones +who declared that they had always said that Mallory was too B. J. to +last. But in the main there was nothing but genuine anger at the upper +classmen's "rank injustice," and wild talk of appealing to the +superintendent to bring it to a stop. + +The utter consternation of the seven allies is left to the reader's +imagination. After the first shock of horror had passed the crowd had +sat down and made a calculation; they found fifty-five demerits due that +day, which, together with ten previously given, left thirty-five to go, +and then--why it made them sick to think of what would happen! + +Having striven to realize this for half an hour, they got together and +swore a solemn oath, first, that if Mark were dismissed, a joint +statement of the reasons thereof, incidentally mentioning each and every +act of hazing done by the yearlings, naming principals, witnesses, time +and place, should be forwarded to the superintendent, signed by the six; +and second, that every yearling who gave a demerit should be "licked +until he couldn't stand up." + +Texas also swore incidentally that he'd resign if Mark were "fired," and +take him down to Texas to make a cowboy of him. And after that there was +nothing to do but wait and pray--and clean up for next day's +inspection, a task at which the whole seven labored up to the very last +minute before tattoo. + + * * * * * + +It was the afternoon of the following day; the rays of a scorching July +sun beat down upon the post, and West Point seemed asleep. Up by Camp +McPherson the cadets were lounging about in idleness, and it was only +down at barracks that there was anything moving at all. Inside the area +the hot and shimmering pavement echoed to the tread of the plebe company +at drill; outside the street was deserted except for one solitary figure +with whom our story has to do. The figure was a cadet officer in +uniform, Captain Fischer, of the first class, resplendent in his +chevrons and sash. + +He was marching down the street with the firm, quick step that is second +nature to a West Pointer; he passed the barracks without looking in and +went on down to the hospital building; and there he turned and started +to enter. The door opened just as he reached it, however, and another +cadet came out. The officer sprang forward instantly and grasped him by +the hand. + +"Williams!" he cried. "Just the fellow I was coming to see. And what a +beautiful object you are!" + +Williams smiled a melancholy smile; he was beautiful and he knew it. His +face was covered in spots with Greek crosses of court-plaster, and +elsewhere by startling red lumps. And he walked with a shy, retiring +gait that told of sundry other damages. Such were the remains of +handsome "Billy," all-round athlete and favorite of his class, defeated +hero. + +Williams had waited scarcely long enough for this thought to flash over +the young officer before he spoke again, this time with some anxiety. + +"Tell me! Tell me about Mallory! I hear they're skinning him on +demerits." + +"Yes, they are," returned Fischer, "and they've soaked him twenty more +this morning!" + +"Twenty more! Then how many has he?" + +"Eighty-five." + +"What!" cried Williams. "You don't mean it! Why, he'll be out in a week. +Say, Fischer, that's outrageous!" + +"Perfectly outrageous!" vowed the officer. + +And Williams brought his hand down on his knee with a bang. + +"By George!" he cried, "I'm going around to see him about it!" + +With which words he sprang down the stairs and, leaving the cadet +officer to gaze at him in surprise, hurried up the street to barracks. + +Squad drill was just that moment over; without wasting any time about +it, Williams hurried into the building and made his way to Mallory's +room. He found the plebe, and got right to work to say what he had to +say. + +"Mr. Mallory," he began, "I've come up in the first place to shake hands +with you, and to say there's no hard feeling." + +"Thank you," said Mark, and his heart went with the grip of his hand. + +"You made a good fight, splendid!" continued the yearling. "And some day +I'll be proud to be your friend." + +"I'm afraid," returned Mark, with a sad smile, "that I'll not be here +that long." + +"That's the second thing I've come to see you about," vowed Williams. +"Mr. Mallory, I want you to understand that the decent men of this +class don't approve of the work that Mur--er, I suppose you know who's +back of it. And I tell you right now that I'm going to stop it if it's +the last act I ever do on this earth!" + +"I'm afraid it won't do much good," responded the other, shaking his +head. "I could never pass six months without getting fifteen demerits." + +"It's a shame!" cried the other. "And you have worked for your +appointment, too." + +"I have worked," exclaimed Mark, something choking his voice that +sounded suspiciously near a sob, "worked for it as I have never worked +for anything in my life. It has been the darling ambition of my heart to +come here. And I came--and now--and now----" + +He stopped, for he could think of no more to say. Williams stood and +regarded him in silence for some moments, and then he took him by the +hand again. + +"Mr. Mallory," said he, "just as sure as I'm alive this thing shall +stop! Keep up heart now, and we'll make a fight for it! While there's +life there's hope, they say--and, by Heaven, you shan't be expelled!" + +The following evening, when the reports were read, Mark's list of +demerits had reached a total of ninety-five. + +The excitement among plebes and cadets alike was intense, and it was +known far and wide that Mark Mallory, the "B. J." plebe, stood at last +"in the shadow of dismissal." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +A LETTER. + + + "MY DEAR FISCHER: I promised to drop you a line just + to let you know how I'm getting along, though it does + take a tremendous pile of energy to write a letter on + a hot afternoon like this. I'm sure I shall go to + sleep in the middle of it, and naturally, too, for + even writing to you is enough to bore anybody. I can + almost imagine you leaning over to whack at me in + return for that compliment. + + "Well, I am home on furlough; and I don't know whether + I wish I were back or not, for I fear that you will + have cut me out on all the girls, especially since you + are a high and mighty first captain this year. + Speaking of girls, you just ought to be here. The + girls at West Point are _blasé_ on cadets, for they + see so many; but here a West Point officer is cock of + the walk, and I have to fight a jealous rival once a + week." + +Cadet Captain Fischer dropped the letter at this stage of it and lay +back and laughed. + +"Wicks Merritt's evidently forgotten I was on furlough once myself," he +said. "He's telling me all about how it goes." + +"What's he got to say?" inquired Williams, the speaker's tentmate, +looking up from the gun he was cleaning. + +"Oh, nothing much; only a lot of nonsense--jollying as usual. Wicks +always is." + +And then Fischer picked up the letter again, and went on. + +The two were seated near the door of a tent in "Company A Street," at +Camp McPherson. Fischer was lying in front of the tent "door," which was +open to admit the morning breeze that swept across the parade ground. +His friend sat over in an opposite corner and rubbed away. + +There was silence of some minutes, broken only by the sound of the +polishing and the rustling of Fischer's paper. And then the latter spoke +again. + +"Oh, say!" said he. "Here's something that'll interest you, Billy. +Something about your friend Mallory." + +"Fire away," said Williams. + + "'By the way, when you answer this let me know + something about my pet and _protégé_, future football + captain of the West Point eleven. The last time I + heard from where you are, Mark Mallory was raising + Cain. I heard that he was a B. J. plebe for fair; that + he'd set to work to make war on the yearlings, and had + put them to rout in style; also, incidentally, that + he was scheduled to fight Billy Williams, the + yearling's pet athlete. Tell Billy I hope the plebe + does him; tell him I say that if Mallory once whacks + him on the head with that right arm of his he'll see + more stars from the lick than the Lick telescope can + show----'" + +"Billy" broke in just then with a dismal groan. + +"I don't know whether that's because of the pun," laughed Fischer, "or +because of your recollection of the blow. However, I'll proceed. + + "'Now, I don't care how much you fellows haze my + Mallory; he's tough and he can stand it. He'll + probably give you tit for tat every time, anyhow. But + I do want to say this--watch out that nobody tries any + foul play on him, skins him on demerits or reports him + unfairly. Do me a favor and keep your eye out for + that. Watch particularly Bull Harris, who is, I think, + the meanest sneak in the yearling class, and also his + chum, Gus Murray. + + "'I know it for a fact that Mallory caught Bull in a + very dirty act about a month ago and knocked spots out + of him for it. I can't tell you what the act was; but + Bull has sworn vengeance and he'll probably try to get + it, so watch for me. If you let Mallory get into + trouble, mind what I say, I'll never forgive you as + long as you live. I'll cut you out with Bessie Smith, + who, they say, is your fair one at present. Mallory is + a treasure, and when you know him as well as I you'll + think so, too.'" + +Cadet Captain Fischer dropped the letter, sat up, and stared at +Williams; and Williams stared back. There was disgust on the faces of +both. + +"By George!" cried the latter at last, striking his gunstock in the +ground. "By George! we've let 'em do it already!" + +And after that there was a silence of several unpleasant minutes, during +which each was diligently thinking over the situation. + +"He's a fine fellow, anyway," continued Williams. "And we were a pack of +fools to let that Bull Harris gang soak him as we did. They've gone to +work and given him ninety-five demerits in a week on trumped-up charges. +And it's perfectly outrageous, that's what it is! The plebe's +confoundedly fresh, of course, but he's a gentleman for all that, and he +don't deserve one-quarter of the demerits he's gotten. The decent +fellows in the class ought to be ashamed of themselves." + +"That's what I say! He only has to get five demerits more and then he's +fired for good." + +"Which means," put in the officer, "that's he's sure to be fired by next +week." + +"Exactly! And then what will Wicks say? I went over to barracks to see +Mallory about it yesterday; he's nearly heart-broken, for he's worked +like a horse to get here, and now he's ruined--practically expelled. +Yet, what can we do?" + +"Can't he hand in explanations and get the demerits excused?" suggested +Fischer. + +"No, because most of the charges had just enough basis of truth in them +to make them justifiable. I tell you I was mad when he told me about it; +I vowed I'd do something to stop it. Yet what on earth can I do? I can't +think of a thing except to lick that fellow Bull Harris and his crowd. +But what possible good will that do Mallory?" + +"Mallory will probably do that himself," remarked Fischer, smiling for a +moment; his face became serious again as he continued. "I begin to agree +with you, Billy, about that thing. I've heard several tales about how +Mallory outwitted Bull in his hazing adventures, and the plebe's +probably made him mad. It's a dirty revenge Bull has taken, and I think +if it's only for Wicks' sake I'll put a stop to it." + +"You!" echoed Williams. "Pray, how?" + +"What am I a first captain for?" laughed Fischer. "Just you watch me and +see what I do! I can't take off the ninety-five, but I can see that he +don't get the other five, by Jingo! And I will do it for you, too!" + +And with that, the cadet arose and strode out of the tent, leaving his +friend to labor at the gun in glum and disconsolate silence. + +At the same time that Williams and Fischer were discussing the case of +this particularly refractory plebe, there were other cadets doing +likewise, but with far different sentiments and views. The cadets were +Bull Harris and his cronies. + +They were sitting--half a dozen of them--beneath the shade trees of +Trophy Point at the northern end of the parade ground; they were waiting +for dinner, and the afternoon, which, being Saturday, was a holiday and +for which they had planned some particular delicious hazing adventure. + +Foremost among them was Bull Harris himself, seated upon one of the +cannon. Beside him was Baby Edwards. Gus Murray sat on Bull's other side +and made up a precious trio. + +Murray was laughing heartily at something just then, and the rest of the +crowd seemed to appreciate the joke immensely. + +"Ho! ho!" said he. "Just think of it! After I had soaked the confounded +plebe for fifty and more, ho! ho! they got suspicious up at headquarters +and transferred me, and ho! ho! put M-m-merry Vance on instead, and he, +ho! ho! soaked him all the harder!" + +And Gus Murray slapped his knee and roared at this truly humorous state +of affairs. + +"Yes," chimed in Merry Vance. "Yes, I thought when Gus told me he'd been +transferred again that we'd lost our chance to skin Mallory for fair. +And the very next night up gets the adjutant and reads off the orders +putting me on duty over the plebes. Oh, gee! Did you ever hear the +like?" + +"Never," commented Bull, grinning appreciatively. + +"Never," chimed in Baby's little voice. "Positively never!" + +"Tell us about it," suggested another. "What did you do?" + +"Oh, nothing much," replied Vance. "I went up there at the A. M. +inspection, and I just made up my mind to give him twenty demerits, and +I did it, that's all. They had spruced up out of sight; but it didn't +take me very long to find something wrong, I tell you." + +"I guess not!" agreed Baby. + +"I gave him the twenty, as you saw; and say, you ought to have seen how +sick he looked! Ho! ho!" + +And then the crowd indulged in another fit of violent hilarity. + +"I guess," said Bull, when this had finally passed, "that we can about +count Mallory as out for good. He's only got five more demerits to run +before dismissal, and he'll be sure to get those in time, even if we +don't give 'em to him--which, by the way, I mean to do anyhow. But we'll +just parcel 'em one at a time just enough to keep him worried, hey?" + +"That's it exactly!" commented the Baby. + +"He deserves it every bit!" growled Bull. "He's the B. J.est 'beast' +that ever struck West Point. Why, we could never have a moment's peace +with that fellow around. We couldn't haze anybody. He stopped us half a +dozen times." + +The sentiment was the sentiment of the whole gang; and they felt that +they had cause to be happy indeed. Their worst enemy had been disposed +of and a man might breathe freely once more. The crowd could think of +nothing to talk about that whole morning but that B. J. "beast" and his +ruin. + +They found something, however, before many more minutes passed. Bull +chanced to glance over his shoulder in the direction of the camp. + +"Hello!" he said. "Here comes Fischer." + +"Good-afternoon, Mr. Fischer," said Bull. + +"Good-afternoon," responded the officer, with obvious stiffness; and +then there was an awkward silence, during which he surveyed them in +silence. + +"Mr. Harris," he said, at last, "I'd like to speak to you for a moment; +and Mr. Murray, and you, too, Mr. Vance." + +The three stepped out of the group with alacrity, and followed Fischer +over to a seat nearby, while the rest of the gang stood and stared in +surprise, speculating as to what this could possibly mean. + +The three with the officer were finding out in a hurry. + +"I am told," began the latter, gazing at them, with majestic sternness, +"that you three are engaged in skinning a certain plebe----" + +"Why, Mr. Fischer!" cried the three, in obvious surprise. + +"Don't interrupt me!" thundered the captain in a voice that made them +quake, and that reached the others and made them quake, too. + +"Don't interrupt me! I know what I am talking about. I was a yearling +once myself, and I'm a cadet still, and there's not the least use trying +to pull the wool over my eyes. I know there never yet was a plebe who +got fifty demerits in one day and deserved them." + +The captain did not fail to notice here that the trio flushed and looked +uncomfortable. + +"You all know, I believe," he continued, "just exactly what I think of +you. I've never hesitated to say it. Now, I want you to understand in +the first place that I know of this contemptible trick, and that also I +know the plebe, who's worth more than a dozen of you; and that if he +gets a demerit from any one of you again I'll make you pay for it as +sure as I'm alive. Just remember it, that's all!" + +And with this, the indignant captain turned upon his heel, and strode +off, leaving the yearlings as if a bombshell had landed in their midst. + +"Fischer's a confounded fool!" Bull Harris broke out at last. + +"Just what he is!" cried the Baby. "I'd like to knock him over." + +And after that there was silence again, broken only by the roll of a +drum that meant dinner. + +"Well," was Bull's final word, as the crowd set out for camp, "it's +unfortunate, I must say. But it won't make the least bit of difference. +Mallory'll get his demerits sure as he's alive, and Fischer's +interference won't matter in the least." + +"That's what!" cried the rest of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +A SWIMMING MATCH. + + +The manner in which the cadets dine has not as yet been described in +these pages; perhaps here is just as good a place as any to picture the +historic mess hall where Lee and Grant and Sherman once dined, and +toward which on that Saturday afternoon were marching not only the group +we have just left, but also the object of all their dislike, the B. J. +plebe who fell in behind the cadets as the battalion swung past +barracks. + +The cadets march to mess hall; they march to every place they go as a +company. The building itself is just south of the "Academic" and +barracks; it is built of gray stone, and forcibly reminds the candid +observer of a jail. They tell stories at West Point of credulous +candidates who have "swallowed" that, and believed that the cadet +battalion was composed of disobedient cadets, about to be locked up in +confinement. + +There is a flight of iron steps in the center, and at the foot of these +steps, three times every day, the battalion breaks ranks and dissolves +into a mob of actively bounding figures. Upon entering, the cadets do +not take seats, but stand behind their chairs, and await the order, +"Company A, take seats!" "Company B, take seats!" and so on. The plebes, +who, up to this time, are still a separate company, come last, as usual; +they are seated by themselves, at one side of the dining-room. + +The tables seat twenty-two persons, ten on a side, and one at each end. +The cadets are placed according to rank, and they always sit in the same +seats. The tables are divided down the center by an imaginary line, each +part being a "table"; first class men sit near the head, and so on down +to the plebes, who find themselves at the center (that is, after they +have moved into camp, and been "sized" and assigned to companies; before +that they are "beasts," herded apart, as has been said). + +The dinner is upon the table when the cadets enter; the corporals are +charged with the duty of carving, and the luckless plebe is expected to +help everybody to water upon demand, and eats nothing until that duty +has been attended to. After the meal, for which half an hour is allowed, +the command, "Company A, rise!" and so on, is the signal to leave the +table and fall into line again on the street outside. This, however, +does not take place until a lynx-eyed "tac" has gone the rounds, making +notes--"So-and-so, too much butter on plate." "Somebody else, napkin not +properly folded," and so on. This ceremony over, the battalion marches +back to camp, a good half mile, in the broiling sun or pouring rain, as +the case may be. + +That Saturday afternoon being a hot one, and a holiday, our friends of +the last chapter, Bull Harris and his gang, sought out an occupation in +which fully half the cadets at the post chanced to agree; they went in +swimming, a diversion which the superintendent sees fit to allow. "Gee's +Point," on the Hudson, is within the government property, and thither +the cadets gather whenever the weather is suitable. + +That particular party included Bull and Baby (who didn't swim, but liked +to watch Bull), Gus Murray, Vance and the rest of their retainers. And, +on the way, they passed the time by discussing their one favorite topic, +their recent triumph over "that B. J. beast." There was a new phase of +the question they had to speculate upon now, and that was what the +"beast" could possibly have done to move to such unholy wrath so +important a personage as the senior captain of the Battalion. Also, +they were interested in trying to think up a method by which those extra +demerits might be speedily given without incurring the wrath of that +officer. Though each one of the yearlings was ready, even anxious, to +explain that he wasn't the least bit afraid of him. + +"I tell you," declared Bull, "he couldn't prove anything against us if +he tried. It's all one great bluff of Fischer's, and he's a fool to act +as he did." + +"I'd a good mind to tell him as much!" assented Baby. + +"It won't make any difference," put in Murray, "we'll soak the plebe, +anyhow. We can easily give him five demerits in short order, and without +attracting any attention, either." + +"He's out, just as sure as he's alive!" laughed Bull. "We wouldn't need +to do a thing more." + +"Exactly!" cried the echo. "Not a thing!" + +"All the same," continued the other, "I wish we could get up a scheme to +get him in disgrace, so as to clinch it. I wish we could----" + +Just here Bull was interrupted by a sudden exclamation from Murray. +Murray had brought his hand against his knee with a whack, and there +was a look of inspiration upon his face. + +"Great Cæsar!" he cried, "I've got it!" + +"Got it! What?" + +"A scheme! A scheme to do him!" + +"What is it?" + +"Write him a letter, or something--get him to leave barracks at +night--have a sentry catch him beyond limits, or else we'll report him +absent! Oh, say!" + +The crowd were staring at each other in amazement, a look of delight +spreading over their faces, as the full possibilities of this same +inspiration dawned upon them. + +"By the lord!" cried Bull, at last. "Court-martial him! That's the +ticket!" + +"Shake on it!" responded Murray. + +In half a minute the gang had sworn to put that plan into execution +within the space of twenty-four hours. And after that they hurried on +down to the point to go in swimming. + +"Speak of angels," remarked Murray, "and they flap their wings. There's +the confounded plebe now." + +"Of angels!" sneered Vance. "Of devils, you mean." + +"By George!" muttered Bull. "You can't phaze that fellow. I thought +he'd be up in barracks, moping, to-day!" + +"Probably wants to put up a bluff as if he don't care," was the clever +suggestion of the Baby. "I bet he's sore as anything!" + +"I told him I'd make him the sickest plebe in the place," growled Bull, +"and I'll bet he is, too." + +The yearling would have won his bet; there was probably no sadder man in +West Point than Mark Mallory just then, even though he did not choose to +let his enemies know it. + +"Look at him dive!" sneered Baby, watching him with a malignant frown. +"He wants to show off." + +"Pretty good dive," commented a bystander, who was somewhat more +disinterested. + +"Good, your grandmother!" cried the other. "Why, I could beat that +myself if I knew how to swim!" + +And then he wondered why the crowd laughed. + +"Come on, let's go in ourselves," put in Bull, anxious to end his small +friend's discomfort. "Hurry up, there!" + +The crowd had turned away, to follow their leader in his suggestion; +they were by no means anxious to swell the number of those who had +gathered for the obvious purpose of watching Mark Mallory's feats as a +swimmer. In fact, they couldn't see why anybody should want to watch a +B. J. beast, and a "beast" who had only a day or two more to stay, at +that. + +Just then, however, a cry from the crowd attracted their attention, and +made them turn hastily again. + +"A race! A race!" + +And Bull Harris cried out with vexation, as he wheeled and took in the +situation. + +"By the Lord!" he cried. "Did you ever hear of such a B. J. trick in +your life? The confounded plebe is going to race with Fischer!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE FINISH OF A RACE. + + +So it was; certain of the cadets, being piqued at the evident +superiority which that B. J. Mallory (his usual title by this time) had +displayed in the water, had requested their captain to take him down. +The "captain" had good-naturedly declared that he was willing to try; +and the shout that attracted Bull's attention was caused by the plebe's +ready assent to the proposition for an impromptu race. + +"Fischer ought to be ashamed of himself, to have anything to do with +him!" was Bull Harris' angry verdict. "I almost hope the plebe beats +him." + +"I don't!" vowed Murray, emphatically. "Let's hurry up, and see it." + +The latter speaker suited the action to the word; Bull followed, +growling surlily. + +"Look at that gang of plebes!" he muttered. "They're the ones who helped +Mallory take away the fellow we were hazing; they think they're right in +it, now." + +"Yes," chimed in Baby. "And see that fellow, Texas, making a fool of +himself." + +"That fellow Texas" was "making a fool of himself" by dancing about in +wild excitement, and raising a series of cowboy whoops in behalf of his +friend, and of plebes in general. + +"There they are, ready to go!" cried Murray, betraying some excitement. + +"I wish the confounded plebe'd never come up again!" growled Bull, in +return, striving hard to appear indifferent. + +"I bet Fischer'll do him!" exclaimed the Baby. "He swims like a fish. +Say, they're going to race to that tree way down the river. Golly, but +that's a long swim!" + +"Long nothing!" sneered Vance. "I could swim that a dozen times. But, +say, they'll finish in the rain; look at that thunderstorm coming!" + +In response to this last remark, the crowd cast their eyes in the +direction indicated. They found that the prediction seemed likely to be +fulfilled. To the north, up the Hudson, dense, black clouds already +obscured the sky, and a strong, fresh breeze, that smelled of rain, was +springing up from thence, and making the swimmers shiver apprehensively. + +The preparation for the race went on, however; nobody cared for the +storm. + +"Gee whiz!" cried the Baby, in excitement. "Won't it be exciting! I +don't mind the rain. I'm going to run down along the shore, and watch +it! Hooray!" + +"Rats!" growled Bull, angrily. "I don't care about any old race. I'm +going to keep dry, let me tell you!" + +Even the damper of his idol's displeasure could not change Master +Edwards' mind, however; he and nearly the whole crowd with him made a +dash down the shore for a vantage point to see the finish. + +"There! They're off!" + +The cry came a moment later, as the two lightly-clad figures stepped to +the mark from which they were to start. + +They were about of one size, magnificently proportioned, both of them, +and the race bid fair to be a close one. + +"Ready?" called the starter, in a voice that rang down the shore. + +"Yes," responded Mark, and at the same moment a heavy cloud swept under +the sun, and the air grew dark and chilly. The wind increased to a +gale, blowing the spray before it; and then---- + +"Go!" called the starter. + +The two dived as one figure; both took the water clean and low, with no +perceptible splash; two heads appeared a moment later, forging ahead +side by side; a cheer from the cadets arose, that drowned, for a moment, +the roars of the storm; and the race was on. + +It is remarkable how closely nature follows a rule in her most perfect +work; here were two figures, built by her a thousand miles apart, racing +there, and each striving with might and main, yet the sum total of the +energy that each was able to expend so nearly alike that yard by yard +they struggled on, without an inch of difference between them. + +"Fischer! Fischer!" rose the shouts of the cadets. + +"Mallory! Mallory!" roared the excited plebes, backed up by an +occasional "Wow!" in the stentorian tones of the mighty Texan, who, by +this time, was on the verge of epilepsy. + +Onward went the two heads, still side by side, seeming to creep through +the water at a snail's pace to the excited partisans on the shore. But +it was no snail's pace to the two in the water; each was struggling in +grim earnestness, putting into every stroke all the power that was in +him. Neither looked at the other; but each could tell, from the cries of +the cadets, that his opponent was pressing him closely. + +Nearer and nearer they came to the far distant goal; higher and higher +rose the shouts: + +"Fischer! Fischer!" "Mallory! Mallory!" "He's got him!" "No." "Hooray!" + +"Gee! but it is exciting," screamed Baby. "Go it, Fischer! Do him!" + +"And I wish that confounded 'beast' was in Hades!" snarled Bull, whose +hatred of Mark was deeper, and more malignant than that of his friend. + +"I believe I could kill him!" + +During all this excitement the storm had been sweeping rapidly up, its +majesty unnoticed in the excitement of the race. Far up the Hudson could +be seen a driving cloud of rain; and the wind had risen to a hurricane, +while the air grew dark and chill. + +The race was at its most exciting stage--the finish, and the cadets were +dancing about, half in a frenzy, yelling incoherently, at the two still +struggling lads, when some one, nobody knew just who, chanced to glance +for one brief instant up the river. A moment later a cry was heard that +brought the race to a startling and unexpected close. + +"Look! look! The sailboat!" + +The cry sounded even above the roar of the storm and the shouts of the +crowd. The cadets turned in alarm and gazed up the river. What they saw +made them forget that such a thing as a race ever existed. + +Right in the teeth of the wind, in the center of the river, was a small +catboat, driven downstream, before the gale, with the speed of a +locomotive. In the boat was one person, and the person was a girl. She +sat in the stern, waving her hands in helpless terror, and even as the +spectators stared, the boat gibed with terrific violence, and a volume +of water poured in over the gunwale. + +The crowd was thrown into confusion; a babel of excited voices arose, +and the race was forgotten in an instant. + +The racers were not slow to notice it; both of them turned to gaze +behind them, and to take in the situation. + +"Help! Help!" called a faint voice from the distant sailboat. + +Help! Who was there to help? There was not a boat in sight; the cadets +were running up and down in confusion, hunting for one in vain. They +were like a nest of frightened ants, without a leader, skurrying this +way and that, and only contributing to the general alarm. The girl +herself could do nothing, and so it seemed as if help were far away, +indeed. + +There was one person in the crowd, however, who kept his head in the +midst of all that confusion. And the person was Mark. Exhausted though +he was by his desperate swim, he did not hesitate an instant. Before the +amazed cadet captain at his side could half comprehend his intention, he +turned quickly in the water, and, with one powerful stroke, shot away +toward the center of the stream. + +The cadets on the shore scarcely knew whether to cry out in horror, or +to cheer the act they saw. They caught one more glimpse of the catboat +as it raced ahead before the gale; they saw the gallant plebe struggling +in the water. + +And then the storm struck them in its fury. A blinding sheet of driving +rain, that darkened the air and drove against the river, and rose again +in clouds of spray; a gale that lashed the water into fury; and darkness +that shut out the river, and the boat, and the swimmer, and left nothing +but a humbled group of shivering cadets. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +WHAT MARK DID. + + +The surprise of the helpless watchers on the shore precludes +description. They knew that out upon that seething river a tragedy was +being enacted; but the driving rain made a wall about them--they could +not aid, they could not even see. They stood about in groups, and +whispered, and listened, and strained their eyes to pierce the mist. + +Mark's friends were wild with alarm; and his enemies--who can describe +their feelings? + +A man has said that it is a terrible thing to die with a wrong upon +one's soul; but that it is agony to see another die whom you have +wronged, to know that your act can never be atoned for now. That there +is one unpardonable sin to your account on the records of eternity. That +was how the yearlings felt; and even Bull Harris, ruffian though he was, +trembled slightly about the lips. + +The storm itself was one of those which come but seldom. Nature's mighty +forces flung loose in one giant cataclysm. It came from the north, and +it had a full sweep down the valley of the Hudson, pent in and focused +to one point by the mountains on each side. It tore the trees from the +tops as it came; it struck the river with a swish, and beat the water +into foam. It flung the raindrops in gusts against it, and caught them +up in spray and whirled them on; and this, to the echoing crashes of the +thunder and the dull, lurid gleam of the lightning that played in the +rear. + +One is silent at such times at that; the frightened cadets on the shore +would probably have stood in groups and trembled, and done nothing +through it all, had it not been for a cry that aroused them. Some one, +sharper eyed than the rest, espied a figure struggling in the water near +the shore. There was a rush for the spot, and strong arms drew the +swimmer in. It was Captain Fischer, breathless and exhausted from the +race. + +He lay on the bank, panting for breath for a minute, and then raised +himself upon his arms. + +"Where's Mallory?" he cried, his voice sounding faint and distant in the +roar of the storm. + +"Out there," responded somebody, pointing. + +"W-why don't somebody go help him?" gasped the other. "He'll drown!" + +"Don't know where to go to," answered the first speaker, shaking his +head. + +Fischer sank back, too exhausted, himself, to move. + +"He'll drown! He'll drown!" he muttered. "He is tired to death from the +race." + +And after that there was another anxious wait, every one hesitating, +wondering if there were any use venturing into the tossing water. + +The storm was one that came in gusts; its first minute's fury past, +there was a brief let up in its violence, and the darkness that the +black clouds had brought with them yielded to the daylight for a while. +During that time those on the shore got one brief glimpse of a startling +panorama. + +The boat was sighted first, still skimming along before the gale, but +obviously laboring with the water she had shipped. The frightened +occupant was still in the stern, clinging to the gunwale with terror. +There was a shout raised when the boat was noticed, and all eyes were +bent upon it anxiously. Then some one, chancing a glance down the river +below, caught a glimpse of a moving head. + +"There's Mallory!" he cried. "Hooray!" + +There was Mallory, and Mallory was swimming desperately, as the crowd +could dimly see. For the boat he was aiming at was just a little farther +out in the stream than he, and bearing swiftly down upon him. Whatever +happened must happen with startling rapidity, and the crowd knew it, and +forebore to shout--almost to breathe. + +The boat plunged on; the swimmer fairly leaped through the waves. Nearer +it came, nearer--up to him--past him! No! For, as it seemed, the bow +must cleave his body, the body was seen to leap forward with it. He had +caught the boat! And a wild cheer burst from the spectators. + +"He's safe! He's safe!" + +But the cheer, as it died out, seemed to catch in their throats, and to +change into a gasp of suspense, and then of horror. + +Mallory had clung to the bow for a moment, as if too exhausted to move. +His body, half submerged, had cut a white furrow in the water, drawn on +by the plunging boat. Then the girl, in an evil moment, released her +hold and sprang forward to help him. She caught his arm, and he flung +himself upon the boat. + +And then came the crash. + +Leaning to one side, with the sudden weight, the boat half turned, and +then gibed with terrific violence. The great boom swung around like a +giant club, driven by the pressure of the wind upon the vast surface of +the sail. The watchers gave a half-suppressed gasp, Mallory was seen to +put out his arm, and the next instant the blow was struck. + +It hit the girl with a crash that those on shore thought they heard; it +flung her far out into the water, and almost at the same instant Mallory +was seen to leap out in a low, quick dive. Then, as if the scene was +over, and the book shut, the rain burst out again in its fury, and the +darkness of the raging storm shut it all out. + +This time there could be no mistaking duty; the cadets knew now where +the struggling pair were, and they had no reason to hesitate. First to +move was one of a group of six anxious plebes, who had been waiting in +agony; it was Texas, and the spectators saw him plunge into the water +and vanish in the driving rain. Then more of that crowd followed him; +Fischer, too, sprang up, exhausted though he was, and in the end there +were at least a dozen sturdy lads swimming with all their might toward +the spot where Mallory had been seen to leap. + +They were destined, however, to do but little good; so we shall stay by +those upon the shore. + +The weakening of Bull Harris' followers has been mentioned; it increased +as the plebe's self-sacrificing daring was shown. + +"He certainly is spunky," one of the crowd ventured to mutter, as he +shivered and watched. "I hope he gets ashore." + +And Bull turned upon him with a savage oath. + +"You fool!" he cried. "You confounded fool! If he does, I could kill +him! Kill him! Do you hear me?" + +There are some natures like that. Have you read the tale of +Macauley's?-- + + "How brave Horatius held the bridge + In the good old days of yore." + +There was just such a hero then battling with the waves as now-- + + "Curse him!" cried false Sextus. + "Will not the villain drown?" + +And on the other hand-- + + "Heaven help him," quoth Spurius Laritus, + "And bring him safe to shore! + For such a gallant feat of arms + Has ne'er been seen before." + +There were few of Bull's crowd as hardened in their hatred as was he; +Murray was one, and the sallow Vance another. Baby Edwards followed +suit, of course. But, as for the rest of them, they were thinking. + +"I don't care!" vowed one. "I'm sorry we've got him fired." + +"Do you mean," demanded Bull, in amazement, "that you're not going to +keep the promise you made a while ago?" + +"That's what I do!" declared the other, sturdily. "I think he deserves +to stay!" + +And Bull turned away in alarm and disgust. + +"Fools!" he muttered to himself. "Fools!" and gritted his teeth in rage. +"I hope he's never seen again." + +It seemed as if that might happen; the cadets during all this time had +been standing out in the driving rain, striving to pierce the darkness +of the storm. From the river came an occasional shout from some one of +the rescue party; but no word from the plebe or the girl. + +Once the watchers caught sight of a figure swimming in; it proved to be +Fischer once more. The cadets had rushed toward him with sudden hope, +but he shook his head, sadly. + +"Couldn't--couldn't find him," he panted, shaking the water from his +hair and shielding his face from the driving rain. "I was too tired to +stay long." + +The storm swept by in a very short while. Violence such as that cannot +last long in anything. While the anxious cadets raced up and down the +shore, each striving to catch a glimpse of Mallory, the dark clouds +sailed past and the rain settled into an ordinary drizzle. The surface +of the white-capped river became visible then, and gradually the heads +of the swimmers came into view. + +"There's Billy Williams!" was the cry. "And that's Texas, way over +there. Here's Parson Stanard! And Jones!" + +And so on it went, but no Mallory. Those on the shore could not see him +and those in the river had no better luck. Most of them had begun to +give up in despair, when the long-expected cry did come. For Mark was +not dead by a long shot. + +A shout came from a solitary straggler far down the stream, and the +straggler was seen to plunge into the water. Those on the shore made a +wild dash for the spot and those in the water struck out for the shore +so as to join them. And louder at last swelled the glad cry. + +"Here he is! Hooray!" + +The plebe was about a hundred yards from the shore, and swimming weakly; +the girl, still unconscious, was floating upon her back--and her +rescuer, holding her by the arms--was slowly towing her toward the +shore. + +A dozen swam out to aid him as soon as he was seen; strong arms lifted +the girl and bore her high upon the bank, others supporting the +half-fainting plebe to a seat. + +"Is she dead?" was Mark's first thought, as soon as he could speak at +all. + +"I don't know," said Fischer, chafing the girl's hands and watching for +the least sign of life. "Somebody hustle up for the doctor there! +Quick!" + +Several of the cadets set out for the hospital at a run; and the rest +gathered about the two and offered what help they could. + +"It's Judge Fuller's daughter," said Fischer, who was busily dosing the +unconscious figure with a flask of reddish liquid surreptitiously +produced by one of the cadets. + +"Do you know her?" inquired Mark, in surprise. + +"Know her!" echoed half the bystanders at once. "Why, she lives just +across the river!" + +"That's an ugly looking wound on the head there," continued Fischer, +bending over the prostrate form. "Gosh! but that boom must have struck +her. And here, Mallory," he added, "you'd best take a taste of this +brandy. You look about dead yourself." + +"No, I thank you," responded Mark, smiling weakly. "I'm all right. Only +I'm glad it's all over and----" + +Mark got no farther; as if to mock his words came a cry that made the +crowd whirl about and look toward the river in alarm. + +"Help! Help!" + +"By George!" cried Fischer, "it's one of the fellows!" + +"It's Alan!" shouted Mark. "Alan Dewey!" + +And before any one could divine his intention he sprang up and made a +dash for the river. For Mark knew how Dewey had come there; he had swum +out, cripple though he was, to hunt for him; and with his one well arm, +poor gallant Dewey was finding trouble in getting back. + +Mark had been quick, but Fischer was a bit too quick for him and seized +him by the arm. + +"Come back here!" he commanded, sternly. "And don't be a fool. You're +near dead. Some of you fellows swim out and tow that plebe in." + +Half a dozen had started without being asked; and Mark's overzealous +friend was grabbed by the hair and arms and feet and rushed in in great +style. He came up smiling as usual. + +"Got out too far, b'gee!" he began. "Very foolish of me! Reminds me of a +story I once heard---- Oh, say!" + +This last explanation came as the speaker caught sight of the figure of +the young girl; and his face lost its smile on the instant. + +"She's alive, isn't she?" he cried. + +"Don't know," said Fischer. "Here comes the doctor now." + +"Well, she certainly is a beautiful girl!" responded Dewey, shaking his +head. "B'gee, we don't want that kind to die!" + +The doctor was coming on a run; and a minute later he was kneeling +beside the young girl's body. + +"Jove!" he muttered. "Almost a fractured skull! No, she's alive! See +here, who got her out?" + +"Mr. Mallory," responded the captain, turning toward where Mark had sat. +And then he gave vent to a startled exclamation. + +"Good heavens! He's fainted! What's the matter?" + +"Fainted?" echoed the surgeon, as he noticed the young man's white lips +and bloodless cheek. "Fainted! I should say so! Why, he's almost as near +dead as she! We must take him to the hospital." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +MARK MEETS THE SUPERINTENDENT. + + +"Yes, colonel, the lad is a hero, and I want to tell him so, too!" + +The speaker was a tall, gray-haired gentleman, and he whacked his cane +on the floor for emphasis as he spoke. + +"It was a splendid act, sir, splendid!" he continued. "And I want to +thank Mark Mallory for it right here in your office." + +The man he addressed wore the uniform of the United States army; he was +Colonel Harvey, the superintendent of the West Point Academy. + +"I shall be most happy to have you do so," he replied, smiling at this +visitor's enthusiasm. "You have certainly," he added, "much to thank the +young man for." + +"Much!" echoed the other. "Much! Why, my dear sir, if that daughter of +mine had been drowned I believe it would have killed me. She is my only +child, and, if I do say it myself, sir, the sweetest girl that ever +lived." + +"Wasn't it rather reckless, judge," inquired the other, "for you to +allow her to go sailing alone?" + +"She is used to the boat," responded Judge Fuller, "but no one on earth +could have handled it in such a gale. I do not remember to have seen +such a one in all the time I have lived up here." + +"Nor I, either," said the superintendent. "It was so dark that I could +scarcely see across the parade ground. It is almost miraculous that +Mallory should have succeeded in finding the boat as he did." + +"Tell me about it," put in the other. "I have not been able to get a +consistent account yet." + +"Cadet Captain Fischer told me," responded the colonel. "It seems that +he and Mallory were just at the finish of a swimming race when the storm +broke. They caught sight of the boat with your daughter in it coming +down stream. The plebe turned, exhausted though he was, and headed for +it. It got so dark then that those on shore could scarcely see; but the +lad managed to catch the boat as it passed and climbed aboard. Just then +the boom swung round and flung the girl into the water. Mallory dived +again at once----" + +"Splendid!" interrupted the other. + +"And swam ashore with her." + +"And then fainted, they say," the judge added. + +"Yes," said Colonel Harvey. "Dr. Grimes told me that it was one of the +worst cases of exhaustion he had ever seen. But the lad is doing well +now; he appears to be a very vigorous youngster--and I've an idea +several of the yearlings found that out to their discomfort. The doctor +told me that he thought he would be out this morning; the accident was +only two days ago." + +"That is fortunate," responded the other. "The boy is too good to lose." + +"He appears to be a remarkable lad generally," continued the +superintendent. "I have heard several tales about him. Some of the +stories came to me 'unofficially,' as we call it, and I don't believe +Mallory would rest easily if he thought I knew of them. Young Fischer, +who's a splendid man himself, I'll tell you, informed me yesterday that +the plebe had earned his admission fee by bringing help to a wrecked +train and telegraphing the account to a New York paper." + +"I heard he had been in some trouble about demerits," put in Judge +Fuller. + +"In very serious trouble. I had to take a very radical step to get him +out of it. Every once in a while I find that some new cadet is being +'skinned,' as the cadets call it, demerited unfairly. I always punish +severely when I find that out. In this case, though, I had no proof; +Mallory would say nothing, though he was within five demerits of +expulsion. So I decided to end the whole matter by declaring a new rule +I've been contemplating for some time. I've found that new cadets get +too many demerits during the first few weeks, before they learn the +rules thoroughly. So I've decided that in future no demerits shall be +given for the first three weeks, and that delinquencies shall be +punished by extra hours and other penalties. That let Mallory out of his +trouble, you see." + +"A very clever scheme!" laughed the other. "Very clever!" + +It may be of interest to notice that Colonel Harvey's rule has been in +effect ever since. + +There was silence of a few moments after that, during which Judge Fuller +tapped the floor with his cane reflectively. + +"You promised to let me see this Mallory," he said, suddenly. "I'm ready +now." + +By way of answer, the superintendent rang a bell upon his desk. + +"Go over to the hospital," he said to the orderly who appeared in the +doorway, "and find out if Cadet Mallory is able to be about. If he is, +bring him here at once." + +The boy disappeared and the colonel turned to his visitor and smiled. + +"Is that satisfactory?" he inquired. + +"Very!" responded the other. "And I only wish that you could send for my +daughter to come over, too. I hope those surgeons are taking care of +her." + +"As much as if she were their own," answered the colonel. "I cannot tell +you how glad I was to learn that she is beyond danger." + +"It is God's mercy," said the other, with feeling. "She could not have +had a much narrower escape." + +And after that neither said anything until a knock at the door signaled +the arrival of the orderly. + +"Come in," called the superintendent, and two figures stepped into the +room. One was the messenger, and the other was Mark. + +"This," said the superintendent after a moment's pause, "is Cadet +Mallory." + +And Cadet Mallory it was. The same old Mark, only paler and more weak +just then. + +Judge Fuller rose and bowed gravely. + +"Sit down," said he, "you are not strong enough to stand." + +And after that no one said anything for fully a minute; the last speaker +resumed his seat and fell to studying Mark's face in silence. And Mark +waited respectfully for him to begin. + +"My name," said he at last, "is Fuller." + +"Judge Fuller?" inquired Mark. + +"Yes. And Grace Fuller is my daughter." + +After that there was silence again, broken suddenly by the excitable old +gentleman dropping his cane, springing up from his chair, and striding +over toward the lad. + +"I want to shake hands with you, sir! I want to shake hands with you!" +he cried. + +Mark was somewhat taken aback; but he arose and did as he was asked. + +"And now," said the judge, "I guess that's all--sit down, sir, sit down; +you've little strength left, I can see. I want to thank you, sir, for +being the finest lad I've met for a long time. And when my daughter gets +well--which she will, thank the Lord--I'll be very glad to have you +call on us, or else to let us call on you--seeing that we live beyond +cadet limits. And if ever you get into trouble, here or anywhere, just +come and see me about it, and I'll be much obliged to you. And that's +all." + +Having said which, the old gentleman stalked across the room once more, +picked up his hat and cane, and made for the door. + +"Good-day, sir," he said. "I'm going around now to see my daughter. +Good-day, and God bless you." + +After which the door was shut. + +It was several minutes after that before Colonel Harvey said anything. + +"You have made a powerful friend, my boy," he remarked, smiling at the +recollection of the old gentleman's strange speech. "And you have +brought honor upon the academy. I am proud of you--proud to have you +here." + +"Thank you, sir," said Mark, simply. + +"All I have to say besides that," added the officer, "is to watch out +that you stay. Don't get any more demerits." + +"I'll try not, sir." + +"Do. And I guess you had best go and join your company now if the doctor +thinks you're able. Something is happening to-day which always interests +new cadets. I bid you good-morning, Mr. Mallory." + +And Mark went out of that office and crossed the street to barracks +feeling as if he were walking on air. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE SEVEN IN SESSION. + + +It is fun indeed to be a hero, to know that every one you pass is gazing +at you with admiration. Or if one cannot do anything heroic, let him +even do something that will bring him notoriety, and then-- + + "As he walks along the Boulevard, + With an independent air." + +he may be able to appreciate the afore-mentioned sensation. + +There was no boulevard at West Point, but the area in barracks served +the purpose, and Mark could not help noticing that as he went the +yearlings were gazing enviously at him, and the plebes with undisguised +admiration. He hurried upstairs to avoid that, and found that he had +leaped, as the phrase has it, from the frying pan to the fire. For there +were the other six of the "Seven Devils" ready to welcome him with a +rush. + +"Wow!" cried Texas. "Back again! Whoop!" + +"Bless my soul, but I'm glad!" piped in the little round bubbly voice of +"Indian." "Bless my soul!" + +"Sit down. Sit down," cried "Parson" Stanard, reverently offering his +beloved volume of "Dana's Geology" for a cushion. + +"Sit down and let us look at you." + +"Yes, b'gee!" chimed in Alan Dewey. "Yes, b'gee, let's look at you. +Reminds me of a story I once heard, b'gee--pshaw, what's the use of +trying to tell a good story with everybody trying to shout at once." + +The excitement subsided after some five minutes more, and Mark was glad +of it. With the true modesty natural to all high minds he felt that he +would a great deal rather rescue a girl than be praised and made +generally uncomfortable for it. So he shut his followers up as quickly +as he could, which was not very quickly, for they had lots to say. + +"How is the girl?" inquired Dewey, perceiving at last that Mark really +meant what he said, and so, hastening to turn the conversation. + +"She's doing very well now," said Mark. + +"Always your luck!" growled Texas. "She's beautiful, and her father's a +judge and got lots of money. Bet he runs off and marries her in a week. +Oh, say, Mark, but you're lucky! You just ought to hear the plebes talk +about you. I can't tell you how proud I am, man! Why----" + +"Right back at it again!" interrupted Mark, laughing. "Right back again! +Didn't I tell you to drop it? I know what I'll do----" + +Here Mark arose from his seat. + +"I hereby declare this a business meeting of the Seven Devils, and as +chairman I call the meeting to order." + +"What for?" cried the crowd. + +"To consider plans for hazing," answered Mark. "I----" + +"Wow!" roared Texas, wildly excited in an instant. "Goin' to haze +somebody? Whoop!" + +And Mark laughed silently to himself. + +"I knew I'd make you drop that rescue business," he said. "And Mr. +Powers, you will have the goodness to come to order and not to address +the meeting until you are granted the floor. It is my purpose, if you +will allow me to say a few words to the society--ahem!" + +Mark said this with stern and pompous dignity and Texas subsided so +suddenly that the rest could scarcely keep from laughing. + +"But, seriously now, fellows," he said, after a moment's silence. "Let's +leave all the past behind and consider what's before us. I really have +something to say." + +Having been thus enjoined, the meeting did come to order. The members +settled themselves comfortably about the room as if expecting a long +oration, and Mark continued, after a moment's thought. + +"We really ought to make up our mind beforehand as to just exactly what +we're going to do. I suppose you all know what's going to happen +to-day." + +"No!" cried the impulsive Texas. "I don't. What is it, anyhow?" + +"We're to move to camp this afternoon," responded Mark. + +"I know; but what's that got to do with it?" + +"Lots. Several of the cadets have told me that there's always more +hazing done on that one day than on all the rest put together. You see, +we leave barracks and go up to live with the whole corps at the summer +camp. And that night the yearlings always raise Cain with the plebes." + +"Bully, b'gee!" chimed in Dewey, no less pleased with the prospect. + +"So to-night is the decisive night," continued Mark. "And I leave it for +the majority to decide just what we'll do about it. What do you say?" + +Mark relapsed into silence, and there was a moment's pause, ended by the +grave and classic Parson slowly rising to his feet. The Parson first +laid his inevitable "Dana" upon the floor, then glanced about him with a +pompous air and folded his long, bony arms. "Ahem!" he said, and then +began: + +"Gentlemen! I rise--ahem!--to put the case to you as I see it; I rise to +emulate the example of the immortal Patrick Henry--to declare for +liberty or death! Yea, by Zeus, or death!" + +"Bully, b'gee!" chimed in Dewey, slapping his knee in approval and +winking merrily at the crowd from behind the Parson's back. + +"Gentlemen!" continued the Parson. "Once before we met in this same room +and we did then make known our declaration of independence to the world. +But there is one thing we have not yet done, and that we must do! Yea, +by Zeus! I am a Bostonian--I may have told you that before--and I am +proud of the deeds of my forefathers. They fought at Bunker Hill; and, +gentlemen, we have that yet to do." + +"Betcher life, b'gee!" cried Dewey, as the Parson gravely took his seat. +Then the former arose and continued the discussion. "Not much of a hand +for making a speech," he said, "as the deaf-mute remarked when he lost +three fingers; but I've got something to say, and, b'gee, I'm going to +say it. To-night is the critical night, and if we are meek and mild now, +we'll be it for the whole summer. And I say we don't, b'gee, and that's +all!" + +With which brief, but pointed and characteristic summary of the +situation, Alan sat down and Texas clapped his heels together and gave +vent to a "Wow!" of approval. + +"Anybody else got anything to say?" inquired Mark. + +"Yes, bah Jove! I have, don't ye know." + +This came from Mr. Chauncey Van Rensallear Mount-Bonsall. Chauncey wore +a high collar and a London accent; he was by this time playfully known +as "the man with a tutor and a hyphen," both of which luxuries it had +been found he possessed. But Chauncey was no fool for all his +mannerisms. + +"Aw--yes," said he, "I have something to say, ye know. Those deuced +yearlings will haze us more than any other plebes in the place. Beastly +word, that, by the way. I hate to be called a plebe, ye know. There is +blue blood in our family, bah Jove, and I'll guarantee there isn't one +yearling in the place can show better. Why, my grandfather----" + +"I call the gentleman to order," laughed Mark. "Hazing's the business on +hand. Hazing, and not hancestors." + +"I know," expostulated Chauncey, "but I hate to be called a plebe, ye +know. As I was going to say, however, they'll haze us most. Mark +has--aw--fooled them a dozen times, bah Jove! Texas chastised four of +them. Parson, I'm told, chased half a dozen once. My friend Indian here +got so deuced mad the other day that he nearly killed one, don't ye +know. Dewey's worse, and as for me and my friend Sleepy here--aw--bah +Jove!----" + +"You did better than all of us!" put in Mark. + +Chauncey paused a moment to make a remark about "those deuced drills, ye +know, which kept a fellah from ever having a clean collah, bah Jove!" +And then he continued. + +"I just wanted to say, ye know, that we were selected for the hazing +to-night, and that we might as well do something desperate at once, bah +Jove! that's what I think, and so does my friend Sleepy. Don't you, +Sleepy?" + +"I ain't a-thinkin' abaout it 't all," came a voice from the bed where +Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers, the farmer, lay stretched out. + +"Sleepy's too tired," laughed Mark. "It seems to be the unanimous +opinion of the crowd," he continued, after a moment's pause, "that we +might just as well be bold. In other words, that we have no hazing." + +"B'gee!" cried Dewey, springing to his feet, excitedly. "B'gee, I didn't +say that! No, sir!" + +"What did you say, then?" inquired Mark. + +"I said that we shouldn't let them haze us, b'gee, and I meant it, too. +I never said no hazing! Bet cher life, b'gee! I was just this moment +going to make the motion that we carry the war into the enemy's country, +that we upset West Point traditions for once and forever, and with a +bang, too. In other words"--here the excitable youngster paused, so that +his momentous idea might have due weight--"in other words, b'gee, that +we haze the yearlings!" + +There was an awed silence for a few moments to give that terrifically +original proposition a chance to settle in the minds of the amazed +"devils." + +Texas was the first to act and he leaped across the room at a bound and +seized "B'gee" by the hand. + +"Wow!" he roared. "Whoop! Bully, b'gee!" + +And in half a minute more the seven, including the timid Indian, had +registered a solemn vow to do deeds of valor that would "make them ole +cadets look crosseyed," as Texas put it. + +They were going to haze the yearlings! + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE MOVE INTO CAMP. + + +The new cadets at West Point are housed in barracks for two weeks after +their admission. During this time "squad drill" is the daily rule, and +the strangers learn to march and stand and face--everything a new +soldier has to learn, with the exception of the manual of arms. After +that they are adjudged fit to associate with the older cadets, and are +marched up to "Camp McPherson." This usually takes place about the first +day of July. + +Our friends, the seven, had been measured for uniforms along with the +rest of the plebe company during their first days in barracks. The +fatigue uniforms had been given out that morning, to the great +excitement of everybody, and now "cit" clothing, with all its fantastic +variety of hats and coats of all colors, was stowed away in trunks "for +good," and the plebes costumed uniformly in somber suits of gray, with +short jackets and only a black seam down the trousers for ornament. Full +dress uniforms, such as the old cadets up at camp were wearing, were +yet things of the future. + +That morning also the plebes had been "sized" for companies. + +Of "companies" there are four, into which the battalion of some three +hundred cadets is divided, "for purposes of instruction in infantry +tactics, and in military police and discipline." (For purposes of +"academic instruction," they are of course divided into the four +classes: First, second, third, or "yearlings," and fourth, the +"plebes".) The companies afore-mentioned are under the command of +tactical officers. These latter report to the "commandant of cadets," +who is, next to the superintendent, the highest ranking officer on the +post. + +The companies are designated A, B, C and D. A and D are flank companies, +and to them the tallest cadets are assigned. B and C are center +companies. Mark and Texas, and also the Parson and Sleepy, all of whom +were above the average height, found themselves in A. The remainder of +the Seven Devils managed to land in B; and the whole plebe class was +ordered to pack up and be ready to move immediately after dinner. + +The cadets are allowed to take only certain articles to camp; the rest, +together with the cit's clothing, was stored in trunks and put away in +the trunk room. + +Right here at the start there was trouble for the members of our +organization. Texas, it will be remembered, had a choice assortment of +guns of all caliber, sixteen in number. These he had stored up the +chimney of his room for safety. (The chimney is a favorite place of +concealment for contraband articles at West Point). But there was no +such place of concealment in camp; and no way of getting the guns there +anyhow. There are no pockets in the cadets' uniforms except a small one +for a watch. Money they are not allowed to carry, and their +handkerchiefs are tucked in the breasts of their coats. + +It was a difficult situation, for Texas, with true Texan cautiousness, +vowed he'd never leave his guns behind. + +"Why, look a yere, man," he cried. "I tell you, t'ain't safe now fo' a +feller to go up thar 'thout anything to defend himself. You kain't tell +what may happen!" + +The Parson was in a similar quandary. His chimney contained a various +assortment of chemicals, together with sundry geological specimens, +including that now world-famous cyathophylloid coral which had been +discovered "in a sandstone of Tertiary origin." And the Parson vowed +that either that cyathophylloid went to camp or he stayed in +barracks--yea, by Zeus! + +There was no use arguing with them; Mark tried it in vain. Texas was +obdurate and talked of holding up the crowd that dared to take those +guns away; and the Parson said that he had kept a return ticket to +Boston, his native town, a glorious city where science was encouraged +and not repressed. + +That was the state of affairs through dinner, and up to the moment when +the cry, "New cadets turn out!" came from the area. By that time Texas +had tied his guns in one of his shirts, and the Parson had variously +distributed his fossils about his body until he was one bundle of lumps. + +"If you people will congregate closely about me," he exclaimed, "I +apprehend that the state of affairs will not be observed." + +It was a curious assembly that "turned out"--a mass of bundles, brooms +and buckets, with a few staggering plebes underneath. They marched up to +camp that way, too, and it was with audible sighs of relief that they +dropped their burdens at the end. + +A word of description of "Camp McPherson" may be of interest to those +who have never visited West Point. It is important that the reader +should be familiar with its appearance, for many of Mark's adventures +were destined to happen there--some of them this very same night. + +The camp is half a mile or so from barracks, just beyond the Cavalry +Plain and very close to old Fort Clinton. The site is a pretty one, the +white tents standing out against the green of the shade trees and the +parapet of the fort. + +The tents are arranged in four "company streets" and are about five feet +apart. The tents have wooden platforms for floors and are large enough +for four cadets each. A long wooden box painted green serves as the +"locker"--it has no lock or key--and a wooden rod near the ridge pole +serves as a wardrobe. And that is the sum total of the furniture. + +The plebes made their way up the company streets and the cadet officers +in charge, under the supervision of the "tacs," assigned them to their +tents. Fortunately, plebes are allowed to select their own tent mates; +it may readily be believed the four devils of A company went together. +By good fortune the three remaining in B company, as was learned later, +found one whole tent left over and so were spared the nuisance of a +stranger in their midst--a fact which was especially gratifying to the +exclusive Master Chauncey. + +Having been assigned to their tents, the plebes were set to work under +the brief instructions of a cadet corporal at the task of arranging +their household effects. This is done with mathematical exactness. There +is a place for everything, and a penalty for not keeping it there. +Blankets, comforters, pillows, etc., go in a pile at one corner. A +looking-glass hangs on the front tent pole; a water bucket is deposited +on the front edge of the platform; candlesticks, candles, cleaning +materials, etc., are kept in a cylindrical tin box at the foot of the +rear tent pole; and so on it goes, through a hundred items or so. There +are probably no more uniform things in all nature than the cadet tents +in camp. The proverbial peas are not to be compared with them. + +The amount of fear and trembling which was caused to those four friends +of ours in a certain A company tent by the contraband goods of Texas and +the Parson is difficult to imagine. The cadet corporal, lynx-eyed and +vigilant, scarcely gave them a chance to hide anything. It was only by +Mark's interposing his body before his friends that they managed to +slide their precious cargoes in under the blankets, a temporary hiding +place. And even when the articles were thus safely hidden, what must +that officious yearling do but march over and rearrange the pile +accurately, almost touching one of the revolvers, and making the four +tremble and quake in their boots. + +They managed the task without discovery, however, and went on with their +work. And by the first drum beat for dress parade that afternoon, +everything was done up in spick-and-span order, to the eye at any rate. + +Dress parade was a formality in which the plebes took no part but that +of interested spectators. They huddled together shyly in their newly +occupied "plebe hotels" and watched the yearlings, all in spotless snowy +uniforms, "fall in" on the company street outside. The yearlings were +wild with delight and anticipation at having the strangers right among +them at last, and they manifested great interest in the plebes, their +dwellings, and in fact in everything about them. Advice and criticism, +and all kinds of guying that can be imagined were poured upon the +trembling lads' heads, and this continued in a volley until the second +drum changed the merry crowd into a silent and motionless line of +soldiers. + +Mark could scarcely keep his excitable friend Texas from sallying out +then and there to attack some of the more active members of this +hilarious crowd. It was evident that, while no plebe escaped entirely, +there was no plebe hotel in A company so much observed as their own. For +the three B. J.-est plebes in the whole plebe class were known to be +housed therein. Cadet Mallory, "professional hero," was urged in all +seriousness to come out and rescue somebody on the spot, which +oft-repeated request, together with other merry chaffing, he bore with a +good-natured smile. Cadet Stanard was plagued with geological questions +galore, among which the "cyathophylloid" occupied a prominent place. +Cadet Powers was dared to come out and lasso a stray "tac," whose +blue-uniformed figure was visible out on the parade ground. And Mr. +Chilvers found the state of "craps" a point of great solicitude to all. + +It was all stopped by the drum as has been mentioned; the company +wheeled by fours and marched down the street, leaving the plebes to an +hour of rest. But oh! those same yearlings were thinking. "Oh, won't we +just soak 'em to-night!" + +And, strange to say, the same thought was in the minds of seven +particular plebes that stayed behind. For Mark had a plot by this time. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +"FIRST NIGHT." + + +Dress parade leaves but a few moments for supper, with no chance for +"deviling." But when the battalion marched back from that meal and broke +ranks, when the dusk of evening was coming on to make an effective +screen, then was the time, thought the cadets. And so thought the +plebes, too, as they came up the road a few minutes later, trembling +with anticipation, most of them, and looking very solemn and somber in +their dusky fatigue uniforms. + +"First night of plebe camp," says a well-known military writer, "is a +thing not soon to be forgotten, even in these days when pitchy darkness +no longer surrounds the pranks of the yearlings, and when official +vigilance and protection have replaced what seemed to be tacit +encouragement and consent. + +"Then--some years ago--it was no uncommon thing for a new cadet to be +dragged out--'yanked'--and slid around camp on his dust-covered blanket +twenty times a night, dumped into Fort Clinton ditch, tossed in a tent +fly, half smothered in the folds of his canvas home, ridden on a tent +pole or in a rickety wheelbarrow, smoked out by some vile, slow-burning +pyrotechnic compound, robbed of rest and sleep at the very least after +he had been alternately drilled and worked all the livelong day." + +In Mark's time the effort to put a stop to the abuses mentioned had just +been begun. Army officers had been put on duty at night; gas lamps had +been placed along the sentry posts--precautions which are doubled +nowadays, and with the risk of expulsion added besides. They have done +away with the worst forms of hazing if not with the spirit. + +The yearlings "had it in" for our four friends of company A that +evening. In fact, scarcely had the plebes scattered to their tents when +that particular plebe hotel was surrounded. The cadets had it all +arranged beforehand, just what was to happen, and they expected to have +no end of fun about it. + +"Parson Stanard" was to be serenaded first; the crowd meant to surround +him and "invite" him to read some learned extracts from his beloved +"Dana." The Parson was to recount some of the nobler deeds of Boston's +heroes, including himself; he was to display his learning by answering +questions on every conceivable subject; he was to define and spell a +list of the most outlandish words in every language known to the angels. + +Texas was to show his skill and technique in hurling an imaginary lasso +and firing an imaginary revolver from an imaginary galloping horse. He +was to tell of the geography, topography, climate and resources of the +Lone Star State; he was to recount the exploits of his "dad," "the Hon. +Scrap Powers, sah, o' Hurricane Co.," and his uncle, the new +Senator-elect. Mark was to give rules for rescuing damsels, saving +expresses and ferryboats, etc. And Mr. Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers of +Kansas was to state his favorite method of raising three-legged chickens +and three-foot whiskers. + +That was the delicious programme as finally agreed upon by the +yearlings. And there was only one drawback met in the execution of it. +The four plebes could not be found! + +They weren't in their tent; they weren't in camp! Preposterous! The +yearlings hunted, scarcely able to believe their eyes. The plebes, of +course, had a perfect right to take a walk after supper if they chose. +But the very idea of daring to do it on the first night in camp, when +they knew that the yearlings would visit them and expect to be +entertained! It was an unheard-of thing to do; but it was just what one +would have expected of those B. J. beasts, so the yearlings grumbled, as +they went off to other tents to engage other plebes in conversation and +controversy. + +But where were the four? No place in particular. They had simply joined +the other three and had the impudence to disappear in the woods for a +stroll until tattoo. They had come to the conclusion that it was better +to do that than to stay and be "guyed," as they most certainly would be +if they refused their tormentors' requests. And Mark had overruled +Texas' vehement offer to stay and "do up the hull crowd," deciding that +the cover of the night would be favorable to the sevens' hazing, and +that until then they should make themselves scarce. + +In the meantime there was high old sport in Camp McPherson. In response +to the requests of the merry yearlings, some plebes were sitting out on +the company streets and rowing desperate races at a 34-to-the-minute +stroke with brooms for oars and air for water; some were playing +imaginary hand-organs, while others sang songs to the tunes; some +"beasts" were imitating every imaginable animal in a real "menagerie," +and some were relating their personal history while trying to stand on +their heads. + +All this kind of hazing is good-natured and hurts no one physically, +however much the loss of dignity may torment some sensitive souls. It is +the only kind of hazing that remains to any great extent nowadays. + +In the midst of such hilarity time passes very rapidly--to the +yearlings, anyway. In almost no time tattoo had sounded; and then the +companies lined up for the evening roll call, the seven dropping into +line as silently as they had stolen off, deigning a word to no one in +explanation of their strange conduct. + +"That's what I call a pretty B. J. trick!" growled Cadet Harris. Bull +had been looking forward with great glee to that evening's chance to +ridicule Mark, with all his classmates to back him; it was a lost chance +now, and Bull was angry in consequence. + +Bull's cronies agreed with him as to the "B. J.-ness" of that trick. And +they, along with a good many others, too, agreed that the trick ought +not be allowed to succeed. + +"We ought to haze him ten times as hard to-night to make up for it!" was +the verdict. + +And so it happened that the seven, by their action, brought down upon +their heads all the hazing that was done after taps. This hazing, too, +was by far the least pleasant, for it was attended to only by the more +reckless members of the class, members who could not satisfy their taste +for torture by making a helpless plebe sing songs, but must needs tumble +him out of bed and ride him on a rail at midnight besides. + +The fact, however, that all such members of the yearling class had +decided to concentrate their torments upon him did not worry Mark in the +least. In fact, that was just what Mark had expected and prepared for. + +And so there was destined to be fun that night. + +"Now go to your tents, make down your bedding just as you were taught at +barracks; do not remove your underclothing; hang up your uniforms where +each man can get his own in an instant; put your shoes and caps where +you can get them in the dark if need be; turn in and blow your candle +out, before the drum strikes 'taps,' at ten. After that, not a sound! +Get to sleep as soon as you can and be ready to form here at reveille." + +So spoke Cadet Corporal Jasper; and then at the added command, "Break +ranks, march!" the plebe company scattered, and with many a sigh of +relief vanished as individuals in the various tents. + +The corporal's last order, "be ready to form here at reveille," is a +source of much worriment to the plebe. But the one before it, "get to +sleep as soon as you can," is obeyed with the alacrity born of hours of +drill and marching. Long before tattoo, which is the signal for "lights +out," the majority of the members of the class were already dreaming. +Perhaps they were not resting very easily, for most of them had a vague +idea that there might be trouble that night; but they knew that lying +awake would not stop it, and they were all too sleepy anyway. + +The last closing ceremony of a West Point day in camp is the watchful +"tac's" inspection. One of these officers goes the rounds with a dark +lantern, flashing it into every tent and making sure that the four +occupants are really in bed. (The "bed" consists of a board floor, and +blankets.) Having attended to this duty, the tac likewise retires and +Camp McPherson sinks into the slumbers of the night. + +After that until five the next morning there is no one awake but the +tireless sentries. A word about these. The camp is a military one and is +never without guard from the moment the tents are stretched until the +29th of August, when the snowy canvas comes to the ground once more. The +"guard tent" is at the western end of the camp, and is under the charge +of the "corporal of the guard," a cadet. The sentries are cadets, too, +and there are five of them, numbered--sentry No. 1 and so on. The +ceremony each morning at which these sentries go on duty is called +"guard-mounting." And during the next twenty-four hours these sentries +are on duty two hours in every six--two hours on and then four off, +making eight in the twenty-four. + +These sentries being cadets themselves--and yearlings at present--hazing +is not so difficult as it might seem. A sentry can easily arrange to +have parties cross his beat without his seeing them; it is only when the +sentry is not in the plot that the thing is dangerous. + +The "tac"--Lieutenant Allen was his name--had made his rounds for the +night, finding plebes and yearlings, too, all sleeping soundly, or +apparently so. And after that there was nothing moving but the tramping +sentinels, and the shadows of the trees in the moonlight as they fell +on the shining tents--that is, there was nothing moving that was +visible. The yearlings, plenty of them, were wide awake in their tents +and preparing for their onslaught upon the sleeping plebes. + +Sleeping? Perhaps, but certainly not all of them. Some of those plebes +were as wide awake as the yearlings, and they were engaged in an +occupation that would have taken the yearlings considerably by surprise +if they had known it. There were seven of them in two tents, tents that +were back to back and close together, one being in Company A and one in +B. + +They were very quiet about their work; for it was a risky business. +Discovery would have meant the sentry's yelling for the corporal of the +guard; meant that Lieutenant Allen would have leaped into his trousers +and been out of his tent at the corporal's heels; meant a strict +investigation, discovery, court-martial and dismissal. It was all right +for yearlings to be out at night; but plebes--never! + +It grew riskier still as a few minutes passed, for one of the B. J. +beasts had the temerity to come out of his tent. He came very +cautiously, it was true, worming his way along the ground silently, in +true Indian--or Texas style. For Texas it was, that adventurous youth +having vowed and declared that if he were not allowed to attend to this +particular piece of mischief he would go out and hold up a sentry +instead; the other three occupants were peering under the tent folds +watching him anxiously as he crawled along. + +As a fact, Texas' peril was not as great as was supposed, for the +sentries had no means of telling if he was a yearling or not. The idea +of a plebe's daring to break rules would not have occurred to them +anyhow. Be that as it may, at any rate nobody interrupted the Seven +Devils' plans. Cadet Powers made his way across the "street," deposited +his burden, a glistening steel revolver some two feet long. And then he +stole back and the crowd lay still in their tents and watched and +waited. + +They had not long to do that. Texas barely had time to crawl under the +canvas and to mutter to his friends--for the hundredth time: + +"Didn't I tell ye them air guns 'ud come in handy?" + +At that very moment a sound of muffled laughter warned them that the +moment had arrived. + +"Just in time!" whispered Mark, seizing his friend by the hand and at +the same time giving vent to a subdued chuckle. "Just in time. S-sh!" + +The four, who lay side by side under the tent, could hear each other's +hearts thumping then. + +"Will it work? Will it work?" was the thought in the mind of every one +of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +CONCLUSION. + + +The yearlings were a merry party, about ten of them, and they were out +for fun and all the fun that could be had. They were going to make it +hot for certain B. J. plebes, and they meant to lose no time about it, +either. They crept up the company street, laughing and talking in +whispers, for fear they should arouse the tac. The sentries they did not +care about, of course, for the sentries were pledged to "look the other +way." + +It was decided that the first thing to be done to those B. J. plebes was +to "yank 'em." Yanking is a West Point invention. It means that the +victim finds his blanket seized by one corner and torn from under him, +hurling him to the ground. Many a plebe's nightmares are punctuated with +just such periods as these. + +It seems that a "yanking" was just what the four had prepared for. They +had prepared for it by huddling up in one corner and rigging dummies to +place in their beds. The dummies consisted of wash basins, buckets, +etc., and it was calculated that when these dummies were yanked they +would be far from dumb. + +The yearlings stole up cautiously; they did not know they were watched. +The breathless plebes saw their shadows on the tent walls, and knew just +what was going on. They saw the figures line up at the back; they saw +half a dozen pairs of hands gently raise the canvas, and get a good firm +grip on the blankets. Then came a subdued "Now!" and then--well, things +began to happen after that! + +The yearlings "yanked" with all the power of their arms. The blankets +gave way, and the result was a perfectly amazing clatter and crash. Have +you ever heard half a dozen able-bodied dishwashers working at once? + +Naturally the wildest panic resulted among the attacking party. They did +not know what they had done, but they did know that they had done +something desperate, and that they wished they hadn't. As the sound +broke out on the still, night air they turned in alarm and made a wild +dash for their tents. + +Two of them raced down the company street at top speed; both of them +suddenly struck an unexpected obstruction and were sent flying through +the air. It was a string; and at one end of it was the Texas +.44-caliber. The result was a bang that woke the camp with a jump. And +then there was fun for fair. + +The sentries knew then that every one was awake, including the "tac," +and that they might just as well, therefore, "give the alarm." All five +of them accordingly set up a wild shout for the corporal of the guard. +This brought the young officer and Lieutenant Allen on the scene in no +time. Also it brought from the land of dreams every cadet in the corps +who had managed to sleep through the former racket. And nearly all of +them rushed to their tent doors wondering what would happen next. + +The seven meanwhile had been working like beavers. The instant the gun +had gone off Texas, who held the string, had yanked it in and stowed it +away with his other weapons, shaking with laughter in the meanwhile. The +others had gone to work with a will; pitcher, basin, bucket, everything, +had been hastily set in place; blankets had been relaid; and everything, +in short, was put in order again, so that by the time that Lieutenant +Allen got around to their tent--the officer had seized his lantern and +set out on a hasty round to discover the jokers--he found four "scared" +plebes, sitting up in beds, sleepily rubbing their eyes, and inquiring +in anxiety: + +"What's the matter?" + +He didn't tell them, for he hadn't the remotest idea himself. And nobody +told him; the yearlings couldn't have if they had wanted to. + +Of course the lieutenant didn't care to stay awake all night, +fruitlessly asking questions; so he went to bed. The sentries resumed +their march, wondering meanwhile what on earth had led their classmates +to make so much rumpus, and speculating as to whether it could possibly +be true, what one cadet had suggested--that that wild and woolly Texan +had tried to shoot some one who had hazed him. The rest of the cadets +dropped off to sleep. And soon everybody was quiet again--that is, +except the Seven Devils. + +The Seven Devils had only just begun. They lay and waited until things +were still, and then Mark gave the order, and the crowd rose as one man +and stole softly out into the street. This included even the trembling +Indian, who was muttering "Bless my soul!" at a great rate. + +"I guess they're all asleep now," whispered Mark. + +"What are you going to do?" inquired Indian. + +"Yank 'em," responded Mark, briefly. "Come ahead." + +Mark had seen that the yearlings came up boldly, which told him at once +that the sentries were "fixed," and he calculated that just at the +moment the moon being clouded, the sentries would not know yearlings +from plebes. The only danger was that Lieutenant Allen might still be +awake. It was risky, but then---- + +"Do you see Bull Harris' tent?" Mark whispered. "It is the sixth from +here. He and the Baby, with Vance and Murray, are in there. Now, then." + +With trembling hearts the crowd crept down the street; this was their +first venture as lawbreakers. They stole up behind the tent just as the +yearlings had; they reached under the canvas and seized the blankets. +And then came a sudden haul--and confusion and muttered yells from the +inside, which told them that no dummies had been yanked this time. + +The yearlings sprang up in wrath and gazed out; retreating footsteps and +muffled laughter were all that remained, and they went back to bed in +disgust. The plebes went, too, in high glee. + +"And now," said Mark. "I guess we might as well go to sleep." + + * * * * * + +One does not like to leave this story without having a word to say about +what the corps thought of the whole thing next morning. The "tac," of +course, reported to his superior the night's alarm--"cause unknown," and +that was the end of the matter officially. But the yearlings--phew! + +The class compared notes right after reveille; and no one talked about +anything else for the rest of that day. The cause of the rumpus made by +the blankets was soon guessed; the two who had set off the gun were +questioned, and that problem soon worked out also; that alone was bad +enough! But the amazement when Bull and his tentmates turned up and +declared that they--yearlings!--had been yanked, yes yanked, and by some +measly plebes at that, there is no possibility of describing the +indignation. Why, it meant that the class had been defied, that West +Point had been overturned, that the world was coming to an end, +and--what more could it possibly mean? + +And through all the excitement the Seven just looked at each other--and +winked: + +"B. B. J.!" they said: "Just watch us!" + +"It was great, b'gee!" said Dewey. "Hurrah for the plebes!" + +"Hurrah!" was the answer, in a shout. "Hurrah!" + + +THE END. + + + + +_THE CREAM OF JUVENILE FICTION_ + + +THE BOYS' OWN LIBRARY + +A Selection of the Best Books for Boys by the Most Popular Authors + + +The titles in this splendid juvenile series have been selected with +care, and as a result all the stories can be relied upon for their +excellence. They are bright and sparkling; not over-burdened with +lengthy descriptions, but brimful of adventure from the first page to +the last--in fact they are just the kind of yarns that appeal strongly +to the healthy boy who is fond of thrilling exploits and deeds of +heroism. Among the authors whose names are included in the Boys' Own +Library are Horatio Alger, Jr., Edward S. Ellis, James Otis, Capt. Ralph +Bonehill, Burt L. Standish, Gilbert Patten and Frank H. Converse. + + +SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE BOYS' OWN LIBRARY + +All the books in this series are copyrighted, printed on good paper, +large type, illustrated, printed wrappers, handsome cloth covers stamped +in inks and gold--fifteen special cover designs. + +_146 Titles--Price, per Volume, 75 cents_ + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by +the publisher. + + +DAVID McKAY, 610 SO. WASHINGTON SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA, PA. + + + + +HORATIO ALGER, Jr. + +One of the best known and most popular writers. Good, clean, healthy +stories for the American Boy. + + Adventures of a Telegraph Boy + Dean Dunham + Erie Train Boy, The + Five Hundred Dollar Check + From Canal Boy to President + From Farm Boy to Senator + Backwoods Boy, The + Mark Stanton + Ned Newton + New York Boy + Tom Brace + Tom Tracy + Walter Griffith + Young Acrobat + + +C. B. ASHLEY. + +One of the best stories ever written on hunting, trapping and adventure +in the West, after the Custer Massacre. + + Gilbert, the Boy Trapper + + +ANNIE ASHMORE. + +A splendid story, recording the adventures of a boy with smugglers. + + Smuggler's Cave, The + + +CAPT. RALPH BONEHILL. + +Capt. Bonehill is in the very front rank as an author of boys' stories. +These are two of his best works. + + Neka, the Boy Conjurer + Tour of the Zero Club + + +WALTER F. BRUNS. + +An excellent story of adventure in the celebrated Sunk Lands of Missouri +and Kansas. + + In the Sunk Lands + + +FRANK H. CONVERSE. + +This writer has established a splendid reputation as a boys' author, and +although his books usually command $1.25 per volume, we offer the +following at a more popular price. + + Gold of Flat Top Mountain + Happy-Go-Lucky Jack + Heir to a Million + In Search of An Unknown Race + In Southern Seas + Mystery of a Diamond + That Treasure + Voyage to the Gold Coast + + +HARRY COLLINGWOOD. + +One of England's most successful writers of stories for boys. His best +story is + + Pirate Island + + +GEORGE H. COOMER. + +Two books we highly recommend. One is a splendid story of adventure at +sea, when American ships were in every port in the world, and the other +tells of adventures while the first railway in the Andes Mountains was +being built. + + Boys in the Forecastle + Old Man of the Mountain + + +WILLIAM DALTON. + +Three stories by one of the very greatest writers for boys. The stories +deal with boys' adventures in India, China and Abyssinia. These books +are strongly recommended for boys' reading, as they contain a large +amount of historical information. + + Tiger Prince + War Tiger + White Elephant + + +EDWARD S. ELLIS. + +These books are considered the best works this well-known writer ever +produced. No better reading for bright young Americans. + + Arthur Helmuth + Check No. 2134 + From Tent to White House + Perils of the Jungle + On the Trail of Geronimo + White Mustang + + +GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. + +For the past fifty years Mr. Fenn has been writing books for boys and +popular fiction. His books are justly popular throughout the +English-speaking world. We publish the following select list of his +boys' books, which we consider the best he ever wrote. + + Commodore Junk + Dingo Boys + Weathercock + Golden Magnet + Grand Chaco + + +ENSIGN CLARKE FITCH, U. S. N. + +A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and thoroughly +familiar with all naval matters. Mr. Fitch has devoted himself to +literature, and has written a series of books for boys that every young +American should read. His stories are full of very interesting +information about the navy, training ships, etc. + + Bound for Annapolis + Clif, the Naval Cadet + Cruise of the Training Ship + From Port to Port + Strange Cruise, A + + +WILLIAM MURRAY GRAYDON. + +An author of world-wide popularity. Mr. Graydon is essentially a friend +of young people, and we offer herewith ten of his best works, wherein he +relates a great diversity of interesting adventures in various parts of +the world, combined with accurate historical data. + + Butcher of Cawnpore, The + Camp in the Snow, The + Campaigning with Braddock + Cryptogram, The + From Lake to Wilderness + In Barracks and Wigwam + In Fort and Prison + Jungles and Traitors + Rajah's Fortress, The + White King of Africa, The + + +LIEUT. FREDERICK GARRISON, U. S. A. + +Every American boy takes a keen interest in the affairs of West Point. +No more capable writer on this popular subject could be found than +Lieut. Garrison, who vividly describes the life, adventures and unique +incidents that have occurred in that great institution--in these famous +West Point stories. + + Off for West Point + Cadet's Honor, A + On Guard + West Point Treasure, The + West Point Rivals, The + + +HEADON HILL. + +The hunt for gold has always been a popular subject for consideration, +and Mr. Hill has added a splendid story on the subject in this romance +of the Klondyke. + + Spectre Gold + + +HENRY HARRISON LEWIS. + +Mr. Lewis is a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and has +written a great many books for boys. Among his best works are the +following titles--the subjects include a vast series of adventures in +all parts of the world. The historical data is correct, and they should +be read by all boys, for the excellent information they contain. + + Centreboard Jim + King of the Island + Midshipman Merrill + Yankee Boys in Japan + Ensign Merrill + Sword and Pen + Valley of Mystery, The + + +LIEUT. LIONEL LOUNSBERRY. + +A series of books embracing many adventures under our famous naval +commanders, and with our army during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. +Founded on sound history, these books are written for boys, with the +idea of combining pleasure with profit; to cultivate a fondness for +study--especially of what has been accomplished by our army and navy. + + Cadet Kit Carey + Captain Carey + Kit Carey's Protegé + Lieut. Carey's Luck + Out With Commodore Decatur + Randy, the Pilot + Tom Truxton's School Days + Tom Truxton's Ocean Trip + Treasure of the Golden Crater + Won at West Point + + +BROOKS McCORMICK. + +Four splendid books of adventure on sea and land, by this well-known +writer for boys. + + Giant Islanders, The + How He Won + Nature's Young Nobleman + Rival Battalions + + +WALTER MORRIS. + +This charming story contains thirty-two chapters of just the sort of +school life that charms the boy readers. + + Bob Porter at Lakeview Academy + + +STANLEY NORRIS. + +Mr. Norris is without a rival as a writer of "Circus Stories" for boys. +These four books are full of thrilling adventures, but good, wholesome +reading for young Americans. + + Phil, the Showman + Young Showman's Rivals, The + Young Showman's Pluck, The + Young Showman's Triumph + + +LIEUT. JAMES K. ORTON. + +When a boy has read one of Lieut. Orton's books, it requires no urging +to induce him to read the others. Not a dull page in any of them. + + Beach Boy Joe + Last Chance Mine + Secret Chart, The + Tom Havens with the White Squadron + + +JAMES OTIS. + +Mr. Otis is known by nearly every American boy, and needs no +introduction here. The following copyrights are among his best: + + Chased Through Norway + Inland Waterways + Reuben Green's Adventures at Yale + Unprovoked Mutiny + Wheeling for Fortune + + +GILBERT PATTEN. + +Mr. Patten has had the distinction of having his books adopted by the +U. S. Government for all naval libraries on board our war ships. While +aiming to avoid the extravagant and sensational, the stories contain +enough thrilling incidents to please the lad who loves action and +adventure. In the Rockspur stories the description of their Baseball and +Football Games and other contests with rival clubs and teams make very +exciting and absorbing reading; and few boys with warm blood in their +veins, having once begun the perusal of one of these books, will +willingly lay it down till it is finished. + + Boy Boomers + Boy Cattle King + Boy from the West + Don Kirke's Mine + Jud and Joe + Rockspur Nine, The + Rockspur Eleven, The + Rockspur Rivals, The + + +ST. GEORGE RATHBORNE. + +Mr. Rathborne's stories for boys have the peculiar charm of dealing with +localities and conditions with which he is thoroughly familiar. The +scenes of these excellent stories are along the Florida coast and on the +western prairies. + + Canoe and Camp Fire + Paddling Under Palmettos + Rival Canoe Boys + Sunset Ranch + Chums of the Prairie + Young Range Riders + Gulf Cruisers + Shifting Winds + + +ARTHUR SEWELL. + +An American story by an American author. It relates how a Yankee boy +overcame many obstacles in school and out. Thoroughly interesting from +start to finish. + + Gay Dashleigh's Academy Days + + +CAPT. DAVID SOUTHWICK. + +An exceptionally good story of frontier life among the Indians in the +far West, during the early settlement period. + + Jack Wheeler + + +The Famous Frank Merriwell Stories. + +BURT L. STANDISH. + +No modern series of tales for boys and youths has met with anything like +the cordial reception and popularity accorded to the Frank Merriwell +Stories. There must be a reason for this and there is. Frank Merriwell, +as portrayed by the author, is a jolly whole-souled, honest, courageous +American lad, who appeals to the hearts of the boys. He has no bad +habits, and his manliness inculcates the idea that it is not necessary +for a boy to indulge in petty vices to be a hero. Frank Merriwell's +example is a shining light for every ambitious lad to follow. Six +volumes now ready: + + Frank Merriwell's School Days + Frank Merriwell's Chums + Frank Merriwell's Foes + Frank Merriwell's Trip West + Frank Merriwell Down South + Frank Merriwell's Bravery + Frank Merriwell's Hunting Tour + Frank Merriwell's Races + Frank Merriwell's Sports Afield + Frank Merriwell at Yale + + +VICTOR ST. CLAIR. + +These books are full of good, clean adventure, thrilling enough to +please the full-blooded wide-awake boy, yet containing nothing to which +there can be any objection from those who are careful as to the kind of +books they put into the hands of the young. + + Cast Away in the Jungle + Comrades Under Castro + For Home and Honor + Zip, the Acrobat + From Switch to Lever + Little Snap, the Post Boy + Zig-Zag, the Boy Conjurer + + +MATTHEW WHITE, JR. + +Good, healthy, strong books for the American lad. No more interesting +books for the young appear on our lists. + + Adventures of a Young Athlete + Eric Dane + Guy Hammersley + My Mysterious Fortune + Tour of a Private Car + Young Editor, The + + +ARTHUR M. WINFIELD. + +One of the most popular authors of boys' books. Here are three of his +best. + + Mark Dale's Stage Venture + Young Bank Clerk, The + Young Bridge Tender, The + + +GAYLE WINTERTON. + +This very interesting story relates the trials and triumphs of a Young +American Actor, including the solution of a very puzzling mystery. + + Young Actor, The + + +ERNEST A. YOUNG. + +This book is not a treatise on sports, as the title would indicate, but +relates a series of thrilling adventures among boy campers in the woods +of Maine. + + Boats, Bats and Bicycles + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Numerous errors in the original text involving missing or improper +quotation marks have been corrected. In addition, the following +typographical errors present in the original text have been corrected. + +In Chapter I, a spurious paragraph break following "not compelling me to +use my voice much." was removed, "convey the challenge in behalf of the +class" was changed to "convey the challenge in behalf of the class", +"inquired Jaspar" was changed to "inquired Jasper", and "the presence of +this Cyashodhylloid fossil" was changed to "the presence of this +Cyathodhylloid fossil". + +In Chapter VI, "the Shakesperian method" was changed to "the +Shakespearian method", and "trigometrical formulas" was changed to +"trigonometrical formulas". + +In Chapter IX, "imminet peril" was changed to "imminent peril". + +In Chapter XII, "Plantus" was changed to "Plautus". + +In Chapter XVIII, "the seequipedalian Hellenic vocable" was changed to +"the sesquipedalian Hellenic vocable". + +In Chapter XIX, "My name's Methusalem Zedediah Chilvers" was changed to +"My name's Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers". + +In Chapter XXIII, "you have worked for your appointment, to" was changed +to "you have worked for your appointment, too". + +In Chapter XXIV, a period was changed to a comma after "Good-afternoon, +Mr. Fischer". + +In Chapter XXVII, "Gooh! but that boom" was changed to "Gosh! but that +boom". + +In Chapter XXIX, "This came from Mr. Chauncey Van Rensalear +Mount-Bonsall" was changed to "This came from Mr. Chauncey Van +Rensallear Mount-Bonsall". + +In Chapter XXXI, "tossed in a ten fly" was changed to "tossed in a tent +fly", and a semicolon was added after "air for water". + +In the advertisements, "to cutivate a fondness for study" was changed to +"to cultivate a fondness for study", and "good, wholsome reading" was +changed to "good, wholesome reading". + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CADET'S HONOR*** + + +******* This file should be named 36099-8.txt or 36099-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/0/9/36099 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: A Cadet's Honor</p> +<p> Mark Mallory's Heroism</p> +<p>Author: Upton Sinclair</p> +<p>Release Date: May 13, 2011 [eBook #36099]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CADET'S HONOR***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Steven desJardins<br /> + and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<p class="blockquot">Transcriber's Note: "Lieut. Frederick Garrison" is a pseudonym for +Upton Sinclair.</p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 326px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="326" height="500" alt="Cover of A Cadet's Honor by Lieut. Frederick Garrison" title="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 316px;"> +<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="316" height="500" alt=""'The cadets of this academy, Miss Adams,' said he, 'do +not speak to Mr. Mallory.'"" title="" /> +</div> +<p class="caption">"'The cadets of this academy, Miss Adams,' said he, 'do +not speak to Mr. Mallory.'" (see <a href="#frontispiece">page 90</a>)</p> + + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<h1>A CADET'S HONOR<br /> +<span class="smallertext">OR</span><br /> +<span class="smalltext">Mark Mallory's Heroism</span></h1> + +<p class="center">BY<br /> +<span class="bigtext">LIEUT. FREDERICK GARRISON, U. S. A.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smalltext">AUTHOR OF</span><br /> +"Off for West Point," "On Guard," "A West Point Treasure," etc.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 120px;"> +<img src="images/logo.png" width="120" height="117" alt="BOYS' OWN LIBRARY" title="" /> +<span class="caption">BOYS' OWN LIBRARY</span> +</div> + +<p class="center">PHILADELPHIA<br /> +DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER<br /> +<span class="smcap">610 South Washington Square</span></p> + +<p class="center smalltext">Copyright, 1903<br /> +By STREET & SMITH</p> + +<p class="center smalltext">A Cadet's Honor</p> + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table class="figcenter" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="smalltext chapnum">CHAPTER</td> +<td class="smalltext chapname"> </td> +<td class="smalltext chappage">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">I—</td> +<td class="chapname">A "Yearling" Meeting</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">7</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">II—</td> +<td class="chapname">Mark's Mysterious Visitor</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">19</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">III—</td> +<td class="chapname">Trouble for Mark</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">26</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IV—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Explanation</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">38</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">V—</td> +<td class="chapname">Mark in Disgrace</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">46</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VI—</td> +<td class="chapname">Indian's Re-examination</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">58</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VII—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Examination of the Parson</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">66</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VIII—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Rescue Party</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">72</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IX—</td> +<td class="chapname">Heroism of the Parson</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">76</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">X—</td> +<td class="chapname">More Troubles</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">81</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XI—</td> +<td class="chapname">Disadvantages of "Coventry"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">85</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XII—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Embassy of the Parson</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">91</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIII—</td> +<td class="chapname">Preparations for the Battle</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">99</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIV—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Affair at the Fort</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">109</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XV—</td> +<td class="chapname">Two Plebes in Hospital</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">117</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVI—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Parson's Indignation</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">124</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVII—</td> +<td class="chapname">Indian in Trouble</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">133</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVIII—</td> +<td class="chapname">To the Rescue</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">146</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIX—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Alliance is Completed</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">156</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XX—</td> +<td class="chapname">Indignation of the Yearlings</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">162</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXI—</td> +<td class="chapname">A Mild Attempt at Hazing</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">171</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXII—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Bombshell Falls</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">177</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXIII—</td> +<td class="chapname">In the Shadow of Dismissal</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">185</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXIV—</td> +<td class="chapname">A Letter</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">193</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXV—</td> +<td class="chapname">A Swimming Match</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">204</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXVI—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Finish of a Race</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">211</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXVII—</td> +<td class="chapname">What Mark Did</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">219</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXVIII—</td> +<td class="chapname">Mark Meets the Superintendent</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">231</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXIX—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Seven in Session</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">239</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXX—</td> +<td class="chapname">The Move into Camp</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">248</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXXI—</td> +<td class="chapname">"First Night"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">257</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XXXII—</td> +<td class="chapname">Conclusion</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">268</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> + +<h2><a name="A_CADETS_HONOR" id="A_CADETS_HONOR"></a>A CADET'S HONOR</h2> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">A "YEARLING" MEETING.</span></h2> + + +<p>The whole class came to the meeting. There hadn't been such an important +meeting at West Point for many a day. The yearling class had been +outrageously insulted. The mightiest traditions of the academy had been +violated, "trampled beneath the dust," and that by two or three vile and +uncivilized "beasts"—"plebes"—new cadets of scarcely a week's +experience. And the third class, the yearlings, by inherent right the +guardians of West Point's honor, and the hazers of the plebe, had vowed +that those plebes must be punished as never had plebes been punished +before.</p> + +<p>The first and third classes of cadets had gone into summer camp the +previous day, immediately after the graduation exercises. From that +date, the middle of June to July 1, they have a comparative holiday, +with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> no drills and no duties except guard-mounting, dress parade toward +evening, and inspections. And it was during the first of the holiday +mornings that the above-mentioned "meeting" was held, beneath the shady +trees of Trophy Point, a short distance from the camp.</p> + +<p>"I move," shouted a voice in the crowd, "that we elect Bud Smith +chairman."</p> + +<p>The motion was carried with a shout, and Bud Smith, just out of hospital +by the way, was "boosted" up onto one of the guns, which served as the +"chair." Bud Smith was a tall, heavily-built youth with a face covered +by court-plaster and "contusions," as the results of a West Point fight +are officially designated by the hospital surgeon.</p> + +<p>"This meeting will please come to order," said the chairman. "And the +gentlemen will oblige me by keeping quiet and not compelling me to use +my voice much. For I am—er—not feeling very well to-day."</p> + +<p>And Bud illustrated his statement by gently mopping his "contusions" +with a damp handkerchief.</p> + +<p>"We have met," began the chairman, as soon as this formality was +over—"we have met, I believe, to consider the cases of three 'beasts,' +Powers, Stanard and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> Mallory, by name (a low groan from the class), and +to consider the best method of reducing them to submission. I don't +think it is necessary for me to restate the complaints against them, for +you are probably all as familiar with the incidents as I. 'Texas' +Powers, or as he calls himself, Jeremiah, son o' the Honorable Scrap +Powers, o' Hurricane County, Texas, must be disciplined because he fails +to understand what is expected of him. He dared to order a superior +officer out of his room, and last Monday morning he succeeded in +defeating no less than four men in our class—myself among them."</p> + +<p>And Cadet Smith again mopped his "contusions," and went on.</p> + +<p>"Of course we have got to find somebody to whip him. Then, too, Stanard +lost his temper and attacked half a dozen of our class, for no other +reason on earth than that they tied him in a sack and carried him out +onto the cavalry plain. He, too, was victorious, I am told. And then, +last of all, but of all the offenders most insolent and lawless, +comes——"</p> + +<p>The chairman paused solemnly before he pronounced the name.</p> + +<p>"Mark Mallory."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>And the storm of hisses and jeers that followed could have been heard at +barracks. It was evident that the yearlings had no love for Mark +Mallory, whoever Mark Mallory might be.</p> + +<p>"Mark Mallory commenced his tricks," the chairman continued, "even +before he was a cadet. He was impudent then. And the other day he dared +to act as Powers' second. And, worse than all, yesterday, to show how +utterly reckless and B. J. he is, he deliberately locked Bull Harris and +Baby Edwards up in an icehouse, with the intention of making them absent +at taps and compelling them to remain imprisoned all night. It was only +by the merest accident, they succeeding in forcing the door, that this +plan was frustrated. Now, gentlemen, this thing is about as serious as +it can possibly be. Mark Mallory's conduct shows that he's gotten the +idea into his head that not only can he avoid being hazed, but even turn +the tables upon us and bid us defiance. His attack upon the two cadets +was absolutely unprovoked. Bull told me personally that he had not +attempted to haze him, and had not even spoken to him. It was a pure +case of freshness and nothing else. And he's got to be licked for it +until he can't stand up."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>Bud Smith finished his speech amid a round of applause, and then fell to +soothing his "contusions" again.</p> + +<p>It may as well be stated here that Bull Harris' account of the incident +that was just now causing so much talk was an absolute falsehood. As +told in a previous volume, entitled "Off for West Point," Bull and his +gang had made an attempt to lock Mark up, and had failed, and been +locked up themselves instead. That was all. But Bull and his gang saw +fit to omit that part of the story. It was safe, for no one could +gainsay it; Mark's account was not asked for.</p> + +<p>"I move, Mr. Chairman," said Corporal Jasper, rising, "that inasmuch as +Mallory seems to be the leader of this fool business, that we lick him +first, and that, too, to-morrow morning. For it's growing worse every +minute. The plebes are getting so downright B. J. that a fellow can't +even give an order without fearing to be disobeyed. To-morrow morning, I +say. And I call for some one to volunteer."</p> + +<p>The young officer's motion took the crowd's fancy.</p> + +<p>"Who'll fight him? Who'll fight him?" became the cry, and was followed +by a chorus of names offered as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> suggestions. One was predominant, and +seemed to be the most popular.</p> + +<p>"Williams! Billy Williams. Get up, Billy! Speech!"</p> + +<p>And "Billy" arose from the ground as the cry grew louder, and said that +he was "very much honored," and that if the class really selected him he +would be most happy to do the best he possibly could.</p> + +<p>"Hooray! Billy's going to lick him! 'Ray for Billy."</p> + +<p>"I move, Mr. Chairman, that a committee be appointed to convey the +challenge on behalf of the class."</p> + +<p>"Carried," said the chairman. "I appoint Corporal Jasper and Cadet +Spencer. This meeting stands adjourned."</p> + +<p>And the yearlings scattered, bearing "Billy Williams" off in triumph.</p> + +<p>The committee, much as it hated to, was obliged to delay the sending of +the challenge. There were two reasons: In the first place, Mark Mallory, +together with the rest of the plebes, was being bullied and tormented +just then in the course of a squad drill; and, in the second place, one +of the committee, Cadet Spencer, was engaged in doing the bullying, +having been appointed "on duty over plebes."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>After supper, however, came a blissful half hour of rest to the +last-named unfortunates; and then the three yearlings gathered together, +took an extra quantity of dignity, and sallied forth to find the three +"B. J.'s."</p> + +<p>"B. J.," it may be added, is West Point for fresh, and stands for +"before June."</p> + +<p>Entering barracks, the committee made straight for Mark Mallory's room +and knocked.</p> + +<p>"Come in, thar!" shouted a voice.</p> + +<p>There were four occupants in the room. One was a round, fat-faced boy +with an alarmed, nervous look, Cadet Joseph Smith, of Indianapolis, +commonly known as "Indian."</p> + +<p>In a chair by the window sat a still more curious figure, a lank, bony +individual with ill-fitted, straying clothes and a long, sharp face.</p> + +<p>Upon his big, bulging knees rested a leather-bound volume labeled +"Dana's Geology," and opened at the Tertiary fossiliferous strata of the +Hudson River Valley. "Parson" Peter Stanard was too much interested to +notice the entrance of the cadets. He was trying to classify a Cyatho +phylloid coral which he had just had the luck to find.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>Sprawled upon the bed was another tall, slender fellow, his feet hoisted +up on the pile of blankets at the foot. All the committee saw of "Texas" +Powers was a pair of soles, for Texas didn't care to move.</p> + +<p>The fourth party was a handsome, broad-shouldered chap, with curly brown +hair. And to him Corporal Jasper, the spokesman, addressed himself.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mallory?" said he.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mallory bowed.</p> + +<p>"We have come as a committee representing the yearling class."</p> + +<p>"I am honored," said Mr. Mallory.</p> + +<p>"Pray do not feel so in the least," said Corporal Jasper, witheringly. +"The class desires to express, in the first place, its entire +displeasure, both as a class and as individuals, at your unprovoked +conduct toward two of its members."</p> + +<p>"Um," said Mark, thoughtfully. "And did the two members tell you the +attack was unprovoked?"</p> + +<p>"They did."</p> + +<p>"Then I desire to express, in the first place, my entire displeasure, +both as a class and as an individual, at being thus grossly +misrepresented."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>"Bully!" came the voice from behind the mattress.</p> + +<p>"In short," continued Mark, "I desire to call the statement of Messrs. +Harris and Edwards a downright, unmitigated and contemptible lie."</p> + +<p>"Sock it to 'em!" chuckled the voice from the mattress. "Wow!"</p> + +<p>"Well put!" added "Parson" Stanard. "Worthy of the great Patrick Henry +himself."</p> + +<p>"Bless my soul!" chimed Indian, ready to run.</p> + +<p>Cadet Jasper took it coolly, like the gentleman he was.</p> + +<p>"It is customary, Mr. Mallory," he said, calmly, "for a man to have to +earn the right to call a higher class man a liar."</p> + +<p>"I am quite ready, sir," responded Mr. Mallory.</p> + +<p>"That is fortunate. The class offers you such an opportunity. We are +directed to bring a challenge from Cadet Williams, of the third class, +to meet him at Fort Clinton at four o'clock to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"I will consider it a favor," said Mark, politely, "if you will be good +enough to inform the class that I am most happy to accept."</p> + +<p>"An' look a yere," cried Texas, Mark's chum, raising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> his head and +peering out between his feet. "Look a yere! Whar do I come in, in this +bizness?"</p> + +<p>"Your seconds?" inquired Jasper, not noticing the interruption.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Powers and Mr. Stanard."</p> + +<p>"And is there any other information?"</p> + +<p>"None."</p> + +<p>"Remember, Fort Clinton at four A. M."</p> + +<p>"I shall be there without fail. And I thank you for your trouble in the +matter."</p> + +<p>Cadets Jasper and Spencer bowed and withdrew, while the four "beasts" +sat and looked at each other in silence.</p> + +<p>"Well," Mark said, at last, "what do you think of it?"</p> + +<p>"Think?" growled Texas. "I think it's a skin, that's what I think. An' +it's jest like you an' your luck, Mark Mallory!"</p> + +<p>And, so saying, Texas kicked the mattress off the bed.</p> + +<p>"If you don't do that feller Williams, whoever he is, in the first +round, I'll kick you out an' do it myself!"</p> + +<p>"But who is this Williams?" inquired Mark, as he picked up the mattress +and threw it at Texas. "Does anybody here know?"</p> + +<p>"I do," said the "Parson," reverently depositing Dana<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> on the floor. "I +do know, and I shall, forsooth, be very happy to tell you about him. +Williams is, in the first place, as to physical proportions, the largest +man in his class; in the second place, he is the best all-around +man——"</p> + +<p>"All round like Indian?" inquired Texas, gravely.</p> + +<p>"Inasmuch as," continued the "Parson," "he won a considerable proportion +of the Olympic contests, which are celebrated here under the designation +of 'the spring games.'"</p> + +<p>"That sounds promising," said Mark, thoughtfully. "I wonder if he can +fight."</p> + +<p>"As to his pugilistic abilities, I am by no means so accurately +informed, but if my conjecture be of any value whatsoever, I should be +inclined to infer, from the fact that our enemies, the representatives +of tyranny and oppression, who are endeavoring to reduce us to +submission, have selected him as their champion and representative in +arms, that——"</p> + +<p>"He's a beaut," put in Texas, to save time. "And I only wish I'd had +Mark's luck."</p> + +<p>"And I wish," added the Boston student, "that I could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> contrive to +account for the presence of this Cyathodhylloid fossil in a sandstone of +Tertiary origin."</p> + +<p>It was not very long after this that "tattoo" sounded. But before it did +the little band of rebels up in the barracks had time to swear eternal +fealty, and to vow by all that man held dear to be present "at Fort +Clinton at four A. M. to-morrow," there, as the "Parson" classically put +it, to fire a shot for freedom that should be heard around the world. +Mark swore it, and Indian, too; Texas swore it by the seventeen guns +which were stowed away in his trunk, and by the honor of his father, +"the Honorable Scrap Powers, o' Hurricane County;" and Peter Stanard +swore it by Bunker Hill and, yea, even by Lamachus, he of the Gorgon's +crest.</p> + +<p>And then the meeting adjourned.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">MARK'S MYSTERIOUS VISITOR.</span></h2> + + +<p>These were days of work for the plebes at West Point—days of drilling +and practicing from sunrise to night, until mind and body were +exhausted. And it usually happened that most of the unfortunates were +already sound asleep by the time "tattoo" was sounded, that is, unless +the unfortunates had been still more unfortunate, unfortunate enough to +fall into the clutches of the merciless yearling. When "taps" came half +an hour later, meaning lights out and all quiet, there was usually scant +need for the round of the watchful "tac," as the tactical officer is +designated.</p> + +<p>It happened so on this night. The "tac" found all quiet except for the +snoring. And, this duty over, the officer made his way to his own home; +and after that there was nothing awake except the lonely sentry who +marched tirelessly up and down the halls.</p> + +<p>The night wore on, the moon rose and shone down in the silent area, +making the shadows of the gray stone<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> building stand out dark and black. +And the clock on the guardhouse indicated the hour of eleven.</p> + +<p>It was not very many minutes more before there was a dark, shadowy form, +stealing in by the eastern sally-port, and hugging closely the black +shadows of the wall. He paused, whoever it was, when he reached the +area, and waited, listening. The sentry's tramp grew clear and then died +out again, which meant that the sentry was back in the hallway of the +barracks, and then the shadowy form stepped out into the moonlight and +ran swiftly and silently across the area and sprang up the steps to the +porch of the building; and there he stood and waited again until once +more the sentry was far away—then stepped into the doorway and crept +softly up the stairs. The strange midnight visitor was evidently some +one who knew the place.</p> + +<p>He knew just the room he was going to, also, for he wasted not a +moment's time, but stole swiftly down the hall, and stopped before one +of the doors. It was the room of Cadets Mallory and Powers.</p> + +<p>Doors at West Point are never locked; there are no keys. The strange +visitor crouched and listened cautiously. A sound of deep and regular +breathing came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> from within, and, hearing it, he softly opened the door, +entered and then just as carefully shut it behind him. Having attended +to this, he crept to one of the beds. He seemed to know which one he +wanted without even looking; it was Mark Mallory's. And then the +stranger leaned over and gently touched the occupant.</p> + +<p>The occupant was sleeping soundly, for he was tired; the touch had no +effect upon him. The visitor tried again, and harder, this time with +success. Mark Mallory sat up in alarm.</p> + +<p>"Ssh! Don't make a sound," whispered the other. "I've got a message for +you. Ssh!"</p> + +<p>It is enough to alarm any one to be awakened out of a sound sleep in +such a manner, and at such a time, and Mark's heart was thumping +furiously.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" he whispered.</p> + +<p>The figure made no answer, but crept to the window, instead, where the +moonlight was streaming in. And Mark recognized him instantly as one of +the small drum orderlies he had seen about the post. Half his alarm +subsided then, and he arose and joined the boy at the window.</p> + +<p>"Here," said the boy. "Read it."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>And so saying, he shoved a note into the other's hand. Mark took it +hurriedly, tore it open and read it.</p> + +<p>It took him but a moment to do so, and when he finished his face was a +picture of amazement and incredulity.</p> + +<p>"Who gave you this?" he demanded, angrily.</p> + +<p>"Ssh!" whispered the boy, glancing fearfully at the bed where Texas lay. +"Ssh! You may wake him. She did."</p> + +<p>"Now, look here!" said Mark, in a recklessly loud voice, for he was +angry, believing that the boy was lying. "Now, look here! I've been +fooled with one letter this way, and I don't mean to be fooled again. If +this is a trap of those cadets, as sure as I'm alive, I'll report the +matter to the superintendent and have you court-martialed. Remember! And +now I give you a chance to take it back. If you tell me the truth I'll +let you go unhurt. Now, once more, who gave you this?"</p> + +<p>And Mark looked the trembling boy in the eye; but the boy still clung to +his story.</p> + +<p>"She did, indeed she did," he protested.</p> + +<p>"Where?" asked Mark.</p> + +<p>"Down at her house."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>"Why were you there?"</p> + +<p>"I live there."</p> + +<p>Mark stared at the boy for a moment more, and bit his lip in +uncertainty. Then he turned away and fell to pacing up and down the +room, muttering to himself.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, "yes, I believe she wrote it. But what on earth can it +mean? What on earth can be the matter?"</p> + +<p>Then he turned to the boy.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what she wants?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," whispered the other. "Only she told me to show you the way to +her house."</p> + +<p>"Is anything the matter?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know; but she looked very pale."</p> + +<p>And Mark turned away once more and fell to pacing back and forth.</p> + +<p>"Shall I go?" he mused. "Shall I go? It's beyond cadet limits. If I'm +caught it means court-martial and expulsion. There's the 'blue book' on +the mantel staring at me for a warning. By jingo! I don't think I'll +risk it!"</p> + +<p>He turned to the boy about to refuse the request; and then suddenly came +another thought—she knew the dan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>ger as well as he! She knew what it +meant to go beyond limits, and yet she had sent for him at this strange +hour of the night, and for him, too, a comparative stranger. Surely, it +must be a desperate matter, a matter in which to fail was sheer +cowardice. At the same time with the thought there rose up before him a +vision of a certain very sweet and winsome face; and when he spoke to +the boy his answer was:</p> + +<p>"I'll go."</p> + +<p>He stepped to the desk, and wrote hastily on a piece of paper this note +to Texas:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I'll be back in time to fight. Explain later. Trust +me.</p> + +<p class="sig2">"Mark."</p></div> + +<p>This he laid on the bureau, and then silently but quickly put on his +clothes and stepped to the door with the boy. Mark halted for a moment +and glanced about the room to make sure that all was well and that Texas +was asleep, and then he softly shut the door and turned to the boy.</p> + +<p>"How are we going to get out?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"Come," responded the other, setting the example by creeping along on +tiptoe. "Come."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>They halted again at the top of the stairway to wait until the sentry +had gone down, and then stole down and dodged outside the door just as +the latter turned and marched back. Flattened against the wall, they +waited breathlessly, while he approached nearer and nearer, and then he +halted, wheeled and went on. At the same moment the two crept quickly +across the area and vanished in the darkness of the sally port.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the drum boy, as they came out on the other side, "here we +are. Come on."</p> + +<p>Mark turned and followed him swiftly down the road toward Highland +Falls, and quiet once more reigned about the post.</p> + +<p>There was one thing more that needs to be mentioned. It was a very +simple incident, but it was destined to lead to a great deal. It was +merely that a gust of wind blew in at the window of the room where Texas +slept, and, seizing the sheet of paper upon which Mark had written, +lifted it gently up and dropped it softly and silently behind the +bureau, whither Mark had thrown the other note.</p> + +<p>And that was all.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">TROUBLE FOR MARK.</span></h2> + + +<p>Time has a way of passing very hurriedly when there is anything going to +happen, especially if it be something disagreeable. The hands of the +clock had been at half-past eleven when Mark left. It took them almost +no time to hurry on to midnight, and not much longer to get to two. And +from two it went on to three, and then to half-past. The blackness of +the night began to wane, and the sky outside the window to lighten with +the first gray streaks of dawn. Not long after this time up in one of +the rooms on the second floor of barracks, Division 8, the occupant of +one of the rooms began to grow restless. For the occupant had promised +himself and others to awaken them. And awaken he did suddenly, and +turned over, rubbed his eyes, and sat up.</p> + +<p>"Mark! Oh, Mark!" he called, softly. "Git up, thar! It's time to be +hustlin'!"</p> + +<p>There was no answer, and Texas got up, yawning, and went to the other +bed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>"Git up thar, you prize fighter you!"</p> + +<p>And as he spoke he aimed a blow at the bed, and the next moment he +started back in amazement, for his hand had touched nothing but a +mattress, and Texas knew that the bed was empty.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" he muttered. "He's gone without me!"</p> + +<p>And with this thought in his mind he rushed to his watch to see if he +were too late.</p> + +<p>No, it was just ten minutes to four, and Texas started hastily to dress, +wondering at the same time what on earth could have led Mark to go so +early and without his friend.</p> + +<p>"That was the goldurndest queer trick I ever did hear of in my life, by +jingo!"</p> + +<p>It took him but a few short moments to fling his clothes on; and then he +stepped quickly across the hall and entered a room on the other side.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if that Parson's gone with him," he muttered.</p> + +<p>The "Parson" had not, for Texas found him engaged in encasing his long, +bony legs in a pair of trousers that would have held a dozen such.</p> + +<p>"Are you accoutered for the combat?" he whispered, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> a sepulchral +tone, sleepily brushing his long black hair from his eyes. "Where is +Mark?"</p> + +<p>"The fool's gone up there without us!" replied the Texan, angrily.</p> + +<p>"Without us!" echoed Stanard, sliding into his pale sea-green socks.</p> + +<p>"Bless my soul!" echoed a voice from the bed—Indian was too sleepy to +get up. "Bless my soul, what an extraordinary proceeding!"</p> + +<p>"Come on," said Texas. "Hurry up."</p> + +<p>The "Parson" snatched up his coat and made for the door.</p> + +<p>"I think," said he, halting at the door in hesitation. "I think I'll +leave my book behind. I'll hardly need it, do you think?"</p> + +<p>"Come on!" growled Texas, impatiently. "Hurry up!"</p> + +<p>Texas was beginning to get angry, as he thought, over Mark's "fool +trick."</p> + +<p>The two dodged the sentry without much trouble; it is probable that the +sentry didn't want to see them, even if he did. They ran hastily out +through the sally port and across the parade ground, Texas, in his +impatience, dragging his long-legged companion in tow. They made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> a long +detour and approached Fort Clinton from behind the hotel, in order to +avoid the camp. Hearing voices from inside the embankment, Texas sprang +hastily forward, scrambled up the bank, and peered down into the +inclosure.</p> + +<p>"Here they are," called one of the cadets, and then, as he glanced at +the two, he added: "But where's Mallory?"</p> + +<p>And Texas gazed about him in blank amazement.</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" he echoed. "Where is he? Why, ain't he yere?"</p> + +<p>It was the cadets' turn to look surprised.</p> + +<p>"Here?" echoed Corporal Jasper. "Here! Why, we haven't seen him."</p> + +<p>"Hain't seen him!" roared Texas, wild with vexation. "What in thunder!"</p> + +<p>"Wasn't he in your room?" inquired somebody.</p> + +<p>"No. He was gone! I thought, of course, he'd come out yere."</p> + +<p>And Texas fell to pacing up and down inside the fort, chewing at his +finger nails and muttering angrily to himself, while the yearlings +gathered into a group and speculated what the strange turn in the affair +could mean.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>"It's ten to one he's flunked," put in Bull Harris, grinning joyfully.</p> + +<p>Some such idea was lurking in Texas' mind, too, but it made him mad that +any of his enemies should say it.</p> + +<p>"If he has," he bellowed, wheeling about angrily and facing the cadet. +"If he has it's because you've tricked him again, you ole white-legged +scoundrel you!"</p> + +<p>Texas doubled up his fists and looked ready to fight right then; Bull +Harris opened his mouth to answer, but Jasper interposed:</p> + +<p>"That's enough," said he. "We can settle this some other time. The +question is now about Mallory. You say, Mr. Powers, you've not the least +idea where he is?"</p> + +<p>"If I had," responded Texas, "if I had, d'you think I'd be hyar?"</p> + +<p>Jasper glanced at his watch. "It's five minutes after now," said he, +"and I——"</p> + +<p>He got no farther, for Texas started forward on a run.</p> + +<p>"I'm a goin' to look fo' him!" he announced. And then he sprang over the +embankment and disappeared, while the cadets stood about waiting +impatiently, and speculating as to what Mark's conduct could mean. Poor +Stanard sat sprawled out on top of the earthworks, where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> he sat down in +amazement and confusion when he discovered that Mark was not on hand; +and there he sat yet, too much amazed and confused to move or say +anything.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Texas was hurrying back to barracks with all the speed he +could command, his mind in a confused state of anxiety and doubt and +anger. The position of humiliation in which Mark's conduct had placed +him was gall and wormwood to him, and he was fast working himself into a +temper of the Texas style.</p> + +<p>He rushed upstairs, forgetting that such a thing as a sentry existed. He +burst into the room and gazed about him. The place was empty still, and +Texas slammed the door and marched downstairs again, and raced back to +the fort.</p> + +<p>The cadets were still waiting impatiently, for it was a good while after +four by this time.</p> + +<p>"Find him?" they inquired.</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't!" snapped Texas.</p> + +<p>"No fight, then," said Jasper. "It's evident he's flunked."</p> + +<p>"Wow!" cried Texas! "No fight! What's the matter with me?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>And, suiting the action to the word, he whipped off his coat.</p> + +<p>"Not to-day," responded Jasper, with decision. "You'll have your chance +another day."</p> + +<p>"Unless you run home, too," sneered Harris.</p> + +<p>Texas' face was fiery red with anger, and he doubled up his fists and +made a leap for the last speaker.</p> + +<p>"You coyote!" he roared. "You an' me'll fight now!"</p> + +<p>Bull Harris started back, and before Texas could reach him half a dozen +cadets interfered. Williams, the would-be defender of his class, seized +the half-wild fellow by the shoulders and forced him back.</p> + +<p>"Just take it easy," he commanded. "Just take it easy. You'll learn to +control yourself before you've been here long."</p> + +<p>Texas could do nothing, for he was surrounded completely. Bull Harris +was led away, and then the rest of the cadets scattered to steal into +camp, but Texas snatched up his coat in a rage, and strode away toward +barracks, muttering angrily to himself, the "Parson" following behind in +silence. The latter ventured to interpose a remark on the way, and Texas +turned upon him angrily.</p> + +<p>"Shut up!" he growled. "Mind your business!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>Stanard gazed at him in silence.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll have to knock him down again," he said to himself.</p> + +<p>But he didn't, at least, not then; and Texas pranced up to his room and +flung himself into a chair, muttering uncomplimentary remarks about Mark +and West Point and everything in it. It was just half-past four when he +entered, and for fifteen minutes he sat and pounded the floor with his +heel in rage. Texas was about as mad as he knew how to be, which was +very mad indeed. And then suddenly there was a step in the hall and the +door was burst open. Texas turned and looked.</p> + +<p>It was Mark!</p> + +<p>Texas sprang to his feet in an instant, all his wrath aflame. Mark had +come in hurriedly, for he had evidently been running.</p> + +<p>"What happened——" he began, but he got no further.</p> + +<p>"You confounded coward!" roared Texas. "Whar did you git the nerve to +show yo' face round hyar?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Texas?" exclaimed Mark, in amazement.</p> + +<p>Texas was prancing up and down the room, his fingers twitching.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>"I jest tell you, sah, they ain't no room in my room fo' a coward that +sneaks off when he's got a fight. Now I——"</p> + +<p>"I left word for you," said Mark, interrupting him.</p> + +<p>"Word for me! Word for me!" howled the other. "You're a—a—a liar, +sah!"</p> + +<p>Mark's face was as white as a sheet, but he kept his temper.</p> + +<p>"Now, Texas," he began again, soothingly. "Now, Texas——"</p> + +<p>"Take that, too, will ye?" sneered Texas. "You're coward enough to +swallow that, too, hey? Wonder how much more you'll stand. Try that."</p> + +<p>And before Mark could raise his arm the other sprang forward and dealt +him a stinging blow upon the face.</p> + +<p>Mark stepped back, his whole frame quivering.</p> + +<p>"How much?" he repeated, slowly. "Not that."</p> + +<p>And then, just as slowly, he took off his coat.</p> + +<p>"Fight, hey?" laughed Texas. "Wow! Ready?" he added, flinging his own +jacket on the floor and getting his great long arms into motion. +"Ready?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Mark. "I am ready."</p> + +<p>And in an instant the other leaped forward, just as he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> had done at Fort +Clinton, except that he omitted the yelling, being indoors with a sentry +nearby.</p> + +<p>Physically two fighters were never more evenly matched; no one, to look +at them, could have picked the winner, for both were giants. But there +was a difference apparent before very long. Texas fought in the wild and +savage style of the prairie, nip-and-tuck, go-as-you-please; and he was +wild with anger. He had swept the yearlings at Fort Clinton before him +that way and he thought to do it again. Mark had another style, a style +that Texas had never seen. He learned a good deal about it in a very few +minutes.</p> + +<p>Texas started with a rush, striking right and left with all the power of +his arms; and Mark simply stepped to one side and let the wall stop +Texas. That made Texas angrier still, if such a thing can be imagined. +He turned and made another dash, this time aiming a savage blow at his +opponent's head. In it was all the power of the Texan's great right arm, +and it was meant to kill. Mark moved his head to one side and let the +blow pass, stopping the rush with a firm prod in the other's chest; then +he stepped aside and waited for another rush. For he did not want to +hurt his excited roommate if he could help it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>A repetition of this had no effect upon Texas, however, except to +increase his fury, and Mark found that he was fast getting mad himself. +A glancing blow upon the head that brought blood capped the climax, and +Mark gritted his teeth and got to work. Texas made another lunge, which +Mark dodged, and then, before the former could stop, Mark caught him a +crushing blow upon the jaw which made his teeth rattle. Texas staggered +back, and Mark followed him up rapidly, planting blow after blow upon +the body of his wildly striking opponent. And in a few moments Texas, +the invincible Texas, was being rapidly pummeled into submission.</p> + +<p>"I'll leave his face alone," thought Mark, as he aimed a blow that half +paralyzed the other's right wrist. "For I don't want the cadets to know +about this."</p> + +<p>And just then he landed an extra hard crack upon the other's chest, and +Texas went down in a corner.</p> + +<p>"Want any more?" inquired Mark, gravely.</p> + +<p>Texas staggered to his feet and made one more rush, only to be promptly +laid out again.</p> + +<p>"I guess that's enough," thought Mark, as the other lay still and +gasped. "I guess that's enough for poor Texas."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>And so saying, he took out his handkerchief, wiped the blood from his +face, and then opened the door and went out.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry I had to do it," he mused; "sorry as thunder! But he made me. +And anyhow, he won't want to fight very soon again."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE EXPLANATION.</span></h2> + + +<p>Mark had barely reached the head of the stairs before the morning gun +sounded, and five minutes later he was in line at roll call with the +rest of his class. It is needless to say that Texas was absent.</p> + +<p>Texas woke up a while later, and staggered to his feet, feeling +carefully of his ribs to make sure they were not really broken. And then +he went out and interviewed a sentry in the hall.</p> + +<p>"Look a yere, mister," said he. "Where's this yere place they call the +hospital?"</p> + +<p>The sentry directed him to await the proper hour, and Texas spent the +rest of that day, reported by the surgeon as "absent from +duty—sick—contusions." And the whole class wondered why.</p> + +<p>Mark noticed that the cadets were looking at him at breakfast; and he +noticed that the members of his own class were rather distant, but he +gritted his teeth and made up his mind to face it out.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>"If even Texas called me a coward," he mused, "I can't expect the rest +of 'em to do otherwise."</p> + +<p>And so it seemed, for that same morning just after breakfast Corporal +Jasper and Cadet Spencer paid a visit to Mark.</p> + +<p>"The class would like, if you please, Mr. Mallory," said the former, "an +explanation of your conduct this morning."</p> + +<p>"And I am sorry to say," responded Mark, just as politely, "that I am +unable to give it. All I can say is that my conduct, though it may seem +strange and mysterious, was unavoidable. If you will allow me, I shall +be pleased to meet Mr. Williams to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"We cannot allow it," said Jasper, emphatically, "unless you consent to +explain your action and can succeed in doing it satisfactorily, which +you will pardon me for saying I doubt very much, you stand before the +academy branded as a coward."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Mark, "let it be so."</p> + +<p>And he turned away, and all through that long, weary morning and the +afternoon, too. Cadet Mallory was in Coventry, and not a soul spoke a +word to him, except Cadet Spencer, at drill. And he was frigid.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>Cadet Powers was released from the hospital "cured" that evening after +supper, and he limped upstairs to his room, and sat down to think about +himself, and to philosophize upon the vanities of life and the follies +of ambition. Mark did not come up until "tattoo" sounded, and so Texas +had plenty of time. He felt very meek just then; he wasn't angry any +more, and he'd had plenty of time also to think over what a fool he had +been in not listening to Mark's explanation of his absence. For Texas +had been suddenly convinced that Mark was no coward after all.</p> + +<p>While he sat there, a piece of paper sticking out from under the bureau +caught his eye. Texas was getting very neat recently under West Point +discipline; he picked that paper up, and read as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I'll be back in time to fight. Explain later. Trust +me.</p> + +<p class="sig2">"Mark."</p></div> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Texas, springing up from his chair and wrenching a +dilapidated shoulder. "He told me he did that—and I called him a liar!"</p> + +<p>Texas walked up and down, and mused some more. Then it occurred to him +there might be more paper under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> that bureau to explain things. He got +down, painfully, and fished out another crumpled note. And he read that, +too:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mr. Mallory</span>: I am in deep trouble, and I need +your aid at once. You can tell how serious the trouble +is by the fact that I ask you to come to me +immediately. If you care to do a generous and helpful +act pray do not refuse. Sincerely yours,</p> + +<p class="sig2">"Mary Adams."</p></div> + +<p>Mary Adams was a girl well known to many of the cadets.</p> + +<p>The letter was roughly scrawled on a pad, and when Texas finished +reading it he flung it on the floor and went and glared at himself in +the mirror.</p> + +<p>"You idiot!" he muttered, shaking his fist at himself. "Here them ole +cadets went an' fooled Mark Mallory again, an' you—bah!"</p> + +<p>Texas was repentant through and through by that time; he grabbed up his +cap savagely and made for the door, with a reckless disregard for sore +joints. He hobbled downstairs and out of barracks, and caught Mark by +the arm just as Mark was coming in.</p> + +<p>"Well, Texas?" inquired Mark, smiling.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>"Fust place," said Texas, briefly, "want to thank you fo' lickin' me."</p> + +<p>"Welcome," said Mark.</p> + +<p>"Second place, do it ag'in if I ever lose my temper."</p> + +<p>"Welcome," said Mark.</p> + +<p>"Third place, I want to 'pologize."</p> + +<p>"What's up? What's happened to convince you?"</p> + +<p>"Nothin' much," said Texas, "only I been a' findin' out what a fool I +am. Hones' now, Mark," and as Mark looked into the other's pleading gray +eyes he saw that Texas meant it. "Hones' now, this yere's fust time I +ever 'pologized in my life. I'm sorry."</p> + +<p>And Mark took him by the hand. They were friends again from that moment.</p> + +<p>"I jist saw that second note from Mary Adams upstairs," explained Texas, +"an' then I knowed them ole cadets had fooled you that way ag'in. Say, +Mark, you're mos' as big a fool as me—mos'."</p> + +<p>"That note was genuine," answered Mark. And then as he saw Texas' +amazement, he led him aside and explained. "I'll tell you about it," +said he, "for I can trust you not to tell. But I can't explain to the +rest of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> class, and I won't, either, though they may call me a +coward if they choose.</p> + +<p>"A drummer boy came up here last night—or, rather, this morning. He +woke me up and gave me that note, swore it was genuine, too, and I +believed him in the end. As you see, Mary Adams wanted to see me, and +she was in a desperate hurry about it. Well, I debated over it for a +long time; at first I thought I wouldn't, for I was afraid of +court-martial; but then as I thought of her in distress I made up my +mind to risk it, and I went. As it turned out, old man, you'd have been +ashamed of me if I hadn't. There are worse things than being called a +coward, and one of em's being a coward.</p> + +<p>"I found her in great trouble, as she said. She has a brother, a fellow +of about twenty-two, I guess. She lives with her widowed mother, and he +takes care of them. I think they are poor. Anyway, this brother had +gotten two or three hundred dollars from his employer to take a trip out +West. He had fallen in with a rather tough crowd down in the village, +and they were busy making him spend it as fast as he could. That was the +situation."</p> + +<p>"It was tough," commented Texas.</p> + +<p>"The problem was to get him away. The girl hadn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> a friend on earth to +call on, and she happened to think of me. She begged me to try to get +him away. And I'll tell you one thing, too, Texas. The cadets say she's +a flirt and all that. She may be. I haven't had a chance to find out, +and I don't propose to; but a girl that thinks as much of her brother as +she does, and does as much for him, is not beyond respect by a good +sight. I was really quite taken with her last night."</p> + +<p>"Beware the serpent," put in Texas, laughing. "She's pretty, I'm told. +Go on."</p> + +<p>"Well, I found him, after a couple of hours' search, in a tough dive, +with a crowd of loafers hanging on to him. I got him out, but I had to +knock down——"</p> + +<p>"Hey!" cried Texas, springing up in excitement. "Had a fight, did ye? +Why didn't you take me 'long?"</p> + +<p>"I didn't know I was going to fight," said Mark, laughing.</p> + +<p>"And did you lick 'em?"</p> + +<p>"I only had to lick two, and then the rest ran."</p> + +<p>Texas sighed resignedly, and Mark went on:</p> + +<p>"I took him home, as I said, and left him with her. I got home just in +time for reveille."</p> + +<p>"Time to have me call you names and to lick me blue,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> for the same which +I have jest thanked yo," added Texas, his eyes suspiciously moist. "An' +look a yere, ole man"—Texas slung his hand around to his hip pocket and +"pulled" a beautiful silver-mounted revolver, loaded "to the +brim"—"look a yere, Mark. This yere gun, I ain't ever gone out 'thout +it fo' ten year. She's a——"</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say you've had it on up here!"</p> + +<p>"Sho'," said Texas, "an' I come near usin' it on you, too. Mark, you +dunno how a Texas man is with a gun. Mos' of 'em 'ud ruther sell their +wives. An' I'm a goin' to give you this to show that—er—that ther' +ain't no hard feelin's, you know."</p> + +<p>"And I'll take it," said Mark, getting hold of Texas' other hand at the +same time—"take it, if it's only to keep you from carrying it. And +there aren't any hard feelings."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">MARK IN DISGRACE.</span></h2> + + +<p>"In my excursions into the various fields of knowledge I have never yet +had occasion to investigate the alleged discoveries of phrenological +experimentalists, and yet——"</p> + +<p>The speaker paused for a moment, long enough to sigh mournfully. Then he +continued:</p> + +<p>"And yet I had, I think, sufficient perception of character as +delineated by the outlines of physiognomy to recognize at once the fact +that the person to whom we refer is in no way a coward."</p> + +<p>"I wish I had, Parson," responded his companion, ruefully rubbing a +large lump upon his forehead. "I wish I had."</p> + +<p>The thin, learned features of the first speaker found it difficult to +indicate any amusement, and yet there was the trace of a smile about his +mouth as he answered.</p> + +<p>"You say he 'licked' you, to use your own rather unclassic phrase?" he +inquired.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>"Licked me? Wow! He gave me, sah, the very worst lickin' I ever got in +my life—which is very natural, seeing that when a feller gits licked +down in Texas they bury him afterward. I reckon I'd be a gunnin' fo' him +right now, if 'twarn't seein' it's Mark Mallory. Why, man, a feller +can't stay mad with Mark Mallory long!"</p> + +<p>It was just dinner time and Parson and Texas were sitting on the steps +of barracks, waiting for the summons and talking over the events of the +previous day.</p> + +<p>"And how did this encounter originate?" inquired the Parson.</p> + +<p>"All in my foolishness!" growled Texas. "You see yesterday morning when +he didn't turn up to fight that 'ere yearling fellow Williams, I thought +'twas cause he was scared. An' so I got mad an' when he did turn up I +went fo' him. An' then I went fo' the hospital."</p> + +<p>"His conduct did seem unaccountable," rejoined the other. "And yet +somehow I had an instinctive intuition, so to speak, that there was an +adequate reason. And one is apt to find that such impressions are +trustworthy, as, indeed, was most obviously demonstrated and +consistently maintained by the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> Are +you acquainted with Kant's antinomies?" the Parson added, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"No," said Powers. "I ain't. They ain't got to Texas yit. But I wish I'd +had more sense'n to git mad with Mark. I tell you I felt cheap when he +did explain. I kain't tell you the reason yit, but you'll know it before +long. All I kin say is he went down to Cranston's."</p> + +<p>"To Cranston's? I thought we weren't allowed off the grounds."</p> + +<p>"We ain't. But he took the risk of expulsion."</p> + +<p>"And another, too," put in the Parson, "the risk of being called a +coward an' being ostracised by the cadets."</p> + +<p>"I dunno 'bout the astercizin' part," said Texas, "but I know they +called him a coward, an' I know they cut him dead. There won't even a +plebe speak to him, 'cept me an' you an' Injun. An' it's what I call +durnation tough now, by Jingo!"</p> + +<p>"It don't worry me very much," put in a voice behind them.</p> + +<p>The two turned and saw Mark looking at them with an amused expression.</p> + +<p>"It don't worry me much," he repeated. "I guess I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> can stand it if +you'll stand by me. And I think pretty soon I can get another chance at +Williams, and then——"</p> + +<p>"If ye do," cried the excitable Texan, springing up, "I'll back you to +murder him in jist about half a minute."</p> + +<p>"It won't be so easy," responded Mark, "for Williams is the best man in +his class, and that's saying a great deal. But I'll try it; and in the +meantime we'll face out the disgrace. I can stand it, for really there +isn't much privation when you have three to keep you company."</p> + +<p>"I reckon," put in Texas, after a moment's thought, "I reckon we'll have +to put off aformin' o' thet ere new organization we were a-talkin' +'bout. Cuz we kain't git anybody to join ef they won't any of 'em speak +to us."</p> + +<p>"I guess we three are enough for the present," said Mark, "at least +while all the cadets leave us alone. And if they try to haze us I think +we can fight about as well as the rest of them. Then there's Indian, +too, you know; I don't think he can fight much, but he's——"</p> + +<p>"Now, see here!" cried an indignant voice from the doorway, "now see +here, you fellows! I think that's real mean, now, indeed I do. Didn't I +tell you fellows I was going to learn to fight?" he expostulated. +"Didn't I? Bless my soul, now, what more can a man do?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>Mark winked slyly to his companions, and put on his most solemn air.</p> + +<p>"Do?" he growled. "You ask what more can a man do? A man might, if he +were a man, rise up and prove his prowess and win himself a name. He +might gird up his loins and take his sword in his hand and sally forth, +to vindicate his honor and the honor of his sworn friends and allies. +That is what he might do. And instead what does he do? In slothfulness +and cowardice he sits and suffers beneath the rod of tyranny and +oppression!"</p> + +<p>Mark finished out of breath and red in the face.</p> + +<p>"Bless my soul!" cried Indian.</p> + +<p>"Such a course is by no means entirely unprecedented," put in Stanard, +solemnly. "It is common in the mythology of antiquity and in the legends +of mediæval times. Such was the course of Hercules, and thus did Sir +Galahad and the Knights of the Round Table."</p> + +<p>Poor Joe Smith was gazing at the two speakers in perplexity. He wasn't +quite sure whether they were serious or not, but he thought they were, +and he was on the verge of promising to go out and kill something, +whether a cadet or a grizzly, at once. The only trouble was that the +tall, sedate-looking officer of the day, in his spotless uni<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>form of +gray and white and gold with a dazzling red sash thrown in, strode out +of the guardhouse just then; a moment later came the cry, "New cadets +turn out!" and Indian drew a breath of relief at being delivered from +his uncomfortable situation.</p> + +<p>Saturday afternoon is a holiday at West Point. The luckless plebe, +having been drilled and shouted at for a week, gets a much-needed chance +to do as he pleases, with the understanding, of course, that he does not +happen to fall into the hands of the yearlings. If he does, he does as +they please, instead.</p> + +<p>Saturday afternoon is also a holiday time for the yearling, too, and he +is accustomed to amuse himself with variety shows and concerts, +recitations and exhibition drills, continuous performances that are +free, given by the "beasts," the "trained animals," or plebes.</p> + +<p>It may be well at the start to have a word to say about "hazing" at West +Point. Hazing is abolished there, so people say. At any rate, there are +stringent measures taken to prevent it. A cadet is forbidden in any way +to lay hands upon the plebe; he is forbidden to give any degrading +command or exact any menial service; and the penalty for breaking these +rules is dismissal. The plebe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> is called up daily before the tactical +officer in charge of his company, and asked if he has any complaint to +make.</p> + +<p>Such are the methods. The results are supposed to be a complete stopping +of "deviling" in all its forms. The actual result has been that when a +yearling wants to "lay hands upon the plebe" he does it on the +sly—perhaps "yanks" him, as one peculiar form of nocturnal torture is +termed. When the yearling wants some work done, instead of "commanding" +he "requests," and with the utmost politeness. If he wants his gun +cleaned he kindly offers to "show" the plebe how to do it—taking care +to see that the showing is done on his own gun and not on the plebe's. +And the plebe is not supposed to object. He may, but in that case there +are other methods. If he reports anybody he is ostracised—"cut" by +every one, his own class included.</p> + +<p>This being the case, we come to the events of this particular Saturday +afternoon.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0q">"There were three wily yearlings<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Set out one summer's day<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To hunt the plebe so timid<br /></span> +<span class="i2">In barracks far away."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Only in this case there were half a dozen instead of three.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>Now, of all the persons selected for torment that year, with the +possible exception of Mark and Texas, the two "B. J.'s," Indian was the +most prominent. "Indian," as he was now called by the whole corps, was a +<i>rara avis</i> among plebes, being an innocent, gullible person who +believed implicitly everything that was told him, and could be scared to +death by a word. It was Indian that this particular crowd of merry +yearlings set out to find.</p> + +<p>Mark and Texas, it chanced, had gone out for a walk; "Parson" Stanard +had, wandered over to the library building to "ascertain the extent of +their geological literature," and to get some information, if possible, +about a most interesting question which was just then troubling him.</p> + +<p>And poor Joe Smith was all alone in his room, dreading some visitation +of evil.</p> + +<p>The laughing crowd dashed up the steps and burst into the room. Indian +had been told what to do. "Heels together, turn out your toes, hands by +your sides, palms to the front, fingers closed, little fingers on the +seams of the trousers, head up, chin in, shoulders thrown back, chest +out. Here, you! Get that scared look off your face. Whacher 'fraid of. +If you don't stop looking scared I'll murder you on the spot!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>And with preliminary introduction the whole crowd got at him at once.</p> + +<p>"Can you play the piano? Go ahead, then. What! Haven't got any? Why +didn't you bring one? What's the use of being able to play the piano if +you haven't a piano? Can you recite? Don't know anything? You look like +it. Here, take this paper—it's a song. Learn it now! Why don't you +learn it? What do you mean by staring at me instead of at the paper? +There, that's right. Now sing the first six verses. Don't know 'em yet? +Bah, what will you do when you come to trigonometry with a hundred and +fourteen formulas to learn every night? Have you learned to stand on +your head yet? What! Didn't I tell you to do it? Who taught you to stand +on your feet, anyhow? Why don't you answer me, eh? Let's see you get up +on that mantelpiece. Won't hold you? Well, who said it would? What's +that got to do with it? No! Don't take that chair. Vault up! There. Now +flap your wings. What! Haven't got any? What kind of an angel are you, +anyhow? Flap your ears. Let's hear you crow like a hen. Hens don't crow? +What do you know about hens, anyway? Were you ever a hen? Well, why +weren't you?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> Were you ever a goose, then? No? Well, you certainly look +like it! Why don't you crow when we tell you? What kind of crowing is +that—flap your arms, there. Have you got any toothpicks? What! No +toothpicks? Don't suppose you have any teeth, either. Oh, so you have +toothpicks, have you? Well, why did you say you didn't? Take 'em out of +your pockets and row yourself along that mantelpiece with 'em. 'Fraid +you'll fall off, eh? Well, we'll put you up again. Humpty Dumpty! Row +fast now! Row! Get that grin off your face. How dare you smile at a +higher classman! You are the most amazingly presumptuous beast that I +ever heard of. Get down now, and don't break any bones about it, +either!"</p> + +<p>All these amazing orders, rattled off in a breath, and interspersed with +a variety of comment and ejaculation, poor Indian obeyed in fear and +trembling. He was commanded to fall down, and he fell; he was commanded +to fall up, and he protested that the law of gravitation——"Bah! why +don't you get the law repealed?" He wiped off a smile from his terrified +face and threw it under the bed. Then, gasping, spluttering, he went +under and got it. He strove his very best to go to sleep, amid a +variety<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> of suggestions, such as which eyes to shut and which lung to +breathe through.</p> + +<p>This went on till the ingenuity of the cadets was nearly exhausted. Then +one individual, more learned than the rest, chanced to learn the +identity of the Indian's name with that of the great Mormon leader. And +instantly he elbowed his way to the front.</p> + +<p>"Look here, sir, who told you to be a Mormon? You're not a Mormon? Got +only one wife, hey? None? Then what sort of a Mormon are you? Why have +you got a Mormon's name? Did you steal it? Don't you know who Joseph +Smith was? No? Not you, the great Joseph Smith! Suppose you think you're +the great Joseph Smith. Well, now, how on earth did you ever manage to +get into this academy without knowing who Joseph Smith was? Didn't ask +you that, you say? Well, they should have! Fellow-citizens and cadets, +did you ever hear of such a thing? There must be some mistake here. The +very idea of letting a dunce like that in? Why, I knew who Joseph Smith +was about seventy-five years ago. Gentlemen, I move you that we carry +this case to the academy board at once. I shall use my influence to have +this man expelled. I never heard of such a pre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>posterous outrage in my +life! Not know Joseph Smith! And he's too fat to be a cadet, anyhow. +What do you say?"</p> + +<p>"Come ahead! Come ahead!" cried the rest of the mob, indignant and +solemn.</p> + +<p>And almost before the poor Indian could realize what they were doing, or +going to do, the whole crowd arose gravely and marched in silence out of +the room, bent upon their direful mission of having the Army Board expel +Indian because he had never heard of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. +And Indian swallowed every bit of it and sat and trembled for his life.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">INDIAN'S RE-EXAMINATION.</span></h2> + + +<p>It was a rare opportunity. The six yearlings made for camp on a run, and +there an interesting conference was held with a few more choice spirits, +the upshot being that the whole crew set out for barracks again in high +spirits, and looking forward to a jolly lark.</p> + +<p>They entered the building, causing dire fear to several anxious-looking +plebes who were peering out of the windows and wondering if this +particular marauding party was bound in their direction. It was one of +the empty rooms that they entered, however, and there they proceeded to +costume one of their number, putting on a huge red sash, some medals, a +few shoulder straps borrowed for the occasion, and, last of all, a false +mustache. This done, they hastened over to the room where the +unfortunate "Mormon" still sat. The "officer" rapped sharply on the +door.</p> + +<p>"Come in," a voice responded weakly; the cadets came.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>"Mr. Smith, sir?" inquired the personage with the mustache.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," said Indian, meekly, awed by the man's splendor.</p> + +<p>"I have been requested by certain of the cadets of the United States +Military Academy to investigate the circumstance of your alleged passing +at the recent examination. I have been informed by these same gentleman +that when questioned by them you exhibited stupidity and ignorance so +very gross as to cause them to doubt whether you have any right to call +yourself a cadet at all."</p> + +<p>Here the cadets shook their heads solemnly and looked very stern indeed.</p> + +<p>"Bless my soul!" cried Indian.</p> + +<p>"In order to consider these very grave allegations," continued the +other, "a special meeting of the Army Board was first convened, with the +following result:"</p> + +<p>Here the speaker paused, cleared his throat pompously, and drew forth a +frightfully official-looking envelope, from which he took a large +printed sheet with the West Point seal upon the top.</p> + +<p>"United States Military Academy, West Point, June 20th," he read—that +is the way all "orders" begin. "Ca<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>det Joseph Smith, of Indianapolis, +Indiana, it has just been ascertained, was admitted to the duties of +conditional cadet through an error of the examining board. A +re-examination of Cadet Smith is hereby ordered to be conducted +immediately under the charge of the lord high chief quartermaster of the +academy. By order of the Academy Board. Ahem!"</p> + +<p>The lord high chief quartermaster finished, and Cadet Smith sank down +upon the bed in horror.</p> + +<p>"Sir!" shouted the officer, "how dare you sit down in the presence of +your superiors? Get up, sir, instantly!"</p> + +<p>Indian "got," weak-kneed and trembling.</p> + +<p>"The examination will be held," continued the cadet, "in the Observatory +Building, at once. Gentlemen, you will conduct Mr. Smith there and await +my arrival."</p> + +<p>The bogus officer desired time to change his uniform, as he knew it +would be risky to cross the parade in his borrowed clothing.</p> + +<p>Now the Observatory Building is situated far away from the rest of the +academy, upon the hillside near Fort Putnam. And thither the party set +out, the cadets freely discussing the probable fate of the unhappy +plebe. It was the almost unanimous verdict that one who was so +unut<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>terably stupid as never to have heard of the great Joseph Smith +would not stand the ghost of a show. All of which was comforting to the +listening victim.</p> + +<p>The Observatory was deserted and lonely. The door was locked, and the +party gained entrance by the windows, which alone was enough to excite +one's suspicion. But Indian was too scared to think.</p> + +<p>The lord high chief quartermaster presently slipped in, once more +bedecked with medals and mustache.</p> + +<p>The examining party got to work at once in a very businesslike and +solemn manner. The physical examination was to come first, they said. It +had been the opinion of the Army Board that Mr. Smith was far too fat to +make a presentable cadet. The surgeons were busy that afternoon in +trying to piece together several plebes who had been knocked all to +pieces by the yearlings for being too "B. J."—this was the explanation +of the lord high chief quartermaster—and so it would be necessary to +examine Indian here, and at once, too. And if it were found, as, indeed, +would most probably be the case, that he was too fat, why then it would +be necessary for him to reduce weight immediately.</p> + +<p>Several schemes were suggested as to how this might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> be done. There was +the Shylock, the Shakespearian method, of a pound of flesh from near the +heart. Cadet Corporal So-and-So suggested that several veal cutlets from +the legs—each an inch thick—would serve. A veal cutlet an inch thick +he estimated—his great grandfather on his mother's other side had been +a butcher, he stated—would weigh three pounds. Then Acting Cadet +Sergeant Somebody-Else suggested a Turkish bath, the jockey's method, +together with very violent exercise. This plan was adopted finally as +being the least likely to be fatal in its results.</p> + +<p>But just then somebody suddenly thought of the fact that it would be +best to weigh the subject first, which was considered a good idea, but +for the fact that they had no scales. This trouble "feazed" the crowd at +first. Then the lord high chief quartermaster said that he was a +first-rate judge of weight, having slaughtered hogs in his youth, and +could tell by the feel. So Mr. Joseph Smith must be immediately +"boosted" up and balanced upon the cadet's outstretched hand, there to +be shaken and otherwise tested, while the man below made audible +calculations by means of trigonometrical formulas as to what was his +actual weight.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>The result of this experiment, as might have been expected, was by no +means very definite. The lord high chief, etc., thought the weight was +too much, but he couldn't be sure. And then Cadet "Admiral" Jones +proposed another scheme. He had been a juggler "when he was young;" he +was used to tossing heavy weights; in fact, he just happened to know +that he could throw three hundred pounds exactly twelve feet, the height +of the ceiling. It was obvious, therefore, that if Indian weighed over +that he would not reach the ceiling; but if he should go through the +ceiling that would mean just as clearly that he was under the limit and +need not "reduce."</p> + +<p>In vain did the frightened boy protest that he weighed only one hundred +and fifty; the test must be made, and made it was. Indian's terrified +form did not once get near the ceiling, and so reduce he must. The +cadets formed a circle about the room.</p> + +<p>"Now," said the commanding official, "now you must manage to reduce +weight quickly this way, or we shall try the veal cutlet scheme. So +you'll find it best to hurry. We want you to run around the outside of +this circle. We'll give you just ten and one-quarter minutes by my watch +(which runs very fast, by the way) to get around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> fifty times. And in +the course of that you must manage to perspire fifteen pounds of weight +(enough to make you go through the ceiling). This is equal to half a +gallon of water. Now then! Take off your coat, sir. Ready! Set!! Go!!! +Why don't you start, sir? There now! Hurry up! One second—two +seconds—three—four—fi'—six—sev'n—eight—nine—ten—'leven! Faster! +Faster!! Hurry up! One minute! You haven't lost a pound yet! What! Out +of breath already? Faster! That's right! Keep it up now!"</p> + +<p>The scene at this stage of the "examination" is left to the imagination; +Indian, wild-eyed, panting and red, plunging wildly around in a dizzy +circle of a dozen laughing cadets. And in the center the lord high with +his watch slowly telling off the minutes.</p> + +<p>"Two minutes there, two minutes! Come now, hurry up! Don't begin to lag +there! Why don't you stop that panting? There goes the first drop of +perspiration. Hooray, there's another! It'll soon be a gallon now. Two +and a quarter!"</p> + +<p>Poor Joseph kept it up to five, by which time he was so dizzy that he +could not stand up; which was the best reason in the world why he sank +down utterly breath<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>less in the corner. And there he lay gasping, the +cadets in vain trying to get him to rise.</p> + +<p>"I think," said the presiding officer, nearly convulsed with +laughter—"I think that is reduction enough for the present, and I say +we proceed to the 'mental.'"</p> + +<p>A conference was held over in one corner of the room, as to what the +questions should be; and then in an evil hour (for them) an idea struck +one of the cadets.</p> + +<p>"See here, fellows," said he. "I think he's been examined enough. Let's +get somebody else. Let's get—— Who's that learned chap?"</p> + +<p>"Stanard?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, Stanard! The Parson! Let's get him."</p> + +<p>The idea took with a rush. It would be so much more fun to fool the +learned Parson! And in a minute or two half the party, including the +lord high chief quartermaster, was on its way back to barracks to hunt +up the new victim, while the rest stayed to resuscitate Indian and to +write out a list of questions for the "mental examination."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE EXAMINATION OF THE PARSON.</span></h2> + + +<p>The "examining board" had the good luck to come upon the Parson in a +secluded spot near the Observatory. The Parson had left the library for +a walk, his beloved Dana under his arm and the cyathophylloid coral in +one of his pockets. The "committee" made a rush at him.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Stanard?" inquired the lord high, etc.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanard bowed in his grave, serious way, his knees stiff, and his +head bobbing in unison with his flying coat tails.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Stanard, I have been sent by the Army Board to read the inclosed +notice to you. Ahem!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanard peered at the speaker. His mustache fooled the Parson, and +the Parson bowed meekly.</p> + +<p>Once more the cadet took out the official envelope and with a +preliminary flourish and several "ahems!" began to read:</p> + +<p>"United States Military Academy, West Point, June 20th. Cadet Peter +Stanard, of Boston, Massachusetts,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> it has just been ascertained, was +admitted to the duties of conditional cadet through an error of the +examining board. A re-examination of Cadet Stanard is hereby ordered to +be conducted immediately under the charge of the—ahem!—superintendent +of ordnance, in the Observatory Building. By order of the Academy Board. +Ahem!"</p> + +<p>Now, if Cadet Peter Stanard had been a cadet just a little longer he +would never have been taken in by that device, for Cadet Peter Stanard +was no fool. But as it was, he did not see that the order was absurd.</p> + +<p>He went.</p> + +<p>Again the procession started with the same comments as before; this +time, however, the door was not locked, and the party entered, sought +out another room where stood several solemn cadets at attention, +respectfully saluting the superintendent of ordnance, ex-lord high.</p> + +<p>"Cadet Stanard," said the latter, "take a chair. Here is pencil and +paper. What is that book there. Geology? Well, give it to me until +afterward. Now, Mr. Stanard, here are ten questions which the board +expects you to answer. These are general questions—that is, they are +upon no particular subject. The board desires to test your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> general +stock of information, the—ahem!—breadth, so to speak, of your +intellectual horizon. Now you will be allowed an hour to answer them. +And since I have other duties in the meantime, I shall leave you, +trusting to your own honor to use no unfair means. Mr. Stanard, +good-day."</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanard rose, bobbed his head and coat tails and sat down. The +superintendent marched out, the cadets after him. The victim heard a key +turn in the door; the Parson glanced at the first question on the +paper—</p> + +<p>"I. When are cyathophylloid corals to be found in fossiliferous +sandstone of Tertiary origin?"</p> + +<p>"By the bones of a Megatherium!" cried the Parson, "The very thing I was +looking for myself and couldn't find."</p> + +<p>And forthwith he seized his pencil, and, without reading further, wrote +a ten minutes' discourse upon his own researches in that same line.</p> + +<p>"That's the best I can do," said he, wiping his brow. "Now for the +next."</p> + +<p>"II. Name any undiscovered island in the Pacific Ocean."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>The Parson knitted his brows in perplexity and reread the question.</p> + +<p>"Undiscovered," he muttered. "Undiscovered! Surely that word is +undiscovered. U-m-yes! But if an island is undiscovered how can it have +any name? That must be a mistake."</p> + +<p>In perplexity, the Parson went on to the next one.</p> + +<p>"III. If a dog jumps three feet at a jump, how many jumps will it take +him to get across a wall twelve feet wide?"</p> + +<p>"IV. In what year did George Washington stop beating his mother?"</p> + +<p>A faint light had begun to dawn upon Stanard's mind; his face began to +redden with indignation.</p> + +<p>"V. What is strategy in warfare? Give an example. If you were out of +ammunition and didn't want the enemy to know it, would it be strategy to +go right on firing?"</p> + +<p>"VI. If three cannibals eat one missionary, how many missionaries will +it take to eat the three cannibals?"</p> + +<p>"VII. If a plebe's swelled head shrinks at the rate of three inches a +day, how many months will it be before it fits his brains?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>And Stanard seized the paper, tore it across the middle and flung it to +the floor in disgust. Then he made for the door.</p> + +<p>"There's going to be a fight!" he muttered. "I swear it by the Seven +Hills of Rome!"</p> + +<p>The Parson's blood was boiling with righteous indignation; he had +"licked" those same cadets before, or some of them, and he meant to do +it again right now. But when he reached the door he halted for a moment +to listen to a voice he heard outside.</p> + +<p>"I tell you I cannot do it! Bless my soul!"—the Parson recognized the +sound. "I tell you I have lost enough weight already. I can't run again. +Now, I'll go home first. Bless my soul!"</p> + +<p>"Oho!" said the Parson. "So they got poor Indian in this thing, too. +Um—this is something to think over."</p> + +<p>With his usual meditative manner he turned and took his seat again, +carefully pulling up his trousers and moving his coat tails as he did +so. Clearing his throat, he began to discuss the case with himself.</p> + +<p>"It is obvious, very obvious, that my condition will in no way be +ameliorated by creating a suspicion in trying to make a forceful exit +through that locked door.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>"It would be a more efficacious method, I think, in some way to manage +to summon aid. Perhaps it would be well to endeavor to leave in secret."</p> + +<p>And with this thought in mind he went to the window.</p> + +<p>"It would appear," he said, gravely, as he took in the situation, "that +the 'high-thundering, Olympian Zeus' smiles propitiously upon my plan."</p> + +<p>And with this classic remark he stuck one long shank out of the window, +followed it with another just as long, and stood upon the cornice over +the door of the building, which chanced to be in reach. From there he +half slid, half tumbled to the ground, arose, arranged his necktie +carefully, gazed about him solemnly to hear if any one had seen him, and +finally set out at a brisk pace for barracks, taking great, long +strides, swinging his great, long arms, and talking sagely to himself in +the meanwhile.</p> + +<p>"When the other two members of our—ahem!—alliance are made aware of +the extraordinary condition of affairs," he muttered, "I think that I am +justified in my hypothesis when I say there will be some excitement."</p> + +<p>There was.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE RESCUE PARTY.</span></h2> + + +<p>Mark and Texas were seated on the steps of barracks when the Parson came +through the sally port. The two were listening to the music of the band +at the Saturday afternoon hop in the Academy Building, and also watching +several cadets paying penalties by marching sedately back and forth in +the area.</p> + +<p>Stanard strolled in slowly with no signs of excitement. He came up and +sat down beside the two in his usual methodical way.</p> + +<p>"Good-afternoon, gentlemen," said he. "Good-afternoon. I have something +to deliberate upon with you if it is perfectly agreeable."</p> + +<p>It was agreeable, and so the Parson told his story, embellishing it with +many flourishes, classical allusions and geological metaphors. And when +he finished Texas sprang up in excitement.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" he cried. "Let's go up thar an' clean out the hull crowd."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>"It is best to deliberate, to think over our plan of attack," returned +the Parson, calmly, and with a mild rebuke in his tone, which reminded +Texas of his promise never to get excited again, made him sit down +sheepishly.</p> + +<p>"I think," put in Mark, "that we ought to think up some scheme to scare +'em off, or get away with Indian, or something. It's a harmless joke, +you know, so what's the use of fighting over it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," growled Texas, in disgust.</p> + +<p>"If we could only manage to turn the tables on them," continued Mark. +"Shut up a while, and let's think a few minutes."</p> + +<p>And then there was silence, deep and impressive, while everybody got his +"ratiocinating apparatus," as the Parson called it, to work. Mark was +the first to break it.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Parson," said he, "what's the name of all those chemicals of +yours that you hid up the chimney for fear the cadet officers 'd make +you give 'em up?"</p> + +<p>The Parson rattled off a list of unpronounceable names, at the mention +of one of which Mark sprang up.</p> + +<p>"Get it! Get it! you long-legged Boston professor, you!" he shouted. +"Never mind why! But I've got something in my pocket that'll—gee whiz! +Hurry up!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>The Parson did as he was commanded, and in about as much of a hurry as +was possible for him. And Mark tucked the bottle under his coat and the +three set off in haste to the rescue, Texas grumbling meanwhile and +wanting to know why in thunderation a square stand-up fight wasn't just +as good as anything.</p> + +<p>An Indian war party could not have made a more stealthy entrance than +did the three. They climbed in one of the windows on the lower floor, +the basement, and then listened for any sound that might tell them what +was going on above. They heard voices conversing in low tones, but no +signs of hazing; the reason of that fact being that Indian was just then +locked in another room hard at work on his "mental examination," the +same one that had been given to Stanard. And poor Indian was striving +his best to think of the name of any undiscovered island which he had +ever heard of.</p> + +<p>Mark took the big bottle from under his coat, set it on the floor and +took out the cork. From his pocket he took a paper containing a thick +black powder. This he poured carefully into the bottle, put in the cork, +and then turned and made a dash for the window. Outside, the three made +for the woods nearby and hid to watch.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>"Just wait till enough of that dissolves," said Mark. "Just wait."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, upstairs, the hilarious cadets were chuckling merrily over +the predicament of their two victims. The lord high, etc., and +superintendent had carefully timed the hour that the Parson was to have +for his answers; the hour was up, and the official had arisen, turned +the key, and was in the very act of opening the door when suddenly—</p> + +<p>Bang! a loud report that shook the doors and windows of the building and +made the cadets spring up in alarm. They gazed in one another's +frightened faces, scarcely knowing what to think. And then up the +stairway slowly rolled a dense volume of heavy smoke, that seemed to +fill the building in an instant.</p> + +<p>"Fire! Fire!" yelled the whole crowd at once, and, forgetting both their +victims in the mad excitement, they made a wild dash down the stairs for +the door.</p> + +<p>"Fire! Fire!" rang out their cries, and a moment later a big bell down +at barracks sounded the alarm—"Fire! Fire!"</p> + +<p>And over in the woods three conspirators sat and punched one another for +joy.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">HEROISM OF THE PARSON.</span></h2> + + +<p>The cadets of the academy are organized into a fire department for the +safety of the post. It is the duty of the cadets upon the sounding of +the alarm—three strokes of the bell, or a long roll on the drum, or +three shots, as the case may be—to fall into line immediately and +proceed to the scene of the fire. One brigade has charge of a hand +engine, another forms a bucket line, etc.</p> + +<p>West Point was, of course, thrown into the wildest excitement on the +instant that the cry was raised. The cadets poured in from every +direction, and in a few moments were on the way at double-quick. Army +officers, the soldiers of the regular army at the post, infantry and +cavalry, all made for the scene.</p> + +<p>The Observatory Building was found to be in imminent peril, apparently; +there were no flames in sight, but smoke was pouring from every crevice. +Prompt and quick to act, some heroic young cadet leaped up the steps and +burst in the door with an ax, though it was not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> locked and needed only +a turn of the knob to open it. The moment an opening was made a cloud of +smoke burst forth that drove the party back before it, and at the same +instant a cry of horror swelled up from the fast-arriving crowd.</p> + +<p>With one accord everybody glanced up to one of the windows on the floor +above. There stood a figure, nothing but the head visible in the smoke, +a figure of a badly-frightened lad, yelling at the top of his lungs for +help! help! help! And the crowd gazed at him in terror. It was Indian, +apparently in peril of his life!</p> + +<p>Who should save him? Who? The thought was in everybody's mind at the +moment, and yet every one hesitated before that barrier of blinding +smoke. And then—then suddenly a roar of cheers and shouts swelled up as +a hero came to the fore. When every one else trembled this hero alone +was bold. He had dashed wildly from the woods, a tall, lanky, +long-haired figure. He had fought his way through the craven crowd, his +coat tails flying and his long elbows working. He had dashed up the +steps, his light green socks twinkling with every stride. And now, while +the crowd shouted encouragement, he plunged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> desperately into the thick +of the smoke and was lost to view.</p> + +<p>The crowd waited in breathless suspense—one minute—two—and still the +imperiled lad stood at the window and the hero did not appear. Could it +be that he was lost—overcome by smoke and flame? The throng below hated +to think of it and yet—no, there he was! At the doorway again! Had he +failed to accomplish his noble purpose? Had he been driven back from the +work of rescue? No! No! He had succeeded; he had gotten what he wanted! +As he dashed wildly out again the people saw that he carried under his +arm a great, leather-bound volume.</p> + +<p>"Dana's Geology" was safe!</p> + +<p>And a moment or two later somebody put up a ladder and the unfortunate +"Mormon" climbed down in haste.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, what of the fire? Encouraged by the example of the "hero," +the cadets rushed in to the attack. But, strange to say, though they had +hand engines and buckets and ladders, they could find no fire to attack. +Several windows having been smashed, most of the smoke had escaped by +this time—there had really been but very little of it, anyway, just +enough for excitement. There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> is a saying that where there is smoke +there must be flame, and, acting on this rather dubious statement, the +gallant fire brigade hunted high and low, searching in every nook and +corner of the building, and even searching the desk drawers to see if +perchance the cunning fire had run away and hidden there. And still not +a sign of flame.</p> + +<p>The mystery got more and more interesting; the whole crowd came in—the +smoke having all gone by this time—to see if, perchance, a little more +diligent search might not aid; and the people kept coming until finally +the place was so packed that there was no room for the fire anyway. And +so finally every one gave it up in disgust and went home, including the +gallant fire brigade. And the three conspirators in the woods went, too, +scarcely able to hide their glee.</p> + +<p>"It's jest one on them ole cadets!" vowed Texas.</p> + +<p>Of course, the Army Board ordered a strict investigation, which was +made—and told nothing. All that was found was a few bits of broken +glass in one room, and an "examination paper" in another. Indian was +hauled up, terrified, to explain; he described his hazing, but +steadfastly refused names—which was good West Point eti<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>quette—he +vowed he knew nothing about the fire—which was the truth—also West +Point etiquette. And since Indian was mum, and there was no one else to +investigate, the investigation stopped, and the affair remained a West +Point mystery—a mystery to all but three.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">MORE TROUBLES.</span></h2> + + +<p>"No, sir! I wouldn't think of it, not for a moment. The fellow's a +coward, and he don't deserve the chance."</p> + +<p>And Cadet Corporal Jasper brought his fist down on the table with a +bang.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," he repeated. "I wouldn't think of it!"</p> + +<p>"But he wants to fight!" exclaimed the other.</p> + +<p>"Well, he had a chance once; why didn't he fight then? That's what I +want to know, and that's what he won't tell us. And as far as I'm +concerned Mallory shall lie in the bed he's made. I wouldn't honor him +with another chance."</p> + +<p>It was an afternoon late in June, and the two speakers were discussing +some ice cream at "the Dutchwoman's" and waiting for the call to +quarters before dress parade.</p> + +<p>"If that fellow," continued Corporal Jasper, "had any reason on earth +for getting up at midnight, dodging sentry and running out of barracks, +to stay till reveille, except to avoid fighting you that morning, now, +by jingo! I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> want to know what it is! The class sent me to ask him, and +he simply said he wouldn't tell, that's all. His bluff about wanting +another chance won't work."</p> + +<p>"Well, if we don't," protested Williams, the other man, a tall, +finely-built fellow, "if we don't, he'll go right on getting fresh, +won't he?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, he won't! We'll find a way to stop him. In the first place, +he's been sent to Coventry. Not a man in the academy'll speak to him; he +may not mind that for a while, but I think he won't brave it out very +long. Just you watch and see."</p> + +<p>"The only trouble with that," said Williams, "is that he's not cut by +all the fellows. I've seen three of the plebes with him."</p> + +<p>"What!" cried the other, in amazement. "Who?"</p> + +<p>"Well, there's that fellow he seconded in the fight——"</p> + +<p>"Texas, you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Texas. Then that long-legged scarecrow Stanard was out walking +with him this very day. And I saw that goose they call the Indian +talking to him at dinner, and before the whole plebe class, too."</p> + +<p>"Well, now, by jingo! they'll find it costs something to defy the +corps!" exclaimed Jasper. "It's a pretty state of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> affairs, indeed, if +three or four beasts can come up here and run this place as they please. +They'll find when an order's given here they'll obey, or else they can +chase themselves home in a hurry. That fellow Mallory must be a fool! +There's never been a plebe at this academy's dared to do half what he's +done."</p> + +<p>"That's why I think it would be best to lick him. I'm not sure I can do +it, you know, but I think it would be best to try."</p> + +<p>"That fellow started out to be B. J. at the very start," growled the +excitable corporal, after a moment's thought. "Right at the very start! +'Baby' Edwards was telling me the other day how way last year this +fellow met with an accident—fell off the express or something—and +while he was staying down at the Falls Baby and a couple of other +fellows thought he was a candidate, and started in to haze him. He was +sassy as you please then. And after that he went out West, where he +lives, and did some extraordinary thing—saved an express, I believe, +and sent in an account to a paper for a lot of money. Of course that got +him dead stuck on himself, and then he goes and wins a cadetship here +and thinks he can run the earth. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> was so deucedly B. J. he had to go +and lock Edwards and Bull Harris in an icehouse down near the Falls!"</p> + +<p>"You see what's happened now," he continued, after a moment's pause. +"Your challenge brought him up with a round turn, and he saw his bluff +was stopped. He was afraid to fight, and so he hid, that's all. But, by +jingo, he'll pay for it if I've got anything to say in the matter!"</p> + +<p>And the little corporal made the dishes on the table rattle.</p> + +<p>Corporal Jasper and Cadet Williams had finished their council and their +ice cream by this time, and arose to go just as the roll of drum was +heard from "Camp McPherson." The two strolled off in the direction of +the summons, Jasper just as positive and vehement as ever.</p> + +<p>"You shan't fight him," he declared. "And if sending him to Coventry +doesn't do any good, we'll find some other way, that's all! And we'll +keep at him till he learns how to behave himself if it takes the whole +summer to do it."</p> + +<p>This was the young cadet officer's parting vow, as he turned and entered +his tent.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">DISADVANTAGES OF "COVENTRY."</span></h2> + + +<p>"Sir, the parade is formed!"</p> + +<p>Thus spoke the cadet adjutant as he approached the lieutenant in +command, and a moment later, at the word, the battalion swung around and +marched across the campus. It was the evening dress parade of perhaps +the best drilled body of troops in the country, and West Point was out +in holiday attire to see it.</p> + +<p>Seated on the benches beneath the trees on the western edge of the +parade ground was a crowd of spectators—visitors at the post and nearly +the whole plebe class besides. For this was Saturday afternoon holiday, +and the "beasts" had turned out in a body to witness the performance of +what they were all hoping some day to be.</p> + +<p>It was a "mighty fine" performance, and one that made those same beasts +open their eyes with amazement. Spotless and glittering in their +uniforms were the cadets, and they went through all manner of difficult +evolutions in perfect unison, marching with lines as straight and even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +as the eye could wish. It is a pretty sight, a mass of gray in a setting +of deep green—the trees that encircle the spot, and it made the poor +homesick "beasts" take a little interest in life once more.</p> + +<p>Among these "beasts" were Mark and Texas. They sat under the trees a +little apart from the crowd and watched the scene with interest. Mark +had seen dress parades before; Texas had not, and he stared with open +eyes and mouth, giving vent to an exclamation of amazement and delight +at intervals.</p> + +<p>"Look a' yere, Mark," he cried, "d'you think we'll ever be able do that +a' way. Honest, now? I think I'll stay!"</p> + +<p>"Even after you get through fightin?" laughed Mark.</p> + +<p>"I don't think I want to fight any more," growled Texas, looking glum. +"Since you an' me fit, somehow fightin' ain't so much fun."</p> + +<p>"What's the fun o' fightin' ef you git licked?" he added, after a +moment's thought.</p> + +<p>"I never tried it," said the other, laughing. "But I suppose you'll be +real meek now and let them haze you."</p> + +<p>"Yaas!" drawled Texas, grinning. "Yes, I will! Them ole cadets git after +me, now, by jingo, I'll go out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> there an' yank some of 'em out that +parade an' lick them all t'once. But say! look at that chap on a horse."</p> + +<p>"That chap's the commandant," said Mark, "and he's going to review the +parade for a change."</p> + +<p>"I wish I was in it," exclaimed Texas, "an' I wish I knew all that +rigamarole they're doin' now"—that "rigamarole" being the +manual-at-arms. "I jest believe if I had somebody to teach me 'cept that +'ere yellin' tomcat of a Cadet Spencer I'd learn in a jiffy, dog on his +boots!"</p> + +<p>"There he is now," said Mark, "in the second line there. And there on +the outside with his chevrons is Corporal Jasper, 'the committee.' They +look very different when they're in line."</p> + +<p>"Nothin' 'd make that red-headed, freckle-faced coyote of a drill-master +look different," growled Texas. "I jes' wish he was bigger'n me so's I +could git up a scrap with him. Jest think o' that little martinet a +yellin' at me an' tellin' me I didn't have any sense. To-day, for +instance, d'you remember, he was tryin' to show Indian how to march an' +move his legs, an' Indian got twisted up into a knot; an' durnation, +jist because I laughed, why he rared round an' bucked fo' an hour! +What's the harm in laughing, anyhow?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>And Texas glared so savagely at his tormentor as the line swept by just +then that Mark concluded there was no harm and laughed.</p> + +<p>"You're getting to be very stupid company, Texas," said he. "You never +do anything but growl at the cadets. I wish I had some diversion."</p> + +<p>And Mark turned away in mock disgust and glanced down the archway of +trees.</p> + +<p>"Here she comes," he said, after a moment's pause. "That's she walking +up the path with a cadet and another girl."</p> + +<p>Texas turned as Mark spoke, and looked in the direction of his nod.</p> + +<p>"So that's Mary Adams!" he exclaimed. "Well! well! That's the girl you +dodged barracks for, and risked your commission, and missed the fight, +and got called a coward, and sent to Coventry, and lots else. I swear!"</p> + +<p>"That's the one," said Mark, smiling.</p> + +<p>"She's stunning pretty," added Texas, as the trio drew near. "Gee-whiz! +I don't blame you."</p> + +<p>"I liked her right well myself," admitted the other. "That is after I +saw her with that brother of hers. She certainly is a good sister to +him. But the cadets say she's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> something of a flirt, and Wicks Merritt +advised me to leave her alone, so I guess I shall."</p> + +<p>"Sunday school teacher!" said Texas, laughing. "We'll have to call you +Parson, instead of Stanard. But I guess you're right. That's not a very +beautiful looking cadet she's with."</p> + +<p>The three were passing then, and Mark arose.</p> + +<p>"I guess I'll have to go speak to her," said he. "She's beckoning to me. +Wait a moment."</p> + +<p>Texas watched his friend approach the group; he could not hear what was +said, however, and so he turned away to watch the parade. By doing it he +missed an interesting scene.</p> + +<p>Mary Adams welcomed Mark with a look of gratitude and admiration that +Mark could not fail to notice. She had not forgotten the magnitude of +the service he had done for her. And then she turned to her two +companions.</p> + +<p>"Miss Webb," she said, "let me present Mr. Mallory."</p> + +<p>The other girl bowed, and Mary Adams turned to the cadet.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Murray, Mr. Mallory," said she.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>And then came the thunderclap. Mark put out his hand; the cadet quietly +put his behind his back.</p> + +<p><a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a>"The cadets of this academy, Miss Adams," said he, "do not speak to Mr. +Mallory. Mr. Mallory is a coward!"</p> + +<p>It was a trying moment; Mark felt the blood surge to his head, his +fingers twitched and his lip quivered. He longed to spring at the +fellow's throat and fling him to the ground.</p> + +<p>It was a natural impulse. Texas would have done it. But Mark controlled +himself by the effort of his life. He clinched his hands behind him and +bit his tongue, and when he spoke he was calm and emotionless.</p> + +<p>"Miss Adams," he said, "Mr. Murray and I will settle that later."</p> + +<p>The two girls stared in amazement, "Mr. Murray" gazed into space, and +Mark turned without another word and strode over to where his friend was +sitting.</p> + +<p>"Texas!" he muttered, gripping him by the shoulder. "Texas, there's +going to be a fight."</p> + +<p>"Hey!" cried Texas, springing to his feet. "What's that? Whoop!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE EMBASSY OF THE PARSON.</span></h2> + + +<p>"What's happened?" cried Texas, as soon as he'd managed to get calm +enough to talk coherently. "What's happened?"</p> + +<p>"Sit down," said Mark, laughing in spite of himself. "Sit down and stop +your dancing. Everybody in the place is staring at you."</p> + +<p>Texas sat, and then Mark described to him just what had happened. As +might have been expected, he was up in arms in a moment.</p> + +<p>"Where is that feller? Now, look a 'yere, Mark, leggo me. Thar he goes! +Say, if I don't git him by the neck an'——"</p> + +<p>The excitable youth was quieted after some ten minutes' work or so, and +immediate danger was over.</p> + +<p>"And now," said Mark, "where's the Parson?"</p> + +<p>"Over in library," responded the other, "a fossilizin'. What do you want +with him?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>"You be good," said Mark, "and I'll let you see. Come on."</p> + +<p>They found the Parson as Texas had said, and they managed to separate +him from the books and drag him over to barracks. Then Mark, who by this +time had recovered his usual easy good-nature, told of "Mr. Murray's" +insult again.</p> + +<p>"Now, I haven't the least objection," he continued, "of being sent to +Coventry. In fact, so long as it means the cadets' leaving me alone, I +rather like the idea. But I don't propose to stand a thing like that +which just happened for a moment. So there's got to be a fight, and if +they won't let me, I'll have to make 'em, that's all."</p> + +<p>"Um," said the Parson, looking grave. "Um."</p> + +<p>"Now, as for that fellow Murray," added Mark, "I don't propose to fight +him."</p> + +<p>"Wow!" shouted Texas. "What in thunder do you mean? Now if you don't, by +jingo! I'll go and do it myself!"</p> + +<p>"Take it easy," said Mark, laughing. "You see, Williams is the man the +class has selected to beat me; he's the best fighter. Now, if I beat +anybody else it won't do me the least bit of good; they'd still say I'm +afraid of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> Williams. So I'm going to try him first. How's that, Texas?"</p> + +<p>"Reckon you're right," admitted Powers, rather sheepishly. "I 'spose +you'll let me go and arrange it, hey?"</p> + +<p>"I'd as soon think of sending a dynamite bomb," laughed Mark. "You'd be +in a fight before he'd said three words. That's what I wanted the Parson +for. I think he'd be grave and scholarly even if they ate him."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said the Parson, gravely. "I should try."</p> + +<p>"Wow!" growled Texas.</p> + +<p>And thus it happened that the Parson set out for "Camp McPherson," a +short while later, his learned head full of prize fighting and the +methods and practice of diplomacy.</p> + +<p>It was rather an unusual thing for a plebe to do—this venturing into +"camp;" and the cadets stared at the Parson, wondering what an amount of +curiosity he must have to go prospecting within the lines of the enemy. +The Parson, however, did not act as if curiosity had brought him; with a +businesslike air and a solemn visage he strode down the company street, +and, heedless of the cadets who had gathered at the tent doors to see +him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> halted in front of one before which he saw "Billy" Williams +standing.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Williams?" said the Parson.</p> + +<p>Mr. Williams had been engaged in vigorously drying his face; he paused, +and gazed up out of the towel in surprise, and one of his tent mates, +Cadet Captain Fischer, ceased unwinding himself from his long red sash +and stared.</p> + +<p>"My name is Stanard," said the Parson—"Peter Stanard."</p> + +<p>"Pleased to meet you," said Williams, stretching out a long, brawny arm.</p> + +<p>There was a twinkle in the yearling's eye as he glanced at the skinny +white fingers which Stanard put out in return. And, taking in the +stranger's lank, scholarly figure, Williams seized the hand and squeezed +with all his might.</p> + +<p>He expected to hear a howl, but he was disappointed. The Parson drew up +his "prehensile muscles," as he called them. The result was that Cadet +Williams turned white, but he said nothing about it, and invited the +stranger into his tent.</p> + +<p>The Parson deposited himself gently in one corner and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> drew up his long +legs under him. Then he gazed out of the tent and said—"ahem!"</p> + +<p>"Warm day," said Williams, by way of a starter.</p> + +<p>"It is not that the temperature is excessively altitudinous," responded +the Parson, "but the presence of a larger proportion of humidity retards +perspiratory exudation."</p> + +<p>"Er—yes," said Williams. "Yes, I think that's it."</p> + +<p>"I have come—ahem!" continued Stanard, "as a representative of Mr. +Mallory."</p> + +<p>The other bowed.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mallory desires to know—if you will pardon my abruptness in +proceeding immediately to the matter in hand—to know if it is not +possible for you to fulfill a certain—er—engagement which you had with +him."</p> + +<p>"I see," said Williams, thoughtfully, and he tapped the floor with his +foot for a minute or so.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mallory, of course, understands," he continued at last, "that I +have no grudge against him at all."</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said the Parson.</p> + +<p>"In fact, I rather admire Mr. Mallory, on the whole, though some of his +actions have been, I think, imprudent. In this matter I am simply the +deputy of the class."</p> + +<p>"Exactly," said the Parson, bowing profusely.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>"Therefore, I fight when the class says so, and when they say no, what +reason have I for fighting? Now, the class thinks that Mr. Mallory has +had chance enough, and——"</p> + +<p>"But they don't know the circumstances!" protested Stanard, with more +suddenness than was usual with him.</p> + +<p>"They do not," responded the other. "But they'd like to."</p> + +<p>"I do not know them myself," said the Parson. "But I have faith enough +in Mr. Mallory to take his word that it was unavoidable."</p> + +<p>"You must have a good deal," added Williams, his handsome face looking +grave, "a good deal to risk being sent to Coventry."</p> + +<p>"I am willing. Examples of yet higher devotion to a <i>fides amicus</i>, so +to speak, are by no means extraordinary. Take the popular instance of +Damon and Pythias, or, if you look for one yet more conspicuous, I would +mention Prylocates and Tyndarus, in the well-known play of "The +Captive," by Plautus, with which you are doubtless familiar."</p> + +<p>And the Parson closed his learned discourse with his favorite occupation +of wiping his brow.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>"The risk is your own," responded the yearling, calmly. "You must not +mind if the class resents your view of the case."</p> + +<p>There was a few moments' silence after that, during which the Parson +racked his head to think what to say next.</p> + +<p>"You refuse, then, to fight Mr. Mallory?" he inquired at last.</p> + +<p>"Absolutely!" responded the other. "Absolutely, until the class so +directs."</p> + +<p>Then the Parson drew a long breath, and prepared for the culminating +stroke.</p> + +<p>"What I say next, Mr. Williams," said he, "you will understand is said +with all possible politeness and good feeling, but it must be said. Mr. +Mallory has been insulted by some cadets as a coward. He must free +himself from the suspicion. Mr. Williams, if a plebe should strike an +older cadet, would that make a fight necessary?"</p> + +<p>"Most certainly," said Williams, flushing.</p> + +<p>"Well, now, suppose he simply threatened to do so," continued Stanard. +"Would that be cause enough?"</p> + +<p>"It might."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, Mr. Williams, Mr. Mallory desires me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> with all politeness +to beg permission to threaten to strike you."</p> + +<p>"I see," said the other, smiling at the solemn air with which the lank +stranger made this extraordinary request. "I see. I have no objection to +his so doing."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Stanard. "A fight is now necessary, I believe?"</p> + +<p>"Er—yes," said Williams. "I believe it is." The fact of the matter was +that he saw that Mark was in a position to force a fight if he chose, +and the yearling was by no means reluctant, anyhow.</p> + +<p>"I thank you for your courtesy," he continued, bowing Stanard out of the +tent. "Tell Mr. Mallory that I shall send my second to see him this +evening. Good-day."</p> + +<p>And Stanard bowed and strode away with joy in his very stride.</p> + +<p>"We have met the enemy," was his report to Mark. "We have met the enemy, +and there's going to be a fight!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">PREPARATIONS FOR THE BATTLE.</span></h2> + + +<p>It does not take long for news of so exciting a matter as a really +important fight to spread among the corps. No sooner did the Parson +leave camp than cadets began to stroll in to find out why he had come, +and, learning, they hurried off to discuss the news with their own +tentmates. So it happened that by the time the cadets marched down to +mess hall to supper every man in the battalion knew that Mark Mallory, +the B. J. beast, had succeeded in getting another chance at "Billy" +Williams. The plebes knew of it, too. When their rather ragged and +scattered company fell in behind the corps at barracks, they were all +talking about it, at least when the file closers weren't near. At supper +nobody talked of anything else, and everybody in the room was eying Mark +and his stalwart opponent and speculating as to what the chances would +be.</p> + +<p>"Billy'll do him!" vowed the yearlings. "There's nobody in the class +that stands more chance."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>And the plebes feared it would be that way, too, and yet there were a +few at the tables discussing the matter in whispers, venturesome enough +to say that perhaps maybe their classmate might win and to wonder what +on earth would happen to him if he did.</p> + +<p>"It'll mean a revelation if he does!" they cried. "Perhaps it'll even +stop hazing."</p> + +<p>The mood of the irate little corporal, who had vowed not an hour before +that Mallory should not have another chance, may well be imagined.</p> + +<p>"I tell you, 'tis a shame!" he vowed to Williams. "A shame! I don't see +why in thunder you didn't hold out."</p> + +<p>"It's not my fault, Jasper," responded the other, smiling good +naturedly. "If you'll think a while, you'll see he was in a position to +force a fight at any time he chose. If I refused to 'allow him to +threaten to hit me,' as he put it, he could have threatened anyway, and +then if that didn't do any good, he'd have actually to hit me, and there +you would have been. It's a great deal better this way."</p> + +<p>"Yes!" growled Jasper. "That sounds all very well. But look where it +puts me, by George! You'll have to get somebody else to arrange it. I +won't. I went as a committee and told him he'd not get another chance, +and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> I tell you now I'll not go take it back for anybody, and with that +B. J. plebe especially."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he won't be so very B. J. after the fight," responded the +other, smiling. "I don't know, of course, but I shall do my best."</p> + +<p>"If you don't," said the other, looking serious, "by jingo! we'll be in +a thundering fix. There's nobody in the class can beat you, and that +plebe'll have a walkover."</p> + +<p>This last sentiment of Jasper's was the sentiment of the whole yearling +class, and the class was in a state of uncertainty in consequence. Texas +was known to have whipped four cadets in one morning, and all of them +good men, too; then there was a rumor out that Mark and Texas had had a +quarrel and that the latter had gone to the hospital some five minutes +later. The two facts put together were enough to make the most confident +do some thinking.</p> + +<p>It is difficult for one who has never been to West Point to appreciate +what this state of affairs meant—because it is hard for him to +appreciate the relation which exists between the plebe and the rest of +the corps. From the moment of the former's arrival as an alarmed and +trembling candidate, it is the especial business of every cadet to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +teach him that he is the most utterly, entirely and absolutely +insignificant individual upon the face of the universe. He is shouted at +and ordered, bullied, badgered, tormented, pulled and hauled, drilled +and laughed at until he is reduced to the state of mind of a rabbit. If +he is "B. J." about it, he is bullied the more; if he shows fight, he +has all he wants, and is made meeker still. The result of it all is that +he learns to do just as anybody else commands him, and</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Never dares to sneeze unless<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He's asked you if he might.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>All of which is fun for the yearling.</p> + +<p>Now, here was Mark Mallory—to say nothing of Texas—who had come up to +the Point with an absurd notion of his own dignity, who had outwitted +the yearlings at every turn, been sent to Coventry—and didn't care a +hang, and now was on the point of trying to "lick" the finest all-around +athlete in the whole third class. It was enough to make the corps +tremble—the yearlings, at any rate. The first class usually feels too +dignified to meddle with such things.</p> + +<p>Billy Williams' ambassador put in an appearance on the following Sunday +morning, and, to Mark's disgust,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> he proved to be none other than his +old enemy, Bull Harris—sent, by the way, not because Williams so chose, +but because Bull himself had asked to be sent.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Williams," said he, "says he'll give you another chance to run +away."</p> + +<p>Mark bowed politely, determined that Harris should get as little chance +for insult as possible.</p> + +<p>"He'll fight you to-morrow—Fort Clinton, at four, and if you don't +come, by thunder! he'll find out why."</p> + +<p>Mark's face grew white, but he only bowed again, and swallowed it. And +just then came an unexpected interruption.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mallory, as the challenged party, has the right to name the time."</p> + +<p>The voice was loud and clear, and seemed to have authority; Harris +turned and confronted Cadet First Captain Fischer, in all his glory of +chevrons and sword. Now, the first captain is lord of West Point—and +Harris didn't dare to say a word, though he was boiling within.</p> + +<p>"And, moreover," continued the imposing young officer, angrily, "you +should remember that you came, Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> Harris, as a gentleman and not as a +combatant. Mr. Mallory, what is your wish?"</p> + +<p>"The time suits me," said Mark, quietly. "Good-day, Mr. Harris."</p> + +<p>And Harris left in a very unpleasant mood indeed; he had meant to have +no end of amusement at the expense of Mark's feelings.</p> + +<p>"You've a hard row to hoe," said the cadet officer to Mark, "and a hard +man to beat. And you were foolish to get into it, but, all the same, +I'll see that you have fair play."</p> + +<p>"And that," exclaimed Texas to Mark, as he watched the tall, erect +figure of the cadet vanish through the sally port. "That is the first +decent word I've heard from a cadet since I've been here. Bully for +Fischer!"</p> + +<p>"It's probable," said Mark, "that he knows Harris as well as we. And +now, old fellow," he added, "we've got nothing to do but pass time, and +wait—and wait for to-morrow morning!"</p> + +<p>Mark slept soundly that night in spite of the excitement. It was Texas +who was restless, for Texas had promised to act as alarm clock, and, +realizing that not to be on time again would be a calamity indeed, he +was up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> half a dozen times to gaze out of the window toward the eastern +sky, watching for the first signs of morning.</p> + +<p>While it was yet so dark that he could scarcely see the clock, he routed +Mark out of bed.</p> + +<p>"Git up thar," he whispered, "git up an' git ready."</p> + +<p>Mark "got," and the two dressed hurriedly and crept down the stairs, +past the sentry—the sentry was a cadet, and kindly "looked the other +way"—and then went out through the sally port to the parade ground. The +plain was shrouded in mist and darkness, and the stars still shone, +though there was a faint light in the east. The two stole past the +camp—where also the sentries were blind—scaled the ramparts, and stood +in the center of "old Fort Clinton."</p> + +<p>The spot was deserted and silent, but scarcely had the two been there a +moment before a head peered over the wall nearest to the camp.</p> + +<p>"They're here," whispered a cadet, and sprang over. A dozen others +followed him, and in a very few minutes more there were at least thirty +of them, excited and eager, waiting for "Billy" to put in an appearance. +It was not long before Billy came, and behind him his faithful chum, +Jasper, with a bucket of water, and sponges and towels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> enough for a +dozen. About the same time Stanard's long shanks appeared over the +breastworks, and Indian tumbled over a moment later. Things were about +ready then.</p> + +<p>"Let's lose no time," said Jasper, always impatient. "Captain Fischer +will act as referee and timekeeper, if it's agreeable."</p> + +<p>No one could have suited Mark more, and he said so. Likewise, he stated, +through his second, Mr. Powers, that he preferred to fight by rounds, +which evidently pleased Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams was by this time +stripped to the waist, his suspenders tied about him. And it was +evidently as Fischer had said. There was no finer man in his class, and +he was trained to perfection. His skin was white and glistening, his +shoulders broad and massive, and the muscles on his arms stood out with +every motion. His legs were probably as muscular, too, thought Mark, for +Williams held the record for the mile. The yearlings' hearts beat higher +as they gazed at their champion's determined face.</p> + +<p>Mark was a little slower in stepping up; when he did so the watching +crowd sized him up carefully, and then there was doubt.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>"Oh, gee, but this is going to be a fight!" was the verdict of every one +of them.</p> + +<p>"Marquis of Queensberry rules," said Fischer, in a low tone. "Both know +them?"</p> + +<p>Mark nodded.</p> + +<p>"Shake hands!"</p> + +<p>Mark put out his, by way of answer, and Williams gripped it right +heartily.</p> + +<p>"Ready?"</p> + +<p>And then the simple word "Go."</p> + +<p>Let us gaze about a moment at the scene. The ring is surrounded by +earthworks, now grass-grown and trodden down, unkept since the +Revolutionary days, when West Point was a Gibraltar. Old cannon, +caissons and wagon wheels are scattered about inside, together with +ramparts and wire chevaux-de-friezes which the cadets are practiced in +constructing. In the southwest corner is a small, clear, smooth-trodden +space, where the two brawny, white-skinned warriors stand. The cadets +are forming a ring about them, for every one is too excited to sit down +and keep quiet. The "outlooks," posted for safety, are neglecting their +duty recklessly for the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> reason, and looking in altogether. Every +eye is on the two.</p> + +<p>Over in Mark's corner sits Texas, gripping his hands in excitement, +wriggling nervously and muttering to himself. Stanard is beside him with +"Dana's Geology" as a cushion. The Parson is a picture of calm and +scholarly dignity, in direct contrast with our friend Texas, who is on +the verge of one of his wild "fits." "Indian" is the fourth and only +other plebe present, and Indian is horrified, as usual, and mutters +"Bless my soul" at intervals.</p> + +<p>On the opposite side of the circle of cadets are Jasper and another +second, both breathlessly watching every move. Nearby stands Cadet +Captain Fischer, calm and cool, critically watching the play.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE AFFAIR AT THE FORT.</span></h2> + + +<p>The two began cautiously, like a pair of skillful generals sending out a +skirmish line to test the enemy's strength and resource. This was no +such battle as Texas', a wild rush, a few mighty blows, and then +victory. Williams was wary as a cat, sparring lightly, and taking no +risks, and the other saw the plan and its wisdom.</p> + +<p>"Playing easy," muttered the referee, noting the half minute on his +watch. "Know their business, it seems."</p> + +<p>"Wow!" growled Texas. "What's the good o' this yere baby business? Say, +Parson, ain't they never goin' to hit? Whoop!"</p> + +<p>This last exclamation was caused by the real beginning of the battle. +Williams saw an unguarded face, and quick as thought his heavy arm shot +out; the crowd gasped, and Mark saw it. A sudden motion of his head to +one side was enough to send the blow past him harmlessly, and a moment +later the yearling's forward plunge was checked by an echoing crack upon +his ribs. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> for the rest of the round the excited cadets were +treated to an exhibition of sparring such as they had never seen in +their lives. Feinting, dodging and parrying, the springing pair seemed +everywhere at once, and their fists in a thousand places. The crowd was +thrilled; even the imperturbable Fischer was moved to exclamation, and +Texas in half a minute had seen more skill than his whole experience had +shown him in his life.</p> + +<p>"Look a thar! Look a thar! He's got him—no—gad! Whoop!"</p> + +<p>Texas did as much dancing as the fighters themselves, and more talking +than the whole crowd. Captain Fischer had to stop watching him long +enough to tell him that the camp, with its sleeping "tacs," was only a +few yards away. And then, as Powers subsided, the cadet glanced at his +watch, called "Time!" and the two fighters went to their corners, +panting.</p> + +<p>"What did ye stop for?" inquired Texas, while the Parson set diligently +to work at bathing several red spots on his friend's body. "What kind o' +fightin' is this yere? Ain't give up, have you? Say, Mark, now go in +nex' time an' do him. What's the use o' layin' off?"</p> + +<p>"A very superior exhibition of—lend me that court-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>plaster, +please—pugilistic ability," commented the Parson, bustling about like +an old hen.</p> + +<p>And then a moment later the referee gave the word and they were at it +again.</p> + +<p>This round there was no delay; both went at it savagely, though warily +and skillfully as ever. Blow after blow was planted that seemed fairly +to shake the air, driven by all the power that human muscle could give.</p> + +<p>"Won't last long at this rate," said the referee, sagely shaking his +head. "Give 'em another round—gee!"</p> + +<p>Fischer's "gee" was echoed by the yearlings with what would have, but +for the nearness of the camp, been a yell of triumph and joy. Williams +had seen a chance, and had been a second too quick for Mark; he had +landed a crushing blow upon the latter's head, one which made him +stagger. Quick to see his chance, the yearling had sprung in, driving +his half-dazed opponent backward, landing blow after blow. Texas gasped +in horror. The yearlings danced—and then——</p> + +<p>"Time!" said the imperturbable Fischer.</p> + +<p>Texas sprang forward and led his bewildered friend to a seat; Texas was +about ready to cry.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>"Old man!" he muttered, "don't let him beat you. Oh! It'll be the death +of me. I'll go jump into the river!"</p> + +<p>"Steady! Steady!" said the Parson; "we'll be all right in a moment."</p> + +<p>Mark said nothing, but as his reeling brain cleared he gritted his +teeth.</p> + +<p>"Time," said the referee.</p> + +<p>And Williams sprang forward to finish the work, encouraged by the +enthusiastic approval of his half-wild classmates. He aimed another blow +with all his might; Mark dodged; the other tried again, and again the +plebe leaped to one side; this repeated again and again was the story of +the next minute, and the yearlings clinched their hands in +disappointment and rage.</p> + +<p>"He's flunking!" cried one of them—Bull Harris—"He's afraid!"</p> + +<p>"He's fighting just as he ought," retorted Captain Fischer, "and doing +it prettily, too. Good!"</p> + +<p>And then once more the crowd settled into an anxious silence to watch.</p> + +<p>The story of that minute was the story of ten. Mark had seen that in +brute force his adversary was his equal, and that skill, coolness and +endurance were to win. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> made up his mind on his course, and pursued +it, regardless of the jeers of the yearlings and their advice to Billy +to "go in and finish him off." Billy went, but he could not reach Mark, +and occasionally his ardor would be checked by an unexpected blow which +made his classmates groan.</p> + +<p>"It's a test of endurance now," observed Fischer, "and Billy ought to +win. But the plebe holds well—bully shot, by Jove! Mallory's evidently +kept in training. Time!"</p> + +<p>That was for the seventh round.</p> + +<p>"He's getting madder now," whispered Mark to Stanard, as he sat down to +rest. "He wants to finish. If those fellows keep at him much more he'll +sail in for a finish—and then, well, I'm pretty fresh yet."</p> + +<p>Goaded on by his impatient classmates, Williams did "sail in," the very +next round. Mark led him a dance, from corner to corner, dodging, +ducking and twisting, the yearling, thinking the victory his, pressing +closer and closer and aiming blow after blow.</p> + +<p>"Watch out, Billy, watch out," muttered the vigilant Fischer to himself, +as he caught the gleam in Mark's eye.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>Just then Williams paused, actually exhausted; Mark saw his chest +heaving, and, a still surer sign, his lip trembling.</p> + +<p>"Now, then!" whispered the Parson at his back, and Mark sprang forward.</p> + +<p>The yearling dodged, Mark followed rapidly. There was a moment of +vicious striking, and then the cadets gasped to see Williams give way. +It was only an inch, but it told the story—Williams was tired. Fischer +gazed at his watch and saw that there was yet half a minute, and at the +same moment he heard a resounding thump. Mark had planted a heavy blow +upon his opponent's chest, he followed almost instantly with another, +and the yearlings groaned.</p> + +<p>Williams rallied, and made a desperate fight for his life, but at the +close of that round he was what a professional reporter would have +termed "groggy." He came up weakly at the call.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid of hitting him," the Parson had said, afraid that +Mark's kind-heartedness would incline him to mercy. "There's too much at +stake. Win, and win in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> hurry"—the Parson forgot to be classical when +he was excited.</p> + +<p>Obedient to command, Mark set out, though it was evident to him that he +had the fight. While Texas muttered and pranced about for joy, Mark +dealt his opponent another blow which made him stagger; he caught +himself upon one knee, and Mark stepped back and waited for him to rise. +And then suddenly a pair of strong arms were flung about the plebe's +waist and he felt himself shoved hurriedly along; at the same moment a +voice shouted in his ear:</p> + +<p>"Run, plebe, run for your life!"</p> + +<p>Mark glanced about him in dimly-conscious amazement. He saw that the +ring had melted into a number of cadets, skurrying away in every +direction at the top of their speed. He heard the words, "a tac! a tac!" +and knew the fight had been discovered by an army officer.</p> + +<p>A figure dashed up behind Mark and caught him by the arm. It was +Fischer.</p> + +<p>"Run for your life! Get in barracks!" he cried.</p> + +<p>And with that he vanished, and Mark, obeying, rushed across the cavalry +plain and was soon lying breathless and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> exhausted in his room, where +the wildly-jubilant Texas joined him a moment later, just as reveille +was sounded.</p> + +<p>"Victory! Victory!" he shouted. "Wow!"</p> + +<p>And by breakfast time that morning every cadet in the corps was +discussing the fight. And Mark was the hero of the whole plebe class.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">TWO PLEBES IN HOSPITAL.</span></h2> + + +<p>"Say, tell me, did you do him?"</p> + +<p>The speaker was a lad with brown, curly hair and a laughing, merry face, +at present, however, half covered with a swathing of bandages. He was +standing on the steps of the hospital building at West Point, and +regarding with anxiety another lad of about the same age, but taller and +more sturdily built.</p> + +<p>"I don't know that I did him," responded Mark—for the one addressed was +he—"I don't know that I can say I did him, but I believe I would have +if the fight hadn't been interrupted."</p> + +<p>"Bully, b'gee!" cried the other, excitedly slapping his knee and wincing +with pain afterward. "Gimme your hand! I'm proud of you, b'gee! My +name's Alan Dewey, at your service."</p> + +<p>Mark took the proffered hand, smiling at the stranger's joy.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>"My success seems to cause you considerable pleasure," he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, b'gee!" exclaimed Dewey, "it does! And to every true and loyal +plebe in the academy. You've brought honor to the name of plebe by +licking the biggest yearling in the place, b'gee, and that means the end +of hazing."</p> + +<p>"I'm not so sure of that," said Mark.</p> + +<p>"I am," returned the other. "But say, tell me something about the fight. +I wanted to come, only I was shut up in hospital. Did Williams put up a +good one?"</p> + +<p>"Splendid," said Mark.</p> + +<p>"He ought to. They say he's champion of his class, and an all-round +athlete. But you look as if you could fight some yourself."</p> + +<p>"He almost had me beaten once," said Mark. "I thought I was a goner."</p> + +<p>"Say, but you're a spunky chap!" remarked Dewey, eying Mark with an +admiring expression. "I don't think there's ever been a plebe dared to +do half what you've done. The whole class is talking about you."</p> + +<p>"Is that so?" inquired Mark, laughing. "I didn't mean to do anything +reckless."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>"What's the difference," laughed the other, "when you can lick 'em all, +b'gee? I wish I could do it," he added, rather more solemnly. "Then, +perhaps, maybe I wouldn't be the physical wreck that I am."</p> + +<p>"You been fighting, too?" inquired Mark, laughing.</p> + +<p>"Betcher life, b'gee!" responded the other, emphatically. "Only I wasn't +as clever at it as you."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it," said Mark, with interest.</p> + +<p>"It happened last Saturday afternoon, and I've been in hospital ever +since, b'gee. Some of the cadets caught me taking a walk up somewhere +near what they call 'Crow's Nest.' And so they set out to have some fun. +Told me to climb a tree, in the first place. I looked at the tree, and, +b'gee, there wasn't a limb for thirty feet, and the limbs there were +rotten. There was one of 'em, a big, burly fellow with short hair and a +scar on his cheek——"</p> + +<p>"Bull Harris!" cried Mark.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Dewey, "that's what they called him—'Bull.'"</p> + +<p>"Did you fight with him?"</p> + +<p>"Betcher life, b'gee! He tried to make me climb that tree, and, b'gee, +says I, 'I won't, b'gee!' Then I lammed him one in the eye——"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>"Bully!" cried Mark, and then he added, "b'gee!" by way of company. "Did +he beat you?"</p> + +<p>"Betcher life," cried the other. "That is, the six of 'em did."</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say the crowd attacked you?"</p> + +<p>"That's what I said."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir!" exclaimed Mark, "the more I hear of that Bull Harris the +bigger coward I find him. It's comforting to know that all the cadets +aren't that way."</p> + +<p>"Very comforting!" responded the other, feeling of the bandage on his +swollen jaw. "Very comforting! Reminds me of a story I heard once, +b'gee, of a man who got a thousand dollars' comfort from a railroad for +having his head cut off."</p> + +<p>Mark laughed for a moment, and then he fell to tapping the step +thoughtfully with his heel. He was thinking over a plan.</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose you've much love for the yearlings," he remarked, at +last.</p> + +<p>"Bet cher life not," laughed the other. "I've about as much as a +mother-in-law for a professional joke writer, b'gee! Reminds me of a +story I once heard—but go on; I want to hear what you had to say. Tell +my story later."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>"Well, three friends of mine have formed a sort of an informal alliance +for self-defence——"</p> + +<p>"Bully, b'gee!" cried Dewey, excitedly.</p> + +<p>"And I thought maybe you'd like to——"</p> + +<p>"Join? Bet cher life, b'gee! Why didn't you say so before? Whoop!"</p> + +<p>And thus it happened that Member Number Five of the West Point +"alliance" was discovered.</p> + +<p>"I don't think this famous alliance is going to have much to do at the +start," said Mark, as soon as Master Dewey had recovered from his +excitement, "for I rather fancy the yearlings will leave us alone for a +time."</p> + +<p>"Bet cher life, b'gee!" assented the other. "If they don't look out they +won't have time to be sorry."</p> + +<p>"B'gee!" added Mark, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Do I say that much?" inquired the other, with a laugh. "I suppose I +must, because the fellows have nicknamed me 'B'gee.' I declare I'm not +conscious of saying it. Do I?"</p> + +<p>"Bet cher life, b'gee," responded Mark, whereupon his new acquaintance +broke into one of his merry laughs.</p> + +<p>"Let's go around to barracks," said Mark, finally—it was then just +after breakfast time. "I expect they'll<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> want me to report for drill. I +thought I'd get off for the morning on the strength of my 'contusions,' +as they call them. But the old surgeon was too sly for me. He patched me +up in a jiffy."</p> + +<p>"What was the matter with you?" inquired Dewey, dropping his smile.</p> + +<p>"One eye's about half shut, as you see," responded Mark, "and then I had +quite a little cut on the side of my head where Williams hit me once. +Otherwise I am all right—only just a little rocky."</p> + +<p>"As the sea captain remarked of the harbor, b'gee," added the other. +"But tell me, how's Williams?"</p> + +<p>"Pretty well done up, as the laundryman remarked, to borrow your style +of illustration," Mark responded, laughing. "They had to carry poor +Williams down here. He's in there now being fixed up. And say, you +should have seen how queerly the surgeon looked at us two. He knew right +away what was up, of course, but he never said a word—just entered us +'sick—contusions.' Is that what you were?"</p> + +<p>"Bet cher life, b'gee!" responded the other. "But he tried to get me to +tell what was up. He rather suspected hazing, I think. I didn't say +anything, though."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>"It would have served some of those chaps just right if you had," vowed +Mark. "You know you could have every one of them expelled."</p> + +<p>The two had reached the area of barracks by this time, and hurried over +to reach their rooms before inspection.</p> + +<p>"And don't you mention what I've told you about this great alliance to a +soul," Mark enjoined. "We'd have the whole academy about our ears in a +day."</p> + +<p>Dewey assented.</p> + +<p>"What's the name of it?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Haven't got any name for it yet," said Mark, "or any leader either, in +fact. We're waiting to get a few more members, enough for a little +excitement. Then we'll organize, elect a leader, swear allegiance, and +you can bet there'll be fun—b'gee!"</p> + +<p>"Come up to my room," he added, after a moment's pause, "as soon as you +get fixed up for inspection, and I'll introduce you to the other +fellows."</p> + +<p>With which parting word he turned and bounded up the stairs to his own +room.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE PARSON'S INDIGNATION.</span></h2> + + +<p>Mark found his roommate and faithful second, Texas, busily occupied in +cleaning up for the morning inspection. Texas wasn't looking for Mark; +it had been Texas' private opinion that Mark had earned a week's holiday +by the battle of the morning, and that the surgeon would surely grant +it. When Mark did turn up, however, Texas wasted no time in complaining +of the injustice, but got his friend by the hand in a hurry.</p> + +<p>"Ole man," he cried, "I'm proud of you! I ain't had a chance to say how +proud I am!"</p> + +<p>"Thanks," said Mark, laughing, "but look out for that sore thumb—and +for mercy's sakes don't slap me on that shoulder again. I'm more +delicate than I look. And say, Texas, I've got a new member for our +secret society—b'gee!"</p> + +<p>Texas looked interested.</p> + +<p>"He's a pretty game youngster," Mark continued, "for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> when Bull Harris +and that gang of his tried to haze him, he sailed in and tried to do the +crowd."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Texas, excitedly. "Wow! I wish I'd 'a' been there. Say, +Mark, d'ye know I've been a missin' no end o' fun that a'way. Parson had +a fight, an' I didn't see it; you had one daown to Cranston's, an' I +missed that; an' yere's another!"</p> + +<p>Texas looked disgusted and Mark burst out laughing.</p> + +<p>"'Tain't any fun," growled the former. "But go on, tell me 'bout this +chap. What does he look like?"</p> + +<p>"He's not as tall as we," replied Mark, "but he's very good-looking and +jolly. And when he says "B'gee" and laughs, you can't help laughing with +him. Hello, there's inspection!"</p> + +<p>This last remark was prompted by a sharp rap upon the door. The two +sprang up and stood at attention. "Heels together, eyes to the front, +chest out"—they knew the whole formula by this time. And Cadet Corporal +Jasper strode in, found fault with a few things and then went on to +carry death and devastation into the next place.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later the Parson strolled in.</p> + +<p>"Yea, by Zeus," began he, without waiting for the formality of a +salutation. "Yea, by Apollo, the far-dart<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>ing, this is indeed an outrage +worthy of the great Achilles to avenge. And I do swear by the bones of +my ancestors, by the hounds of Diana, forsooth even by Jupiter lapis and +the Gemini, that never while I inspire the atmosphere of existence will +I submit myself to so outrageous an imposition——"</p> + +<p>"Wow!" cried Texas. "What's up?"</p> + +<p>"Sit down and tell us about it," added Mark.</p> + +<p>"It is written in the most immortal document," continued the Parson, +without noticing the interruption, "that ever emanated from the mind of +man, the Declaration of Independence (signed, by the way, by an ancestor +of my stepmother), that among the inalienable privileges of man, +co-ordinate with life and liberty itself, is the pursuit of happiness. +And in the name of the Seven Gates of Thebes and the Seven Hills of the +Eternal City, I demand to know what happiness a man can have if all his +happiness is taken from him!"</p> + +<p>"B'gee! Reminds me of a story I heard about a boy who wanted to see the +cow jump over the moon on a night when there wasn't any moon, b'gee."</p> + +<p>Mark and Texas looked up in surprise and the Parson faced about in +obvious displeasure at the interruption.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>"In the name of all the Olympian divinities and the inhabitants of +Charon and the Styx," he cried, angrily, "I demand to know——"</p> + +<p>"Come in," said Mark, laughing. "Excuse me for interrupting, Parson, but +this is Mr. Alan Dewey, b'gee, member Number Five of our band of +desperate buccaneers, if you please. Mr. Dewey, allow me to introduce +you to the gentleman who 'reminded' you of that last story, Mr. Peter +Stanard, of Boston, Massachusetts, the cradle of liberty, the nurse of +freedom, and the center and metropolis of the geological universe."</p> + +<p>The Parson bowed gravely.</p> + +<p>"While I am, together with all true Bostonians, proud of the reputation +which my city has merited, yet I am——"</p> + +<p>"Also to Mr. Jeremiah Powers," continued Mark, cutting the Parson off in +his peroration.</p> + +<p>"Son o' the Honorable Scrap Powers, o' Hurricane County, Texas," added +Texas, himself.</p> + +<p>Young Dewey shook hands all around, and then sat down on the bed, +looking at Mark with a puzzled expression on his face, as much as to +say, "what on earth have I struck—b'gee?" Mark saw his expression and +under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>took to inform him, making haste to start before the Parson could +begin again on the relative merits of Boston and the rest of the +civilized universe.</p> + +<p>"Powers and Stanard," said he, "are the members of our organization, +together with Indian, the fat boy."</p> + +<p>"I see," said Dewey, at the same time thinking what a novel organization +it must be. "There's Indian now."</p> + +<p>Indian's round, scared face peered in through the open doorway just +then. He was introduced to Number Five, whereupon Number Five remarked +'Very pleased to meet you, b'gee.' And Indian echoed 'Bless my soul!' +and crept into the room and sat down in an inconspicuous corner.</p> + +<p>There was a moment's pause and then the Parson commenced:</p> + +<p>"If I remember correctly, we were occupied when last interrupted, +by—ahem! a rather facetious observation upon the subject of our +solitary lunar satellite and quadruped of the genus Bos—occupied I say +in considering the position which the metropolis of Boston has +obtained——"</p> + +<p>"Drop Boston!" laughed Mark. "We weren't on Bos<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>ton anyhow. Boston came +in afterward—as Boston always does, in fact."</p> + +<p>"Which reminds me, b'gee," put in the newcomer, "of a story I once heard +of——"</p> + +<p>"Drop the story, too!" exclaimed Mark. "I want to know what the Parson +was so indignant about."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes!" put in Texas. "That's what I say, too. And be quick about +it. We've only ten minutes 'fore drill, an' if there's anybody got to be +licked, why, we got to hustle."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Stanard, drawing a long breath. "Well! Since it is the +obvious and, in fact, natural desire of the company assembled, so +expressed by them, that I should immediately proceed to a summary and +concise statement of the matter in hand, pausing for no extensive +introductions or formal perorations, but endeavoring assiduously to +impart to my promulgations a certain clarified conciseness which in +matters of this peculiar nature is so eminently advantageous——"</p> + +<p>The Parson was interrupted at this place by a subdued "B'gee!" from +Dewey, followed by a more emphatic "Wow!" and a scarcely audible "Bless +my soul!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>"What's the matter?" he inquired, stopping short and looking puzzled.</p> + +<p>"Nothing," replied Mark. "I didn't say anything."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said the Parson. "Excuse me. Where was I? Oh, yes, I was just +saying I would be brief. Gentlemen—ahem!—when I entered this room I +was in a condition of violent anger. As I stated, an outrage had been +offered me such as neither Parmenides, nor Socrates, nor even Zeno, +stoic of stoics, could have borne. And I have resolved to seek once +more, as a prodigal son, the land of my birth, where science is fostered +instead of being repressed as in this hotbed of prejudice and ignorance. +I——"</p> + +<p>"What's up?" cried the four.</p> + +<p>"I am coming to that," said the Parson, gravely, stretching out his long +shanks, drawing up his trousers, and displaying his sea-green socks. +"This same morning—and my friend Indian will substantiate my statement, +for he was there—a low, ignorant cadet corporal did enter into my room, +for inspection, by Zeus, and after generally displaying his ill-manners, +he turned to me and conveyed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> the extraordinary information that, +according to rules, forsooth, I must be deprived of the dearest object +of my affections, solace of my weary hours, my friend in time of need, +my companion in sickness, which through all the trials of adversity has +stuck to me closer than a brother, my only joy, my——"</p> + +<p>"What?" cried the four, by this time wrought up to the highest pitch of +indignation and excitement.</p> + +<p>"My one refuge from the cares of life," continued the solemn Parson, +"the one mitigating circumstance in this life of tribulation, the +only——"</p> + +<p>"What? What? What?"</p> + +<p>"What? Of all things what, but this? What but my life, my pride, my +hope—my beloved volume of 'Dana's Geology,' friend of my——"</p> + +<p>And the roar of laughter which came then made the sentry out on the +street jump in alarm. The laughing lasted until the cry came:</p> + +<p>"New cadets turn out!" which meant drill; and it lasted after that, too, +so that Cadet Spencer, drillmaster, "on duty over plebes," spent the +next hour or two in won<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>dering what on earth his charges kept snickering +at. Poor Texas was the subject of a ten-minute discourse upon +"impertinence and presumption," because he was guilty of the heinous +offense of bursting out laughing in the midst of one of the irate little +drillmaster's tirades.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">INDIAN IN TROUBLE.</span></h2> + + +<p>What manner of torture is squad drill has already been shown; and so the +reader should have some idea of what our five friends were going +through. Squad drill lasts for the first two weeks or so of plebe +life—that is, before the move into camp. The luckless victims begin +after breakfast, and at regular (and frequent) periods until night are +turned out under the charge of some irascible yearling to be taught all +manner of military maneuvers—setting up drill, how to stand, to face, +and, in fact, how to walk.</p> + +<p>Most people, those who have not been to West Point, are under the +delusion that they know how to walk already. It usually takes the +luckless plebe a week to get that idea hammered out of his head, and +another week besides to learn the correct method. The young instructor, +presenting, by the way, a ludicrous contrast in his shining uniform of +gray and white and gold, with his three or four nervous and variously +costumed pupils,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> takes the bayonet of his gun for a drill stick and +marches "his" squad over into a secluded corner of the area and thus +begins the above-mentioned instructions:</p> + +<p>"At the word forward, throw the weight of the body upon the right leg, +the left knee straight. At the word march, move the left leg smartly +without jerk, carry the left foot forward thirty inches from the right, +the sole near the ground, the toe a little depressed, knee straight and +slightly turned out. At the same time throw the weight of the body +forward (eyes to the front) and plant the foot without shock, weight of +the body resting upon it; next, in like manner, advance the right foot +and plant it as above. Continue to advance without crossing the legs or +striking one against the other, keeping the face direct to the front. +Now, forward, common time, march. Depress the toe so that it strikes the +ground at the same time as the heel (palms of the hands squarely to the +front. Head up)"—and so on.</p> + +<p>That is the way the marching exercise goes, exclusive, of course, of all +interruptions, comments and witticisms on the instructor's part. The +plebe begins to get used to it after the first week or so, when the +stiffness rubs off, and then a certain amount of rivalry begins to +spring up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> among various squads, and everybody settles down to the +business of learning. The squads are consolidated later on, and +gradually the class is merged into one company. Such as they are, these +drills, together with inspections, meals and "rests" (with hazing), +occupy almost the entire time of the two weeks in barracks.</p> + +<p>And now for our five "rebels."</p> + +<p>That particular Monday morning the plebes had an hour's rest before +dinner, in which to do as they pleased (or as the yearlings pleased). +And during this hour it was that one of "the five," the always luckless +and unhappy one, got into trouble. The one was Indian, or the Mormon. +Indian, it seemed, was always thought of whenever there was any deviling +to be done. The other plebes did as they were told, and furnished +amusement on demand, but they always realized that it was all in fun. +Indian, however, was an innocent, gullible youth, who took everything +solemnly, and was in terror of his unhappy life every moment of the day. +And he was especially unfortunate this time because he fell into the +hands of "Bull" Harris and his gang.</p> + +<p>It is not the intention of the writer to give the impression that all +cadets at West Point were or are like "Bull"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> Harris, or that hazing of +his peculiar variety is an everyday affair. But it would be hard to find +one hundred men without a cowardly, cruel nature among them. "Bull" +Harris and his crowd represented the lower element of the yearling +class, and made hazing their business and diversion. They were the +especial dread of the plebes in consequence. Bull had tried his tricks +upon Mark to his discomfort, and ever since that had left Mark strictly +alone, and confined his efforts to less vigorous victims, among which +were Dewey, and now Indian.</p> + +<p>Indian had selected a rather grewsome occupation, anyhow, at the +particular moment when he was caught. It was just in keeping with the +peculiarly dejected frame of mind he was in (after squad drill). He was +wandering through the graveyard, which is situated in a lonely portion +of the post, way off in the northwestern corner. Some heroes, West +Point's bravest, lie buried there, and Indian was dejectedly wondering +if those same heroes would ever have stuck through plebe days in +barracks if they had had a drill master like that "red-headed coyote," +Chick Spencer. He had about concluded they would not have, when he heard +some muffled laughter and the sound of running feet. A moment later the +ter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>rified plebe found himself completely surrounded by a dozen merry +yearlings, out for a lark. Prominent among them were Bull and his +toadying little friend, Baby Edwards.</p> + +<p>It is correct West Point etiquette for a plebe, when "captured" to go +meekly wherever desired. Indian went, and the party disappeared quickly +in the woods on one side, the captive being hidden completely in the +circle of cadets.</p> + +<p>There was one person who had seen him, however, and that one person was +the Parson, who had been about to enter the gate to join his friend. And +the Parson, when he saw it, turned quickly on his heel and strode away +back to barracks as fast as his long legs could carry him without loss +of scholarly dignity.</p> + +<p>"Yes, by Zeus," he muttered to himself. "Yea, by Zeus, the enemy is +fierce upon our trail. And swiftly, forsooth, will I hie me to my +companions and inform them of this insufferable indignity."</p> + +<p>All unconscious of the learned gentleman's discovery, the yearlings +meanwhile were hurrying away into a secluded portion of the woods; for +they knew that their time was short, and that they would have to make +haste. The ter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>rified victim was pushed over logs and through brambles +until he was almost exhausted, the captors meanwhile dropping dire hints +as to his fate.</p> + +<p>"An Indian he is!" muttered Bull Harris. "An Indian!" (The plebe was as +red as one then.) "He shall die an Indian's death!"</p> + +<p>"That's what he shall!" echoed the crowd. "An Indian! An Indian! We'll +burn him at the stake!"</p> + +<p>"He, he! the only good Indian's a dead Indian, he, he!" chimed in Baby, +chuckling at his own witticism. "He, he!"</p> + +<p>All this poor Joseph did not fail to notice, and as was his habit, he +believed every word of it. Nor did his mind regain any of its composure +as the procession continued its solemn marching through the lonely +woods, to the tune of the yearlings' cheerful remarks. The latter were +chuckling merrily to themselves, but when they were in hearing of their +victim their tone was deep and awful, and their looks dark and savage. +Poor Indian's fat, round eyes stared wider and rounder every minute; his +equally round, red face grew redder, and his gasping exclamations more +frequent and violent.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>"Bless my soul!" he cried, "what extraordinary proceedings!"</p> + +<p>"Ha! ha!" muttered the yearlings. "See, he trembles! Behold how the +victim pales!"</p> + +<p>A short distance farther in the woods the party came upon a small +clearing.</p> + +<p>"Just the spot!" cried Bull. "See the tree in the center. That is the +stake, and to that we will tie him, while the smoke ascends to the +clouds of heaven."</p> + +<p>"Just the spot!" echoed Baby, chuckling gleefully.</p> + +<p>"It is quiet," continued Bull, in a low, sepulchral tone. "Yes, and his +cries of agony will be heard by none. Advance, wretched victim, and +prepare to die the death which your savage ancestors did inflict upon +our fathers. Advance!"</p> + +<p>"Advance!" growled the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Bless my soul!" cried the Indian.</p> + +<p>He was no more capable of advancing than he was of flying. His knees +were shaking in violent terror. Great beads of perspiration rolled from +the dimples in his fat little cheeks. Limp and helpless, he would have +sunk to the ground, but for the support of his captors.</p> + +<p>"Advance!" cried Bull, again, stamping on the ground<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> in mock impatience +and rage. "Bodyguard, bring forth the wretch!"</p> + +<p>In response to this order several of the cadets dragged the unhappy +plebe to the tree and held him fast against it. Bull Harris produced +from under his coat a coil of rope, and Indian felt it being wrapped +about his body.</p> + +<p>Up to this point he had been silent from sheer terror; but the feeling +of the rough rope served to bring before him with startling reality the +awfulness of the fate that was in store for him. He opened his mouth and +forthwith gave vent to a cry so weird and unearthly that the yearlings +burst out into a shout of laughter. It was no articulate cry, simply a +wild howl. It rang and echoed through the woods, like the hoot of an owl +at night, or the strange, half-human cry of a frightened dog. And it +died into a gasp that Bull Harris described as "the sigh of a homesick +bullfrog."</p> + +<p>Indian's musical efforts continued as the horrible rope was wound about +his body. Each wail was louder and more unearthly, more mirth-provoking +to the unpitying cadets, until at last, when Bull Harris finished and +stepped back to survey his work, the frightened plebe could be likened +to nothing less than a steam calliope.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>The yearlings were so much amused by his powers that they resolved +forthwith that the show must not stop. And so, without giving the +performer chance to breathe even, they set to work diligently collecting +sticks and leaves.</p> + +<p>"Heap 'em up! Heap 'em up!" cried Bull. "Heap 'em up! And soon shall the +fire blaze merrily."</p> + +<p>Naturally, since Indian's shrieks and howls continued unabated in +quantity or variety through all this, the yearlings were in no hurry to +finish, but took care to prolong the agony, sport as they called it, as +long as possible. So, while the red-faced, perspiring victim panted, +grunted, howled, and wriggled, they piled the wood about him with +exasperating slowness, rearranging, inspecting, and discussing the +probable effect of each and every stick of wood they laid on.</p> + +<p>It was done, at last, however, and the result was a great pile of fagots +surrounding and half covering the unfortunate lad. They were fagots +selected as being the driest that could be found in the dry and +sun-parched clearing. There was a moment or two later on when Bull +wished they had not been quite so dry, after all.</p> + +<p>The crowd stood and admired their work for a few mo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>ments longer, while +Indian's weird wails rose higher than ever. Then Bull stepped forward.</p> + +<p>"Art thou prepared to die?" he inquired in his most sepulchral tone.</p> + +<p>Indian responded with a crescendo in C minor.</p> + +<p>"He answereth not!" muttered the other. "Let him scorn our questions who +dares. What, ho! Bring forth the torch! We shall roast him brown."</p> + +<p>"And when he is brown," roared another, "then he will cease to be +Smith!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," cried Bull, "for he will be dead. His bones shall bleach on the +plains. On his flesh we will make a meal!"</p> + +<p>"An Indian meal!" added Baby, chuckling merrily over his own joke.</p> + +<p>"Several meals," continued Bull, solemnly. "There is enough of him for a +whole <i>table d'hote</i>. How about that? Aren't you?"</p> + +<p>"Wow! Wo-oo-oo-oooo!" wailed Indian.</p> + +<p>"He mocks us!" cried the spokesman. "He scorns to answer. Very well! We +shall see. Is the torch lit?"</p> + +<p>The torch, an ordinary sulphur match, was not lit. But Bull produced one +from the same place as the rope and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> held it poised. He waited a moment +while the yearlings discussed the next action.</p> + +<p>"I say we let him loose," said one. "He's scared enough."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" laughed Bull, "I'm not going to stop yet. I'm going to set +him afire."</p> + +<p>"Set him afire!" echoed the crowd, in a whisper.</p> + +<p>"'Sh! Yes," responded the other. "Not really, you know, but just enough +to scare him. We'll set fire to the wood and then when it's begun to +smoke some we'll put it out."</p> + +<p>"That's risky," objected somebody. "I say we——"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" interrupted the leader. "If you don't want to, run home. I +am."</p> + +<p>And so once more he turned toward the wretched captive, who still kept +up his shrieks.</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha!" he muttered, "thy time has come. Say thy last prayer."</p> + +<p>With which words he stepped quickly forward, struck the match upon his +heel, and after holding it for a moment knelt down before the pile of +leaves and wood.</p> + +<p>"Wow! Wow!" roared Indian. "Stop! Stop! Help! Wo-oo-oo!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>Another of those steam calliope wails.</p> + +<p>"He shrieks for mercy!" muttered Bull. "He shrieks in vain. There!"</p> + +<p>The last exclamation came as he touched the match to the leaves, stood +up and worked off to join his companions.</p> + +<p>"Form a ring," he said, "and dance about him as he dies."</p> + +<p>The terror of Indian can scarcely be imagined; he was almost on the +verge of fainting as the hot choking smoke curled up and around his +face. His yells grew louder and increased to a perfect shriek of agony.</p> + +<p>"Don't you think we'd better stop it now?" inquired one of the +yearlings, more timid than the rest.</p> + +<p>"Rats!" laughed Bull. "It's hardly started. I'll manage it."</p> + +<p>Bull's "management" proved rather untrustworthy; for Bull had forgotten +to take into account the dryness of the twigs, and also another factor. +The air had been still as he struck the match, but just at that moment a +slight breeze swept along the ground, blowing the leaves before it. It +struck the little fire and it seized one tiny flame<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> and bore it up +through the pile and about the legs of the imprisoned plebe.</p> + +<p>The next instant the yearlings were thrown into the wildest imaginable +confusion by a cry from one of them.</p> + +<p>"Look out! Look out! His trousers are afire!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">TO THE RESCUE.</span></h2> + + +<p>Things happened in a whirl of confusion after that. To the horrified +cadets a thousand incidents seemed to crowd in at one moment.</p> + +<p>In the first place there was the terrified captive, bound helplessly to +the tree, his clothing on fire, himself shrieking at the top of his +lungs. Then there were the yearlings themselves, all crying out with +fright and alarm and rushing wildly in to drag the burning wood away. +Finally there were other arrivals, whom, in the excitement, the +yearlings scarcely noticed. There were two of them; one tore a knife +from his pocket and cut the rope in a dozen places, the other flung off +his jacket and wrapped it quickly about Indian's feet, extinguishing the +flames. And then the two stood up and gazed at the rest—the frightened +yearlings and their infuriated victim.</p> + +<p>Infuriated? Yes, wildly infuriated! A change had come over Indian such +as no one who knew him had ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> seen before. The fire had not really +hurt him; it had only ruined his clothing and scorched his legs enough +to make him wild with rage. He had tugged at his bonds savagely; when he +was cut free he had torn loose from the friendly stranger who had knelt +to extinguish the fire, and made a savage rush at the badly scared +cadets.</p> + +<p>Indian's face was convulsed with passion. His arms were swinging wildly +like a windmill's sails in a hurricane, while from his mouth rushed a +volley of exclamations that would have frightened Captain Kidd and his +pirate band.</p> + +<p>It made no difference what he hit; the fat boy was too blind with rage +to see. He must hit something! If a tree had lain in his path he would +have started in on that. As luck would have it, however, the thing that +was nearest to him was a yearling—Baby Edwards.</p> + +<p>Baby could have been no more frightened if he had seen an express train +charging on him. He turned instantly and fled—where else would he flee +but to his idol Bull? He hid behind that worthy; Bull put up his hands +to defend himself; and the next instant Indian's flying arms reached the +spot.</p> + +<p>One savage blow on the nose sent Bull tumbling back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>ward—over Baby. +Indian, of course, could not stop and so did a somersault over the two.</p> + +<p>There was a pretty <i>mêlée</i> after that. Baby was the first to emerge, +covered with dirt and bruises. Indian got up second; he gazed about him, +his rage still burning; he gave one snort, shook his head clear of the +soil as an angry bull might; and then made another savage rush at Baby. +Baby this time had no friend to hide behind; Harris was lying on the +ground, face down, as a man might do to protect himself in a cyclone. +And so Baby had no resource but flight; he took to his heels, the +enraged plebe a few feet behind; and in half a minute more the pair were +lost to sight and sound, far distant in the woods, Indian still +pursuing.</p> + +<p>It might be pleasant to follow them, for Indian in his rage was a sight +to divert the gods. But there was plenty more happening at the scene of +the fire, things that ought not be missed.</p> + +<p>In the first place, who were the two new arrivals? It was evident that +they were plebes—their faces were familiar to the cadets. But beyond +that no one knew anything about them. They had freed their helpless +classmate and saved him from serious injury, as has been told.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> They had +done one thing more that has not been mentioned yet. One of them, the +smaller, just after Indian had broken loose, had reached over and dealt +the nearest yearling he could reach a ringing blow upon the cheek.</p> + +<p>"Take that!" said he. "Bah Jove, you're a cur."</p> + +<p>There was another <i>mêlée</i> after that.</p> + +<p>Of course the setting fire to Indian had been a pure accident; but the +two strangers did not know it. They saw in the whole thing a piece of +diabolical cruelty. The yearling the wrath chanced to fall upon was Gus +Murray—and his anger is left to the imagination. He sprang at the +throat of the reckless plebe; and the rest of the crowd rushed to his +aid, pausing just for an instant to size up the pair.</p> + +<p>They did not seem "to be any great shucks." The taller was a big +slouchy-looking chap in clothes that evidently bespoke the farmer, and +possessing a drawl which quite as clearly indicated the situation of the +farm—the prairies. Having cut Indian loose he was lounging lazily +against the tree and regarding his more excitable companion with a +good-natured grin.</p> + +<p>The companion was even less awe-inspiring, for one had to look at him +but an instant to see that he was one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> of the creatures whom all +well-regulated boys despise—a dude. He wore a high collar, ridiculously +high; he was slender and delicate looking, with the correct Fifth Avenue +stoop to his shoulders and an attitude to his arms which showed that he +had left his cane behind only on compulsion when he "struck the Point." +And any doubts the yearlings may have had on this question were settled +as the yearlings stared, for the object turned to the other and spoke.</p> + +<p>"Aw say, Sleepy," said he, "come help me chastise these fellows, don't +ye know."</p> + +<p>As a fact there was but little choice in the matter, it was fight or die +with the two, for at the same instant Gus Murray, wild with rage, had +leaped forward and made a savage lunge at the dude.</p> + +<p>What happened then Murray never quite knew. All he made out was that +when he hit at the dude the dude suddenly ceased to be there. The +yearling glanced around in surprise and discovered that his victim had +slid coolly under his elbow and was standing over on the other side of +the clearing—smiling.</p> + +<p>The rest of the crowd, not in the least daunted by Murray's miss, rushed +in to the attack; and a moment later<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> a wild scrimmage was in progress, +a scrimmage which defied the eye to comprehend and the pen to describe. +The former never moved from the tree, but with his back flat against it +and his great clumsy arms swinging like sledge hammers he stood and bid +defiance to his share of the crowd.</p> + +<p>The dude's tactics were just the opposite. He was light and slender, and +should have been easy prey. That was what Bull Harris thought as he +hastily arose from the spot where Indian had butted him and joined his +eager comrades in the hunt. The hunt; a hunt it was, and no mistake. +While the farmer stayed in one place, the dude seemed everywhere at +once. Dodging, ducking, running, he seemed just to escape every blow +that was aimed at him. He seemed even to turn somersaults, to the amazed +yearlings, who had been looking for a dude and not an acrobat.</p> + +<p>The dude did not dodge all the time, though; occasionally he would stop +to cool the ardor of some especially excited cadet with a sudden punch +where it wasn't looked for. Once also he stuck out his foot and allowed +Bull Harris to get his legs caught in it, with a result that Bull's nose +once more plowed the clearing.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>The writer wishes it were his privilege to chronicle the fact that the +two put the eight to flight; or that Indian, having put the Baby "to +sleep," returned to perform yet greater prodigies of valor. It would be +a pleasure to tell of all that, but on the other hand truth is a +stubborn thing. Things do not always happen as they should in spite of +the providence that is supposed to make them.</p> + +<p>The farmer, after a five-minute gallant stand, was finally knocked +down—from behind—and once down he was being fast pummeled into +nothingness. The dude—his collar, much to his alarm, having wilted—was +in the last stage of exhaustion. In fact, Bull had succeeded in landing +a blow, the first of the afternoon for him. The dude was about to give +up and perish, when assistance arrived. For these gallant heroes were +not fated to conquer alone.</p> + +<p>The first warning of the arrival of reinforcements was not the +traditional trumpet call, nor the roll of a drum, nor even the tramp of +soldiers, but a muttered "Wow!" This was followed by Texas himself, +bursting through the bushes like a battering ram. Mark was at his side, +and behind them came the Parson. Dewey, being rather crippled, brought +up the rear.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>The four lost no time in questions; they saw two plebes in distress, and +they had met Indian on the warpath and learned the cause of the trouble. +They knew it was their business to help and they "sailed right in" to do +it.</p> + +<p>Mark placed himself by the side of the panting "dude." Texas and the +Parson made a V formation and speedily got the farmer to his feet and in +fighting array once more. And after that the odds of the battle were +more even.</p> + +<p>It was a very brief battle, in fact. A mere skirmish after that. Mark's +prowess was dreaded, and that of Texas but little less. After Texas had +chased two yearlings into the woods, and Mark had stretched out +Bull—that was Bull's third time that afternoon—the ardor of the eight +began to wane. It was not very long then before the attack stopped by +mutual consent, and the combatants took to staring at each other +instead.</p> + +<p>The rage of Bull as he picked himself up and examined his damages must +be imagined.</p> + +<p>"You confounded plebes shall pay for this," he roared, "as sure as I'm +alive."</p> + +<p>"Now?" inquired Mark, smiling, rubbing his hands, and looking ready to +resume hostilities.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>"It's a case of blamed swelled head, that's what it is," growled the +other, sullenly.</p> + +<p>"Which," added the Parson's solemn voice, "might be somewhat more +classically expressed by the sesquipedalian Hellenic +vocable—ahem!—Megalacephalomania."</p> + +<p>With which interesting bit of information—presented gratis—the Parson +carefully laid his beloved "Dana" on the ground and sat down on it for +safety.</p> + +<p>"Why can't you plebes mind your business, anyhow?" snarled Gus Murray.</p> + +<p>"That's what I say, too!" cried Bull.</p> + +<p>"Curious coincidence!" laughed Dewey. "Reminds me of a story I once +heard, b'gee—I guess it's most too long a story to tell through. Remind +me of it, Mark, and I'll tell it to you some day. One of the most +remarkable tales I ever heard, that! Told me by a fellow that used to +run a sausage factory. It was right next door to a "Home for Homeless +Cats," though, b'gee, I couldn't ever see how the cats were homeless if +they had a home there. They didn't stay very long, though. That was the +funniest part of it. They used to sit on the fence near the sausage +factory, b'gee——"</p> + +<p>Dewey could have prattled on that way till doomsday<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> with unfailing good +humor. It made the yearlings mad and that was all he cared about. But by +this time Bull had perceived that he was being guyed, and he turned away +with an angry exclamation.</p> + +<p>"You fellows may stay if you choose;" he said, "I'm going back to camp. +And those plebes shall pay for this!"</p> + +<p>"Cash on demand!" laughed Mark, as the discomfited crowd turned and +slunk off.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE ALLIANCE IS COMPLETED.</span></h2> + + +<p>Having been thus easily rid of their unpleasant enemies, the plebes set +out in high feather for home.</p> + +<p>"I must get back in time to dress for dinner, don't ye know," said the +dude.</p> + +<p>"I'm 'bliged to yew fellows," put in the farmer, getting up from his +seat with a lazy groan. "My name's Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers, and +I'll shake hands all raound."</p> + +<p>"And mine's Chauncey Van Rensallear Mount-Bonsall, don't ye know," said +the other, putting on his immaculate white gloves. "Bah Jove! I've lost +a cuff button, quarreling with those deuced yearlings!"</p> + +<p>Chauncey's cuff button was found at last—he vowed he wouldn't go to +dinner without it—and then the party started in earnest, the two +strangers giving a graphic and characteristic account of the scrimmage +we have just witnessed.</p> + +<p>Mark in the meantime was doing some thinking, won<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>dering if here were +not two more eligible members of the "alliance." While he was debating +this question the "dude" approached him privately and began thus:</p> + +<p>"I want to say something to you," he said. "Dye know, I can't see why we +plebes suffer so, bah Jove! I was thinking aw, don't ye know, if some of +us would band together we could—aw—chastise the deuced cadets and——"</p> + +<p>Master Chauncey Van Rensallear Mount-Bonsall got no further, for Mark +came out then and told the secret. In a few moments the alliance had +added Number Six and Number Seven.</p> + +<p>"And now, b'gee, I say let's organize, b'gee!" cried Dewey.</p> + +<p>The sound of a drum from barracks put a stop to further business then, +but before supper there was a spare half hour, and during that time the +seven conspirators met in Mark's room to "organize." Indian was there, +too, now calm and meek again.</p> + +<p>"In the first place," said Mark, "we want to elect a leader."</p> + +<p>"Wow!" cried Texas, "what fo'? Ain't you leader?"</p> + +<p>"I say, Mark, b'gee!" cried Dewey.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>"Mark," said the Parson, solemnly.</p> + +<p>"Mark," murmured Indian from the corner, and "Mark" chimed in the two +newcomers.</p> + +<p>"It seems to be unanimous," said Mark, "so I guess I'll have to let it +go. But I'm sure I can't see why you think of me. What shall we call +ourselves?"</p> + +<p>That brought a lengthy discussion, which space does not permit of being +given. The Loyal Legion, the Sons of the Revolution, the Independents, +the Cincinnati—suggested by the classic Parson—and also the Trojan +Heroes—from the same source—all these were suggested and rejected. +Then somebody moved the Seven Rebels, which was outvoted as not +expressive enough, but which led to another one that took the whole +crowd with a rush. It came from an unexpected source—the unobtrusive +Indian in the corner.</p> + +<p>"Let's name it 'The Seven Devils'!" said he.</p> + +<p>And the Seven Devils they were from that day until the time when the +class graduated from the Point.</p> + +<p>"Three cheers for the Seven Devils!" cried Dewey, "b'gee!"</p> + +<p>"Now," said the Parson, rising with a solemn look, "let us swear eternal +fealty by all that man holds holy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> Let us swear by the Stygian Shades +and the realms of Charon, whence all true devils come. Yea, by Zeus!"</p> + +<p>"And we'll stand by one another to the death, b'gee," cried Dewey. +"Remember, we're organized for no purpose on earth but to do those +yearlings, and we'll lick 'em, b'gee, if they dare to look at us."</p> + +<p>"Show 'em no mercy, don't ye know," said "Chauncey."</p> + +<p>"And let's have a motto," cried Indian, becoming infected with the +excitement. "'Down with the yearlings.'"</p> + +<p>"I suggest 'We die but we never surrender,' b'gee."</p> + +<p>"'<i>Veni, vidi, vici</i>,'" remarked the Parson, "or else '<i>Dulce et decorum +est pro patria mori</i>,' in the immortal words of Horace, poet of the +Sabine farm."</p> + +<p>"A motto should be brief," laughed Mark. "I can beat you all. I'll give +you a motto in three letters of the alphabet."</p> + +<p>"Three letters!" echoed the crowd. "Three letters! What is it?"</p> + +<p>"It expresses all our objects in forming," said Mark, "and we'll have +lots of fun if we obey it. My motto is 'B. B. J.'"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>"Bully, b'gee!" cried Dewey, and the rest echoed his approval with a +rush.</p> + +<p>That was, all except the unobtrusive Indian in the corner.</p> + +<p>"I—I don't quite," he stammered, "quite see it. Why is——"</p> + +<p>"Ahem!" Mark straightened himself up and put on his best professional +air in imitation of the Parson. "Ahem! If you had lived in Boston, and +devoted yourself to the cultivation of the intellectualities—yea, by +Zeus!—instead of learning to lose your temper and chase yearlings like +a wild Texan—— However, I'll explain it."</p> + +<p>"Please do!" cried Indian, innocently. "I'll never chase the yearlings +again."</p> + +<p>"That's good! B. J. stands for 'before June,' and is West Point slang +for 'fresh.'"</p> + +<p>"I knew what B. J. means," put in Indian.</p> + +<p>"What! Then why didn't you say so and save me the trouble? The other B. +is the present imperative of the verb to be; he was, being, been, is, +am, ain't. And the only way I can explain what B. B. J. means is to say +that it means be B. J., be B. J. with a vengeance, and when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> you get +tired of being B. J., B. B. J. some more. Do you see?"</p> + +<p>"Er, yes," said Indian.</p> + +<p>"And now," laughed Mark, "since we're through, three cheers for the +Seven Devils!"</p> + +<p>And that is the story of the forming of West Point's first and only +secret society, a society which was destined to introduce some very, +very exciting incidents into West Point's dignified history, the Seven +Devils, B. B. J.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">INDIGNATION OF THE YEARLINGS.</span></h2> + + +<p>"By George, he's the freshest plebe that ever struck this place!"</p> + +<p>The speaker was Bull Harris, and he was sitting on the steps of the +library building along with half a dozen classmates, excitedly and +angrily discussing the fight.</p> + +<p>"Now I tell you Mark Mallory's got to be put out of this place in a +week," continued the first speaker. "And I don't care how it's done, +either, fair or foul."</p> + +<p>"That's just what I say, too!" chimed in Baby Edwards. "He's got to be +put out in a week!"</p> + +<p>Bull Harris smiled benignly upon his toadying echo, while the rest of +the gang nodded approvingly.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure everybody agrees that he's got to be taken down," put in +somebody else. "The only trouble is I don't see how on earth it is to be +done."</p> + +<p>"That's the worst of it!" snarled Bull. "That fellow Mallory seems to +get the best of us everything we try; confound him!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>"I'm sure such a thing has never been known at West Point," said +another. "Just think of it! Why, it's the talk of the post, and +everybody's laughing at us, and the plebes are getting bolder every +minute. One of them actually dared to turn up his nose at me to-day. +Think of it—at me—a yearling, and he a vile beast!"</p> + +<p>"It's perfectly awful," groaned Bull. "Perfectly awful! Imagine a crowd +of yearlings allowing themselves to be stopped while hazing a +plebe—stopped, mind you, by half as many plebes—and then to make it a +thousand times worse to have the fellow they were hazing taken away!"</p> + +<p>"And the yearlings all chased back to camp by a half-crazy Texan," +chimed in another, who hadn't been there and so could afford to mention +unpleasant details.</p> + +<p>"Yet what can we do?" cried Baby. "We can't offer to fight him. He's as +good as licked Billy Williams, and Bill's the best man we could put up. +That Mallory's a regular terror."</p> + +<p>"Mark Mallory's got to be taken down."</p> + +<p>This suggestion was good, only rather indefinite, which indefiniteness +was remarked by one of the crowd, Merry Vance, the cadet who had +interposed the same objection<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> before. Merry was a tall, slender youth, +with a whitish hue that suggested dissipation, and a fine, scornful +curve to his lips that suggested meanness no less clearly.</p> + +<p>"It's all very well to say we've got to do him," said he, "but that +don't say how. As I said, we can't find a man in our class to whip him +fair. And we can't tackle him in a crowd because in the first place he +seems to have his own gang, and in the second place none of us dares to +touch him. I know I don't, for one."</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" laughed Bull, scornfully. "I'm not afraid of him."</p> + +<p>"Me either!" chimed in the little Baby, doubling up his fists.</p> + +<p>"All right," said the other. "Only I noticed you both kept good and +quiet when he stepped up to loosen Indian."</p> + +<p>There was an awkward silence for a few minutes after that; Bull Harris +could think of nothing to say, for he knew the charge was true; and as +for Baby Edwards, he never said anything until after his big friend had +set him an example.</p> + +<p>"We can't get him into any trouble with the authori<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>ties, either," +continued Vance at last. "In fact, I don't know what we are to do."</p> + +<p>"He's simply turned West Point's customs topsy-turvy," groaned another. +"Why, when we were plebes nobody ever dared to think of defying a +yearling. And this Mallory and his gang are running the place. No one +dares to haze a plebe any more."</p> + +<p>"Talking about that," said Gus Murray, another yearling who had just +strolled up. "Talking about that, just see what happened to me not five +minutes ago. Met one of the confounded beasts—that fellow, by the way, +we did up, though it don't seem to have done him the least bit of +good—just as B. J. as ever. You know who I mean, the rather handsome +chap they call Dewey. He went to pass the color guard up at camp just +now and he didn't raise his hat. The sentry called him down for it, and +then as he went off I said to him: 'You ought to know better than that, +plebe.' 'Thank you,' says he, and when I told him he should say 'sir' to +a higher cadet, what on earth do you suppose he had the impudence to +say?"</p> + +<p>"What?" inquired the crowd, eagerly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>"Said he wouldn't do it because I hadn't said 'sir' to him!"</p> + +<p>"What!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed! Did you ever hear of such impudence? Why, I'll leave the +academy to-morrow if that kind of thing keeps up."</p> + +<p>And with that dire threat Gus Murray seated himself on the steps and +relapsed into a glum silence.</p> + +<p>"I heard you sat down on that Mallory last Saturday," observed some one +at last.</p> + +<p>"That's what I did!" responded Murray, brightening up at the mention of +a less discouraging incident. "Mary Adams introduced me to him and I cut +him dead. Gee, but he was mad!"</p> + +<p>"Wonder, if he'll try to make you apologize," said Bull.</p> + +<p>"It would be just like him," put in Merry.</p> + +<p>The other looked as if he didn't relish the possibility one bit; he +turned the conversation quickly.</p> + +<p>"Wait till he tries it," said he. "In the meantime I'm more interested +in the great question, what are we going to do to take him down?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>"Can't think of a thing," said Vance, flatly. "Not a thing!"</p> + +<p>"By George!" cried Bull. "I'm going to think of something if I die for +it."</p> + +<p>"I'll shake with you on that," put in Murray. "We won't rest till we get +a plan."</p> + +<p>"Let me in too," said Vance.</p> + +<p>"And me too!" cried Baby.</p> + +<p>And so it happened that when the informal assembly dissolved for supper +it dissolved with but one idea in the mind of every cadet in the +party—that Mark Mallory must be taken down!</p> + +<p>A plan came at last, one which was enough to do for any one; and when it +came it came from a most unexpected source, none other than the Baby, +who never before in the memory of Bull had dared to say anything +original. The baby's sweet little brain, evolving the interesting +problem, struck an idea which, so to speak, brought down the house.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you what!" he cried. "I've a scheme!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" inquired Bull, incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Let's soak him on demerits!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>And with a look of delight Bull turned and stared at Murray.</p> + +<p>"By the lord!" he cried, "that's it. We'll soak him on demerits!"</p> + +<p>Then the precious trio locked arms and did a war on the campus.</p> + +<p>"Just the thing!" gasped Bull, breathlessly. "Murray's a corporal and he +can do it! Whoop!"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" cried the Baby. "And he was put over plebes to-day. Will you do +it, Murray?"</p> + +<p>And Murray lost no time in vowing that he would; Bull Harris felt then +that at last he was on the road to victory.</p> + +<p>It is necessary to explain the system of discipline which prevails at +West Point. A cadet is allowed to receive only one hundred "demerits" +during the first six months of his stay. These demerits are assigned +according to a regular and inflexible schedule; thus for being late at +roll call, a minor offense, a cadet receives two demerits, while a +serious offense, such as disobedience of orders or sitting down on post +while on sentry duty, brings ten units of trouble in its wake. These +demerits are not given by the instructor or the cadet who notices the +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>fense; but he enters the charge in a book which is forwarded to +headquarters. The report is read out after parade that same day and +posted in a certain place the next day; and four days later the +superintendent assigns the demerits in all cases where "explanations" +have not been received.</p> + +<p>The following is an example of an explanation:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"West Point, N. Y., —— —, 18—. Report—Bedding not +properly folded at police inspection.</p> + +<p>"Explanation—Some one disarranged my bedding after I +had piled it. I was at the sink at the time of +inspection, and I readjusted the bedding upon my +return.</p> + +<p class="sig1">"Respectfully submitted,</p> + +<p class="sig2">"—— ——,</p> + +<p class="sig2">"Cadet ——, Co. ——, —— Class.</p> + +<p>"To the Commandant of Cadets."</p></div> + +<p>Cadets usually hand in explanations, though the explanations are not +always deemed satisfactory.</p> + +<p>Reports are made by the army officers, and also by cadets themselves, +file closers, section marchers and others. It was in this last fact that +Bull Harris and his friend Murray saw their chance.</p> + +<p>It very seldom happens that a cadet reports another except where the +report is deserved; a man who does otherwise soon gets into trouble. But +Bull and his gang saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> no obstacle in that; most of them were always +head over heels in demerits themselves, including Murray—though he was +a "cadet-corporal." Being thus, and in consequent danger of expulsion, +they were reckless of possible trouble. And besides, Bull had sworn to +haze that plebe, and he meant to do it.</p> + +<p>The plan in brief was simply this: Mark Mallory must be demerited right +and left, everywhere and upon every possible pretext, just or +unjust—and that was all. The thing has been done before; there is talk +of doing it whenever a colored lad is admitted to the Point. And Murray +was the man to do it, too, because he had just been transferred and put +"on duty over plebes." It was only necessary to give one hundred +demerits. One hundred demerits is a ticket of leave without further +parley or possibility of return.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">A MILD ATTEMPT AT HAZING.</span></h2> + + +<p>If Cadet Corporal Murray had any doubts about the necessity for putting +this very dirty scheme into practice, or if his not over squeamish +conscience was the least bit troubled by the prospect, something +happened that same evening which effectually squelched such ideas. It +was after supper, during half an hour of so-called "rest," which is +allowed to the over-drilled plebe. Mr. Murray, in whose manly breast +still burned a fire of rage at the insult which "B. J." Dewey had +offered him, resolved in his secret heart that that same insult must and +should be avenged. That evening he thought an especially favorable time, +for Dewey was still an "invalid," as a result of his last B. J. effort.</p> + +<p>With this purpose in view, Cadet Murray stole away from his companions +and set out for barracks, around which the luckless plebes were +clustered. Arriving there, he hunted; he spent quite a while in hunting, +for the object of his search was nowhere to be seen. He caught<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> sight of +Mark and his "gang," but Dewey was not among them. When he did find him +at last it was a good way from that place—way up on Flirtation Walk; +and then Cadet Murray got down to business at once.</p> + +<p>"Look a here, B. J. beast!" he called.</p> + +<p>The object of this peremptory challenge turned, as also did his +companion, the terrified Indian—once more about to be hazed. The two +stared at the yearling; a lady and gentleman passing glanced at him +also, probably wondering what was in store for the luckless plebes; and +then they passed on, leaving the place lonely, and deserted, just the +spot for the proposed work. So thought the yearling, as he rubbed his +hands gleefully and spoke again.</p> + +<p>"Beast!" said he, "I want to tell you that you were very impudent to me +to-day!"</p> + +<p>"Strange coincidence!" cried Dewey, with one of his merry laughs. +"Reminds me of a story I once heard, b'gee. Two old farmers got stuck in +a snowdrift—five feet deep, and getting deeper. Says one of 'em, b'gee, +'It's c-c-c-cold!' 'B'gee!' cried the other. 'B'gee, naow ain't that +pecooliar! Jes' exactly what I was goin' to say myself, b'gee!'"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>Cadet Murray listened to this blithe recital with a frowning brow.</p> + +<p>"You think that's funny, don't you!" he sneered.</p> + +<p>"No, b'gee!" laughed Dewey, "because I didn't write it. 'Nother fellow +told me that—the queerest chap I think I ever knew, he was. Had a +mother-in-law that used to——"</p> + +<p>"Shut up!" cried Murray, in anger, seeing that he was being "guyed."</p> + +<p>"B'gee!" cried Dewey, "that's just what she didn't!"</p> + +<p>There was an ominous silence after that, during which the yearling +glared angrily, and Indian muttered "Bless my soul!"</p> + +<p>"It's quite evident," began the former, at last, "that you are inclined +to be fresh."</p> + +<p>"Ink-lined to be fresh," added Dewey, "as the stamped egg remarked when +it was dated three days after it was laid. That's another far-fetched +joke, though. Still I've heard some more far-fetched than that—one a +friend of mine read on an Egyptian pyramid and brought home to tell for +new. Queer fellow that friend of mine was, too. He didn't have a +mother-in-law, this one, but he slept in a folding bed, and, b'gee, that +bed used to shut up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> oftener than the mother-in-law didn't. Handsome +bed, too—an inlaid bed—and it shut up whenever it was laid in, b'gee."</p> + +<p>Dewey could have prattled on at this merry rate for an hour, for he knew +more jokes—good ones—and could make up more bad ones on the spur of +the moment than half a dozen ordinary mortals. But he was brought to a +sudden halt just then, and muttered a suppressed "B'gee!" For the +yearling, wild with anger, leaped forward and aimed a savage blow at his +head.</p> + +<p>The plebe ducked; he was quick and agile in body as he was in mind. And +then as the big cadet aimed another blow, he put up his one well +arm—the other was in a sling—and defended himself to the best of his +ability, at the same time calling Indian to his aid.</p> + +<p>But before there was time for another move something else happened. +Dewey was debating whether discretion were not really the whole of +valor, and whether it were not better to "run away and live to fight—or +run away—some other day;" and Indian was actually doubling up his fat +little fists about to strike the first blow in his fat little life; when +suddenly came a shout behind them, and a moment later a strong hand +seized the advancing year<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>ling by the back of his collar and flung him +head first to the ground.</p> + +<p>Cadet Murray sprang to his feet again and turned purple with rage and +soiled with dirt, to confront the stalwart form of Mark, and Mark +rubbing his hands together and smiling cheerfully.</p> + +<p>"Will you have any more?" he inquired, politely. "Step right up if you +will—and by the way, stop that swearing."</p> + +<p>"A very timely arrival," remarked Dewey, smoothing his jacket. "Very +timely, b'gee! Reminds me——"</p> + +<p>"Bless my soul!" cried Indian.</p> + +<p>"Going, are you?" put in Mark, as the discomfited Murray started to +slink away. "Well, good-evening. I've had my satisfaction for being +called a coward by you."</p> + +<p>"You shall pay for this," the furious cadet muttered. "Pay for it as +sure as I'm alive!"</p> + +<p>His threat was taken lightly by the plebes; they had little idea of what +he meant when he spoke. And they were chatting merrily about the +adventure as they turned and made their way back to barracks.</p> + +<p>"It only goes to show," was Mark's verdict, "that an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> alliance is a +first-rate idea. I saw that fellow prowling around barracks and I knew +right away what he was up to. We've one more enemy, that's all."</p> + +<p>That was not all, by a good sight. The angry yearling hurried back to +camp, nursing his feelings as he went; there he poured out the vials of +his wrath into the ears of his two sympathetic companions, Bull and the +Baby. And the three of them spent the rest of that evening, up to +tattoo, discussing their revenge, thinking up a thousand pretexts upon +which Cadet Mallory might be "skinned." There was a bombshell scheduled +to fall into the midst of the "alliance" the next day.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE BOMBSHELL FALLS.</span></h2> + + +<p>Nothing happened that evening; Mark and his friends passed their time in +serene unconsciousness of any danger, merrily discussing the latest +hazing effort of the enemy. Bull Harris and his crowd did not put in +appearance, or try to put their plot into execution, for the simple +reason that there was no chance. The first "whack," so to speak, was +scheduled for the A. M. inspection the next day. The only inspection at +night is made by a "tac"—a practical officer—who goes the rounds with +a dark lantern after taps to make sure that no plebes have been run away +with.</p> + +<p>Reveille and roll call the next morning passed without incident, except +that Cadet Mallory was reported "late" at the latter function; the +charge being true, no suspicions were awakened. After that came the +march to mess hall, the plebe company, which was by this time able to +march presentably though rather stiffly, falling in behind the rest of +the corps. During that march<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> "File Closer" Vance had occasion to rebuke +Cadet Mallory for loud talking in ranks. It hadn't been loud, at least +not very loud, but Mark swallowed it and said nothing.</p> + +<p>Breakfast passed without incident, and the plebes were marched back to +barracks, there breaking ranks, and scattering to quarters to "spruce +up" for inspection. Mark and Texas, who shared the same room, lost no +time in getting to work at the sweeping and dusting and arranging.</p> + +<p>It seems scarcely necessary to say that there are no chambermaids at +West Point. Cadets do their own room cleaning, "policing," as it is +called, and they do it well, too. A simpler, barer place than a room in +barracks it would be hard to imagine. Bare white walls—no pictures +allowed—and no wall paper—a black fireplace, a plain table, an iron +bedstead, a washstand, two chairs, and a window is about the entire +inventory. And every article in that room must be found placed with +mathematical precision in just such a spot and no other. There is a +"bluebook"—learned by heart—to tell where; and there are penalties for +every infringement. Demerits are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> the easiest things in the world to +get; enough might be given at one inspection to expel.</p> + +<p>The signal, dreaded like poison by all plebes, that the time for +inspection has come, is a heavy step in the hall and a single tap upon +the door. It came that morning while the two victims-to-be were still +hard at work. In accordance with orders each sprang up, stood at +attention—heels together, head up, eyes to the front, chest out, +etc.—and silently awaited developments.</p> + +<p>Mark gasped for breath when he saw who it was that entered; Cadet +Corporal Jasper had been transferred and the man who was to do the work +this time was none other than Murray, next to Bull Harris, Mark's +greatest enemy on earth.</p> + +<p>Cadet Murray looked handsome in his spotless uniform of gray and white, +with his chevrons of gold; he strode in with a stern and haughty look +which speedily changed to one of displeasure as he gazed about him at +the room. He took a rapid mental count of the possible charges he could +make; and then glanced up at the name which is posted on the wall, +telling who is "room orderly" for the week—and so responsible for the +faults. It was Mal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>lory, and the yearling could scarcely hide a smile of +satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"You plebes have had nearly two weeks now," he began, frowning with +well-feigned displeasure, "in which to learn to arrange your rooms. The +disorder which I see shows not only carelessness but actual +insubordination. And I propose to make an example of you two for once +and for all."</p> + +<p>The two victims were expected to say nothing; and they said it. But Mark +did a pile of thinking and his heart sank as he realized what his enemy +might do if he chose. It is possible to find a thousand faults in the +most perfect work if one only hunts long enough and is willing to split +hairs.</p> + +<p>Cadet Corporal Murray took out a notebook and pencil with obvious +meaning.</p> + +<p>"In the first place," said he, "where should that broom be? Behind the +door, should it not? Why is it not? I find that your bedding is piled +carelessly, very carelessly. The blanket is not evenly folded; moreover, +the bluebook states particularly that the blanket is to be placed at the +bottom of the pile. You may see that it is not so. Why, Mr. Mallory, I +do not think it has ever happened to me<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> to find a room so utterly +disorderly, or a cadet so negligent! Look at that bluebook; it belongs +upon the mantelpiece, and I see it on the bed——"</p> + +<p>"I was reading it," put in Mark, choking down his anger by a violent +effort.</p> + +<p>And as he spoke the corporal's face grew sterner yet.</p> + +<p>"In the first place, sir," said he, "you have no business to be reading +while awaiting inspection, and you know it—though I must say a more +frequent study of that book would save you much trouble. In the second +place, you are not expected to answer under such circumstances; the +proper thing for you to do is to hand in the explanation to the +authorities, and you know that, too. I am sent here to notice and report +delinquencies and not to argue about them with you. I regret now that I +shall be obliged to mention the fact that you remonstrated with an +officer during inspection, a most serious charge indeed."</p> + +<p>And Cadet Corporal Murray made another note in his book, chuckling +inwardly as he did it.</p> + +<p>"What next?" thought the two plebes.</p> + +<p>There was lots more. The yearling next stepped over to the mantelpiece +and ran his finger, with its spotless<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> white glove, along the inner +edge. Texas had rubbed that mantel fiercely; yet, to get it so clean as +not to soil the glove was almost impossible, and so the corporal first +held up the finger to show the mark of dirt and then—wrote down "dust +on mantel."</p> + +<p>There is no need to tell the rest in detail, but simply to say that +while Mark and his roommate gazed on in blank despair, their jubilant +enemy made out a list of at least a dozen charges, which he knew would +aggregate to at least half of the demerit maximum, and for every one of +which there was some slight basis of justification. The yearling was +shrewd enough to suspect this fact would prevent their being excused, +for he did not think that Mark would sign his name to a lie in his +explanation.</p> + +<p>The disastrous visit was closed with a note—"floor unswept"—because +three scraps of paper were observed peering out from under the table; +and then without another word the cadet turned on his heel and marched +out of the room. And Mark and Texas stood and stared at each other in +utter and abject consternation.</p> + +<p>It was a minute at least before either of them spoke;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> they were both +too dumfounded. The bombshell had struck, and had brought ruin in its +path. Mark knew now what was the power of his enemies; knew that he was +gone. For with such a weapon as the one the cowardly Murray had struck +his dismissal was the matter of a week or less. Already he was more than +halfway to expulsion; already the prize for which he had fought so long +and so hard was slipping from his grasp. And all on account of a +cowardly crowd he had made his enemies because he had been strong and +manly enough to do what he knew was right.</p> + +<p>It was a cruel fact and Mark felt pretty bitter toward West Point just +then. As for Texas, his faithful friend and roommate, Texas said not one +word; but he went to the chimney, up which he had hidden his sixteen +revolvers for safety, calmly selected two of the biggest, and having +examined the cartridges, tucked them safely away in his rear pockets. +Then he sat down on the bed and gave vent to a subdued "Durnation!"</p> + +<p>About this same time Cadet Corporal Murray, having handed in his reports +at headquarters, was racing joyfully<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> back to camp, there to join his +friend, Bull Harris, with a shout of victory.</p> + +<p>"Rejoice! Rejoice!" he cried, slapping his chum on the back. "We've got +him! I soaked him for fifty at least!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">IN THE SHADOW OF DISMISSAL.</span></h2> + + +<p>The rest of that day passed without incident. Mark managed after a good +deal of trouble to postpone Texas' hunting trip; and the two struggled +on through the day's drills disconsolately, waiting to see what would +happen next.</p> + +<p>Evening came, and the plebes being lined up in barracks area the roll +was called, the "orders" read, and then the reports of the day. The +cadet who did the reading rattled down the list in his usual hurried, +breathless style. But when he came to M he paused suddenly; he gazed at +the list incredulously, then cleared his throat, took a long foreboding +breath and began:</p> + +<p>"Mallory—Late at roll call.</p> + +<p>"Same—Laughing loud in ranks.</p> + +<p>"Same—Bedding improperly arranged at A. M. inspection.</p> + +<p>"Same—Broom out of place at A. M. inspection.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>"Same—Remonstrating with superior officer at A. M. inspection."</p> + +<p>And so the cadet officer went on, the whole plebe class listening with +open-eyed amazement while one charge after another was rattled off, and +gazing out of the corners of their eyes at the object of the attack, who +stood and listened with a look of calm indifference upon his face.</p> + +<p>The list was finished at last, when the listeners had about concluded +that it was eternal; the rest of the reports were quickly disposed of, +and then: "Break ranks, march!" and the line melted into groups of +excited and eagerly talking cadets, discussing but one subject—the ruin +of Mallory.</p> + +<p>Of course it was known to every one that this was simply one more effort +of the yearlings to subdue him; and loud were the threats and +expressions of disapproval. Mark's bravery in making a fight for his +honor had won him the admiration of his class, and the class felt that +with his downfall came a return of the old state of affairs and the +complete subjection of the "beasts" once more.</p> + +<p>There were jealous ones who rejoiced secretly, and there were timid ones +who declared that they had always<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> said that Mallory was too B. J. to +last. But in the main there was nothing but genuine anger at the upper +classmen's "rank injustice," and wild talk of appealing to the +superintendent to bring it to a stop.</p> + +<p>The utter consternation of the seven allies is left to the reader's +imagination. After the first shock of horror had passed the crowd had +sat down and made a calculation; they found fifty-five demerits due that +day, which, together with ten previously given, left thirty-five to go, +and then—why it made them sick to think of what would happen!</p> + +<p>Having striven to realize this for half an hour, they got together and +swore a solemn oath, first, that if Mark were dismissed, a joint +statement of the reasons thereof, incidentally mentioning each and every +act of hazing done by the yearlings, naming principals, witnesses, time +and place, should be forwarded to the superintendent, signed by the six; +and second, that every yearling who gave a demerit should be "licked +until he couldn't stand up."</p> + +<p>Texas also swore incidentally that he'd resign if Mark were "fired," and +take him down to Texas to make a cowboy of him. And after that there was +nothing to do but wait and pray—and clean up for next day's +in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>spection, a task at which the whole seven labored up to the very last +minute before tattoo.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>It was the afternoon of the following day; the rays of a scorching July +sun beat down upon the post, and West Point seemed asleep. Up by Camp +McPherson the cadets were lounging about in idleness, and it was only +down at barracks that there was anything moving at all. Inside the area +the hot and shimmering pavement echoed to the tread of the plebe company +at drill; outside the street was deserted except for one solitary figure +with whom our story has to do. The figure was a cadet officer in +uniform, Captain Fischer, of the first class, resplendent in his +chevrons and sash.</p> + +<p>He was marching down the street with the firm, quick step that is second +nature to a West Pointer; he passed the barracks without looking in and +went on down to the hospital building; and there he turned and started +to enter. The door opened just as he reached it, however, and another +cadet came out. The officer sprang forward instantly and grasped him by +the hand.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>"Williams!" he cried. "Just the fellow I was coming to see. And what a +beautiful object you are!"</p> + +<p>Williams smiled a melancholy smile; he was beautiful and he knew it. His +face was covered in spots with Greek crosses of court-plaster, and +elsewhere by startling red lumps. And he walked with a shy, retiring +gait that told of sundry other damages. Such were the remains of +handsome "Billy," all-round athlete and favorite of his class, defeated +hero.</p> + +<p>Williams had waited scarcely long enough for this thought to flash over +the young officer before he spoke again, this time with some anxiety.</p> + +<p>"Tell me! Tell me about Mallory! I hear they're skinning him on +demerits."</p> + +<p>"Yes, they are," returned Fischer, "and they've soaked him twenty more +this morning!"</p> + +<p>"Twenty more! Then how many has he?"</p> + +<p>"Eighty-five."</p> + +<p>"What!" cried Williams. "You don't mean it! Why, he'll be out in a week. +Say, Fischer, that's outrageous!"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly outrageous!" vowed the officer.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>And Williams brought his hand down on his knee with a bang.</p> + +<p>"By George!" he cried, "I'm going around to see him about it!"</p> + +<p>With which words he sprang down the stairs and, leaving the cadet +officer to gaze at him in surprise, hurried up the street to barracks.</p> + +<p>Squad drill was just that moment over; without wasting any time about +it, Williams hurried into the building and made his way to Mallory's +room. He found the plebe, and got right to work to say what he had to +say.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mallory," he began, "I've come up in the first place to shake hands +with you, and to say there's no hard feeling."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Mark, and his heart went with the grip of his hand.</p> + +<p>"You made a good fight, splendid!" continued the yearling. "And some day +I'll be proud to be your friend."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid," returned Mark, with a sad smile, "that I'll not be here +that long."</p> + +<p>"That's the second thing I've come to see you about," vowed Williams. +"Mr. Mallory, I want you to under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>stand that the decent men of this +class don't approve of the work that Mur—er, I suppose you know who's +back of it. And I tell you right now that I'm going to stop it if it's +the last act I ever do on this earth!"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid it won't do much good," responded the other, shaking his +head. "I could never pass six months without getting fifteen demerits."</p> + +<p>"It's a shame!" cried the other. "And you have worked for your +appointment, too."</p> + +<p>"I have worked," exclaimed Mark, something choking his voice that +sounded suspiciously near a sob, "worked for it as I have never worked +for anything in my life. It has been the darling ambition of my heart to +come here. And I came—and now—and now——"</p> + +<p>He stopped, for he could think of no more to say. Williams stood and +regarded him in silence for some moments, and then he took him by the +hand again.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mallory," said he, "just as sure as I'm alive this thing shall +stop! Keep up heart now, and we'll make a fight for it! While there's +life there's hope, they say—and, by Heaven, you shan't be expelled!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>The following evening, when the reports were read, Mark's list of +demerits had reached a total of ninety-five.</p> + +<p>The excitement among plebes and cadets alike was intense, and it was +known far and wide that Mark Mallory, the "B. J." plebe, stood at last +"in the shadow of dismissal."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">A LETTER.</span></h2> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Fischer</span>: I promised to drop you a line just +to let you know how I'm getting along, though it does +take a tremendous pile of energy to write a letter on +a hot afternoon like this. I'm sure I shall go to +sleep in the middle of it, and naturally, too, for +even writing to you is enough to bore anybody. I can +almost imagine you leaning over to whack at me in +return for that compliment.</p> + +<p>"Well, I am home on furlough; and I don't know whether +I wish I were back or not, for I fear that you will +have cut me out on all the girls, especially since you +are a high and mighty first captain this year. +Speaking of girls, you just ought to be here. The +girls at West Point are <i>blasé</i> on cadets, for they +see so many; but here a West Point officer is cock of +the walk, and I have to fight a jealous rival once a +week."</p></div> + +<p>Cadet Captain Fischer dropped the letter at this stage of it and lay +back and laughed.</p> + +<p>"Wicks Merritt's evidently forgotten I was on furlough once myself," he +said. "He's telling me all about how it goes."</p> + +<p>"What's he got to say?" inquired Williams, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> speaker's tentmate, +looking up from the gun he was cleaning.</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing much; only a lot of nonsense—jollying as usual. Wicks +always is."</p> + +<p>And then Fischer picked up the letter again, and went on.</p> + +<p>The two were seated near the door of a tent in "Company A Street," at +Camp McPherson. Fischer was lying in front of the tent "door," which was +open to admit the morning breeze that swept across the parade ground. +His friend sat over in an opposite corner and rubbed away.</p> + +<p>There was silence of some minutes, broken only by the sound of the +polishing and the rustling of Fischer's paper. And then the latter spoke +again.</p> + +<p>"Oh, say!" said he. "Here's something that'll interest you, Billy. +Something about your friend Mallory."</p> + +<p>"Fire away," said Williams.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'By the way, when you answer this let me know +something about my pet and <i>protégé</i>, future football +captain of the West Point eleven. The last time I +heard from where you are, Mark Mallory was raising +Cain. I heard that he was a B. J. plebe for fair; that +he'd set to work to make war on the yearlings, and had +put them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> to rout in style; also, incidentally, that +he was scheduled to fight Billy Williams, the +yearling's pet athlete. Tell Billy I hope the plebe +does him; tell him I say that if Mallory once whacks +him on the head with that right arm of his he'll see +more stars from the lick than the Lick telescope can +show——'"</p></div> + +<p>"Billy" broke in just then with a dismal groan.</p> + +<p>"I don't know whether that's because of the pun," laughed Fischer, "or +because of your recollection of the blow. However, I'll proceed.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"'Now, I don't care how much you fellows haze my +Mallory; he's tough and he can stand it. He'll +probably give you tit for tat every time, anyhow. But +I do want to say this—watch out that nobody tries any +foul play on him, skins him on demerits or reports him +unfairly. Do me a favor and keep your eye out for +that. Watch particularly Bull Harris, who is, I think, +the meanest sneak in the yearling class, and also his +chum, Gus Murray.</p> + +<p>"'I know it for a fact that Mallory caught Bull in a +very dirty act about a month ago and knocked spots out +of him for it. I can't tell you what the act was; but +Bull has sworn vengeance and he'll probably try to get +it, so watch for me. If you let Mallory get into +trouble, mind what I say, I'll never forgive you as +long as you live. I'll cut you out with Bessie Smith, +who, they say, is your fair one at present. Mallory is +a treasure, and when you know him as well as I you'll +think so, too.'"</p></div> + +<p>Cadet Captain Fischer dropped the letter, sat up, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> stared at +Williams; and Williams stared back. There was disgust on the faces of +both.</p> + +<p>"By George!" cried the latter at last, striking his gunstock in the +ground. "By George! we've let 'em do it already!"</p> + +<p>And after that there was a silence of several unpleasant minutes, during +which each was diligently thinking over the situation.</p> + +<p>"He's a fine fellow, anyway," continued Williams. "And we were a pack of +fools to let that Bull Harris gang soak him as we did. They've gone to +work and given him ninety-five demerits in a week on trumped-up charges. +And it's perfectly outrageous, that's what it is! The plebe's +confoundedly fresh, of course, but he's a gentleman for all that, and he +don't deserve one-quarter of the demerits he's gotten. The decent +fellows in the class ought to be ashamed of themselves."</p> + +<p>"That's what I say! He only has to get five demerits more and then he's +fired for good."</p> + +<p>"Which means," put in the officer, "that's he's sure to be fired by next +week."</p> + +<p>"Exactly! And then what will Wicks say? I went over to barracks to see +Mallory about it yesterday;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> he's nearly heart-broken, for he's worked +like a horse to get here, and now he's ruined—practically expelled. +Yet, what can we do?"</p> + +<p>"Can't he hand in explanations and get the demerits excused?" suggested +Fischer.</p> + +<p>"No, because most of the charges had just enough basis of truth in them +to make them justifiable. I tell you I was mad when he told me about it; +I vowed I'd do something to stop it. Yet what on earth can I do? I can't +think of a thing except to lick that fellow Bull Harris and his crowd. +But what possible good will that do Mallory?"</p> + +<p>"Mallory will probably do that himself," remarked Fischer, smiling for a +moment; his face became serious again as he continued. "I begin to agree +with you, Billy, about that thing. I've heard several tales about how +Mallory outwitted Bull in his hazing adventures, and the plebe's +probably made him mad. It's a dirty revenge Bull has taken, and I think +if it's only for Wicks' sake I'll put a stop to it."</p> + +<p>"You!" echoed Williams. "Pray, how?"</p> + +<p>"What am I a first captain for?" laughed Fischer. "Just you watch me and +see what I do! I can't take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> off the ninety-five, but I can see that he +don't get the other five, by Jingo! And I will do it for you, too!"</p> + +<p>And with that, the cadet arose and strode out of the tent, leaving his +friend to labor at the gun in glum and disconsolate silence.</p> + +<p>At the same time that Williams and Fischer were discussing the case of +this particularly refractory plebe, there were other cadets doing +likewise, but with far different sentiments and views. The cadets were +Bull Harris and his cronies.</p> + +<p>They were sitting—half a dozen of them—beneath the shade trees of +Trophy Point at the northern end of the parade ground; they were waiting +for dinner, and the afternoon, which, being Saturday, was a holiday and +for which they had planned some particular delicious hazing adventure.</p> + +<p>Foremost among them was Bull Harris himself, seated upon one of the +cannon. Beside him was Baby Edwards. Gus Murray sat on Bull's other side +and made up a precious trio.</p> + +<p>Murray was laughing heartily at something just then, and the rest of the +crowd seemed to appreciate the joke immensely.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>"Ho! ho!" said he. "Just think of it! After I had soaked the confounded +plebe for fifty and more, ho! ho! they got suspicious up at headquarters +and transferred me, and ho! ho! put M-m-merry Vance on instead, and he, +ho! ho! soaked him all the harder!"</p> + +<p>And Gus Murray slapped his knee and roared at this truly humorous state +of affairs.</p> + +<p>"Yes," chimed in Merry Vance. "Yes, I thought when Gus told me he'd been +transferred again that we'd lost our chance to skin Mallory for fair. +And the very next night up gets the adjutant and reads off the orders +putting me on duty over the plebes. Oh, gee! Did you ever hear the +like?"</p> + +<p>"Never," commented Bull, grinning appreciatively.</p> + +<p>"Never," chimed in Baby's little voice. "Positively never!"</p> + +<p>"Tell us about it," suggested another. "What did you do?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing much," replied Vance. "I went up there at the A. M. +inspection, and I just made up my mind to give him twenty demerits, and +I did it, that's all. They had spruced up out of sight; but it didn't +take me very long to find something wrong, I tell you."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>"I guess not!" agreed Baby.</p> + +<p>"I gave him the twenty, as you saw; and say, you ought to have seen how +sick he looked! Ho! ho!"</p> + +<p>And then the crowd indulged in another fit of violent hilarity.</p> + +<p>"I guess," said Bull, when this had finally passed, "that we can about +count Mallory as out for good. He's only got five more demerits to run +before dismissal, and he'll be sure to get those in time, even if we +don't give 'em to him—which, by the way, I mean to do anyhow. But we'll +just parcel 'em one at a time just enough to keep him worried, hey?"</p> + +<p>"That's it exactly!" commented the Baby.</p> + +<p>"He deserves it every bit!" growled Bull. "He's the B. J.est 'beast' +that ever struck West Point. Why, we could never have a moment's peace +with that fellow around. We couldn't haze anybody. He stopped us half a +dozen times."</p> + +<p>The sentiment was the sentiment of the whole gang; and they felt that +they had cause to be happy indeed. Their worst enemy had been disposed +of and a man might breathe freely once more. The crowd could think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> of +nothing to talk about that whole morning but that B. J. "beast" and his +ruin.</p> + +<p>They found something, however, before many more minutes passed. Bull +chanced to glance over his shoulder in the direction of the camp.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" he said. "Here comes Fischer."</p> + +<p>"Good-afternoon, Mr. Fischer," said Bull.</p> + +<p>"Good-afternoon," responded the officer, with obvious stiffness; and +then there was an awkward silence, during which he surveyed them in +silence.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Harris," he said, at last, "I'd like to speak to you for a moment; +and Mr. Murray, and you, too, Mr. Vance."</p> + +<p>The three stepped out of the group with alacrity, and followed Fischer +over to a seat nearby, while the rest of the gang stood and stared in +surprise, speculating as to what this could possibly mean.</p> + +<p>The three with the officer were finding out in a hurry.</p> + +<p>"I am told," began the latter, gazing at them, with majestic sternness, +"that you three are engaged in skinning a certain plebe——"</p> + +<p>"Why, Mr. Fischer!" cried the three, in obvious surprise.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>"Don't interrupt me!" thundered the captain in a voice that made them +quake, and that reached the others and made them quake, too.</p> + +<p>"Don't interrupt me! I know what I am talking about. I was a yearling +once myself, and I'm a cadet still, and there's not the least use trying +to pull the wool over my eyes. I know there never yet was a plebe who +got fifty demerits in one day and deserved them."</p> + +<p>The captain did not fail to notice here that the trio flushed and looked +uncomfortable.</p> + +<p>"You all know, I believe," he continued, "just exactly what I think of +you. I've never hesitated to say it. Now, I want you to understand in +the first place that I know of this contemptible trick, and that also I +know the plebe, who's worth more than a dozen of you; and that if he +gets a demerit from any one of you again I'll make you pay for it as +sure as I'm alive. Just remember it, that's all!"</p> + +<p>And with this, the indignant captain turned upon his heel, and strode +off, leaving the yearlings as if a bombshell had landed in their midst.</p> + +<p>"Fischer's a confounded fool!" Bull Harris broke out at last.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>"Just what he is!" cried the Baby. "I'd like to knock him over."</p> + +<p>And after that there was silence again, broken only by the roll of a +drum that meant dinner.</p> + +<p>"Well," was Bull's final word, as the crowd set out for camp, "it's +unfortunate, I must say. But it won't make the least bit of difference. +Mallory'll get his demerits sure as he's alive, and Fischer's +interference won't matter in the least."</p> + +<p>"That's what!" cried the rest of them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">A SWIMMING MATCH.</span></h2> + + +<p>The manner in which the cadets dine has not as yet been described in +these pages; perhaps here is just as good a place as any to picture the +historic mess hall where Lee and Grant and Sherman once dined, and +toward which on that Saturday afternoon were marching not only the group +we have just left, but also the object of all their dislike, the B. J. +plebe who fell in behind the cadets as the battalion swung past +barracks.</p> + +<p>The cadets march to mess hall; they march to every place they go as a +company. The building itself is just south of the "Academic" and +barracks; it is built of gray stone, and forcibly reminds the candid +observer of a jail. They tell stories at West Point of credulous +candidates who have "swallowed" that, and believed that the cadet +battalion was composed of disobedient cadets, about to be locked up in +confinement.</p> + +<p>There is a flight of iron steps in the center, and at the foot of these +steps, three times every day, the battalion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> breaks ranks and dissolves +into a mob of actively bounding figures. Upon entering, the cadets do +not take seats, but stand behind their chairs, and await the order, +"Company A, take seats!" "Company B, take seats!" and so on. The plebes, +who, up to this time, are still a separate company, come last, as usual; +they are seated by themselves, at one side of the dining-room.</p> + +<p>The tables seat twenty-two persons, ten on a side, and one at each end. +The cadets are placed according to rank, and they always sit in the same +seats. The tables are divided down the center by an imaginary line, each +part being a "table"; first class men sit near the head, and so on down +to the plebes, who find themselves at the center (that is, after they +have moved into camp, and been "sized" and assigned to companies; before +that they are "beasts," herded apart, as has been said).</p> + +<p>The dinner is upon the table when the cadets enter; the corporals are +charged with the duty of carving, and the luckless plebe is expected to +help everybody to water upon demand, and eats nothing until that duty +has been attended to. After the meal, for which half an hour is allowed, +the command, "Company A, rise!" and so on, is the signal to leave the +table and fall into line again on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> the street outside. This, however, +does not take place until a lynx-eyed "tac" has gone the rounds, making +notes—"So-and-so, too much butter on plate." "Somebody else, napkin not +properly folded," and so on. This ceremony over, the battalion marches +back to camp, a good half mile, in the broiling sun or pouring rain, as +the case may be.</p> + +<p>That Saturday afternoon being a hot one, and a holiday, our friends of +the last chapter, Bull Harris and his gang, sought out an occupation in +which fully half the cadets at the post chanced to agree; they went in +swimming, a diversion which the superintendent sees fit to allow. "Gee's +Point," on the Hudson, is within the government property, and thither +the cadets gather whenever the weather is suitable.</p> + +<p>That particular party included Bull and Baby (who didn't swim, but liked +to watch Bull), Gus Murray, Vance and the rest of their retainers. And, +on the way, they passed the time by discussing their one favorite topic, +their recent triumph over "that B. J. beast." There was a new phase of +the question they had to speculate upon now, and that was what the +"beast" could possibly have done to move to such unholy wrath so +important a per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>sonage as the senior captain of the Battalion. Also, +they were interested in trying to think up a method by which those extra +demerits might be speedily given without incurring the wrath of that +officer. Though each one of the yearlings was ready, even anxious, to +explain that he wasn't the least bit afraid of him.</p> + +<p>"I tell you," declared Bull, "he couldn't prove anything against us if +he tried. It's all one great bluff of Fischer's, and he's a fool to act +as he did."</p> + +<p>"I'd a good mind to tell him as much!" assented Baby.</p> + +<p>"It won't make any difference," put in Murray, "we'll soak the plebe, +anyhow. We can easily give him five demerits in short order, and without +attracting any attention, either."</p> + +<p>"He's out, just as sure as he's alive!" laughed Bull. "We wouldn't need +to do a thing more."</p> + +<p>"Exactly!" cried the echo. "Not a thing!"</p> + +<p>"All the same," continued the other, "I wish we could get up a scheme to +get him in disgrace, so as to clinch it. I wish we could——"</p> + +<p>Just here Bull was interrupted by a sudden exclamation from Murray. +Murray had brought his hand against his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> knee with a whack, and there +was a look of inspiration upon his face.</p> + +<p>"Great Cæsar!" he cried, "I've got it!"</p> + +<p>"Got it! What?"</p> + +<p>"A scheme! A scheme to do him!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Write him a letter, or something—get him to leave barracks at +night—have a sentry catch him beyond limits, or else we'll report him +absent! Oh, say!"</p> + +<p>The crowd were staring at each other in amazement, a look of delight +spreading over their faces, as the full possibilities of this same +inspiration dawned upon them.</p> + +<p>"By the lord!" cried Bull, at last. "Court-martial him! That's the +ticket!"</p> + +<p>"Shake on it!" responded Murray.</p> + +<p>In half a minute the gang had sworn to put that plan into execution +within the space of twenty-four hours. And after that they hurried on +down to the point to go in swimming.</p> + +<p>"Speak of angels," remarked Murray, "and they flap their wings. There's +the confounded plebe now."</p> + +<p>"Of angels!" sneered Vance. "Of devils, you mean."</p> + +<p>"By George!" muttered Bull. "You can't phaze that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> fellow. I thought +he'd be up in barracks, moping, to-day!"</p> + +<p>"Probably wants to put up a bluff as if he don't care," was the clever +suggestion of the Baby. "I bet he's sore as anything!"</p> + +<p>"I told him I'd make him the sickest plebe in the place," growled Bull, +"and I'll bet he is, too."</p> + +<p>The yearling would have won his bet; there was probably no sadder man in +West Point than Mark Mallory just then, even though he did not choose to +let his enemies know it.</p> + +<p>"Look at him dive!" sneered Baby, watching him with a malignant frown. +"He wants to show off."</p> + +<p>"Pretty good dive," commented a bystander, who was somewhat more +disinterested.</p> + +<p>"Good, your grandmother!" cried the other. "Why, I could beat that +myself if I knew how to swim!"</p> + +<p>And then he wondered why the crowd laughed.</p> + +<p>"Come on, let's go in ourselves," put in Bull, anxious to end his small +friend's discomfort. "Hurry up, there!"</p> + +<p>The crowd had turned away, to follow their leader in his suggestion; +they were by no means anxious to swell the number of those who had +gathered for the obvious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> purpose of watching Mark Mallory's feats as a +swimmer. In fact, they couldn't see why anybody should want to watch a +B. J. beast, and a "beast" who had only a day or two more to stay, at +that.</p> + +<p>Just then, however, a cry from the crowd attracted their attention, and +made them turn hastily again.</p> + +<p>"A race! A race!"</p> + +<p>And Bull Harris cried out with vexation, as he wheeled and took in the +situation.</p> + +<p>"By the Lord!" he cried. "Did you ever hear of such a B. J. trick in +your life? The confounded plebe is going to race with Fischer!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE FINISH OF A RACE.</span></h2> + + +<p>So it was; certain of the cadets, being piqued at the evident +superiority which that B. J. Mallory (his usual title by this time) had +displayed in the water, had requested their captain to take him down. +The "captain" had good-naturedly declared that he was willing to try; +and the shout that attracted Bull's attention was caused by the plebe's +ready assent to the proposition for an impromptu race.</p> + +<p>"Fischer ought to be ashamed of himself, to have anything to do with +him!" was Bull Harris' angry verdict. "I almost hope the plebe beats +him."</p> + +<p>"I don't!" vowed Murray, emphatically. "Let's hurry up, and see it."</p> + +<p>The latter speaker suited the action to the word; Bull followed, +growling surlily.</p> + +<p>"Look at that gang of plebes!" he muttered. "They're the ones who helped +Mallory take away the fellow we were hazing; they think they're right in +it, now."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>"Yes," chimed in Baby. "And see that fellow, Texas, making a fool of +himself."</p> + +<p>"That fellow Texas" was "making a fool of himself" by dancing about in +wild excitement, and raising a series of cowboy whoops in behalf of his +friend, and of plebes in general.</p> + +<p>"There they are, ready to go!" cried Murray, betraying some excitement.</p> + +<p>"I wish the confounded plebe'd never come up again!" growled Bull, in +return, striving hard to appear indifferent.</p> + +<p>"I bet Fischer'll do him!" exclaimed the Baby. "He swims like a fish. +Say, they're going to race to that tree way down the river. Golly, but +that's a long swim!"</p> + +<p>"Long nothing!" sneered Vance. "I could swim that a dozen times. But, +say, they'll finish in the rain; look at that thunderstorm coming!"</p> + +<p>In response to this last remark, the crowd cast their eyes in the +direction indicated. They found that the prediction seemed likely to be +fulfilled. To the north, up the Hudson, dense, black clouds already +obscured the sky, and a strong, fresh breeze, that smelled of rain, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +springing up from thence, and making the swimmers shiver apprehensively.</p> + +<p>The preparation for the race went on, however; nobody cared for the +storm.</p> + +<p>"Gee whiz!" cried the Baby, in excitement. "Won't it be exciting! I +don't mind the rain. I'm going to run down along the shore, and watch +it! Hooray!"</p> + +<p>"Rats!" growled Bull, angrily. "I don't care about any old race. I'm +going to keep dry, let me tell you!"</p> + +<p>Even the damper of his idol's displeasure could not change Master +Edwards' mind, however; he and nearly the whole crowd with him made a +dash down the shore for a vantage point to see the finish.</p> + +<p>"There! They're off!"</p> + +<p>The cry came a moment later, as the two lightly-clad figures stepped to +the mark from which they were to start.</p> + +<p>They were about of one size, magnificently proportioned, both of them, +and the race bid fair to be a close one.</p> + +<p>"Ready?" called the starter, in a voice that rang down the shore.</p> + +<p>"Yes," responded Mark, and at the same moment a heavy cloud swept under +the sun, and the air grew dark<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> and chilly. The wind increased to a +gale, blowing the spray before it; and then——</p> + +<p>"Go!" called the starter.</p> + +<p>The two dived as one figure; both took the water clean and low, with no +perceptible splash; two heads appeared a moment later, forging ahead +side by side; a cheer from the cadets arose, that drowned, for a moment, +the roars of the storm; and the race was on.</p> + +<p>It is remarkable how closely nature follows a rule in her most perfect +work; here were two figures, built by her a thousand miles apart, racing +there, and each striving with might and main, yet the sum total of the +energy that each was able to expend so nearly alike that yard by yard +they struggled on, without an inch of difference between them.</p> + +<p>"Fischer! Fischer!" rose the shouts of the cadets.</p> + +<p>"Mallory! Mallory!" roared the excited plebes, backed up by an +occasional "Wow!" in the stentorian tones of the mighty Texan, who, by +this time, was on the verge of epilepsy.</p> + +<p>Onward went the two heads, still side by side, seeming to creep through +the water at a snail's pace to the excited partisans on the shore. But +it was no snail's pace to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> two in the water; each was struggling in +grim earnestness, putting into every stroke all the power that was in +him. Neither looked at the other; but each could tell, from the cries of +the cadets, that his opponent was pressing him closely.</p> + +<p>Nearer and nearer they came to the far distant goal; higher and higher +rose the shouts:</p> + +<p>"Fischer! Fischer!" "Mallory! Mallory!" "He's got him!" "No." "Hooray!"</p> + +<p>"Gee! but it is exciting," screamed Baby. "Go it, Fischer! Do him!"</p> + +<p>"And I wish that confounded 'beast' was in Hades!" snarled Bull, whose +hatred of Mark was deeper, and more malignant than that of his friend.</p> + +<p>"I believe I could kill him!"</p> + +<p>During all this excitement the storm had been sweeping rapidly up, its +majesty unnoticed in the excitement of the race. Far up the Hudson could +be seen a driving cloud of rain; and the wind had risen to a hurricane, +while the air grew dark and chill.</p> + +<p>The race was at its most exciting stage—the finish, and the cadets were +dancing about, half in a frenzy, yelling incoherently, at the two still +struggling lads, when some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> one, nobody knew just who, chanced to glance +for one brief instant up the river. A moment later a cry was heard that +brought the race to a startling and unexpected close.</p> + +<p>"Look! look! The sailboat!"</p> + +<p>The cry sounded even above the roar of the storm and the shouts of the +crowd. The cadets turned in alarm and gazed up the river. What they saw +made them forget that such a thing as a race ever existed.</p> + +<p>Right in the teeth of the wind, in the center of the river, was a small +catboat, driven downstream, before the gale, with the speed of a +locomotive. In the boat was one person, and the person was a girl. She +sat in the stern, waving her hands in helpless terror, and even as the +spectators stared, the boat gibed with terrific violence, and a volume +of water poured in over the gunwale.</p> + +<p>The crowd was thrown into confusion; a babel of excited voices arose, +and the race was forgotten in an instant.</p> + +<p>The racers were not slow to notice it; both of them turned to gaze +behind them, and to take in the situation.</p> + +<p>"Help! Help!" called a faint voice from the distant sailboat.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>Help! Who was there to help? There was not a boat in sight; the cadets +were running up and down in confusion, hunting for one in vain. They +were like a nest of frightened ants, without a leader, skurrying this +way and that, and only contributing to the general alarm. The girl +herself could do nothing, and so it seemed as if help were far away, +indeed.</p> + +<p>There was one person in the crowd, however, who kept his head in the +midst of all that confusion. And the person was Mark. Exhausted though +he was by his desperate swim, he did not hesitate an instant. Before the +amazed cadet captain at his side could half comprehend his intention, he +turned quickly in the water, and, with one powerful stroke, shot away +toward the center of the stream.</p> + +<p>The cadets on the shore scarcely knew whether to cry out in horror, or +to cheer the act they saw. They caught one more glimpse of the catboat +as it raced ahead before the gale; they saw the gallant plebe struggling +in the water.</p> + +<p>And then the storm struck them in its fury. A blinding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> sheet of driving +rain, that darkened the air and drove against the river, and rose again +in clouds of spray; a gale that lashed the water into fury; and darkness +that shut out the river, and the boat, and the swimmer, and left nothing +but a humbled group of shivering cadets.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">WHAT MARK DID.</span></h2> + + +<p>The surprise of the helpless watchers on the shore precludes +description. They knew that out upon that seething river a tragedy was +being enacted; but the driving rain made a wall about them—they could +not aid, they could not even see. They stood about in groups, and +whispered, and listened, and strained their eyes to pierce the mist.</p> + +<p>Mark's friends were wild with alarm; and his enemies—who can describe +their feelings?</p> + +<p>A man has said that it is a terrible thing to die with a wrong upon +one's soul; but that it is agony to see another die whom you have +wronged, to know that your act can never be atoned for now. That there +is one unpardonable sin to your account on the records of eternity. That +was how the yearlings felt; and even Bull Harris, ruffian though he was, +trembled slightly about the lips.</p> + +<p>The storm itself was one of those which come but seldom. Nature's mighty +forces flung loose in one giant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> cataclysm. It came from the north, and +it had a full sweep down the valley of the Hudson, pent in and focused +to one point by the mountains on each side. It tore the trees from the +tops as it came; it struck the river with a swish, and beat the water +into foam. It flung the raindrops in gusts against it, and caught them +up in spray and whirled them on; and this, to the echoing crashes of the +thunder and the dull, lurid gleam of the lightning that played in the +rear.</p> + +<p>One is silent at such times at that; the frightened cadets on the shore +would probably have stood in groups and trembled, and done nothing +through it all, had it not been for a cry that aroused them. Some one, +sharper eyed than the rest, espied a figure struggling in the water near +the shore. There was a rush for the spot, and strong arms drew the +swimmer in. It was Captain Fischer, breathless and exhausted from the +race.</p> + +<p>He lay on the bank, panting for breath for a minute, and then raised +himself upon his arms.</p> + +<p>"Where's Mallory?" he cried, his voice sounding faint and distant in the +roar of the storm.</p> + +<p>"Out there," responded somebody, pointing.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>"W-why don't somebody go help him?" gasped the other. "He'll drown!"</p> + +<p>"Don't know where to go to," answered the first speaker, shaking his +head.</p> + +<p>Fischer sank back, too exhausted, himself, to move.</p> + +<p>"He'll drown! He'll drown!" he muttered. "He is tired to death from the +race."</p> + +<p>And after that there was another anxious wait, every one hesitating, +wondering if there were any use venturing into the tossing water.</p> + +<p>The storm was one that came in gusts; its first minute's fury past, +there was a brief let up in its violence, and the darkness that the +black clouds had brought with them yielded to the daylight for a while. +During that time those on the shore got one brief glimpse of a startling +panorama.</p> + +<p>The boat was sighted first, still skimming along before the gale, but +obviously laboring with the water she had shipped. The frightened +occupant was still in the stern, clinging to the gunwale with terror. +There was a shout raised when the boat was noticed, and all eyes were +bent upon it anxiously. Then some one, chancing a glance down the river +below, caught a glimpse of a moving head.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>"There's Mallory!" he cried. "Hooray!"</p> + +<p>There was Mallory, and Mallory was swimming desperately, as the crowd +could dimly see. For the boat he was aiming at was just a little farther +out in the stream than he, and bearing swiftly down upon him. Whatever +happened must happen with startling rapidity, and the crowd knew it, and +forebore to shout—almost to breathe.</p> + +<p>The boat plunged on; the swimmer fairly leaped through the waves. Nearer +it came, nearer—up to him—past him! No! For, as it seemed, the bow +must cleave his body, the body was seen to leap forward with it. He had +caught the boat! And a wild cheer burst from the spectators.</p> + +<p>"He's safe! He's safe!"</p> + +<p>But the cheer, as it died out, seemed to catch in their throats, and to +change into a gasp of suspense, and then of horror.</p> + +<p>Mallory had clung to the bow for a moment, as if too exhausted to move. +His body, half submerged, had cut a white furrow in the water, drawn on +by the plunging boat. Then the girl, in an evil moment, released her +hold and sprang forward to help him. She caught his arm, and he flung +himself upon the boat.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>And then came the crash.</p> + +<p>Leaning to one side, with the sudden weight, the boat half turned, and +then gibed with terrific violence. The great boom swung around like a +giant club, driven by the pressure of the wind upon the vast surface of +the sail. The watchers gave a half-suppressed gasp, Mallory was seen to +put out his arm, and the next instant the blow was struck.</p> + +<p>It hit the girl with a crash that those on shore thought they heard; it +flung her far out into the water, and almost at the same instant Mallory +was seen to leap out in a low, quick dive. Then, as if the scene was +over, and the book shut, the rain burst out again in its fury, and the +darkness of the raging storm shut it all out.</p> + +<p>This time there could be no mistaking duty; the cadets knew now where +the struggling pair were, and they had no reason to hesitate. First to +move was one of a group of six anxious plebes, who had been waiting in +agony; it was Texas, and the spectators saw him plunge into the water +and vanish in the driving rain. Then more of that crowd followed him; +Fischer, too, sprang up, exhausted though he was, and in the end there +were at least a dozen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> sturdy lads swimming with all their might toward +the spot where Mallory had been seen to leap.</p> + +<p>They were destined, however, to do but little good; so we shall stay by +those upon the shore.</p> + +<p>The weakening of Bull Harris' followers has been mentioned; it increased +as the plebe's self-sacrificing daring was shown.</p> + +<p>"He certainly is spunky," one of the crowd ventured to mutter, as he +shivered and watched. "I hope he gets ashore."</p> + +<p>And Bull turned upon him with a savage oath.</p> + +<p>"You fool!" he cried. "You confounded fool! If he does, I could kill +him! Kill him! Do you hear me?"</p> + +<p>There are some natures like that. Have you read the tale of +Macauley's?—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0q">"How brave Horatius held the bridge<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the good old days of yore."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>There was just such a hero then battling with the waves as now—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0q">"Curse him!" cried false Sextus.<br /></span> +<span class="i0q">"Will not the villain drown?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And on the other hand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0q">"Heaven help him," quoth Spurius Laritus,<br /></span> +<span class="i0q">"And bring him safe to shore!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For such a gallant feat of arms<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Has ne'er been seen before."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>There were few of Bull's crowd as hardened in their hatred as was he; +Murray was one, and the sallow Vance another. Baby Edwards followed +suit, of course. But, as for the rest of them, they were thinking.</p> + +<p>"I don't care!" vowed one. "I'm sorry we've got him fired."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean," demanded Bull, in amazement, "that you're not going to +keep the promise you made a while ago?"</p> + +<p>"That's what I do!" declared the other, sturdily. "I think he deserves +to stay!"</p> + +<p>And Bull turned away in alarm and disgust.</p> + +<p>"Fools!" he muttered to himself. "Fools!" and gritted his teeth in rage. +"I hope he's never seen again."</p> + +<p>It seemed as if that might happen; the cadets during all this time had +been standing out in the driving rain, striving to pierce the darkness +of the storm. From the river came an occasional shout from some one of +the rescue party; but no word from the plebe or the girl.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>Once the watchers caught sight of a figure swimming in; it proved to be +Fischer once more. The cadets had rushed toward him with sudden hope, +but he shook his head, sadly.</p> + +<p>"Couldn't—couldn't find him," he panted, shaking the water from his +hair and shielding his face from the driving rain. "I was too tired to +stay long."</p> + +<p>The storm swept by in a very short while. Violence such as that cannot +last long in anything. While the anxious cadets raced up and down the +shore, each striving to catch a glimpse of Mallory, the dark clouds +sailed past and the rain settled into an ordinary drizzle. The surface +of the white-capped river became visible then, and gradually the heads +of the swimmers came into view.</p> + +<p>"There's Billy Williams!" was the cry. "And that's Texas, way over +there. Here's Parson Stanard! And Jones!"</p> + +<p>And so on it went, but no Mallory. Those on the shore could not see him +and those in the river had no better luck. Most of them had begun to +give up in despair, when the long-expected cry did come. For Mark was +not dead by a long shot.</p> + +<p>A shout came from a solitary straggler far down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> stream, and the +straggler was seen to plunge into the water. Those on the shore made a +wild dash for the spot and those in the water struck out for the shore +so as to join them. And louder at last swelled the glad cry.</p> + +<p>"Here he is! Hooray!"</p> + +<p>The plebe was about a hundred yards from the shore, and swimming weakly; +the girl, still unconscious, was floating upon her back—and her +rescuer, holding her by the arms—was slowly towing her toward the +shore.</p> + +<p>A dozen swam out to aid him as soon as he was seen; strong arms lifted +the girl and bore her high upon the bank, others supporting the +half-fainting plebe to a seat.</p> + +<p>"Is she dead?" was Mark's first thought, as soon as he could speak at +all.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said Fischer, chafing the girl's hands and watching for +the least sign of life. "Somebody hustle up for the doctor there! +Quick!"</p> + +<p>Several of the cadets set out for the hospital at a run; and the rest +gathered about the two and offered what help they could.</p> + +<p>"It's Judge Fuller's daughter," said Fischer, who was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> busily dosing the +unconscious figure with a flask of reddish liquid surreptitiously +produced by one of the cadets.</p> + +<p>"Do you know her?" inquired Mark, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Know her!" echoed half the bystanders at once. "Why, she lives just +across the river!"</p> + +<p>"That's an ugly looking wound on the head there," continued Fischer, +bending over the prostrate form. "Gosh! but that boom must have struck +her. And here, Mallory," he added, "you'd best take a taste of this +brandy. You look about dead yourself."</p> + +<p>"No, I thank you," responded Mark, smiling weakly. "I'm all right. Only +I'm glad it's all over and——"</p> + +<p>Mark got no farther; as if to mock his words came a cry that made the +crowd whirl about and look toward the river in alarm.</p> + +<p>"Help! Help!"</p> + +<p>"By George!" cried Fischer, "it's one of the fellows!"</p> + +<p>"It's Alan!" shouted Mark. "Alan Dewey!"</p> + +<p>And before any one could divine his intention he sprang up and made a +dash for the river. For Mark knew how Dewey had come there; he had swum +out, cripple though he was, to hunt for him; and with his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> one well arm, +poor gallant Dewey was finding trouble in getting back.</p> + +<p>Mark had been quick, but Fischer was a bit too quick for him and seized +him by the arm.</p> + +<p>"Come back here!" he commanded, sternly. "And don't be a fool. You're +near dead. Some of you fellows swim out and tow that plebe in."</p> + +<p>Half a dozen had started without being asked; and Mark's overzealous +friend was grabbed by the hair and arms and feet and rushed in in great +style. He came up smiling as usual.</p> + +<p>"Got out too far, b'gee!" he began. "Very foolish of me! Reminds me of a +story I once heard—— Oh, say!"</p> + +<p>This last explanation came as the speaker caught sight of the figure of +the young girl; and his face lost its smile on the instant.</p> + +<p>"She's alive, isn't she?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Don't know," said Fischer. "Here comes the doctor now."</p> + +<p>"Well, she certainly is a beautiful girl!" responded Dewey, shaking his +head. "B'gee, we don't want that kind to die!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>The doctor was coming on a run; and a minute later he was kneeling +beside the young girl's body.</p> + +<p>"Jove!" he muttered. "Almost a fractured skull! No, she's alive! See +here, who got her out?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Mallory," responded the captain, turning toward where Mark had sat. +And then he gave vent to a startled exclamation.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens! He's fainted! What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Fainted?" echoed the surgeon, as he noticed the young man's white lips +and bloodless cheek. "Fainted! I should say so! Why, he's almost as near +dead as she! We must take him to the hospital."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">MARK MEETS THE SUPERINTENDENT.</span></h2> + + +<p>"Yes, colonel, the lad is a hero, and I want to tell him so, too!"</p> + +<p>The speaker was a tall, gray-haired gentleman, and he whacked his cane +on the floor for emphasis as he spoke.</p> + +<p>"It was a splendid act, sir, splendid!" he continued. "And I want to +thank Mark Mallory for it right here in your office."</p> + +<p>The man he addressed wore the uniform of the United States army; he was +Colonel Harvey, the superintendent of the West Point Academy.</p> + +<p>"I shall be most happy to have you do so," he replied, smiling at this +visitor's enthusiasm. "You have certainly," he added, "much to thank the +young man for."</p> + +<p>"Much!" echoed the other. "Much! Why, my dear sir, if that daughter of +mine had been drowned I believe it would have killed me. She is my only +child, and, if I do say it myself, sir, the sweetest girl that ever +lived."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>"Wasn't it rather reckless, judge," inquired the other, "for you to +allow her to go sailing alone?"</p> + +<p>"She is used to the boat," responded Judge Fuller, "but no one on earth +could have handled it in such a gale. I do not remember to have seen +such a one in all the time I have lived up here."</p> + +<p>"Nor I, either," said the superintendent. "It was so dark that I could +scarcely see across the parade ground. It is almost miraculous that +Mallory should have succeeded in finding the boat as he did."</p> + +<p>"Tell me about it," put in the other. "I have not been able to get a +consistent account yet."</p> + +<p>"Cadet Captain Fischer told me," responded the colonel. "It seems that +he and Mallory were just at the finish of a swimming race when the storm +broke. They caught sight of the boat with your daughter in it coming +down stream. The plebe turned, exhausted though he was, and headed for +it. It got so dark then that those on shore could scarcely see; but the +lad managed to catch the boat as it passed and climbed aboard. Just then +the boom swung round and flung the girl into the water. Mallory dived +again at once——"</p> + +<p>"Splendid!" interrupted the other.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>"And swam ashore with her."</p> + +<p>"And then fainted, they say," the judge added.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Colonel Harvey. "Dr. Grimes told me that it was one of the +worst cases of exhaustion he had ever seen. But the lad is doing well +now; he appears to be a very vigorous youngster—and I've an idea +several of the yearlings found that out to their discomfort. The doctor +told me that he thought he would be out this morning; the accident was +only two days ago."</p> + +<p>"That is fortunate," responded the other. "The boy is too good to lose."</p> + +<p>"He appears to be a remarkable lad generally," continued the +superintendent. "I have heard several tales about him. Some of the +stories came to me 'unofficially,' as we call it, and I don't believe +Mallory would rest easily if he thought I knew of them. Young Fischer, +who's a splendid man himself, I'll tell you, informed me yesterday that +the plebe had earned his admission fee by bringing help to a wrecked +train and telegraphing the account to a New York paper."</p> + +<p>"I heard he had been in some trouble about demerits," put in Judge +Fuller.</p> + +<p>"In very serious trouble. I had to take a very radical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> step to get him +out of it. Every once in a while I find that some new cadet is being +'skinned,' as the cadets call it, demerited unfairly. I always punish +severely when I find that out. In this case, though, I had no proof; +Mallory would say nothing, though he was within five demerits of +expulsion. So I decided to end the whole matter by declaring a new rule +I've been contemplating for some time. I've found that new cadets get +too many demerits during the first few weeks, before they learn the +rules thoroughly. So I've decided that in future no demerits shall be +given for the first three weeks, and that delinquencies shall be +punished by extra hours and other penalties. That let Mallory out of his +trouble, you see."</p> + +<p>"A very clever scheme!" laughed the other. "Very clever!"</p> + +<p>It may be of interest to notice that Colonel Harvey's rule has been in +effect ever since.</p> + +<p>There was silence of a few moments after that, during which Judge Fuller +tapped the floor with his cane reflectively.</p> + +<p>"You promised to let me see this Mallory," he said, suddenly. "I'm ready +now."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>By way of answer, the superintendent rang a bell upon his desk.</p> + +<p>"Go over to the hospital," he said to the orderly who appeared in the +doorway, "and find out if Cadet Mallory is able to be about. If he is, +bring him here at once."</p> + +<p>The boy disappeared and the colonel turned to his visitor and smiled.</p> + +<p>"Is that satisfactory?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Very!" responded the other. "And I only wish that you could send for my +daughter to come over, too. I hope those surgeons are taking care of +her."</p> + +<p>"As much as if she were their own," answered the colonel. "I cannot tell +you how glad I was to learn that she is beyond danger."</p> + +<p>"It is God's mercy," said the other, with feeling. "She could not have +had a much narrower escape."</p> + +<p>And after that neither said anything until a knock at the door signaled +the arrival of the orderly.</p> + +<p>"Come in," called the superintendent, and two figures stepped into the +room. One was the messenger, and the other was Mark.</p> + +<p>"This," said the superintendent after a moment's pause, "is Cadet +Mallory."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>And Cadet Mallory it was. The same old Mark, only paler and more weak +just then.</p> + +<p>Judge Fuller rose and bowed gravely.</p> + +<p>"Sit down," said he, "you are not strong enough to stand."</p> + +<p>And after that no one said anything for fully a minute; the last speaker +resumed his seat and fell to studying Mark's face in silence. And Mark +waited respectfully for him to begin.</p> + +<p>"My name," said he at last, "is Fuller."</p> + +<p>"Judge Fuller?" inquired Mark.</p> + +<p>"Yes. And Grace Fuller is my daughter."</p> + +<p>After that there was silence again, broken suddenly by the excitable old +gentleman dropping his cane, springing up from his chair, and striding +over toward the lad.</p> + +<p>"I want to shake hands with you, sir! I want to shake hands with you!" +he cried.</p> + +<p>Mark was somewhat taken aback; but he arose and did as he was asked.</p> + +<p>"And now," said the judge, "I guess that's all—sit down, sir, sit down; +you've little strength left, I can see. I want to thank you, sir, for +being the finest lad I've met for a long time. And when my daughter gets +well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>—which she will, thank the Lord—I'll be very glad to have you +call on us, or else to let us call on you—seeing that we live beyond +cadet limits. And if ever you get into trouble, here or anywhere, just +come and see me about it, and I'll be much obliged to you. And that's +all."</p> + +<p>Having said which, the old gentleman stalked across the room once more, +picked up his hat and cane, and made for the door.</p> + +<p>"Good-day, sir," he said. "I'm going around now to see my daughter. +Good-day, and God bless you."</p> + +<p>After which the door was shut.</p> + +<p>It was several minutes after that before Colonel Harvey said anything.</p> + +<p>"You have made a powerful friend, my boy," he remarked, smiling at the +recollection of the old gentleman's strange speech. "And you have +brought honor upon the academy. I am proud of you—proud to have you +here."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, sir," said Mark, simply.</p> + +<p>"All I have to say besides that," added the officer, "is to watch out +that you stay. Don't get any more demerits."</p> + +<p>"I'll try not, sir."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>"Do. And I guess you had best go and join your company now if the doctor +thinks you're able. Something is happening to-day which always interests +new cadets. I bid you good-morning, Mr. Mallory."</p> + +<p>And Mark went out of that office and crossed the street to barracks +feeling as if he were walking on air.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE SEVEN IN SESSION.</span></h2> + + +<p>It is fun indeed to be a hero, to know that every one you pass is gazing +at you with admiration. Or if one cannot do anything heroic, let him +even do something that will bring him notoriety, and then—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0q">"As he walks along the Boulevard,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With an independent air."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>he may be able to appreciate the afore-mentioned sensation.</p> + +<p>There was no boulevard at West Point, but the area in barracks served +the purpose, and Mark could not help noticing that as he went the +yearlings were gazing enviously at him, and the plebes with undisguised +admiration. He hurried upstairs to avoid that, and found that he had +leaped, as the phrase has it, from the frying pan to the fire. For there +were the other six of the "Seven Devils" ready to welcome him with a +rush.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" cried Texas. "Back again! Whoop!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>"Bless my soul, but I'm glad!" piped in the little round bubbly voice of +"Indian." "Bless my soul!"</p> + +<p>"Sit down. Sit down," cried "Parson" Stanard, reverently offering his +beloved volume of "Dana's Geology" for a cushion.</p> + +<p>"Sit down and let us look at you."</p> + +<p>"Yes, b'gee!" chimed in Alan Dewey. "Yes, b'gee, let's look at you. +Reminds me of a story I once heard, b'gee—pshaw, what's the use of +trying to tell a good story with everybody trying to shout at once."</p> + +<p>The excitement subsided after some five minutes more, and Mark was glad +of it. With the true modesty natural to all high minds he felt that he +would a great deal rather rescue a girl than be praised and made +generally uncomfortable for it. So he shut his followers up as quickly +as he could, which was not very quickly, for they had lots to say.</p> + +<p>"How is the girl?" inquired Dewey, perceiving at last that Mark really +meant what he said, and so, hastening to turn the conversation.</p> + +<p>"She's doing very well now," said Mark.</p> + +<p>"Always your luck!" growled Texas. "She's beautiful, and her father's a +judge and got lots of money. Bet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> he runs off and marries her in a week. +Oh, say, Mark, but you're lucky! You just ought to hear the plebes talk +about you. I can't tell you how proud I am, man! Why——"</p> + +<p>"Right back at it again!" interrupted Mark, laughing. "Right back again! +Didn't I tell you to drop it? I know what I'll do——"</p> + +<p>Here Mark arose from his seat.</p> + +<p>"I hereby declare this a business meeting of the Seven Devils, and as +chairman I call the meeting to order."</p> + +<p>"What for?" cried the crowd.</p> + +<p>"To consider plans for hazing," answered Mark. "I——"</p> + +<p>"Wow!" roared Texas, wildly excited in an instant. "Goin' to haze +somebody? Whoop!"</p> + +<p>And Mark laughed silently to himself.</p> + +<p>"I knew I'd make you drop that rescue business," he said. "And Mr. +Powers, you will have the goodness to come to order and not to address +the meeting until you are granted the floor. It is my purpose, if you +will allow me to say a few words to the society—ahem!"</p> + +<p>Mark said this with stern and pompous dignity and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> Texas subsided so +suddenly that the rest could scarcely keep from laughing.</p> + +<p>"But, seriously now, fellows," he said, after a moment's silence. "Let's +leave all the past behind and consider what's before us. I really have +something to say."</p> + +<p>Having been thus enjoined, the meeting did come to order. The members +settled themselves comfortably about the room as if expecting a long +oration, and Mark continued, after a moment's thought.</p> + +<p>"We really ought to make up our mind beforehand as to just exactly what +we're going to do. I suppose you all know what's going to happen +to-day."</p> + +<p>"No!" cried the impulsive Texas. "I don't. What is it, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"We're to move to camp this afternoon," responded Mark.</p> + +<p>"I know; but what's that got to do with it?"</p> + +<p>"Lots. Several of the cadets have told me that there's always more +hazing done on that one day than on all the rest put together. You see, +we leave barracks and go up to live with the whole corps at the summer +camp. And that night the yearlings always raise Cain with the plebes."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>"Bully, b'gee!" chimed in Dewey, no less pleased with the prospect.</p> + +<p>"So to-night is the decisive night," continued Mark. "And I leave it for +the majority to decide just what we'll do about it. What do you say?"</p> + +<p>Mark relapsed into silence, and there was a moment's pause, ended by the +grave and classic Parson slowly rising to his feet. The Parson first +laid his inevitable "Dana" upon the floor, then glanced about him with a +pompous air and folded his long, bony arms. "Ahem!" he said, and then +began:</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen! I rise—ahem!—to put the case to you as I see it; I rise to +emulate the example of the immortal Patrick Henry—to declare for +liberty or death! Yea, by Zeus, or death!"</p> + +<p>"Bully, b'gee!" chimed in Dewey, slapping his knee in approval and +winking merrily at the crowd from behind the Parson's back.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen!" continued the Parson. "Once before we met in this same room +and we did then make known our declaration of independence to the world. +But there is one thing we have not yet done, and that we must do! Yea, +by Zeus! I am a Bostonian—I may have told you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> that before—and I am +proud of the deeds of my forefathers. They fought at Bunker Hill; and, +gentlemen, we have that yet to do."</p> + +<p>"Betcher life, b'gee!" cried Dewey, as the Parson gravely took his seat. +Then the former arose and continued the discussion. "Not much of a hand +for making a speech," he said, "as the deaf-mute remarked when he lost +three fingers; but I've got something to say, and, b'gee, I'm going to +say it. To-night is the critical night, and if we are meek and mild now, +we'll be it for the whole summer. And I say we don't, b'gee, and that's +all!"</p> + +<p>With which brief, but pointed and characteristic summary of the +situation, Alan sat down and Texas clapped his heels together and gave +vent to a "Wow!" of approval.</p> + +<p>"Anybody else got anything to say?" inquired Mark.</p> + +<p>"Yes, bah Jove! I have, don't ye know."</p> + +<p>This came from Mr. Chauncey Van Rensallear Mount-Bonsall. Chauncey wore +a high collar and a London accent; he was by this time playfully known +as "the man with a tutor and a hyphen," both of which luxuries it had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +been found he possessed. But Chauncey was no fool for all his +mannerisms.</p> + +<p>"Aw—yes," said he, "I have something to say, ye know. Those deuced +yearlings will haze us more than any other plebes in the place. Beastly +word, that, by the way. I hate to be called a plebe, ye know. There is +blue blood in our family, bah Jove, and I'll guarantee there isn't one +yearling in the place can show better. Why, my grandfather——"</p> + +<p>"I call the gentleman to order," laughed Mark. "Hazing's the business on +hand. Hazing, and not hancestors."</p> + +<p>"I know," expostulated Chauncey, "but I hate to be called a plebe, ye +know. As I was going to say, however, they'll haze us most. Mark +has—aw—fooled them a dozen times, bah Jove! Texas chastised four of +them. Parson, I'm told, chased half a dozen once. My friend Indian here +got so deuced mad the other day that he nearly killed one, don't ye +know. Dewey's worse, and as for me and my friend Sleepy here—aw—bah +Jove!—--"</p> + +<p>"You did better than all of us!" put in Mark.</p> + +<p>Chauncey paused a moment to make a remark about "those deuced drills, ye +know, which kept a fellah from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> ever having a clean collah, bah Jove!" +And then he continued.</p> + +<p>"I just wanted to say, ye know, that we were selected for the hazing +to-night, and that we might as well do something desperate at once, bah +Jove! that's what I think, and so does my friend Sleepy. Don't you, +Sleepy?"</p> + +<p>"I ain't a-thinkin' abaout it 't all," came a voice from the bed where +Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers, the farmer, lay stretched out.</p> + +<p>"Sleepy's too tired," laughed Mark. "It seems to be the unanimous +opinion of the crowd," he continued, after a moment's pause, "that we +might just as well be bold. In other words, that we have no hazing."</p> + +<p>"B'gee!" cried Dewey, springing to his feet, excitedly. "B'gee, I didn't +say that! No, sir!"</p> + +<p>"What did you say, then?" inquired Mark.</p> + +<p>"I said that we shouldn't let them haze us, b'gee, and I meant it, too. +I never said no hazing! Bet cher life, b'gee! I was just this moment +going to make the motion that we carry the war into the enemy's country, +that we upset West Point traditions for once and forever, and with a +bang, too. In other words"—here the excitable youngster paused, so that +his momentous idea might have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> due weight—"in other words, b'gee, that +we haze the yearlings!"</p> + +<p>There was an awed silence for a few moments to give that terrifically +original proposition a chance to settle in the minds of the amazed +"devils."</p> + +<p>Texas was the first to act and he leaped across the room at a bound and +seized "B'gee" by the hand.</p> + +<p>"Wow!" he roared. "Whoop! Bully, b'gee!"</p> + +<p>And in half a minute more the seven, including the timid Indian, had +registered a solemn vow to do deeds of valor that would "make them ole +cadets look crosseyed," as Texas put it.</p> + +<p>They were going to haze the yearlings!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE MOVE INTO CAMP.</span></h2> + + +<p>The new cadets at West Point are housed in barracks for two weeks after +their admission. During this time "squad drill" is the daily rule, and +the strangers learn to march and stand and face—everything a new +soldier has to learn, with the exception of the manual of arms. After +that they are adjudged fit to associate with the older cadets, and are +marched up to "Camp McPherson." This usually takes place about the first +day of July.</p> + +<p>Our friends, the seven, had been measured for uniforms along with the +rest of the plebe company during their first days in barracks. The +fatigue uniforms had been given out that morning, to the great +excitement of everybody, and now "cit" clothing, with all its fantastic +variety of hats and coats of all colors, was stowed away in trunks "for +good," and the plebes costumed uniformly in somber suits of gray, with +short jackets and only a black seam down the trousers for ornament. Full +dress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> uniforms, such as the old cadets up at camp were wearing, were +yet things of the future.</p> + +<p>That morning also the plebes had been "sized" for companies.</p> + +<p>Of "companies" there are four, into which the battalion of some three +hundred cadets is divided, "for purposes of instruction in infantry +tactics, and in military police and discipline." (For purposes of +"academic instruction," they are of course divided into the four +classes: First, second, third, or "yearlings," and fourth, the +"plebes".) The companies afore-mentioned are under the command of +tactical officers. These latter report to the "commandant of cadets," +who is, next to the superintendent, the highest ranking officer on the +post.</p> + +<p>The companies are designated A, B, C and D. A and D are flank companies, +and to them the tallest cadets are assigned. B and C are center +companies. Mark and Texas, and also the Parson and Sleepy, all of whom +were above the average height, found themselves in A. The remainder of +the Seven Devils managed to land in B; and the whole plebe class was +ordered to pack up and be ready to move immediately after dinner.</p> + +<p>The cadets are allowed to take only certain articles to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> camp; the rest, +together with the cit's clothing, was stored in trunks and put away in +the trunk room.</p> + +<p>Right here at the start there was trouble for the members of our +organization. Texas, it will be remembered, had a choice assortment of +guns of all caliber, sixteen in number. These he had stored up the +chimney of his room for safety. (The chimney is a favorite place of +concealment for contraband articles at West Point). But there was no +such place of concealment in camp; and no way of getting the guns there +anyhow. There are no pockets in the cadets' uniforms except a small one +for a watch. Money they are not allowed to carry, and their +handkerchiefs are tucked in the breasts of their coats.</p> + +<p>It was a difficult situation, for Texas, with true Texan cautiousness, +vowed he'd never leave his guns behind.</p> + +<p>"Why, look a yere, man," he cried. "I tell you, t'ain't safe now fo' a +feller to go up thar 'thout anything to defend himself. You kain't tell +what may happen!"</p> + +<p>The Parson was in a similar quandary. His chimney contained a various +assortment of chemicals, together with sundry geological specimens, +including that now world-famous cyathophylloid coral which had been +discovered "in a sandstone of Tertiary origin." And the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> Parson vowed +that either that cyathophylloid went to camp or he stayed in +barracks—yea, by Zeus!</p> + +<p>There was no use arguing with them; Mark tried it in vain. Texas was +obdurate and talked of holding up the crowd that dared to take those +guns away; and the Parson said that he had kept a return ticket to +Boston, his native town, a glorious city where science was encouraged +and not repressed.</p> + +<p>That was the state of affairs through dinner, and up to the moment when +the cry, "New cadets turn out!" came from the area. By that time Texas +had tied his guns in one of his shirts, and the Parson had variously +distributed his fossils about his body until he was one bundle of lumps.</p> + +<p>"If you people will congregate closely about me," he exclaimed, "I +apprehend that the state of affairs will not be observed."</p> + +<p>It was a curious assembly that "turned out"—a mass of bundles, brooms +and buckets, with a few staggering plebes underneath. They marched up to +camp that way, too, and it was with audible sighs of relief that they +dropped their burdens at the end.</p> + +<p>A word of description of "Camp McPherson" may be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> of interest to those +who have never visited West Point. It is important that the reader +should be familiar with its appearance, for many of Mark's adventures +were destined to happen there—some of them this very same night.</p> + +<p>The camp is half a mile or so from barracks, just beyond the Cavalry +Plain and very close to old Fort Clinton. The site is a pretty one, the +white tents standing out against the green of the shade trees and the +parapet of the fort.</p> + +<p>The tents are arranged in four "company streets" and are about five feet +apart. The tents have wooden platforms for floors and are large enough +for four cadets each. A long wooden box painted green serves as the +"locker"—it has no lock or key—and a wooden rod near the ridge pole +serves as a wardrobe. And that is the sum total of the furniture.</p> + +<p>The plebes made their way up the company streets and the cadet officers +in charge, under the supervision of the "tacs," assigned them to their +tents. Fortunately, plebes are allowed to select their own tent mates; +it may readily be believed the four devils of A company went together. +By good fortune the three remaining in B company, as was learned later, +found one whole tent left over and so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> were spared the nuisance of a +stranger in their midst—a fact which was especially gratifying to the +exclusive Master Chauncey.</p> + +<p>Having been assigned to their tents, the plebes were set to work under +the brief instructions of a cadet corporal at the task of arranging +their household effects. This is done with mathematical exactness. There +is a place for everything, and a penalty for not keeping it there. +Blankets, comforters, pillows, etc., go in a pile at one corner. A +looking-glass hangs on the front tent pole; a water bucket is deposited +on the front edge of the platform; candlesticks, candles, cleaning +materials, etc., are kept in a cylindrical tin box at the foot of the +rear tent pole; and so on it goes, through a hundred items or so. There +are probably no more uniform things in all nature than the cadet tents +in camp. The proverbial peas are not to be compared with them.</p> + +<p>The amount of fear and trembling which was caused to those four friends +of ours in a certain A company tent by the contraband goods of Texas and +the Parson is difficult to imagine. The cadet corporal, lynx-eyed and +vigilant, scarcely gave them a chance to hide anything.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> It was only by +Mark's interposing his body before his friends that they managed to +slide their precious cargoes in under the blankets, a temporary hiding +place. And even when the articles were thus safely hidden, what must +that officious yearling do but march over and rearrange the pile +accurately, almost touching one of the revolvers, and making the four +tremble and quake in their boots.</p> + +<p>They managed the task without discovery, however, and went on with their +work. And by the first drum beat for dress parade that afternoon, +everything was done up in spick-and-span order, to the eye at any rate.</p> + +<p>Dress parade was a formality in which the plebes took no part but that +of interested spectators. They huddled together shyly in their newly +occupied "plebe hotels" and watched the yearlings, all in spotless snowy +uniforms, "fall in" on the company street outside. The yearlings were +wild with delight and anticipation at having the strangers right among +them at last, and they manifested great interest in the plebes, their +dwellings, and in fact in everything about them. Advice and criticism, +and all kinds of guying that can be imagined were poured upon the +trembling lads' heads, and this continued in a volley<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> until the second +drum changed the merry crowd into a silent and motionless line of +soldiers.</p> + +<p>Mark could scarcely keep his excitable friend Texas from sallying out +then and there to attack some of the more active members of this +hilarious crowd. It was evident that, while no plebe escaped entirely, +there was no plebe hotel in A company so much observed as their own. For +the three B. J.-est plebes in the whole plebe class were known to be +housed therein. Cadet Mallory, "professional hero," was urged in all +seriousness to come out and rescue somebody on the spot, which +oft-repeated request, together with other merry chaffing, he bore with a +good-natured smile. Cadet Stanard was plagued with geological questions +galore, among which the "cyathophylloid" occupied a prominent place. +Cadet Powers was dared to come out and lasso a stray "tac," whose +blue-uniformed figure was visible out on the parade ground. And Mr. +Chilvers found the state of "craps" a point of great solicitude to all.</p> + +<p>It was all stopped by the drum as has been mentioned; the company +wheeled by fours and marched down the street, leaving the plebes to an +hour of rest. But oh!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> those same yearlings were thinking. "Oh, won't we +just soak 'em to-night!"</p> + +<p>And, strange to say, the same thought was in the minds of seven +particular plebes that stayed behind. For Mark had a plot by this time.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">"FIRST NIGHT."</span></h2> + + +<p>Dress parade leaves but a few moments for supper, with no chance for +"deviling." But when the battalion marched back from that meal and broke +ranks, when the dusk of evening was coming on to make an effective +screen, then was the time, thought the cadets. And so thought the +plebes, too, as they came up the road a few minutes later, trembling +with anticipation, most of them, and looking very solemn and somber in +their dusky fatigue uniforms.</p> + +<p>"First night of plebe camp," says a well-known military writer, "is a +thing not soon to be forgotten, even in these days when pitchy darkness +no longer surrounds the pranks of the yearlings, and when official +vigilance and protection have replaced what seemed to be tacit +encouragement and consent.</p> + +<p>"Then—some years ago—it was no uncommon thing for a new cadet to be +dragged out—'yanked'—and slid around camp on his dust-covered blanket +twenty times a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> night, dumped into Fort Clinton ditch, tossed in a tent +fly, half smothered in the folds of his canvas home, ridden on a tent +pole or in a rickety wheelbarrow, smoked out by some vile, slow-burning +pyrotechnic compound, robbed of rest and sleep at the very least after +he had been alternately drilled and worked all the livelong day."</p> + +<p>In Mark's time the effort to put a stop to the abuses mentioned had just +been begun. Army officers had been put on duty at night; gas lamps had +been placed along the sentry posts—precautions which are doubled +nowadays, and with the risk of expulsion added besides. They have done +away with the worst forms of hazing if not with the spirit.</p> + +<p>The yearlings "had it in" for our four friends of company A that +evening. In fact, scarcely had the plebes scattered to their tents when +that particular plebe hotel was surrounded. The cadets had it all +arranged beforehand, just what was to happen, and they expected to have +no end of fun about it.</p> + +<p>"Parson Stanard" was to be serenaded first; the crowd meant to surround +him and "invite" him to read some learned extracts from his beloved +"Dana." The Parson was to recount some of the nobler deeds of Boston's +he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>roes, including himself; he was to display his learning by answering +questions on every conceivable subject; he was to define and spell a +list of the most outlandish words in every language known to the angels.</p> + +<p>Texas was to show his skill and technique in hurling an imaginary lasso +and firing an imaginary revolver from an imaginary galloping horse. He +was to tell of the geography, topography, climate and resources of the +Lone Star State; he was to recount the exploits of his "dad," "the Hon. +Scrap Powers, sah, o' Hurricane Co.," and his uncle, the new +Senator-elect. Mark was to give rules for rescuing damsels, saving +expresses and ferryboats, etc. And Mr. Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers of +Kansas was to state his favorite method of raising three-legged chickens +and three-foot whiskers.</p> + +<p>That was the delicious programme as finally agreed upon by the +yearlings. And there was only one drawback met in the execution of it. +The four plebes could not be found!</p> + +<p>They weren't in their tent; they weren't in camp! Preposterous! The +yearlings hunted, scarcely able to believe their eyes. The plebes, of +course, had a perfect right to take a walk after supper if they chose. +But the very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> idea of daring to do it on the first night in camp, when +they knew that the yearlings would visit them and expect to be +entertained! It was an unheard-of thing to do; but it was just what one +would have expected of those B. J. beasts, so the yearlings grumbled, as +they went off to other tents to engage other plebes in conversation and +controversy.</p> + +<p>But where were the four? No place in particular. They had simply joined +the other three and had the impudence to disappear in the woods for a +stroll until tattoo. They had come to the conclusion that it was better +to do that than to stay and be "guyed," as they most certainly would be +if they refused their tormentors' requests. And Mark had overruled +Texas' vehement offer to stay and "do up the hull crowd," deciding that +the cover of the night would be favorable to the sevens' hazing, and +that until then they should make themselves scarce.</p> + +<p>In the meantime there was high old sport in Camp McPherson. In response +to the requests of the merry yearlings, some plebes were sitting out on +the company streets and rowing desperate races at a 34-to-the-minute +stroke with brooms for oars and air for water; some were playing +imaginary hand-organs, while others sang songs to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> tunes; some +"beasts" were imitating every imaginable animal in a real "menagerie," +and some were relating their personal history while trying to stand on +their heads.</p> + +<p>All this kind of hazing is good-natured and hurts no one physically, +however much the loss of dignity may torment some sensitive souls. It is +the only kind of hazing that remains to any great extent nowadays.</p> + +<p>In the midst of such hilarity time passes very rapidly—to the +yearlings, anyway. In almost no time tattoo had sounded; and then the +companies lined up for the evening roll call, the seven dropping into +line as silently as they had stolen off, deigning a word to no one in +explanation of their strange conduct.</p> + +<p>"That's what I call a pretty B. J. trick!" growled Cadet Harris. Bull +had been looking forward with great glee to that evening's chance to +ridicule Mark, with all his classmates to back him; it was a lost chance +now, and Bull was angry in consequence.</p> + +<p>Bull's cronies agreed with him as to the "B. J.-ness" of that trick. And +they, along with a good many others, too, agreed that the trick ought +not be allowed to succeed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>"We ought to haze him ten times as hard to-night to make up for it!" was +the verdict.</p> + +<p>And so it happened that the seven, by their action, brought down upon +their heads all the hazing that was done after taps. This hazing, too, +was by far the least pleasant, for it was attended to only by the more +reckless members of the class, members who could not satisfy their taste +for torture by making a helpless plebe sing songs, but must needs tumble +him out of bed and ride him on a rail at midnight besides.</p> + +<p>The fact, however, that all such members of the yearling class had +decided to concentrate their torments upon him did not worry Mark in the +least. In fact, that was just what Mark had expected and prepared for.</p> + +<p>And so there was destined to be fun that night.</p> + +<p>"Now go to your tents, make down your bedding just as you were taught at +barracks; do not remove your underclothing; hang up your uniforms where +each man can get his own in an instant; put your shoes and caps where +you can get them in the dark if need be; turn in and blow your candle +out, before the drum strikes 'taps,' at ten. After that, not a sound! +Get to sleep as soon as you can and be ready to form here at reveille."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>So spoke Cadet Corporal Jasper; and then at the added command, "Break +ranks, march!" the plebe company scattered, and with many a sigh of +relief vanished as individuals in the various tents.</p> + +<p>The corporal's last order, "be ready to form here at reveille," is a +source of much worriment to the plebe. But the one before it, "get to +sleep as soon as you can," is obeyed with the alacrity born of hours of +drill and marching. Long before tattoo, which is the signal for "lights +out," the majority of the members of the class were already dreaming. +Perhaps they were not resting very easily, for most of them had a vague +idea that there might be trouble that night; but they knew that lying +awake would not stop it, and they were all too sleepy anyway.</p> + +<p>The last closing ceremony of a West Point day in camp is the watchful +"tac's" inspection. One of these officers goes the rounds with a dark +lantern, flashing it into every tent and making sure that the four +occupants are really in bed. (The "bed" consists of a board floor, and +blankets.) Having attended to this duty, the tac likewise retires and +Camp McPherson sinks into the slumbers of the night.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>After that until five the next morning there is no one awake but the +tireless sentries. A word about these. The camp is a military one and is +never without guard from the moment the tents are stretched until the +29th of August, when the snowy canvas comes to the ground once more. The +"guard tent" is at the western end of the camp, and is under the charge +of the "corporal of the guard," a cadet. The sentries are cadets, too, +and there are five of them, numbered—sentry No. 1 and so on. The +ceremony each morning at which these sentries go on duty is called +"guard-mounting." And during the next twenty-four hours these sentries +are on duty two hours in every six—two hours on and then four off, +making eight in the twenty-four.</p> + +<p>These sentries being cadets themselves—and yearlings at present—hazing +is not so difficult as it might seem. A sentry can easily arrange to +have parties cross his beat without his seeing them; it is only when the +sentry is not in the plot that the thing is dangerous.</p> + +<p>The "tac"—Lieutenant Allen was his name—had made his rounds for the +night, finding plebes and yearlings, too, all sleeping soundly, or +apparently so. And after that there was nothing moving but the tramping +sentinels, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> the shadows of the trees in the moonlight as they fell +on the shining tents—that is, there was nothing moving that was +visible. The yearlings, plenty of them, were wide awake in their tents +and preparing for their onslaught upon the sleeping plebes.</p> + +<p>Sleeping? Perhaps, but certainly not all of them. Some of those plebes +were as wide awake as the yearlings, and they were engaged in an +occupation that would have taken the yearlings considerably by surprise +if they had known it. There were seven of them in two tents, tents that +were back to back and close together, one being in Company A and one in +B.</p> + +<p>They were very quiet about their work; for it was a risky business. +Discovery would have meant the sentry's yelling for the corporal of the +guard; meant that Lieutenant Allen would have leaped into his trousers +and been out of his tent at the corporal's heels; meant a strict +investigation, discovery, court-martial and dismissal. It was all right +for yearlings to be out at night; but plebes—never!</p> + +<p>It grew riskier still as a few minutes passed, for one of the B. J. +beasts had the temerity to come out of his tent. He came very +cautiously, it was true, worming his way<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> along the ground silently, in +true Indian—or Texas style. For Texas it was, that adventurous youth +having vowed and declared that if he were not allowed to attend to this +particular piece of mischief he would go out and hold up a sentry +instead; the other three occupants were peering under the tent folds +watching him anxiously as he crawled along.</p> + +<p>As a fact, Texas' peril was not as great as was supposed, for the +sentries had no means of telling if he was a yearling or not. The idea +of a plebe's daring to break rules would not have occurred to them +anyhow. Be that as it may, at any rate nobody interrupted the Seven +Devils' plans. Cadet Powers made his way across the "street," deposited +his burden, a glistening steel revolver some two feet long. And then he +stole back and the crowd lay still in their tents and watched and +waited.</p> + +<p>They had not long to do that. Texas barely had time to crawl under the +canvas and to mutter to his friends—for the hundredth time:</p> + +<p>"Didn't I tell ye them air guns 'ud come in handy?"</p> + +<p>At that very moment a sound of muffled laughter warned them that the +moment had arrived.</p> + +<p>"Just in time!" whispered Mark, seizing his friend by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> the hand and at +the same time giving vent to a subdued chuckle. "Just in time. S-sh!"</p> + +<p>The four, who lay side by side under the tent, could hear each other's +hearts thumping then.</p> + +<p>"Will it work? Will it work?" was the thought in the mind of every one +of them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> + + + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.<br /> +<span class="smalltext">CONCLUSION.</span></h2> + + +<p>The yearlings were a merry party, about ten of them, and they were out +for fun and all the fun that could be had. They were going to make it +hot for certain B. J. plebes, and they meant to lose no time about it, +either. They crept up the company street, laughing and talking in +whispers, for fear they should arouse the tac. The sentries they did not +care about, of course, for the sentries were pledged to "look the other +way."</p> + +<p>It was decided that the first thing to be done to those B. J. plebes was +to "yank 'em." Yanking is a West Point invention. It means that the +victim finds his blanket seized by one corner and torn from under him, +hurling him to the ground. Many a plebe's nightmares are punctuated with +just such periods as these.</p> + +<p>It seems that a "yanking" was just what the four had prepared for. They +had prepared for it by huddling up in one corner and rigging dummies to +place in their beds. The dummies consisted of wash basins, buckets, +etc., and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> it was calculated that when these dummies were yanked they +would be far from dumb.</p> + +<p>The yearlings stole up cautiously; they did not know they were watched. +The breathless plebes saw their shadows on the tent walls, and knew just +what was going on. They saw the figures line up at the back; they saw +half a dozen pairs of hands gently raise the canvas, and get a good firm +grip on the blankets. Then came a subdued "Now!" and then—well, things +began to happen after that!</p> + +<p>The yearlings "yanked" with all the power of their arms. The blankets +gave way, and the result was a perfectly amazing clatter and crash. Have +you ever heard half a dozen able-bodied dishwashers working at once?</p> + +<p>Naturally the wildest panic resulted among the attacking party. They did +not know what they had done, but they did know that they had done +something desperate, and that they wished they hadn't. As the sound +broke out on the still, night air they turned in alarm and made a wild +dash for their tents.</p> + +<p>Two of them raced down the company street at top speed; both of them +suddenly struck an unexpected obstruction and were sent flying through +the air. It was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> string; and at one end of it was the Texas +.44-caliber. The result was a bang that woke the camp with a jump. And +then there was fun for fair.</p> + +<p>The sentries knew then that every one was awake, including the "tac," +and that they might just as well, therefore, "give the alarm." All five +of them accordingly set up a wild shout for the corporal of the guard. +This brought the young officer and Lieutenant Allen on the scene in no +time. Also it brought from the land of dreams every cadet in the corps +who had managed to sleep through the former racket. And nearly all of +them rushed to their tent doors wondering what would happen next.</p> + +<p>The seven meanwhile had been working like beavers. The instant the gun +had gone off Texas, who held the string, had yanked it in and stowed it +away with his other weapons, shaking with laughter in the meanwhile. The +others had gone to work with a will; pitcher, basin, bucket, everything, +had been hastily set in place; blankets had been relaid; and everything, +in short, was put in order again, so that by the time that Lieutenant +Allen got around to their tent—the officer had seized his lantern and +set out on a hasty round to discover the jokers—he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> found four "scared" +plebes, sitting up in beds, sleepily rubbing their eyes, and inquiring +in anxiety:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>He didn't tell them, for he hadn't the remotest idea himself. And nobody +told him; the yearlings couldn't have if they had wanted to.</p> + +<p>Of course the lieutenant didn't care to stay awake all night, +fruitlessly asking questions; so he went to bed. The sentries resumed +their march, wondering meanwhile what on earth had led their classmates +to make so much rumpus, and speculating as to whether it could possibly +be true, what one cadet had suggested—that that wild and woolly Texan +had tried to shoot some one who had hazed him. The rest of the cadets +dropped off to sleep. And soon everybody was quiet again—that is, +except the Seven Devils.</p> + +<p>The Seven Devils had only just begun. They lay and waited until things +were still, and then Mark gave the order, and the crowd rose as one man +and stole softly out into the street. This included even the trembling +Indian, who was muttering "Bless my soul!" at a great rate.</p> + +<p>"I guess they're all asleep now," whispered Mark.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>"What are you going to do?" inquired Indian.</p> + +<p>"Yank 'em," responded Mark, briefly. "Come ahead."</p> + +<p>Mark had seen that the yearlings came up boldly, which told him at once +that the sentries were "fixed," and he calculated that just at the +moment the moon being clouded, the sentries would not know yearlings +from plebes. The only danger was that Lieutenant Allen might still be +awake. It was risky, but then——</p> + +<p>"Do you see Bull Harris' tent?" Mark whispered. "It is the sixth from +here. He and the Baby, with Vance and Murray, are in there. Now, then."</p> + +<p>With trembling hearts the crowd crept down the street; this was their +first venture as lawbreakers. They stole up behind the tent just as the +yearlings had; they reached under the canvas and seized the blankets. +And then came a sudden haul—and confusion and muttered yells from the +inside, which told them that no dummies had been yanked this time.</p> + +<p>The yearlings sprang up in wrath and gazed out; retreating footsteps and +muffled laughter were all that remained, and they went back to bed in +disgust. The plebes went, too, in high glee.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>"And now," said Mark. "I guess we might as well go to sleep."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>One does not like to leave this story without having a word to say about +what the corps thought of the whole thing next morning. The "tac," of +course, reported to his superior the night's alarm—"cause unknown," and +that was the end of the matter officially. But the yearlings—phew!</p> + +<p>The class compared notes right after reveille; and no one talked about +anything else for the rest of that day. The cause of the rumpus made by +the blankets was soon guessed; the two who had set off the gun were +questioned, and that problem soon worked out also; that alone was bad +enough! But the amazement when Bull and his tentmates turned up and +declared that they—yearlings!—had been yanked, yes yanked, and by some +measly plebes at that, there is no possibility of describing the +indignation. Why, it meant that the class had been defied, that West +Point had been overturned, that the world was coming to an end, +and—what more could it possibly mean?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>And through all the excitement the Seven just looked at each other—and +winked:</p> + +<p>"B. B. J.!" they said: "Just watch us!"</p> + +<p>"It was great, b'gee!" said Dewey. "Hurrah for the plebes!"</p> + +<p>"Hurrah!" was the answer, in a shout. "Hurrah!"</p> + + +<p class="center newchapter">THE END.</p> + + + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<p class="u bold center bigtext">THE CREAM OF JUVENILE FICTION</p> + +<h2>THE BOYS' OWN LIBRARY</h2> + +<p class="center">A Selection of the Best Books for Boys by the Most Popular Authors</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The titles in this splendid juvenile series have been selected with +care, and as a result all the stories can be relied upon for their +excellence. They are bright and sparkling; not over-burdened with +lengthy descriptions, but brimful of adventure from the first page to +the last—in fact they are just the kind of yarns that appeal strongly +to the healthy boy who is fond of thrilling exploits and deeds of +heroism. Among the authors whose names are included in the Boys' Own +Library are Horatio Alger, Jr., Edward S. Ellis, James Otis, Capt. Ralph +Bonehill, Burt L. Standish, Gilbert Patten and Frank H. Converse.</p> + +<p class="center bold">SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE BOYS' OWN LIBRARY</p> + +<p>All the books in this series are copyrighted, printed on good paper, +large type, illustrated, printed wrappers, handsome cloth covers stamped +in inks and gold—fifteen special cover designs.</p> + +<p class="center u"><i>146 Titles—Price, per Volume, 75 cents</i></p> + +<p>For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by +the publisher.</p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="bigtext">DAVID McKAY,</span><br /> +610 SO. WASHINGTON SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA, PA.</p></div> + + + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">HORATIO ALGER, Jr.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">One of the best known and most popular writers. Good, clean, healthy +stories for the American Boy.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Adventures of a Telegraph Boy</li> +<li>Dean Dunham</li> +<li>Erie Train Boy, The</li> +<li>Five Hundred Dollar Check</li> +<li>From Canal Boy to President</li> +<li>From Farm Boy to Senator</li> +<li>Backwoods Boy, The</li> +<li>Mark Stanton</li> +<li>Ned Newton</li> +<li>New York Boy</li> +<li>Tom Brace</li> +<li>Tom Tracy</li> +<li>Walter Griffith</li> +<li>Young Acrobat</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">C. B. ASHLEY.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">One of the best stories ever written on hunting, trapping and adventure +in the West, after the Custer Massacre.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Gilbert, the Boy Trapper</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">ANNIE ASHMORE.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">A splendid story, recording the adventures of a boy with smugglers.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Smuggler's Cave, The</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">CAPT. RALPH BONEHILL.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Capt. Bonehill is in the very front rank as an author of boys' stories. +These are two of his best works.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Neka, the Boy Conjurer</li> +<li>Tour of the Zero Club</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">WALTER F. BRUNS.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">An excellent story of adventure in the celebrated Sunk Lands of Missouri +and Kansas.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>In the Sunk Lands</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">FRANK H. CONVERSE.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">This writer has established a splendid reputation as a boys' author, and +although his books usually command $1.25 per volume, we offer the +following at a more popular price.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Gold of Flat Top Mountain</li> +<li>Happy-Go-Lucky Jack</li> +<li>Heir to a Million</li> +<li>In Search of An Unknown Race</li> +<li>In Southern Seas</li> +<li>Mystery of a Diamond</li> +<li>That Treasure</li> +<li>Voyage to the Gold Coast</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">HARRY COLLINGWOOD.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">One of England's most successful writers of stories for boys. His best +story is</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Pirate Island</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">GEORGE H. COOMER.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Two books we highly recommend. One is a splendid story of adventure at +sea, when American ships were in every port in the world, and the other +tells of adventures while the first railway in the Andes Mountains was +being built.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Boys in the Forecastle</li> +<li>Old Man of the Mountain</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">WILLIAM DALTON.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Three stories by one of the very greatest writers for boys. The stories +deal with boys' adventures in India, China and Abyssinia. These books +are strongly recommended for boys' reading, as they contain a large +amount of historical information.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Tiger Prince</li> +<li>War Tiger</li> +<li>White Elephant</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">EDWARD S. ELLIS.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">These books are considered the best works this well-known writer ever +produced. No better reading for bright young Americans.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Arthur Helmuth</li> +<li>Check No. 2134</li> +<li>From Tent to White House</li> +<li>Perils of the Jungle</li> +<li>On the Trail of Geronimo</li> +<li>White Mustang</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">For the past fifty years Mr. Fenn has been writing books for boys and +popular fiction. His books are justly popular throughout the +English-speaking world. We publish the following select list of his +boys' books, which we consider the best he ever wrote.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Commodore Junk</li> +<li>Dingo Boys</li> +<li>Weathercock</li> +<li>Golden Magnet</li> +<li>Grand Chaco</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">ENSIGN CLARKE FITCH, U. S. N.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and thoroughly +familiar with all naval matters. Mr. Fitch has devoted himself to +literature, and has written a series of books for boys that every young +American should read. His stories are full of very interesting +information about the navy, training ships, etc.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Bound for Annapolis</li> +<li>Clif, the Naval Cadet</li> +<li>Cruise of the Training Ship</li> +<li>From Port to Port</li> +<li>Strange Cruise, A</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">WILLIAM MURRAY GRAYDON.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">An author of world-wide popularity. Mr. Graydon is essentially a friend +of young people, and we offer herewith ten of his best works, wherein he +relates a great diversity of interesting adventures in various parts of +the world, combined with accurate historical data.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Butcher of Cawnpore, The</li> +<li>Camp in the Snow, The</li> +<li>Campaigning with Braddock</li> +<li>Cryptogram, The</li> +<li>From Lake to Wilderness</li> +<li>In Barracks and Wigwam</li> +<li>In Fort and Prison</li> +<li>Jungles and Traitors</li> +<li>Rajah's Fortress, The</li> +<li>White King of Africa, The</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">LIEUT. FREDERICK GARRISON, U. S. A.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Every American boy takes a keen interest in the affairs of West Point. +No more capable writer on this popular subject could be found than +Lieut. Garrison, who vividly describes the life, adventures and unique +incidents that have occurred in that great institution—in these famous +West Point stories.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Off for West Point</li> +<li>Cadet's Honor, A</li> +<li>On Guard</li> +<li>West Point Treasure, The</li> +<li>West Point Rivals, The</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">HEADON HILL.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">The hunt for gold has always been a popular subject for consideration, +and Mr. Hill has added a splendid story on the subject in this romance +of the Klondyke.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Spectre Gold</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">HENRY HARRISON LEWIS.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Mr. Lewis is a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and has +written a great many books for boys. Among his best works are the +following titles—the subjects include a vast series of adventures in +all parts of the world. The historical data is correct, and they should +be read by all boys, for the excellent information they contain.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Centreboard Jim</li> +<li>King of the Island</li> +<li>Midshipman Merrill</li> +<li>Yankee Boys in Japan</li> +<li>Ensign Merrill</li> +<li>Sword and Pen</li> +<li>Valley of Mystery, The</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">LIEUT. LIONEL LOUNSBERRY.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">A series of books embracing many adventures under our famous naval +commanders, and with our army during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. +Founded on sound history, these books are written for boys, with the +idea of combining pleasure with profit; to cultivate a fondness for +study—especially of what has been accomplished by our army and navy.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Cadet Kit Carey</li> +<li>Captain Carey</li> +<li>Kit Carey's Protegé</li> +<li>Lieut. Carey's Luck</li> +<li>Out With Commodore Decatur</li> +<li>Randy, the Pilot</li> +<li>Tom Truxton's School Days</li> +<li>Tom Truxton's Ocean Trip</li> +<li>Treasure of the Golden Crater</li> +<li>Won at West Point</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">BROOKS McCORMICK.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Four splendid books of adventure on sea and land, by this well-known +writer for boys.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Giant Islanders, The</li> +<li>How He Won</li> +<li>Nature's Young Nobleman</li> +<li>Rival Battalions</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">WALTER MORRIS.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">This charming story contains thirty-two chapters of just the sort of +school life that charms the boy readers.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Bob Porter at Lakeview Academy</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">STANLEY NORRIS.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Mr. Norris is without a rival as a writer of "Circus Stories" for boys. +These four books are full of thrilling adventures, but good, wholesome +reading for young Americans.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Phil, the Showman</li> +<li>Young Showman's Rivals, The</li> +<li>Young Showman's Pluck, The</li> +<li>Young Showman's Triumph</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">LIEUT. JAMES K. ORTON.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">When a boy has read one of Lieut. Orton's books, it requires no urging +to induce him to read the others. Not a dull page in any of them.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Beach Boy Joe</li> +<li>Last Chance Mine</li> +<li>Secret Chart, The</li> +<li>Tom Havens with the White Squadron</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">JAMES OTIS.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Mr. Otis is known by nearly every American boy, and needs no +introduction here. The following copyrights are among his best:</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Chased Through Norway</li> +<li>Inland Waterways</li> +<li>Reuben Green's Adventures at Yale</li> +<li>Unprovoked Mutiny</li> +<li>Wheeling for Fortune</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">GILBERT PATTEN.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Mr. Patten has had the distinction of having his books adopted by the +U. S. Government for all naval libraries on board our war ships. While +aiming to avoid the extravagant and sensational, the stories contain +enough thrilling incidents to please the lad who loves action and +adventure. In the Rockspur stories the description of their Baseball and +Football Games and other contests with rival clubs and teams make very +exciting and absorbing reading; and few boys with warm blood in their +veins, having once begun the perusal of one of these books, will +willingly lay it down till it is finished.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Boy Boomers</li> +<li>Boy Cattle King</li> +<li>Boy from the West</li> +<li>Don Kirke's Mine</li> +<li>Jud and Joe</li> +<li>Rockspur Nine, The</li> +<li>Rockspur Eleven, The</li> +<li>Rockspur Rivals, The</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">ST. GEORGE RATHBORNE.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Mr. Rathborne's stories for boys have the peculiar charm of dealing with +localities and conditions with which he is thoroughly familiar. The +scenes of these excellent stories are along the Florida coast and on the +western prairies.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Canoe and Camp Fire</li> +<li>Paddling Under Palmettos</li> +<li>Rival Canoe Boys</li> +<li>Sunset Ranch</li> +<li>Chums of the Prairie</li> +<li>Young Range Riders</li> +<li>Gulf Cruisers</li> +<li>Shifting Winds</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">ARTHUR SEWELL.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">An American story by an American author. It relates how a Yankee boy +overcame many obstacles in school and out. Thoroughly interesting from +start to finish.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Gay Dashleigh's Academy Days</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">CAPT. DAVID SOUTHWICK.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">An exceptionally good story of frontier life among the Indians in the +far West, during the early settlement period.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Jack Wheeler</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="center">The Famous Frank Merriwell Stories.</p> + +<p class="advert1">BURT L. STANDISH.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">No modern series of tales for boys and youths has met with anything like +the cordial reception and popularity accorded to the Frank Merriwell +Stories. There must be a reason for this and there is. Frank Merriwell, +as portrayed by the author, is a jolly whole-souled, honest, courageous +American lad, who appeals to the hearts of the boys. He has no bad +habits, and his manliness inculcates the idea that it is not necessary +for a boy to indulge in petty vices to be a hero. Frank Merriwell's +example is a shining light for every ambitious lad to follow. Six +volumes now ready:</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Frank Merriwell's School Days</li> +<li>Frank Merriwell's Chums</li> +<li>Frank Merriwell's Foes</li> +<li>Frank Merriwell's Trip West</li> +<li>Frank Merriwell Down South</li> +<li>Frank Merriwell's Bravery</li> +<li>Frank Merriwell's Hunting Tour</li> +<li>Frank Merriwell's Races</li> +<li>Frank Merriwell's Sports Afield</li> +<li>Frank Merriwell at Yale</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">VICTOR ST. CLAIR.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">These books are full of good, clean adventure, thrilling enough to +please the full-blooded wide-awake boy, yet containing nothing to which +there can be any objection from those who are careful as to the kind of +books they put into the hands of the young.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Cast Away in the Jungle</li> +<li>Comrades Under Castro</li> +<li>For Home and Honor</li> +<li>Zip, the Acrobat</li> +<li>From Switch to Lever</li> +<li>Little Snap, the Post Boy</li> +<li>Zig-Zag, the Boy Conjurer</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">MATTHEW WHITE, JR.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">Good, healthy, strong books for the American lad. No more interesting +books for the young appear on our lists.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Adventures of a Young Athlete</li> +<li>Eric Dane</li> +<li>Guy Hammersley</li> +<li>My Mysterious Fortune</li> +<li>Tour of a Private Car</li> +<li>Young Editor, The</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">ARTHUR M. WINFIELD.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">One of the most popular authors of boys' books. Here are three of his +best.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Mark Dale's Stage Venture</li> +<li>Young Bank Clerk, The</li> +<li>Young Bridge Tender, The</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">GAYLE WINTERTON.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">This very interesting story relates the trials and triumphs of a Young +American Actor, including the solution of a very puzzling mystery.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Young Actor, The</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p class="advert1">ERNEST A. YOUNG.</p> + +<p class="blockquot">This book is not a treatise on sports, as the title would indicate, but +relates a series of thrilling adventures among boy campers in the woods +of Maine.</p> + +<ul class="advert2"> +<li>Boats, Bats and Bicycles</li> +</ul> + +<hr class="wide" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Transcriber's Note:</p> + +<p>Numerous errors in the original text involving +missing or improper quotation marks have been corrected. In addition, +the following typographical errors present in the original text have +been corrected.</p> + +<p>In Chapter I, a spurious paragraph break following "not compelling me to +use my voice much." was removed, "convey the challenge in behalf of the +class" was changed to "convey the challenge in behalf of the class", +"inquired Jaspar" was changed to "inquired Jasper", and "the presence of +this Cyashodhylloid fossil" was changed to "the presence of this +Cyathodhylloid fossil".</p> + +<p>In Chapter VI, "the Shakesperian method" was changed to "the +Shakespearian method", and "trigometrical formulas" was changed to +"trigonometrical formulas".</p> + +<p>In Chapter IX, "imminet peril" was changed to "imminent peril".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XII, "Plantus" was changed to "Plautus".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVIII, "the seequipedalian Hellenic vocable" was changed to +"the sesquipedalian Hellenic vocable".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIX, "My name's Methusalem Zedediah Chilvers" was changed to +"My name's Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXIII, "you have worked for your appointment, to" was changed +to "you have worked for your appointment, too".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXIV, a period was changed to a comma after "Good-afternoon, +Mr. Fischer".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXVII, "Gooh! but that boom" was changed to "Gosh! but that +boom".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXIX, "This came from Mr. Chauncey Van Rensalear +Mount-Bonsall" was changed to "This came from Mr. Chauncey Van +Rensallear Mount-Bonsall".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XXXI, "tossed in a ten fly" was changed to "tossed in a tent +fly", and a semicolon was added after "air for water".</p> + +<p>In the advertisements, "to cutivate a fondness for study" was changed to +"to cultivate a fondness for study", and "good, wholsome reading" was +changed to "good, wholesome reading".</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CADET'S HONOR***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 36099-h.txt or 36099-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/0/9/36099">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/0/9/36099</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: A Cadet's Honor + Mark Mallory's Heroism + + +Author: Upton Sinclair + + + +Release Date: May 13, 2011 [eBook #36099] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CADET'S HONOR*** + + +E-text prepared by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 36099-h.htm or 36099-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36099/36099-h/36099-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36099/36099-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's note: + + "Lieut. Frederick Garrison" is a pseudonym used by Upton + Sinclair. + + + + + +[Illustration: "'The cadets of this academy, Miss Adams,' said he, 'do +not speak to Mr. Mallory.'" (see page 90)] + +A CADET'S HONOR + +Or + +Mark Mallory's Heroism + +by + +LIEUT. FREDERICK GARRISON, U. S. A. + +Author of "Off for West Point," "On Guard," "A West Point Treasure," etc. + + + + + + + +[Illustration: BOYS' OWN LIBRARY] + +Philadelphia +David Mckay, Publisher +610 South Washington Square + +Copyright, 1903 +By Street & Smith + +A Cadet's Honor + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER PAGE + I--A "Yearling" Meeting 7 + II--Mark's Mysterious Visitor 19 + III--Trouble for Mark 26 + IV--The Explanation 38 + V--Mark in Disgrace 46 + VI--Indian's Re-examination 58 + VII--The Examination of the Parson 66 + VIII--The Rescue Party 72 + IX--Heroism of the Parson 76 + X--More Troubles 81 + XI--Disadvantages of "Coventry" 85 + XII--The Embassy of the Parson 91 + XIII--Preparations for the Battle 99 + XIV--The Affair at the Fort 109 + XV--Two Plebes in Hospital 117 + XVI--The Parson's Indignation 124 + XVII--Indian in Trouble 133 + XVIII--To the Rescue 146 + XIX--The Alliance is Completed 156 + XX--Indignation of the Yearlings 162 + XXI--A Mild Attempt at Hazing 171 + XXII--The Bombshell Falls 177 + XXIII--In the Shadow of Dismissal 185 + XXIV--A Letter 193 + XXV--A Swimming Match 204 + XXVI--The Finish of a Race 211 + XXVII--What Mark Did 219 + XXVIII--Mark Meets the Superintendent 231 + XXIX--The Seven in Session 239 + XXX--The Move into Camp 248 + XXXI--"First Night" 257 + XXXII--Conclusion 268 + + + + +A CADET'S HONOR + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A "YEARLING" MEETING. + + +The whole class came to the meeting. There hadn't been such an important +meeting at West Point for many a day. The yearling class had been +outrageously insulted. The mightiest traditions of the academy had been +violated, "trampled beneath the dust," and that by two or three vile and +uncivilized "beasts"--"plebes"--new cadets of scarcely a week's +experience. And the third class, the yearlings, by inherent right the +guardians of West Point's honor, and the hazers of the plebe, had vowed +that those plebes must be punished as never had plebes been punished +before. + +The first and third classes of cadets had gone into summer camp the +previous day, immediately after the graduation exercises. From that +date, the middle of June to July 1, they have a comparative holiday, +with no drills and no duties except guard-mounting, dress parade toward +evening, and inspections. And it was during the first of the holiday +mornings that the above-mentioned "meeting" was held, beneath the shady +trees of Trophy Point, a short distance from the camp. + +"I move," shouted a voice in the crowd, "that we elect Bud Smith +chairman." + +The motion was carried with a shout, and Bud Smith, just out of hospital +by the way, was "boosted" up onto one of the guns, which served as the +"chair." Bud Smith was a tall, heavily-built youth with a face covered +by court-plaster and "contusions," as the results of a West Point fight +are officially designated by the hospital surgeon. + +"This meeting will please come to order," said the chairman. "And the +gentlemen will oblige me by keeping quiet and not compelling me to use +my voice much. For I am--er--not feeling very well to-day." + +And Bud illustrated his statement by gently mopping his "contusions" +with a damp handkerchief. + +"We have met," began the chairman, as soon as this formality was +over--"we have met, I believe, to consider the cases of three 'beasts,' +Powers, Stanard and Mallory, by name (a low groan from the class), and +to consider the best method of reducing them to submission. I don't +think it is necessary for me to restate the complaints against them, for +you are probably all as familiar with the incidents as I. 'Texas' +Powers, or as he calls himself, Jeremiah, son o' the Honorable Scrap +Powers, o' Hurricane County, Texas, must be disciplined because he fails +to understand what is expected of him. He dared to order a superior +officer out of his room, and last Monday morning he succeeded in +defeating no less than four men in our class--myself among them." + +And Cadet Smith again mopped his "contusions," and went on. + +"Of course we have got to find somebody to whip him. Then, too, Stanard +lost his temper and attacked half a dozen of our class, for no other +reason on earth than that they tied him in a sack and carried him out +onto the cavalry plain. He, too, was victorious, I am told. And then, +last of all, but of all the offenders most insolent and lawless, +comes----" + +The chairman paused solemnly before he pronounced the name. + +"Mark Mallory." + +And the storm of hisses and jeers that followed could have been heard at +barracks. It was evident that the yearlings had no love for Mark +Mallory, whoever Mark Mallory might be. + +"Mark Mallory commenced his tricks," the chairman continued, "even +before he was a cadet. He was impudent then. And the other day he dared +to act as Powers' second. And, worse than all, yesterday, to show how +utterly reckless and B. J. he is, he deliberately locked Bull Harris and +Baby Edwards up in an icehouse, with the intention of making them absent +at taps and compelling them to remain imprisoned all night. It was only +by the merest accident, they succeeding in forcing the door, that this +plan was frustrated. Now, gentlemen, this thing is about as serious as +it can possibly be. Mark Mallory's conduct shows that he's gotten the +idea into his head that not only can he avoid being hazed, but even turn +the tables upon us and bid us defiance. His attack upon the two cadets +was absolutely unprovoked. Bull told me personally that he had not +attempted to haze him, and had not even spoken to him. It was a pure +case of freshness and nothing else. And he's got to be licked for it +until he can't stand up." + +Bud Smith finished his speech amid a round of applause, and then fell to +soothing his "contusions" again. + +It may as well be stated here that Bull Harris' account of the incident +that was just now causing so much talk was an absolute falsehood. As +told in a previous volume, entitled "Off for West Point," Bull and his +gang had made an attempt to lock Mark up, and had failed, and been +locked up themselves instead. That was all. But Bull and his gang saw +fit to omit that part of the story. It was safe, for no one could +gainsay it; Mark's account was not asked for. + +"I move, Mr. Chairman," said Corporal Jasper, rising, "that inasmuch as +Mallory seems to be the leader of this fool business, that we lick him +first, and that, too, to-morrow morning. For it's growing worse every +minute. The plebes are getting so downright B. J. that a fellow can't +even give an order without fearing to be disobeyed. To-morrow morning, I +say. And I call for some one to volunteer." + +The young officer's motion took the crowd's fancy. + +"Who'll fight him? Who'll fight him?" became the cry, and was followed +by a chorus of names offered as suggestions. One was predominant, and +seemed to be the most popular. + +"Williams! Billy Williams. Get up, Billy! Speech!" + +And "Billy" arose from the ground as the cry grew louder, and said that +he was "very much honored," and that if the class really selected him he +would be most happy to do the best he possibly could. + +"Hooray! Billy's going to lick him! 'Ray for Billy." + +"I move, Mr. Chairman, that a committee be appointed to convey the +challenge on behalf of the class." + +"Carried," said the chairman. "I appoint Corporal Jasper and Cadet +Spencer. This meeting stands adjourned." + +And the yearlings scattered, bearing "Billy Williams" off in triumph. + +The committee, much as it hated to, was obliged to delay the sending of +the challenge. There were two reasons: In the first place, Mark Mallory, +together with the rest of the plebes, was being bullied and tormented +just then in the course of a squad drill; and, in the second place, one +of the committee, Cadet Spencer, was engaged in doing the bullying, +having been appointed "on duty over plebes." + +After supper, however, came a blissful half hour of rest to the +last-named unfortunates; and then the three yearlings gathered together, +took an extra quantity of dignity, and sallied forth to find the three +"B. J.'s." + +"B. J.," it may be added, is West Point for fresh, and stands for +"before June." + +Entering barracks, the committee made straight for Mark Mallory's room +and knocked. + +"Come in, thar!" shouted a voice. + +There were four occupants in the room. One was a round, fat-faced boy +with an alarmed, nervous look, Cadet Joseph Smith, of Indianapolis, +commonly known as "Indian." + +In a chair by the window sat a still more curious figure, a lank, bony +individual with ill-fitted, straying clothes and a long, sharp face. + +Upon his big, bulging knees rested a leather-bound volume labeled +"Dana's Geology," and opened at the Tertiary fossiliferous strata of the +Hudson River Valley. "Parson" Peter Stanard was too much interested to +notice the entrance of the cadets. He was trying to classify a Cyatho +phylloid coral which he had just had the luck to find. + +Sprawled upon the bed was another tall, slender fellow, his feet hoisted +up on the pile of blankets at the foot. All the committee saw of "Texas" +Powers was a pair of soles, for Texas didn't care to move. + +The fourth party was a handsome, broad-shouldered chap, with curly brown +hair. And to him Corporal Jasper, the spokesman, addressed himself. + +"Mr. Mallory?" said he. + +Mr. Mallory bowed. + +"We have come as a committee representing the yearling class." + +"I am honored," said Mr. Mallory. + +"Pray do not feel so in the least," said Corporal Jasper, witheringly. +"The class desires to express, in the first place, its entire +displeasure, both as a class and as individuals, at your unprovoked +conduct toward two of its members." + +"Um," said Mark, thoughtfully. "And did the two members tell you the +attack was unprovoked?" + +"They did." + +"Then I desire to express, in the first place, my entire displeasure, +both as a class and as an individual, at being thus grossly +misrepresented." + +"Bully!" came the voice from behind the mattress. + +"In short," continued Mark, "I desire to call the statement of Messrs. +Harris and Edwards a downright, unmitigated and contemptible lie." + +"Sock it to 'em!" chuckled the voice from the mattress. "Wow!" + +"Well put!" added "Parson" Stanard. "Worthy of the great Patrick Henry +himself." + +"Bless my soul!" chimed Indian, ready to run. + +Cadet Jasper took it coolly, like the gentleman he was. + +"It is customary, Mr. Mallory," he said, calmly, "for a man to have to +earn the right to call a higher class man a liar." + +"I am quite ready, sir," responded Mr. Mallory. + +"That is fortunate. The class offers you such an opportunity. We are +directed to bring a challenge from Cadet Williams, of the third class, +to meet him at Fort Clinton at four o'clock to-morrow morning." + +"I will consider it a favor," said Mark, politely, "if you will be good +enough to inform the class that I am most happy to accept." + +"An' look a yere," cried Texas, Mark's chum, raising his head and +peering out between his feet. "Look a yere! Whar do I come in, in this +bizness?" + +"Your seconds?" inquired Jasper, not noticing the interruption. + +"Mr. Powers and Mr. Stanard." + +"And is there any other information?" + +"None." + +"Remember, Fort Clinton at four A. M." + +"I shall be there without fail. And I thank you for your trouble in the +matter." + +Cadets Jasper and Spencer bowed and withdrew, while the four "beasts" +sat and looked at each other in silence. + +"Well," Mark said, at last, "what do you think of it?" + +"Think?" growled Texas. "I think it's a skin, that's what I think. An' +it's jest like you an' your luck, Mark Mallory!" + +And, so saying, Texas kicked the mattress off the bed. + +"If you don't do that feller Williams, whoever he is, in the first +round, I'll kick you out an' do it myself!" + +"But who is this Williams?" inquired Mark, as he picked up the mattress +and threw it at Texas. "Does anybody here know?" + +"I do," said the "Parson," reverently depositing Dana on the floor. "I +do know, and I shall, forsooth, be very happy to tell you about him. +Williams is, in the first place, as to physical proportions, the largest +man in his class; in the second place, he is the best all-around +man----" + +"All round like Indian?" inquired Texas, gravely. + +"Inasmuch as," continued the "Parson," "he won a considerable proportion +of the Olympic contests, which are celebrated here under the designation +of 'the spring games.'" + +"That sounds promising," said Mark, thoughtfully. "I wonder if he can +fight." + +"As to his pugilistic abilities, I am by no means so accurately +informed, but if my conjecture be of any value whatsoever, I should be +inclined to infer, from the fact that our enemies, the representatives +of tyranny and oppression, who are endeavoring to reduce us to +submission, have selected him as their champion and representative in +arms, that----" + +"He's a beaut," put in Texas, to save time. "And I only wish I'd had +Mark's luck." + +"And I wish," added the Boston student, "that I could contrive to +account for the presence of this Cyathodhylloid fossil in a sandstone of +Tertiary origin." + +It was not very long after this that "tattoo" sounded. But before it did +the little band of rebels up in the barracks had time to swear eternal +fealty, and to vow by all that man held dear to be present "at Fort +Clinton at four A. M. to-morrow," there, as the "Parson" classically put +it, to fire a shot for freedom that should be heard around the world. +Mark swore it, and Indian, too; Texas swore it by the seventeen guns +which were stowed away in his trunk, and by the honor of his father, +"the Honorable Scrap Powers, o' Hurricane County;" and Peter Stanard +swore it by Bunker Hill and, yea, even by Lamachus, he of the Gorgon's +crest. + +And then the meeting adjourned. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +MARK'S MYSTERIOUS VISITOR. + + +These were days of work for the plebes at West Point--days of drilling +and practicing from sunrise to night, until mind and body were +exhausted. And it usually happened that most of the unfortunates were +already sound asleep by the time "tattoo" was sounded, that is, unless +the unfortunates had been still more unfortunate, unfortunate enough to +fall into the clutches of the merciless yearling. When "taps" came half +an hour later, meaning lights out and all quiet, there was usually scant +need for the round of the watchful "tac," as the tactical officer is +designated. + +It happened so on this night. The "tac" found all quiet except for the +snoring. And, this duty over, the officer made his way to his own home; +and after that there was nothing awake except the lonely sentry who +marched tirelessly up and down the halls. + +The night wore on, the moon rose and shone down in the silent area, +making the shadows of the gray stone building stand out dark and black. +And the clock on the guardhouse indicated the hour of eleven. + +It was not very many minutes more before there was a dark, shadowy form, +stealing in by the eastern sally-port, and hugging closely the black +shadows of the wall. He paused, whoever it was, when he reached the +area, and waited, listening. The sentry's tramp grew clear and then died +out again, which meant that the sentry was back in the hallway of the +barracks, and then the shadowy form stepped out into the moonlight and +ran swiftly and silently across the area and sprang up the steps to the +porch of the building; and there he stood and waited again until once +more the sentry was far away--then stepped into the doorway and crept +softly up the stairs. The strange midnight visitor was evidently some +one who knew the place. + +He knew just the room he was going to, also, for he wasted not a +moment's time, but stole swiftly down the hall, and stopped before one +of the doors. It was the room of Cadets Mallory and Powers. + +Doors at West Point are never locked; there are no keys. The strange +visitor crouched and listened cautiously. A sound of deep and regular +breathing came from within, and, hearing it, he softly opened the door, +entered and then just as carefully shut it behind him. Having attended +to this, he crept to one of the beds. He seemed to know which one he +wanted without even looking; it was Mark Mallory's. And then the +stranger leaned over and gently touched the occupant. + +The occupant was sleeping soundly, for he was tired; the touch had no +effect upon him. The visitor tried again, and harder, this time with +success. Mark Mallory sat up in alarm. + +"Ssh! Don't make a sound," whispered the other. "I've got a message for +you. Ssh!" + +It is enough to alarm any one to be awakened out of a sound sleep in +such a manner, and at such a time, and Mark's heart was thumping +furiously. + +"Who are you?" he whispered. + +The figure made no answer, but crept to the window, instead, where the +moonlight was streaming in. And Mark recognized him instantly as one of +the small drum orderlies he had seen about the post. Half his alarm +subsided then, and he arose and joined the boy at the window. + +"Here," said the boy. "Read it." + +And so saying, he shoved a note into the other's hand. Mark took it +hurriedly, tore it open and read it. + +It took him but a moment to do so, and when he finished his face was a +picture of amazement and incredulity. + +"Who gave you this?" he demanded, angrily. + +"Ssh!" whispered the boy, glancing fearfully at the bed where Texas lay. +"Ssh! You may wake him. She did." + +"Now, look here!" said Mark, in a recklessly loud voice, for he was +angry, believing that the boy was lying. "Now, look here! I've been +fooled with one letter this way, and I don't mean to be fooled again. If +this is a trap of those cadets, as sure as I'm alive, I'll report the +matter to the superintendent and have you court-martialed. Remember! And +now I give you a chance to take it back. If you tell me the truth I'll +let you go unhurt. Now, once more, who gave you this?" + +And Mark looked the trembling boy in the eye; but the boy still clung to +his story. + +"She did, indeed she did," he protested. + +"Where?" asked Mark. + +"Down at her house." + +"Why were you there?" + +"I live there." + +Mark stared at the boy for a moment more, and bit his lip in +uncertainty. Then he turned away and fell to pacing up and down the +room, muttering to himself. + +"Yes," he said, "yes, I believe she wrote it. But what on earth can it +mean? What on earth can be the matter?" + +Then he turned to the boy. + +"Do you know what she wants?" he inquired. + +"No, sir," whispered the other. "Only she told me to show you the way to +her house." + +"Is anything the matter?" + +"I don't know; but she looked very pale." + +And Mark turned away once more and fell to pacing back and forth. + +"Shall I go?" he mused. "Shall I go? It's beyond cadet limits. If I'm +caught it means court-martial and expulsion. There's the 'blue book' on +the mantel staring at me for a warning. By jingo! I don't think I'll +risk it!" + +He turned to the boy about to refuse the request; and then suddenly came +another thought--she knew the danger as well as he! She knew what it +meant to go beyond limits, and yet she had sent for him at this strange +hour of the night, and for him, too, a comparative stranger. Surely, it +must be a desperate matter, a matter in which to fail was sheer +cowardice. At the same time with the thought there rose up before him a +vision of a certain very sweet and winsome face; and when he spoke to +the boy his answer was: + +"I'll go." + +He stepped to the desk, and wrote hastily on a piece of paper this note +to Texas: + + "I'll be back in time to fight. Explain later. Trust + me. + + "MARK." + +This he laid on the bureau, and then silently but quickly put on his +clothes and stepped to the door with the boy. Mark halted for a moment +and glanced about the room to make sure that all was well and that Texas +was asleep, and then he softly shut the door and turned to the boy. + +"How are we going to get out?" he demanded. + +"Come," responded the other, setting the example by creeping along on +tiptoe. "Come." + +They halted again at the top of the stairway to wait until the sentry +had gone down, and then stole down and dodged outside the door just as +the latter turned and marched back. Flattened against the wall, they +waited breathlessly, while he approached nearer and nearer, and then he +halted, wheeled and went on. At the same moment the two crept quickly +across the area and vanished in the darkness of the sally port. + +"Now," said the drum boy, as they came out on the other side, "here we +are. Come on." + +Mark turned and followed him swiftly down the road toward Highland +Falls, and quiet once more reigned about the post. + +There was one thing more that needs to be mentioned. It was a very +simple incident, but it was destined to lead to a great deal. It was +merely that a gust of wind blew in at the window of the room where Texas +slept, and, seizing the sheet of paper upon which Mark had written, +lifted it gently up and dropped it softly and silently behind the +bureau, whither Mark had thrown the other note. + +And that was all. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +TROUBLE FOR MARK. + + +Time has a way of passing very hurriedly when there is anything going to +happen, especially if it be something disagreeable. The hands of the +clock had been at half-past eleven when Mark left. It took them almost +no time to hurry on to midnight, and not much longer to get to two. And +from two it went on to three, and then to half-past. The blackness of +the night began to wane, and the sky outside the window to lighten with +the first gray streaks of dawn. Not long after this time up in one of +the rooms on the second floor of barracks, Division 8, the occupant of +one of the rooms began to grow restless. For the occupant had promised +himself and others to awaken them. And awaken he did suddenly, and +turned over, rubbed his eyes, and sat up. + +"Mark! Oh, Mark!" he called, softly. "Git up, thar! It's time to be +hustlin'!" + +There was no answer, and Texas got up, yawning, and went to the other +bed. + +"Git up thar, you prize fighter you!" + +And as he spoke he aimed a blow at the bed, and the next moment he +started back in amazement, for his hand had touched nothing but a +mattress, and Texas knew that the bed was empty. + +"Wow!" he muttered. "He's gone without me!" + +And with this thought in his mind he rushed to his watch to see if he +were too late. + +No, it was just ten minutes to four, and Texas started hastily to dress, +wondering at the same time what on earth could have led Mark to go so +early and without his friend. + +"That was the goldurndest queer trick I ever did hear of in my life, by +jingo!" + +It took him but a few short moments to fling his clothes on; and then he +stepped quickly across the hall and entered a room on the other side. + +"I wonder if that Parson's gone with him," he muttered. + +The "Parson" had not, for Texas found him engaged in encasing his long, +bony legs in a pair of trousers that would have held a dozen such. + +"Are you accoutered for the combat?" he whispered, in a sepulchral +tone, sleepily brushing his long black hair from his eyes. "Where is +Mark?" + +"The fool's gone up there without us!" replied the Texan, angrily. + +"Without us!" echoed Stanard, sliding into his pale sea-green socks. + +"Bless my soul!" echoed a voice from the bed--Indian was too sleepy to +get up. "Bless my soul, what an extraordinary proceeding!" + +"Come on," said Texas. "Hurry up." + +The "Parson" snatched up his coat and made for the door. + +"I think," said he, halting at the door in hesitation. "I think I'll +leave my book behind. I'll hardly need it, do you think?" + +"Come on!" growled Texas, impatiently. "Hurry up!" + +Texas was beginning to get angry, as he thought, over Mark's "fool +trick." + +The two dodged the sentry without much trouble; it is probable that the +sentry didn't want to see them, even if he did. They ran hastily out +through the sally port and across the parade ground, Texas, in his +impatience, dragging his long-legged companion in tow. They made a long +detour and approached Fort Clinton from behind the hotel, in order to +avoid the camp. Hearing voices from inside the embankment, Texas sprang +hastily forward, scrambled up the bank, and peered down into the +inclosure. + +"Here they are," called one of the cadets, and then, as he glanced at +the two, he added: "But where's Mallory?" + +And Texas gazed about him in blank amazement. + +"Where is he?" he echoed. "Where is he? Why, ain't he yere?" + +It was the cadets' turn to look surprised. + +"Here?" echoed Corporal Jasper. "Here! Why, we haven't seen him." + +"Hain't seen him!" roared Texas, wild with vexation. "What in thunder!" + +"Wasn't he in your room?" inquired somebody. + +"No. He was gone! I thought, of course, he'd come out yere." + +And Texas fell to pacing up and down inside the fort, chewing at his +finger nails and muttering angrily to himself, while the yearlings +gathered into a group and speculated what the strange turn in the affair +could mean. + +"It's ten to one he's flunked," put in Bull Harris, grinning joyfully. + +Some such idea was lurking in Texas' mind, too, but it made him mad that +any of his enemies should say it. + +"If he has," he bellowed, wheeling about angrily and facing the cadet. +"If he has it's because you've tricked him again, you ole white-legged +scoundrel you!" + +Texas doubled up his fists and looked ready to fight right then; Bull +Harris opened his mouth to answer, but Jasper interposed: + +"That's enough," said he. "We can settle this some other time. The +question is now about Mallory. You say, Mr. Powers, you've not the least +idea where he is?" + +"If I had," responded Texas, "if I had, d'you think I'd be hyar?" + +Jasper glanced at his watch. "It's five minutes after now," said he, +"and I----" + +He got no farther, for Texas started forward on a run. + +"I'm a goin' to look fo' him!" he announced. And then he sprang over the +embankment and disappeared, while the cadets stood about waiting +impatiently, and speculating as to what Mark's conduct could mean. Poor +Stanard sat sprawled out on top of the earthworks, where he sat down in +amazement and confusion when he discovered that Mark was not on hand; +and there he sat yet, too much amazed and confused to move or say +anything. + +Meanwhile Texas was hurrying back to barracks with all the speed he +could command, his mind in a confused state of anxiety and doubt and +anger. The position of humiliation in which Mark's conduct had placed +him was gall and wormwood to him, and he was fast working himself into a +temper of the Texas style. + +He rushed upstairs, forgetting that such a thing as a sentry existed. He +burst into the room and gazed about him. The place was empty still, and +Texas slammed the door and marched downstairs again, and raced back to +the fort. + +The cadets were still waiting impatiently, for it was a good while after +four by this time. + +"Find him?" they inquired. + +"No, I didn't!" snapped Texas. + +"No fight, then," said Jasper. "It's evident he's flunked." + +"Wow!" cried Texas! "No fight! What's the matter with me?" + +And, suiting the action to the word, he whipped off his coat. + +"Not to-day," responded Jasper, with decision. "You'll have your chance +another day." + +"Unless you run home, too," sneered Harris. + +Texas' face was fiery red with anger, and he doubled up his fists and +made a leap for the last speaker. + +"You coyote!" he roared. "You an' me'll fight now!" + +Bull Harris started back, and before Texas could reach him half a dozen +cadets interfered. Williams, the would-be defender of his class, seized +the half-wild fellow by the shoulders and forced him back. + +"Just take it easy," he commanded. "Just take it easy. You'll learn to +control yourself before you've been here long." + +Texas could do nothing, for he was surrounded completely. Bull Harris +was led away, and then the rest of the cadets scattered to steal into +camp, but Texas snatched up his coat in a rage, and strode away toward +barracks, muttering angrily to himself, the "Parson" following behind in +silence. The latter ventured to interpose a remark on the way, and Texas +turned upon him angrily. + +"Shut up!" he growled. "Mind your business!" + +Stanard gazed at him in silence. + +"I guess I'll have to knock him down again," he said to himself. + +But he didn't, at least, not then; and Texas pranced up to his room and +flung himself into a chair, muttering uncomplimentary remarks about Mark +and West Point and everything in it. It was just half-past four when he +entered, and for fifteen minutes he sat and pounded the floor with his +heel in rage. Texas was about as mad as he knew how to be, which was +very mad indeed. And then suddenly there was a step in the hall and the +door was burst open. Texas turned and looked. + +It was Mark! + +Texas sprang to his feet in an instant, all his wrath aflame. Mark had +come in hurriedly, for he had evidently been running. + +"What happened----" he began, but he got no further. + +"You confounded coward!" roared Texas. "Whar did you git the nerve to +show yo' face round hyar?" + +"Why, Texas?" exclaimed Mark, in amazement. + +Texas was prancing up and down the room, his fingers twitching. + +"I jest tell you, sah, they ain't no room in my room fo' a coward that +sneaks off when he's got a fight. Now I----" + +"I left word for you," said Mark, interrupting him. + +"Word for me! Word for me!" howled the other. "You're a--a--a liar, +sah!" + +Mark's face was as white as a sheet, but he kept his temper. + +"Now, Texas," he began again, soothingly. "Now, Texas----" + +"Take that, too, will ye?" sneered Texas. "You're coward enough to +swallow that, too, hey? Wonder how much more you'll stand. Try that." + +And before Mark could raise his arm the other sprang forward and dealt +him a stinging blow upon the face. + +Mark stepped back, his whole frame quivering. + +"How much?" he repeated, slowly. "Not that." + +And then, just as slowly, he took off his coat. + +"Fight, hey?" laughed Texas. "Wow! Ready?" he added, flinging his own +jacket on the floor and getting his great long arms into motion. +"Ready?" + +"Yes," said Mark. "I am ready." + +And in an instant the other leaped forward, just as he had done at Fort +Clinton, except that he omitted the yelling, being indoors with a sentry +nearby. + +Physically two fighters were never more evenly matched; no one, to look +at them, could have picked the winner, for both were giants. But there +was a difference apparent before very long. Texas fought in the wild and +savage style of the prairie, nip-and-tuck, go-as-you-please; and he was +wild with anger. He had swept the yearlings at Fort Clinton before him +that way and he thought to do it again. Mark had another style, a style +that Texas had never seen. He learned a good deal about it in a very few +minutes. + +Texas started with a rush, striking right and left with all the power of +his arms; and Mark simply stepped to one side and let the wall stop +Texas. That made Texas angrier still, if such a thing can be imagined. +He turned and made another dash, this time aiming a savage blow at his +opponent's head. In it was all the power of the Texan's great right arm, +and it was meant to kill. Mark moved his head to one side and let the +blow pass, stopping the rush with a firm prod in the other's chest; then +he stepped aside and waited for another rush. For he did not want to +hurt his excited roommate if he could help it. + +A repetition of this had no effect upon Texas, however, except to +increase his fury, and Mark found that he was fast getting mad himself. +A glancing blow upon the head that brought blood capped the climax, and +Mark gritted his teeth and got to work. Texas made another lunge, which +Mark dodged, and then, before the former could stop, Mark caught him a +crushing blow upon the jaw which made his teeth rattle. Texas staggered +back, and Mark followed him up rapidly, planting blow after blow upon +the body of his wildly striking opponent. And in a few moments Texas, +the invincible Texas, was being rapidly pummeled into submission. + +"I'll leave his face alone," thought Mark, as he aimed a blow that half +paralyzed the other's right wrist. "For I don't want the cadets to know +about this." + +And just then he landed an extra hard crack upon the other's chest, and +Texas went down in a corner. + +"Want any more?" inquired Mark, gravely. + +Texas staggered to his feet and made one more rush, only to be promptly +laid out again. + +"I guess that's enough," thought Mark, as the other lay still and +gasped. "I guess that's enough for poor Texas." + +And so saying, he took out his handkerchief, wiped the blood from his +face, and then opened the door and went out. + +"I'm sorry I had to do it," he mused; "sorry as thunder! But he made me. +And anyhow, he won't want to fight very soon again." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE EXPLANATION. + + +Mark had barely reached the head of the stairs before the morning gun +sounded, and five minutes later he was in line at roll call with the +rest of his class. It is needless to say that Texas was absent. + +Texas woke up a while later, and staggered to his feet, feeling +carefully of his ribs to make sure they were not really broken. And then +he went out and interviewed a sentry in the hall. + +"Look a yere, mister," said he. "Where's this yere place they call the +hospital?" + +The sentry directed him to await the proper hour, and Texas spent +the rest of that day, reported by the surgeon as "absent from +duty--sick--contusions." And the whole class wondered why. + +Mark noticed that the cadets were looking at him at breakfast; and he +noticed that the members of his own class were rather distant, but he +gritted his teeth and made up his mind to face it out. + +"If even Texas called me a coward," he mused, "I can't expect the rest +of 'em to do otherwise." + +And so it seemed, for that same morning just after breakfast Corporal +Jasper and Cadet Spencer paid a visit to Mark. + +"The class would like, if you please, Mr. Mallory," said the former, "an +explanation of your conduct this morning." + +"And I am sorry to say," responded Mark, just as politely, "that I am +unable to give it. All I can say is that my conduct, though it may seem +strange and mysterious, was unavoidable. If you will allow me, I shall +be pleased to meet Mr. Williams to-morrow." + +"We cannot allow it," said Jasper, emphatically, "unless you consent to +explain your action and can succeed in doing it satisfactorily, which +you will pardon me for saying I doubt very much, you stand before the +academy branded as a coward." + +"Very well," said Mark, "let it be so." + +And he turned away, and all through that long, weary morning and the +afternoon, too. Cadet Mallory was in Coventry, and not a soul spoke a +word to him, except Cadet Spencer, at drill. And he was frigid. + +Cadet Powers was released from the hospital "cured" that evening after +supper, and he limped upstairs to his room, and sat down to think about +himself, and to philosophize upon the vanities of life and the follies +of ambition. Mark did not come up until "tattoo" sounded, and so Texas +had plenty of time. He felt very meek just then; he wasn't angry any +more, and he'd had plenty of time also to think over what a fool he had +been in not listening to Mark's explanation of his absence. For Texas +had been suddenly convinced that Mark was no coward after all. + +While he sat there, a piece of paper sticking out from under the bureau +caught his eye. Texas was getting very neat recently under West Point +discipline; he picked that paper up, and read as follows: + + "I'll be back in time to fight. Explain later. Trust + me. + + "MARK." + +"Oh!" cried Texas, springing up from his chair and wrenching a +dilapidated shoulder. "He told me he did that--and I called him a liar!" + +Texas walked up and down, and mused some more. Then it occurred to him +there might be more paper under that bureau to explain things. He got +down, painfully, and fished out another crumpled note. And he read that, +too: + + "DEAR MR. MALLORY: I am in deep trouble, and I need + your aid at once. You can tell how serious the trouble + is by the fact that I ask you to come to me + immediately. If you care to do a generous and helpful + act pray do not refuse. Sincerely yours, + + "MARY ADAMS." + +Mary Adams was a girl well known to many of the cadets. + +The letter was roughly scrawled on a pad, and when Texas finished +reading it he flung it on the floor and went and glared at himself in +the mirror. + +"You idiot!" he muttered, shaking his fist at himself. "Here them ole +cadets went an' fooled Mark Mallory again, an' you--bah!" + +Texas was repentant through and through by that time; he grabbed up his +cap savagely and made for the door, with a reckless disregard for sore +joints. He hobbled downstairs and out of barracks, and caught Mark by +the arm just as Mark was coming in. + +"Well, Texas?" inquired Mark, smiling. + +"Fust place," said Texas, briefly, "want to thank you fo' lickin' me." + +"Welcome," said Mark. + +"Second place, do it ag'in if I ever lose my temper." + +"Welcome," said Mark. + +"Third place, I want to 'pologize." + +"What's up? What's happened to convince you?" + +"Nothin' much," said Texas, "only I been a' findin' out what a fool I +am. Hones' now, Mark," and as Mark looked into the other's pleading gray +eyes he saw that Texas meant it. "Hones' now, this yere's fust time I +ever 'pologized in my life. I'm sorry." + +And Mark took him by the hand. They were friends again from that moment. + +"I jist saw that second note from Mary Adams upstairs," explained Texas, +"an' then I knowed them ole cadets had fooled you that way ag'in. Say, +Mark, you're mos' as big a fool as me--mos'." + +"That note was genuine," answered Mark. And then as he saw Texas' +amazement, he led him aside and explained. "I'll tell you about it," +said he, "for I can trust you not to tell. But I can't explain to the +rest of the class, and I won't, either, though they may call me a +coward if they choose. + +"A drummer boy came up here last night--or, rather, this morning. He +woke me up and gave me that note, swore it was genuine, too, and I +believed him in the end. As you see, Mary Adams wanted to see me, and +she was in a desperate hurry about it. Well, I debated over it for a +long time; at first I thought I wouldn't, for I was afraid of +court-martial; but then as I thought of her in distress I made up my +mind to risk it, and I went. As it turned out, old man, you'd have been +ashamed of me if I hadn't. There are worse things than being called a +coward, and one of em's being a coward. + +"I found her in great trouble, as she said. She has a brother, a fellow +of about twenty-two, I guess. She lives with her widowed mother, and he +takes care of them. I think they are poor. Anyway, this brother had +gotten two or three hundred dollars from his employer to take a trip out +West. He had fallen in with a rather tough crowd down in the village, +and they were busy making him spend it as fast as he could. That was the +situation." + +"It was tough," commented Texas. + +"The problem was to get him away. The girl hadn't a friend on earth to +call on, and she happened to think of me. She begged me to try to get +him away. And I'll tell you one thing, too, Texas. The cadets say she's +a flirt and all that. She may be. I haven't had a chance to find out, +and I don't propose to; but a girl that thinks as much of her brother as +she does, and does as much for him, is not beyond respect by a good +sight. I was really quite taken with her last night." + +"Beware the serpent," put in Texas, laughing. "She's pretty, I'm told. +Go on." + +"Well, I found him, after a couple of hours' search, in a tough dive, +with a crowd of loafers hanging on to him. I got him out, but I had to +knock down----" + +"Hey!" cried Texas, springing up in excitement. "Had a fight, did ye? +Why didn't you take me 'long?" + +"I didn't know I was going to fight," said Mark, laughing. + +"And did you lick 'em?" + +"I only had to lick two, and then the rest ran." + +Texas sighed resignedly, and Mark went on: + +"I took him home, as I said, and left him with her. I got home just in +time for reveille." + +"Time to have me call you names and to lick me blue, for the same which +I have jest thanked yo," added Texas, his eyes suspiciously moist. "An' +look a yere, ole man"--Texas slung his hand around to his hip pocket and +"pulled" a beautiful silver-mounted revolver, loaded "to the +brim"--"look a yere, Mark. This yere gun, I ain't ever gone out 'thout +it fo' ten year. She's a----" + +"You don't mean to say you've had it on up here!" + +"Sho'," said Texas, "an' I come near usin' it on you, too. Mark, you +dunno how a Texas man is with a gun. Mos' of 'em 'ud ruther sell their +wives. An' I'm a goin' to give you this to show that--er--that ther' +ain't no hard feelin's, you know." + +"And I'll take it," said Mark, getting hold of Texas' other hand at the +same time--"take it, if it's only to keep you from carrying it. And +there aren't any hard feelings." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +MARK IN DISGRACE. + + +"In my excursions into the various fields of knowledge I have never yet +had occasion to investigate the alleged discoveries of phrenological +experimentalists, and yet----" + +The speaker paused for a moment, long enough to sigh mournfully. Then he +continued: + +"And yet I had, I think, sufficient perception of character as +delineated by the outlines of physiognomy to recognize at once the fact +that the person to whom we refer is in no way a coward." + +"I wish I had, Parson," responded his companion, ruefully rubbing a +large lump upon his forehead. "I wish I had." + +The thin, learned features of the first speaker found it difficult to +indicate any amusement, and yet there was the trace of a smile about his +mouth as he answered. + +"You say he 'licked' you, to use your own rather unclassic phrase?" he +inquired. + +"Licked me? Wow! He gave me, sah, the very worst lickin' I ever got in +my life--which is very natural, seeing that when a feller gits licked +down in Texas they bury him afterward. I reckon I'd be a gunnin' fo' him +right now, if 'twarn't seein' it's Mark Mallory. Why, man, a feller +can't stay mad with Mark Mallory long!" + +It was just dinner time and Parson and Texas were sitting on the steps +of barracks, waiting for the summons and talking over the events of the +previous day. + +"And how did this encounter originate?" inquired the Parson. + +"All in my foolishness!" growled Texas. "You see yesterday morning when +he didn't turn up to fight that 'ere yearling fellow Williams, I thought +'twas cause he was scared. An' so I got mad an' when he did turn up I +went fo' him. An' then I went fo' the hospital." + +"His conduct did seem unaccountable," rejoined the other. "And yet +somehow I had an instinctive intuition, so to speak, that there was an +adequate reason. And one is apt to find that such impressions are +trustworthy, as, indeed, was most obviously demonstrated and +consistently maintained by the German philosopher, Immanuel Kant. Are +you acquainted with Kant's antinomies?" the Parson added, anxiously. + +"No," said Powers. "I ain't. They ain't got to Texas yit. But I wish I'd +had more sense'n to git mad with Mark. I tell you I felt cheap when he +did explain. I kain't tell you the reason yit, but you'll know it before +long. All I kin say is he went down to Cranston's." + +"To Cranston's? I thought we weren't allowed off the grounds." + +"We ain't. But he took the risk of expulsion." + +"And another, too," put in the Parson, "the risk of being called a +coward an' being ostracised by the cadets." + +"I dunno 'bout the astercizin' part," said Texas, "but I know they +called him a coward, an' I know they cut him dead. There won't even a +plebe speak to him, 'cept me an' you an' Injun. An' it's what I call +durnation tough now, by Jingo!" + +"It don't worry me very much," put in a voice behind them. + +The two turned and saw Mark looking at them with an amused expression. + +"It don't worry me much," he repeated. "I guess I can stand it if +you'll stand by me. And I think pretty soon I can get another chance at +Williams, and then----" + +"If ye do," cried the excitable Texan, springing up, "I'll back you to +murder him in jist about half a minute." + +"It won't be so easy," responded Mark, "for Williams is the best man in +his class, and that's saying a great deal. But I'll try it; and in the +meantime we'll face out the disgrace. I can stand it, for really there +isn't much privation when you have three to keep you company." + +"I reckon," put in Texas, after a moment's thought, "I reckon we'll have +to put off aformin' o' thet ere new organization we were a-talkin' +'bout. Cuz we kain't git anybody to join ef they won't any of 'em speak +to us." + +"I guess we three are enough for the present," said Mark, "at least +while all the cadets leave us alone. And if they try to haze us I think +we can fight about as well as the rest of them. Then there's Indian, +too, you know; I don't think he can fight much, but he's----" + +"Now, see here!" cried an indignant voice from the doorway, "now see +here, you fellows! I think that's real mean, now, indeed I do. Didn't I +tell you fellows I was going to learn to fight?" he expostulated. +"Didn't I? Bless my soul, now, what more can a man do?" + +Mark winked slyly to his companions, and put on his most solemn air. + +"Do?" he growled. "You ask what more can a man do? A man might, if he +were a man, rise up and prove his prowess and win himself a name. He +might gird up his loins and take his sword in his hand and sally forth, +to vindicate his honor and the honor of his sworn friends and allies. +That is what he might do. And instead what does he do? In slothfulness +and cowardice he sits and suffers beneath the rod of tyranny and +oppression!" + +Mark finished out of breath and red in the face. + +"Bless my soul!" cried Indian. + +"Such a course is by no means entirely unprecedented," put in Stanard, +solemnly. "It is common in the mythology of antiquity and in the legends +of mediaeval times. Such was the course of Hercules, and thus did Sir +Galahad and the Knights of the Round Table." + +Poor Joe Smith was gazing at the two speakers in perplexity. He wasn't +quite sure whether they were serious or not, but he thought they were, +and he was on the verge of promising to go out and kill something, +whether a cadet or a grizzly, at once. The only trouble was that the +tall, sedate-looking officer of the day, in his spotless uniform of +gray and white and gold with a dazzling red sash thrown in, strode out +of the guardhouse just then; a moment later came the cry, "New cadets +turn out!" and Indian drew a breath of relief at being delivered from +his uncomfortable situation. + +Saturday afternoon is a holiday at West Point. The luckless plebe, +having been drilled and shouted at for a week, gets a much-needed chance +to do as he pleases, with the understanding, of course, that he does not +happen to fall into the hands of the yearlings. If he does, he does as +they please, instead. + +Saturday afternoon is also a holiday time for the yearling, too, and he +is accustomed to amuse himself with variety shows and concerts, +recitations and exhibition drills, continuous performances that are +free, given by the "beasts," the "trained animals," or plebes. + +It may be well at the start to have a word to say about "hazing" at West +Point. Hazing is abolished there, so people say. At any rate, there are +stringent measures taken to prevent it. A cadet is forbidden in any way +to lay hands upon the plebe; he is forbidden to give any degrading +command or exact any menial service; and the penalty for breaking these +rules is dismissal. The plebe is called up daily before the tactical +officer in charge of his company, and asked if he has any complaint to +make. + +Such are the methods. The results are supposed to be a complete stopping +of "deviling" in all its forms. The actual result has been that when a +yearling wants to "lay hands upon the plebe" he does it on the +sly--perhaps "yanks" him, as one peculiar form of nocturnal torture is +termed. When the yearling wants some work done, instead of "commanding" +he "requests," and with the utmost politeness. If he wants his gun +cleaned he kindly offers to "show" the plebe how to do it--taking care +to see that the showing is done on his own gun and not on the plebe's. +And the plebe is not supposed to object. He may, but in that case there +are other methods. If he reports anybody he is ostracised--"cut" by +every one, his own class included. + +This being the case, we come to the events of this particular Saturday +afternoon. + + "There were three wily yearlings + Set out one summer's day + To hunt the plebe so timid + In barracks far away." + +Only in this case there were half a dozen instead of three. + +Now, of all the persons selected for torment that year, with the +possible exception of Mark and Texas, the two "B. J.'s," Indian was the +most prominent. "Indian," as he was now called by the whole corps, was a +_rara avis_ among plebes, being an innocent, gullible person who +believed implicitly everything that was told him, and could be scared to +death by a word. It was Indian that this particular crowd of merry +yearlings set out to find. + +Mark and Texas, it chanced, had gone out for a walk; "Parson" Stanard +had, wandered over to the library building to "ascertain the extent of +their geological literature," and to get some information, if possible, +about a most interesting question which was just then troubling him. + +And poor Joe Smith was all alone in his room, dreading some visitation +of evil. + +The laughing crowd dashed up the steps and burst into the room. Indian +had been told what to do. "Heels together, turn out your toes, hands by +your sides, palms to the front, fingers closed, little fingers on the +seams of the trousers, head up, chin in, shoulders thrown back, chest +out. Here, you! Get that scared look off your face. Whacher 'fraid of. +If you don't stop looking scared I'll murder you on the spot!" + +And with preliminary introduction the whole crowd got at him at once. + +"Can you play the piano? Go ahead, then. What! Haven't got any? Why +didn't you bring one? What's the use of being able to play the piano if +you haven't a piano? Can you recite? Don't know anything? You look like +it. Here, take this paper--it's a song. Learn it now! Why don't you +learn it? What do you mean by staring at me instead of at the paper? +There, that's right. Now sing the first six verses. Don't know 'em yet? +Bah, what will you do when you come to trigonometry with a hundred and +fourteen formulas to learn every night? Have you learned to stand on +your head yet? What! Didn't I tell you to do it? Who taught you to stand +on your feet, anyhow? Why don't you answer me, eh? Let's see you get up +on that mantelpiece. Won't hold you? Well, who said it would? What's +that got to do with it? No! Don't take that chair. Vault up! There. Now +flap your wings. What! Haven't got any? What kind of an angel are you, +anyhow? Flap your ears. Let's hear you crow like a hen. Hens don't crow? +What do you know about hens, anyway? Were you ever a hen? Well, why +weren't you? Were you ever a goose, then? No? Well, you certainly look +like it! Why don't you crow when we tell you? What kind of crowing is +that--flap your arms, there. Have you got any toothpicks? What! No +toothpicks? Don't suppose you have any teeth, either. Oh, so you have +toothpicks, have you? Well, why did you say you didn't? Take 'em out of +your pockets and row yourself along that mantelpiece with 'em. 'Fraid +you'll fall off, eh? Well, we'll put you up again. Humpty Dumpty! Row +fast now! Row! Get that grin off your face. How dare you smile at a +higher classman! You are the most amazingly presumptuous beast that I +ever heard of. Get down now, and don't break any bones about it, +either!" + +All these amazing orders, rattled off in a breath, and interspersed with +a variety of comment and ejaculation, poor Indian obeyed in fear and +trembling. He was commanded to fall down, and he fell; he was commanded +to fall up, and he protested that the law of gravitation----"Bah! why +don't you get the law repealed?" He wiped off a smile from his terrified +face and threw it under the bed. Then, gasping, spluttering, he went +under and got it. He strove his very best to go to sleep, amid a +variety of suggestions, such as which eyes to shut and which lung to +breathe through. + +This went on till the ingenuity of the cadets was nearly exhausted. Then +one individual, more learned than the rest, chanced to learn the +identity of the Indian's name with that of the great Mormon leader. And +instantly he elbowed his way to the front. + +"Look here, sir, who told you to be a Mormon? You're not a Mormon? Got +only one wife, hey? None? Then what sort of a Mormon are you? Why have +you got a Mormon's name? Did you steal it? Don't you know who Joseph +Smith was? No? Not you, the great Joseph Smith! Suppose you think you're +the great Joseph Smith. Well, now, how on earth did you ever manage to +get into this academy without knowing who Joseph Smith was? Didn't ask +you that, you say? Well, they should have! Fellow-citizens and cadets, +did you ever hear of such a thing? There must be some mistake here. The +very idea of letting a dunce like that in? Why, I knew who Joseph Smith +was about seventy-five years ago. Gentlemen, I move you that we carry +this case to the academy board at once. I shall use my influence to have +this man expelled. I never heard of such a preposterous outrage in my +life! Not know Joseph Smith! And he's too fat to be a cadet, anyhow. +What do you say?" + +"Come ahead! Come ahead!" cried the rest of the mob, indignant and +solemn. + +And almost before the poor Indian could realize what they were doing, or +going to do, the whole crowd arose gravely and marched in silence out of +the room, bent upon their direful mission of having the Army Board expel +Indian because he had never heard of Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet. +And Indian swallowed every bit of it and sat and trembled for his life. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +INDIAN'S RE-EXAMINATION. + + +It was a rare opportunity. The six yearlings made for camp on a run, and +there an interesting conference was held with a few more choice spirits, +the upshot being that the whole crew set out for barracks again in high +spirits, and looking forward to a jolly lark. + +They entered the building, causing dire fear to several anxious-looking +plebes who were peering out of the windows and wondering if this +particular marauding party was bound in their direction. It was one of +the empty rooms that they entered, however, and there they proceeded to +costume one of their number, putting on a huge red sash, some medals, a +few shoulder straps borrowed for the occasion, and, last of all, a false +mustache. This done, they hastened over to the room where the +unfortunate "Mormon" still sat. The "officer" rapped sharply on the +door. + +"Come in," a voice responded weakly; the cadets came. + +"Mr. Smith, sir?" inquired the personage with the mustache. + +"Yes, sir," said Indian, meekly, awed by the man's splendor. + +"I have been requested by certain of the cadets of the United States +Military Academy to investigate the circumstance of your alleged passing +at the recent examination. I have been informed by these same gentleman +that when questioned by them you exhibited stupidity and ignorance so +very gross as to cause them to doubt whether you have any right to call +yourself a cadet at all." + +Here the cadets shook their heads solemnly and looked very stern indeed. + +"Bless my soul!" cried Indian. + +"In order to consider these very grave allegations," continued the +other, "a special meeting of the Army Board was first convened, with the +following result:" + +Here the speaker paused, cleared his throat pompously, and drew forth a +frightfully official-looking envelope, from which he took a large +printed sheet with the West Point seal upon the top. + +"United States Military Academy, West Point, June 20th," he read--that +is the way all "orders" begin. "Cadet Joseph Smith, of Indianapolis, +Indiana, it has just been ascertained, was admitted to the duties of +conditional cadet through an error of the examining board. A +re-examination of Cadet Smith is hereby ordered to be conducted +immediately under the charge of the lord high chief quartermaster of the +academy. By order of the Academy Board. Ahem!" + +The lord high chief quartermaster finished, and Cadet Smith sank down +upon the bed in horror. + +"Sir!" shouted the officer, "how dare you sit down in the presence of +your superiors? Get up, sir, instantly!" + +Indian "got," weak-kneed and trembling. + +"The examination will be held," continued the cadet, "in the Observatory +Building, at once. Gentlemen, you will conduct Mr. Smith there and await +my arrival." + +The bogus officer desired time to change his uniform, as he knew it +would be risky to cross the parade in his borrowed clothing. + +Now the Observatory Building is situated far away from the rest of the +academy, upon the hillside near Fort Putnam. And thither the party set +out, the cadets freely discussing the probable fate of the unhappy +plebe. It was the almost unanimous verdict that one who was so +unutterably stupid as never to have heard of the great Joseph Smith +would not stand the ghost of a show. All of which was comforting to the +listening victim. + +The Observatory was deserted and lonely. The door was locked, and the +party gained entrance by the windows, which alone was enough to excite +one's suspicion. But Indian was too scared to think. + +The lord high chief quartermaster presently slipped in, once more +bedecked with medals and mustache. + +The examining party got to work at once in a very businesslike and +solemn manner. The physical examination was to come first, they said. It +had been the opinion of the Army Board that Mr. Smith was far too fat to +make a presentable cadet. The surgeons were busy that afternoon in +trying to piece together several plebes who had been knocked all to +pieces by the yearlings for being too "B. J."--this was the explanation +of the lord high chief quartermaster--and so it would be necessary to +examine Indian here, and at once, too. And if it were found, as, indeed, +would most probably be the case, that he was too fat, why then it would +be necessary for him to reduce weight immediately. + +Several schemes were suggested as to how this might be done. There was +the Shylock, the Shakespearian method, of a pound of flesh from near the +heart. Cadet Corporal So-and-So suggested that several veal cutlets from +the legs--each an inch thick--would serve. A veal cutlet an inch thick +he estimated--his great grandfather on his mother's other side had been +a butcher, he stated--would weigh three pounds. Then Acting Cadet +Sergeant Somebody-Else suggested a Turkish bath, the jockey's method, +together with very violent exercise. This plan was adopted finally as +being the least likely to be fatal in its results. + +But just then somebody suddenly thought of the fact that it would be +best to weigh the subject first, which was considered a good idea, but +for the fact that they had no scales. This trouble "feazed" the crowd at +first. Then the lord high chief quartermaster said that he was a +first-rate judge of weight, having slaughtered hogs in his youth, and +could tell by the feel. So Mr. Joseph Smith must be immediately +"boosted" up and balanced upon the cadet's outstretched hand, there to +be shaken and otherwise tested, while the man below made audible +calculations by means of trigonometrical formulas as to what was his +actual weight. + +The result of this experiment, as might have been expected, was by no +means very definite. The lord high chief, etc., thought the weight was +too much, but he couldn't be sure. And then Cadet "Admiral" Jones +proposed another scheme. He had been a juggler "when he was young;" he +was used to tossing heavy weights; in fact, he just happened to know +that he could throw three hundred pounds exactly twelve feet, the height +of the ceiling. It was obvious, therefore, that if Indian weighed over +that he would not reach the ceiling; but if he should go through the +ceiling that would mean just as clearly that he was under the limit and +need not "reduce." + +In vain did the frightened boy protest that he weighed only one hundred +and fifty; the test must be made, and made it was. Indian's terrified +form did not once get near the ceiling, and so reduce he must. The +cadets formed a circle about the room. + +"Now," said the commanding official, "now you must manage to reduce +weight quickly this way, or we shall try the veal cutlet scheme. So +you'll find it best to hurry. We want you to run around the outside of +this circle. We'll give you just ten and one-quarter minutes by my watch +(which runs very fast, by the way) to get around fifty times. And in +the course of that you must manage to perspire fifteen pounds of weight +(enough to make you go through the ceiling). This is equal to half a +gallon of water. Now then! Take off your coat, sir. Ready! Set!! Go!!! +Why don't you start, sir? There now! Hurry up! One second--two +seconds--three--four--fi'--six--sev'n--eight--nine--ten--'leven! Faster! +Faster!! Hurry up! One minute! You haven't lost a pound yet! What! Out +of breath already? Faster! That's right! Keep it up now!" + +The scene at this stage of the "examination" is left to the imagination; +Indian, wild-eyed, panting and red, plunging wildly around in a dizzy +circle of a dozen laughing cadets. And in the center the lord high with +his watch slowly telling off the minutes. + +"Two minutes there, two minutes! Come now, hurry up! Don't begin to lag +there! Why don't you stop that panting? There goes the first drop of +perspiration. Hooray, there's another! It'll soon be a gallon now. Two +and a quarter!" + +Poor Joseph kept it up to five, by which time he was so dizzy that he +could not stand up; which was the best reason in the world why he sank +down utterly breathless in the corner. And there he lay gasping, the +cadets in vain trying to get him to rise. + +"I think," said the presiding officer, nearly convulsed with +laughter--"I think that is reduction enough for the present, and I say +we proceed to the 'mental.'" + +A conference was held over in one corner of the room, as to what the +questions should be; and then in an evil hour (for them) an idea struck +one of the cadets. + +"See here, fellows," said he. "I think he's been examined enough. Let's +get somebody else. Let's get---- Who's that learned chap?" + +"Stanard?" + +"Oh, yes, Stanard! The Parson! Let's get him." + +The idea took with a rush. It would be so much more fun to fool the +learned Parson! And in a minute or two half the party, including the +lord high chief quartermaster, was on its way back to barracks to hunt +up the new victim, while the rest stayed to resuscitate Indian and to +write out a list of questions for the "mental examination." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE EXAMINATION OF THE PARSON. + + +The "examining board" had the good luck to come upon the Parson in a +secluded spot near the Observatory. The Parson had left the library for +a walk, his beloved Dana under his arm and the cyathophylloid coral in +one of his pockets. The "committee" made a rush at him. + +"Mr. Stanard?" inquired the lord high, etc. + +Mr. Stanard bowed in his grave, serious way, his knees stiff, and his +head bobbing in unison with his flying coat tails. + +"Mr. Stanard, I have been sent by the Army Board to read the inclosed +notice to you. Ahem!" + +Mr. Stanard peered at the speaker. His mustache fooled the Parson, and +the Parson bowed meekly. + +Once more the cadet took out the official envelope and with a +preliminary flourish and several "ahems!" began to read: + +"United States Military Academy, West Point, June 20th. Cadet Peter +Stanard, of Boston, Massachusetts, it has just been ascertained, was +admitted to the duties of conditional cadet through an error of the +examining board. A re-examination of Cadet Stanard is hereby ordered to +be conducted immediately under the charge of the--ahem!--superintendent +of ordnance, in the Observatory Building. By order of the Academy Board. +Ahem!" + +Now, if Cadet Peter Stanard had been a cadet just a little longer he +would never have been taken in by that device, for Cadet Peter Stanard +was no fool. But as it was, he did not see that the order was absurd. + +He went. + +Again the procession started with the same comments as before; this +time, however, the door was not locked, and the party entered, sought +out another room where stood several solemn cadets at attention, +respectfully saluting the superintendent of ordnance, ex-lord high. + +"Cadet Stanard," said the latter, "take a chair. Here is pencil and +paper. What is that book there. Geology? Well, give it to me until +afterward. Now, Mr. Stanard, here are ten questions which the board +expects you to answer. These are general questions--that is, they are +upon no particular subject. The board desires to test your general +stock of information, the--ahem!--breadth, so to speak, of your +intellectual horizon. Now you will be allowed an hour to answer them. +And since I have other duties in the meantime, I shall leave you, +trusting to your own honor to use no unfair means. Mr. Stanard, +good-day." + +Mr. Stanard rose, bobbed his head and coat tails and sat down. The +superintendent marched out, the cadets after him. The victim heard a key +turn in the door; the Parson glanced at the first question on the +paper-- + +"I. When are cyathophylloid corals to be found in fossiliferous +sandstone of Tertiary origin?" + +"By the bones of a Megatherium!" cried the Parson, "The very thing I was +looking for myself and couldn't find." + +And forthwith he seized his pencil, and, without reading further, wrote +a ten minutes' discourse upon his own researches in that same line. + +"That's the best I can do," said he, wiping his brow. "Now for the +next." + +"II. Name any undiscovered island in the Pacific Ocean." + +The Parson knitted his brows in perplexity and reread the question. + +"Undiscovered," he muttered. "Undiscovered! Surely that word is +undiscovered. U-m-yes! But if an island is undiscovered how can it have +any name? That must be a mistake." + +In perplexity, the Parson went on to the next one. + +"III. If a dog jumps three feet at a jump, how many jumps will it take +him to get across a wall twelve feet wide?" + +"IV. In what year did George Washington stop beating his mother?" + +A faint light had begun to dawn upon Stanard's mind; his face began to +redden with indignation. + +"V. What is strategy in warfare? Give an example. If you were out of +ammunition and didn't want the enemy to know it, would it be strategy to +go right on firing?" + +"VI. If three cannibals eat one missionary, how many missionaries will +it take to eat the three cannibals?" + +"VII. If a plebe's swelled head shrinks at the rate of three inches a +day, how many months will it be before it fits his brains?" + +And Stanard seized the paper, tore it across the middle and flung it to +the floor in disgust. Then he made for the door. + +"There's going to be a fight!" he muttered. "I swear it by the Seven +Hills of Rome!" + +The Parson's blood was boiling with righteous indignation; he had +"licked" those same cadets before, or some of them, and he meant to do +it again right now. But when he reached the door he halted for a moment +to listen to a voice he heard outside. + +"I tell you I cannot do it! Bless my soul!"--the Parson recognized the +sound. "I tell you I have lost enough weight already. I can't run again. +Now, I'll go home first. Bless my soul!" + +"Oho!" said the Parson. "So they got poor Indian in this thing, too. +Um--this is something to think over." + +With his usual meditative manner he turned and took his seat again, +carefully pulling up his trousers and moving his coat tails as he did +so. Clearing his throat, he began to discuss the case with himself. + +"It is obvious, very obvious, that my condition will in no way be +ameliorated by creating a suspicion in trying to make a forceful exit +through that locked door. + +"It would be a more efficacious method, I think, in some way to manage +to summon aid. Perhaps it would be well to endeavor to leave in secret." + +And with this thought in mind he went to the window. + +"It would appear," he said, gravely, as he took in the situation, "that +the 'high-thundering, Olympian Zeus' smiles propitiously upon my plan." + +And with this classic remark he stuck one long shank out of the window, +followed it with another just as long, and stood upon the cornice over +the door of the building, which chanced to be in reach. From there he +half slid, half tumbled to the ground, arose, arranged his necktie +carefully, gazed about him solemnly to hear if any one had seen him, and +finally set out at a brisk pace for barracks, taking great, long +strides, swinging his great, long arms, and talking sagely to himself in +the meanwhile. + +"When the other two members of our--ahem!--alliance are made aware of +the extraordinary condition of affairs," he muttered, "I think that I am +justified in my hypothesis when I say there will be some excitement." + +There was. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE RESCUE PARTY. + + +Mark and Texas were seated on the steps of barracks when the Parson came +through the sally port. The two were listening to the music of the band +at the Saturday afternoon hop in the Academy Building, and also watching +several cadets paying penalties by marching sedately back and forth in +the area. + +Stanard strolled in slowly with no signs of excitement. He came up and +sat down beside the two in his usual methodical way. + +"Good-afternoon, gentlemen," said he. "Good-afternoon. I have something +to deliberate upon with you if it is perfectly agreeable." + +It was agreeable, and so the Parson told his story, embellishing it with +many flourishes, classical allusions and geological metaphors. And when +he finished Texas sprang up in excitement. + +"Wow!" he cried. "Let's go up thar an' clean out the hull crowd." + +"It is best to deliberate, to think over our plan of attack," returned +the Parson, calmly, and with a mild rebuke in his tone, which reminded +Texas of his promise never to get excited again, made him sit down +sheepishly. + +"I think," put in Mark, "that we ought to think up some scheme to scare +'em off, or get away with Indian, or something. It's a harmless joke, +you know, so what's the use of fighting over it?" + +"Oh," growled Texas, in disgust. + +"If we could only manage to turn the tables on them," continued Mark. +"Shut up a while, and let's think a few minutes." + +And then there was silence, deep and impressive, while everybody got his +"ratiocinating apparatus," as the Parson called it, to work. Mark was +the first to break it. + +"Look here, Parson," said he, "what's the name of all those chemicals of +yours that you hid up the chimney for fear the cadet officers 'd make +you give 'em up?" + +The Parson rattled off a list of unpronounceable names, at the mention +of one of which Mark sprang up. + +"Get it! Get it! you long-legged Boston professor, you!" he shouted. +"Never mind why! But I've got something in my pocket that'll--gee whiz! +Hurry up!" + +The Parson did as he was commanded, and in about as much of a hurry as +was possible for him. And Mark tucked the bottle under his coat and the +three set off in haste to the rescue, Texas grumbling meanwhile and +wanting to know why in thunderation a square stand-up fight wasn't just +as good as anything. + +An Indian war party could not have made a more stealthy entrance than +did the three. They climbed in one of the windows on the lower floor, +the basement, and then listened for any sound that might tell them what +was going on above. They heard voices conversing in low tones, but no +signs of hazing; the reason of that fact being that Indian was just then +locked in another room hard at work on his "mental examination," the +same one that had been given to Stanard. And poor Indian was striving +his best to think of the name of any undiscovered island which he had +ever heard of. + +Mark took the big bottle from under his coat, set it on the floor and +took out the cork. From his pocket he took a paper containing a thick +black powder. This he poured carefully into the bottle, put in the cork, +and then turned and made a dash for the window. Outside, the three made +for the woods nearby and hid to watch. + +"Just wait till enough of that dissolves," said Mark. "Just wait." + +Meanwhile, upstairs, the hilarious cadets were chuckling merrily over +the predicament of their two victims. The lord high, etc., and +superintendent had carefully timed the hour that the Parson was to have +for his answers; the hour was up, and the official had arisen, turned +the key, and was in the very act of opening the door when suddenly-- + +Bang! a loud report that shook the doors and windows of the building and +made the cadets spring up in alarm. They gazed in one another's +frightened faces, scarcely knowing what to think. And then up the +stairway slowly rolled a dense volume of heavy smoke, that seemed to +fill the building in an instant. + +"Fire! Fire!" yelled the whole crowd at once, and, forgetting both their +victims in the mad excitement, they made a wild dash down the stairs for +the door. + +"Fire! Fire!" rang out their cries, and a moment later a big bell down +at barracks sounded the alarm--"Fire! Fire!" + +And over in the woods three conspirators sat and punched one another for +joy. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +HEROISM OF THE PARSON. + + +The cadets of the academy are organized into a fire department for the +safety of the post. It is the duty of the cadets upon the sounding of +the alarm--three strokes of the bell, or a long roll on the drum, or +three shots, as the case may be--to fall into line immediately and +proceed to the scene of the fire. One brigade has charge of a hand +engine, another forms a bucket line, etc. + +West Point was, of course, thrown into the wildest excitement on the +instant that the cry was raised. The cadets poured in from every +direction, and in a few moments were on the way at double-quick. Army +officers, the soldiers of the regular army at the post, infantry and +cavalry, all made for the scene. + +The Observatory Building was found to be in imminent peril, apparently; +there were no flames in sight, but smoke was pouring from every crevice. +Prompt and quick to act, some heroic young cadet leaped up the steps and +burst in the door with an ax, though it was not locked and needed only +a turn of the knob to open it. The moment an opening was made a cloud of +smoke burst forth that drove the party back before it, and at the same +instant a cry of horror swelled up from the fast-arriving crowd. + +With one accord everybody glanced up to one of the windows on the floor +above. There stood a figure, nothing but the head visible in the smoke, +a figure of a badly-frightened lad, yelling at the top of his lungs for +help! help! help! And the crowd gazed at him in terror. It was Indian, +apparently in peril of his life! + +Who should save him? Who? The thought was in everybody's mind at the +moment, and yet every one hesitated before that barrier of blinding +smoke. And then--then suddenly a roar of cheers and shouts swelled up as +a hero came to the fore. When every one else trembled this hero alone +was bold. He had dashed wildly from the woods, a tall, lanky, +long-haired figure. He had fought his way through the craven crowd, his +coat tails flying and his long elbows working. He had dashed up the +steps, his light green socks twinkling with every stride. And now, while +the crowd shouted encouragement, he plunged desperately into the thick +of the smoke and was lost to view. + +The crowd waited in breathless suspense--one minute--two--and still the +imperiled lad stood at the window and the hero did not appear. Could it +be that he was lost--overcome by smoke and flame? The throng below hated +to think of it and yet--no, there he was! At the doorway again! Had he +failed to accomplish his noble purpose? Had he been driven back from the +work of rescue? No! No! He had succeeded; he had gotten what he wanted! +As he dashed wildly out again the people saw that he carried under his +arm a great, leather-bound volume. + +"Dana's Geology" was safe! + +And a moment or two later somebody put up a ladder and the unfortunate +"Mormon" climbed down in haste. + +Meanwhile, what of the fire? Encouraged by the example of the "hero," +the cadets rushed in to the attack. But, strange to say, though they had +hand engines and buckets and ladders, they could find no fire to attack. +Several windows having been smashed, most of the smoke had escaped by +this time--there had really been but very little of it, anyway, just +enough for excitement. There is a saying that where there is smoke +there must be flame, and, acting on this rather dubious statement, the +gallant fire brigade hunted high and low, searching in every nook and +corner of the building, and even searching the desk drawers to see if +perchance the cunning fire had run away and hidden there. And still not +a sign of flame. + +The mystery got more and more interesting; the whole crowd came in--the +smoke having all gone by this time--to see if, perchance, a little more +diligent search might not aid; and the people kept coming until finally +the place was so packed that there was no room for the fire anyway. And +so finally every one gave it up in disgust and went home, including the +gallant fire brigade. And the three conspirators in the woods went, too, +scarcely able to hide their glee. + +"It's jest one on them ole cadets!" vowed Texas. + +Of course, the Army Board ordered a strict investigation, which was +made--and told nothing. All that was found was a few bits of broken +glass in one room, and an "examination paper" in another. Indian was +hauled up, terrified, to explain; he described his hazing, but +steadfastly refused names--which was good West Point etiquette--he +vowed he knew nothing about the fire--which was the truth--also West +Point etiquette. And since Indian was mum, and there was no one else to +investigate, the investigation stopped, and the affair remained a West +Point mystery--a mystery to all but three. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MORE TROUBLES. + + +"No, sir! I wouldn't think of it, not for a moment. The fellow's a +coward, and he don't deserve the chance." + +And Cadet Corporal Jasper brought his fist down on the table with a +bang. + +"No, sir," he repeated. "I wouldn't think of it!" + +"But he wants to fight!" exclaimed the other. + +"Well, he had a chance once; why didn't he fight then? That's what I +want to know, and that's what he won't tell us. And as far as I'm +concerned Mallory shall lie in the bed he's made. I wouldn't honor him +with another chance." + +It was an afternoon late in June, and the two speakers were discussing +some ice cream at "the Dutchwoman's" and waiting for the call to +quarters before dress parade. + +"If that fellow," continued Corporal Jasper, "had any reason on earth +for getting up at midnight, dodging sentry and running out of barracks, +to stay till reveille, except to avoid fighting you that morning, now, +by jingo! I want to know what it is! The class sent me to ask him, and +he simply said he wouldn't tell, that's all. His bluff about wanting +another chance won't work." + +"Well, if we don't," protested Williams, the other man, a tall, +finely-built fellow, "if we don't, he'll go right on getting fresh, +won't he?" + +"No, sir, he won't! We'll find a way to stop him. In the first place, +he's been sent to Coventry. Not a man in the academy'll speak to him; he +may not mind that for a while, but I think he won't brave it out very +long. Just you watch and see." + +"The only trouble with that," said Williams, "is that he's not cut by +all the fellows. I've seen three of the plebes with him." + +"What!" cried the other, in amazement. "Who?" + +"Well, there's that fellow he seconded in the fight----" + +"Texas, you mean?" + +"Yes, Texas. Then that long-legged scarecrow Stanard was out walking +with him this very day. And I saw that goose they call the Indian +talking to him at dinner, and before the whole plebe class, too." + +"Well, now, by jingo! they'll find it costs something to defy the +corps!" exclaimed Jasper. "It's a pretty state of affairs, indeed, if +three or four beasts can come up here and run this place as they please. +They'll find when an order's given here they'll obey, or else they can +chase themselves home in a hurry. That fellow Mallory must be a fool! +There's never been a plebe at this academy's dared to do half what he's +done." + +"That's why I think it would be best to lick him. I'm not sure I can do +it, you know, but I think it would be best to try." + +"That fellow started out to be B. J. at the very start," growled the +excitable corporal, after a moment's thought. "Right at the very start! +'Baby' Edwards was telling me the other day how way last year this +fellow met with an accident--fell off the express or something--and +while he was staying down at the Falls Baby and a couple of other +fellows thought he was a candidate, and started in to haze him. He was +sassy as you please then. And after that he went out West, where he +lives, and did some extraordinary thing--saved an express, I believe, +and sent in an account to a paper for a lot of money. Of course that got +him dead stuck on himself, and then he goes and wins a cadetship here +and thinks he can run the earth. He was so deucedly B. J. he had to go +and lock Edwards and Bull Harris in an icehouse down near the Falls!" + +"You see what's happened now," he continued, after a moment's pause. +"Your challenge brought him up with a round turn, and he saw his bluff +was stopped. He was afraid to fight, and so he hid, that's all. But, by +jingo, he'll pay for it if I've got anything to say in the matter!" + +And the little corporal made the dishes on the table rattle. + +Corporal Jasper and Cadet Williams had finished their council and their +ice cream by this time, and arose to go just as the roll of drum was +heard from "Camp McPherson." The two strolled off in the direction of +the summons, Jasper just as positive and vehement as ever. + +"You shan't fight him," he declared. "And if sending him to Coventry +doesn't do any good, we'll find some other way, that's all! And we'll +keep at him till he learns how to behave himself if it takes the whole +summer to do it." + +This was the young cadet officer's parting vow, as he turned and entered +his tent. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +DISADVANTAGES OF "COVENTRY." + + +"Sir, the parade is formed!" + +Thus spoke the cadet adjutant as he approached the lieutenant in +command, and a moment later, at the word, the battalion swung around and +marched across the campus. It was the evening dress parade of perhaps +the best drilled body of troops in the country, and West Point was out +in holiday attire to see it. + +Seated on the benches beneath the trees on the western edge of the +parade ground was a crowd of spectators--visitors at the post and nearly +the whole plebe class besides. For this was Saturday afternoon holiday, +and the "beasts" had turned out in a body to witness the performance of +what they were all hoping some day to be. + +It was a "mighty fine" performance, and one that made those same beasts +open their eyes with amazement. Spotless and glittering in their +uniforms were the cadets, and they went through all manner of difficult +evolutions in perfect unison, marching with lines as straight and even +as the eye could wish. It is a pretty sight, a mass of gray in a setting +of deep green--the trees that encircle the spot, and it made the poor +homesick "beasts" take a little interest in life once more. + +Among these "beasts" were Mark and Texas. They sat under the trees a +little apart from the crowd and watched the scene with interest. Mark +had seen dress parades before; Texas had not, and he stared with open +eyes and mouth, giving vent to an exclamation of amazement and delight +at intervals. + +"Look a' yere, Mark," he cried, "d'you think we'll ever be able do that +a' way. Honest, now? I think I'll stay!" + +"Even after you get through fightin?" laughed Mark. + +"I don't think I want to fight any more," growled Texas, looking glum. +"Since you an' me fit, somehow fightin' ain't so much fun." + +"What's the fun o' fightin' ef you git licked?" he added, after a +moment's thought. + +"I never tried it," said the other, laughing. "But I suppose you'll be +real meek now and let them haze you." + +"Yaas!" drawled Texas, grinning. "Yes, I will! Them ole cadets git after +me, now, by jingo, I'll go out there an' yank some of 'em out that +parade an' lick them all t'once. But say! look at that chap on a horse." + +"That chap's the commandant," said Mark, "and he's going to review the +parade for a change." + +"I wish I was in it," exclaimed Texas, "an' I wish I knew all that +rigamarole they're doin' now"--that "rigamarole" being the +manual-at-arms. "I jest believe if I had somebody to teach me 'cept that +'ere yellin' tomcat of a Cadet Spencer I'd learn in a jiffy, dog on his +boots!" + +"There he is now," said Mark, "in the second line there. And there on +the outside with his chevrons is Corporal Jasper, 'the committee.' They +look very different when they're in line." + +"Nothin' 'd make that red-headed, freckle-faced coyote of a drill-master +look different," growled Texas. "I jes' wish he was bigger'n me so's I +could git up a scrap with him. Jest think o' that little martinet a +yellin' at me an' tellin' me I didn't have any sense. To-day, for +instance, d'you remember, he was tryin' to show Indian how to march an' +move his legs, an' Indian got twisted up into a knot; an' durnation, +jist because I laughed, why he rared round an' bucked fo' an hour! +What's the harm in laughing, anyhow?" + +And Texas glared so savagely at his tormentor as the line swept by just +then that Mark concluded there was no harm and laughed. + +"You're getting to be very stupid company, Texas," said he. "You never +do anything but growl at the cadets. I wish I had some diversion." + +And Mark turned away in mock disgust and glanced down the archway of +trees. + +"Here she comes," he said, after a moment's pause. "That's she walking +up the path with a cadet and another girl." + +Texas turned as Mark spoke, and looked in the direction of his nod. + +"So that's Mary Adams!" he exclaimed. "Well! well! That's the girl you +dodged barracks for, and risked your commission, and missed the fight, +and got called a coward, and sent to Coventry, and lots else. I swear!" + +"That's the one," said Mark, smiling. + +"She's stunning pretty," added Texas, as the trio drew near. "Gee-whiz! +I don't blame you." + +"I liked her right well myself," admitted the other. "That is after I +saw her with that brother of hers. She certainly is a good sister to +him. But the cadets say she's something of a flirt, and Wicks Merritt +advised me to leave her alone, so I guess I shall." + +"Sunday school teacher!" said Texas, laughing. "We'll have to call you +Parson, instead of Stanard. But I guess you're right. That's not a very +beautiful looking cadet she's with." + +The three were passing then, and Mark arose. + +"I guess I'll have to go speak to her," said he. "She's beckoning to me. +Wait a moment." + +Texas watched his friend approach the group; he could not hear what was +said, however, and so he turned away to watch the parade. By doing it he +missed an interesting scene. + +Mary Adams welcomed Mark with a look of gratitude and admiration that +Mark could not fail to notice. She had not forgotten the magnitude of +the service he had done for her. And then she turned to her two +companions. + +"Miss Webb," she said, "let me present Mr. Mallory." + +The other girl bowed, and Mary Adams turned to the cadet. + +"Mr. Murray, Mr. Mallory," said she. + +And then came the thunderclap. Mark put out his hand; the cadet quietly +put his behind his back. + +"The cadets of this academy, Miss Adams," said he, "do not speak to Mr. +Mallory. Mr. Mallory is a coward!" + +It was a trying moment; Mark felt the blood surge to his head, his +fingers twitched and his lip quivered. He longed to spring at the +fellow's throat and fling him to the ground. + +It was a natural impulse. Texas would have done it. But Mark controlled +himself by the effort of his life. He clinched his hands behind him and +bit his tongue, and when he spoke he was calm and emotionless. + +"Miss Adams," he said, "Mr. Murray and I will settle that later." + +The two girls stared in amazement, "Mr. Murray" gazed into space, and +Mark turned without another word and strode over to where his friend was +sitting. + +"Texas!" he muttered, gripping him by the shoulder. "Texas, there's +going to be a fight." + +"Hey!" cried Texas, springing to his feet. "What's that? Whoop!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE EMBASSY OF THE PARSON. + + +"What's happened?" cried Texas, as soon as he'd managed to get calm +enough to talk coherently. "What's happened?" + +"Sit down," said Mark, laughing in spite of himself. "Sit down and stop +your dancing. Everybody in the place is staring at you." + +Texas sat, and then Mark described to him just what had happened. As +might have been expected, he was up in arms in a moment. + +"Where is that feller? Now, look a 'yere, Mark, leggo me. Thar he goes! +Say, if I don't git him by the neck an'----" + +The excitable youth was quieted after some ten minutes' work or so, and +immediate danger was over. + +"And now," said Mark, "where's the Parson?" + +"Over in library," responded the other, "a fossilizin'. What do you want +with him?" + +"You be good," said Mark, "and I'll let you see. Come on." + +They found the Parson as Texas had said, and they managed to separate +him from the books and drag him over to barracks. Then Mark, who by this +time had recovered his usual easy good-nature, told of "Mr. Murray's" +insult again. + +"Now, I haven't the least objection," he continued, "of being sent to +Coventry. In fact, so long as it means the cadets' leaving me alone, I +rather like the idea. But I don't propose to stand a thing like that +which just happened for a moment. So there's got to be a fight, and if +they won't let me, I'll have to make 'em, that's all." + +"Um," said the Parson, looking grave. "Um." + +"Now, as for that fellow Murray," added Mark, "I don't propose to fight +him." + +"Wow!" shouted Texas. "What in thunder do you mean? Now if you don't, by +jingo! I'll go and do it myself!" + +"Take it easy," said Mark, laughing. "You see, Williams is the man the +class has selected to beat me; he's the best fighter. Now, if I beat +anybody else it won't do me the least bit of good; they'd still say I'm +afraid of Williams. So I'm going to try him first. How's that, Texas?" + +"Reckon you're right," admitted Powers, rather sheepishly. "I 'spose +you'll let me go and arrange it, hey?" + +"I'd as soon think of sending a dynamite bomb," laughed Mark. "You'd be +in a fight before he'd said three words. That's what I wanted the Parson +for. I think he'd be grave and scholarly even if they ate him." + +"Thank you," said the Parson, gravely. "I should try." + +"Wow!" growled Texas. + +And thus it happened that the Parson set out for "Camp McPherson," a +short while later, his learned head full of prize fighting and the +methods and practice of diplomacy. + +It was rather an unusual thing for a plebe to do--this venturing into +"camp;" and the cadets stared at the Parson, wondering what an amount of +curiosity he must have to go prospecting within the lines of the enemy. +The Parson, however, did not act as if curiosity had brought him; with a +businesslike air and a solemn visage he strode down the company street, +and, heedless of the cadets who had gathered at the tent doors to see +him, halted in front of one before which he saw "Billy" Williams +standing. + +"Mr. Williams?" said the Parson. + +Mr. Williams had been engaged in vigorously drying his face; he paused, +and gazed up out of the towel in surprise, and one of his tent mates, +Cadet Captain Fischer, ceased unwinding himself from his long red sash +and stared. + +"My name is Stanard," said the Parson--"Peter Stanard." + +"Pleased to meet you," said Williams, stretching out a long, brawny arm. + +There was a twinkle in the yearling's eye as he glanced at the skinny +white fingers which Stanard put out in return. And, taking in the +stranger's lank, scholarly figure, Williams seized the hand and squeezed +with all his might. + +He expected to hear a howl, but he was disappointed. The Parson drew up +his "prehensile muscles," as he called them. The result was that Cadet +Williams turned white, but he said nothing about it, and invited the +stranger into his tent. + +The Parson deposited himself gently in one corner and drew up his long +legs under him. Then he gazed out of the tent and said--"ahem!" + +"Warm day," said Williams, by way of a starter. + +"It is not that the temperature is excessively altitudinous," responded +the Parson, "but the presence of a larger proportion of humidity retards +perspiratory exudation." + +"Er--yes," said Williams. "Yes, I think that's it." + +"I have come--ahem!" continued Stanard, "as a representative of Mr. +Mallory." + +The other bowed. + +"Mr. Mallory desires to know--if you will pardon my abruptness in +proceeding immediately to the matter in hand--to know if it is not +possible for you to fulfill a certain--er--engagement which you had with +him." + +"I see," said Williams, thoughtfully, and he tapped the floor with his +foot for a minute or so. + +"Mr. Mallory, of course, understands," he continued at last, "that I +have no grudge against him at all." + +"Certainly," said the Parson. + +"In fact, I rather admire Mr. Mallory, on the whole, though some of his +actions have been, I think, imprudent. In this matter I am simply the +deputy of the class." + +"Exactly," said the Parson, bowing profusely. + +"Therefore, I fight when the class says so, and when they say no, what +reason have I for fighting? Now, the class thinks that Mr. Mallory has +had chance enough, and----" + +"But they don't know the circumstances!" protested Stanard, with more +suddenness than was usual with him. + +"They do not," responded the other. "But they'd like to." + +"I do not know them myself," said the Parson. "But I have faith enough +in Mr. Mallory to take his word that it was unavoidable." + +"You must have a good deal," added Williams, his handsome face looking +grave, "a good deal to risk being sent to Coventry." + +"I am willing. Examples of yet higher devotion to a _fides amicus_, so +to speak, are by no means extraordinary. Take the popular instance of +Damon and Pythias, or, if you look for one yet more conspicuous, I would +mention Prylocates and Tyndarus, in the well-known play of 'The +Captive,' by Plautus, with which you are doubtless familiar." + +And the Parson closed his learned discourse with his favorite occupation +of wiping his brow. + +"The risk is your own," responded the yearling, calmly. "You must not +mind if the class resents your view of the case." + +There was a few moments' silence after that, during which the Parson +racked his head to think what to say next. + +"You refuse, then, to fight Mr. Mallory?" he inquired at last. + +"Absolutely!" responded the other. "Absolutely, until the class so +directs." + +Then the Parson drew a long breath, and prepared for the culminating +stroke. + +"What I say next, Mr. Williams," said he, "you will understand is said +with all possible politeness and good feeling, but it must be said. Mr. +Mallory has been insulted by some cadets as a coward. He must free +himself from the suspicion. Mr. Williams, if a plebe should strike an +older cadet, would that make a fight necessary?" + +"Most certainly," said Williams, flushing. + +"Well, now, suppose he simply threatened to do so," continued Stanard. +"Would that be cause enough?" + +"It might." + +"Well, then, Mr. Williams, Mr. Mallory desires me with all politeness +to beg permission to threaten to strike you." + +"I see," said the other, smiling at the solemn air with which the lank +stranger made this extraordinary request. "I see. I have no objection to +his so doing." + +"Thank you," said Stanard. "A fight is now necessary, I believe?" + +"Er--yes," said Williams. "I believe it is." The fact of the matter was +that he saw that Mark was in a position to force a fight if he chose, +and the yearling was by no means reluctant, anyhow. + +"I thank you for your courtesy," he continued, bowing Stanard out of the +tent. "Tell Mr. Mallory that I shall send my second to see him this +evening. Good-day." + +And Stanard bowed and strode away with joy in his very stride. + +"We have met the enemy," was his report to Mark. "We have met the enemy, +and there's going to be a fight!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +PREPARATIONS FOR THE BATTLE. + + +It does not take long for news of so exciting a matter as a really +important fight to spread among the corps. No sooner did the Parson +leave camp than cadets began to stroll in to find out why he had come, +and, learning, they hurried off to discuss the news with their own +tentmates. So it happened that by the time the cadets marched down to +mess hall to supper every man in the battalion knew that Mark Mallory, +the B. J. beast, had succeeded in getting another chance at "Billy" +Williams. The plebes knew of it, too. When their rather ragged and +scattered company fell in behind the corps at barracks, they were all +talking about it, at least when the file closers weren't near. At supper +nobody talked of anything else, and everybody in the room was eying Mark +and his stalwart opponent and speculating as to what the chances would +be. + +"Billy'll do him!" vowed the yearlings. "There's nobody in the class +that stands more chance." + +And the plebes feared it would be that way, too, and yet there were a +few at the tables discussing the matter in whispers, venturesome enough +to say that perhaps maybe their classmate might win and to wonder what +on earth would happen to him if he did. + +"It'll mean a revelation if he does!" they cried. "Perhaps it'll even +stop hazing." + +The mood of the irate little corporal, who had vowed not an hour before +that Mallory should not have another chance, may well be imagined. + +"I tell you, 'tis a shame!" he vowed to Williams. "A shame! I don't see +why in thunder you didn't hold out." + +"It's not my fault, Jasper," responded the other, smiling good +naturedly. "If you'll think a while, you'll see he was in a position to +force a fight at any time he chose. If I refused to 'allow him to +threaten to hit me,' as he put it, he could have threatened anyway, and +then if that didn't do any good, he'd have actually to hit me, and there +you would have been. It's a great deal better this way." + +"Yes!" growled Jasper. "That sounds all very well. But look where it +puts me, by George! You'll have to get somebody else to arrange it. I +won't. I went as a committee and told him he'd not get another chance, +and I tell you now I'll not go take it back for anybody, and with that +B. J. plebe especially." + +"Perhaps he won't be so very B. J. after the fight," responded the +other, smiling. "I don't know, of course, but I shall do my best." + +"If you don't," said the other, looking serious, "by jingo! we'll be in +a thundering fix. There's nobody in the class can beat you, and that +plebe'll have a walkover." + +This last sentiment of Jasper's was the sentiment of the whole yearling +class, and the class was in a state of uncertainty in consequence. Texas +was known to have whipped four cadets in one morning, and all of them +good men, too; then there was a rumor out that Mark and Texas had had a +quarrel and that the latter had gone to the hospital some five minutes +later. The two facts put together were enough to make the most confident +do some thinking. + +It is difficult for one who has never been to West Point to appreciate +what this state of affairs meant--because it is hard for him to +appreciate the relation which exists between the plebe and the rest of +the corps. From the moment of the former's arrival as an alarmed and +trembling candidate, it is the especial business of every cadet to +teach him that he is the most utterly, entirely and absolutely +insignificant individual upon the face of the universe. He is shouted at +and ordered, bullied, badgered, tormented, pulled and hauled, drilled +and laughed at until he is reduced to the state of mind of a rabbit. If +he is "B. J." about it, he is bullied the more; if he shows fight, he +has all he wants, and is made meeker still. The result of it all is that +he learns to do just as anybody else commands him, and + + Never dares to sneeze unless + He's asked you if he might. + +All of which is fun for the yearling. + +Now, here was Mark Mallory--to say nothing of Texas--who had come up to +the Point with an absurd notion of his own dignity, who had outwitted +the yearlings at every turn, been sent to Coventry--and didn't care a +hang, and now was on the point of trying to "lick" the finest all-around +athlete in the whole third class. It was enough to make the corps +tremble--the yearlings, at any rate. The first class usually feels too +dignified to meddle with such things. + +Billy Williams' ambassador put in an appearance on the following Sunday +morning, and, to Mark's disgust, he proved to be none other than his +old enemy, Bull Harris--sent, by the way, not because Williams so chose, +but because Bull himself had asked to be sent. + +"Mr. Williams," said he, "says he'll give you another chance to run +away." + +Mark bowed politely, determined that Harris should get as little chance +for insult as possible. + +"He'll fight you to-morrow--Fort Clinton, at four, and if you don't +come, by thunder! he'll find out why." + +Mark's face grew white, but he only bowed again, and swallowed it. And +just then came an unexpected interruption. + +"Mr. Mallory, as the challenged party, has the right to name the time." + +The voice was loud and clear, and seemed to have authority; Harris +turned and confronted Cadet First Captain Fischer, in all his glory of +chevrons and sword. Now, the first captain is lord of West Point--and +Harris didn't dare to say a word, though he was boiling within. + +"And, moreover," continued the imposing young officer, angrily, "you +should remember that you came, Mr. Harris, as a gentleman and not as a +combatant. Mr. Mallory, what is your wish?" + +"The time suits me," said Mark, quietly. "Good-day, Mr. Harris." + +And Harris left in a very unpleasant mood indeed; he had meant to have +no end of amusement at the expense of Mark's feelings. + +"You've a hard row to hoe," said the cadet officer to Mark, "and a hard +man to beat. And you were foolish to get into it, but, all the same, +I'll see that you have fair play." + +"And that," exclaimed Texas to Mark, as he watched the tall, erect +figure of the cadet vanish through the sally port. "That is the first +decent word I've heard from a cadet since I've been here. Bully for +Fischer!" + +"It's probable," said Mark, "that he knows Harris as well as we. And +now, old fellow," he added, "we've got nothing to do but pass time, and +wait--and wait for to-morrow morning!" + +Mark slept soundly that night in spite of the excitement. It was Texas +who was restless, for Texas had promised to act as alarm clock, and, +realizing that not to be on time again would be a calamity indeed, he +was up half a dozen times to gaze out of the window toward the eastern +sky, watching for the first signs of morning. + +While it was yet so dark that he could scarcely see the clock, he routed +Mark out of bed. + +"Git up thar," he whispered, "git up an' git ready." + +Mark "got," and the two dressed hurriedly and crept down the stairs, +past the sentry--the sentry was a cadet, and kindly "looked the other +way"--and then went out through the sally port to the parade ground. The +plain was shrouded in mist and darkness, and the stars still shone, +though there was a faint light in the east. The two stole past the +camp--where also the sentries were blind--scaled the ramparts, and stood +in the center of "old Fort Clinton." + +The spot was deserted and silent, but scarcely had the two been there a +moment before a head peered over the wall nearest to the camp. + +"They're here," whispered a cadet, and sprang over. A dozen others +followed him, and in a very few minutes more there were at least thirty +of them, excited and eager, waiting for "Billy" to put in an appearance. +It was not long before Billy came, and behind him his faithful chum, +Jasper, with a bucket of water, and sponges and towels enough for a +dozen. About the same time Stanard's long shanks appeared over the +breastworks, and Indian tumbled over a moment later. Things were about +ready then. + +"Let's lose no time," said Jasper, always impatient. "Captain Fischer +will act as referee and timekeeper, if it's agreeable." + +No one could have suited Mark more, and he said so. Likewise, he stated, +through his second, Mr. Powers, that he preferred to fight by rounds, +which evidently pleased Mr. Williams. Mr. Williams was by this time +stripped to the waist, his suspenders tied about him. And it was +evidently as Fischer had said. There was no finer man in his class, and +he was trained to perfection. His skin was white and glistening, his +shoulders broad and massive, and the muscles on his arms stood out with +every motion. His legs were probably as muscular, too, thought Mark, for +Williams held the record for the mile. The yearlings' hearts beat higher +as they gazed at their champion's determined face. + +Mark was a little slower in stepping up; when he did so the watching +crowd sized him up carefully, and then there was doubt. + +"Oh, gee, but this is going to be a fight!" was the verdict of every one +of them. + +"Marquis of Queensberry rules," said Fischer, in a low tone. "Both know +them?" + +Mark nodded. + +"Shake hands!" + +Mark put out his, by way of answer, and Williams gripped it right +heartily. + +"Ready?" + +And then the simple word "Go." + +Let us gaze about a moment at the scene. The ring is surrounded by +earthworks, now grass-grown and trodden down, unkept since the +Revolutionary days, when West Point was a Gibraltar. Old cannon, +caissons and wagon wheels are scattered about inside, together with +ramparts and wire chevaux-de-friezes which the cadets are practiced in +constructing. In the southwest corner is a small, clear, smooth-trodden +space, where the two brawny, white-skinned warriors stand. The cadets +are forming a ring about them, for every one is too excited to sit down +and keep quiet. The "outlooks," posted for safety, are neglecting their +duty recklessly for the same reason, and looking in altogether. Every +eye is on the two. + +Over in Mark's corner sits Texas, gripping his hands in excitement, +wriggling nervously and muttering to himself. Stanard is beside him with +"Dana's Geology" as a cushion. The Parson is a picture of calm and +scholarly dignity, in direct contrast with our friend Texas, who is on +the verge of one of his wild "fits." "Indian" is the fourth and only +other plebe present, and Indian is horrified, as usual, and mutters +"Bless my soul" at intervals. + +On the opposite side of the circle of cadets are Jasper and another +second, both breathlessly watching every move. Nearby stands Cadet +Captain Fischer, calm and cool, critically watching the play. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE AFFAIR AT THE FORT. + + +The two began cautiously, like a pair of skillful generals sending out a +skirmish line to test the enemy's strength and resource. This was no +such battle as Texas', a wild rush, a few mighty blows, and then +victory. Williams was wary as a cat, sparring lightly, and taking no +risks, and the other saw the plan and its wisdom. + +"Playing easy," muttered the referee, noting the half minute on his +watch. "Know their business, it seems." + +"Wow!" growled Texas. "What's the good o' this yere baby business? Say, +Parson, ain't they never goin' to hit? Whoop!" + +This last exclamation was caused by the real beginning of the battle. +Williams saw an unguarded face, and quick as thought his heavy arm shot +out; the crowd gasped, and Mark saw it. A sudden motion of his head to +one side was enough to send the blow past him harmlessly, and a moment +later the yearling's forward plunge was checked by an echoing crack upon +his ribs. Then for the rest of the round the excited cadets were +treated to an exhibition of sparring such as they had never seen in +their lives. Feinting, dodging and parrying, the springing pair seemed +everywhere at once, and their fists in a thousand places. The crowd was +thrilled; even the imperturbable Fischer was moved to exclamation, and +Texas in half a minute had seen more skill than his whole experience had +shown him in his life. + +"Look a thar! Look a thar! He's got him--no--gad! Whoop!" + +Texas did as much dancing as the fighters themselves, and more talking +than the whole crowd. Captain Fischer had to stop watching him long +enough to tell him that the camp, with its sleeping "tacs," was only a +few yards away. And then, as Powers subsided, the cadet glanced at his +watch, called "Time!" and the two fighters went to their corners, +panting. + +"What did ye stop for?" inquired Texas, while the Parson set diligently +to work at bathing several red spots on his friend's body. "What kind o' +fightin' is this yere? Ain't give up, have you? Say, Mark, now go in +nex' time an' do him. What's the use o' layin' off?" + +"A very superior exhibition of--lend me that court-plaster, +please--pugilistic ability," commented the Parson, bustling about like +an old hen. + +And then a moment later the referee gave the word and they were at it +again. + +This round there was no delay; both went at it savagely, though warily +and skillfully as ever. Blow after blow was planted that seemed fairly +to shake the air, driven by all the power that human muscle could give. + +"Won't last long at this rate," said the referee, sagely shaking his +head. "Give 'em another round--gee!" + +Fischer's "gee" was echoed by the yearlings with what would have, but +for the nearness of the camp, been a yell of triumph and joy. Williams +had seen a chance, and had been a second too quick for Mark; he had +landed a crushing blow upon the latter's head, one which made him +stagger. Quick to see his chance, the yearling had sprung in, driving +his half-dazed opponent backward, landing blow after blow. Texas gasped +in horror. The yearlings danced--and then---- + +"Time!" said the imperturbable Fischer. + +Texas sprang forward and led his bewildered friend to a seat; Texas was +about ready to cry. + +"Old man!" he muttered, "don't let him beat you. Oh! It'll be the death +of me. I'll go jump into the river!" + +"Steady! Steady!" said the Parson; "we'll be all right in a moment." + +Mark said nothing, but as his reeling brain cleared he gritted his +teeth. + +"Time," said the referee. + +And Williams sprang forward to finish the work, encouraged by the +enthusiastic approval of his half-wild classmates. He aimed another blow +with all his might; Mark dodged; the other tried again, and again the +plebe leaped to one side; this repeated again and again was the story of +the next minute, and the yearlings clinched their hands in +disappointment and rage. + +"He's flunking!" cried one of them--Bull Harris--"He's afraid!" + +"He's fighting just as he ought," retorted Captain Fischer, "and doing +it prettily, too. Good!" + +And then once more the crowd settled into an anxious silence to watch. + +The story of that minute was the story of ten. Mark had seen that in +brute force his adversary was his equal, and that skill, coolness and +endurance were to win. He made up his mind on his course, and pursued +it, regardless of the jeers of the yearlings and their advice to Billy +to "go in and finish him off." Billy went, but he could not reach Mark, +and occasionally his ardor would be checked by an unexpected blow which +made his classmates groan. + +"It's a test of endurance now," observed Fischer, "and Billy ought to +win. But the plebe holds well--bully shot, by Jove! Mallory's evidently +kept in training. Time!" + +That was for the seventh round. + +"He's getting madder now," whispered Mark to Stanard, as he sat down to +rest. "He wants to finish. If those fellows keep at him much more he'll +sail in for a finish--and then, well, I'm pretty fresh yet." + +Goaded on by his impatient classmates, Williams did "sail in," the very +next round. Mark led him a dance, from corner to corner, dodging, +ducking and twisting, the yearling, thinking the victory his, pressing +closer and closer and aiming blow after blow. + +"Watch out, Billy, watch out," muttered the vigilant Fischer to himself, +as he caught the gleam in Mark's eye. + +Just then Williams paused, actually exhausted; Mark saw his chest +heaving, and, a still surer sign, his lip trembling. + +"Now, then!" whispered the Parson at his back, and Mark sprang forward. + +The yearling dodged, Mark followed rapidly. There was a moment of +vicious striking, and then the cadets gasped to see Williams give way. +It was only an inch, but it told the story--Williams was tired. Fischer +gazed at his watch and saw that there was yet half a minute, and at the +same moment he heard a resounding thump. Mark had planted a heavy blow +upon his opponent's chest, he followed almost instantly with another, +and the yearlings groaned. + +Williams rallied, and made a desperate fight for his life, but at the +close of that round he was what a professional reporter would have +termed "groggy." He came up weakly at the call. + +"Don't be afraid of hitting him," the Parson had said, afraid that +Mark's kind-heartedness would incline him to mercy. "There's too much at +stake. Win, and win in a hurry"--the Parson forgot to be classical when +he was excited. + +Obedient to command, Mark set out, though it was evident to him that he +had the fight. While Texas muttered and pranced about for joy, Mark +dealt his opponent another blow which made him stagger; he caught +himself upon one knee, and Mark stepped back and waited for him to rise. +And then suddenly a pair of strong arms were flung about the plebe's +waist and he felt himself shoved hurriedly along; at the same moment a +voice shouted in his ear: + +"Run, plebe, run for your life!" + +Mark glanced about him in dimly-conscious amazement. He saw that the +ring had melted into a number of cadets, skurrying away in every +direction at the top of their speed. He heard the words, "a tac! a tac!" +and knew the fight had been discovered by an army officer. + +A figure dashed up behind Mark and caught him by the arm. It was +Fischer. + +"Run for your life! Get in barracks!" he cried. + +And with that he vanished, and Mark, obeying, rushed across the cavalry +plain and was soon lying breathless and exhausted in his room, where +the wildly-jubilant Texas joined him a moment later, just as reveille +was sounded. + +"Victory! Victory!" he shouted. "Wow!" + +And by breakfast time that morning every cadet in the corps was +discussing the fight. And Mark was the hero of the whole plebe class. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +TWO PLEBES IN HOSPITAL. + + +"Say, tell me, did you do him?" + +The speaker was a lad with brown, curly hair and a laughing, merry face, +at present, however, half covered with a swathing of bandages. He was +standing on the steps of the hospital building at West Point, and +regarding with anxiety another lad of about the same age, but taller and +more sturdily built. + +"I don't know that I did him," responded Mark--for the one addressed was +he--"I don't know that I can say I did him, but I believe I would have +if the fight hadn't been interrupted." + +"Bully, b'gee!" cried the other, excitedly slapping his knee and wincing +with pain afterward. "Gimme your hand! I'm proud of you, b'gee! My +name's Alan Dewey, at your service." + +Mark took the proffered hand, smiling at the stranger's joy. + +"My success seems to cause you considerable pleasure," he said. + +"Yes, b'gee!" exclaimed Dewey, "it does! And to every true and loyal +plebe in the academy. You've brought honor to the name of plebe by +licking the biggest yearling in the place, b'gee, and that means the end +of hazing." + +"I'm not so sure of that," said Mark. + +"I am," returned the other. "But say, tell me something about the fight. +I wanted to come, only I was shut up in hospital. Did Williams put up a +good one?" + +"Splendid," said Mark. + +"He ought to. They say he's champion of his class, and an all-round +athlete. But you look as if you could fight some yourself." + +"He almost had me beaten once," said Mark. "I thought I was a goner." + +"Say, but you're a spunky chap!" remarked Dewey, eying Mark with an +admiring expression. "I don't think there's ever been a plebe dared to +do half what you've done. The whole class is talking about you." + +"Is that so?" inquired Mark, laughing. "I didn't mean to do anything +reckless." + +"What's the difference," laughed the other, "when you can lick 'em all, +b'gee? I wish I could do it," he added, rather more solemnly. "Then, +perhaps, maybe I wouldn't be the physical wreck that I am." + +"You been fighting, too?" inquired Mark, laughing. + +"Betcher life, b'gee!" responded the other, emphatically. "Only I wasn't +as clever at it as you." + +"Tell me about it," said Mark, with interest. + +"It happened last Saturday afternoon, and I've been in hospital ever +since, b'gee. Some of the cadets caught me taking a walk up somewhere +near what they call 'Crow's Nest.' And so they set out to have some fun. +Told me to climb a tree, in the first place. I looked at the tree, and, +b'gee, there wasn't a limb for thirty feet, and the limbs there were +rotten. There was one of 'em, a big, burly fellow with short hair and a +scar on his cheek----" + +"Bull Harris!" cried Mark. + +"Yes," said Dewey, "that's what they called him--'Bull.'" + +"Did you fight with him?" + +"Betcher life, b'gee! He tried to make me climb that tree, and, b'gee, +says I, 'I won't, b'gee!' Then I lammed him one in the eye----" + +"Bully!" cried Mark, and then he added, "b'gee!" by way of company. "Did +he beat you?" + +"Betcher life," cried the other. "That is, the six of 'em did." + +"You don't mean to say the crowd attacked you?" + +"That's what I said." + +"Well, sir!" exclaimed Mark, "the more I hear of that Bull Harris the +bigger coward I find him. It's comforting to know that all the cadets +aren't that way." + +"Very comforting!" responded the other, feeling of the bandage on his +swollen jaw. "Very comforting! Reminds me of a story I heard once, +b'gee, of a man who got a thousand dollars' comfort from a railroad for +having his head cut off." + +Mark laughed for a moment, and then he fell to tapping the step +thoughtfully with his heel. He was thinking over a plan. + +"I don't suppose you've much love for the yearlings," he remarked, at +last. + +"Bet cher life not," laughed the other. "I've about as much as a +mother-in-law for a professional joke writer, b'gee! Reminds me of a +story I once heard--but go on; I want to hear what you had to say. Tell +my story later." + +"Well, three friends of mine have formed a sort of an informal alliance +for self-defence----" + +"Bully, b'gee!" cried Dewey, excitedly. + +"And I thought maybe you'd like to----" + +"Join? Bet cher life, b'gee! Why didn't you say so before? Whoop!" + +And thus it happened that Member Number Five of the West Point +"alliance" was discovered. + +"I don't think this famous alliance is going to have much to do at the +start," said Mark, as soon as Master Dewey had recovered from his +excitement, "for I rather fancy the yearlings will leave us alone for a +time." + +"Bet cher life, b'gee!" assented the other. "If they don't look out they +won't have time to be sorry." + +"B'gee!" added Mark, smiling. + +"Do I say that much?" inquired the other, with a laugh. "I suppose I +must, because the fellows have nicknamed me 'B'gee.' I declare I'm not +conscious of saying it. Do I?" + +"Bet cher life, b'gee," responded Mark, whereupon his new acquaintance +broke into one of his merry laughs. + +"Let's go around to barracks," said Mark, finally--it was then just +after breakfast time. "I expect they'll want me to report for drill. I +thought I'd get off for the morning on the strength of my 'contusions,' +as they call them. But the old surgeon was too sly for me. He patched me +up in a jiffy." + +"What was the matter with you?" inquired Dewey, dropping his smile. + +"One eye's about half shut, as you see," responded Mark, "and then I had +quite a little cut on the side of my head where Williams hit me once. +Otherwise I am all right--only just a little rocky." + +"As the sea captain remarked of the harbor, b'gee," added the other. +"But tell me, how's Williams?" + +"Pretty well done up, as the laundryman remarked, to borrow your style +of illustration," Mark responded, laughing. "They had to carry poor +Williams down here. He's in there now being fixed up. And say, you +should have seen how queerly the surgeon looked at us two. He knew right +away what was up, of course, but he never said a word--just entered us +'sick--contusions.' Is that what you were?" + +"Bet cher life, b'gee!" responded the other. "But he tried to get me to +tell what was up. He rather suspected hazing, I think. I didn't say +anything, though." + +"It would have served some of those chaps just right if you had," vowed +Mark. "You know you could have every one of them expelled." + +The two had reached the area of barracks by this time, and hurried over +to reach their rooms before inspection. + +"And don't you mention what I've told you about this great alliance to a +soul," Mark enjoined. "We'd have the whole academy about our ears in a +day." + +Dewey assented. + +"What's the name of it?" he inquired. + +"Haven't got any name for it yet," said Mark, "or any leader either, in +fact. We're waiting to get a few more members, enough for a little +excitement. Then we'll organize, elect a leader, swear allegiance, and +you can bet there'll be fun--b'gee!" + +"Come up to my room," he added, after a moment's pause, "as soon as you +get fixed up for inspection, and I'll introduce you to the other +fellows." + +With which parting word he turned and bounded up the stairs to his own +room. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE PARSON'S INDIGNATION. + + +Mark found his roommate and faithful second, Texas, busily occupied in +cleaning up for the morning inspection. Texas wasn't looking for Mark; +it had been Texas' private opinion that Mark had earned a week's holiday +by the battle of the morning, and that the surgeon would surely grant +it. When Mark did turn up, however, Texas wasted no time in complaining +of the injustice, but got his friend by the hand in a hurry. + +"Ole man," he cried, "I'm proud of you! I ain't had a chance to say how +proud I am!" + +"Thanks," said Mark, laughing, "but look out for that sore thumb--and +for mercy's sakes don't slap me on that shoulder again. I'm more +delicate than I look. And say, Texas, I've got a new member for our +secret society--b'gee!" + +Texas looked interested. + +"He's a pretty game youngster," Mark continued, "for when Bull Harris +and that gang of his tried to haze him, he sailed in and tried to do the +crowd." + +"Oh!" cried Texas, excitedly. "Wow! I wish I'd 'a' been there. Say, +Mark, d'ye know I've been a missin' no end o' fun that a'way. Parson had +a fight, an' I didn't see it; you had one daown to Cranston's, an' I +missed that; an' yere's another!" + +Texas looked disgusted and Mark burst out laughing. + +"'Tain't any fun," growled the former. "But go on, tell me 'bout this +chap. What does he look like?" + +"He's not as tall as we," replied Mark, "but he's very good-looking and +jolly. And when he says 'B'gee' and laughs, you can't help laughing with +him. Hello, there's inspection!" + +This last remark was prompted by a sharp rap upon the door. The two +sprang up and stood at attention. "Heels together, eyes to the front, +chest out"--they knew the whole formula by this time. And Cadet Corporal +Jasper strode in, found fault with a few things and then went on to +carry death and devastation into the next place. + +A few minutes later the Parson strolled in. + +"Yea, by Zeus," began he, without waiting for the formality of a +salutation. "Yea, by Apollo, the far-darting, this is indeed an outrage +worthy of the great Achilles to avenge. And I do swear by the bones of +my ancestors, by the hounds of Diana, forsooth even by Jupiter lapis and +the Gemini, that never while I inspire the atmosphere of existence will +I submit myself to so outrageous an imposition----" + +"Wow!" cried Texas. "What's up?" + +"Sit down and tell us about it," added Mark. + +"It is written in the most immortal document," continued the Parson, +without noticing the interruption, "that ever emanated from the mind of +man, the Declaration of Independence (signed, by the way, by an ancestor +of my stepmother), that among the inalienable privileges of man, +co-ordinate with life and liberty itself, is the pursuit of happiness. +And in the name of the Seven Gates of Thebes and the Seven Hills of the +Eternal City, I demand to know what happiness a man can have if all his +happiness is taken from him!" + +"B'gee! Reminds me of a story I heard about a boy who wanted to see the +cow jump over the moon on a night when there wasn't any moon, b'gee." + +Mark and Texas looked up in surprise and the Parson faced about in +obvious displeasure at the interruption. + +"In the name of all the Olympian divinities and the inhabitants of +Charon and the Styx," he cried, angrily, "I demand to know----" + +"Come in," said Mark, laughing. "Excuse me for interrupting, Parson, but +this is Mr. Alan Dewey, b'gee, member Number Five of our band of +desperate buccaneers, if you please. Mr. Dewey, allow me to introduce +you to the gentleman who 'reminded' you of that last story, Mr. Peter +Stanard, of Boston, Massachusetts, the cradle of liberty, the nurse of +freedom, and the center and metropolis of the geological universe." + +The Parson bowed gravely. + +"While I am, together with all true Bostonians, proud of the reputation +which my city has merited, yet I am----" + +"Also to Mr. Jeremiah Powers," continued Mark, cutting the Parson off in +his peroration. + +"Son o' the Honorable Scrap Powers, o' Hurricane County, Texas," added +Texas, himself. + +Young Dewey shook hands all around, and then sat down on the bed, +looking at Mark with a puzzled expression on his face, as much as to +say, "what on earth have I struck--b'gee?" Mark saw his expression and +undertook to inform him, making haste to start before the Parson could +begin again on the relative merits of Boston and the rest of the +civilized universe. + +"Powers and Stanard," said he, "are the members of our organization, +together with Indian, the fat boy." + +"I see," said Dewey, at the same time thinking what a novel organization +it must be. "There's Indian now." + +Indian's round, scared face peered in through the open doorway just +then. He was introduced to Number Five, whereupon Number Five remarked +'Very pleased to meet you, b'gee.' And Indian echoed 'Bless my soul!' +and crept into the room and sat down in an inconspicuous corner. + +There was a moment's pause and then the Parson commenced: + +"If I remember correctly, we were occupied when last interrupted, +by--ahem! a rather facetious observation upon the subject of our +solitary lunar satellite and quadruped of the genus Bos--occupied I say +in considering the position which the metropolis of Boston has +obtained----" + +"Drop Boston!" laughed Mark. "We weren't on Boston anyhow. Boston came +in afterward--as Boston always does, in fact." + +"Which reminds me, b'gee," put in the newcomer, "of a story I once heard +of----" + +"Drop the story, too!" exclaimed Mark. "I want to know what the Parson +was so indignant about." + +"Yes, yes!" put in Texas. "That's what I say, too. And be quick about +it. We've only ten minutes 'fore drill, an' if there's anybody got to be +licked, why, we got to hustle." + +"Well," said Stanard, drawing a long breath. "Well! Since it is the +obvious and, in fact, natural desire of the company assembled, so +expressed by them, that I should immediately proceed to a summary and +concise statement of the matter in hand, pausing for no extensive +introductions or formal perorations, but endeavoring assiduously to +impart to my promulgations a certain clarified conciseness which in +matters of this peculiar nature is so eminently advantageous----" + +The Parson was interrupted at this place by a subdued "B'gee!" from +Dewey, followed by a more emphatic "Wow!" and a scarcely audible "Bless +my soul!" + +"What's the matter?" he inquired, stopping short and looking puzzled. + +"Nothing," replied Mark. "I didn't say anything." + +"Oh!" said the Parson. "Excuse me. Where was I? Oh, yes, I was just +saying I would be brief. Gentlemen--ahem!--when I entered this room I +was in a condition of violent anger. As I stated, an outrage had been +offered me such as neither Parmenides, nor Socrates, nor even Zeno, +stoic of stoics, could have borne. And I have resolved to seek once +more, as a prodigal son, the land of my birth, where science is fostered +instead of being repressed as in this hotbed of prejudice and ignorance. +I----" + +"What's up?" cried the four. + +"I am coming to that," said the Parson, gravely, stretching out his long +shanks, drawing up his trousers, and displaying his sea-green socks. +"This same morning--and my friend Indian will substantiate my statement, +for he was there--a low, ignorant cadet corporal did enter into my room, +for inspection, by Zeus, and after generally displaying his ill-manners, +he turned to me and conveyed the extraordinary information that, +according to rules, forsooth, I must be deprived of the dearest object +of my affections, solace of my weary hours, my friend in time of need, +my companion in sickness, which through all the trials of adversity has +stuck to me closer than a brother, my only joy, my----" + +"What?" cried the four, by this time wrought up to the highest pitch of +indignation and excitement. + +"My one refuge from the cares of life," continued the solemn Parson, +"the one mitigating circumstance in this life of tribulation, the +only----" + +"What? What? What?" + +"What? Of all things what, but this? What but my life, my pride, my +hope--my beloved volume of 'Dana's Geology,' friend of my----" + +And the roar of laughter which came then made the sentry out on the +street jump in alarm. The laughing lasted until the cry came: + +"New cadets turn out!" which meant drill; and it lasted after that, too, +so that Cadet Spencer, drillmaster, "on duty over plebes," spent the +next hour or two in wondering what on earth his charges kept snickering +at. Poor Texas was the subject of a ten-minute discourse upon +"impertinence and presumption," because he was guilty of the heinous +offense of bursting out laughing in the midst of one of the irate little +drillmaster's tirades. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +INDIAN IN TROUBLE. + + +What manner of torture is squad drill has already been shown; and so the +reader should have some idea of what our five friends were going +through. Squad drill lasts for the first two weeks or so of plebe +life--that is, before the move into camp. The luckless victims begin +after breakfast, and at regular (and frequent) periods until night are +turned out under the charge of some irascible yearling to be taught all +manner of military maneuvers--setting up drill, how to stand, to face, +and, in fact, how to walk. + +Most people, those who have not been to West Point, are under the +delusion that they know how to walk already. It usually takes the +luckless plebe a week to get that idea hammered out of his head, and +another week besides to learn the correct method. The young instructor, +presenting, by the way, a ludicrous contrast in his shining uniform of +gray and white and gold, with his three or four nervous and variously +costumed pupils, takes the bayonet of his gun for a drill stick and +marches "his" squad over into a secluded corner of the area and thus +begins the above-mentioned instructions: + +"At the word forward, throw the weight of the body upon the right leg, +the left knee straight. At the word march, move the left leg smartly +without jerk, carry the left foot forward thirty inches from the right, +the sole near the ground, the toe a little depressed, knee straight and +slightly turned out. At the same time throw the weight of the body +forward (eyes to the front) and plant the foot without shock, weight of +the body resting upon it; next, in like manner, advance the right foot +and plant it as above. Continue to advance without crossing the legs or +striking one against the other, keeping the face direct to the front. +Now, forward, common time, march. Depress the toe so that it strikes the +ground at the same time as the heel (palms of the hands squarely to the +front. Head up)"--and so on. + +That is the way the marching exercise goes, exclusive, of course, of all +interruptions, comments and witticisms on the instructor's part. The +plebe begins to get used to it after the first week or so, when the +stiffness rubs off, and then a certain amount of rivalry begins to +spring up among various squads, and everybody settles down to the +business of learning. The squads are consolidated later on, and +gradually the class is merged into one company. Such as they are, these +drills, together with inspections, meals and "rests" (with hazing), +occupy almost the entire time of the two weeks in barracks. + +And now for our five "rebels." + +That particular Monday morning the plebes had an hour's rest before +dinner, in which to do as they pleased (or as the yearlings pleased). +And during this hour it was that one of "the five," the always luckless +and unhappy one, got into trouble. The one was Indian, or the Mormon. +Indian, it seemed, was always thought of whenever there was any deviling +to be done. The other plebes did as they were told, and furnished +amusement on demand, but they always realized that it was all in fun. +Indian, however, was an innocent, gullible youth, who took everything +solemnly, and was in terror of his unhappy life every moment of the day. +And he was especially unfortunate this time because he fell into the +hands of "Bull" Harris and his gang. + +It is not the intention of the writer to give the impression that all +cadets at West Point were or are like "Bull" Harris, or that hazing of +his peculiar variety is an everyday affair. But it would be hard to find +one hundred men without a cowardly, cruel nature among them. "Bull" +Harris and his crowd represented the lower element of the yearling +class, and made hazing their business and diversion. They were the +especial dread of the plebes in consequence. Bull had tried his tricks +upon Mark to his discomfort, and ever since that had left Mark strictly +alone, and confined his efforts to less vigorous victims, among which +were Dewey, and now Indian. + +Indian had selected a rather grewsome occupation, anyhow, at the +particular moment when he was caught. It was just in keeping with the +peculiarly dejected frame of mind he was in (after squad drill). He was +wandering through the graveyard, which is situated in a lonely portion +of the post, way off in the northwestern corner. Some heroes, West +Point's bravest, lie buried there, and Indian was dejectedly wondering +if those same heroes would ever have stuck through plebe days in +barracks if they had had a drill master like that "red-headed coyote," +Chick Spencer. He had about concluded they would not have, when he heard +some muffled laughter and the sound of running feet. A moment later the +terrified plebe found himself completely surrounded by a dozen merry +yearlings, out for a lark. Prominent among them were Bull and his +toadying little friend, Baby Edwards. + +It is correct West Point etiquette for a plebe, when "captured" to go +meekly wherever desired. Indian went, and the party disappeared quickly +in the woods on one side, the captive being hidden completely in the +circle of cadets. + +There was one person who had seen him, however, and that one person was +the Parson, who had been about to enter the gate to join his friend. And +the Parson, when he saw it, turned quickly on his heel and strode away +back to barracks as fast as his long legs could carry him without loss +of scholarly dignity. + +"Yes, by Zeus," he muttered to himself. "Yea, by Zeus, the enemy is +fierce upon our trail. And swiftly, forsooth, will I hie me to my +companions and inform them of this insufferable indignity." + +All unconscious of the learned gentleman's discovery, the yearlings +meanwhile were hurrying away into a secluded portion of the woods; for +they knew that their time was short, and that they would have to make +haste. The terrified victim was pushed over logs and through brambles +until he was almost exhausted, the captors meanwhile dropping dire hints +as to his fate. + +"An Indian he is!" muttered Bull Harris. "An Indian!" (The plebe was as +red as one then.) "He shall die an Indian's death!" + +"That's what he shall!" echoed the crowd. "An Indian! An Indian! We'll +burn him at the stake!" + +"He, he! the only good Indian's a dead Indian, he, he!" chimed in Baby, +chuckling at his own witticism. "He, he!" + +All this poor Joseph did not fail to notice, and as was his habit, he +believed every word of it. Nor did his mind regain any of its composure +as the procession continued its solemn marching through the lonely +woods, to the tune of the yearlings' cheerful remarks. The latter were +chuckling merrily to themselves, but when they were in hearing of their +victim their tone was deep and awful, and their looks dark and savage. +Poor Indian's fat, round eyes stared wider and rounder every minute; his +equally round, red face grew redder, and his gasping exclamations more +frequent and violent. + +"Bless my soul!" he cried, "what extraordinary proceedings!" + +"Ha! ha!" muttered the yearlings. "See, he trembles! Behold how the +victim pales!" + +A short distance farther in the woods the party came upon a small +clearing. + +"Just the spot!" cried Bull. "See the tree in the center. That is the +stake, and to that we will tie him, while the smoke ascends to the +clouds of heaven." + +"Just the spot!" echoed Baby, chuckling gleefully. + +"It is quiet," continued Bull, in a low, sepulchral tone. "Yes, and his +cries of agony will be heard by none. Advance, wretched victim, and +prepare to die the death which your savage ancestors did inflict upon +our fathers. Advance!" + +"Advance!" growled the crowd. + +"Bless my soul!" cried the Indian. + +He was no more capable of advancing than he was of flying. His knees +were shaking in violent terror. Great beads of perspiration rolled from +the dimples in his fat little cheeks. Limp and helpless, he would have +sunk to the ground, but for the support of his captors. + +"Advance!" cried Bull, again, stamping on the ground in mock impatience +and rage. "Bodyguard, bring forth the wretch!" + +In response to this order several of the cadets dragged the unhappy +plebe to the tree and held him fast against it. Bull Harris produced +from under his coat a coil of rope, and Indian felt it being wrapped +about his body. + +Up to this point he had been silent from sheer terror; but the feeling +of the rough rope served to bring before him with startling reality the +awfulness of the fate that was in store for him. He opened his mouth and +forthwith gave vent to a cry so weird and unearthly that the yearlings +burst out into a shout of laughter. It was no articulate cry, simply a +wild howl. It rang and echoed through the woods, like the hoot of an owl +at night, or the strange, half-human cry of a frightened dog. And it +died into a gasp that Bull Harris described as "the sigh of a homesick +bullfrog." + +Indian's musical efforts continued as the horrible rope was wound about +his body. Each wail was louder and more unearthly, more mirth-provoking +to the unpitying cadets, until at last, when Bull Harris finished and +stepped back to survey his work, the frightened plebe could be likened +to nothing less than a steam calliope. + +The yearlings were so much amused by his powers that they resolved +forthwith that the show must not stop. And so, without giving the +performer chance to breathe even, they set to work diligently collecting +sticks and leaves. + +"Heap 'em up! Heap 'em up!" cried Bull. "Heap 'em up! And soon shall the +fire blaze merrily." + +Naturally, since Indian's shrieks and howls continued unabated in +quantity or variety through all this, the yearlings were in no hurry to +finish, but took care to prolong the agony, sport as they called it, as +long as possible. So, while the red-faced, perspiring victim panted, +grunted, howled, and wriggled, they piled the wood about him with +exasperating slowness, rearranging, inspecting, and discussing the +probable effect of each and every stick of wood they laid on. + +It was done, at last, however, and the result was a great pile of fagots +surrounding and half covering the unfortunate lad. They were fagots +selected as being the driest that could be found in the dry and +sun-parched clearing. There was a moment or two later on when Bull +wished they had not been quite so dry, after all. + +The crowd stood and admired their work for a few moments longer, while +Indian's weird wails rose higher than ever. Then Bull stepped forward. + +"Art thou prepared to die?" he inquired in his most sepulchral tone. + +Indian responded with a crescendo in C minor. + +"He answereth not!" muttered the other. "Let him scorn our questions who +dares. What, ho! Bring forth the torch! We shall roast him brown." + +"And when he is brown," roared another, "then he will cease to be +Smith!" + +"Yes," cried Bull, "for he will be dead. His bones shall bleach on the +plains. On his flesh we will make a meal!" + +"An Indian meal!" added Baby, chuckling merrily over his own joke. + +"Several meals," continued Bull, solemnly. "There is enough of him for a +whole _table d'hote_. How about that? Aren't you?" + +"Wow! Wo-oo-oo-oooo!" wailed Indian. + +"He mocks us!" cried the spokesman. "He scorns to answer. Very well! We +shall see. Is the torch lit?" + +The torch, an ordinary sulphur match, was not lit. But Bull produced one +from the same place as the rope and held it poised. He waited a moment +while the yearlings discussed the next action. + +"I say we let him loose," said one. "He's scared enough." + +"Nonsense!" laughed Bull, "I'm not going to stop yet. I'm going to set +him afire." + +"Set him afire!" echoed the crowd, in a whisper. + +"'Sh! Yes," responded the other. "Not really, you know, but just enough +to scare him. We'll set fire to the wood and then when it's begun to +smoke some we'll put it out." + +"That's risky," objected somebody. "I say we----" + +"Nonsense!" interrupted the leader. "If you don't want to, run home. I +am." + +And so once more he turned toward the wretched captive, who still kept +up his shrieks. + +"Ha, ha!" he muttered, "thy time has come. Say thy last prayer." + +With which words he stepped quickly forward, struck the match upon his +heel, and after holding it for a moment knelt down before the pile of +leaves and wood. + +"Wow! Wow!" roared Indian. "Stop! Stop! Help! Wo-oo-oo!" + +Another of those steam calliope wails. + +"He shrieks for mercy!" muttered Bull. "He shrieks in vain. There!" + +The last exclamation came as he touched the match to the leaves, stood +up and worked off to join his companions. + +"Form a ring," he said, "and dance about him as he dies." + +The terror of Indian can scarcely be imagined; he was almost on the +verge of fainting as the hot choking smoke curled up and around his +face. His yells grew louder and increased to a perfect shriek of agony. + +"Don't you think we'd better stop it now?" inquired one of the +yearlings, more timid than the rest. + +"Rats!" laughed Bull. "It's hardly started. I'll manage it." + +Bull's "management" proved rather untrustworthy; for Bull had forgotten +to take into account the dryness of the twigs, and also another factor. +The air had been still as he struck the match, but just at that moment a +slight breeze swept along the ground, blowing the leaves before it. It +struck the little fire and it seized one tiny flame and bore it up +through the pile and about the legs of the imprisoned plebe. + +The next instant the yearlings were thrown into the wildest imaginable +confusion by a cry from one of them. + +"Look out! Look out! His trousers are afire!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +TO THE RESCUE. + + +Things happened in a whirl of confusion after that. To the horrified +cadets a thousand incidents seemed to crowd in at one moment. + +In the first place there was the terrified captive, bound helplessly to +the tree, his clothing on fire, himself shrieking at the top of his +lungs. Then there were the yearlings themselves, all crying out with +fright and alarm and rushing wildly in to drag the burning wood away. +Finally there were other arrivals, whom, in the excitement, the +yearlings scarcely noticed. There were two of them; one tore a knife +from his pocket and cut the rope in a dozen places, the other flung off +his jacket and wrapped it quickly about Indian's feet, extinguishing the +flames. And then the two stood up and gazed at the rest--the frightened +yearlings and their infuriated victim. + +Infuriated? Yes, wildly infuriated! A change had come over Indian such +as no one who knew him had ever seen before. The fire had not really +hurt him; it had only ruined his clothing and scorched his legs enough +to make him wild with rage. He had tugged at his bonds savagely; when he +was cut free he had torn loose from the friendly stranger who had knelt +to extinguish the fire, and made a savage rush at the badly scared +cadets. + +Indian's face was convulsed with passion. His arms were swinging wildly +like a windmill's sails in a hurricane, while from his mouth rushed a +volley of exclamations that would have frightened Captain Kidd and his +pirate band. + +It made no difference what he hit; the fat boy was too blind with rage +to see. He must hit something! If a tree had lain in his path he would +have started in on that. As luck would have it, however, the thing that +was nearest to him was a yearling--Baby Edwards. + +Baby could have been no more frightened if he had seen an express train +charging on him. He turned instantly and fled--where else would he flee +but to his idol Bull? He hid behind that worthy; Bull put up his hands +to defend himself; and the next instant Indian's flying arms reached the +spot. + +One savage blow on the nose sent Bull tumbling backward--over Baby. +Indian, of course, could not stop and so did a somersault over the two. + +There was a pretty _melee_ after that. Baby was the first to emerge, +covered with dirt and bruises. Indian got up second; he gazed about him, +his rage still burning; he gave one snort, shook his head clear of the +soil as an angry bull might; and then made another savage rush at Baby. +Baby this time had no friend to hide behind; Harris was lying on the +ground, face down, as a man might do to protect himself in a cyclone. +And so Baby had no resource but flight; he took to his heels, the +enraged plebe a few feet behind; and in half a minute more the pair were +lost to sight and sound, far distant in the woods, Indian still +pursuing. + +It might be pleasant to follow them, for Indian in his rage was a sight +to divert the gods. But there was plenty more happening at the scene of +the fire, things that ought not be missed. + +In the first place, who were the two new arrivals? It was evident that +they were plebes--their faces were familiar to the cadets. But beyond +that no one knew anything about them. They had freed their helpless +classmate and saved him from serious injury, as has been told. They had +done one thing more that has not been mentioned yet. One of them, the +smaller, just after Indian had broken loose, had reached over and dealt +the nearest yearling he could reach a ringing blow upon the cheek. + +"Take that!" said he. "Bah Jove, you're a cur." + +There was another _melee_ after that. + +Of course the setting fire to Indian had been a pure accident; but the +two strangers did not know it. They saw in the whole thing a piece of +diabolical cruelty. The yearling the wrath chanced to fall upon was Gus +Murray--and his anger is left to the imagination. He sprang at the +throat of the reckless plebe; and the rest of the crowd rushed to his +aid, pausing just for an instant to size up the pair. + +They did not seem "to be any great shucks." The taller was a big +slouchy-looking chap in clothes that evidently bespoke the farmer, and +possessing a drawl which quite as clearly indicated the situation of the +farm--the prairies. Having cut Indian loose he was lounging lazily +against the tree and regarding his more excitable companion with a +good-natured grin. + +The companion was even less awe-inspiring, for one had to look at him +but an instant to see that he was one of the creatures whom all +well-regulated boys despise--a dude. He wore a high collar, ridiculously +high; he was slender and delicate looking, with the correct Fifth Avenue +stoop to his shoulders and an attitude to his arms which showed that he +had left his cane behind only on compulsion when he "struck the Point." +And any doubts the yearlings may have had on this question were settled +as the yearlings stared, for the object turned to the other and spoke. + +"Aw say, Sleepy," said he, "come help me chastise these fellows, don't +ye know." + +As a fact there was but little choice in the matter, it was fight or die +with the two, for at the same instant Gus Murray, wild with rage, had +leaped forward and made a savage lunge at the dude. + +What happened then Murray never quite knew. All he made out was that +when he hit at the dude the dude suddenly ceased to be there. The +yearling glanced around in surprise and discovered that his victim had +slid coolly under his elbow and was standing over on the other side of +the clearing--smiling. + +The rest of the crowd, not in the least daunted by Murray's miss, rushed +in to the attack; and a moment later a wild scrimmage was in progress, +a scrimmage which defied the eye to comprehend and the pen to describe. +The former never moved from the tree, but with his back flat against it +and his great clumsy arms swinging like sledge hammers he stood and bid +defiance to his share of the crowd. + +The dude's tactics were just the opposite. He was light and slender, and +should have been easy prey. That was what Bull Harris thought as he +hastily arose from the spot where Indian had butted him and joined his +eager comrades in the hunt. The hunt; a hunt it was, and no mistake. +While the farmer stayed in one place, the dude seemed everywhere at +once. Dodging, ducking, running, he seemed just to escape every blow +that was aimed at him. He seemed even to turn somersaults, to the amazed +yearlings, who had been looking for a dude and not an acrobat. + +The dude did not dodge all the time, though; occasionally he would stop +to cool the ardor of some especially excited cadet with a sudden punch +where it wasn't looked for. Once also he stuck out his foot and allowed +Bull Harris to get his legs caught in it, with a result that Bull's nose +once more plowed the clearing. + +The writer wishes it were his privilege to chronicle the fact that the +two put the eight to flight; or that Indian, having put the Baby "to +sleep," returned to perform yet greater prodigies of valor. It would be +a pleasure to tell of all that, but on the other hand truth is a +stubborn thing. Things do not always happen as they should in spite of +the providence that is supposed to make them. + +The farmer, after a five-minute gallant stand, was finally knocked +down--from behind--and once down he was being fast pummeled into +nothingness. The dude--his collar, much to his alarm, having wilted--was +in the last stage of exhaustion. In fact, Bull had succeeded in landing +a blow, the first of the afternoon for him. The dude was about to give +up and perish, when assistance arrived. For these gallant heroes were +not fated to conquer alone. + +The first warning of the arrival of reinforcements was not the +traditional trumpet call, nor the roll of a drum, nor even the tramp of +soldiers, but a muttered "Wow!" This was followed by Texas himself, +bursting through the bushes like a battering ram. Mark was at his side, +and behind them came the Parson. Dewey, being rather crippled, brought +up the rear. + +The four lost no time in questions; they saw two plebes in distress, and +they had met Indian on the warpath and learned the cause of the trouble. +They knew it was their business to help and they "sailed right in" to do +it. + +Mark placed himself by the side of the panting "dude." Texas and the +Parson made a V formation and speedily got the farmer to his feet and in +fighting array once more. And after that the odds of the battle were +more even. + +It was a very brief battle, in fact. A mere skirmish after that. Mark's +prowess was dreaded, and that of Texas but little less. After Texas had +chased two yearlings into the woods, and Mark had stretched out +Bull--that was Bull's third time that afternoon--the ardor of the eight +began to wane. It was not very long then before the attack stopped by +mutual consent, and the combatants took to staring at each other +instead. + +The rage of Bull as he picked himself up and examined his damages must +be imagined. + +"You confounded plebes shall pay for this," he roared, "as sure as I'm +alive." + +"Now?" inquired Mark, smiling, rubbing his hands, and looking ready to +resume hostilities. + +"It's a case of blamed swelled head, that's what it is," growled the +other, sullenly. + +"Which," added the Parson's solemn voice, "might be somewhat +more classically expressed by the sesquipedalian Hellenic +vocable--ahem!--Megalacephalomania." + +With which interesting bit of information--presented gratis--the Parson +carefully laid his beloved "Dana" on the ground and sat down on it for +safety. + +"Why can't you plebes mind your business, anyhow?" snarled Gus Murray. + +"That's what I say, too!" cried Bull. + +"Curious coincidence!" laughed Dewey. "Reminds me of a story I once +heard, b'gee--I guess it's most too long a story to tell through. Remind +me of it, Mark, and I'll tell it to you some day. One of the most +remarkable tales I ever heard, that! Told me by a fellow that used to +run a sausage factory. It was right next door to a 'Home for Homeless +Cats,' though, b'gee, I couldn't ever see how the cats were homeless if +they had a home there. They didn't stay very long, though. That was the +funniest part of it. They used to sit on the fence near the sausage +factory, b'gee----" + +Dewey could have prattled on that way till doomsday with unfailing good +humor. It made the yearlings mad and that was all he cared about. But by +this time Bull had perceived that he was being guyed, and he turned away +with an angry exclamation. + +"You fellows may stay if you choose;" he said, "I'm going back to camp. +And those plebes shall pay for this!" + +"Cash on demand!" laughed Mark, as the discomfited crowd turned and +slunk off. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE ALLIANCE IS COMPLETED. + + +Having been thus easily rid of their unpleasant enemies, the plebes set +out in high feather for home. + +"I must get back in time to dress for dinner, don't ye know," said the +dude. + +"I'm 'bliged to yew fellows," put in the farmer, getting up from his +seat with a lazy groan. "My name's Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers, and +I'll shake hands all raound." + +"And mine's Chauncey Van Rensallear Mount-Bonsall, don't ye know," said +the other, putting on his immaculate white gloves. "Bah Jove! I've lost +a cuff button, quarreling with those deuced yearlings!" + +Chauncey's cuff button was found at last--he vowed he wouldn't go to +dinner without it--and then the party started in earnest, the two +strangers giving a graphic and characteristic account of the scrimmage +we have just witnessed. + +Mark in the meantime was doing some thinking, wondering if here were +not two more eligible members of the "alliance." While he was debating +this question the "dude" approached him privately and began thus: + +"I want to say something to you," he said. "Dye know, I can't see why we +plebes suffer so, bah Jove! I was thinking aw, don't ye know, if some of +us would band together we could--aw--chastise the deuced cadets and----" + +Master Chauncey Van Rensallear Mount-Bonsall got no further, for Mark +came out then and told the secret. In a few moments the alliance had +added Number Six and Number Seven. + +"And now, b'gee, I say let's organize, b'gee!" cried Dewey. + +The sound of a drum from barracks put a stop to further business then, +but before supper there was a spare half hour, and during that time the +seven conspirators met in Mark's room to "organize." Indian was there, +too, now calm and meek again. + +"In the first place," said Mark, "we want to elect a leader." + +"Wow!" cried Texas, "what fo'? Ain't you leader?" + +"I say, Mark, b'gee!" cried Dewey. + +"Mark," said the Parson, solemnly. + +"Mark," murmured Indian from the corner, and "Mark" chimed in the two +newcomers. + +"It seems to be unanimous," said Mark, "so I guess I'll have to let it +go. But I'm sure I can't see why you think of me. What shall we call +ourselves?" + +That brought a lengthy discussion, which space does not permit of being +given. The Loyal Legion, the Sons of the Revolution, the Independents, +the Cincinnati--suggested by the classic Parson--and also the Trojan +Heroes--from the same source--all these were suggested and rejected. +Then somebody moved the Seven Rebels, which was outvoted as not +expressive enough, but which led to another one that took the whole +crowd with a rush. It came from an unexpected source--the unobtrusive +Indian in the corner. + +"Let's name it 'The Seven Devils'!" said he. + +And the Seven Devils they were from that day until the time when the +class graduated from the Point. + +"Three cheers for the Seven Devils!" cried Dewey, "b'gee!" + +"Now," said the Parson, rising with a solemn look, "let us swear eternal +fealty by all that man holds holy. Let us swear by the Stygian Shades +and the realms of Charon, whence all true devils come. Yea, by Zeus!" + +"And we'll stand by one another to the death, b'gee," cried Dewey. +"Remember, we're organized for no purpose on earth but to do those +yearlings, and we'll lick 'em, b'gee, if they dare to look at us." + +"Show 'em no mercy, don't ye know," said "Chauncey." + +"And let's have a motto," cried Indian, becoming infected with the +excitement. "'Down with the yearlings.'" + +"I suggest 'We die but we never surrender,' b'gee." + +"'_Veni, vidi, vici_,'" remarked the Parson, "or else '_Dulce et decorum +est pro patria mori_,' in the immortal words of Horace, poet of the +Sabine farm." + +"A motto should be brief," laughed Mark. "I can beat you all. I'll give +you a motto in three letters of the alphabet." + +"Three letters!" echoed the crowd. "Three letters! What is it?" + +"It expresses all our objects in forming," said Mark, "and we'll have +lots of fun if we obey it. My motto is 'B. B. J.'" + +"Bully, b'gee!" cried Dewey, and the rest echoed his approval with a +rush. + +That was, all except the unobtrusive Indian in the corner. + +"I--I don't quite," he stammered, "quite see it. Why is----" + +"Ahem!" Mark straightened himself up and put on his best professional +air in imitation of the Parson. "Ahem! If you had lived in Boston, and +devoted yourself to the cultivation of the intellectualities--yea, by +Zeus!--instead of learning to lose your temper and chase yearlings like +a wild Texan---- However, I'll explain it." + +"Please do!" cried Indian, innocently. "I'll never chase the yearlings +again." + +"That's good! B. J. stands for 'before June,' and is West Point slang +for 'fresh.'" + +"I knew what B. J. means," put in Indian. + +"What! Then why didn't you say so and save me the trouble? The other B. +is the present imperative of the verb to be; he was, being, been, is, +am, ain't. And the only way I can explain what B. B. J. means is to say +that it means be B. J., be B. J. with a vengeance, and when you get +tired of being B. J., B. B. J. some more. Do you see?" + +"Er, yes," said Indian. + +"And now," laughed Mark, "since we're through, three cheers for the +Seven Devils!" + +And that is the story of the forming of West Point's first and only +secret society, a society which was destined to introduce some very, +very exciting incidents into West Point's dignified history, the Seven +Devils, B. B. J. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +INDIGNATION OF THE YEARLINGS. + + +"By George, he's the freshest plebe that ever struck this place!" + +The speaker was Bull Harris, and he was sitting on the steps of the +library building along with half a dozen classmates, excitedly and +angrily discussing the fight. + +"Now I tell you Mark Mallory's got to be put out of this place in a +week," continued the first speaker. "And I don't care how it's done, +either, fair or foul." + +"That's just what I say, too!" chimed in Baby Edwards. "He's got to be +put out in a week!" + +Bull Harris smiled benignly upon his toadying echo, while the rest of +the gang nodded approvingly. + +"I'm sure everybody agrees that he's got to be taken down," put in +somebody else. "The only trouble is I don't see how on earth it is to be +done." + +"That's the worst of it!" snarled Bull. "That fellow Mallory seems to +get the best of us everything we try; confound him!" + +"I'm sure such a thing has never been known at West Point," said +another. "Just think of it! Why, it's the talk of the post, and +everybody's laughing at us, and the plebes are getting bolder every +minute. One of them actually dared to turn up his nose at me to-day. +Think of it--at me--a yearling, and he a vile beast!" + +"It's perfectly awful," groaned Bull. "Perfectly awful! Imagine a crowd +of yearlings allowing themselves to be stopped while hazing a +plebe--stopped, mind you, by half as many plebes--and then to make it a +thousand times worse to have the fellow they were hazing taken away!" + +"And the yearlings all chased back to camp by a half-crazy Texan," +chimed in another, who hadn't been there and so could afford to mention +unpleasant details. + +"Yet what can we do?" cried Baby. "We can't offer to fight him. He's as +good as licked Billy Williams, and Bill's the best man we could put up. +That Mallory's a regular terror." + +"Mark Mallory's got to be taken down." + +This suggestion was good, only rather indefinite, which indefiniteness +was remarked by one of the crowd, Merry Vance, the cadet who had +interposed the same objection before. Merry was a tall, slender youth, +with a whitish hue that suggested dissipation, and a fine, scornful +curve to his lips that suggested meanness no less clearly. + +"It's all very well to say we've got to do him," said he, "but that +don't say how. As I said, we can't find a man in our class to whip him +fair. And we can't tackle him in a crowd because in the first place he +seems to have his own gang, and in the second place none of us dares to +touch him. I know I don't, for one." + +"Pooh!" laughed Bull, scornfully. "I'm not afraid of him." + +"Me either!" chimed in the little Baby, doubling up his fists. + +"All right," said the other. "Only I noticed you both kept good and +quiet when he stepped up to loosen Indian." + +There was an awkward silence for a few minutes after that; Bull Harris +could think of nothing to say, for he knew the charge was true; and as +for Baby Edwards, he never said anything until after his big friend had +set him an example. + +"We can't get him into any trouble with the authorities, either," +continued Vance at last. "In fact, I don't know what we are to do." + +"He's simply turned West Point's customs topsy-turvy," groaned another. +"Why, when we were plebes nobody ever dared to think of defying a +yearling. And this Mallory and his gang are running the place. No one +dares to haze a plebe any more." + +"Talking about that," said Gus Murray, another yearling who had just +strolled up. "Talking about that, just see what happened to me not five +minutes ago. Met one of the confounded beasts--that fellow, by the way, +we did up, though it don't seem to have done him the least bit of +good--just as B. J. as ever. You know who I mean, the rather handsome +chap they call Dewey. He went to pass the color guard up at camp just +now and he didn't raise his hat. The sentry called him down for it, and +then as he went off I said to him: 'You ought to know better than that, +plebe.' 'Thank you,' says he, and when I told him he should say 'sir' to +a higher cadet, what on earth do you suppose he had the impudence to +say?" + +"What?" inquired the crowd, eagerly. + +"Said he wouldn't do it because I hadn't said 'sir' to him!" + +"What!" + +"Yes, indeed! Did you ever hear of such impudence? Why, I'll leave the +academy to-morrow if that kind of thing keeps up." + +And with that dire threat Gus Murray seated himself on the steps and +relapsed into a glum silence. + +"I heard you sat down on that Mallory last Saturday," observed some one +at last. + +"That's what I did!" responded Murray, brightening up at the mention of +a less discouraging incident. "Mary Adams introduced me to him and I cut +him dead. Gee, but he was mad!" + +"Wonder, if he'll try to make you apologize," said Bull. + +"It would be just like him," put in Merry. + +The other looked as if he didn't relish the possibility one bit; he +turned the conversation quickly. + +"Wait till he tries it," said he. "In the meantime I'm more interested +in the great question, what are we going to do to take him down?" + +"Can't think of a thing," said Vance, flatly. "Not a thing!" + +"By George!" cried Bull. "I'm going to think of something if I die for +it." + +"I'll shake with you on that," put in Murray. "We won't rest till we get +a plan." + +"Let me in too," said Vance. + +"And me too!" cried Baby. + +And so it happened that when the informal assembly dissolved for supper +it dissolved with but one idea in the mind of every cadet in the +party--that Mark Mallory must be taken down! + +A plan came at last, one which was enough to do for any one; and when it +came it came from a most unexpected source, none other than the Baby, +who never before in the memory of Bull had dared to say anything +original. The baby's sweet little brain, evolving the interesting +problem, struck an idea which, so to speak, brought down the house. + +"I'll tell you what!" he cried. "I've a scheme!" + +"What is it?" inquired Bull, incredulously. + +"Let's soak him on demerits!" + +And with a look of delight Bull turned and stared at Murray. + +"By the lord!" he cried, "that's it. We'll soak him on demerits!" + +Then the precious trio locked arms and did a war on the campus. + +"Just the thing!" gasped Bull, breathlessly. "Murray's a corporal and he +can do it! Whoop!" + +"Yes!" cried the Baby. "And he was put over plebes to-day. Will you do +it, Murray?" + +And Murray lost no time in vowing that he would; Bull Harris felt then +that at last he was on the road to victory. + +It is necessary to explain the system of discipline which prevails at +West Point. A cadet is allowed to receive only one hundred "demerits" +during the first six months of his stay. These demerits are assigned +according to a regular and inflexible schedule; thus for being late at +roll call, a minor offense, a cadet receives two demerits, while a +serious offense, such as disobedience of orders or sitting down on post +while on sentry duty, brings ten units of trouble in its wake. These +demerits are not given by the instructor or the cadet who notices the +offense; but he enters the charge in a book which is forwarded to +headquarters. The report is read out after parade that same day and +posted in a certain place the next day; and four days later the +superintendent assigns the demerits in all cases where "explanations" +have not been received. + +The following is an example of an explanation: + + "West Point, N. Y., ---- --, 18--. Report--Bedding not + properly folded at police inspection. + + "Explanation--Some one disarranged my bedding after I + had piled it. I was at the sink at the time of + inspection, and I readjusted the bedding upon my + return. + + "Respectfully submitted, + + "---- ----, + + "Cadet ----, Co. ----, ---- Class. + + "To the Commandant of Cadets." + +Cadets usually hand in explanations, though the explanations are not +always deemed satisfactory. + +Reports are made by the army officers, and also by cadets themselves, +file closers, section marchers and others. It was in this last fact that +Bull Harris and his friend Murray saw their chance. + +It very seldom happens that a cadet reports another except where the +report is deserved; a man who does otherwise soon gets into trouble. But +Bull and his gang saw no obstacle in that; most of them were always +head over heels in demerits themselves, including Murray--though he was +a "cadet-corporal." Being thus, and in consequent danger of expulsion, +they were reckless of possible trouble. And besides, Bull had sworn to +haze that plebe, and he meant to do it. + +The plan in brief was simply this: Mark Mallory must be demerited right +and left, everywhere and upon every possible pretext, just or +unjust--and that was all. The thing has been done before; there is talk +of doing it whenever a colored lad is admitted to the Point. And Murray +was the man to do it, too, because he had just been transferred and put +"on duty over plebes." It was only necessary to give one hundred +demerits. One hundred demerits is a ticket of leave without further +parley or possibility of return. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +A MILD ATTEMPT AT HAZING. + + +If Cadet Corporal Murray had any doubts about the necessity for putting +this very dirty scheme into practice, or if his not over squeamish +conscience was the least bit troubled by the prospect, something +happened that same evening which effectually squelched such ideas. It +was after supper, during half an hour of so-called "rest," which is +allowed to the over-drilled plebe. Mr. Murray, in whose manly breast +still burned a fire of rage at the insult which "B. J." Dewey had +offered him, resolved in his secret heart that that same insult must and +should be avenged. That evening he thought an especially favorable time, +for Dewey was still an "invalid," as a result of his last B. J. effort. + +With this purpose in view, Cadet Murray stole away from his companions +and set out for barracks, around which the luckless plebes were +clustered. Arriving there, he hunted; he spent quite a while in hunting, +for the object of his search was nowhere to be seen. He caught sight of +Mark and his "gang," but Dewey was not among them. When he did find him +at last it was a good way from that place--way up on Flirtation Walk; +and then Cadet Murray got down to business at once. + +"Look a here, B. J. beast!" he called. + +The object of this peremptory challenge turned, as also did his +companion, the terrified Indian--once more about to be hazed. The two +stared at the yearling; a lady and gentleman passing glanced at him +also, probably wondering what was in store for the luckless plebes; and +then they passed on, leaving the place lonely, and deserted, just the +spot for the proposed work. So thought the yearling, as he rubbed his +hands gleefully and spoke again. + +"Beast!" said he, "I want to tell you that you were very impudent to me +to-day!" + +"Strange coincidence!" cried Dewey, with one of his merry laughs. +"Reminds me of a story I once heard, b'gee. Two old farmers got stuck in +a snowdrift--five feet deep, and getting deeper. Says one of 'em, b'gee, +'It's c-c-c-cold!' 'B'gee!' cried the other. 'B'gee, naow ain't that +pecooliar! Jes' exactly what I was goin' to say myself, b'gee!'" + +Cadet Murray listened to this blithe recital with a frowning brow. + +"You think that's funny, don't you!" he sneered. + +"No, b'gee!" laughed Dewey, "because I didn't write it. 'Nother fellow +told me that--the queerest chap I think I ever knew, he was. Had a +mother-in-law that used to----" + +"Shut up!" cried Murray, in anger, seeing that he was being "guyed." + +"B'gee!" cried Dewey, "that's just what she didn't!" + +There was an ominous silence after that, during which the yearling +glared angrily, and Indian muttered "Bless my soul!" + +"It's quite evident," began the former, at last, "that you are inclined +to be fresh." + +"Ink-lined to be fresh," added Dewey, "as the stamped egg remarked when +it was dated three days after it was laid. That's another far-fetched +joke, though. Still I've heard some more far-fetched than that--one a +friend of mine read on an Egyptian pyramid and brought home to tell for +new. Queer fellow that friend of mine was, too. He didn't have a +mother-in-law, this one, but he slept in a folding bed, and, b'gee, that +bed used to shut up oftener than the mother-in-law didn't. Handsome +bed, too--an inlaid bed--and it shut up whenever it was laid in, b'gee." + +Dewey could have prattled on at this merry rate for an hour, for he knew +more jokes--good ones--and could make up more bad ones on the spur of +the moment than half a dozen ordinary mortals. But he was brought to a +sudden halt just then, and muttered a suppressed "B'gee!" For the +yearling, wild with anger, leaped forward and aimed a savage blow at his +head. + +The plebe ducked; he was quick and agile in body as he was in mind. And +then as the big cadet aimed another blow, he put up his one well +arm--the other was in a sling--and defended himself to the best of his +ability, at the same time calling Indian to his aid. + +But before there was time for another move something else happened. +Dewey was debating whether discretion were not really the whole of +valor, and whether it were not better to "run away and live to fight--or +run away--some other day;" and Indian was actually doubling up his fat +little fists about to strike the first blow in his fat little life; when +suddenly came a shout behind them, and a moment later a strong hand +seized the advancing yearling by the back of his collar and flung him +head first to the ground. + +Cadet Murray sprang to his feet again and turned purple with rage and +soiled with dirt, to confront the stalwart form of Mark, and Mark +rubbing his hands together and smiling cheerfully. + +"Will you have any more?" he inquired, politely. "Step right up if you +will--and by the way, stop that swearing." + +"A very timely arrival," remarked Dewey, smoothing his jacket. "Very +timely, b'gee! Reminds me----" + +"Bless my soul!" cried Indian. + +"Going, are you?" put in Mark, as the discomfited Murray started to +slink away. "Well, good-evening. I've had my satisfaction for being +called a coward by you." + +"You shall pay for this," the furious cadet muttered. "Pay for it as +sure as I'm alive!" + +His threat was taken lightly by the plebes; they had little idea of what +he meant when he spoke. And they were chatting merrily about the +adventure as they turned and made their way back to barracks. + +"It only goes to show," was Mark's verdict, "that an alliance is a +first-rate idea. I saw that fellow prowling around barracks and I knew +right away what he was up to. We've one more enemy, that's all." + +That was not all, by a good sight. The angry yearling hurried back to +camp, nursing his feelings as he went; there he poured out the vials of +his wrath into the ears of his two sympathetic companions, Bull and the +Baby. And the three of them spent the rest of that evening, up to +tattoo, discussing their revenge, thinking up a thousand pretexts upon +which Cadet Mallory might be "skinned." There was a bombshell scheduled +to fall into the midst of the "alliance" the next day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE BOMBSHELL FALLS. + + +Nothing happened that evening; Mark and his friends passed their time in +serene unconsciousness of any danger, merrily discussing the latest +hazing effort of the enemy. Bull Harris and his crowd did not put in +appearance, or try to put their plot into execution, for the simple +reason that there was no chance. The first "whack," so to speak, was +scheduled for the A. M. inspection the next day. The only inspection at +night is made by a "tac"--a practical officer--who goes the rounds with +a dark lantern after taps to make sure that no plebes have been run away +with. + +Reveille and roll call the next morning passed without incident, except +that Cadet Mallory was reported "late" at the latter function; the +charge being true, no suspicions were awakened. After that came the +march to mess hall, the plebe company, which was by this time able to +march presentably though rather stiffly, falling in behind the rest of +the corps. During that march "File Closer" Vance had occasion to rebuke +Cadet Mallory for loud talking in ranks. It hadn't been loud, at least +not very loud, but Mark swallowed it and said nothing. + +Breakfast passed without incident, and the plebes were marched back to +barracks, there breaking ranks, and scattering to quarters to "spruce +up" for inspection. Mark and Texas, who shared the same room, lost no +time in getting to work at the sweeping and dusting and arranging. + +It seems scarcely necessary to say that there are no chambermaids at +West Point. Cadets do their own room cleaning, "policing," as it is +called, and they do it well, too. A simpler, barer place than a room in +barracks it would be hard to imagine. Bare white walls--no pictures +allowed--and no wall paper--a black fireplace, a plain table, an iron +bedstead, a washstand, two chairs, and a window is about the entire +inventory. And every article in that room must be found placed with +mathematical precision in just such a spot and no other. There is a +"bluebook"--learned by heart--to tell where; and there are penalties for +every infringement. Demerits are the easiest things in the world to +get; enough might be given at one inspection to expel. + +The signal, dreaded like poison by all plebes, that the time for +inspection has come, is a heavy step in the hall and a single tap upon +the door. It came that morning while the two victims-to-be were still +hard at work. In accordance with orders each sprang up, stood at +attention--heels together, head up, eyes to the front, chest out, +etc.--and silently awaited developments. + +Mark gasped for breath when he saw who it was that entered; Cadet +Corporal Jasper had been transferred and the man who was to do the work +this time was none other than Murray, next to Bull Harris, Mark's +greatest enemy on earth. + +Cadet Murray looked handsome in his spotless uniform of gray and white, +with his chevrons of gold; he strode in with a stern and haughty look +which speedily changed to one of displeasure as he gazed about him at +the room. He took a rapid mental count of the possible charges he could +make; and then glanced up at the name which is posted on the wall, +telling who is "room orderly" for the week--and so responsible for the +faults. It was Mallory, and the yearling could scarcely hide a smile of +satisfaction. + +"You plebes have had nearly two weeks now," he began, frowning with +well-feigned displeasure, "in which to learn to arrange your rooms. The +disorder which I see shows not only carelessness but actual +insubordination. And I propose to make an example of you two for once +and for all." + +The two victims were expected to say nothing; and they said it. But Mark +did a pile of thinking and his heart sank as he realized what his enemy +might do if he chose. It is possible to find a thousand faults in the +most perfect work if one only hunts long enough and is willing to split +hairs. + +Cadet Corporal Murray took out a notebook and pencil with obvious +meaning. + +"In the first place," said he, "where should that broom be? Behind the +door, should it not? Why is it not? I find that your bedding is piled +carelessly, very carelessly. The blanket is not evenly folded; moreover, +the bluebook states particularly that the blanket is to be placed at the +bottom of the pile. You may see that it is not so. Why, Mr. Mallory, I +do not think it has ever happened to me to find a room so utterly +disorderly, or a cadet so negligent! Look at that bluebook; it belongs +upon the mantelpiece, and I see it on the bed----" + +"I was reading it," put in Mark, choking down his anger by a violent +effort. + +And as he spoke the corporal's face grew sterner yet. + +"In the first place, sir," said he, "you have no business to be reading +while awaiting inspection, and you know it--though I must say a more +frequent study of that book would save you much trouble. In the second +place, you are not expected to answer under such circumstances; the +proper thing for you to do is to hand in the explanation to the +authorities, and you know that, too. I am sent here to notice and report +delinquencies and not to argue about them with you. I regret now that I +shall be obliged to mention the fact that you remonstrated with an +officer during inspection, a most serious charge indeed." + +And Cadet Corporal Murray made another note in his book, chuckling +inwardly as he did it. + +"What next?" thought the two plebes. + +There was lots more. The yearling next stepped over to the mantelpiece +and ran his finger, with its spotless white glove, along the inner +edge. Texas had rubbed that mantel fiercely; yet, to get it so clean as +not to soil the glove was almost impossible, and so the corporal first +held up the finger to show the mark of dirt and then--wrote down "dust +on mantel." + +There is no need to tell the rest in detail, but simply to say that +while Mark and his roommate gazed on in blank despair, their jubilant +enemy made out a list of at least a dozen charges, which he knew would +aggregate to at least half of the demerit maximum, and for every one of +which there was some slight basis of justification. The yearling was +shrewd enough to suspect this fact would prevent their being excused, +for he did not think that Mark would sign his name to a lie in his +explanation. + +The disastrous visit was closed with a note--"floor unswept"--because +three scraps of paper were observed peering out from under the table; +and then without another word the cadet turned on his heel and marched +out of the room. And Mark and Texas stood and stared at each other in +utter and abject consternation. + +It was a minute at least before either of them spoke; they were both +too dumfounded. The bombshell had struck, and had brought ruin in its +path. Mark knew now what was the power of his enemies; knew that he was +gone. For with such a weapon as the one the cowardly Murray had struck +his dismissal was the matter of a week or less. Already he was more than +halfway to expulsion; already the prize for which he had fought so long +and so hard was slipping from his grasp. And all on account of a +cowardly crowd he had made his enemies because he had been strong and +manly enough to do what he knew was right. + +It was a cruel fact and Mark felt pretty bitter toward West Point just +then. As for Texas, his faithful friend and roommate, Texas said not one +word; but he went to the chimney, up which he had hidden his sixteen +revolvers for safety, calmly selected two of the biggest, and having +examined the cartridges, tucked them safely away in his rear pockets. +Then he sat down on the bed and gave vent to a subdued "Durnation!" + +About this same time Cadet Corporal Murray, having handed in his reports +at headquarters, was racing joyfully back to camp, there to join his +friend, Bull Harris, with a shout of victory. + +"Rejoice! Rejoice!" he cried, slapping his chum on the back. "We've got +him! I soaked him for fifty at least!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +IN THE SHADOW OF DISMISSAL. + + +The rest of that day passed without incident. Mark managed after a good +deal of trouble to postpone Texas' hunting trip; and the two struggled +on through the day's drills disconsolately, waiting to see what would +happen next. + +Evening came, and the plebes being lined up in barracks area the roll +was called, the "orders" read, and then the reports of the day. The +cadet who did the reading rattled down the list in his usual hurried, +breathless style. But when he came to M he paused suddenly; he gazed at +the list incredulously, then cleared his throat, took a long foreboding +breath and began: + +"Mallory--Late at roll call. + +"Same--Laughing loud in ranks. + +"Same--Bedding improperly arranged at A. M. inspection. + +"Same--Broom out of place at A. M. inspection. + +"Same--Remonstrating with superior officer at A. M. inspection." + +And so the cadet officer went on, the whole plebe class listening with +open-eyed amazement while one charge after another was rattled off, and +gazing out of the corners of their eyes at the object of the attack, who +stood and listened with a look of calm indifference upon his face. + +The list was finished at last, when the listeners had about concluded +that it was eternal; the rest of the reports were quickly disposed of, +and then: "Break ranks, march!" and the line melted into groups of +excited and eagerly talking cadets, discussing but one subject--the ruin +of Mallory. + +Of course it was known to every one that this was simply one more effort +of the yearlings to subdue him; and loud were the threats and +expressions of disapproval. Mark's bravery in making a fight for his +honor had won him the admiration of his class, and the class felt that +with his downfall came a return of the old state of affairs and the +complete subjection of the "beasts" once more. + +There were jealous ones who rejoiced secretly, and there were timid ones +who declared that they had always said that Mallory was too B. J. to +last. But in the main there was nothing but genuine anger at the upper +classmen's "rank injustice," and wild talk of appealing to the +superintendent to bring it to a stop. + +The utter consternation of the seven allies is left to the reader's +imagination. After the first shock of horror had passed the crowd had +sat down and made a calculation; they found fifty-five demerits due that +day, which, together with ten previously given, left thirty-five to go, +and then--why it made them sick to think of what would happen! + +Having striven to realize this for half an hour, they got together and +swore a solemn oath, first, that if Mark were dismissed, a joint +statement of the reasons thereof, incidentally mentioning each and every +act of hazing done by the yearlings, naming principals, witnesses, time +and place, should be forwarded to the superintendent, signed by the six; +and second, that every yearling who gave a demerit should be "licked +until he couldn't stand up." + +Texas also swore incidentally that he'd resign if Mark were "fired," and +take him down to Texas to make a cowboy of him. And after that there was +nothing to do but wait and pray--and clean up for next day's +inspection, a task at which the whole seven labored up to the very last +minute before tattoo. + + * * * * * + +It was the afternoon of the following day; the rays of a scorching July +sun beat down upon the post, and West Point seemed asleep. Up by Camp +McPherson the cadets were lounging about in idleness, and it was only +down at barracks that there was anything moving at all. Inside the area +the hot and shimmering pavement echoed to the tread of the plebe company +at drill; outside the street was deserted except for one solitary figure +with whom our story has to do. The figure was a cadet officer in +uniform, Captain Fischer, of the first class, resplendent in his +chevrons and sash. + +He was marching down the street with the firm, quick step that is second +nature to a West Pointer; he passed the barracks without looking in and +went on down to the hospital building; and there he turned and started +to enter. The door opened just as he reached it, however, and another +cadet came out. The officer sprang forward instantly and grasped him by +the hand. + +"Williams!" he cried. "Just the fellow I was coming to see. And what a +beautiful object you are!" + +Williams smiled a melancholy smile; he was beautiful and he knew it. His +face was covered in spots with Greek crosses of court-plaster, and +elsewhere by startling red lumps. And he walked with a shy, retiring +gait that told of sundry other damages. Such were the remains of +handsome "Billy," all-round athlete and favorite of his class, defeated +hero. + +Williams had waited scarcely long enough for this thought to flash over +the young officer before he spoke again, this time with some anxiety. + +"Tell me! Tell me about Mallory! I hear they're skinning him on +demerits." + +"Yes, they are," returned Fischer, "and they've soaked him twenty more +this morning!" + +"Twenty more! Then how many has he?" + +"Eighty-five." + +"What!" cried Williams. "You don't mean it! Why, he'll be out in a week. +Say, Fischer, that's outrageous!" + +"Perfectly outrageous!" vowed the officer. + +And Williams brought his hand down on his knee with a bang. + +"By George!" he cried, "I'm going around to see him about it!" + +With which words he sprang down the stairs and, leaving the cadet +officer to gaze at him in surprise, hurried up the street to barracks. + +Squad drill was just that moment over; without wasting any time about +it, Williams hurried into the building and made his way to Mallory's +room. He found the plebe, and got right to work to say what he had to +say. + +"Mr. Mallory," he began, "I've come up in the first place to shake hands +with you, and to say there's no hard feeling." + +"Thank you," said Mark, and his heart went with the grip of his hand. + +"You made a good fight, splendid!" continued the yearling. "And some day +I'll be proud to be your friend." + +"I'm afraid," returned Mark, with a sad smile, "that I'll not be here +that long." + +"That's the second thing I've come to see you about," vowed Williams. +"Mr. Mallory, I want you to understand that the decent men of this +class don't approve of the work that Mur--er, I suppose you know who's +back of it. And I tell you right now that I'm going to stop it if it's +the last act I ever do on this earth!" + +"I'm afraid it won't do much good," responded the other, shaking his +head. "I could never pass six months without getting fifteen demerits." + +"It's a shame!" cried the other. "And you have worked for your +appointment, too." + +"I have worked," exclaimed Mark, something choking his voice that +sounded suspiciously near a sob, "worked for it as I have never worked +for anything in my life. It has been the darling ambition of my heart to +come here. And I came--and now--and now----" + +He stopped, for he could think of no more to say. Williams stood and +regarded him in silence for some moments, and then he took him by the +hand again. + +"Mr. Mallory," said he, "just as sure as I'm alive this thing shall +stop! Keep up heart now, and we'll make a fight for it! While there's +life there's hope, they say--and, by Heaven, you shan't be expelled!" + +The following evening, when the reports were read, Mark's list of +demerits had reached a total of ninety-five. + +The excitement among plebes and cadets alike was intense, and it was +known far and wide that Mark Mallory, the "B. J." plebe, stood at last +"in the shadow of dismissal." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +A LETTER. + + + "MY DEAR FISCHER: I promised to drop you a line just + to let you know how I'm getting along, though it does + take a tremendous pile of energy to write a letter on + a hot afternoon like this. I'm sure I shall go to + sleep in the middle of it, and naturally, too, for + even writing to you is enough to bore anybody. I can + almost imagine you leaning over to whack at me in + return for that compliment. + + "Well, I am home on furlough; and I don't know whether + I wish I were back or not, for I fear that you will + have cut me out on all the girls, especially since you + are a high and mighty first captain this year. + Speaking of girls, you just ought to be here. The + girls at West Point are _blase_ on cadets, for they + see so many; but here a West Point officer is cock of + the walk, and I have to fight a jealous rival once a + week." + +Cadet Captain Fischer dropped the letter at this stage of it and lay +back and laughed. + +"Wicks Merritt's evidently forgotten I was on furlough once myself," he +said. "He's telling me all about how it goes." + +"What's he got to say?" inquired Williams, the speaker's tentmate, +looking up from the gun he was cleaning. + +"Oh, nothing much; only a lot of nonsense--jollying as usual. Wicks +always is." + +And then Fischer picked up the letter again, and went on. + +The two were seated near the door of a tent in "Company A Street," at +Camp McPherson. Fischer was lying in front of the tent "door," which was +open to admit the morning breeze that swept across the parade ground. +His friend sat over in an opposite corner and rubbed away. + +There was silence of some minutes, broken only by the sound of the +polishing and the rustling of Fischer's paper. And then the latter spoke +again. + +"Oh, say!" said he. "Here's something that'll interest you, Billy. +Something about your friend Mallory." + +"Fire away," said Williams. + + "'By the way, when you answer this let me know + something about my pet and _protege_, future football + captain of the West Point eleven. The last time I + heard from where you are, Mark Mallory was raising + Cain. I heard that he was a B. J. plebe for fair; that + he'd set to work to make war on the yearlings, and had + put them to rout in style; also, incidentally, that + he was scheduled to fight Billy Williams, the + yearling's pet athlete. Tell Billy I hope the plebe + does him; tell him I say that if Mallory once whacks + him on the head with that right arm of his he'll see + more stars from the lick than the Lick telescope can + show----'" + +"Billy" broke in just then with a dismal groan. + +"I don't know whether that's because of the pun," laughed Fischer, "or +because of your recollection of the blow. However, I'll proceed. + + "'Now, I don't care how much you fellows haze my + Mallory; he's tough and he can stand it. He'll + probably give you tit for tat every time, anyhow. But + I do want to say this--watch out that nobody tries any + foul play on him, skins him on demerits or reports him + unfairly. Do me a favor and keep your eye out for + that. Watch particularly Bull Harris, who is, I think, + the meanest sneak in the yearling class, and also his + chum, Gus Murray. + + "'I know it for a fact that Mallory caught Bull in a + very dirty act about a month ago and knocked spots out + of him for it. I can't tell you what the act was; but + Bull has sworn vengeance and he'll probably try to get + it, so watch for me. If you let Mallory get into + trouble, mind what I say, I'll never forgive you as + long as you live. I'll cut you out with Bessie Smith, + who, they say, is your fair one at present. Mallory is + a treasure, and when you know him as well as I you'll + think so, too.'" + +Cadet Captain Fischer dropped the letter, sat up, and stared at +Williams; and Williams stared back. There was disgust on the faces of +both. + +"By George!" cried the latter at last, striking his gunstock in the +ground. "By George! we've let 'em do it already!" + +And after that there was a silence of several unpleasant minutes, during +which each was diligently thinking over the situation. + +"He's a fine fellow, anyway," continued Williams. "And we were a pack of +fools to let that Bull Harris gang soak him as we did. They've gone to +work and given him ninety-five demerits in a week on trumped-up charges. +And it's perfectly outrageous, that's what it is! The plebe's +confoundedly fresh, of course, but he's a gentleman for all that, and he +don't deserve one-quarter of the demerits he's gotten. The decent +fellows in the class ought to be ashamed of themselves." + +"That's what I say! He only has to get five demerits more and then he's +fired for good." + +"Which means," put in the officer, "that's he's sure to be fired by next +week." + +"Exactly! And then what will Wicks say? I went over to barracks to see +Mallory about it yesterday; he's nearly heart-broken, for he's worked +like a horse to get here, and now he's ruined--practically expelled. +Yet, what can we do?" + +"Can't he hand in explanations and get the demerits excused?" suggested +Fischer. + +"No, because most of the charges had just enough basis of truth in them +to make them justifiable. I tell you I was mad when he told me about it; +I vowed I'd do something to stop it. Yet what on earth can I do? I can't +think of a thing except to lick that fellow Bull Harris and his crowd. +But what possible good will that do Mallory?" + +"Mallory will probably do that himself," remarked Fischer, smiling for a +moment; his face became serious again as he continued. "I begin to agree +with you, Billy, about that thing. I've heard several tales about how +Mallory outwitted Bull in his hazing adventures, and the plebe's +probably made him mad. It's a dirty revenge Bull has taken, and I think +if it's only for Wicks' sake I'll put a stop to it." + +"You!" echoed Williams. "Pray, how?" + +"What am I a first captain for?" laughed Fischer. "Just you watch me and +see what I do! I can't take off the ninety-five, but I can see that he +don't get the other five, by Jingo! And I will do it for you, too!" + +And with that, the cadet arose and strode out of the tent, leaving his +friend to labor at the gun in glum and disconsolate silence. + +At the same time that Williams and Fischer were discussing the case of +this particularly refractory plebe, there were other cadets doing +likewise, but with far different sentiments and views. The cadets were +Bull Harris and his cronies. + +They were sitting--half a dozen of them--beneath the shade trees of +Trophy Point at the northern end of the parade ground; they were waiting +for dinner, and the afternoon, which, being Saturday, was a holiday and +for which they had planned some particular delicious hazing adventure. + +Foremost among them was Bull Harris himself, seated upon one of the +cannon. Beside him was Baby Edwards. Gus Murray sat on Bull's other side +and made up a precious trio. + +Murray was laughing heartily at something just then, and the rest of the +crowd seemed to appreciate the joke immensely. + +"Ho! ho!" said he. "Just think of it! After I had soaked the confounded +plebe for fifty and more, ho! ho! they got suspicious up at headquarters +and transferred me, and ho! ho! put M-m-merry Vance on instead, and he, +ho! ho! soaked him all the harder!" + +And Gus Murray slapped his knee and roared at this truly humorous state +of affairs. + +"Yes," chimed in Merry Vance. "Yes, I thought when Gus told me he'd been +transferred again that we'd lost our chance to skin Mallory for fair. +And the very next night up gets the adjutant and reads off the orders +putting me on duty over the plebes. Oh, gee! Did you ever hear the +like?" + +"Never," commented Bull, grinning appreciatively. + +"Never," chimed in Baby's little voice. "Positively never!" + +"Tell us about it," suggested another. "What did you do?" + +"Oh, nothing much," replied Vance. "I went up there at the A. M. +inspection, and I just made up my mind to give him twenty demerits, and +I did it, that's all. They had spruced up out of sight; but it didn't +take me very long to find something wrong, I tell you." + +"I guess not!" agreed Baby. + +"I gave him the twenty, as you saw; and say, you ought to have seen how +sick he looked! Ho! ho!" + +And then the crowd indulged in another fit of violent hilarity. + +"I guess," said Bull, when this had finally passed, "that we can about +count Mallory as out for good. He's only got five more demerits to run +before dismissal, and he'll be sure to get those in time, even if we +don't give 'em to him--which, by the way, I mean to do anyhow. But we'll +just parcel 'em one at a time just enough to keep him worried, hey?" + +"That's it exactly!" commented the Baby. + +"He deserves it every bit!" growled Bull. "He's the B. J.est 'beast' +that ever struck West Point. Why, we could never have a moment's peace +with that fellow around. We couldn't haze anybody. He stopped us half a +dozen times." + +The sentiment was the sentiment of the whole gang; and they felt that +they had cause to be happy indeed. Their worst enemy had been disposed +of and a man might breathe freely once more. The crowd could think of +nothing to talk about that whole morning but that B. J. "beast" and his +ruin. + +They found something, however, before many more minutes passed. Bull +chanced to glance over his shoulder in the direction of the camp. + +"Hello!" he said. "Here comes Fischer." + +"Good-afternoon, Mr. Fischer," said Bull. + +"Good-afternoon," responded the officer, with obvious stiffness; and +then there was an awkward silence, during which he surveyed them in +silence. + +"Mr. Harris," he said, at last, "I'd like to speak to you for a moment; +and Mr. Murray, and you, too, Mr. Vance." + +The three stepped out of the group with alacrity, and followed Fischer +over to a seat nearby, while the rest of the gang stood and stared in +surprise, speculating as to what this could possibly mean. + +The three with the officer were finding out in a hurry. + +"I am told," began the latter, gazing at them, with majestic sternness, +"that you three are engaged in skinning a certain plebe----" + +"Why, Mr. Fischer!" cried the three, in obvious surprise. + +"Don't interrupt me!" thundered the captain in a voice that made them +quake, and that reached the others and made them quake, too. + +"Don't interrupt me! I know what I am talking about. I was a yearling +once myself, and I'm a cadet still, and there's not the least use trying +to pull the wool over my eyes. I know there never yet was a plebe who +got fifty demerits in one day and deserved them." + +The captain did not fail to notice here that the trio flushed and looked +uncomfortable. + +"You all know, I believe," he continued, "just exactly what I think of +you. I've never hesitated to say it. Now, I want you to understand in +the first place that I know of this contemptible trick, and that also I +know the plebe, who's worth more than a dozen of you; and that if he +gets a demerit from any one of you again I'll make you pay for it as +sure as I'm alive. Just remember it, that's all!" + +And with this, the indignant captain turned upon his heel, and strode +off, leaving the yearlings as if a bombshell had landed in their midst. + +"Fischer's a confounded fool!" Bull Harris broke out at last. + +"Just what he is!" cried the Baby. "I'd like to knock him over." + +And after that there was silence again, broken only by the roll of a +drum that meant dinner. + +"Well," was Bull's final word, as the crowd set out for camp, "it's +unfortunate, I must say. But it won't make the least bit of difference. +Mallory'll get his demerits sure as he's alive, and Fischer's +interference won't matter in the least." + +"That's what!" cried the rest of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +A SWIMMING MATCH. + + +The manner in which the cadets dine has not as yet been described in +these pages; perhaps here is just as good a place as any to picture the +historic mess hall where Lee and Grant and Sherman once dined, and +toward which on that Saturday afternoon were marching not only the group +we have just left, but also the object of all their dislike, the B. J. +plebe who fell in behind the cadets as the battalion swung past +barracks. + +The cadets march to mess hall; they march to every place they go as a +company. The building itself is just south of the "Academic" and +barracks; it is built of gray stone, and forcibly reminds the candid +observer of a jail. They tell stories at West Point of credulous +candidates who have "swallowed" that, and believed that the cadet +battalion was composed of disobedient cadets, about to be locked up in +confinement. + +There is a flight of iron steps in the center, and at the foot of these +steps, three times every day, the battalion breaks ranks and dissolves +into a mob of actively bounding figures. Upon entering, the cadets do +not take seats, but stand behind their chairs, and await the order, +"Company A, take seats!" "Company B, take seats!" and so on. The plebes, +who, up to this time, are still a separate company, come last, as usual; +they are seated by themselves, at one side of the dining-room. + +The tables seat twenty-two persons, ten on a side, and one at each end. +The cadets are placed according to rank, and they always sit in the same +seats. The tables are divided down the center by an imaginary line, each +part being a "table"; first class men sit near the head, and so on down +to the plebes, who find themselves at the center (that is, after they +have moved into camp, and been "sized" and assigned to companies; before +that they are "beasts," herded apart, as has been said). + +The dinner is upon the table when the cadets enter; the corporals are +charged with the duty of carving, and the luckless plebe is expected to +help everybody to water upon demand, and eats nothing until that duty +has been attended to. After the meal, for which half an hour is allowed, +the command, "Company A, rise!" and so on, is the signal to leave the +table and fall into line again on the street outside. This, however, +does not take place until a lynx-eyed "tac" has gone the rounds, making +notes--"So-and-so, too much butter on plate." "Somebody else, napkin not +properly folded," and so on. This ceremony over, the battalion marches +back to camp, a good half mile, in the broiling sun or pouring rain, as +the case may be. + +That Saturday afternoon being a hot one, and a holiday, our friends of +the last chapter, Bull Harris and his gang, sought out an occupation in +which fully half the cadets at the post chanced to agree; they went in +swimming, a diversion which the superintendent sees fit to allow. "Gee's +Point," on the Hudson, is within the government property, and thither +the cadets gather whenever the weather is suitable. + +That particular party included Bull and Baby (who didn't swim, but liked +to watch Bull), Gus Murray, Vance and the rest of their retainers. And, +on the way, they passed the time by discussing their one favorite topic, +their recent triumph over "that B. J. beast." There was a new phase of +the question they had to speculate upon now, and that was what the +"beast" could possibly have done to move to such unholy wrath so +important a personage as the senior captain of the Battalion. Also, +they were interested in trying to think up a method by which those extra +demerits might be speedily given without incurring the wrath of that +officer. Though each one of the yearlings was ready, even anxious, to +explain that he wasn't the least bit afraid of him. + +"I tell you," declared Bull, "he couldn't prove anything against us if +he tried. It's all one great bluff of Fischer's, and he's a fool to act +as he did." + +"I'd a good mind to tell him as much!" assented Baby. + +"It won't make any difference," put in Murray, "we'll soak the plebe, +anyhow. We can easily give him five demerits in short order, and without +attracting any attention, either." + +"He's out, just as sure as he's alive!" laughed Bull. "We wouldn't need +to do a thing more." + +"Exactly!" cried the echo. "Not a thing!" + +"All the same," continued the other, "I wish we could get up a scheme to +get him in disgrace, so as to clinch it. I wish we could----" + +Just here Bull was interrupted by a sudden exclamation from Murray. +Murray had brought his hand against his knee with a whack, and there +was a look of inspiration upon his face. + +"Great Caesar!" he cried, "I've got it!" + +"Got it! What?" + +"A scheme! A scheme to do him!" + +"What is it?" + +"Write him a letter, or something--get him to leave barracks at +night--have a sentry catch him beyond limits, or else we'll report him +absent! Oh, say!" + +The crowd were staring at each other in amazement, a look of delight +spreading over their faces, as the full possibilities of this same +inspiration dawned upon them. + +"By the lord!" cried Bull, at last. "Court-martial him! That's the +ticket!" + +"Shake on it!" responded Murray. + +In half a minute the gang had sworn to put that plan into execution +within the space of twenty-four hours. And after that they hurried on +down to the point to go in swimming. + +"Speak of angels," remarked Murray, "and they flap their wings. There's +the confounded plebe now." + +"Of angels!" sneered Vance. "Of devils, you mean." + +"By George!" muttered Bull. "You can't phaze that fellow. I thought +he'd be up in barracks, moping, to-day!" + +"Probably wants to put up a bluff as if he don't care," was the clever +suggestion of the Baby. "I bet he's sore as anything!" + +"I told him I'd make him the sickest plebe in the place," growled Bull, +"and I'll bet he is, too." + +The yearling would have won his bet; there was probably no sadder man in +West Point than Mark Mallory just then, even though he did not choose to +let his enemies know it. + +"Look at him dive!" sneered Baby, watching him with a malignant frown. +"He wants to show off." + +"Pretty good dive," commented a bystander, who was somewhat more +disinterested. + +"Good, your grandmother!" cried the other. "Why, I could beat that +myself if I knew how to swim!" + +And then he wondered why the crowd laughed. + +"Come on, let's go in ourselves," put in Bull, anxious to end his small +friend's discomfort. "Hurry up, there!" + +The crowd had turned away, to follow their leader in his suggestion; +they were by no means anxious to swell the number of those who had +gathered for the obvious purpose of watching Mark Mallory's feats as a +swimmer. In fact, they couldn't see why anybody should want to watch a +B. J. beast, and a "beast" who had only a day or two more to stay, at +that. + +Just then, however, a cry from the crowd attracted their attention, and +made them turn hastily again. + +"A race! A race!" + +And Bull Harris cried out with vexation, as he wheeled and took in the +situation. + +"By the Lord!" he cried. "Did you ever hear of such a B. J. trick in +your life? The confounded plebe is going to race with Fischer!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE FINISH OF A RACE. + + +So it was; certain of the cadets, being piqued at the evident +superiority which that B. J. Mallory (his usual title by this time) had +displayed in the water, had requested their captain to take him down. +The "captain" had good-naturedly declared that he was willing to try; +and the shout that attracted Bull's attention was caused by the plebe's +ready assent to the proposition for an impromptu race. + +"Fischer ought to be ashamed of himself, to have anything to do with +him!" was Bull Harris' angry verdict. "I almost hope the plebe beats +him." + +"I don't!" vowed Murray, emphatically. "Let's hurry up, and see it." + +The latter speaker suited the action to the word; Bull followed, +growling surlily. + +"Look at that gang of plebes!" he muttered. "They're the ones who helped +Mallory take away the fellow we were hazing; they think they're right in +it, now." + +"Yes," chimed in Baby. "And see that fellow, Texas, making a fool of +himself." + +"That fellow Texas" was "making a fool of himself" by dancing about in +wild excitement, and raising a series of cowboy whoops in behalf of his +friend, and of plebes in general. + +"There they are, ready to go!" cried Murray, betraying some excitement. + +"I wish the confounded plebe'd never come up again!" growled Bull, in +return, striving hard to appear indifferent. + +"I bet Fischer'll do him!" exclaimed the Baby. "He swims like a fish. +Say, they're going to race to that tree way down the river. Golly, but +that's a long swim!" + +"Long nothing!" sneered Vance. "I could swim that a dozen times. But, +say, they'll finish in the rain; look at that thunderstorm coming!" + +In response to this last remark, the crowd cast their eyes in the +direction indicated. They found that the prediction seemed likely to be +fulfilled. To the north, up the Hudson, dense, black clouds already +obscured the sky, and a strong, fresh breeze, that smelled of rain, was +springing up from thence, and making the swimmers shiver apprehensively. + +The preparation for the race went on, however; nobody cared for the +storm. + +"Gee whiz!" cried the Baby, in excitement. "Won't it be exciting! I +don't mind the rain. I'm going to run down along the shore, and watch +it! Hooray!" + +"Rats!" growled Bull, angrily. "I don't care about any old race. I'm +going to keep dry, let me tell you!" + +Even the damper of his idol's displeasure could not change Master +Edwards' mind, however; he and nearly the whole crowd with him made a +dash down the shore for a vantage point to see the finish. + +"There! They're off!" + +The cry came a moment later, as the two lightly-clad figures stepped to +the mark from which they were to start. + +They were about of one size, magnificently proportioned, both of them, +and the race bid fair to be a close one. + +"Ready?" called the starter, in a voice that rang down the shore. + +"Yes," responded Mark, and at the same moment a heavy cloud swept under +the sun, and the air grew dark and chilly. The wind increased to a +gale, blowing the spray before it; and then---- + +"Go!" called the starter. + +The two dived as one figure; both took the water clean and low, with no +perceptible splash; two heads appeared a moment later, forging ahead +side by side; a cheer from the cadets arose, that drowned, for a moment, +the roars of the storm; and the race was on. + +It is remarkable how closely nature follows a rule in her most perfect +work; here were two figures, built by her a thousand miles apart, racing +there, and each striving with might and main, yet the sum total of the +energy that each was able to expend so nearly alike that yard by yard +they struggled on, without an inch of difference between them. + +"Fischer! Fischer!" rose the shouts of the cadets. + +"Mallory! Mallory!" roared the excited plebes, backed up by an +occasional "Wow!" in the stentorian tones of the mighty Texan, who, by +this time, was on the verge of epilepsy. + +Onward went the two heads, still side by side, seeming to creep through +the water at a snail's pace to the excited partisans on the shore. But +it was no snail's pace to the two in the water; each was struggling in +grim earnestness, putting into every stroke all the power that was in +him. Neither looked at the other; but each could tell, from the cries of +the cadets, that his opponent was pressing him closely. + +Nearer and nearer they came to the far distant goal; higher and higher +rose the shouts: + +"Fischer! Fischer!" "Mallory! Mallory!" "He's got him!" "No." "Hooray!" + +"Gee! but it is exciting," screamed Baby. "Go it, Fischer! Do him!" + +"And I wish that confounded 'beast' was in Hades!" snarled Bull, whose +hatred of Mark was deeper, and more malignant than that of his friend. + +"I believe I could kill him!" + +During all this excitement the storm had been sweeping rapidly up, its +majesty unnoticed in the excitement of the race. Far up the Hudson could +be seen a driving cloud of rain; and the wind had risen to a hurricane, +while the air grew dark and chill. + +The race was at its most exciting stage--the finish, and the cadets were +dancing about, half in a frenzy, yelling incoherently, at the two still +struggling lads, when some one, nobody knew just who, chanced to glance +for one brief instant up the river. A moment later a cry was heard that +brought the race to a startling and unexpected close. + +"Look! look! The sailboat!" + +The cry sounded even above the roar of the storm and the shouts of the +crowd. The cadets turned in alarm and gazed up the river. What they saw +made them forget that such a thing as a race ever existed. + +Right in the teeth of the wind, in the center of the river, was a small +catboat, driven downstream, before the gale, with the speed of a +locomotive. In the boat was one person, and the person was a girl. She +sat in the stern, waving her hands in helpless terror, and even as the +spectators stared, the boat gibed with terrific violence, and a volume +of water poured in over the gunwale. + +The crowd was thrown into confusion; a babel of excited voices arose, +and the race was forgotten in an instant. + +The racers were not slow to notice it; both of them turned to gaze +behind them, and to take in the situation. + +"Help! Help!" called a faint voice from the distant sailboat. + +Help! Who was there to help? There was not a boat in sight; the cadets +were running up and down in confusion, hunting for one in vain. They +were like a nest of frightened ants, without a leader, skurrying this +way and that, and only contributing to the general alarm. The girl +herself could do nothing, and so it seemed as if help were far away, +indeed. + +There was one person in the crowd, however, who kept his head in the +midst of all that confusion. And the person was Mark. Exhausted though +he was by his desperate swim, he did not hesitate an instant. Before the +amazed cadet captain at his side could half comprehend his intention, he +turned quickly in the water, and, with one powerful stroke, shot away +toward the center of the stream. + +The cadets on the shore scarcely knew whether to cry out in horror, or +to cheer the act they saw. They caught one more glimpse of the catboat +as it raced ahead before the gale; they saw the gallant plebe struggling +in the water. + +And then the storm struck them in its fury. A blinding sheet of driving +rain, that darkened the air and drove against the river, and rose again +in clouds of spray; a gale that lashed the water into fury; and darkness +that shut out the river, and the boat, and the swimmer, and left nothing +but a humbled group of shivering cadets. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +WHAT MARK DID. + + +The surprise of the helpless watchers on the shore precludes +description. They knew that out upon that seething river a tragedy was +being enacted; but the driving rain made a wall about them--they could +not aid, they could not even see. They stood about in groups, and +whispered, and listened, and strained their eyes to pierce the mist. + +Mark's friends were wild with alarm; and his enemies--who can describe +their feelings? + +A man has said that it is a terrible thing to die with a wrong upon +one's soul; but that it is agony to see another die whom you have +wronged, to know that your act can never be atoned for now. That there +is one unpardonable sin to your account on the records of eternity. That +was how the yearlings felt; and even Bull Harris, ruffian though he was, +trembled slightly about the lips. + +The storm itself was one of those which come but seldom. Nature's mighty +forces flung loose in one giant cataclysm. It came from the north, and +it had a full sweep down the valley of the Hudson, pent in and focused +to one point by the mountains on each side. It tore the trees from the +tops as it came; it struck the river with a swish, and beat the water +into foam. It flung the raindrops in gusts against it, and caught them +up in spray and whirled them on; and this, to the echoing crashes of the +thunder and the dull, lurid gleam of the lightning that played in the +rear. + +One is silent at such times at that; the frightened cadets on the shore +would probably have stood in groups and trembled, and done nothing +through it all, had it not been for a cry that aroused them. Some one, +sharper eyed than the rest, espied a figure struggling in the water near +the shore. There was a rush for the spot, and strong arms drew the +swimmer in. It was Captain Fischer, breathless and exhausted from the +race. + +He lay on the bank, panting for breath for a minute, and then raised +himself upon his arms. + +"Where's Mallory?" he cried, his voice sounding faint and distant in the +roar of the storm. + +"Out there," responded somebody, pointing. + +"W-why don't somebody go help him?" gasped the other. "He'll drown!" + +"Don't know where to go to," answered the first speaker, shaking his +head. + +Fischer sank back, too exhausted, himself, to move. + +"He'll drown! He'll drown!" he muttered. "He is tired to death from the +race." + +And after that there was another anxious wait, every one hesitating, +wondering if there were any use venturing into the tossing water. + +The storm was one that came in gusts; its first minute's fury past, +there was a brief let up in its violence, and the darkness that the +black clouds had brought with them yielded to the daylight for a while. +During that time those on the shore got one brief glimpse of a startling +panorama. + +The boat was sighted first, still skimming along before the gale, but +obviously laboring with the water she had shipped. The frightened +occupant was still in the stern, clinging to the gunwale with terror. +There was a shout raised when the boat was noticed, and all eyes were +bent upon it anxiously. Then some one, chancing a glance down the river +below, caught a glimpse of a moving head. + +"There's Mallory!" he cried. "Hooray!" + +There was Mallory, and Mallory was swimming desperately, as the crowd +could dimly see. For the boat he was aiming at was just a little farther +out in the stream than he, and bearing swiftly down upon him. Whatever +happened must happen with startling rapidity, and the crowd knew it, and +forebore to shout--almost to breathe. + +The boat plunged on; the swimmer fairly leaped through the waves. Nearer +it came, nearer--up to him--past him! No! For, as it seemed, the bow +must cleave his body, the body was seen to leap forward with it. He had +caught the boat! And a wild cheer burst from the spectators. + +"He's safe! He's safe!" + +But the cheer, as it died out, seemed to catch in their throats, and to +change into a gasp of suspense, and then of horror. + +Mallory had clung to the bow for a moment, as if too exhausted to move. +His body, half submerged, had cut a white furrow in the water, drawn on +by the plunging boat. Then the girl, in an evil moment, released her +hold and sprang forward to help him. She caught his arm, and he flung +himself upon the boat. + +And then came the crash. + +Leaning to one side, with the sudden weight, the boat half turned, and +then gibed with terrific violence. The great boom swung around like a +giant club, driven by the pressure of the wind upon the vast surface of +the sail. The watchers gave a half-suppressed gasp, Mallory was seen to +put out his arm, and the next instant the blow was struck. + +It hit the girl with a crash that those on shore thought they heard; it +flung her far out into the water, and almost at the same instant Mallory +was seen to leap out in a low, quick dive. Then, as if the scene was +over, and the book shut, the rain burst out again in its fury, and the +darkness of the raging storm shut it all out. + +This time there could be no mistaking duty; the cadets knew now where +the struggling pair were, and they had no reason to hesitate. First to +move was one of a group of six anxious plebes, who had been waiting in +agony; it was Texas, and the spectators saw him plunge into the water +and vanish in the driving rain. Then more of that crowd followed him; +Fischer, too, sprang up, exhausted though he was, and in the end there +were at least a dozen sturdy lads swimming with all their might toward +the spot where Mallory had been seen to leap. + +They were destined, however, to do but little good; so we shall stay by +those upon the shore. + +The weakening of Bull Harris' followers has been mentioned; it increased +as the plebe's self-sacrificing daring was shown. + +"He certainly is spunky," one of the crowd ventured to mutter, as he +shivered and watched. "I hope he gets ashore." + +And Bull turned upon him with a savage oath. + +"You fool!" he cried. "You confounded fool! If he does, I could kill +him! Kill him! Do you hear me?" + +There are some natures like that. Have you read the tale of +Macauley's?-- + + "How brave Horatius held the bridge + In the good old days of yore." + +There was just such a hero then battling with the waves as now-- + + "Curse him!" cried false Sextus. + "Will not the villain drown?" + +And on the other hand-- + + "Heaven help him," quoth Spurius Laritus, + "And bring him safe to shore! + For such a gallant feat of arms + Has ne'er been seen before." + +There were few of Bull's crowd as hardened in their hatred as was he; +Murray was one, and the sallow Vance another. Baby Edwards followed +suit, of course. But, as for the rest of them, they were thinking. + +"I don't care!" vowed one. "I'm sorry we've got him fired." + +"Do you mean," demanded Bull, in amazement, "that you're not going to +keep the promise you made a while ago?" + +"That's what I do!" declared the other, sturdily. "I think he deserves +to stay!" + +And Bull turned away in alarm and disgust. + +"Fools!" he muttered to himself. "Fools!" and gritted his teeth in rage. +"I hope he's never seen again." + +It seemed as if that might happen; the cadets during all this time had +been standing out in the driving rain, striving to pierce the darkness +of the storm. From the river came an occasional shout from some one of +the rescue party; but no word from the plebe or the girl. + +Once the watchers caught sight of a figure swimming in; it proved to be +Fischer once more. The cadets had rushed toward him with sudden hope, +but he shook his head, sadly. + +"Couldn't--couldn't find him," he panted, shaking the water from his +hair and shielding his face from the driving rain. "I was too tired to +stay long." + +The storm swept by in a very short while. Violence such as that cannot +last long in anything. While the anxious cadets raced up and down the +shore, each striving to catch a glimpse of Mallory, the dark clouds +sailed past and the rain settled into an ordinary drizzle. The surface +of the white-capped river became visible then, and gradually the heads +of the swimmers came into view. + +"There's Billy Williams!" was the cry. "And that's Texas, way over +there. Here's Parson Stanard! And Jones!" + +And so on it went, but no Mallory. Those on the shore could not see him +and those in the river had no better luck. Most of them had begun to +give up in despair, when the long-expected cry did come. For Mark was +not dead by a long shot. + +A shout came from a solitary straggler far down the stream, and the +straggler was seen to plunge into the water. Those on the shore made a +wild dash for the spot and those in the water struck out for the shore +so as to join them. And louder at last swelled the glad cry. + +"Here he is! Hooray!" + +The plebe was about a hundred yards from the shore, and swimming weakly; +the girl, still unconscious, was floating upon her back--and her +rescuer, holding her by the arms--was slowly towing her toward the +shore. + +A dozen swam out to aid him as soon as he was seen; strong arms lifted +the girl and bore her high upon the bank, others supporting the +half-fainting plebe to a seat. + +"Is she dead?" was Mark's first thought, as soon as he could speak at +all. + +"I don't know," said Fischer, chafing the girl's hands and watching for +the least sign of life. "Somebody hustle up for the doctor there! +Quick!" + +Several of the cadets set out for the hospital at a run; and the rest +gathered about the two and offered what help they could. + +"It's Judge Fuller's daughter," said Fischer, who was busily dosing the +unconscious figure with a flask of reddish liquid surreptitiously +produced by one of the cadets. + +"Do you know her?" inquired Mark, in surprise. + +"Know her!" echoed half the bystanders at once. "Why, she lives just +across the river!" + +"That's an ugly looking wound on the head there," continued Fischer, +bending over the prostrate form. "Gosh! but that boom must have struck +her. And here, Mallory," he added, "you'd best take a taste of this +brandy. You look about dead yourself." + +"No, I thank you," responded Mark, smiling weakly. "I'm all right. Only +I'm glad it's all over and----" + +Mark got no farther; as if to mock his words came a cry that made the +crowd whirl about and look toward the river in alarm. + +"Help! Help!" + +"By George!" cried Fischer, "it's one of the fellows!" + +"It's Alan!" shouted Mark. "Alan Dewey!" + +And before any one could divine his intention he sprang up and made a +dash for the river. For Mark knew how Dewey had come there; he had swum +out, cripple though he was, to hunt for him; and with his one well arm, +poor gallant Dewey was finding trouble in getting back. + +Mark had been quick, but Fischer was a bit too quick for him and seized +him by the arm. + +"Come back here!" he commanded, sternly. "And don't be a fool. You're +near dead. Some of you fellows swim out and tow that plebe in." + +Half a dozen had started without being asked; and Mark's overzealous +friend was grabbed by the hair and arms and feet and rushed in in great +style. He came up smiling as usual. + +"Got out too far, b'gee!" he began. "Very foolish of me! Reminds me of a +story I once heard---- Oh, say!" + +This last explanation came as the speaker caught sight of the figure of +the young girl; and his face lost its smile on the instant. + +"She's alive, isn't she?" he cried. + +"Don't know," said Fischer. "Here comes the doctor now." + +"Well, she certainly is a beautiful girl!" responded Dewey, shaking his +head. "B'gee, we don't want that kind to die!" + +The doctor was coming on a run; and a minute later he was kneeling +beside the young girl's body. + +"Jove!" he muttered. "Almost a fractured skull! No, she's alive! See +here, who got her out?" + +"Mr. Mallory," responded the captain, turning toward where Mark had sat. +And then he gave vent to a startled exclamation. + +"Good heavens! He's fainted! What's the matter?" + +"Fainted?" echoed the surgeon, as he noticed the young man's white lips +and bloodless cheek. "Fainted! I should say so! Why, he's almost as near +dead as she! We must take him to the hospital." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +MARK MEETS THE SUPERINTENDENT. + + +"Yes, colonel, the lad is a hero, and I want to tell him so, too!" + +The speaker was a tall, gray-haired gentleman, and he whacked his cane +on the floor for emphasis as he spoke. + +"It was a splendid act, sir, splendid!" he continued. "And I want to +thank Mark Mallory for it right here in your office." + +The man he addressed wore the uniform of the United States army; he was +Colonel Harvey, the superintendent of the West Point Academy. + +"I shall be most happy to have you do so," he replied, smiling at this +visitor's enthusiasm. "You have certainly," he added, "much to thank the +young man for." + +"Much!" echoed the other. "Much! Why, my dear sir, if that daughter of +mine had been drowned I believe it would have killed me. She is my only +child, and, if I do say it myself, sir, the sweetest girl that ever +lived." + +"Wasn't it rather reckless, judge," inquired the other, "for you to +allow her to go sailing alone?" + +"She is used to the boat," responded Judge Fuller, "but no one on earth +could have handled it in such a gale. I do not remember to have seen +such a one in all the time I have lived up here." + +"Nor I, either," said the superintendent. "It was so dark that I could +scarcely see across the parade ground. It is almost miraculous that +Mallory should have succeeded in finding the boat as he did." + +"Tell me about it," put in the other. "I have not been able to get a +consistent account yet." + +"Cadet Captain Fischer told me," responded the colonel. "It seems that +he and Mallory were just at the finish of a swimming race when the storm +broke. They caught sight of the boat with your daughter in it coming +down stream. The plebe turned, exhausted though he was, and headed for +it. It got so dark then that those on shore could scarcely see; but the +lad managed to catch the boat as it passed and climbed aboard. Just then +the boom swung round and flung the girl into the water. Mallory dived +again at once----" + +"Splendid!" interrupted the other. + +"And swam ashore with her." + +"And then fainted, they say," the judge added. + +"Yes," said Colonel Harvey. "Dr. Grimes told me that it was one of the +worst cases of exhaustion he had ever seen. But the lad is doing well +now; he appears to be a very vigorous youngster--and I've an idea +several of the yearlings found that out to their discomfort. The doctor +told me that he thought he would be out this morning; the accident was +only two days ago." + +"That is fortunate," responded the other. "The boy is too good to lose." + +"He appears to be a remarkable lad generally," continued the +superintendent. "I have heard several tales about him. Some of the +stories came to me 'unofficially,' as we call it, and I don't believe +Mallory would rest easily if he thought I knew of them. Young Fischer, +who's a splendid man himself, I'll tell you, informed me yesterday that +the plebe had earned his admission fee by bringing help to a wrecked +train and telegraphing the account to a New York paper." + +"I heard he had been in some trouble about demerits," put in Judge +Fuller. + +"In very serious trouble. I had to take a very radical step to get him +out of it. Every once in a while I find that some new cadet is being +'skinned,' as the cadets call it, demerited unfairly. I always punish +severely when I find that out. In this case, though, I had no proof; +Mallory would say nothing, though he was within five demerits of +expulsion. So I decided to end the whole matter by declaring a new rule +I've been contemplating for some time. I've found that new cadets get +too many demerits during the first few weeks, before they learn the +rules thoroughly. So I've decided that in future no demerits shall be +given for the first three weeks, and that delinquencies shall be +punished by extra hours and other penalties. That let Mallory out of his +trouble, you see." + +"A very clever scheme!" laughed the other. "Very clever!" + +It may be of interest to notice that Colonel Harvey's rule has been in +effect ever since. + +There was silence of a few moments after that, during which Judge Fuller +tapped the floor with his cane reflectively. + +"You promised to let me see this Mallory," he said, suddenly. "I'm ready +now." + +By way of answer, the superintendent rang a bell upon his desk. + +"Go over to the hospital," he said to the orderly who appeared in the +doorway, "and find out if Cadet Mallory is able to be about. If he is, +bring him here at once." + +The boy disappeared and the colonel turned to his visitor and smiled. + +"Is that satisfactory?" he inquired. + +"Very!" responded the other. "And I only wish that you could send for my +daughter to come over, too. I hope those surgeons are taking care of +her." + +"As much as if she were their own," answered the colonel. "I cannot tell +you how glad I was to learn that she is beyond danger." + +"It is God's mercy," said the other, with feeling. "She could not have +had a much narrower escape." + +And after that neither said anything until a knock at the door signaled +the arrival of the orderly. + +"Come in," called the superintendent, and two figures stepped into the +room. One was the messenger, and the other was Mark. + +"This," said the superintendent after a moment's pause, "is Cadet +Mallory." + +And Cadet Mallory it was. The same old Mark, only paler and more weak +just then. + +Judge Fuller rose and bowed gravely. + +"Sit down," said he, "you are not strong enough to stand." + +And after that no one said anything for fully a minute; the last speaker +resumed his seat and fell to studying Mark's face in silence. And Mark +waited respectfully for him to begin. + +"My name," said he at last, "is Fuller." + +"Judge Fuller?" inquired Mark. + +"Yes. And Grace Fuller is my daughter." + +After that there was silence again, broken suddenly by the excitable old +gentleman dropping his cane, springing up from his chair, and striding +over toward the lad. + +"I want to shake hands with you, sir! I want to shake hands with you!" +he cried. + +Mark was somewhat taken aback; but he arose and did as he was asked. + +"And now," said the judge, "I guess that's all--sit down, sir, sit down; +you've little strength left, I can see. I want to thank you, sir, for +being the finest lad I've met for a long time. And when my daughter gets +well--which she will, thank the Lord--I'll be very glad to have you +call on us, or else to let us call on you--seeing that we live beyond +cadet limits. And if ever you get into trouble, here or anywhere, just +come and see me about it, and I'll be much obliged to you. And that's +all." + +Having said which, the old gentleman stalked across the room once more, +picked up his hat and cane, and made for the door. + +"Good-day, sir," he said. "I'm going around now to see my daughter. +Good-day, and God bless you." + +After which the door was shut. + +It was several minutes after that before Colonel Harvey said anything. + +"You have made a powerful friend, my boy," he remarked, smiling at the +recollection of the old gentleman's strange speech. "And you have +brought honor upon the academy. I am proud of you--proud to have you +here." + +"Thank you, sir," said Mark, simply. + +"All I have to say besides that," added the officer, "is to watch out +that you stay. Don't get any more demerits." + +"I'll try not, sir." + +"Do. And I guess you had best go and join your company now if the doctor +thinks you're able. Something is happening to-day which always interests +new cadets. I bid you good-morning, Mr. Mallory." + +And Mark went out of that office and crossed the street to barracks +feeling as if he were walking on air. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +THE SEVEN IN SESSION. + + +It is fun indeed to be a hero, to know that every one you pass is gazing +at you with admiration. Or if one cannot do anything heroic, let him +even do something that will bring him notoriety, and then-- + + "As he walks along the Boulevard, + With an independent air." + +he may be able to appreciate the afore-mentioned sensation. + +There was no boulevard at West Point, but the area in barracks served +the purpose, and Mark could not help noticing that as he went the +yearlings were gazing enviously at him, and the plebes with undisguised +admiration. He hurried upstairs to avoid that, and found that he had +leaped, as the phrase has it, from the frying pan to the fire. For there +were the other six of the "Seven Devils" ready to welcome him with a +rush. + +"Wow!" cried Texas. "Back again! Whoop!" + +"Bless my soul, but I'm glad!" piped in the little round bubbly voice of +"Indian." "Bless my soul!" + +"Sit down. Sit down," cried "Parson" Stanard, reverently offering his +beloved volume of "Dana's Geology" for a cushion. + +"Sit down and let us look at you." + +"Yes, b'gee!" chimed in Alan Dewey. "Yes, b'gee, let's look at you. +Reminds me of a story I once heard, b'gee--pshaw, what's the use of +trying to tell a good story with everybody trying to shout at once." + +The excitement subsided after some five minutes more, and Mark was glad +of it. With the true modesty natural to all high minds he felt that he +would a great deal rather rescue a girl than be praised and made +generally uncomfortable for it. So he shut his followers up as quickly +as he could, which was not very quickly, for they had lots to say. + +"How is the girl?" inquired Dewey, perceiving at last that Mark really +meant what he said, and so, hastening to turn the conversation. + +"She's doing very well now," said Mark. + +"Always your luck!" growled Texas. "She's beautiful, and her father's a +judge and got lots of money. Bet he runs off and marries her in a week. +Oh, say, Mark, but you're lucky! You just ought to hear the plebes talk +about you. I can't tell you how proud I am, man! Why----" + +"Right back at it again!" interrupted Mark, laughing. "Right back again! +Didn't I tell you to drop it? I know what I'll do----" + +Here Mark arose from his seat. + +"I hereby declare this a business meeting of the Seven Devils, and as +chairman I call the meeting to order." + +"What for?" cried the crowd. + +"To consider plans for hazing," answered Mark. "I----" + +"Wow!" roared Texas, wildly excited in an instant. "Goin' to haze +somebody? Whoop!" + +And Mark laughed silently to himself. + +"I knew I'd make you drop that rescue business," he said. "And Mr. +Powers, you will have the goodness to come to order and not to address +the meeting until you are granted the floor. It is my purpose, if you +will allow me to say a few words to the society--ahem!" + +Mark said this with stern and pompous dignity and Texas subsided so +suddenly that the rest could scarcely keep from laughing. + +"But, seriously now, fellows," he said, after a moment's silence. "Let's +leave all the past behind and consider what's before us. I really have +something to say." + +Having been thus enjoined, the meeting did come to order. The members +settled themselves comfortably about the room as if expecting a long +oration, and Mark continued, after a moment's thought. + +"We really ought to make up our mind beforehand as to just exactly what +we're going to do. I suppose you all know what's going to happen +to-day." + +"No!" cried the impulsive Texas. "I don't. What is it, anyhow?" + +"We're to move to camp this afternoon," responded Mark. + +"I know; but what's that got to do with it?" + +"Lots. Several of the cadets have told me that there's always more +hazing done on that one day than on all the rest put together. You see, +we leave barracks and go up to live with the whole corps at the summer +camp. And that night the yearlings always raise Cain with the plebes." + +"Bully, b'gee!" chimed in Dewey, no less pleased with the prospect. + +"So to-night is the decisive night," continued Mark. "And I leave it for +the majority to decide just what we'll do about it. What do you say?" + +Mark relapsed into silence, and there was a moment's pause, ended by the +grave and classic Parson slowly rising to his feet. The Parson first +laid his inevitable "Dana" upon the floor, then glanced about him with a +pompous air and folded his long, bony arms. "Ahem!" he said, and then +began: + +"Gentlemen! I rise--ahem!--to put the case to you as I see it; I rise to +emulate the example of the immortal Patrick Henry--to declare for +liberty or death! Yea, by Zeus, or death!" + +"Bully, b'gee!" chimed in Dewey, slapping his knee in approval and +winking merrily at the crowd from behind the Parson's back. + +"Gentlemen!" continued the Parson. "Once before we met in this same room +and we did then make known our declaration of independence to the world. +But there is one thing we have not yet done, and that we must do! Yea, +by Zeus! I am a Bostonian--I may have told you that before--and I am +proud of the deeds of my forefathers. They fought at Bunker Hill; and, +gentlemen, we have that yet to do." + +"Betcher life, b'gee!" cried Dewey, as the Parson gravely took his seat. +Then the former arose and continued the discussion. "Not much of a hand +for making a speech," he said, "as the deaf-mute remarked when he lost +three fingers; but I've got something to say, and, b'gee, I'm going to +say it. To-night is the critical night, and if we are meek and mild now, +we'll be it for the whole summer. And I say we don't, b'gee, and that's +all!" + +With which brief, but pointed and characteristic summary of the +situation, Alan sat down and Texas clapped his heels together and gave +vent to a "Wow!" of approval. + +"Anybody else got anything to say?" inquired Mark. + +"Yes, bah Jove! I have, don't ye know." + +This came from Mr. Chauncey Van Rensallear Mount-Bonsall. Chauncey wore +a high collar and a London accent; he was by this time playfully known +as "the man with a tutor and a hyphen," both of which luxuries it had +been found he possessed. But Chauncey was no fool for all his +mannerisms. + +"Aw--yes," said he, "I have something to say, ye know. Those deuced +yearlings will haze us more than any other plebes in the place. Beastly +word, that, by the way. I hate to be called a plebe, ye know. There is +blue blood in our family, bah Jove, and I'll guarantee there isn't one +yearling in the place can show better. Why, my grandfather----" + +"I call the gentleman to order," laughed Mark. "Hazing's the business on +hand. Hazing, and not hancestors." + +"I know," expostulated Chauncey, "but I hate to be called a plebe, ye +know. As I was going to say, however, they'll haze us most. Mark +has--aw--fooled them a dozen times, bah Jove! Texas chastised four of +them. Parson, I'm told, chased half a dozen once. My friend Indian here +got so deuced mad the other day that he nearly killed one, don't ye +know. Dewey's worse, and as for me and my friend Sleepy here--aw--bah +Jove!----" + +"You did better than all of us!" put in Mark. + +Chauncey paused a moment to make a remark about "those deuced drills, ye +know, which kept a fellah from ever having a clean collah, bah Jove!" +And then he continued. + +"I just wanted to say, ye know, that we were selected for the hazing +to-night, and that we might as well do something desperate at once, bah +Jove! that's what I think, and so does my friend Sleepy. Don't you, +Sleepy?" + +"I ain't a-thinkin' abaout it 't all," came a voice from the bed where +Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers, the farmer, lay stretched out. + +"Sleepy's too tired," laughed Mark. "It seems to be the unanimous +opinion of the crowd," he continued, after a moment's pause, "that we +might just as well be bold. In other words, that we have no hazing." + +"B'gee!" cried Dewey, springing to his feet, excitedly. "B'gee, I didn't +say that! No, sir!" + +"What did you say, then?" inquired Mark. + +"I said that we shouldn't let them haze us, b'gee, and I meant it, too. +I never said no hazing! Bet cher life, b'gee! I was just this moment +going to make the motion that we carry the war into the enemy's country, +that we upset West Point traditions for once and forever, and with a +bang, too. In other words"--here the excitable youngster paused, so that +his momentous idea might have due weight--"in other words, b'gee, that +we haze the yearlings!" + +There was an awed silence for a few moments to give that terrifically +original proposition a chance to settle in the minds of the amazed +"devils." + +Texas was the first to act and he leaped across the room at a bound and +seized "B'gee" by the hand. + +"Wow!" he roared. "Whoop! Bully, b'gee!" + +And in half a minute more the seven, including the timid Indian, had +registered a solemn vow to do deeds of valor that would "make them ole +cadets look crosseyed," as Texas put it. + +They were going to haze the yearlings! + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE MOVE INTO CAMP. + + +The new cadets at West Point are housed in barracks for two weeks after +their admission. During this time "squad drill" is the daily rule, and +the strangers learn to march and stand and face--everything a new +soldier has to learn, with the exception of the manual of arms. After +that they are adjudged fit to associate with the older cadets, and are +marched up to "Camp McPherson." This usually takes place about the first +day of July. + +Our friends, the seven, had been measured for uniforms along with the +rest of the plebe company during their first days in barracks. The +fatigue uniforms had been given out that morning, to the great +excitement of everybody, and now "cit" clothing, with all its fantastic +variety of hats and coats of all colors, was stowed away in trunks "for +good," and the plebes costumed uniformly in somber suits of gray, with +short jackets and only a black seam down the trousers for ornament. Full +dress uniforms, such as the old cadets up at camp were wearing, were +yet things of the future. + +That morning also the plebes had been "sized" for companies. + +Of "companies" there are four, into which the battalion of some three +hundred cadets is divided, "for purposes of instruction in infantry +tactics, and in military police and discipline." (For purposes of +"academic instruction," they are of course divided into the four +classes: First, second, third, or "yearlings," and fourth, the +"plebes".) The companies afore-mentioned are under the command of +tactical officers. These latter report to the "commandant of cadets," +who is, next to the superintendent, the highest ranking officer on the +post. + +The companies are designated A, B, C and D. A and D are flank companies, +and to them the tallest cadets are assigned. B and C are center +companies. Mark and Texas, and also the Parson and Sleepy, all of whom +were above the average height, found themselves in A. The remainder of +the Seven Devils managed to land in B; and the whole plebe class was +ordered to pack up and be ready to move immediately after dinner. + +The cadets are allowed to take only certain articles to camp; the rest, +together with the cit's clothing, was stored in trunks and put away in +the trunk room. + +Right here at the start there was trouble for the members of our +organization. Texas, it will be remembered, had a choice assortment of +guns of all caliber, sixteen in number. These he had stored up the +chimney of his room for safety. (The chimney is a favorite place of +concealment for contraband articles at West Point). But there was no +such place of concealment in camp; and no way of getting the guns there +anyhow. There are no pockets in the cadets' uniforms except a small one +for a watch. Money they are not allowed to carry, and their +handkerchiefs are tucked in the breasts of their coats. + +It was a difficult situation, for Texas, with true Texan cautiousness, +vowed he'd never leave his guns behind. + +"Why, look a yere, man," he cried. "I tell you, t'ain't safe now fo' a +feller to go up thar 'thout anything to defend himself. You kain't tell +what may happen!" + +The Parson was in a similar quandary. His chimney contained a various +assortment of chemicals, together with sundry geological specimens, +including that now world-famous cyathophylloid coral which had been +discovered "in a sandstone of Tertiary origin." And the Parson vowed +that either that cyathophylloid went to camp or he stayed in +barracks--yea, by Zeus! + +There was no use arguing with them; Mark tried it in vain. Texas was +obdurate and talked of holding up the crowd that dared to take those +guns away; and the Parson said that he had kept a return ticket to +Boston, his native town, a glorious city where science was encouraged +and not repressed. + +That was the state of affairs through dinner, and up to the moment when +the cry, "New cadets turn out!" came from the area. By that time Texas +had tied his guns in one of his shirts, and the Parson had variously +distributed his fossils about his body until he was one bundle of lumps. + +"If you people will congregate closely about me," he exclaimed, "I +apprehend that the state of affairs will not be observed." + +It was a curious assembly that "turned out"--a mass of bundles, brooms +and buckets, with a few staggering plebes underneath. They marched up to +camp that way, too, and it was with audible sighs of relief that they +dropped their burdens at the end. + +A word of description of "Camp McPherson" may be of interest to those +who have never visited West Point. It is important that the reader +should be familiar with its appearance, for many of Mark's adventures +were destined to happen there--some of them this very same night. + +The camp is half a mile or so from barracks, just beyond the Cavalry +Plain and very close to old Fort Clinton. The site is a pretty one, the +white tents standing out against the green of the shade trees and the +parapet of the fort. + +The tents are arranged in four "company streets" and are about five feet +apart. The tents have wooden platforms for floors and are large enough +for four cadets each. A long wooden box painted green serves as the +"locker"--it has no lock or key--and a wooden rod near the ridge pole +serves as a wardrobe. And that is the sum total of the furniture. + +The plebes made their way up the company streets and the cadet officers +in charge, under the supervision of the "tacs," assigned them to their +tents. Fortunately, plebes are allowed to select their own tent mates; +it may readily be believed the four devils of A company went together. +By good fortune the three remaining in B company, as was learned later, +found one whole tent left over and so were spared the nuisance of a +stranger in their midst--a fact which was especially gratifying to the +exclusive Master Chauncey. + +Having been assigned to their tents, the plebes were set to work under +the brief instructions of a cadet corporal at the task of arranging +their household effects. This is done with mathematical exactness. There +is a place for everything, and a penalty for not keeping it there. +Blankets, comforters, pillows, etc., go in a pile at one corner. A +looking-glass hangs on the front tent pole; a water bucket is deposited +on the front edge of the platform; candlesticks, candles, cleaning +materials, etc., are kept in a cylindrical tin box at the foot of the +rear tent pole; and so on it goes, through a hundred items or so. There +are probably no more uniform things in all nature than the cadet tents +in camp. The proverbial peas are not to be compared with them. + +The amount of fear and trembling which was caused to those four friends +of ours in a certain A company tent by the contraband goods of Texas and +the Parson is difficult to imagine. The cadet corporal, lynx-eyed and +vigilant, scarcely gave them a chance to hide anything. It was only by +Mark's interposing his body before his friends that they managed to +slide their precious cargoes in under the blankets, a temporary hiding +place. And even when the articles were thus safely hidden, what must +that officious yearling do but march over and rearrange the pile +accurately, almost touching one of the revolvers, and making the four +tremble and quake in their boots. + +They managed the task without discovery, however, and went on with their +work. And by the first drum beat for dress parade that afternoon, +everything was done up in spick-and-span order, to the eye at any rate. + +Dress parade was a formality in which the plebes took no part but that +of interested spectators. They huddled together shyly in their newly +occupied "plebe hotels" and watched the yearlings, all in spotless snowy +uniforms, "fall in" on the company street outside. The yearlings were +wild with delight and anticipation at having the strangers right among +them at last, and they manifested great interest in the plebes, their +dwellings, and in fact in everything about them. Advice and criticism, +and all kinds of guying that can be imagined were poured upon the +trembling lads' heads, and this continued in a volley until the second +drum changed the merry crowd into a silent and motionless line of +soldiers. + +Mark could scarcely keep his excitable friend Texas from sallying out +then and there to attack some of the more active members of this +hilarious crowd. It was evident that, while no plebe escaped entirely, +there was no plebe hotel in A company so much observed as their own. For +the three B. J.-est plebes in the whole plebe class were known to be +housed therein. Cadet Mallory, "professional hero," was urged in all +seriousness to come out and rescue somebody on the spot, which +oft-repeated request, together with other merry chaffing, he bore with a +good-natured smile. Cadet Stanard was plagued with geological questions +galore, among which the "cyathophylloid" occupied a prominent place. +Cadet Powers was dared to come out and lasso a stray "tac," whose +blue-uniformed figure was visible out on the parade ground. And Mr. +Chilvers found the state of "craps" a point of great solicitude to all. + +It was all stopped by the drum as has been mentioned; the company +wheeled by fours and marched down the street, leaving the plebes to an +hour of rest. But oh! those same yearlings were thinking. "Oh, won't we +just soak 'em to-night!" + +And, strange to say, the same thought was in the minds of seven +particular plebes that stayed behind. For Mark had a plot by this time. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +"FIRST NIGHT." + + +Dress parade leaves but a few moments for supper, with no chance for +"deviling." But when the battalion marched back from that meal and broke +ranks, when the dusk of evening was coming on to make an effective +screen, then was the time, thought the cadets. And so thought the +plebes, too, as they came up the road a few minutes later, trembling +with anticipation, most of them, and looking very solemn and somber in +their dusky fatigue uniforms. + +"First night of plebe camp," says a well-known military writer, "is a +thing not soon to be forgotten, even in these days when pitchy darkness +no longer surrounds the pranks of the yearlings, and when official +vigilance and protection have replaced what seemed to be tacit +encouragement and consent. + +"Then--some years ago--it was no uncommon thing for a new cadet to be +dragged out--'yanked'--and slid around camp on his dust-covered blanket +twenty times a night, dumped into Fort Clinton ditch, tossed in a tent +fly, half smothered in the folds of his canvas home, ridden on a tent +pole or in a rickety wheelbarrow, smoked out by some vile, slow-burning +pyrotechnic compound, robbed of rest and sleep at the very least after +he had been alternately drilled and worked all the livelong day." + +In Mark's time the effort to put a stop to the abuses mentioned had just +been begun. Army officers had been put on duty at night; gas lamps had +been placed along the sentry posts--precautions which are doubled +nowadays, and with the risk of expulsion added besides. They have done +away with the worst forms of hazing if not with the spirit. + +The yearlings "had it in" for our four friends of company A that +evening. In fact, scarcely had the plebes scattered to their tents when +that particular plebe hotel was surrounded. The cadets had it all +arranged beforehand, just what was to happen, and they expected to have +no end of fun about it. + +"Parson Stanard" was to be serenaded first; the crowd meant to surround +him and "invite" him to read some learned extracts from his beloved +"Dana." The Parson was to recount some of the nobler deeds of Boston's +heroes, including himself; he was to display his learning by answering +questions on every conceivable subject; he was to define and spell a +list of the most outlandish words in every language known to the angels. + +Texas was to show his skill and technique in hurling an imaginary lasso +and firing an imaginary revolver from an imaginary galloping horse. He +was to tell of the geography, topography, climate and resources of the +Lone Star State; he was to recount the exploits of his "dad," "the Hon. +Scrap Powers, sah, o' Hurricane Co.," and his uncle, the new +Senator-elect. Mark was to give rules for rescuing damsels, saving +expresses and ferryboats, etc. And Mr. Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers of +Kansas was to state his favorite method of raising three-legged chickens +and three-foot whiskers. + +That was the delicious programme as finally agreed upon by the +yearlings. And there was only one drawback met in the execution of it. +The four plebes could not be found! + +They weren't in their tent; they weren't in camp! Preposterous! The +yearlings hunted, scarcely able to believe their eyes. The plebes, of +course, had a perfect right to take a walk after supper if they chose. +But the very idea of daring to do it on the first night in camp, when +they knew that the yearlings would visit them and expect to be +entertained! It was an unheard-of thing to do; but it was just what one +would have expected of those B. J. beasts, so the yearlings grumbled, as +they went off to other tents to engage other plebes in conversation and +controversy. + +But where were the four? No place in particular. They had simply joined +the other three and had the impudence to disappear in the woods for a +stroll until tattoo. They had come to the conclusion that it was better +to do that than to stay and be "guyed," as they most certainly would be +if they refused their tormentors' requests. And Mark had overruled +Texas' vehement offer to stay and "do up the hull crowd," deciding that +the cover of the night would be favorable to the sevens' hazing, and +that until then they should make themselves scarce. + +In the meantime there was high old sport in Camp McPherson. In response +to the requests of the merry yearlings, some plebes were sitting out on +the company streets and rowing desperate races at a 34-to-the-minute +stroke with brooms for oars and air for water; some were playing +imaginary hand-organs, while others sang songs to the tunes; some +"beasts" were imitating every imaginable animal in a real "menagerie," +and some were relating their personal history while trying to stand on +their heads. + +All this kind of hazing is good-natured and hurts no one physically, +however much the loss of dignity may torment some sensitive souls. It is +the only kind of hazing that remains to any great extent nowadays. + +In the midst of such hilarity time passes very rapidly--to the +yearlings, anyway. In almost no time tattoo had sounded; and then the +companies lined up for the evening roll call, the seven dropping into +line as silently as they had stolen off, deigning a word to no one in +explanation of their strange conduct. + +"That's what I call a pretty B. J. trick!" growled Cadet Harris. Bull +had been looking forward with great glee to that evening's chance to +ridicule Mark, with all his classmates to back him; it was a lost chance +now, and Bull was angry in consequence. + +Bull's cronies agreed with him as to the "B. J.-ness" of that trick. And +they, along with a good many others, too, agreed that the trick ought +not be allowed to succeed. + +"We ought to haze him ten times as hard to-night to make up for it!" was +the verdict. + +And so it happened that the seven, by their action, brought down upon +their heads all the hazing that was done after taps. This hazing, too, +was by far the least pleasant, for it was attended to only by the more +reckless members of the class, members who could not satisfy their taste +for torture by making a helpless plebe sing songs, but must needs tumble +him out of bed and ride him on a rail at midnight besides. + +The fact, however, that all such members of the yearling class had +decided to concentrate their torments upon him did not worry Mark in the +least. In fact, that was just what Mark had expected and prepared for. + +And so there was destined to be fun that night. + +"Now go to your tents, make down your bedding just as you were taught at +barracks; do not remove your underclothing; hang up your uniforms where +each man can get his own in an instant; put your shoes and caps where +you can get them in the dark if need be; turn in and blow your candle +out, before the drum strikes 'taps,' at ten. After that, not a sound! +Get to sleep as soon as you can and be ready to form here at reveille." + +So spoke Cadet Corporal Jasper; and then at the added command, "Break +ranks, march!" the plebe company scattered, and with many a sigh of +relief vanished as individuals in the various tents. + +The corporal's last order, "be ready to form here at reveille," is a +source of much worriment to the plebe. But the one before it, "get to +sleep as soon as you can," is obeyed with the alacrity born of hours of +drill and marching. Long before tattoo, which is the signal for "lights +out," the majority of the members of the class were already dreaming. +Perhaps they were not resting very easily, for most of them had a vague +idea that there might be trouble that night; but they knew that lying +awake would not stop it, and they were all too sleepy anyway. + +The last closing ceremony of a West Point day in camp is the watchful +"tac's" inspection. One of these officers goes the rounds with a dark +lantern, flashing it into every tent and making sure that the four +occupants are really in bed. (The "bed" consists of a board floor, and +blankets.) Having attended to this duty, the tac likewise retires and +Camp McPherson sinks into the slumbers of the night. + +After that until five the next morning there is no one awake but the +tireless sentries. A word about these. The camp is a military one and is +never without guard from the moment the tents are stretched until the +29th of August, when the snowy canvas comes to the ground once more. The +"guard tent" is at the western end of the camp, and is under the charge +of the "corporal of the guard," a cadet. The sentries are cadets, too, +and there are five of them, numbered--sentry No. 1 and so on. The +ceremony each morning at which these sentries go on duty is called +"guard-mounting." And during the next twenty-four hours these sentries +are on duty two hours in every six--two hours on and then four off, +making eight in the twenty-four. + +These sentries being cadets themselves--and yearlings at present--hazing +is not so difficult as it might seem. A sentry can easily arrange to +have parties cross his beat without his seeing them; it is only when the +sentry is not in the plot that the thing is dangerous. + +The "tac"--Lieutenant Allen was his name--had made his rounds for the +night, finding plebes and yearlings, too, all sleeping soundly, or +apparently so. And after that there was nothing moving but the tramping +sentinels, and the shadows of the trees in the moonlight as they fell +on the shining tents--that is, there was nothing moving that was +visible. The yearlings, plenty of them, were wide awake in their tents +and preparing for their onslaught upon the sleeping plebes. + +Sleeping? Perhaps, but certainly not all of them. Some of those plebes +were as wide awake as the yearlings, and they were engaged in an +occupation that would have taken the yearlings considerably by surprise +if they had known it. There were seven of them in two tents, tents that +were back to back and close together, one being in Company A and one in +B. + +They were very quiet about their work; for it was a risky business. +Discovery would have meant the sentry's yelling for the corporal of the +guard; meant that Lieutenant Allen would have leaped into his trousers +and been out of his tent at the corporal's heels; meant a strict +investigation, discovery, court-martial and dismissal. It was all right +for yearlings to be out at night; but plebes--never! + +It grew riskier still as a few minutes passed, for one of the B. J. +beasts had the temerity to come out of his tent. He came very +cautiously, it was true, worming his way along the ground silently, in +true Indian--or Texas style. For Texas it was, that adventurous youth +having vowed and declared that if he were not allowed to attend to this +particular piece of mischief he would go out and hold up a sentry +instead; the other three occupants were peering under the tent folds +watching him anxiously as he crawled along. + +As a fact, Texas' peril was not as great as was supposed, for the +sentries had no means of telling if he was a yearling or not. The idea +of a plebe's daring to break rules would not have occurred to them +anyhow. Be that as it may, at any rate nobody interrupted the Seven +Devils' plans. Cadet Powers made his way across the "street," deposited +his burden, a glistening steel revolver some two feet long. And then he +stole back and the crowd lay still in their tents and watched and +waited. + +They had not long to do that. Texas barely had time to crawl under the +canvas and to mutter to his friends--for the hundredth time: + +"Didn't I tell ye them air guns 'ud come in handy?" + +At that very moment a sound of muffled laughter warned them that the +moment had arrived. + +"Just in time!" whispered Mark, seizing his friend by the hand and at +the same time giving vent to a subdued chuckle. "Just in time. S-sh!" + +The four, who lay side by side under the tent, could hear each other's +hearts thumping then. + +"Will it work? Will it work?" was the thought in the mind of every one +of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +CONCLUSION. + + +The yearlings were a merry party, about ten of them, and they were out +for fun and all the fun that could be had. They were going to make it +hot for certain B. J. plebes, and they meant to lose no time about it, +either. They crept up the company street, laughing and talking in +whispers, for fear they should arouse the tac. The sentries they did not +care about, of course, for the sentries were pledged to "look the other +way." + +It was decided that the first thing to be done to those B. J. plebes was +to "yank 'em." Yanking is a West Point invention. It means that the +victim finds his blanket seized by one corner and torn from under him, +hurling him to the ground. Many a plebe's nightmares are punctuated with +just such periods as these. + +It seems that a "yanking" was just what the four had prepared for. They +had prepared for it by huddling up in one corner and rigging dummies to +place in their beds. The dummies consisted of wash basins, buckets, +etc., and it was calculated that when these dummies were yanked they +would be far from dumb. + +The yearlings stole up cautiously; they did not know they were watched. +The breathless plebes saw their shadows on the tent walls, and knew just +what was going on. They saw the figures line up at the back; they saw +half a dozen pairs of hands gently raise the canvas, and get a good firm +grip on the blankets. Then came a subdued "Now!" and then--well, things +began to happen after that! + +The yearlings "yanked" with all the power of their arms. The blankets +gave way, and the result was a perfectly amazing clatter and crash. Have +you ever heard half a dozen able-bodied dishwashers working at once? + +Naturally the wildest panic resulted among the attacking party. They did +not know what they had done, but they did know that they had done +something desperate, and that they wished they hadn't. As the sound +broke out on the still, night air they turned in alarm and made a wild +dash for their tents. + +Two of them raced down the company street at top speed; both of them +suddenly struck an unexpected obstruction and were sent flying through +the air. It was a string; and at one end of it was the Texas +.44-caliber. The result was a bang that woke the camp with a jump. And +then there was fun for fair. + +The sentries knew then that every one was awake, including the "tac," +and that they might just as well, therefore, "give the alarm." All five +of them accordingly set up a wild shout for the corporal of the guard. +This brought the young officer and Lieutenant Allen on the scene in no +time. Also it brought from the land of dreams every cadet in the corps +who had managed to sleep through the former racket. And nearly all of +them rushed to their tent doors wondering what would happen next. + +The seven meanwhile had been working like beavers. The instant the gun +had gone off Texas, who held the string, had yanked it in and stowed it +away with his other weapons, shaking with laughter in the meanwhile. The +others had gone to work with a will; pitcher, basin, bucket, everything, +had been hastily set in place; blankets had been relaid; and everything, +in short, was put in order again, so that by the time that Lieutenant +Allen got around to their tent--the officer had seized his lantern and +set out on a hasty round to discover the jokers--he found four "scared" +plebes, sitting up in beds, sleepily rubbing their eyes, and inquiring +in anxiety: + +"What's the matter?" + +He didn't tell them, for he hadn't the remotest idea himself. And nobody +told him; the yearlings couldn't have if they had wanted to. + +Of course the lieutenant didn't care to stay awake all night, +fruitlessly asking questions; so he went to bed. The sentries resumed +their march, wondering meanwhile what on earth had led their classmates +to make so much rumpus, and speculating as to whether it could possibly +be true, what one cadet had suggested--that that wild and woolly Texan +had tried to shoot some one who had hazed him. The rest of the cadets +dropped off to sleep. And soon everybody was quiet again--that is, +except the Seven Devils. + +The Seven Devils had only just begun. They lay and waited until things +were still, and then Mark gave the order, and the crowd rose as one man +and stole softly out into the street. This included even the trembling +Indian, who was muttering "Bless my soul!" at a great rate. + +"I guess they're all asleep now," whispered Mark. + +"What are you going to do?" inquired Indian. + +"Yank 'em," responded Mark, briefly. "Come ahead." + +Mark had seen that the yearlings came up boldly, which told him at once +that the sentries were "fixed," and he calculated that just at the +moment the moon being clouded, the sentries would not know yearlings +from plebes. The only danger was that Lieutenant Allen might still be +awake. It was risky, but then---- + +"Do you see Bull Harris' tent?" Mark whispered. "It is the sixth from +here. He and the Baby, with Vance and Murray, are in there. Now, then." + +With trembling hearts the crowd crept down the street; this was their +first venture as lawbreakers. They stole up behind the tent just as the +yearlings had; they reached under the canvas and seized the blankets. +And then came a sudden haul--and confusion and muttered yells from the +inside, which told them that no dummies had been yanked this time. + +The yearlings sprang up in wrath and gazed out; retreating footsteps and +muffled laughter were all that remained, and they went back to bed in +disgust. The plebes went, too, in high glee. + +"And now," said Mark. "I guess we might as well go to sleep." + + * * * * * + +One does not like to leave this story without having a word to say about +what the corps thought of the whole thing next morning. The "tac," of +course, reported to his superior the night's alarm--"cause unknown," and +that was the end of the matter officially. But the yearlings--phew! + +The class compared notes right after reveille; and no one talked about +anything else for the rest of that day. The cause of the rumpus made by +the blankets was soon guessed; the two who had set off the gun were +questioned, and that problem soon worked out also; that alone was bad +enough! But the amazement when Bull and his tentmates turned up and +declared that they--yearlings!--had been yanked, yes yanked, and by some +measly plebes at that, there is no possibility of describing the +indignation. Why, it meant that the class had been defied, that West +Point had been overturned, that the world was coming to an end, +and--what more could it possibly mean? + +And through all the excitement the Seven just looked at each other--and +winked: + +"B. B. J.!" they said: "Just watch us!" + +"It was great, b'gee!" said Dewey. "Hurrah for the plebes!" + +"Hurrah!" was the answer, in a shout. "Hurrah!" + + +THE END. + + + + +_THE CREAM OF JUVENILE FICTION_ + + +THE BOYS' OWN LIBRARY + +A Selection of the Best Books for Boys by the Most Popular Authors + + +The titles in this splendid juvenile series have been selected with +care, and as a result all the stories can be relied upon for their +excellence. They are bright and sparkling; not over-burdened with +lengthy descriptions, but brimful of adventure from the first page to +the last--in fact they are just the kind of yarns that appeal strongly +to the healthy boy who is fond of thrilling exploits and deeds of +heroism. Among the authors whose names are included in the Boys' Own +Library are Horatio Alger, Jr., Edward S. Ellis, James Otis, Capt. Ralph +Bonehill, Burt L. Standish, Gilbert Patten and Frank H. Converse. + + +SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE BOYS' OWN LIBRARY + +All the books in this series are copyrighted, printed on good paper, +large type, illustrated, printed wrappers, handsome cloth covers stamped +in inks and gold--fifteen special cover designs. + +_146 Titles--Price, per Volume, 75 cents_ + +For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, on receipt of price by +the publisher. + + +DAVID McKAY, 610 SO. WASHINGTON SQUARE, PHILADELPHIA, PA. + + + + +HORATIO ALGER, Jr. + +One of the best known and most popular writers. Good, clean, healthy +stories for the American Boy. + + Adventures of a Telegraph Boy + Dean Dunham + Erie Train Boy, The + Five Hundred Dollar Check + From Canal Boy to President + From Farm Boy to Senator + Backwoods Boy, The + Mark Stanton + Ned Newton + New York Boy + Tom Brace + Tom Tracy + Walter Griffith + Young Acrobat + + +C. B. ASHLEY. + +One of the best stories ever written on hunting, trapping and adventure +in the West, after the Custer Massacre. + + Gilbert, the Boy Trapper + + +ANNIE ASHMORE. + +A splendid story, recording the adventures of a boy with smugglers. + + Smuggler's Cave, The + + +CAPT. RALPH BONEHILL. + +Capt. Bonehill is in the very front rank as an author of boys' stories. +These are two of his best works. + + Neka, the Boy Conjurer + Tour of the Zero Club + + +WALTER F. BRUNS. + +An excellent story of adventure in the celebrated Sunk Lands of Missouri +and Kansas. + + In the Sunk Lands + + +FRANK H. CONVERSE. + +This writer has established a splendid reputation as a boys' author, and +although his books usually command $1.25 per volume, we offer the +following at a more popular price. + + Gold of Flat Top Mountain + Happy-Go-Lucky Jack + Heir to a Million + In Search of An Unknown Race + In Southern Seas + Mystery of a Diamond + That Treasure + Voyage to the Gold Coast + + +HARRY COLLINGWOOD. + +One of England's most successful writers of stories for boys. His best +story is + + Pirate Island + + +GEORGE H. COOMER. + +Two books we highly recommend. One is a splendid story of adventure at +sea, when American ships were in every port in the world, and the other +tells of adventures while the first railway in the Andes Mountains was +being built. + + Boys in the Forecastle + Old Man of the Mountain + + +WILLIAM DALTON. + +Three stories by one of the very greatest writers for boys. The stories +deal with boys' adventures in India, China and Abyssinia. These books +are strongly recommended for boys' reading, as they contain a large +amount of historical information. + + Tiger Prince + War Tiger + White Elephant + + +EDWARD S. ELLIS. + +These books are considered the best works this well-known writer ever +produced. No better reading for bright young Americans. + + Arthur Helmuth + Check No. 2134 + From Tent to White House + Perils of the Jungle + On the Trail of Geronimo + White Mustang + + +GEORGE MANVILLE FENN. + +For the past fifty years Mr. Fenn has been writing books for boys and +popular fiction. His books are justly popular throughout the +English-speaking world. We publish the following select list of his +boys' books, which we consider the best he ever wrote. + + Commodore Junk + Dingo Boys + Weathercock + Golden Magnet + Grand Chaco + + +ENSIGN CLARKE FITCH, U. S. N. + +A graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, and thoroughly +familiar with all naval matters. Mr. Fitch has devoted himself to +literature, and has written a series of books for boys that every young +American should read. His stories are full of very interesting +information about the navy, training ships, etc. + + Bound for Annapolis + Clif, the Naval Cadet + Cruise of the Training Ship + From Port to Port + Strange Cruise, A + + +WILLIAM MURRAY GRAYDON. + +An author of world-wide popularity. Mr. Graydon is essentially a friend +of young people, and we offer herewith ten of his best works, wherein he +relates a great diversity of interesting adventures in various parts of +the world, combined with accurate historical data. + + Butcher of Cawnpore, The + Camp in the Snow, The + Campaigning with Braddock + Cryptogram, The + From Lake to Wilderness + In Barracks and Wigwam + In Fort and Prison + Jungles and Traitors + Rajah's Fortress, The + White King of Africa, The + + +LIEUT. FREDERICK GARRISON, U. S. A. + +Every American boy takes a keen interest in the affairs of West Point. +No more capable writer on this popular subject could be found than +Lieut. Garrison, who vividly describes the life, adventures and unique +incidents that have occurred in that great institution--in these famous +West Point stories. + + Off for West Point + Cadet's Honor, A + On Guard + West Point Treasure, The + West Point Rivals, The + + +HEADON HILL. + +The hunt for gold has always been a popular subject for consideration, +and Mr. Hill has added a splendid story on the subject in this romance +of the Klondyke. + + Spectre Gold + + +HENRY HARRISON LEWIS. + +Mr. Lewis is a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and has +written a great many books for boys. Among his best works are the +following titles--the subjects include a vast series of adventures in +all parts of the world. The historical data is correct, and they should +be read by all boys, for the excellent information they contain. + + Centreboard Jim + King of the Island + Midshipman Merrill + Yankee Boys in Japan + Ensign Merrill + Sword and Pen + Valley of Mystery, The + + +LIEUT. LIONEL LOUNSBERRY. + +A series of books embracing many adventures under our famous naval +commanders, and with our army during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. +Founded on sound history, these books are written for boys, with the +idea of combining pleasure with profit; to cultivate a fondness for +study--especially of what has been accomplished by our army and navy. + + Cadet Kit Carey + Captain Carey + Kit Carey's Protege + Lieut. Carey's Luck + Out With Commodore Decatur + Randy, the Pilot + Tom Truxton's School Days + Tom Truxton's Ocean Trip + Treasure of the Golden Crater + Won at West Point + + +BROOKS McCORMICK. + +Four splendid books of adventure on sea and land, by this well-known +writer for boys. + + Giant Islanders, The + How He Won + Nature's Young Nobleman + Rival Battalions + + +WALTER MORRIS. + +This charming story contains thirty-two chapters of just the sort of +school life that charms the boy readers. + + Bob Porter at Lakeview Academy + + +STANLEY NORRIS. + +Mr. Norris is without a rival as a writer of "Circus Stories" for boys. +These four books are full of thrilling adventures, but good, wholesome +reading for young Americans. + + Phil, the Showman + Young Showman's Rivals, The + Young Showman's Pluck, The + Young Showman's Triumph + + +LIEUT. JAMES K. ORTON. + +When a boy has read one of Lieut. Orton's books, it requires no urging +to induce him to read the others. Not a dull page in any of them. + + Beach Boy Joe + Last Chance Mine + Secret Chart, The + Tom Havens with the White Squadron + + +JAMES OTIS. + +Mr. Otis is known by nearly every American boy, and needs no +introduction here. The following copyrights are among his best: + + Chased Through Norway + Inland Waterways + Reuben Green's Adventures at Yale + Unprovoked Mutiny + Wheeling for Fortune + + +GILBERT PATTEN. + +Mr. Patten has had the distinction of having his books adopted by the +U. S. Government for all naval libraries on board our war ships. While +aiming to avoid the extravagant and sensational, the stories contain +enough thrilling incidents to please the lad who loves action and +adventure. In the Rockspur stories the description of their Baseball and +Football Games and other contests with rival clubs and teams make very +exciting and absorbing reading; and few boys with warm blood in their +veins, having once begun the perusal of one of these books, will +willingly lay it down till it is finished. + + Boy Boomers + Boy Cattle King + Boy from the West + Don Kirke's Mine + Jud and Joe + Rockspur Nine, The + Rockspur Eleven, The + Rockspur Rivals, The + + +ST. GEORGE RATHBORNE. + +Mr. Rathborne's stories for boys have the peculiar charm of dealing with +localities and conditions with which he is thoroughly familiar. The +scenes of these excellent stories are along the Florida coast and on the +western prairies. + + Canoe and Camp Fire + Paddling Under Palmettos + Rival Canoe Boys + Sunset Ranch + Chums of the Prairie + Young Range Riders + Gulf Cruisers + Shifting Winds + + +ARTHUR SEWELL. + +An American story by an American author. It relates how a Yankee boy +overcame many obstacles in school and out. Thoroughly interesting from +start to finish. + + Gay Dashleigh's Academy Days + + +CAPT. DAVID SOUTHWICK. + +An exceptionally good story of frontier life among the Indians in the +far West, during the early settlement period. + + Jack Wheeler + + +The Famous Frank Merriwell Stories. + +BURT L. STANDISH. + +No modern series of tales for boys and youths has met with anything like +the cordial reception and popularity accorded to the Frank Merriwell +Stories. There must be a reason for this and there is. Frank Merriwell, +as portrayed by the author, is a jolly whole-souled, honest, courageous +American lad, who appeals to the hearts of the boys. He has no bad +habits, and his manliness inculcates the idea that it is not necessary +for a boy to indulge in petty vices to be a hero. Frank Merriwell's +example is a shining light for every ambitious lad to follow. Six +volumes now ready: + + Frank Merriwell's School Days + Frank Merriwell's Chums + Frank Merriwell's Foes + Frank Merriwell's Trip West + Frank Merriwell Down South + Frank Merriwell's Bravery + Frank Merriwell's Hunting Tour + Frank Merriwell's Races + Frank Merriwell's Sports Afield + Frank Merriwell at Yale + + +VICTOR ST. CLAIR. + +These books are full of good, clean adventure, thrilling enough to +please the full-blooded wide-awake boy, yet containing nothing to which +there can be any objection from those who are careful as to the kind of +books they put into the hands of the young. + + Cast Away in the Jungle + Comrades Under Castro + For Home and Honor + Zip, the Acrobat + From Switch to Lever + Little Snap, the Post Boy + Zig-Zag, the Boy Conjurer + + +MATTHEW WHITE, JR. + +Good, healthy, strong books for the American lad. No more interesting +books for the young appear on our lists. + + Adventures of a Young Athlete + Eric Dane + Guy Hammersley + My Mysterious Fortune + Tour of a Private Car + Young Editor, The + + +ARTHUR M. WINFIELD. + +One of the most popular authors of boys' books. Here are three of his +best. + + Mark Dale's Stage Venture + Young Bank Clerk, The + Young Bridge Tender, The + + +GAYLE WINTERTON. + +This very interesting story relates the trials and triumphs of a Young +American Actor, including the solution of a very puzzling mystery. + + Young Actor, The + + +ERNEST A. YOUNG. + +This book is not a treatise on sports, as the title would indicate, but +relates a series of thrilling adventures among boy campers in the woods +of Maine. + + Boats, Bats and Bicycles + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Numerous errors in the original text involving missing or improper +quotation marks have been corrected. In addition, the following +typographical errors present in the original text have been corrected. + +In Chapter I, a spurious paragraph break following "not compelling me to +use my voice much." was removed, "convey the challenge in behalf of the +class" was changed to "convey the challenge in behalf of the class", +"inquired Jaspar" was changed to "inquired Jasper", and "the presence of +this Cyashodhylloid fossil" was changed to "the presence of this +Cyathodhylloid fossil". + +In Chapter VI, "the Shakesperian method" was changed to "the +Shakespearian method", and "trigometrical formulas" was changed to +"trigonometrical formulas". + +In Chapter IX, "imminet peril" was changed to "imminent peril". + +In Chapter XII, "Plantus" was changed to "Plautus". + +In Chapter XVIII, "the seequipedalian Hellenic vocable" was changed to +"the sesquipedalian Hellenic vocable". + +In Chapter XIX, "My name's Methusalem Zedediah Chilvers" was changed to +"My name's Methusalem Zebediah Chilvers". + +In Chapter XXIII, "you have worked for your appointment, to" was changed +to "you have worked for your appointment, too". + +In Chapter XXIV, a period was changed to a comma after "Good-afternoon, +Mr. Fischer". + +In Chapter XXVII, "Gooh! but that boom" was changed to "Gosh! but that +boom". + +In Chapter XXIX, "This came from Mr. Chauncey Van Rensalear +Mount-Bonsall" was changed to "This came from Mr. Chauncey Van +Rensallear Mount-Bonsall". + +In Chapter XXXI, "tossed in a ten fly" was changed to "tossed in a tent +fly", and a semicolon was added after "air for water". + +In the advertisements, "to cutivate a fondness for study" was changed to +"to cultivate a fondness for study", and "good, wholsome reading" was +changed to "good, wholesome reading". + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CADET'S HONOR*** + + +******* This file should be named 36099.txt or 36099.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/6/0/9/36099 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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