s' absence without leave, brought back by armed guard
after sharp resistance, charged with Lord knows what all, wants to tell
me his story and prove his innocence."

"You let him alone," growled his senior. "Remember what Canker said, or
you'll go in arrest. What call has Morton on you, I'd like to know?"

The lad flushed. Fraternity was a very sacred thing in the _[Greek: D S
CH]_. It was "the most exclusive crowd at the 'Varsity." Its membership
was pledged to one another by unusual ties. It was the hardest society
for a fellow to get into in any one of the seven colleges whereat it
flourished, and its mystic bonds were not shaken off with the silken gown
and "mortar board" of undergraduate days, but followed its membership
through many a maturer year. It was a society most college men might ask
to join in vain. Money, social station, influence were powerless. Not
until a student had been under observation two whole years and was
_thoroughly_ known could he hope for a "bid" to become a "Delta Sig." Not
until another six months of probation could he sport its colors, and not
until he formally withdrew from its fold, in post graduation years, could
he consider himself absolved from its mild obligations. But the boast of
the "Delta Sig" had ever been that no one of its membership had ever
turned a deaf ear to a fellow in need of aid. Who of its originators ever
dreamed of such a thing as its drifting into and becoming a factor in the
affairs of the regular army?

No wonder Gray stood for a moment, the paper still in his hands,
irresolute, even disturbed. Not to answer the appeal meant to run counter
to all the tenets of his fraternity. To answer might mean arrest and
court-martial for deliberate disobedience of orders. Canker had no more
mercy than an Indian. It was barely forty-eight hours since he had been
publicly warned by an experienced old captain that he would find no
"guardian angel" in Squeers. It would seriously mar his prospects to
start now with Squeers "down on him," and as that lynx-eyed commander was
ever on watch for infractions of orders, Billy well knew that he could
not hope to see and talk with the prisoner and Canker not hear of it. To
ask permission of Canker would only make matters worse--he was sure to
refuse and then re-emphasize his orders and redouble his vigilance. To
ask the consent of the officer-of the-day or the connivance of the
officer-of-the-guard was to invite them to court arrest and