tion?"

"At the recruit rendezvous, sir."

"Which one?"

"At Bedloe's Island, sir."

"Who was your instructor?"

"One of them, sir, was a namesake of yours--Corporal Davis."

"He will be glad to hear of this," nodded the major, smiling. "Corporal
Davis is my son."

"Your son, sir--an enlisted man?" stammered Hal.

"Yes. My son enlisted in order to try to win a commission. Thank you,
men, and good-night. I will tell the sheriff's men that you will be
found at Fort Clowdry if you are wanted as witnesses."

Again acknowledging their salutes, Major Davis stepped inside.

Hal and Noll waited a moment before entering the station. When they did
so, and passed on to the lunch room, they saw Major Davis at a table in
one corner, so the rookies passed on to stools before the lunch counter.

"How long have we to eat!" asked Hal, of one of the trainmen.

"You've about twenty-two minutes left."

"I feel as if I could make excellent use of all the time," laughed Hal.

He and Noll plunged into hot chicken, potatoes and gravy, and plenty of
side dishes. The late excitement had not destroyed the appetite of
either recruit.

When they had finished Hal asked the waiter:

"How much do we owe you?"

"Nothing," replied the waiter. "I was told to say that the account is
settled, with Major Davis's compliments."

Both recruits turned, saluting in the major's direction, as token of
their thanks. He nodded, smiling.

Out on the platform, just before the train started, the recruits saw
Major Davis again. That officer was turned halfway from them, without
seeing them, so they passed along to the day coach in which they had
been riding.

Now a dozen men crowded about them, eager to talk with the young heroes
of the night.

"Pretty gritty work that you boys did," grinned one of the men. "Do you
often have things like that to do in the Army?"

"We never did, before to-night," Hal answered quietly.

"Must take a lot of nerve."

"We didn't think of it at the time," smiled Hal. "It seemed all in the
way of business."

"You ought to have seen the folks you left behind here," put in another
man.

"Oh, shut up," called others.

"No, I won't," retorted the last speaker. "What do you suppose we folks
that you left behind in this car were doing?"

"Nothing very noisy, was it?" queried Hal.

"Not particularly," admitted the man, with a laugh. "We were lying along
the aisle, or else we crawled under seats. At one time ther