r!"

Reddening and frowning, too, it must be admitted, Greg obeyed.

"All candidates will pass quickly through the north sally port and
make formation," continued the cadet corporal.

Here the entire uniformed cadet corps was forming, facing the
plain. At the extreme left of the line a cadet lieutenant, two
sergeants and four cadet corporals busied themselves with forming
the candidates and alternates in line. When the word was given the
cadet corps wheeled to the right and marched off in column of
fours, quite a splendid model of military precision.

Somehow the un-uniformed greenhorns managed to turn into
column of fours, though some of the bewildered boys forgot to
which four they belonged and there was some confusion.

Behind the superb cadet corps, toiled along these all but hopeless
candidates and alternates, scores and scores of them--every fellow
of them feeling more awkward than his nearest neighbors in the
line. Badly out of step was this green material. Some of the boys
slouched as they walked along; others shuffled. Their appearance
was enough to dishearten a trained soldier.

But at last all these green ones were marshaled to seats in the great
dining hall at cadet mess. There, in a fine dinner, they forgot,
momentarily, many of the discouragements of the forenoon.

In the afternoon came a lot more of drilling of awkward squads by
other cadet corporals. Greg soon found, under the tender mercies
of another corporal, why Brayton was considered "easy."

These cadet corporals are all members of the yearling class, the
class directly above the plebes. As corporals these members of the
yearling class get their first direct experience in military
command.

Later in the afternoon all candidates were notified that academic
examinations would begin at eight o'clock the next morning in the
Academic Building.

And now the candidates began to shiver! "Bad" as the start had
been, they hoped, to a man, that they would pass these academic
examinations. To fail meant to return home, the dream of being a
cadet shattered!

"Ugh!" muttered Greg, rubbing his hands in quarters. "Br-r-r! Dick,
I'm afraid I'm scared cold!"

Prescott smiled, but he, too, was worried over the coming
mysteries of the academic examinations, which he had heard were
uncommonly [Transcriber's note: word missing].

CHAPTER III

THE "LUCKY" ONES TAKE UP THE NEW LIFE

Candidate Prescott did not take the best examination by
any