minutes
of eight. Then he led his friends from the restaurant and down
the street to the town hall.

Here, though most of the young men were already on hand, there
was nothing of boisterousness. Some were quiet; others were glum.
All showed how much the result of the examinations meant to them.

But the time dragged fearfully. It was twenty minutes of nine
when Congressman Spokes appeared on the platform and rapped for
order. He did not have to rap twice. In the stillness that followed
the Congressman's voice sounded thunderous.

"Young gentlemen, I now have the results from all the examiners,
and the averages have been made up. I am now able to announce
my appointments to West Point and Annapolis."

Mr. Spokes paused an instant.

"For West Point," he announced, "My candidate will be-----Richard
Prescott, of Gridley. The alternate will be-----"

But Dick Prescott didn't catch a syllable of the alternate's name,
for his ears were buzzing. But now, for the first time, Tom Reade
was most unsympathetically silent.

"For Annapolis, my candidate will be-----David Darrin, of Gridley.
The alternate-----"

Neither did Darrin hear the name of his alternate. Dave's head
was reeling. He was sure it was a dream.

"Pinch me, Tom," he begged, in a hoarse whisper, and Reade
complied---heartily.

"The young men who have won the appointments as candidates and
alternates will please come to see me at once, in the anteroom,"
continued Congressman Spokes, who, however, lingered to address
a few words of tactful sympathy to the eager young Americans who
had tried and lost.

"Come along, now, and let's get this over with as quickly as possible,"
grumbled Torn Reade. "This Congressman bores me."

"Bores you?" repeated Prescott, in a shocked voice. "What on
earth do you mean?"

"I don't like his nerve," asserted Reade. "Here he is, giving
out as if it were fresh, news that I announced two hours ago."

Congressman Spokes was waiting in the anteroom to shake hands
with the winners. He congratulated the candidates most heartily,
and cautioned the alternates that they also must be alert, as
one or both of them might yet have a chance to pass on over the
heads of the principal candidates.

Mr. Spokes then asked from each of the young men the name of his
school principal, the address of his clergyman and of one business
man. These were references to whom Mr. Spokes would write at
once in order to inform himself