e table, none the less, when the rising
order was given. When the corps had marched back to camp, and
had been dismissed, Dick Prescott, head erect, and betraying no
sign of annoyance, walked naturally into A company's Street, drew
out his camp chair and seated himself on it in the open.

Barely had he done so, when Greg arrived. Cadet Holmes, however,
did not stop or speak, but hurried on.

"Greg has his hands full," thought Dick. "He's going to investigate.
And I'm afraid his hot head will get him into some sort of trouble,
too."

The imposition of the silence did not affect Greg in his relations
with his tentmate. When a cadet is sent to Coventry, or has the
silence "put" on him, his tentmate or roommate may still talk
unreservedly with him without fear of incurring class disfavor.
To impose the rule of silence on the tentmate or roommate of
the rebuked one would be to punish an innocent man along with
the guilty one.

Rarely, after all, does the corps err in its judgment when Coventry
or the silence is meted out. None the less, in Dick's case a
grave mistake had been made.

Time slipped by, and darkness came on, but Greg had not returned.

There was band concert in camp that night. Many cadets of the
first and third classes had already gone to meet girls whom they
would escort in strolling near the bandstand. Plebes are not
expected to escort young ladies to these concerts. The members
of the second class were away on the summer furlough, as Dick
and Greg had been the summer before.

As the musicians began to tune up at the bandstand, most of the
remaining cadets sauntered through the company streets on their
way to get close to the music.

All cadets who passed through A company's street became suddenly
silent when within ten paces of Dick's tent, and remained silent
until ten paces beyond.

Dick's tent being at the head of the street, he was quite near
enough to the music. But he was not long in noting that both
cadet escorts and cadets without young ladies took pains not to
approach too close to where he sat. It was enough to fill him
with savage bitterness, though he still strove to be just to his
classmates who had been blinded by Cadet Jordan's villainous scheme.

Of a sudden the band struck up its lively opening march. Just
at that moment Prescott became aware of the fact that Greg Holmes
was lifting out a campstool and was placing it beside him.

"Well," announced Greg, "I've found