"No, because most of the charges had just enough basis of truth in them to make them justifiable. I tell you I was mad when he told me about it; I vowed I"d do something to stop it. Yet what on earth can I do? I can"t think of a thing except to lick that fellow Bull Harris and his crowd.
But what possible good will that do Mallory?"
"Mallory will probably do that himself," remarked Fischer, smiling for a moment; his face became serious again as he continued. "I begin to agree with you, Billy, about that thing. I"ve heard several tales about how Mallory outwitted Bull in his hazing adventures, and the plebe"s probably made him mad. It"s a dirty revenge Bull has taken, and I think if it"s only for Wicks" sake I"ll put a stop to it."
"You!" echoed Williams. "Pray, how?"
"What am I a first captain for?" laughed Fischer. "Just you watch me and see what I do! I can"t take off the ninety-five, but I can see that he don"t get the other five, by Jingo! And I will do it for you, too!"
And with that, the cadet arose and strode out of the tent, leaving his friend to labor at the gun in glum and disconsolate silence.
At the same time that Williams and Fischer were discussing the case of this particularly refractory plebe, there were other cadets doing likewise, but with far different sentiments and views. The cadets were Bull Harris and his cronies.
They were sitting--half a dozen of them--beneath the shade trees of Trophy Point at the northern end of the parade ground; they were waiting for dinner, and the afternoon, which, being Sat.u.r.day, was a holiday and for which they had planned some particular delicious hazing adventure.
Foremost among them was Bull Harris himself, seated upon one of the cannon. Beside him was Baby Edwards. Gus Murray sat on Bull"s other side and made up a precious trio.
Murray was laughing heartily at something just then, and the rest of the crowd seemed to appreciate the joke immensely.
"Ho! ho!" said he. "Just think of it! After I had soaked the confounded plebe for fifty and more, ho! ho! they got suspicious up at headquarters and transferred me, and ho! ho! put M-m-merry Vance on instead, and he, ho! ho! soaked him all the harder!"
And Gus Murray slapped his knee and roared at this truly humorous state of affairs.
"Yes," chimed in Merry Vance. "Yes, I thought when Gus told me he"d been transferred again that we"d lost our chance to skin Mallory for fair.
And the very next night up gets the adjutant and reads off the orders putting me on duty over the plebes. Oh, gee! Did you ever hear the like?"
"Never," commented Bull, grinning appreciatively.
"Never," chimed in Baby"s little voice. "Positively never!"
"Tell us about it," suggested another. "What did you do?"
"Oh, nothing much," replied Vance. "I went up there at the A. M.
inspection, and I just made up my mind to give him twenty demerits, and I did it, that"s all. They had spruced up out of sight; but it didn"t take me very long to find something wrong, I tell you."
"I guess not!" agreed Baby.
"I gave him the twenty, as you saw; and say, you ought to have seen how sick he looked! Ho! ho!"
And then the crowd indulged in another fit of violent hilarity.
"I guess," said Bull, when this had finally pa.s.sed, "that we can about count Mallory as out for good. He"s only got five more demerits to run before dismissal, and he"ll be sure to get those in time, even if we don"t give "em to him--which, by the way, I mean to do anyhow. But we"ll just parcel "em one at a time just enough to keep him worried, hey?"
"That"s it exactly!" commented the Baby.
"He deserves it every bit!" growled Bull. "He"s the B. J.est "beast"
that ever struck West Point. Why, we could never have a moment"s peace with that fellow around. We couldn"t haze anybody. He stopped us half a dozen times."
The sentiment was the sentiment of the whole gang; and they felt that they had cause to be happy indeed. Their worst enemy had been disposed of and a man might breathe freely once more. The crowd could think of nothing to talk about that whole morning but that B. J. "beast" and his ruin.
They found something, however, before many more minutes pa.s.sed. Bull chanced to glance over his shoulder in the direction of the camp.
"h.e.l.lo!" he said. "Here comes Fischer."
"Good-afternoon, Mr. Fischer," said Bull.
"Good-afternoon," responded the officer, with obvious stiffness; and then there was an awkward silence, during which he surveyed them in silence.
"Mr. Harris," he said, at last, "I"d like to speak to you for a moment; and Mr. Murray, and you, too, Mr. Vance."
The three stepped out of the group with alacrity, and followed Fischer over to a seat nearby, while the rest of the gang stood and stared in surprise, speculating as to what this could possibly mean.
The three with the officer were finding out in a hurry.
"I am told," began the latter, gazing at them, with majestic sternness, "that you three are engaged in skinning a certain plebe----"
"Why, Mr. Fischer!" cried the three, in obvious surprise.
"Don"t interrupt me!" thundered the captain in a voice that made them quake, and that reached the others and made them quake, too.
"Don"t interrupt me! I know what I am talking about. I was a yearling once myself, and I"m a cadet still, and there"s not the least use trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I know there never yet was a plebe who got fifty demerits in one day and deserved them."
The captain did not fail to notice here that the trio flushed and looked uncomfortable.
"You all know, I believe," he continued, "just exactly what I think of you. I"ve never hesitated to say it. Now, I want you to understand in the first place that I know of this contemptible trick, and that also I know the plebe, who"s worth more than a dozen of you; and that if he gets a demerit from any one of you again I"ll make you pay for it as sure as I"m alive. Just remember it, that"s all!"
And with this, the indignant captain turned upon his heel, and strode off, leaving the yearlings as if a bombsh.e.l.l had landed in their midst.
"Fischer"s a confounded fool!" Bull Harris broke out at last.
"Just what he is!" cried the Baby. "I"d like to knock him over."
And after that there was silence again, broken only by the roll of a drum that meant dinner.
"Well," was Bull"s final word, as the crowd set out for camp, "it"s unfortunate, I must say. But it won"t make the least bit of difference.
Mallory"ll get his demerits sure as he"s alive, and Fischer"s interference won"t matter in the least."
"That"s what!" cried the rest of them.
CHAPTER XXV.
A SWIMMING MATCH.
The manner in which the cadets dine has not as yet been described in these pages; perhaps here is just as good a place as any to picture the historic mess hall where Lee and Grant and Sherman once dined, and toward which on that Sat.u.r.day afternoon were marching not only the group we have just left, but also the object of all their dislike, the B. J.
plebe who fell in behind the cadets as the battalion swung past barracks.