Several of the cadets set out for the hospital at a run; and the rest gathered about the two and offered what help they could.
"It"s Judge Fuller"s daughter," said Fischer, who was busily dosing the unconscious figure with a flask of reddish liquid surrept.i.tiously produced by one of the cadets.
"Do you know her?" inquired Mark, in surprise.
"Know her!" echoed half the bystanders at once. "Why, she lives just across the river!"
"That"s an ugly looking wound on the head there," continued Fischer, bending over the prostrate form. "Gosh! but that boom must have struck her. And here, Mallory," he added, "you"d best take a taste of this brandy. You look about dead yourself."
"No, I thank you," responded Mark, smiling weakly. "I"m all right. Only I"m glad it"s all over and----"
Mark got no farther; as if to mock his words came a cry that made the crowd whirl about and look toward the river in alarm.
"Help! Help!"
"By George!" cried Fischer, "it"s one of the fellows!"
"It"s Alan!" shouted Mark. "Alan Dewey!"
And before any one could divine his intention he sprang up and made a dash for the river. For Mark knew how Dewey had come there; he had swum out, cripple though he was, to hunt for him; and with his one well arm, poor gallant Dewey was finding trouble in getting back.
Mark had been quick, but Fischer was a bit too quick for him and seized him by the arm.
"Come back here!" he commanded, sternly. "And don"t be a fool. You"re near dead. Some of you fellows swim out and tow that plebe in."
Half a dozen had started without being asked; and Mark"s overzealous friend was grabbed by the hair and arms and feet and rushed in in great style. He came up smiling as usual.
"Got out too far, b"gee!" he began. "Very foolish of me! Reminds me of a story I once heard---- Oh, say!"
This last explanation came as the speaker caught sight of the figure of the young girl; and his face lost its smile on the instant.
"She"s alive, isn"t she?" he cried.
"Don"t know," said Fischer. "Here comes the doctor now."
"Well, she certainly is a beautiful girl!" responded Dewey, shaking his head. "B"gee, we don"t want that kind to die!"
The doctor was coming on a run; and a minute later he was kneeling beside the young girl"s body.
"Jove!" he muttered. "Almost a fractured skull! No, she"s alive! See here, who got her out?"
"Mr. Mallory," responded the captain, turning toward where Mark had sat.
And then he gave vent to a startled exclamation.
"Good heavens! He"s fainted! What"s the matter?"
"Fainted?" echoed the surgeon, as he noticed the young man"s white lips and bloodless cheek. "Fainted! I should say so! Why, he"s almost as near dead as she! We must take him to the hospital."
CHAPTER XXVIII.
MARK MEETS THE SUPERINTENDENT.
"Yes, colonel, the lad is a hero, and I want to tell him so, too!"
The speaker was a tall, gray-haired gentleman, and he whacked his cane on the floor for emphasis as he spoke.
"It was a splendid act, sir, splendid!" he continued. "And I want to thank Mark Mallory for it right here in your office."
The man he addressed wore the uniform of the United States army; he was Colonel Harvey, the superintendent of the West Point Academy.
"I shall be most happy to have you do so," he replied, smiling at this visitor"s enthusiasm. "You have certainly," he added, "much to thank the young man for."
"Much!" echoed the other. "Much! Why, my dear sir, if that daughter of mine had been drowned I believe it would have killed me. She is my only child, and, if I do say it myself, sir, the sweetest girl that ever lived."
"Wasn"t it rather reckless, judge," inquired the other, "for you to allow her to go sailing alone?"
"She is used to the boat," responded Judge Fuller, "but no one on earth could have handled it in such a gale. I do not remember to have seen such a one in all the time I have lived up here."
"Nor I, either," said the superintendent. "It was so dark that I could scarcely see across the parade ground. It is almost miraculous that Mallory should have succeeded in finding the boat as he did."
"Tell me about it," put in the other. "I have not been able to get a consistent account yet."
"Cadet Captain Fischer told me," responded the colonel. "It seems that he and Mallory were just at the finish of a swimming race when the storm broke. They caught sight of the boat with your daughter in it coming down stream. The plebe turned, exhausted though he was, and headed for it. It got so dark then that those on sh.o.r.e could scarcely see; but the lad managed to catch the boat as it pa.s.sed and climbed aboard. Just then the boom swung round and flung the girl into the water. Mallory dived again at once----"
"Splendid!" interrupted the other.
"And swam ash.o.r.e with her."
"And then fainted, they say," the judge added.
"Yes," said Colonel Harvey. "Dr. Grimes told me that it was one of the worst cases of exhaustion he had ever seen. But the lad is doing well now; he appears to be a very vigorous youngster--and I"ve an idea several of the yearlings found that out to their discomfort. The doctor told me that he thought he would be out this morning; the accident was only two days ago."
"That is fortunate," responded the other. "The boy is too good to lose."
"He appears to be a remarkable lad generally," continued the superintendent. "I have heard several tales about him. Some of the stories came to me "unofficially," as we call it, and I don"t believe Mallory would rest easily if he thought I knew of them. Young Fischer, who"s a splendid man himself, I"ll tell you, informed me yesterday that the plebe had earned his admission fee by bringing help to a wrecked train and telegraphing the account to a New York paper."
"I heard he had been in some trouble about demerits," put in Judge Fuller.
"In very serious trouble. I had to take a very radical step to get him out of it. Every once in a while I find that some new cadet is being "skinned," as the cadets call it, demerited unfairly. I always punish severely when I find that out. In this case, though, I had no proof; Mallory would say nothing, though he was within five demerits of expulsion. So I decided to end the whole matter by declaring a new rule I"ve been contemplating for some time. I"ve found that new cadets get too many demerits during the first few weeks, before they learn the rules thoroughly. So I"ve decided that in future no demerits shall be given for the first three weeks, and that delinquencies shall be punished by extra hours and other penalties. That let Mallory out of his trouble, you see."
"A very clever scheme!" laughed the other. "Very clever!"
It may be of interest to notice that Colonel Harvey"s rule has been in effect ever since.
There was silence of a few moments after that, during which Judge Fuller tapped the floor with his cane reflectively.