"Then we"ll take our choice and do as we please," remarked young Terry.
"Come along out."
Hal got his hat, and the chums went forth, again in their tennis flannel undress.
The news had not been slow in spreading. They had gone hardly a block when they were stopped by friends, and congratulated on having taught Bunny such an effective lesson.
Others there were, however, who whispered behind the backs of the young officers. Hal and Noll were not slow to catch some of those whispers.
"We"re a whole lot more important than we were three years ago," grinned Noll. "Now, at last, we seem to have the town divided into two camps concerning us."
"Three," corrected Hal.
"How do you make that out?"
"One crowd believes the charges against us, and another doesn"t. The third crowd isn"t sure, or doesn"t care."
"One fellow I"m after, anyway," muttered Noll grimly.
"Who"s that?"
"Sayles."
"Who"s he?"
"Don"t you know?"
"I"m afraid I can"t recall a party named Sayles," Hal answered thoughtfully.
"Why, he"s the pen-hoister who gets out the _Sphere_!"
"Oh, well, what are you going to do to him, Noll?"
"I"m going to make him prove all he printed in his lying sheet."
"He can--with the aid of the kind of witnesses that he has back of him,"
Hal reminded his chum.
"Well, we shall have to see if the testimony of such witnesses will "go"
in court," Noll contended grimly.
"Are you going to prosecute the fellow?"
"I"m going to sue Sayles for libel," Noll retorted.
"Is the fellow worth the trouble?" Hal inquired doubtfully.
"No, but our reputations are," rejoined Noll bluntly. "Hal, we are commissioned officers in the United States Army. If that means anything, it means that the United States government certifies us to the world to be gentlemen as well as officers. You know the legal phrase, "officer and gentleman." If we lie down tamely, and submit to such libelous attacks as the _Sphere_ made on us this morning, then we do a wrong to the whole body of officers and gentlemen in the Army. The officers of our service have always had to stand a lot of abuse from a certain kind of so-called newspapers. It"s time to stop it by hitting any nail that shows its head. We owe it to our brother officers."
"Noll, I"m inclined to think you"re right."
"I know I am. Come along, down this street."
"Where now?"
"I"m headed for the office of Lawyer Kimball. He"s the best man in town to handle our case."
To the lawyer"s office, therefore, the two Army boys went. Lawyer Kimball listened, nodded, accepted their case to do what he could with it, and offered them some advice.
Late that evening each Army boy received a telegram from the War Department, to the effect that a complaint had been lodged against them.
They were ordered to remain in town, close to their home addresses, for the receipt of further orders.
Next morning the _Sphere_ had much more to say, and said it jubilantly.
It informed its readers that the War Department had taken up the matter and had promised to give satisfaction. There was a further bitter attack on Lieutenants Overton and Terry.
That afternoon Hal escorted his mother to one of the department stores, as Mrs. Overton had some purchases to make. They came face to face with Mrs. Redding. The latter woman started slightly and looked embarra.s.sed.
She would have gone by without bowing, but it was impossible for Mrs.
Redding to pretend that she had not seen Mrs. Overton and her son.
"Good afternoon," said Mrs. Redding, in a low voice.
Hal lifted his hat gravely as the society woman hastened on.
"She wasn"t as cordial as she was the other evening," remarked Mrs.
Overton dryly.
"No, Mother; I"m afraid that Mrs. Redding doesn"t care to risk going any further with our acquaintance until she knows whether I"m to continue in the Army."
"It won"t be necessary for her to go any further," remarked Mrs. Overton cooly. "I don"t wish to know her. I am satisfied with my present circle of friends."
"Old friends are always believed to be the best," murmured Hal.
The day after that meeting Hal and Noll each received word from the War Department, containing copies of the complaint, and stating that a court of inquiry would be ordered forthwith, and that the young officers would be informed of the time and place of the meeting of the court.
An officer, when placed formally under charges, is tried before a court-martial, whose members are officers of higher rank than the accused. A court of inquiry, on the other hand, may hear charges in the first instance, and on the finding of this preliminary court the War Department decides whether a court-martial shall be convened.
"You see, Noll, the Hepburns are going right through with their "case,""
observed Lieutenant Overton.
"So are we," retorted Noll, pursing his lips. "And the best crowd will win."
"Or else the crowd whose witnesses won"t hesitate to perjure themselves," Hal muttered.
As the Army boys had just been appointed officers, the immediate present was the best time for getting them out of the service if they were not worthy of places in it. So the War Department acts with unusual speed in such matters. Within a week from the time of receiving the complaint the court of inquiry, composed of three officers sent over from Army Headquarters in New York, was on the scene.
The mayor offered the court the use of one of the council chambers at the city hall, and the offer was accepted.
"We shall soon know," remarked the _Sphere_, "what the national government"s idea of justice is. The culprits face their ordeal to-day!"