texas made his way back to camp in silence. texas felt it was none of his business, and yet he could not help trying to guess the errand upon which those two had gone. it was certainly a mystery. texas reached the camp without succeeding in forming the least guess.
he raced past the same sentry in the same style as usual. he entered his tent and found the other two sleeping soundly, having not the least suspicion of the night's occurrences.
"i reckon," he mused, reflectively, "there ain't much use o' my sittin' round. i'll go to bed."
with which resolution he undressed and lay down to sleep.
after such an exciting and lively half hour as the one texas had just spent, one does not usually drop off to sleep very easily. it was fortunate that texas did not; wide-awake as he was, he had a cooler and steadier head to think when the hour of trial came. for the "hour of trial" was coming very soon now.
bull harris and his cowardly allies first took the precaution to calm the angry girl, and then set out on a run[pg 278] for camp. their hearts were beating high with hope and triumph. their time had come at last; their enemy was theirs, and theirs without any blame falling on them. it was a great day for the vengeful bull.
they passed their sentry ally in safety and vanished in their tents. in a minute more they were all safely in bed, as texas was, and then the time had come.
texas, lying in his silent tent, was just beginning to doze, when suddenly came a wild yell that shook the air, that made the hills to echo. it rang through the sleeping camp, and it was followed by a series of shouts.
"help! help! help!"
the place was in an uproar in an instant; and texas was almost paralyzed with horror. an alarm! the camp awake! inspection! and mark, his mark, his friend and hero, absent!
he sprang to his feet with a hoarse cry; at the same moment the other two plebes sat up and stared about them wildly.
"what's that?" cried one.
"mark's gone!" fairly shrieked texas.
"mark gone! how?"
"he's out of bounds! great heavens, he went to see mary adams! and he'll be found out!"
the two crowded about him, their faces pale with fright, their eyes staring.
[pg 279]mark gone! mark, their leader! what on earth would they do?
the texan's wild exclamation had been heard in the company b tent to the rear, and its occupants had rushed in regardless of rules, of discovery, of everything. an alarm! an inspection! and mark beyond limits!
things were happening with incredible swiftness outside. the shouts had been echoed by excited inquiries from awakened cadets, by the cries of sentries for the corporal of the guard, and by the quick, sharp commands of officers.
lieutenant allen, the "tac" in command, had sprung up from his bed at the very first cry. and in half a minute more, dressed and with lighted lantern in hand, he was rushing down the company street.
"what's the matter?" he cried.
no one knew. he saw cadets gathered in almost every tent door, staring out anxiously. thus he did not notice the state of affairs in mark's tent, where six horrified, frightened plebes were huddled, gasping.
night alarms had been getting too frequent at camp mcpherson that year, and had excited the ire of the authorities. the lieutenant meant to find out the authors of this one, if such a thing were within the realms of possibility.
[pg 280]first he thought of sounding the "long roll," the fire or mutiny signal, summoning the cadets out on the street for roll call. then it occurred to him that an inspection of the tents might do better. another "tac," lieutenant ross, had joined him at this moment. and without a moment's delay, the two set to work. and lieutenant allen started with company a, the very street in which mark mallory's tent stood!
a thousand wild plans had occurred to the six, to texas in particular. he might "hold up" the tac, prevent the inspection! or dress up as mark and have himself reported! great heavens! he must do something!
the officer began at the head of the street. it was the work of but one second to glance into each tent. it would take but five seconds more to reach mark's, to note the fact that there were but three in that tent, and that cadet mallory was absent out of camp, out of limits!
texas turned to his comrades as the officer drew near. there were tears in texas' eyes, and his voice was choked.
"you fellows," he said, to the three from the b tent, "you—you'd better go back, or you'll get soaked, too."
nearer still came the officer. one tent more! the three had turned to go—and then suddenly texas uttered a cry of joy and staggered back against the tent wall![pg 281] an instant later he leaped forward, seized dewey, one of the three, by the shoulders and fairly flung him to the ground.
"lie there! lie there!" he gasped, hoarsely. "durnation!"
dewey, quick as a wink, saw the ruse. the other two, confused and frightened, dashed across to their tent and hid, wondering what was up, what texas was trying to do. but dewey slid into the blankets that made mark's "bed," drew the sheet over him, all but his head, and then lay still, gasping and trembling like a leaf.
texas and the other two sprang for their places and imitated him. and an instant later the white light of the officer's lantern flashed into the tent.
the four held their breath; their hearts fairly ceased to beat as the tac glanced around. he saw a tent undisturbed; he saw texas, and the parson and sleepy; and he saw the brown curly hair of the fourth occupant, lying upon his stomach, his face turned away from the light.
a second more and he passed on; and the four almost fainted with the reaction of relief.
it was not over yet, though. "allen" had two more tents to visit up that row, and then he would turn to b company. texas peered out and watched him reach the last tent, and then uttered a whispered "now!"
[pg 282]quick as a flash, dewey slid under the wall at the rear, whisked across the open space, and dived into his own tent—safe!
the camp settled down into quietness a few minutes after that. but the six never slept another wink. mark had escaped that danger, he was safe for a moment. but another alarm might come any moment! and reveille was sure to come in a few hours! and where was mark?
texas, ever sly, had become suspicious by that time; ever bold and faithful, he lost not a moment in hesitation. he left camp again! he ran straight to mary adams' house, and from it straight out the path he had seen the two take. it was a forlorn hope, but it met with fulfillment. texas heard a low groan, the only signal mark could make when he heard the step of a possible rescuer.
and in half an hour more mark mallory was back in camp again, safe, telling to his furious friends the tale of his betrayal and hearing from them the tale of his "escape."
"we must get square, b'gee!" cried dewey.
"yes, we must get square, by zeus!" came from the parson.
"give me time, boys, give me time," put in mark. "i will think up a plan."
"gosh, but it was a night o' nights," was the comment[pg 283] from texas. "but we fooled them ole yearlin's nicely, didn't we?"
"oh, they can't down us," chimed in dewey. "we'll go 'em one better, b'gee, every time, b'gee!"
and the banded seven agreed to a man.
