"I have absolutely no knowledge of any form, sir, except that,
as I stated, while Mr. Holmes and I were walking toward the monument,
we heard the reports and saw the flashes."

"You realize the full import of your statement, Mr. Prescott?"
pressed the K.C.

"I do, sir."

"Then, on your honor as a cadet and a gentleman, you declare that
your statement is true?"

"I do, sir," Cadet Prescott replied.

The pledge he had just given is the most solemn that is exacted
of a United States military cadet. Usually, the cadet's plain
word is accepted as ample, for the sense of faith and honor is
paramount at West Point. A cadet detected in a lie would be forced
out of the cadet corps by the ostracism of his own comrades.

"That is all, for the present, Mr. Prescott."

Dick respectfully saluted the K.C., then the O.C., next wheeled
and marched out of the tent, going straight to his own tent.
Prescott would gladly have remained, but he had been dismissed.

It was twenty minutes later when Greg crept back into the tent and
began to undress.