cadets in the corridor.

"Why, I believe you must be Mr. Prescott and Mr. Holmes!" exclaimed
Mrs. Bentley, moving forward and holding out both hands. "Yes;
I am certain of it," she added, as Dick and Greg, bowing gracefully
from the waistline, smiled goodhumoredly. "Mercy! But how you
boys have grown! I am not sure that it is even proper to call you
boys any longer."

"If we were boys any longer, Mrs. Bentley, I am sure you would
be in doubt," laughed Dick easily. "Yes; you see, cadets, under
their training here, usually do shoot up in the air. We have
some short, runty cadets, however."

Just then there was a flutter and a swish on the stairs. Laura
Bentley and Belle Meade came gliding forward, their eyes shining.

"Yes; I know you both and could tell you apart," cried Laura,
laughing, as she held out her hand. "But what a tremendous change!"

"Do you think it is a change for the better?" asked Dick, smiling.

"Oh, I am sure that it is. Isn't it, Belle? A how wonderfully
glad I am to see you both again."

Dick gazed at Laura with pride. He had no right to feel proud,
except that she was from Gridley, and that she had come all the
way to West Point to see him in his new life.

Laura Bentley, too, had changed somewhat, though not so much as