"Dishonorably," I answered. I saw that this was not the answer he had
expected. He looked both mortified and puzzled, and glanced at Heinze
and Aiken as though he wished that they were out of hearing.

"What was it for--what was the cause of your dismissal?" he asked. He
now spoke in a much lower tone. "Of course, you need not tell me," he
added.

"I was dismissed for being outside the limits of the Academy without a
permit," I answered. "I went to a dance at a hotel in uniform."

"Was that all?" he demanded, smiling.

"That was the crime for which I was dismissed," I said, sulkily. The
General looked at me for some moments, evidently in much doubt. I
believe he suspected that I had led him on to asking me the reason for
my dismissal, in order that I could make so satisfactory an answer. As
he sat regarding me, Heinze bent over him and said something to him in
a low tone, to which he replied: "But that would prove nothing. He
might have a most accurate knowledge of military affairs, and still be
an agent of the Government."

"That is so, General," Heinze answered, aloud. "But it would prove
whether he is telling the truth about his having been at West Point.
If his story is false in part, it is probably entirely false, as I
believe it to be."

"Captain Heinze suggests that I allow him to test you with some
questions," the General said, doubtfully; "questions on military