one of his predecessors:

"Say, ain't that a good deal like a hold up?"

"Remember, young gentlemen, all the money you have,"
admonished the treasurer, as the line started to move again.

Thus commanded, the candidates went through all their pockets
while standing awaiting their own turns.

Dick and Greg had so well calculated their traveling expenses that
each turned in about twenty dollars above the required one
hundred dollars.

This little transaction completed, the orderly turned and marched
them back at once to the hospital.

By this time some of the candidates had sufficiently overcome
their nervousness to realize how raw and chilly this first day of
March was. All of the candidates wore overcoats, though the outer
garments worn by some of the young men, especially those who
had journeyed hither from Southern States, were not of a weight to
meet the March demands at hilly West Point, which lies exposed
to the icy northern blasts down the Hudson River.

It looked as though it might snow at any moment. There was "ice
in the air," as Greg Holmes expressed it.

So it was a welcome relief to all of the young candidates to find
themselves once more inside the hospital building.