"Who's that?" asked Mandell.
"He's a swell, all right," said Keenan.
The three, Mandell, Keenan and Jackson, looked at Mason as if he could tell. But Archie suddenly remembered.
"He looks like an army officer," he said, speaking his thought aloud.
"What do you know about army officers, young fellow?" demanded Jackson. The others turned, and Archie blushed. But he did not propose to have Jackson put him down.
"Well," he said with spirit, "I know something--I was in the regular army three years."
"What regiment?" Jackson fixed Archie with his blue eyes, and there seemed to be just a trace of concern in their keen, searching glance.
"The twelfth cavalry," said Archie. "I served in the Philippines."
"Oh!" said Jackson, as if relieved, and he released Archie from his look. Archie felt relieved, too, and went on:
"He looks just like a colonel in the English army I saw at Malta. Our transport stopped there."