“What the dickens are you doing here?” he questioned. “Where did you come from?”
“Why, I found you on a little toot last night and managed to get you in here without attracting much attention. I stayed with you to see that you came out of it all right. Want a drink of water?”
“Give me a bathtub full! I will drink it all!”
“Here you are,” said Dick. “A whole pitcherful.”
Arlington seized the pitcher and drank greedily.
“Oh, my head!” he muttered. “What sort of stuff was I drinking, anyhow? And I had such a beastly dream! Why, I dreamed about kidnapping you and taking you aboard the old lady’s yacht and having a devil of a time. Then there was a dago trying to stab me, and all that kind of stuff. I’ll never touch any more cheap booze!”
“That was a pretty bad dream,” said Dick. “But, as long as it was a dream, it’s best to forget it. You will have to take a cold bath and brace up to get back to the academy.”
“A cold bath!” gasped Chet, shaking with horror. “I can’t do that! Great Cæsar! I can’t do that! Not this morning!”
“You will have to, just the same,” asserted Dick. “I am here to see you through this thing.”
In spite of Arlington’s protestations, Dick forced him to get out of bed, compelled him to take a cold bath, made him drink a strong cup of coffee, and finally led him like a lamb back to the academy. And for a time, at least, it seemed as if Chester Arlington had really learned a lesson that he took to heart.