“I want you to help me out,” he said. “After the Officer of the Day comes around I’m going out of the building on some very special business, something which may keep me out all night. I’ll tell you what it is when it is all over. What I want you to do is simply not to worry your head if I seem to be a bit unusual in my movements tonight.”
“All right,” agreed his roommate in some astonishment.
Before long the warning bell sounded and Vench and his roommate undressed and got into bed. The Officer of the Day visited the room and made his inspection. Then the lights went out and the dormitory became still. In another fifteen minutes the footsteps of the Officer of the Day sounded on his return trip. And when Vench was sure that the temporary officer had gone to bed he got up quietly and dressed.
His roommate heard him but made no comment, and Vench finished his dressing and put on his overcoat. Very carefully he opened the door and looked out into the hall. It was totally deserted and the little cadet left his room and walked quietly down the corridor, down the stairs, and soundlessly let himself out into the cold night. He had no hat on, but Vench was used to going without one and did not mind in the least.
He stood for an instant in the gloom of the building and looked out over the campus. Clinton Hall was the last of the dormitories and he was in no danger of being seen from Locke, where the major had his rooms. The night was cloudy and quite dark, with occasional flurries of snow. The air was slightly damp and very cold. Vench thrust his hands into his pockets and looked from right to left.
A short distance before him, directly across the campus, was a fringe of trees and snow-covered bushes behind which lay Clanhammer Hall. It was to this thicket that Vench now directed his attention, and he made his way toward it, keeping as much as possible in the shadows. It was a lucky thing, he reflected, that it was not a moonlight night, for that would have made his already difficult job more dangerous, since he was compelled to cross open ground to gain the woods just before the old hall. To be seen by anyone as he flitted across the snowy campus would have seriously hindered his objective, and he was more than thankful for the obscurity of the stormy night.
He gained the fringe of trees and undergrowth and concealed himself in it. Right in front of him, and at a distance of forty yards, was the main door of Clanhammer Hall. There was no light in the place and the dirty windows stared at him like dead eyes.
Vench looked at his watch and saw that it was barely a quarter after ten. “I’ve got three-quarters of an hour yet,” he murmured. “Hope it shows up on time.”
Fifteen minutes dragged by and Vench grew cold. He moved his arms back and forth to keep up the circulation of his blood, being careful to keep from making any noise while doing so. There was plenty of space in the thicket in which to walk up and down and he began to do so, wearing a path in the snow. This helped him to keep warm and made the time pass a little more quickly. When he looked at his watch it was a quarter of eleven.
And at that moment there was a step on the snow close by. Quick as lightning Vench crouched down behind the nearest bush and looked out. The major was coming up the driveway toward the old school, muffled in his overcoat, his head sunk forward in his collar. It was evident that he had no fear of detection, for he glanced neither to the right nor to the left, but walked confidently up to the door, inserted a key in the lock and opened the barrier. He went in and closed it back of him.