“Well, what do you know about that!” gasped Terry, sinking down on the bed.
“I know that I’ll follow Don out if he tries to keep him under arrest,” answered Jim, briefly.
“He won’t try it,” promised Don, grimly. And a few moments later, when Chipps and Rhodes came in on a visit, they told him the cadets would stand back of him.
“In fact,” said Rhodes, getting up. “I think I’ll spread the word right now for a general rebellion!”
“Oh, you aren’t going that far, are you?” asked Don.
“Absolutely!” said the senior captain. “Major Tireson must be shown conclusively that he can’t pull off a stunt like that and get away with it. That would be making ninnies out of the whole cadet corps. Jim did the right thing and we won’t stand for treatment of that kind, as long as the major himself is the guilty one.”
The two seniors departed to spread the word and before taps sounded the cadet body was seething with excitement. A definite plan was formulated and in the morning it was launched.
The cadets, with the exception of Don, filed into chapel in the morning and sat quietly down. The services went off as usual and then the major gave the signal for dismissal. A few fourth class men got up, but the senior and third class remained seated. Following their example the second class remained seated also.
The major looked at them in amazement. “I said assembly dismissed, gentlemen,” he said.
There was nothing but silence over the entire hall and the major’s eyes blazed. “What does this mean?”