The colonel had made it a point to gather together all of the men of the former 1933 class who could come and he was delighted to find that all but five members of that class were present. Three of these men lay in graves overseas and many more from that class were ex-servicemen from the United States Army. Two members lived so far away that they were unable to get there. Many from other classes were there and it was an impressive gathering.
Mr. and Mrs. Long entered late and were just in time to sit down at the table. The cadets and the colonel felt that Long had been purposely late, so as not to have to face any unpleasantness that would have spoiled Mrs. Long’s evening. Long had in his heart another and more chivalrous purpose, of which his wife alone was aware. He did not want to make any of his former classmates feel cheap by cutting him at first and then having to apologize afterward.
The cadets were seated at the head of each table, a procedure that puzzled the members of the alumni, for they had never seen such an arrangement before, and they wondered why it had been done. They were not long in finding out. After the dishes had been cleared away the colonel arose. Beside him, on either side, sat Mr. and Mrs. Long, purposely placed there so that no one could slight them. The colonel spoke amidst an impressive silence.
“Gentlemen of the Alumni Association, I wish to tell you a story that combines all the elements of tragedy, drama and fine courage. I will waste no words in telling it for I predict that after I am through you will all of you have some hand-shaking and talking to do. I wish the members of the class of 1933 to pay special attention to my story.”
Here the colonel reached under the table and brought forth the class cup which had been the cause of all the trouble and placed it on the table. A murmur went around and Long turned pale with conflicting emotions. And in the silence that followed the colonel carefully and quietly told the whole story.
“And gentlemen,” wound up the colonel, when the murmurs of amazement and indignation had subsided, “I wish to present to you the cadets you have just heard about. These are the men who tracked this thing to its lair. Mr. Donald Mercer, Mr. James Mercer, Mr. Hudson, Mr. Vench, Mr. Douglas and Mr. Mackson, please stand up so that everyone can see who you are.”
A storm of handclapping greeted the modest cadets as they stood in their places and instinctively the men of the school alumni stood up and saluted the red-faced cadets. With a sense of the fitness of things the uniformed cadets briskly returned the salutes and sat down. The colonel now turned to Mr. Long.
“Mr. Long, please stand up.” As Long obeyed: “Gentlemen of the Alumni, there is nothing that is necessary for me to say, except that in the name of the school I apologize for the tremendous wrong done Mr. Long. I present to you gentlemen in all his unspotted honor Cadet Captain George Long!”
This time the present cadets rose with the company and clapped heartily for George Long. Tears ran down Mrs. Long’s face and she was not in the least ashamed for them. When the applause had died down Long said a few words to the assembled men, thanking such of them who had believed in him and graciously excusing those to whom the facts had looked so black that they could not help suspecting him. Then the supper formation broke up and Long was deluged with those who wished to shake his hand and express their delight and beg his pardon for their past conduct.
The cadets came in for an overwhelming amount of praise and then the entire body of alumni and their wives went over to the school hall for dancing. Both Mr. and Mrs. Long embarrassed the boys with their thanks and praise. During the evening all of the honor cadets danced with Mrs. Long.