“There’s some fine rolls that you can have,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. A dozen hands reached for the rolls and the lucky ones began to eat hastily. But in a minute there came a chorus of protesting cries.
“What in the world did you put in these rolls?” gasped a senior, as he tasted the grease.
“Who, me?” asked Pat, innocently. “I didn’t put nothing in ’em. I guess they was that way when they came. I dunno, I haven’t tasted ’em.”
After that the cadets let the food alone. By this time they could hear the old graduates coming in, and soon the old hall echoed and re-echoed to the talk and laughter of the old students. From time to time the alumni wandered within sight of the busy corps of waiters, and then the cadets got a glimpse of them.
Working busily the cadets soon had the supper on the table and then the graduates marched in, the old-timers in the lead and the others following.
Just before they sat down the colonel beckoned to Hudson and spoke to him in a low tone. “The man at my right is Arthur Gates,” he said. “Not on this table, but on the second table. Just watch him closely and see what his reaction is to any announcement about class trophies.”
Hudson nodded and carried the message to Don and Jim. The meeting opened with a word of thanks by the colonel and then with a noisy scraping of chairs the old cadets sat down. It was now a busy period for the young waiters. They walked rapidly from the kitchen to the dining room, putting on the food, replenishing the supply of rolls, and seeing to it that everyone was well served.
It was during a pause between courses that Don and Jim got their first real look at Arthur Gates. He was sitting at the end of the second table, conversing with some of his old classmates. He was stout and pale, wore glasses and had very little hair on his head. His eyes were shifty and they decided, even discounting what they knew about him, that they did not like him.
After the final coffee cups had been cleared away several speeches were made. They recalled the earlier days of the school, when the colonel was a very young man, and one of them told of mistaking him for the janitor.
Eventually Gates was called upon and the three boys listened to him in amazement. He spoke of the glorious year in which the school had won the cup and seemed not in the least abashed.