They kept a respectful silence while the colonel looked on the stone rampart and examined the rough stumps of iron upon which the eagles had been mounted. He then looked over the assembled cadets.
“None of you gentlemen heard any sound of sawing during the night, did you?” he questioned.
None of the cadets had heard anything. By this time almost the entire corps had assembled. Barnes reminded the colonel that the previous night had been a very dark one.
“True,” nodded the colonel. “It looked like a storm and I remember that there was no moon and no stars. Well, this is a pretty serious business, boys.”
“It’s a pretty small kind of a trick,” growled Hudson.
“We’ll have to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible,” the colonel went on. “No clues as yet, eh?”
“Here is one!” cried Lieutenant Thompson, suddenly straightening up. He had bent down, looking around the ground just beyond the steps. They all looked curiously, to see that he held a small red book in his hand. The colonel took it and looked it over, and a gasp went up from those nearest him.
“A Dimsdale year book, eh?” boomed the colonel.
It was indeed a small instruction book with the words “Dimsdale School” printed across the cover. A murmur of understanding went up from the students.
“A little revenge for the football defeat,” cried Vench, voicing the sentiment of all of them.