“I know it, sir, and I am sorry I did it.”
“Major Ruddy, who was corporal of the guard when the fire started?”
“Corporal Selick, sir.”
“Corporal Selick, what cadets were on post at the time?”
The corporal of the guard consulted his time book and read off the names of eight cadets, including Mason, Sabine and Ritter.
“Mason, you said you saw some fire in the air,” said Captain Putnam, to the lad who had been on Post 4.
“Yes, sir, I did,” answered Mason.
“Will you explain just what you mean?”
“Well, sir, I will as well as I can. I was walking towards Post No. 3 when I saw some fire fly into the air. The wind carried it towards the pile of brushwood. All of a sudden the brushwood was in a blaze, from the can of carbide.”
“You mean the fire fell on the carbide?”