"I do, sir. When I have met Captain Putnam and been enrolled as a cadet it may be different. But at present I am not a cadet and not under your authority."
"We'll see, boy, we'll see!" came hotly from the head assistant. "Before I am done with you, you will be sorry that you have defied me!"
And with these words he went out, slamming the door after him.
Tom had made an enemy at the very start of his career as a cadet.
CHAPTER VIII
A MEETING IN THE MESSROOM
In the meantime Dick, Sam, and Fred had been having quite a different experience. George Strong, the second assistant at Putnam: Hall, was not only a first-class teacher, but a calm and fair-minded gentleman as well; and in addition, and this was highly important, he was not so old but that he could remember perfectly well when he had been a boy himself.
"Come this way, my lads," he said with a faint smile. "I trust you will soon feel at home in Putnam Hall. It is Captain Putnam's desire to have all of his boys, as he calls them, feel that way."
"What will Mr. Crabtree do with my brother?" asked Dick anxiously.
"I cannot say, Rover. Probably he will place him in the guardroom until Captain Putnam arrives."
"I am sure he didn't do much that was wrong."