He went out and Tom and Sam refrained from talk for some time, for they realized that he might come sneaking softly back to overhear any words that might give him a clue.
At last, however, as several minutes passed, and nothing happened, Sam ventured to whisper, and told Tom all that had occurred. Though Tom was not in on the lark he had all the facts, and knew those who had taken part in it.
For some time search went on through the streets of white tents but, as far as could be learned, none of the culprits was discovered. Finally quiet settled down over the camp, and Tom and Sam really slept.
The next morning, of course, there was an effort made to discover those responsible for the attempted outrage, as Captain Hawkesbury termed it. He was one of the chief investigators, and he stormed around, telling what he would do to the culprits when he discovered them.
“But first you’ve got to catch them,” murmured Harry, who had, like Sam, escaped by a narrow margin. “Nobody will peach.”
Of course that was not to be thought of, and the code of morals at West Point would allow of no lying. If any of the guilty ones had been asked directly if he had taken part in the fracas of the night, not one would have denied it.
But it was not the policy of the investigators to ask the direct question. They wanted to be in a position to make an accusation, have the necessary evidence, and then mete out the just punishment. That is, it was the policy of all but one man, and that was the old army officer, Captain Hawkesbury. Whether he had forgotten the code of morals to which he had formerly subscribed when at West Point or whether he chose to ignore it, was not plain.
At any rate he seemed determined to find out, by hook or crook, who were the guilty ones, and he took the meanest method of doing this. He sent for Tom and demanded to know of him whether or not Sam, Harry or Chad had had a part in the night’s lark.
At first Tom was too surprised to answer. Though he had not been long at West Point he realized that this questioning, to make one cadet report on another, was without precedent.
“I refuse to answer, Captain Hawkesbury,” Tom said.