That was the sting that made Dick's going away bitter. Cameron's manner was so easy and assured that Dick saw the crumbling of one of his more than half built castles in Spain.
The train carried the two cadets away. The parents of both young men had seen to it that the cadets went away in a parlor car. Dick and Greg, after leaving Gridley behind, swung their chairs around so that, while they looked out of the window, their heads were close together.
"Cameron had a nerve to show up, didn't hey" demanded Greg indignantly.
"I don't know," Dick replied very quietly. "He tried to be very kind and cordial."
"Shucks!" uttered Greg, disgustedly. "Doesn't he know that Laura
Bentley is your girl, and that he's only a b.j. hanger-on there?"
"I'm afraid Laura herself doesn't know that she's my girl," sighed
Dick.
Cadet Holmes swung about so that he could gaze straight into his comrade's face.
"Dick, didn't you tell her?" demanded Greg aghast.
"You have to do something more than tell a girl," smiled Prescott patiently, though wearily. "You have to ask her."
"Well, thunder and bomb-shells, didn't you?"