"Well? What next?"
"Why, sir, I found it so warm that I couldn't march with any comfort at all. Now, I don't believe an officer should expect his men to go where he isn't willing to go himself, and as for myself I didn't want to go any further. So I halted the company and——"
"And——"
"Why, Captain," smiled Lieutenant Ferrers, "I just let the men enjoy themselves under the trees until it was time to have their dinner on the field rations they'd taken along."
"And then?"
"Why, then, sir, I marched them back here. I'll take them out again some day when the weather is cooler, and——"
Captain Ruggles acted a good deal like a man who is about to lose his temper.
"Mr. Ferrers," came his rasping order, "go to your rooms! Remain there until you hear from Colonel North, Major Silsbee or myself."
"Why, what on earth have I done now?" gasped the astonished young man.
"Go to your rooms, sir!"