Lieutenant Prescott then left the room.
"I suppose you boys wonder who I am?" smiled the stranger.
"Thank you, sir," Hal replied quietly. "When the lieutenant wants us to know he'll tell us. No offense intended, sir."
"Nor any taken," replied the stranger, with a laugh. "You regulars surely do go along, just sticking to orders, and not caring for anything outside of orders."
Second Lieutenant Prescott soon returned to the room.
"I've sent my wire, Mr. Dent. Now we are at your disposal. Lead the way, sir."
As the soldier boys followed their officer, a dozen feet to the rear, from the hotel, they certainly felt far more curiosity than they would have admitted to any one else.