"Mr. Hampton," called Captain Cortland, "you may notify Sergeant Gray that assembly will sound at 10.15. Just before that, at 10.10, roll-call of the men on town leave will take place."
Some minutes before ten o'clock a lot of the men of both companies began to straggle in.
"There will be some of the boys who won't be here on time, though," Private Hyman confided to Hal.
"A soldier who gets leave and doesn't respect it is either a fool or too mean a shirker to be in the service," Hal returned.
"That's what I tried to tell some of the fellows in town," laughed Hyman lightly. "You ought to have heard them thank me! But, oh, what's the use? A fellow who is going to make a good soldier of himself always does the nearest he can to right, and the other kind seldom get back on a second enlistment, anyway."
A few minutes later Sergeant Gray's voice could be heard calling:
"B Company men returned from town leave fall in here for roll-call."
Further down the camp, C Company's first sergeant could be heard giving the same summons.
Instead of twenty men, only fourteen of B's fell in.
Sergeant Gray looked them over with disgust written on his fine, bronzed, soldiery old face, for Gray had served twenty-four years with the colors.