"I had reasons of my own," replied Dowley shortly.
"Did the sheriff have anything to do with those reasons?" grinned Hooper darkly.
"Don't get too curious!" warned the other.
"Oh, I'm not nosey," laughed Hooper. "And we can't afford to quarrel. We're both pledged to getting Overton kicked out of the service."
"Are you sure that he and Terry really expect to work their way up to becoming commissioned officers?"
"I have it on the best of authority," declared Private Hooper.
"Whose?"
"Their own."
"Did they tell you so?"
"Not they! Those kids are too close-mouthed for that. At least, they didn't tell me direct, and I don't believe they've told any other enlisted men on the post. But I heard them talking it over, one day when they didn't know I was around. They expect to be made corporals before their first year is out. In three years they hope to be sergeants, and then they scheme to take the enlisted men's examination for commissions as second lieutenants."