“If I could just explode or something!” exclaimed Donald.
Betty laughed, and, sorry for Donald’s distress, she said: “I don’t care, Donald. I can’t think that you would really intend to embarrass me, so I’ll forgive you before you explain.”
“Thank you, Betty,” said Donald, dropping the “Miss” this time. “You’re an angel. I always knew it. But I have a lot to tell you about this. If I don’t get a chance to do it tonight, may I come over as soon as I can get off and tell you all about it?”
“You certainly may.”
“All right; I feel better. No telling how soon that will be, though, if I should be put on probation.”
“Is it as bad as that?”
“I shouldn’t be surprised. But, Betty, I wouldn’t ever have run any risk of seeming to show any disrespect to you.”
“I am sure of it.”
“There I was, pacing up and down, like a tiger in his cage, and wondering how you were taking it and how on earth the thing came about. I’d had a few demerits—black marks, you know. It’s easy enough to get ’em. But either somebody’s set it up, or the kid cadets have just taken a bad time to take it out on me for some of the jokes our crowd has played on them. They don’t stand for much hazing here, and it’s little enough in that line that any of them had. I can’t think of but one that ever seemed to resent the jokes. But inspection has been a nightmare for two days now, and my black marks have piled up. Yesterday morning, Betty, I had cleaned my gun, but when at the last minute I got it for drill, there was a lot of black grease on it. Of course I was bawled out. And this morning, worst of all, there was a package of cigarettes found in my room when it was inspected. I have been trying to think that all out, too. I had gotten word that Van Horne wanted to see me, can’t even think what kid it was that told me. Somebody just called in the door, you know. So I started out to hunt up Van Horne and see what he wanted. Meanwhile somebody must have come in to fix up the cigarettes, for the report was that there was a half-smoked cigarette and a lot of ashes under a paper on the table. My bed had been fixed, too, so that it did not pass inspection.”
“Did you find Captain Van Horne?”