"Cadet Dodson, reporting as ordered, sir."
The Commandant turned his face toward him and Matt felt again the eerie feeling that Commodore Arkwright could see him better than could an ordinary, sighted man. "Oh,
yes, Mr. Dodson. At ease." The elder Patrolman reached unerringly for a clip on his desk. "I've been looking over your record. You've made up your deficiency in astrogation and supplemented it with a limited amount .of practical work. Captain Yancey seems to approve of you, on the whole, but notes that you are sometimes absent-minded, with a tendency to become pre-occupied with one duty to the expense of others. I don't find that very serious-in a young man."
"Thank you, sir."
"It was not a compliment, just an observation. Now tell me, what would you do if-" Forty-five minutes later Matt caught his breath sufficiently to realize that he had been subjected to a very searching examination. He had come into the Commandant's office feeling nine feet tall, four feet wide, and completely covered with hair. The feeling had passed.
The Commandant paused for a moment as if thinking, then went on, "When will you be ready to be commissioned, Mr. Dodson?"
Matt strangled a bit, then managed to answer, "I don't know, sir. Three or four years, perhaps."
"I think a year should suffice, if you apply yourself. I'm sending you down to Hayworth Hall. You can catch the shuttle from the Station this afternoon.
"The usual delay for leave, of course," he added.
"That's fine, sir!"